WOYWW

Oh poor little blog - I'm so sorry I neglected you!  The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of concerts, plays, parties, shopping and work (not forgetting that little thing called Christmas!) and sadly I have not had time to even think about a blog post. 
After two days in work (the joys of working for a company that is open 365 days a year!) I am having a chill out day today and have just remembered it's What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday. Perfect!

I spent today finishing off my 4x6 photo love layout with 9 photos from September's prompt while the kids played on their new PS and Wii games.  I have used this prompt to scrap the photos from Alex's 11th birthday party...which being nearly two years ago reminds me we need to get on with organising something for this years...

The finished page....

These fit in the pocket and hold 4 photos each...

The papers are Pebbles Inc - Floral Lane with a Hambly's screen print acting as the pocket.


I hope you have all had lovely Christmas celebrations and are looking forward to whatever 2012 brings :) You can check out other desks on Julia's blog here.

Thanks for stopping by.  I'm off to start work on another 4x6 photo love...

Pretty Paper Party prompt 4

Yes I am still playing along with Shimelle's Pretty Paper Party but it is at a very slow pace as life is full of extra curricular activities for the children and I at the moment, we are also trying to sort an en suite refit out and are having a bit of a busy social life too!!  So I've jumped to Prompt 4 as I decided 3 was a mammoth task and one which I will save for a rainy day.  The challenge was to mix stripes and spots so I dug through my kits and found two that fitted the bill. The first is actually the same Scenic Route papers that Shimelle used on one of her examples but I've only just realised!

This is a photo from our stay in the Lakes in 2010 and I love the way that Alex and Tony have adopted exactly the same pose!

I then made a couple more cards for the charity pile using some Crate Paper Lemon Grass scraps I had lying around.





And I made this one for my Mum's birthday last weekend :)





Now need to turn my attentions to Prompt 5 but another busy week looms with the High School performance of "We will rock you", Parents evening for the kids' music lessons and the Christmas Fair at Josh's school.

Thanks for stopping by :)

WOYWW

So this is the day that we all share what is on our desks.  Thank you for the warm welcome to my first post last week.  I did stop by a few desks but not enough so will make more effort this week. 
These are not great photos tonight as it is dark and I have taken them on my iPhone for speed :) so apologies for the poor quality.

I have taken a larger picture of my desk after everyone commented last week how deep it was!  Yes it is deep but there is still never enough room on it when I am in full scrapping mode lol!!  This week I have my pile of Pretty Paper Party prompts on the right that I am still working through.  Some photos and papers to do a 4x6 Photo Love page from September and in the background is a page Alex has been working on (that I had to move so I could get a look in!)


Alex's page which I think she has finished....


The papers, photos and acetate I want to use for the 4x6 layout.  The pictures are from Alex's birthday party in 2010 when she had a jewellery party.  This sketch uses 10 6x4 pics!


Not sure when I will actually get to cut in to the papers as this week is prooving rather busy.  The desk may look the same next week!

Thanks for stopping by and if you wish to see more desks please stop by Julia's blog.
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WOYWW

This is the first time I have played along with what's on your workdesk Wednesday. I have pulled out some Crate Lemon Grass papers to make some cards for Shimelle's Pretty Paper Party. Thanks to Jo for the inspiration to use these papers up!!




I also have a little pile to the left of new thing I want to use. My gift from My Creative Scrapbook and some bits and pieces from my shop at Sarah's Cards last week.




Thanks for stopping by :).  Pop on over to The Stamping Ground if you want to see more desks...

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My Creative Scrapbook gift

I was lucky enough to be drawn for a prize on Rachael Elliot's blog the other week and it arrived today.



Looking forward to using these soon :)

Thanks again Rachael for picking me out of the hat xx

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A move round

I mentioned a while back that we had a move round at half term and brought the shelves and desks down from the 4th bedroom and put them in what was our "play room".  It had been so long since the kids had actually "played" in it that we decided to take it back!!  So here a a few photos of what we have been up to...

