6 x 12 pages

Well it seems the most I can blog is once a month these days!  Firstly I hope your Christmas celebrations were happy and full of all the things you wanted.

Secondly, here are a couple of half pages I made to go between the last ones to capture our day on the beach.

I'm really liking using different sizes and protectors in my albums to give it a different look.  These are mostly in my 2012 album which I had hoped to finish before 2013 was over but as I'm only on June it's not happening!  Ah, well, as they say in scrapbook-land there's no such thing as being caught up!

Hope this post finds you looking forward to the New Year with a spring in your step and not too much left over turkey in your fridge!

Pink Booby Take 2

Eventually found some daylight to photo the other two pages from the crop.  I needed to finish a few things off first though.

These are all to go together with 2 other 12x6 pages (to follow) from our trip to my brother's house in Portugal in 2012.

First up is one of my favourite photos of Alex and Josh.  I love how they are posed exactly the same way and it wasn't planned - just a quick snap on my iPhone!

This one was earlier in the day after we had stopped to get Alex a hat as it was so hot!  She really suits hats but doesn't wear them often  enough, even in the cold weather in the UK.

I've used a Gossamer Blue kit with mostly Simple Stories products and some few bits from my own stash.

Thanks for stopping by and for the lovely comments on my last post about being nice to see me again.  It;s so lovely to have friends in blog land.  Now I'm off to try and catch up on the 150+ posts I've not read over the past couple of weeks!

If I've not stoppped by your blog for a while I hope you are keeping well and life is treating you good.

Pink Booby Crop - Take 1

I'm a bad blogger - over a month since my last post.  Life has been busy with the usual stuff but I am determined to make more of an effort to blog (and scrap so I have something to blog about!)

A couple of Saturdays back I attended the annual Pink Booby crop when we get together to scrap, chat and raise money for Breast Cancer Care.  I was pretty productive and here are the first three pages I made...

This was the Sketchy Scrappers challenge and the sketch was set by Caroline...

I killed another Sarah's Cards' kit and made this with a candid shot of Alex taken at Carfest North this year.  The journalling reads "Your style is definitely "bold" when it comes to sunglasses!"

Next I purchased a couple of papers from Sarah's shop (would have been rude not too!) from Theresa Collins - Memorabilia collection and scrapped these two shots that Josh's scout leader had took of him on camp this year.  I love that he homed in on him eating his bacon butty for breakfast wearing his pj bottoms and his wellies!

The third one is one of my favourite shots from Crete this year as Josh and I were looking out to sea when we went down to the front at sunset.  Again I used papers bought on the day and added some stitching, some ink splatters and some punched stars when I got home.

I have a couple more to share but am still adding some finishing touches.  My aim is to get round and read everyone's blogs this week but according to Bloglovin that's 259 posts.  Might take me a while!

Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt - Barcelona take 2

Well today was a very successful day!

First I found this...






Which is the local parliament building for Barcelona.

Then we went to the food market off La Ramblas. I could have moved in here. It was amazing! Beats my local Sainsburys hands down!!
















At the last stall pictured I picked out a tasty Chorizo sausage for Tony :)

Again I found more things that I have already posted but had to post this sign which had us giggling. Who would have thought it would have it's own museum!



So thats me all done except the picture of me with a craft item which I will have to do when i get home.

I've had a fantastic time playing along and would like to thank Rinda for putting together another eclectic but fun list. Thanks Rinda

See you all next Summer xx

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Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt - final attempt to finish!

Just a quick mad dash of a post as I am away in Barcelona with my girlfriends. I may have to squeeze another post in tomorrow as my final find might be in the morning. (Hope that's OK Rinda!!)

So towers...

This was near some fountains we went to watch lit up at night




This one is one of the towers on the Sagrada Familia which we climbed for a fabulous view...




And this one was at the entrance to Paek Guell - an amazing place to visit if you love Gaudi!



Ive already posted stained glass and mosqic options but I loved these two yesterday...







So this afternoon I'm on the hunt for an outdoor market!

Wish me luck!!

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Double dipping with the Sketch Scrappers and UKS

I caught up on the challenge from the Sketchy Scrappers last weekend.  It was a lovely sketch, full of layering opportunities and a chance to use up yet another kit! (Yes, I know this is getting repetitive but bear with me!)

I sprayed the mask background ages ago as an experiment and found it in my card stock pile.  I thought it gave a nice dark background to the lighter papers to balance the photo.

The photo captures the fun the kids have every year when Spring comes around and we uncover the trampoline again!  I have used up the Fancy Pants - Happy Together papers on this page and added some alphas, some wood veneer bits and some stickers.  The UKS challenge was to scrap an everyday moment and use stars.  (I missed the bit about 4x6 size paper but would have struggled with the scraps I had left).

