Cheerful Pages for Summer's Day Out

Some pages made for Hey Little Magpie ( formerly Sarah's Cards ) and Scrap365 Magazine.

We have a school leaver

I went to J's school leaving drinks last night. How did that happen ? Excuse the reminiscing to follow...

This is a photo of him in September 1999, excited to be leaving for his new school.  Look at the size of that book bag!

On arrival at school, we snapped another photo.

Another first day when he went up to secondary.

And finally last day at sixth form.

As you can see the pose hasn't changed very much. We might have moved house but we still have the tradition of taking a photo next to the house sign.  It has become a measure of how the children have grown...

I am still looking for the layout I made for his very-very first day. I think it is called "15 years of school starts today". I have recently made this layout called "15 years of school ends today". 

This evening he will attend the last event he will attend for school...he is going to the Leavers' Ball.  DJ photos to follow.

Join us at Sarah's Cards

Fancy joining me on the DT ? Sarah and Lianne are recruiting for their Design Team. You can find more details here.

Guesting on Scrap Around the World

I am sure guesting is not a word so excuse me.

Scrap365 DT has been helping Scrap Around the World to celebrate their anniversary. Happy birthday SATW!

Their birthday mood board is just my kinda colours right now. Those blue-green shoes are just to die for.

I made this layout about our visit to one of Berlin's Icon, the Brandenburg Gate.  I have seen this gate in films and newspapers, it was nice to finally visit in person.

Scrap 365 June 2014 Is Full of Trash

Couldn't resist that "headline". Sorry to disappoint but this post is not about to slag off my favourite magazine. 

To explain further, this issue of Scrap365 is dedicated to recycling and upcycling.  I haven't received my copy but I spotted my layout in the bottom left hand corner ( I had to check that because I always get left and right mixed up but you know which ).

Click here to buy a copy. 

Missing but In Action

Dearest lovelies, sorry for the long delay.  I have had a busy few months.  I might be missing from this blog, but I have been scrapping.

Did you see a fortnight of WOW! Embossing on Scrap365 blog ?  I contributed with Country Pursuits where I have been making resin embellishments using WOW! Melt It Powder and Embossing Powder.  I think I might have to invest in more colours...

My excuses ?  I have been looking for work so have filled applications and attended multiple interviews.  I have now accepted an offer to teach Computer Science at a local secondary.  We have also had builders working in the kitchen which is now operational though not complete. We didn't have a cooker or oven or sink for 3 weeks. Fortunately that period coincided with the good weather we had so b-b-q's were in order. Not a campfire in the living room as one neighbour cheekily enquired!

ps: the builders weren't incompetent or anything...we are now waiting for the latex on the floor to dry before it is tiled!

I Love Berlin

More Valentine's range to share with you...

My journalling reads,

Berlin has many graffiti but none as tasteful as the one on the wall of our hotel. And the Berlin Bear too, what could be better ? There's also the symbol of the East, the one finger salute to the West. And then there's the lights. Nobody does the Christmas fairs and lights as expansively as the Germans. Where else but in Berlin ?

The Bear Graffiti is on a wall that is perhaps 6 or 7 storey high.  It is pointing inwards towards a courtyard so you wouldn't see it unless you are staying at the hotel. 

Here's the main concentration of "lurve" products that I've used, from Crate Paper Love Notes and a little bit of Close Knit. I can never resist Crate Paper!

OXO or XOX ?

Cryptic, right ?  LOL.

Inspired by Valentine's ranges and the use of XOX on many lovely products, I wanted to find a different way to use them. Luckily we had a birthday party for J at the OXO Tower in London not so long ago.  If you are British, you know OXO is a brand of stock cube. If you happen to be on the south bank of The Thames, you might have seen a building with OXO in large letters at the top of the tower.  This is now a swanky restaurant.

It was difficult for us to find something nicer than normal that H would be happy to eat at so this was a good compromise.  It was just finger food so there was a selection to keep everyone happy. J was even provided with a piece of Christmas cake.  Unfortunately the photos are quite dark due to the low lighting {{don't you just hate that ? Sometimes, I can't even read the menu! }} but I still have to make best use of what I have.

I used a piece of patterned paper labelled XOXO all over in black.  By layering a printed acetate sheet, with a clear window, I was able to highlight OXO. I had chipboard spelling out XOX but replacing one X with a circular chipboard, I ended up with OXO. I also had a sticker labelled XOXO but by overlaying the first X with hearts, I have my last alteration. 

Here's a closer look. What do you think ? I am proud of my invention.

