as Midnight strikes

Over the past week Ive had the pleasure of working with some of the yummiest products - Ive been creating layouts for the launch of a new UK based kit company - the owner, Amanda, invited me to play with the kit - and I loved it - especially as the kit is crammed full of the prettiest pretties - as well as a stack of papers to play with - It would be rude of me not to share a few sneaks :D

The kit launches at midnight tonight - all the details can be found right here.
For more sneaks of the kit you can hop on over here to spy some from April's guest designer.

How would you like to be Mays guest designer?
Amanda will be choosing a May guest designer from the kits Facebook Fans at midnight GMT tonight to celebrate the kits LAUNCH PARTY!
She will also be selecting a (random) winner to take away the April kit - To take part in BOTH contests, simply post a link to your blog or gallery on the Facebook page between now and midnight tonight, and you'll be entered! [international entries are welcome - If you are already a subscriber and you win either contest, you will receive your kit free of charge]

Thanks to those who left happy anniversary wishes - Hubs and I have had a wonderful day - the boys made us breakfast in bed before they scooted off to school/college - we have met up with friends and enjoyed a scrumptious meal at our local Italian - followed by a stroll on the beach - and now we are spending the evening curled up on the sofa and relaxing with a cuppa!!

Have fun and thanks for calling by.
T.x.

twenty one years ago....

31st March, 1990 : The worst violence ever seen, in a series of Anti Poll Tax demonstrations, erupted in London during the largest rally when nearly 100,000 people took to the streets in protest at the new government levy. More than 400 were arrested and property was damaged with repairs estimated at £400,000 after the demonstration .

31st March, 1990 : Snap - The Power was number 1 in the charts.



31st March, 1990 : Eastenders was the number 1 UK TV show and Cheers, the number 1 US show.

31st March, 1990 : The average cost of a pint of milk was 30p and a litre of petrol cost just 40.2p!!

31st March, 1990 : At 10.30am on a sunny spring morning - I married the most amazing man.

Happy 21st Anniversary Hubs - 143.

T.x.

and the winners are.........

A huge thanks to everyone who popped by my blog yesterday and left such lovely comments about my rocks - YOU ROCK :D

The winners of the blog candy give away are - Kim and Julia - email me your addresses and the boxes of goodies will be on their way to you.

Have a great day and thanks for dropping by.

T.x.

between a rock......

Sometimes thing's happen that leave you stuck between a rock and a hard place - when that happens to me and I need to clear my head, I take myself off to the beach - whilst sitting on a rock - watching the waves - thinking my thoughts - I spotted a few things and picked them up - Hubs filled his pockets for me - and when I got home I locked myself away to create these for my Sisters and my Mom.

For Mom.

For Sis number one who's birthday it was yesterday.

 

For Sis number two who's birthday it is tomorrow - she will be hitting the big 40 and beginning a new era in her life.

The She Art Workshop was by far one of the best online classes I have ever taken - if you want to dabble in something a bit different then I'd highly recommend joining up - the next course begins very soon.

Thanks for dropping by.

a moment in time

From the moment I saw this weeks  Pencil Lines sketch, I loved it and I had so much fun putting my page together.

I used product from Fancy Pants "Its the little things" to create this page of my Sisters and I - the photographs were taken on Mothers Day a few years ago - we had so much fun that day - at the time Hubs was trying to get to grips with my new camera (D300) and was really struggling as there is no auto function - it was blowing a gale and we were freezing cold - but Mom wanted a "nice posed" photograph of us all together - so we persisted - but after about 30 shots we gave up - we had such a fit of the giggles - there was no way we would have ever been able to get a "nice posed " shot of the three of us......however I treasure the shots that Hubs did manage to take - even though they may not be, as my Mom puts it "nice" - they are photos of a happy moment in my life - Im glad scrapbooking allows me the opportunity to record these moments in time - because sometimes they are far to easy to forget.

Have a wonderful day and thanks for calling by.

Cherished

This weekend is going to be special in so many ways - over the next 5 days it'll be my lil Sis's 40th birthday - my others Sis's 41st birthday - and Hubs and I are celebrating our 21st Wedding anniversary too!

So this weekend has been put aside for us -  the family - to gather together to celebrate - and I really can not wait to get to hang out with my Sisters - because there is nothing quite like the cherished love of one, who is both a Sister and a friend.

I used photographs of my Sisters and I to create a layout for this coming Sundays Pencil Lines Sketch - which goes live at 8pm GMT.

