Christmas Scrapping!

Again it happens the next photo to be scrapped for Kyle's album is Christmas again and I hate doing Christmas pages, it always seems to be the same iykwim!!

I used BG Fruitcake papers again, gutted the cardstock to make the photo mat, Heidi Swapp ghost letters in red matted onto the patterned paper and cut out to make them pop a little bit more than they did when left plain red, Pebbles inc Christmas fetti, MM tag and some AC ribbon ruched for a different look. I also doodled a little round the edge with white Signo pen and yeah Christmas layouts all done :)

I have also been working on my CJ which is Black & White Everything, I've been using Hambly papers and wow its very hard cutting them up they are so lush but I'm getting there, anyway off out into the garden now with a cooled glass of Pimms, enjoy the sun xxx

London Eye - Amazing

Yep it sure was, the highlight of my trip. We boarded at 7.30pm after a nervous car journey through the centre of London...thank heavens for Tom Tom lol. I didn't really know what to expect but once you get up there it is absolutely awesome with 360 degree uninterrupted views for miles and miles with stunning iconic landmarks.

We stayed in The Christopher Hotel in Eton which is beautiful and so peaceful with Windsor Castle standing prominently on the hillside and cobbled streets with quaint antique shops and just the odd famous face including John Nettles who was recording a scene for Midsumer Murders, it was so surreal walking by seeing all the Police, cars, bloody people and forensic experts...had to pinch myself a few times lol.

LegoLand was just that...it was lovely and very busy, lots of queuing but lots of fun to and now my house looks like a shrine to all things Lego but I have two very happy boys who passed their Lego License which my youngest son thinks gives him the right to drive our car lol.

Three handsome boys, well maybe two the big one is terribly annoying lol :)

No scrapping, but who cares when you have had such a lovely few days...will be back soon xxx

London Calling!

Hello, apologies for the lack of blogging I've done recently...it seems there just aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I want to!!

My eldest son has now left Primary School...onwards and upwards to High School, I had his Leaver's Assembly on Friday which was very unorganised, funny and sad all in equal measure and despite me realising sometime ago he was ready to move on I still ended up biting my lip and shedding a tear. He also walked away with some great SATS results and as a reward is now the proud owner of a silver ball stud earring!!

Knowing what I was like at School I did allow him to get everyone to sign his shirt and wow they certainly did including teachers and dinner ladies and it looks lovely hanging on the coat hanger so I couldn't resist a couple of shots.

I also managed to scrap a layout of my youngest son during Christmas 2006, yes I know its July but I scrap the boys albums in date order and it always seems to fall that way. I used BG Fruitcake and some of their Christmas stamps, a 7 Gypsies stamp, and some Making Memories Christmas twill used on the reverse to make the layout look like a present. The title is small and is called 'Delight' from a stamp set by Hero Arts.

Now I really must disappear as we are heading into London tomorrow for an overnight stay. We're taking the boys to Legoland and the London Eye as well as a little sight seeing. I am also meeting a very special friend from UKS for coffee, cake and plenty of chat so I will blog on my return :)

Enjoy the sunshine while we've got it!! xxx

Teacher's Card

I'm after your opinions today...I made this card for my youngest son's teacher whose in her early 20's and while I like the look of it I'm not sure whether or not its too girly for him to give her...so what do you think?

I used my new Ladybug stamp coloured in with water colouring pencils the patterned paper is BasicGrey LilyKate (I think), white Liquid Pearls, for the sentiment I used Stampin' Up Circle of Friendship 'Thanks' stamp just matted onto some punched scallop circles and their wonderful spiral bound punch, which I'm totally in love with.

Until I craft again, have a fab day xxx

A Long & Bad Week

Well its been exactly what the title says which is why I've been missing for a while. Marshalls Limited who are a very famous Block Paving Specialist have decided completely out of the blue that they are to close two of the plants and sadly one of those is where Jay works, so from the 18th July he will be unemployed and not a thought he really relishes. I have no doubt in my mind he will get another job but one that pays such a good wage is another matter and of course we all live up to that income, he does have lots of qualifications courtesy of Marshalls who trained him intensively over the 13 years he's worked for them. Its so sad, we have some wonderful friends who've already gone but because Jay is lower Management he is able to work longer meeting orders that still need to be fulfilled. Its been a very hard pill to swallow as some of you will know Marshalls sponsored Chelsea Flower Show and are the length and breadth of the Country with Head Offices in Halifax, what does, however, niggle is when they announce that against sales figures for this time last year they've made an extra 1M, which is fair enough but totally inappropriate to draw attention to that now. There will be more closures I'm sure especially as they are directly linked to the building trade and we are only too aware of how that is struggling at the moment...but life continues and so does scrapping :)

This is the first time I felt able to sit down and do some crafting, I was finding it a little bit of a challenge concentrating on anything other than Jay being out of work, but thanks to some lovely friends over on UKScrappers I can smile again and know that something better is around the corner and that people do care how you feel and can always bring a smile to your face...you know who you are and I love you crazy mad fools loads xxx

So this is my youngest son desperately trying to learn the art of skimming, something me nor him can actually do and this photo was taken 2 years ago...I think its a stupid man thing because Jay and Kyle can both skim, we prefer the more technical way of plopping stones and seeing how big our splash is lol.

I used mainly BG Mellow range because its gorgeous and just screams outdoor at you, some Rootbeer Thickers for some of the title the rest was cut on the Robo, my flowers were made using my scallop punches in 1", 2" and 3" then screwed up several times while I was trying to get my head around Bonekickers, never again lol, lightly inked and put together with a brad, some stitching and a Prima birdie inked to finish off.

Right time I shut up before your eyelids get heavy...look after yourselves and never take anything for granted not even your job however much you hate it xxx

Top Ten

I wonder if you were asked this question for a CJ what would your Top 10 be...I mulled around with men, films and songs but everytime the list grew beyond 10 and I couldn't make up my mind which to ditch and to keep lol. Eventually while cleaning the windows I had an idea, my Top 10 of Stash, there are certain things that always seem to make an appearance on my layouts and it meant no photographs as my Epson is crying out for a drink but at £32 a time it can die of dehydration for the time being lol.

So theme picked, just need the embellishments which I decided to keep red, black and white and I have lots of red because its just the best colour ever invented. I choose in no particular order...blossoms, PP, Bazzill, punches, stamps, ribbons, rub-ons, brads, buttons and sewing...I just hope the owner approves of my choices.

Here it is in its glory, I do love the red, black and white combo.

Right I have a meeting at the High School in a bit for when my eldest goes in September, quite looking forward to going as last time I walked through the corridors it was in 1989 :o I loved my School years especially High School so I only hope Kyle has as much fun as I did.

I've also slow roasted at the School Sports Day today, well worth it as they both came home champions and I escaped the dreaded Parents sprint, well I say sprint it was more like a slow crawl lol.

Enjoy the sunshine, its bloody gorgeous isn't it :) xxx