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 ?