Did you know that Pencil Lines now has a FaceBook Fan page? In just a few days it gained 500 fans and one lucky fan won herself a copy of the Pencil Lines Sketch book.

Another copy is up for grabs when Pencil Lines receives 1000 fans - so head over to FaceBook and join the Pencil Lines Sketches Fan Page if you'd like to try and win yourself a copy of the book.

and finally - you have just a few days left to enter my Mini Blog Candy Giveaway - to win the goodies up for grabs - you need to go to THIS POST and simply leave a comment.

Have a great weekend and thanks for dropping by.

with a happy heART

There are happy smiley faces all around - thanks to the Sunshine - what a difference it makes, eh?
Whilst sitting in the garden, crafting, Ive noticed a definite spring in the step of those who have passed by and it makes me happy.

As Ive sat enjoying the warmth of the sun, I've kept myself busy by working on my class for the creative heART & Soul retreat which is being held at Woodhill Hall, in just over a month's time.

There are a couple of spaces which have unexpectedly become available, so if you fancy treating yourself to a weekend where you can awaken your creative heART and soul, then check out the details right here.

My class has turned in to a real labour of love and Im really excited by how its all coming together - Im just hoping the ladies who will be attending the retreat love it just as much as I have enjoyed creating it.

Have fun and enjoy the sunshine - I hear its here for a few more days :)

Sassafras Mini's

Sassafras Mini Alphas are the ideal size for using on a variety of your paper crafted projects - be it on layouts or your off the page designs, they are simply perfect.

To add the title to this page I used Sassafras Yellow Paper alphas and slightly staggered the letters so that they overlapped one another.

In the U.K. , with Mothers Day fast approaching I whizzed up this little gift bag and used Sassafras Pink Glitter Alphas to add the greeting to the front of the bag.

The bag was embellished using layered Sassafras Journaling Stickers.

Sassafras Glitter Alphas have such a wonderful sheen to them and instantly add a sparkle to any of your designs.


Thanks for dropping by.

I do it like this.....

Sketch 230 is live over at Pencil Lines, with guest designer Yoko Tsubaki.

To create my take on the sketch, using a pencil, I drew out a rough grid pattern on to a sheet of patterned paper and then machine stitched over my pencil lines.
Instead of using patterned paper to create blocks for the background, I decided to use, some of the ever so cute, Journaling embellishments from Fancy Pants, "its the little things" collection.

Photographs were then added, along with die cuts from "its the little things" Embellishment pack - these are seriously fun to create with - I also hand cut some elements from a sheet of Fancy Pants patterned paper and layered these up using 3d foam pads.

A die cut piece from the Embellishment pack was used to create the title - as well as some Echo Park Alpha stickers.

The sub title was then added using another of the Fancy Pants embellishments pieces and more alphas from Echo Park.

A couple of ticket embellishments were layered together and added to the top right corner of the page - embellished further with a chipboard piece and a couple of accents from the embellishment pack, which worked together to completed the cluster.

More accents were then added to the bottom left of the page -

and Voila - my page was complete.

Have a great day and thanks for dropping by.

Mini Giveaway

A couple of weeks ago I created this little heart shaped mini book using an acrylic Prima Build a Book and some of my beloved Sassafras goodies.

If you would like to win a set of 12 Sassafras Apple Jack papers, a packet of Sassafras In a Stitch Blooms, Apple Jack Sweet Treat Stickers, one Prima Build a Book and some Bakers Twine to create one of these minis for yourself then just leave a comment on this post....its as simple as that :)

I have two sets to share - which means two lucky names will be drawn at random to receive this mini giveaway from me - and of course I'd appreciate it if you could share the news of this giveaway with your friends too :)
The draw starts today and closes at midnight on 29th March - I'll announce the names of the winners on 30th March 2011.
DRAW NOW CLOSED
Have fun and thanks for calling by.

Getting Sticky!

Sassafras cardstock stickers have to be one of my all time “must have” products to create with.
From the whimsical Banners to the adorable Sweet Treats – I just love them all, but my ultimate favourite has to be the Journal Stickers.

I love to use Sassafras Journal Stickers to create fun and layered backgrounds for my pages – but I’ll confess to being more than a little hesitant when it comes to attaching the stickers directly to the page, as I am fearful that once attached I’ll have a change of mind and want to move my sticker to elsewhere – I guess you could say I suffer from “sticker issues”.

