Some Christmas Layouts

How are your preparations coming on ? I have all the gifts bought but then, we have it easy, we only need to buy for the four of us. I am hoping to get the decorations and tree up in the next few days. Then I can start to feel Christmassy. In the mean time, I am reminscing with some photos from last year.

These layouts were made with Sarah's Cards December kit. It contains some lovely Webster Pages, All About Me and Theresa Collins patterned papers. I have to confess I found the Webster papers a little intimidating and too pretty to cut up,to begin with.

Having Butterflies

A layout to commemorate my piano exam last week. Or should that be commiserate ? I am still waiting for the result so I don't know. I am not a natural performer...I tried to steer away from drama and dancing when I was at school. I also find counting very difficult as I don't get the beat. Though I try to make up by sheer hard work, going to the piano exam was very scary.

Edited to say: I have just had the email from ABRSM. I passed grade 5. I even passed my aural but only just but there's no shame in that, is there ?

All dressed up and ready to go

Remember this sofa ?

I first blogged about it in Feb 2010. It was a wedding anniversary present from A to me.

It spent a few months being stripped and decontaminated (it had woodworm). Then it went away to be repaired and repolished. When it came back, it looked like this. It was quite light, I could bear-hug and lift it about.

I started on the upholstery in Sept 2010. Here are few stages this sofa went through.

Putting on substantial weight,

Nearly there. At this stage, it was really heavy. I needed A's help to get it to class.

And here it is finally done.

I am making something called a sofa table to go with this beauty.

Cambridge Croppers January Workshop

We are having our next workshop at Trumpington Pavilion on 14th January, 10am-4pm. Please email me huzaifah_zainon at hotmail dot com for more details.

Sarah's Cards December Challenge

It is time for another challenge. This month, Claire has challenged us to mix up the paper manufacturers. Here's mine.

I have used Echo Park, Jillibean Soup and Bella Blvd. Besides the patterned papers, I have used a multitude of other manufacturers for the embellishments. Can't you tell, I love mixing things up! Please do join us.

Silence is Golden ?

Did you miss me ? I have been concentrating on getting ready for a piano exam. I had the exam yesterday. Now I am free to indulge in my hobby, go shopping, prepare for christmas, tend the garden...eeek, the list goes on.

Here are a few layouts to share whilst I clean the house...I might be a while.

First is, "Drum boat, wedding rings and the exploding ketchup", a tale from our trip to Aarhus in Denmark. I told the full story at Sarah's Cards blog.

Next are my boys on a ride at Legoland, Billund.

Last of all is a layout about the most beautiful day that I spent with my dearest A on my birthday. I drew the seed heads on the background paper.

A few layouts from Copenhagen

This is the view from our hotel room in Copenhagen. We were a good way away from the tourist area but it was exciting to see all of the city like this and trying to guess where the Tivoli gardens might be or even if we can see it. I am not sure we did but on a good day, you could see cruise liners to the left and a very big Oresund bridge connecting to Sweden on the right.

The next layout shows my guys were resting under a tree in the gardens of Rosenberg Castle. It seems appropriate to decorate the layout with another tree.

Lastly are some photos of our walk to see the Elephant Gate at Ny Calsberg factory. This was a good way away from any tourist site but I am glad we made the effort. The elephants were quite stunning. I was surprised to see that some of the elephants were decorated in swastika but my boys enlightened me that the swastika has Buddhist and Sanskrit origin...just the sort of thing they might have decorated the "saddle" on the elephant in India.

Unlucky or Lucky ?

Nat wanted us on the Sarah's Cards team to "Think Negative" for the November challenge.

It was unlucky that J tripped playing footie in the first of week of term but so lucky that he landed on his left shoulder. It wouldn't have been so fortunate if he was left handed, but he isn't.

So, this layout is called "Lucky".

As another nod to negative, I have also included a punched out branch and the negative from this punch on opposite sides on the layout.

Do play along with us for a chance to win £20 to spend in store.

Bromsgrove Cropaganza

I taught at Bromsgrove Cropaganza last Saturday. I was a little nervous but I needn't have been. Everyone was very excited to come to class and their excitement definitely helped carry me through the day. Thank you ladies.

