Snow Day

We very rarely get snow down here in sunny Dorset but we have had two coverings in the last two weeks. Up until yesterday I had been at work each time so hadn't been able to get out with my camera so I had to make the most of the snow yesterday and get snapping. I dragged Rebecca and the dog out with me and we spent a lovely two hours walking around the island, it was so beautiful.
One of my favourite place on the island is Church Ope Cove, it is so tranquil and unspoilt. At the top of the cove there are some ruins of an old monastery, they are always good for photographing but they looked especially good in the snow.

 I started to play around with the photo just by changing it to black and white and sepia, I love how it looks.

 Quite impressed I managed to get this shot, trying to throw a snowball and take a photo with a big camera at the same time isn't easy!!

 Down along the coast past the snow had turned very icy, I couldn't resist taking some photos of the ice on the plants.

 At the top of Church Ope Rebecca was just walking over to the wall to look at the sea when we realised there was a little robin sat there. We managed to get really close before he flew away and I got some photos too, what an obliging little chap!

 Archie wasn't keen on getting his nose in the snow to dig out his stone so Rebecca had to give him a helping hand.

 The snow was great for taking shadow photos.

 Rebecca.

Today is very grey and dreary, I just want the snow to clear away now I am due to have a shoulder op on Tuesday and really don't want it to be cancelled due to the weather!!
If I don't get back on here I hope you all have a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year. Take care and thanks for stopping by.
xx

Sketch Challenge

I don't seem to have had much time for scrapping lately but I did manage to find the time to use Lianne's great sketch for this months challenge over on Sarah's Cards blog.
I decided to use some of my newer papers, Hoopla, by Glitz Designs. I love the colours in this paper range and teamed it up with a sheet of Bazzill Basics, some Sassafras paper whimsies and chipboard stickers.
When I was little my favourite doll was a baby alive and I kept it for my children in case I had a daughter. As it turned out I had two but neither of the girls were ever that bothered about playing with her, there walking, talking, interactive dolls were much more interesting lol. I did get these photos of Emily playing with her on a rare occasion though so thought the moment should be scrapped.

TFL
xx

Stationary Box

A little while ago I was asked to create a stationary box to hold Christmas thank you cards for Scrapbook Magazine. I have never attempted anything like that before so I knew it would be a challenge but then I do like a good challenge! I decided that I wanted to be able to have the box on display all year round so I knew the outside couldn't be too themed. These Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather papers were perfect as there was a good mix of traditional and more subtle papers.
I started with the inside of the box first and covered it with the more traditional Christmas papers. I have to admit I spent a long time shuffling papers around my craft desk after that and wondered if I was ever going to be able to create something I would be happy with. In the end I came to the conclusion that I needed to treat the box as I would a scrapbook page. Once I had made that decision the box came together quite quickly and I really enjoyed creating it!
The pictures don't show it very well but I have misted the outside of the box and all the flower embellishments with silver mica mist, it gave the whole project a lovely subtle sheen.

The best part of any project for me is all the little fiddly bits, the lid was the one place where I could really go to town without affecting how the box functioned. I made some flowers using Tim Holtz tattered floral dies, Marianne Creatable dies and lots of different punches. I also added some leaves using the Tim Holtz tattered leaf dies, I stuck some wire to the back of the leaves so they could be bent into shape. I added some small Zva pearl swirls which are perfect for projects like this where space is limited.

The inside of the box is much more "themed", seeing the inside and outside like this it is hard to believe that all the papers that I used came from the same range! I have made some cards to go in the box but didn't get around to photographing them. 

TFL

xxx

1st December 2010

I can't believe it is the 1st December already!! What does that mean to most children..........opening the advent calendar. Thought I would share this photo I took of Rebecca this morning supplementing her breakfast with some chocolate!

Just A Few Pages

Sarah's Cards November kit has been winging its way out to people over the last few days, the kit was full of fab We Are Memory Keeper papers, not a manufacturer I had ever really used much before.