A single page layout can see me “paper pushing” around the page for a good hour or so, before I finally commit to reaching for my adhesive – so to solve my “sticker issues” I simply adhere the stickers to cardstock scraps and then cut them out - by doing this, I can “paper push” my stickers around the page until I am absolutely certain of their position.


Creating a page using Journal Stickers as your background works especially well when they are layered up – and when used with black and white photos they add fun pops of colour.

To create additional texture, on this page,  I home printed my photograph directly on to a sheet of canvas and attached it to the page using 3d foam tape.

By applying the sticker accents to cardstock, this also allows me to layer up and attach these fun embellishments to my page using 3d foam pads – which is a great way to add dimension to your designs.


Using these fantastic Sassafras scrapbooking products really does make creating scrapbook pages a breeze.


Have fun with your stickers and thanks for dropping by.

Sketch#229

Pencil Lines sketch 229 went live last night.
This is my take on the sketch -

I went for a letter sized page (8.5x11) and squished the sketch to create a smaller version using the ever so lovely wee bundle paper pad designs from Sassafras's Apple Jack collection.
Apple Jack Sweet Treat stickers were used to embellish - along with some brads and accent and alpha stickers from Echo Parks For the Record collection.

The photographs are ones I used last week to create a collage of J.
I created the collage using Picasa3 - which is super easy to use if you want to create a 6x4 assortment of images to print at home (and its FREE to download!).

Hope you are having a wonderful day.
Thanks for calling by.

The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

With a busy week behind me and an even busier one to look forward to, Ive decided to take a day off from my scraproom and will be heading to the beach for a few hours - especially as the sun is shining : )
The guys are off out with mates - so Hubs and I are pottering around doing our own thing :)

This funny quote by Ellen Degeneres is pinned to my cupboard door -

"I gotta work out. I keep saying it all the time. I keep saying I gotta start working out. It's been about two months since I've worked out. And I just don't have the time. Which uh..is odd. Because I have the time to go out to dinner. And uh..and watch tv. And get a bone density test. And uh.. try to figure out what my phone number spells in words."


which has spurred me on to making time to shed the excess poundage and spend a little bit more time on getting healthy - its working as the weight is coming off. Im not dieting - Im making healthy food choices and feel so better for doing so. Ive dumped tea, coffee and coke as well as bread, pasta, rice and spuds.....Im eating a lot more fish and no red meat - drinking more water and detoxing once a week - so now I need to make the time to excercise my lardy backside and that starts today!!

I'll leave you with a sneak of my take on Pencil Lines Sketch 229 which will be going live at 8pm GMT tonight.

Its an exciting time for Pencil Lines as the new DT will be being announced very soon - I'm just as eager as everyone else to find out who will be working with the sketches over the next 12 months.

Have a wonderful day and thanks for popping by.

Over the bridge, I go.

I'm heading over the bridge and in to Wales on Saturday April 9th to go teach a couple of fun classes at Chepstow Pink Scrappers.

Truly, Madly, Deeply is a double page class, which I have created with all proceeds of the sale of the class going to Breakthrough Breast Cancer, which is a charity very close to my heart - there are just a couple of spaces left, so if you fancy coming along and joining in the fun you'd also be helping to raise funds for this worthwhile cause.
More info about the event can be found here.

Yesterday, I took myself off to my scraproom (to unwind after what had been a rather stressful day, most of which was spent at the hospital with J !!) I had a little play with my take on this weeks She Art class.

This canvas is for a friend - who is a mad keen gardener - I wanted to try out the layered skirt technique - so made that the focus of the project.

I'm not quite sure I got the wellington boot looking like a wellington boot - but I'm quite pleased with how it turned out - I'm working a lot more freely than I was last week - learning not to be so uptight when it comes to outlining and adding rubons : )
6x12 canvases are not easily found locally, so I ordered some online - they arrived this morning : ) - working on the smaller canvases has been fun, but I'm looking forward to creating something a bit bigger.....especially as my new paints and brushes have also arrived : )

Totally not scrapbooking related - but I'm a bit of a shoe collector - especially of Alegria or Rocket Dog shoes - over on Facebook I posted a photo of some new shoes I picked up last week - they usually cost around £80 - but I managed to grab some in the sale at tRreds - for £30! A few of my FB friends have also made purchases - there are loads of different styles and they have Doc Martins Mary Janes at a half price - I thought I'd share this info here as the sale ends this Sunday.
Happy Shopping!!!
Have fun and thanks for dropping by.