I taught two layouts.

Followed by something off the page, a Tando Multi Frame.

If you were at class, I would love to see your finished frames. Please leave me a link in your comment.

Thank you again for having me and for being such wonderful pupils.

Storytelling Sunday - Traveller's tale Part Deux

You might remember my airport and immigration concerns from a previous story. Ok, so I made it to New York and back, but something happened. Yes it did!

When my boarding card was scanned, the scanner beeped. "Can you wait over here ?". What's wrong now ? What was going on in my head ? They are overbooked, they are going to bump us off. Some cheeky sod has reported us for drug smuggling. Do I look like a terrorist ? Then A's card beeped and I was slightly relieved...at least I don't have to go through this alone.

After what felt like an age (but probably just a couple of minutes), "Can I have your boarding cards ? Here are you new ones. You've been upgraded." OMG! What a relief. Due to my phobia of being singled out at the airport, how we were told we were upgraded was a little uncomfortable and scary.

The photo was taken from our departure gate at Newark airport, as we wait for our seats to be called. The glass window was very dirty so it was not a great photo but you can see New York skyline against the rising sun.

I have used AC Amy Tangerine's for this layout plus some white Thickers that I coloured with a marker pluse 3 Studio Calico asterisk wood veneer that I coloured with embossing powder. And, hurray, I am delighted I managed to include our boarding cards. With online checking, we don't get those very often anymore.

I'm a Creative Girl

I have joined the DT at It's a Creative World. I made my first post today, sharing my favourite products, frames.

Royal Jelling

We visited Jelling to see the large rune stones of Gorm the Old and Harald Bluetooth. The stones were amazing, though not very well presented when we visited. They were doing renovation work around the stones with much digging and one stone moved aside to prevent futher deterioration to the stones. But we managed a peek ( and we get to say we've done that! ).

I didn't know this but did you know the bluetooth symbol

is actually the runic letters H and B, for Harald Bluetooth's initials.

This layout was done for the Bubbly Scrumptious challenge. I have used the colours from the board and as I was drawn to the arrow on the inspiration board, I made some of those for my layout too.

Sandwich and Sandwich Police

LOL, still can't help laughing at this. We stayed in a B&B in Sandwich, MA when we were in Cape Cod last July. And guess what they painted on the side of the police cars ? Sandwich Police! Ok, maybe it wasn't that funny but we giggled a lot that weekend.

Here's a layout from that weekend.

I've used a sketch from Scrapology for this layout.

Report from Camp

H is due to go to Winter Camp in a few days so I thought I had better record his summer camp stories before they get all muddled up in the next installment.

Unlike J, H is always full of stories of his adventure though J is getting better. In fact J is probably the most animated about his camp trips. Anyway, today you get to hear about H's trip.

H went to Somerset for about 10 days last July with over 100 boys and some girls. They packed a lot of activities in those days. H spent a lot of time sleeping on his return.

I wrote on the layout :-H, aged 12 of the Water Buffalo patrol, your IPod got seriously soaked, you did cliff jumping, into the sea. You did sea kayaking, you surfed (ish) and you sailed but mostly, you walked. You had an overnight hike. Luckily your pack wasn't too heavy. You ate a clove of garlic because you were very hungry, you ate the dough because the bread was never going to cook. You must have been hungry to eat fish and chips which ended up making you sick.

I have used a lot of Amy Tangerine...I adore those tapes. Inspired by the typewriter and reporters, it is called Report from Camp.

I did this layout for Created by ATDML Thirsty Thursday, playing with the letter G...G for Games and all things ourdoorsy.

Sarah's Cards October Kit

I have been working with October's Kit which is full of autumn gorgeousness. This is my favourite layout, Folk Fest.

H and I were left on our own as J and A went to listen to another act at the Festival. So we filled our time taking some photos on timer.

Dina Wakley Fabric Mini

I got to spend a day getting messy and inky with Dina last week. She taught us about colours and how to avoid getting a horrible brown mess. Here's what I made.

I wrote all over the book with what Dina called a magic pencil. I think I started a trend with "love is all you need". We got to road test Dina's stamps. I adore the heart and the star so guess who now has them ?