The kit came with a Jilly Bean corrugated alpha, the waste was just too good to throw away so I wanted to incorporate it onto a page. I kept the focal area quite small so that most of the alpha waste was left uncovered.

I originally backed this page on the sheet of kraft but then had a disaster with an ink pad, dropping it from a great height onto the page leaving a big brown splodge on the kraft. To rescue the page I cut around the page leaving a thin border of kraft and then mounted it onto the pale blue bazzill. I have to say my heart sank when it happened but I actually prefer the page as it is now, the kraft border helps the page to pop.

My final page to share is the last one that I created at the barn, I just love this photo of Emily. I have used some of my favourite papers again, Girls Paperie, they are so girlie but have a bit of a vintage feel too. I have also used a couple of Zva pearl swirls to soften the bottom corners of the matted photo. I have to thank Sarah for the title, that is one thing I am really hopeless at! I don't possess any heart punches and it isn't anything I thought I would find useful, but at the barn I borrowed a large heart punch and a tiny heart die, I really like what they add to the page especially the tiny ones. Think they might have to go on my "must have" list!!
Thanks for popping by.
xxx

Beautiful

I don't seem to able to stick to a stash diet so I thought if I can't stop buying new stash it would be good if I actually started to use up my older stash! I love these Prima Flights Of Fancy papers and have been saving them although I am not quite sure what for. When I started this page I had an idea of surrounding the photo totally with flowers, butterflies, bling and other embellishments. Although the page hasn't quite turned out like that I am really pleased with the overall look and I think I am going to put it on the wall in my craft room.
I had a rummage through my vintage embellishment boxes and found these gorgeous 7 gypsies gaffer tape and Tim Holtz tape, both of which I had to have at them but had never used....until now!

The black swirl is a Fancy Pants glitter transparency, I didn't like the glitter side so I have used it face down on the page. I seem to be having a bit of a love thing going on with pearl swirls at the moment, the ones on this page are by Zva Creative. My favourite part of putting each scrapbook page together is the fiddly bits so the more I have to make myself the better. These Tim Holtz tattered floral dies were a really good buy, I have cut out three of the spiky flowers and two of the smallest flowers, inked the edges, spritzed them with water and then screwed them up. After carefully unfolding them I have left them to dry and then layered them up securing them together with a metal button.
On a recent shopping trip I found a hot glue gun in Wilkinsons for £6 and the packs of glue sticks for a £1, I had been looking for one on line for a while so thought this would be a good one to start with. I have been really pleased with it, it makes securing larger embellishments so easy and of course I always love a bargain!
Right better get on with the chores! Thanks for stopping by and I really do appreciate any comments that you leave.
xx

sketch Challenge

This months sketch challenge has just been posted over on Sarah's Cards, Lianne has created another fantastic sketch which I really enjoyed using. This is the first photo I have scrapped from my sisters wedding, I think I printed off about 180 so I have got a few more pages to create yet!!

If you fancy joining in then pop over the Sarah's Cards blog for all the details.

Finally!

It don't seem to have had many layouts to share lately but finally I have something to show you! I put this page together when I was away at the weekend, I just love these Glitz  Design Love Nest papers I have never had anything by them before and was really impressed with the quality of the papers and embellisments.

 I loved these Prima branches when I saw them at Sarah's and had to buy one but wasn't sure how I was going to use it on a page. I have to say I just love it on this layout and think I need to get another one!!

TFL
xx

The Barn 2010

Wow what a weekend! I have been away with the Sarah's Cards DT to a fab barn up in the Peak District, they are such a great bunch of girls and we had an amazing time together. We missed Jen (who has just had a little one) and Claire but hopefully we will see them both in March at the retreat!

I thought I would share a bit of what we got up too although most of my photos seem to be of the view from our scrapping table! It was an amazing view though lol.

This was Saturday morning when no one else was up, it was such a gorgeous morning I just had to capture it on film.

 Sunset on Saturday evening.

 Vanessa and Gems, both such lovely girls. I was really looking forward to meeting Gems as she was unable to come last year. We had some great "nursy" conversations lol.