I have 7 kits left to go, some with only one page left in them really, and then I can dive into the rest of my Gossamer Blue new ones!

Start the countdown lol!

Summertime photography scavenger hunt - more finds...

I'm down to the last handful on the hunt so here are my latest finds...

Something or someone asleep...




This is Hobbes our family cat, who is an old lady of 16. She has half her teeth missing, a sticky eye, failing kidneys and is a little incontinent but we love her! Sadly we lost her sister about 5 years ago but since then Hobbes has turned from a cat that wouldn't give you the time of day to one who miaows for attention as soon as you walk in the door and jumps on your lap as soon as you sit down :)

A fire truck...



Bit of a cheat this one but try as I might I've not seen a real one! We went to a garden centre for lunch yesterday and this was in the corner behind our table. It wasn't until Josh jumped in it (although he's far too old!) that I realised I could use it. For overseas visitors it is actually Fireman Sam's fire engine. A lovable children's TV character from Wales.

Someone sporting some clothing from your country...



I am substituting this for the elusive cloud (unless I can spot that before the 21st!). Alex is at the water park we went to on holiday. She went on the lazy river with her t shirt on and it came out a mucky brown colour. Goodness knows what was in the water!! Anyway it was old and getting too small but it has the Union Jack on so it counts!!

Hopefully I can get the last few this weekend and next :)

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UKS Weekly Challenge - August Week 4

I loved the challenge this week as it was simple and fitted in with some photos I'd been thinking of scrapping.  The challenge was;

Scrap about friends or a weekend away - 10 Points
Use an envelope or glassine bag for hidden journaling - 10 Points
Creative lettering - 10 Points

I chose photos of friends from our weekend away last year so ticked both boxes there. I didn't have a glassine bag or envelope so tucked my journaling in a file folder. I think I also have the same book that Scrappy Pat mentions in her challenge so I used Easy Peasy font to add some journaling around the title.

This was ones of the last Sarah's Cards kits I received with gorgeous papers from Cosmo Cricket called Tea for Two. Very apt really as the photos are of us all having tea and breakfast in The  Elephant Cafe where J K Rowling wrote most of Harry Potter.


Thanks for your comments as always I love reading them :) - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Summertime Potography Scavenger Hunt - 11. An animal in a zoo, aquarium, nature preserve, etc.

OK,  I'll get this out there now.  This is not my best photography work!  I went to a local park, Walton Gardens,  that has a mini zoo last month to meet a friend so took these while I had the chance as I may not see another mammal, fish or bird behind bars before 21st September!  Anyways - this was the pygmy goat...


This was my favourite - rabbits and chickens happily sharing the same space :) ...


This is the star of the zoo - Bobo the donkey. He even has his own facebook page but sadly today he was feeling very unsociable!

So another item off the list but not my best.  I'm on the look out to see if I can catch something else in this category but it's doubtful! As ever you can check out more about the hunt on Rinda's blog.

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Number 10 - A bench that is outside...

Another find from the scavenger hunt and an update on my list (to keep me on track if nothing else!)  You still have until 21st September to find all the items and don't to forget to share your finds with Rinda on her round up posts :)

So this is number 10 - A bench that is outside...

This one was outside reception where we were staying in Koutouloufari, Crete.  I kept walking past thinking "I must snap that".  Eventually, on the last evening, before we got our transfer to the airport, I did!

And here it is with a little decoration :)

And here is my remaining list (including some I have found but not blogged yet):
1.   Open air market
2.   Theater for performing arts (not a movie theater)
3.   City Hall, Capitol or other similar civic building
4.   Airplane
5.   A sunset
6.   Someone or something taking a nap
7.   A sign that is intentionally or unintentionally funny
8.   A tower
9.   A photo with someone or something that is clearly out of place or doesn't belong
10.  A bench that is outside
11.  An animal in a zoo, aquarium, nature preserve, etc.
12.  A cloud in the shape of something (please specify what you see)
13.  A fence
14.  A stained glass object or a mosaic
15.  A fire truck or police car
16.  A windmill 
17.  Candle(s)
18.  Your local pub/bar, coffee house or tea shop
19.  A fisherman
20. A dinosaur
21.  A photograph of you with an artistic tool or craft supply (you cannot substitute for this item)
Bonus/substitute items.  If you find any of the above items too difficult, feel free to substitute either (or both) of these items.  You can substitute up to two items, but you cannot substitute Item #21:
A person wearing an outfit (or item of clothing) that symbolizes your country
A sundial

2013 summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt - The Carfest Edition

The Saturday before we came away we had a fabulous day out at Carfest North. Carfest is the brain child of Chris Evans and raises money for Children In Need through a car festival with music!  I bought the tickets months before, the day they went on sale - just as well as they sold out that weekend.  I'm also a bit of a petrol head on the quiet so I was looking forward to all the Aston Martins, old F1 cars and Ferraris :). It was also an excellent opportunity to grab some photos for the Scavenger Hunt. 