Bromsgrove Cropaganza Sneak

Are you coming ? Would you like to see what I have been working on ?

This layout is called You&I and features a 6X4 photo of DH and I. The & ampersand is quite a prominent fixture, so a photo of 2 people would be perfect. The size of the photo is not critical. You could use a smaller or bigger photo or even use 2 photos instead.

The next layout contains a 6x4 photo and a 3x3 photo of our visit to a garden at Egeskov Castle. We were trying to complete the Maze. For you own layout, you might want to bring playful, summery, outdoor photos.

We are working with American Crafts Garden Cafe supplied by Sarah's Cards. I adore those varnished accent papers!

We are also working with Tando Creative Multi Frame but that is not ready to share yet. If you want to be photo ready, you can check out the measurements at Tando's website. I am using 3 photos to go into the largest aperture, two ovals (3.5 cm x 4 cm ) and the centre circle ( 3.5cm ). You could use four photos to go into the four largest ovals or even 5 photos. Due to the smallish size of the photos, you might be best to go with clear head&shoulder, passport type photos.

Please bring your normal tools such as pen, ruler, knife, scissors and adhesive. You also need wet adhesive such as PVA or diamond glaze. If you have it, please bring a heat gun for embossing, wipe clean mat and some brushes for acrylic paint.

Bad boys at the Museum

Why did you write "Bad" on a board and held it up to be photographed ? Should have known, A did it and photographed the boys holding the boards. This photo was taken in the Children Museum at the National Museum in Copenhagen.

This layout was done for Sarah's Cards October Challenge. Do join us for a chance to win £20 to spend in the store.

Cambridge Croppers Memories of Summer Layouts

These are the layouts we made at Cambridge Croppers last week.

Memorabilia challenge winner

Is Helen B. Helen, your parcel is going out to you this afternoon. Enjoy. Thank you all for taking part.

Posing statues in Copenhagen

It started with this.

A asked H to imitate this discus thrower at Copenhagen's Botanical Garden.

Then I was asked to pose with this lady in Rosenberg. I had an easy pose and yet I didn't even do a good job of it.

Lastly, here's J trying to look cool next to 3 bronze men.

I made this layout with J's photo, "Can you hold that pose ?" based on the Scrap Map for October challenge on Creative Craft World.

This layout gave me the perfect opportunity to use those Maya Road chipboard cameos which I painted and glazed with Diamond Glaze. Even the queen's sneaked in with a stamp! I also took the opportunity to use my favourites at the moment, some Cavallini Post-it notes.

Storytelling Sunday - What's your diagnosis, doctor ?

Over ten years ago, I started getting red rashes all over my face whenever I exerted myself. Nothing like a marathon or extensive work out, just running to catch the train for work, that was just there, on the platform. Over time, I could feel the itchy rashes spreading to my scalp...eugh! Not sure what I look like but can't be pretty, can it ?

Over time, the unsightly rashes came with less and less exertion, some times just cycling a small hill in Cambridge. I also started getting a headache a few hours after the exertion. I couldn't even play boxing on wii. Running up the stairs on London underground meant I would have to pay later.

The headache got so black after a bout of tennis coaching in 2006. Something is very wrong! I went to see a doctor. I had various test but everything was normal. She offered to refer me to a hospital but reckoned it was merely the stress of moving to the country. Since she put it like that, how could I be so hysterical ? I decided to suffer and exert myself as little as possible. But sometimes just walking on holiday could give me the blackest of headache and at times, heat stroke.

By the beginning of this year, I was getting a headache nearly every week. I am now in a different area with a new GP so maybe I can get a second opinion. In April I went to see a doctor. She examined me, ordered some blood tests and said, "You are just dehydrated". I let on that drinking a glass of water seemed to bring temporary relief from the headache.

So I went home and drunk plenty of water ( but I was also permanently needing the toilet ) so I decided to give up on tea. I had the worst one week of withdrawal symptoms. Yes, including those headache but at least the water was helping and I didn't need to go to the toilet quite so often.