I've used products from Crate Paper Love Notes and Close Knit ranges.  The acetate is from Alison Kreft's Recorded collection. This layout was created for Sarah's Cards Sketch Challenge.  Come and join us for a chance to win an e-voucher to spend in store.

Happy 23rd Anniversary

It is our wedding anniversary this weekend. A is whisking me away to London. We'll catch a show, go out for dinner and maybe enjoy revisiting some of our old haunts.

I made this layout for Scrap365 about a similar sojourn last year.

I made some embellishments using Mod Melt. Have you tried it ? There is a whole article about it in the latest issue for Feb/March 2014.  Can you see my layout sneaking a peek on the front cover ?

It took a bit of practice to get those little beauties right so do persevere. Let me know if you have any particular problem...you never know, I might be able to help. 

Thank you for the prompt Kate. I should have said. The London skyline is clear sellotape by the lovely machine embroider Tobyboo. She told me she freehands all her design on the sewing machine. I met her at a fair in Battersea Park. On checking out the link above, I see she is starting to stock at John Lewis.  Lucky girl! 

Where Are You Heading ?

What starts the thinking process for a layout ? For me, it is always an idea. The idea for this layout begins with the "airport board listing" paper. "Where are you going ?", it said to me. Literally, that could have been a holiday destination whilst "where are you heading ?", is more open ended. Perfect title for a layout about a young man who is thinking about what he wants to do! 

His university applications are in.  Good thing too, right ?  Otherwise it would have been late by a couple of weeks. He has 2 offers requiring top grades, 1 really good one for insurance but he is still waiting on two places he would like to end up at. Hope he likes where he gets to.

A Year of Memorable - 2013 in One Layout

I have done it. I have made a "summary" layout of our year. I went for the 4 x 4 grid format so in theory I could have fitted 16 photos but I opted for 11  2"x2" photos. That way, I have space for a little bit of journalling.

I have used supply from Webster's Pages by Alison Kreft.

Animated Christmas Lights

Remember, my photos from Berlin with all the lovely lights ?  Well, Google took one photo, animated the lights ( animated gif with multiple layers ) and sent it back to me.  Big Brother Google! Lovely or what ?

Berlin Christmas Market

Happy New Year my friends.  Hope 2014 will be a healthy and prosperous year for you all. Is it too late for some Christmas lights ?

We were in Berlin before Christmas for the Christmas markets.  I think, on every square and at every street corner in Berlin, you can find a Christmas market. We started with one on Alexanderplatz...that was fun. You need to be careful not to wander into the path of a tram. They also have hot dog sellers that carry their carts.

The next day, we found another market, just the other side of the Alexanderplatz train station, right under the tower. We took a ride on the big ferris wheel. They also have a big skating rink around a fountain with a giant Neptune in the middle.

We had to pay 1 Euro each to go to this next market.  It had more artisan products but I am not sure it was worth the entrance fee.  Still, I believe the fee was going to charity.

This posh road had all the trees covered in lights.

We found this giant reindeer being ridden by Santa in another posh area near the zoo.

Not quite lights or Christmas market, I love this giant mural of the Berlin bear on one wall at our hotel.

We also did a tour of Bundestag, a Berlinwalk.de walking tour entitled  Berlin behind the Iron Curtain and a guided tour of Hohenhausen prison. Watch out for some Berlin layouts...

Get the Sequins Out

How's your Christmas prep coming along ?  I have bought one or two things but saving my shopping to do when we go to Berlin. I hear there are a fair few Christmas markets over there!

So with no presents bought, I decided to prepare in advance and made some gift tags for the four of us.

I cut the tags from some 6x4 American Crafts Variety Pack in Pastel.  I removed 1 1/5" of the 4" width, leaving me with a tag approximately 2 1/5" x 6".  I added some Christmassy Washi Tape to the top before punching a large hole in the tag.

Next I added some stickers and Chipboard from Crate Paper Bundled Up Collection.  Lastly, not forgetting those sequins, I grabbed a few stars and glue them down with Diamond Glaze.  I added an alphabet Thickers to each tag so we can identify which presents belong to whom.

I love those Nut Crackers.  The tall one used to belong to A, it got returned to us when his parents had a clear out of A's stuff.  So he has been around a while.  He has moved a few housed with us.  Once house move, he came out of the box and was missing a foot.  This somehow miraculously, got reunited and reglued back on.  Next house move he lost an arm...many months later we located this too.  I am pleased to say, he is complete right now. I'll take better care next house move.

The yellow Nut Cracker was a gift from a German au-pair who lived with us about 10 years ago. He is still very much intact.  Perhaps we'll invest in another one when we are in Berlin ?

