Me on a Monday

It was an Irish night enjoying, up early for food shopping (with a sneaky Costa coffee) and back out agin for a trip to the a opticians kind of weekend. It was a cute baby outfit buying (a new cousin in the family and the next generation kicked off!) and a prom dress purchasing kind of weekend.

It was a hunting on eBay for the perfect bureau to upcycle, finishing a gift for a friend and taking Alex to another meeting about her India trip kind of weekend. It was also a pick up from scout camp and let's miss Sunday night Ju Jitsu class kind of weekend which meant Alex baked (and baked some more) and we all settled down to watch the Muskateers and Tony and I Poldark with a bottle of red.

That's me up there on a Monday with my new reading glasses - feeling quite the librarian now! Except I'm not one and will be nervous about taking them out and putting them on in public but it's got to be done!

I'm joining in with Sian for her weekly meme for the first time this Monday. Determined to make more effort to blog more!

Meadow Barn - Part 2

While away the talented Jess introduced me to the Challenge YOUrself blog which she is a member of the design team for and as I had the ideal picture with me I gave it a go!

Tell us... what's on your bucket list?

I've not scrapped a full bucket list for this challenge but one of the things that is pretty much in the Top 3!  The photo is of me at the Vodafone stand at the British Grand Prix a few years back.  As a huge F1 fan (I blame my two older brothers who got me into it!  They are 10 and 8 years older than me so I had no choice as a 7 year old but to sit and endure it.  But I found I loved it!) I have been to Silverstone several times and also Germany and Spa but the one I would dearly love to visit is Monaco...preferably on a yacht in the harbour sipping champagne!!

I also managed this layout without any patterned paper!  Instead I just threw a ton of embellishments at it and borrowed a stamping up stamp off the lovely Tara.  Quite pleased with how it came out :)

You have until 4th April to take part in the challenge and win a voucher so why not give it a go?

Meadow Barn Pages

2 weekends ago I spent a fantastic weekend away at a barn in Herefordshire with a lovely group of crafting ladies.  We drank tea and ate cake, we had tea cooked for us by two lovely husbands, we chatted and crafted, we did a little Voice watching, we drank wine and we laughed until we cried!

It was a weekend that was good for the soul.  And good for my albums too as I managed 6 layouts and 3 cards over the weekend plus a framed gift a friend asked me to make.

Here are a few of the pages...(and I promise they are all straight in real life!)

First is Strawberry Tea.

I made a kit from anything pink I had in my stash and I love the result,  The Good Times tab behind the papers holds the journalling which describes how I was the main organiser for Strawberry Tea in Josh's last year at Primary School.  This is an annual event by the school and all the mums back strawberry cakes, the choir sings, there are a few readings by the children and parents and grandparents come to watch, drink tea and eat cake.  We raise a lovely amount of money for Breast Cancer Care and have fun doing it!  Alex was on an inset day from high school so joined in the fun too!

Melissani cave - This next one was made from a Gossamer blue kit and a sketch set by Gemma for our Sketchy Scrappers FB group.  I used a lovely, but rare, photo of all 4 of us on holiday in Kefalonia last year.  This was the sketch;

My Guys - The photo was taken in the early eve when the light was perfect outside the Millenium Centre while we were on a break in Cardiff. I love this picture so much.  It's such a great photo even thought they are all looking in different directions!  

This was also from a Gossamer Blue kit and I managed to kill 2 kits whilst I was away!  I need to keep up the momentum as I would dearly love to subscribe again but need to use the old stuff up first (insert determined smiley!)

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment,  I'll share the rest of my pages as soon as possible.

Final page share from last year!

I promised to come back a few weeks back (eek!) and share another page.  Well, I am later than planned (that darn thing called life getting in the way again!) but I found not one but 3 pages I made before the close of 2014 that I still haven't blogged.

First up is Reunited, using up the rest of my home made kit...

The journalling reads "After more than 20 years we were finally all in the same place for a family photo at City Road having spent the day celebrating Dad's 85th".  A family rift meant one of my brothers lost touch with the family for over 18 years,  It was a lovely day when we were all back together again.

Next, something unusual for me - a page without a sketch as a starting point!  I looked at the scraps I had left in one of my Gossamer Blue kits and moved them around to see what I could create.  I love this photo of A&J.  Alex is teaching her brother how to do a selfie and the expressions on their faces are priceless.

Finally a sketch challenge using even more scraps from the same kit!  Jess set this challenge on the Sketchy Scrappers FB group for January and it was great to use the leftovers for.  I'd seen a page Mercy Tiara had made detailing all her cats nicknames.  I can't find the specific process video but you can check out Tracy's work here on You Tube and she has hundreds of fab videos to watch :)

Anyway, I took this idea and made a page about one of our cats, Bruce, now 18 months old he has been given several nick names by us all!

Thanks for looking and leaving comments.  I do love to hear what people think and your feedback always make my day.

Sharing some more pages

So whilst I was a little quiet between Autumn and Christmas on my blog I did manage a few pages and here are another couple.  I'd put together my own kit using mostly Amy Tangerine Yes Please papers, some of the co-ordinating embellishments plus some other bits from my stash.

First up is"famfie" - I'm sure this word will make an entry in the Oxford dictionary soon but for now it's a slang word for a family selfie!

This was us on the last day of holiday in Kefalonia last May.  I love the way taking a picture like this makes us all laugh.

Top of the Tower - The other page I'm sharing today was taken stood on the glass floor of the Blackpool Tower.  

We had taken 60 Brownies from our village for a sleepover and the following morning when I saw my girls stood on the glass with no fear there was no way I could say no!  I was pleased I was able to incorporate a postcard of the tower and a badge I bought in the souvenir shop on the page.

I've one more page made with this kit which I'll share in the next day or two.  Meanwhile it's half term here so back to chilling, watching films, scrapping and a little prom dress shopping :)

One photo and twenty words

This girl.  She continues to amaze me.  Her resilience is so great.  She is a star.  She is something special.

I'm linking up with Abi today for meme of posting one photo and describing it in twenty words. Apologies for my emotional post today but she's been away over the weekend, has been struggling with anxiety and I missed her and worried about her loads!

Some pages to share

As I've been a bit remiss with my blogging I thought I'd best share some of the pages I made last month...

This is the island of Spinalonga made famous in Victoria Hislop's novel The Island (If you've not read it I can't recommend it highly enough).   I'd put together a kit for myself with mostly Amy Tangerine "yes please" plus some embellishments of my own to use up.  The sketch was the one I'd set for our sketch challenge group...

 I assure you this page is straight in real life!  

To go with the page I put together 3 pocket pages with photos from the island itself and an information leaflet plus our tour tickets.  I have yet to add journalling which I am still thinking about as I found the place very moving.

The other page I have to share is also a sketchy scrappers page using up a Gossamer Blue kit

This was the sketch set by Gemma...

And this is what I came up with adding a few extra bits from my own stash.  The photos are of Josh on the same holiday enjoying the spheres on the water in the water park we visited...

Back soon with more pages to share.  Thanks for stopping by.