After that week, I am almost free of headache and I don't get those rashes, cycling. I am now doing Zumba (lol, on the wii ) without fear of later suffering. I miss my tea but I don't miss those terrible headaches.

ps:I have tried decaf tea but that brought on the same symptoms so it is not the caffeine.

This story was written for Sian's Storytelling Sunday. Please join us.

First post, first post...

I am so excited, I have to share with you. I made my first post on Sarah's Cards blog.

This is what I made.

Still in pain, still posing as Napoleon...

First week of school and J had a tumble playing lunch time football. He collided with another boy who ran across. J tripped and landed on his shoulder. The school nurse phoned, "Mrs G, J has injured himself playing football. Can you come get him and take him to A&E ?". I picked J up, I thought he would be able to walk to hospital which is practically next door to school but he couldn't even make it to my car in the car park.

We arrived at A&E, J looking very pale. Fortunately we don't have to wait as children are seen immediately at this hospital (beats King's College hospital in London where stabbing and gun shots are the emergencies! ). They dose him up with painkillers, took an x-ray, proclaimed, "you have fractured your left clavicle!", slinged him up and sent us home.

He is still in some pain but the left is a blessing because he is right handed and will not miss out on school. He is gutted (NOT!) about having to take time off piano but his XBox trigger fingers on both hands are working in tip top condition! This afternoon he is going to work at a local charity shop for his community service...I hope he will be ok.

Cambridge Croppers Memories of Summer Sneaks

We are meeting again a Trumpington Pavillion this Saturday 1st of October. See you there at 10am.

So, were you the wiser ?

So, did you guess ? Could you read his expression ? He is not a very emotional boy.

This layout is dedicated to J for his recent exam successes. When I told a good friend of mine his results, she said,"Now, why is that not a surprise?". Maybe, but it was good to get the confirmation. Onwards to 8 more next summer.

I made this layout for Sarah's Cards September challenge. Hope you will take this opportunity to take part and win for yourself a gift voucher from the store.

Memorabilia

What do you do with them ? I don't mean the precious, historical ones but those tickets, leaflets, postcards and maps that you pick up on your travel ?

These are just some of the stuff I picked up from our last trip to Denmark. My boys and A are very good. They always save these things for me. I have a few drawers in my scrap room that are filling up.

I do use them, some times. Remember the Wembley layout ? I used a ticket on that. And I cut out the ladies and gents from a Versailles pamphlet. Whale Watching was inspired by Dolphin Fleet's leaflet and a lighthouse on a crisp packet.

I decided to make an accordian mini book using a tri-fold leaflet from the Eiffel tower.

I used the leaflet itself as the base of my minibook. I glued a 6x6 black cardstock cover to the front and back.

The cover was made by cutting a 12x12 cardstock into four. I glued two together to make the covers thicker. For the front, I cut out a window on one cardstock to accommodate the plastic cover from a Crate Paper button pack. I carefully removed the plastic cover from the card back of the button pack and used these to contain a small display for the title. I added these to the front cover before I sandwiched the two cardstocks together.

Now the book contains a running commentary of what we did in Paris as well as some of the other leaflets we picked up.

What have you done with your memorabilia ? I would love to see them. Add your projects below for a chance to win a kit from Cambridge Croppers workshop. You have until the end of the month to join in.

Embracing Technology

Even though I was a Computer Programmer, I am what you would call technophobe. Not anything to do with work, but more to do with gadgets in my personal life. I have a bog standard mobile phone, albeit with pretty pink blossom print and jewels. I try not to pick up the remote control, if I can help it. I avoid the Kitchen Aid unless I know I absolutely cannot beat those eggs for a cake ( though I avoid baking as much as I can ). Ok, some times I sneak a browse on A's iPad but only when we travelling because that is the only device around.

Now, don't get me wrong, I still prefer to read a real book! But I have "discovered" the Kindle. I am currently reading Conn Iggulden's Conqueror Series. I love that I can quickly purchase the next book in the series without having to wait till I am next in town.

Here's a layout I made about the books I read...with photos of some of the books. I have used loads of Crate Paper labels and cut out flowers from Crate's Potrait Collection.

I should make a technophobe layout too, shouldn't I ?