After moving everything down (and up!- as all the toys and a book shelf are now up in the 4th bedroom) Tony went to IKEA and picked up an Expedit unit for me.  Here it is in all its glory but with everything just stuffed on it!  I need to go back and get some proper storage drawers for it and also sort through everything that is on the shelves.

These are the Billy book cases from upstairs and hold all the study bits and lots of books:)




This desk has been designated as my scrapping desk (it doesn't look that tidy today lol!) and in the corner is a temporary table holding the printer and my Cricut.



This desk is the "office" desk and has a lovely view out onto my close.  I can now be really nosy and see what's going on ;)  The TV was an old one we used to let the kids watch in the playroom.  It had been languishing in the loft so we thought we'd used it again only to find it's an analogue one so can only play DVDs!!!  Think we will go and get another in the next couple of weeks.




Finally this is the only thing on the wall - it was already up so it's staying put.  A Venture portrait that we had done about 10 years ago.  It's right above my scrapping desk and makes me smile when I look at it.



Right, enough typing - best go and start sorting out that unit!
Thanks for stopping by.


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10 things on the 10th - November

I don't think we've made enough of our National Trust membership this year and this got me thinking as to which properties we could visit next.

The kids both have passports and are collecting stamps for each property they visit and will get a certificate at the end but we need to find some places to visit a little further a field now as each stamp has to be from a different property.

So in no particular order I think we need to tick the following of our "have visited" list...

1. Gawthorpe Hall

2. Sizergh Castle and garden

3. Lyme Park 

(we have visited here often but not since Josh has got his passport so he needs a stamp!)

4. Little Moreton Hall

5. Shugborough

6. The Beatles childhood homes

7. The Hardmans' House

8. Fountains Abbey

And a couple for when we are down at my parents'...

9. Greys Court

10. Mottisfont

Not sure how long it will take us too get round this lot and we certainly need some crisp, dry Autumn days to do any at the moment (which are slightly lacking in the North West!) however at least we know which ones we need to get to now!

If you want to join in with 10 things on the 10th then hop over to Shimelle's blog for more info.

Thanks for stopping by :)

My month in numbers - October

I have just discovered this fab idea thanks to Fiona's blog and thought it a great way to record my month from a different angle (and another great idea for a scrap book page, in fact I think I may use this for my Scrap 2012 which I am getting set up to do )  I know we are a few days into November now but I can recall some numbers from October so here goes...

5 - the number of days holiday I took from work.  This was over the half term week and we spent it moving furniture (see below!), visiting Spooky World, visiting the Lakes and having my parents to stay

2.5 - the number of days it took to move my craft desk and the study downstairs to what was the "play room" in our converted garage. I have just realised I have still not blogged about this so will try and do that this week but in the meantime I still have a Expidit unit to get organised but it is a good move in everyone's book :)

6 - the number of times I have attended the Pink Booby Crop every October to raise money for Breast Cancer Care.  Yet another fab day with Jane & Jane keeping me company and 4 lay outs made!

5 and 18 - the number of adults and children who visited Spooky World for the day.  I wasn't brave enough to stay into the evening.  The Haunted Hay Ride was scary enough in the daylight!!  Once again it was good food, good company and good weather.

4 - The number of nights my parents came to stay.  We visited Bents the local garden centre (and the UK's best!), a craft barn and farmers market and left them to baby-sit on Hallowe'en whilst we went off to see KT Tunstall in concert.  I think that was the first and last time my Mum has been trick or treating!

Alex all "witched up"...

Josh as Edward Cullen (the photo doesn't show but he does have a bit of glitter on his face) However I have still no idea how he got any sweets as this was a very poor effort at dressing up!!

Mum all wrapped up to go Trick or Treating!

812 - the number of pounds raised at the Ladies' Evening organised at our primary school by myself and a very enthusiastic group of  mum's.

7 - the swimming level Josh moved up to at his last assessment,  This means he needs to move time and day (again!) however the only free day is Friday which we can not do as it clashes with dance classes for Alex so no swimming for a while...

Have enjoyed looking back on my month in numbers and looking forward to recording some different things in November. 

Pop on over to Julie's blog if you want to take part.