 Sarah bought us all some sparklers so we had to have a play with them on Sunday night. Not sure what shape Rachel was trying to make but it looks great anyway!

 Lianne making a star.

 The scene of organised chaos in the barn!

 Sarah's Cards DT 2010 (minus Jen and Claire)

 Sunday afternoon sky, there was a steam train that kept going backwards and forwards across the fields but despite taking lots of photos I didn't manage to get a good shot of it.

 Lou being creative......chatting. Lou is the most amazing scrapper and her use of mists and paint is so inspirational.

 Rachel, trying to make her pack of thickers stretch.

 Gems and Nat, these two were so productive I think Gems created 7 stunning pages! (I managed 3 pages lol)

 Sunday night Sarah treated us to a chinese takeaway and it was scrummy. Sadly Vanessa and Cathy had left earlier on in the evening so are missing from the photo.

It was such an amazing weekend and it was great to meet up with all the girls again, I even managed to drive myself there with only the sat nav for company. I did go wrong on the way up and took the M42 instead of the M6 and had a bit of a panic when I thought I was going to have to drive through Birmingham! The world is my oyster now, I can drive anywhere lol (as long as it isn't too far off the motorway lol)
TFL
xx

Family History

Back in 2005 I started researching my family history, I suddenly realised when my Grandma died that I had never asked her about her childhood or life time memories and I knew so very little about our family history as a whole. So I started searching on line, I dread to think how many hours I have spent trawling through records both on line and in the local records office! It is still a work in progress but I absolutley love it and have found out so much about my family I feel that I really know where I have come from.
I have been given lots of old family photos but as I don't have a scanner I have been trying to photograph the photos as I want to use some for scrapping. I thought I would share some of my favourites with you.

 My Grandpa and his little sister Emily, taken when they were living in Canada (they were both born there but came back to England when there mother died a few years after this photo was taken)

 My Grandpa grown up and what a handsome chap! The girls think he looks like a film star and I have to agree lol,

 My Grandma as a tiny baby with her siblings and their nurse.

 My Grandma ages 12, apparantly she was walking through Bournemouth with her father and a photographer stopped them as asked him if he would allow him to take some photos of Grandma. He must have agreed as we have got some lovely portrait photos as a result!

 Another one taken during the photo session, has to be one of my favourites!

My Grandpa (the blonde one at the back) with his little sister on the right, not sure who the other children are but I'm not sure you would get a child to wear a shirt and tie to the beach nowadays!
I can't wait to get these printed and be able to scrap them.
TFL
xx

Second Page

I thought I would have another go at posting my second page that I did for SBM, the photo is of me aged 2 with my Grandparents (on my Dad's side the other layout is my Mum's Mum). I have created this page is A4 size which is great for a lot of old photos as they tend to be a lot smaller so don't get quite so lost. You can also store them in an A4 ring binder so making storage a lot cheaper.

I have used papers by Girls Paperie which have become one of my favourite ranges, the doiley was saved from underneath my orange juice at a retreat in June and inked with distress ink to age it. All the die cuts are K&Co, not a make that I usually like but I have found these die cuts shapes really useful and have used lots of them on other layouts.

TFL

xx

Miss Jones

A while ago I was asked by Linds over at Scrapbook Magazine to create two pages using modern papers with vintage photos staying away from the typical heritage look.  As you probably know by now I love vintage pages so I was really excited to get started.
A while ago I created a page of my Grandma  aged 3 in 1912 entitled Little Miss Jones (which I have posted on here before)  and as I have got some gorgeous of her through the years I want to try and document her life in photo/page form.
Page one, Little Miss Jones.

Here is page two, I have got some photos of her inbetween the two but I need to prise them out of some old albums which I think will be a very delicate operation and then scan them .

 I really love these MME papers and although they are definitley not vintage they do take on a vintage feel purely because of the photo.

I will post the second page soon, for some reason blogger won't let me upload any images now! I am sure it is probably me doing something wrong it usually is lol.

TFL

xx