Here's a funny story or two.

I took the photo of my boys sitting in front of a statue at Angkor Wat. They looked a bit fed-up and maybe a tad embarassed too. Not sure if you can read the journalling but it says, "you two were inspecting this statue very closely. You were touching and wondering what the hanging bits under the body of the statue were till it dawned on you that this statue is male". Eugh!

I made this with the left over kit from ScrapRevolution Crate Paper kit that I worked with last month. I love the multishape label stickers that Crate Paper produce with their collection. Very reasonably priced and so much fun.


The next one consisted of some funny photos of my boys. They were practising their "beheaded" look at Alnwick Castle. Alnwick castle had a box with a cleverly placed mirror which means when you look from the front, it appears as though your head is missing the body.

When I was picking out supply for this layout, I picked up the journalling block that says, "10 reasons to smile". I didn't want to list 10 reasons to smile ( I have hundreds! ) so I decided to alter the usage of the journalling block by incorporating it into my title. My, as usual, very long title is, "don't need 10 reasons to smile, I have two".

Exhall Summer Workshop 2010

Want to see what I've made ?

I've done 2 very different samples but I will be teaching the same techniques to cover both. Everyone will be able to decide which layout to make and maybe even do the second in their own time. One is pretty, one more whimsical.




Can you guess which is which ?

The paper line is very pretty, totally lush. Can you guess which it is ?

So, are you coming ? If you haven't booked, I think we are sold out but you might be able to buy the kit from Stephanie at Indigo Mill after the event.

I forgot to share

You didn't think that was the last of the holiday photos, did you ? They are not!

But today, you get a little break. I made this little "wall-art" many moons ago. He snaffled it and promptly put it on the wall in the kitchen and now that it is practically "fixture and fittings" of the house, I completely forgot about it. I was going to hang it in my scraproom, some words to live by, perfectly framed by an Ikea box frame.

I've used loads of pretties ... tissue, fabric, lace, jewels, beads, pink, stickles...you name it, if I love it, I included it. Why not, it was for me afterall!

Holiday photos

What ? Again ?

I go through phases. When we go on holiday, I tend to take hundreds of photos. When we put it all on the hard disk at home, the numbers can be slightly overwhelming. Can you remember granny showing you hundreds of her holiday photos ? Now, I never want to bore everyone with all the photos so I pick out something like 10% ( or less ) to post.

Which ones to immortalise forever (LOL) in my scrapbook ? I will firstly make a mini book. Or if I am organised, make the book before the holiday, take it with me, fill it with writings and stuff and finish with photos on my return. This will use most of that 10% selection. It also enables me to consolidate stories that I want to tell. I will also make 2-3 ( at most 5 layouts ) whilst I am still reminiscing and "in holiday mood".

And then many months later, I might look at the photos again, notice some new details and something that might spark my imagination.

One of the details recorded in my mini book was what the boys called the islands in Venice. We did a tour of Murano, Burano and Torcello but they preferred to say "Murano, Burrito and Tortilla". Obviously, most of the photos during the tour were of the boys and their dad so when I saw a photo of me on the hard drive last week, I decided to use it for this story. This photo was taken when we were just setting off on the tour...you can see St Mark Square in the background so the photo is "very Venice". Well, I think so. And this is what I made last week.


The next photo has no story whatsoever! Besides the fact that it was taken on our tour of the "Water Village" in Siem Reap, Cambodia in 2007. The river runs into Tonle Sap which is a vast lake that is so big, it felt like the middle of the ocean except the water was grey instead of blue! I love the rare whole-of-family photo, taken by our tour guide. So, last week, I also made this layout ( I know, half term was a slow week, wasn't it ? ).