This was the Black Hawk helicopter doing some incredible manoeuvers;

Whereas this is my plane for the hunt - 4 An airplane.  A Vulcan Bomber t be precise.  Incredibly loud when flying low over your head and quite intimidating, especially when it's bomb doors opened.

So the day was full of hill sprints by lots of cars, air displays (see above lol!) and lots of other stalls and activities.  The cars came out in groups of 7 but were preceeded by Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (well, a replica, anyway) owned by Chris Evans.  Here he is driving her round the track....

Continuing on the celebrity theme this was one of Chris' ferraris driven by Paul Hollywood of The Great British Bake Off...You'll have to take my word he's behind the wheel unless you can zoom in!

Back to the hunt.  I've already posted about 9. A photo with someone or something that is clearly out of place or doesn't belong but thought this shed on wheels also fitted the bill!!!

These lampshades hung from a tree caught my eye in the family section where you could make pom poms or dress up...

One of my darling daughter modelling a fetching pair of sunglasses!!!  Her other pair are lime green...

This one on the portaloos caught my eye for 7.   A sign that is intentionally or unintentionally funny.  

Back to our day and this is the prodigal son trying out the Army for a career move...

The evening was rounded off by a great concert...Rockaoke (basically karaoke with a band.  Oh and about 20,000 people watching you!!!), Noasis (an Oasis tribute band), Deacon Blue and The Feeling.  We headed down the front for the last band and the kids were singing along with the best of them.  They absolutely nailed Video Killed the Radio Star - even better than the orginal!  I can't seem to paste it here but search it on You Tube, I highly recommend it :)

So that brings me to my final find. 5.   A sunset Not just any sunset though, a festival sunset with fairy lights and tents :)

So that was our fantastic day at Car Fest - what great things have you been up to this Summer?  If you want to see more fabulous finds then head over to Rind's blog at Gallo Organico.

UKS Weely Challenge - August Week 3

This weeks challenge was really simple and ideal for me;
Use the sketch - yes. Got to love a sketch, it's what I nearly always start with.
Use scraps - yes again, I have lots of half used kits so I carried on with bits left from my Fancy Pants; Be You kit
Scrap about a holiday - why yes again! Having just returned from Crete I have a ton of pics to choose from!

My writing turned out a little wonky but it's just about OK! I've also been watching lots of videos on You Tube from "mercytiara" and decided to try her style of outlining papers instead of inking them. It's not as easy as she makes it look but I do like it. If you want to check her out then visit her blog at http://mercytiara.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1
Off to see if I can squeeze in another page before my bank holiday weekend comes to a close!
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The Olympic Torch - Sketchy Scrappers July challenge

July's sketch was a lovely one for using up scraps of paper.  I turned to one of my more recent Sarahs Cards kits and grabbed a photo of Alex and one of the Olympic Torch's that had been sat on my desk for ages waiting to be scrapped. It's not the best picture but was taken at one of her Guide meetings.  One of the runners lived in our village and brought the torch into all the Guiding and Scout units over a few weeks as he has been a Scout leader for over 40 years.

And after a very short amount of time this is what I came up with...

The papers are Fancy Pants - Be You and I stitched the circle at the back and added a wood veneer camera and a stamp from my own stash.  

2013 summertime photography scavenger hunt - Cretan dinosaurs!

Think this is a bit of a cop out but I'm going with it anyway! I realised yesterday that the cuddly toy Josh brought on holiday with him was his cherished dinosaur "Diny". Diny has been around since Josh's birth and is one of his most treasured stuffed toys. Here is enjoying his last day by the pool...




On Sunday we went to the local beach and the kids started drawing in the sand. Without any prompting from me (honest!) Josh drew a dinosaur. Well I couldn't miss an opportunity for the scavenger hunt so here he is...





I will keep my eyes out for some other dinosuars in the next few weeks... the thing about the scavenger hunt is you find things when you are least expecting them :)

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2013 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt - Cretan windmills

I didn't think I would spot any windmills for the hunt. That was until I arrived in Crete! The first two I spotted in a tiny outdoor museum to village life. I didn't really stay to look round though a it was all in Greek!!







The next one was in the harbour wall at Elounda before we caught the boat to Spinalonga (a place I have long wanted to visit after reading Victoria Hislop's The Island - and it didn't disappoint)



Back soon with some more finds from Crete :)

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