Was This Not the Best Looking Cake ?

I am hosting the Sketch challenge at Sarah's Cards this month.  My sketch is simple so you don't have any excuse not to join me. 

This is what I've made.  In some ways, you could say I have an obsession with trying to get the Heston's or Delia's cake from Waitrose.  As I don't normally shop at Waitrose, I usually missed out.  Not last year. I happened to be in Waitrose Cafe for coffee morning with the other mummies. I managed to snap one up.

I have used products from Dear Lizzy Polka Dot Party collection.Sooo pretty! Instead of patterned paper matting under the photo, I have used multiple copies of the same photo. I happened to have printed a few in mulitple sizes to see what would work better.  It turned out, all three sizes worked together. Here it is close up.

So, what do you think ? Was this not the best looking cake ? Whatever you think, you've got to play along at Sarah's Cards blog.

Christmas order, confirmed!

I did this LO for Scrap365.  Did you see it ?

The local farm shop has these turkeys out front as you drive in. When we first saw them this year, they reminded us to place our order. This was back in October.  A few weeks later, as they flocked up to the fence to look at us, ever curious, we thought their number have swelled.  But no, they have merely been fattened up.  No doubt by now, it being December, they would no longer be there in their enclosure...

I have added pretty feathers to the layout, entirely appropriate, I thought.

The Swarm at Thorpe Park

We went to Thorpe Park a few weeks ago, when the weather was still nice and the sun was still high in the sky.  You needed that, if you were planning on riding the water rides. We got thoroughly soaked on Tidal Wave!

When we got to Thorpe Park, Hamish and I promptly joined the queue for The Swarm. It was a 20 minutes queue at that point. The 20 minutes turned into over an hour.  The queue management was the most shambolic of any rides we have been on. For a start, they had 2 rows of seats on the rides turned backward for extra thrill.  The queue for this was much shorter but when you get to the ride, you can go anywhere you want.  So our "going forward" queue was getting slower and slower. Then they decided to hook on another set of rides so they can have 2 going simultaneously.  That took some time, not sure why they didn't do it before they open.  Then the 2 simultaneous were ran more like one after the other.

Enough about the bad queue.  The ride was awesome.  It was very, very fast, very high, twist and turning that I have ever experienced. And over is less than a minute. The ride went very close to some buildings built as prop for the ride but unlike the dummies in the test runs, there were no close calls. We didn't lose limbs. It was extreme but it was very smooth. It was the best ride on a roller coaster for me, ever!

You want to see the layout as evidence, right ?

Ferry to Yarmouth

I always get excited when I go on a ferry, even if it is just a short trip. I think this harks back to those frequent trips from Butterworth to Penang from my childhood. A ride on the ferry always felt like going over-seas!

We went to the IOW in the summer so I had to do a layout of the crossing.

 

I am loving the plastic stars from Studio Calico.  They will be sprinkling their ways into more layouts very soon!

 

 

This layout was done for Sarah's Cards October Sketch Challenge.  Why don't you join us for a chance to win some spending "money" on loads of lovely stash ?

Jamie's Big Feastival in the Cotswold

We went to the Big Feastival at the end of the summer holidays. It was our first festival. The food aspect was the main draw. Did you notice that it is called Feast - ival rather than Fest-ival ?

Camping out in a field with other festival goers proved to be challenging in the evening especially with kids whining, "I am not comfortable" ( for god sake, check into a five star establishment! ) to "I need a wee" and their indulgent parents who thinks it is ok to shout out in the close quarters of tent living. Incidentally, the new born baby and his parents in next door tent hardly made a sound all weekend! So that was the low point. Even the porta-loos weren't bad.

So this is our field.  The tents were quite close, or so I thought until J pointed out that at the V, the tents are much closer. LOL

 

Checking out the grounds on Friday night, we caught a spectacular sun set over the arena.

 

 

Saturday morning and it's officially opened by Jamie Oliver and Alex James ( of Blur ).  The venue was on Alex James' farm.  He is now a farmer and he makes cheese.

 

 

Inspired by the Weber B-B-Q demo, we had to get the chimney starter.

 

 

The festival goers eating, drinking and enjoying the music.

 

Spotted, Jamie Oliver being photographed with a group of singers.

J claimed A's sunglasses as his own, trying out the PIMM's deckchairs.

 

This wheel turned out quite fast.  Wasn't expecting that.  What's more, because it was not busy we had many, many spins.  "When will it end", was constantly on my mind.

 

So I let the boys ride this one out.  Loved snapping away here!

And you know where this is going! I made a layout of our weekend.