Pretty Paper Party Prompt #2

No 2?  Is that all I hear you cry?  Yes I am taking this party very slowly.  I have another 15 fabulous prompts on my desk to work through and still they keep coming so I think this party is going to keep on going for a while here!

Anyway on to my page.  The challenge for this prompt was to use your pretty paper as a background for your page instead of plain card stock.  So I grabbed my Sarahs' Cards kit from February which was papers from Glitz - Love Nest and a photo from my pile on my desk and this is the result....

Alex on book day at her primary school a couple of years ago dressed as Violet Beaudelaire from "A series of unfortunate events".  Having scrapped a few book days I've noticed a real theme for her selecting the heroine in her books - the year before she was Mallory Grace from The Spiderwick Chronicles.  In her last year she was Dorothy from The Wizard of OZ which was so cute as she also went as that in Reception.  Think I may have to scrap both pics side by side to compare!

So I also made a card to add to my charity pile.  This one didn't need a lot of embellishment as the paper did all the work.  Think I will make a few more like this over the weekend to boost my stock :)

This afternoon I am off for a little shop at Sarahs' Cards.  The retreat is underway at a local hotel so a friend and I are popping in to buy from her lovely shop that will be on display in all it's glory!

Thanks for stopping by.

Pretty Paper Party...still on Prompt 1!!

It's been a busy week having been away in the lakes and then instead of coming back and scrapping I decided to move my scrap room. However 2 days later and it looks great. More photos to follow...

So today I christened it by making a card or four using prompt one from the party. I want to build up some stock of cards and sell them at work for charity so I'm going to attempt to make a couple from every prompt. Only 9 lessons behind lol!!




My parents arrive tomorrow so probably not much chance to catch up this weekend but I'm in no rush.

Thanks or stopping by x

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Pretty Paper Party - Prompt #1

So the party is under way and part of the first prompt from Shimelle was this;

So let’s get this party started already! One of the

easiest ways to create a bold look with paper is with a

mix of paper strips - be they chunky boxes or thin

stripes. Because they are partial sheets, it means it’s a

perfect technique for using your scraps, or if you’re

going to stretch one collection of papers over many

pages (like creating a full album), it’s a great way to

create continuity by spreading the same patterned

papers from page to page without needing to buy those

patterns in bulk quantities!

It’s easy to think that strips of paper are just strips and

will always look the same, but it only takes a few little

changes to create a very different look, so see if any of

these ideas are just the inspiration you need for your

very first party project.

I chose to base my page on the lovely lo by Alissa Fast and use strips across my whole page.  Believe it or not these papers are all from one paper collection... Bella Boulevard - Swing into Spring which was an old Sarah's Cards kit.  I had some part sheets left but wasn't sure what to do with them but thought they went well with the photo of Alex and Mickey from many years ago.

A fun, bright lay out and very quick to put together :)

Several more prompts to do but a weekend in the Lakes beckons so they will have to wait until my week off next week.

TFL

The first day of class

Really looking forward to starting this class today and using up the mountain of patterned paper that I have! Anyone else partying along with me? Off to see what the first prompt is...

10 family games we love...

I was wondering what to blog about for 10 things on the 10th, so I as I sat eating my tea after a long day (a training course at our Rotherham site, a long drive in the rain and and hour and a quarter of Brownies!) I realised I could hear the fun being had in the lounge as Tony and the kids played a game.  So here, in no particular order, are our favourite games to play as a family...

A must for all Lego fans.  Sadly no longer produced but if you find one buy it!

Much more exciting than the original Cluedo with some HP twists :)

Very entertaining!

A firm favourite and great for strategy skills

For when there is just two of us...

Lots of luck needed!

Bought this last Christmas and it's fab - great for all ages.

One for when you have a little energy as it involves running around the house!

Highly amusing with Josh's drawing skills!

An easy choice for when you don't want to use your brain too much!

Pink Paislee loveliness!

I had a lovely parcel arrive this week from Pink Paislee c/o Shimelle. I was lucky to be chosen as one of the winners on her Online Scrapbook Weekend and this array of goodies from the Mist-a-bles range was my prize.

I'm looking forward to getting messy with them soon :)





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