One Photo Eleven Words

                             
                It's nice to be back - Belated Happy 35th Anniversary Mr H.

Lovely Smiles with Merly Impressions and Kaisercraft

Good morning - I'm back today with a layout I made for Merly Impressions Design Team using the lovely Kaisercraft 'Provincial ' Collection.

Chrissy sent me one of the lovely embossing folders to use in my kit this month so I decided to use it behind my photos. I decided to use the blue tones of this collection this time. After cutting rectangles,embossing,cutting flag bottoms out I then inked over the embossed type with Peacock Feathers and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks. 

I also used a gorgeous Decorative Flower Die and layered these around the photo- I just love to sit and fiddle with flowers and layer them all up after shaping and bending them - very relaxing. 

I used some of the collectables from the pack to layer around my page too.

I've enjoyed playing with this collection and will be back next week with another layout 

I hope your December is not too hectic and crafty hugs to everyone - its good to be back in blogland :-) 

Me on Monday

Is it really Monday again ? Where did last week go ?
It was a frantic -  hair washing, packing totes and mini case, check dog food situation Friday for me last week. I haven't been doing as much scrapbooking as I'd like lately as I've been really busy  with making cards so it was lovely to spend the weekend 'licking and sticking' as himself likes to call it..

I spent a lovely weekend with like minded friends crafting away - eating breakfast lunch and dinner - a real unusual thing for me but lovely and generally having fun... a tiny bit marred by the fact that the 'check tyre pressure 'light flashed red at me on the journey ( something that has happened a couple of times) and instead of me thinking oh it's  extra sensitive and oh it doesn't matter too much kind of thing - there has actually been a nail in the tyre both times .... so I kept checking the tyre over the weekend in the car park and luckily all was well when it was time to go home...

There were lots of classes and I managed to finish all but two of them.. maybe they will be ready for me to show you next Monday ( setting myself a challenge now !)

There was a mix of techniques in the classes including making tassels, stamping layered perfume bottles and some fussy cutting of flowers together with embellishing polaroid frames.

I managed to get hold of some of Shimelle's  Christmas range together with some of her thickers in the shop .-so I made a layout using a mix of Shimelle's and some My Minds Eye papers. I love the cute little envelope and the presents.

It was a returning home late Sunday afternoon feeling shattered but happy - curling up on the sofa with the dogs and watching Downton Abbey kind of day yesterday.

So my Monday today is back to working and thinking about what to have for dinner .

I hope your Monday is going well. I'm joining in again with the lovely Sian and giving her and the other Me on Monday people a big wave

 

 

Me on a very grey cold October Monday

It was a very - it's good to be back but I wish it was better weather,shopping,dog hugging,out for a family celebration lunch sort of weekend for me.
We arrived back from our week away on Thursday evening,boy it was chilly! The boy had done us proud and had spoilt the dogs, kept the house tidy and even painted the kitchen!
It's nice to be able to get away for some re charging of batteries but it's always so nice to be back home ....

So it was back to himself going off to football full of optimism and back to me having a day to myself having lots of 'bits' to do but not really doing many of them Saturday.

The phone went at 5.30 pm and I was invited to join himself 'down the town' for a meal.

Not needing to be asked twice,I fed the dogs and was off..now, the reason I was summonsed was because he knew that if he came home and sat down after a day at football he would fall asleep in the chair so best to have a meal first!

'I fancy a mixed grill in the Greek' he said, so off we went. The last time we went there the portions were ridiculously big and it really puts me off so I asked if I could have a 'half portion of Moussaka '......this was it !!!

Pretty big half portion isn't it ! Mind you it was delicious

Sunday was a going out again to eat lunchtime - this time for Sister -in Law's birthday which was lovely

So quite a busy time back this weekend,now it's Monday morning and time I headed off to work.
I hope you all have a good Monday
I'm giving a wave to Sian today and hello to any other ' Me on Monday' readers - why not pop over to her blog to see what she's been up to.

Catchin' up with the world

Hmmmm so here I am after a rather big nudge ( more like an 'oi go and update your blog' ) from two of my bestest friends Deb and Karen
What do I tell people out there? - am I the only one who thinks nothing I can write will be of interest and then then I go off and read other blogs and thoroughly enjoy it...
Well,life's been busy as always- family wise we have had two of our sons announce their engagement this year - so there will be two weddings next year . Eeeek you hear me say, excited,nervous,and lots of other emotions all rolled into one word!
Craft wise I've been making lots of cards for shows with lots of different kits. I was lucky enough to be on telly again recently with loads of different things -here are some piccies of what I've been doing lately
These are some of the cards from the shows

Here are some of the views I get - our setup 

 Looking out from where we are seeing another show being broadcast - silence from us !

                                                        Empty set ready for someone else

                                          Scary lights come on when you are about to go 'on air'

                      I always wanted to pick a a name out of the 'cup of chance' spotty potty !

So that's a little update on things - oh and I have managed a layout....using the beautiful Kaisercraft Silver Bells collection . Yet again another perfect set of papers that made me use some photos from the castle - we are going back this year as we missed last year and I can't wait !

A bit of Fairy Magic

I was sent some beautiful papers for the Merly Impressions Design Team project this month together with some Lavinia Stamps.
I made two cards - one easel card and one 6x6
The first one was using Fairy Dust papers from Kaisercraft in lilac colours.

The second one was in green colours using the same papers

A little bit of fairy magic for October !

Going Live !

It was my turn recently to be the demonstrator for Kanban for the latest One Day Wonder on Create and Craft and as usual I had a mix of excitement and nerves.
It never ceases to amaze me that I have been  lucky to get the opportunity to do this..
When something is your love and you've watched the shows time after time it's very exciting to be part of it. All those years ago watching Blue Peter and then pretending to be one of the presenters left a mark on me !
This time we were showcasing a 'Selection Box' of cardstock in unusual - not on the high street colours together with some sentiments butterflies and flowers.. Here is a selection of my demos from the selection box

Here's a little pic of me in action - well sort of !

The collection really is a great base to have for your everyday cards when you want to make one but with the colours that you cant find on the high street it makes them that little bit different.

I really enjoyed working with this collection, it die cuts folds and punches like a dream !

I hope you've enjoyed this little look into my world of crafting. Just goes to show that sometime dreams can come true !

Cards for Making Cards

Today I'm sharing two cards I made that were in Making Cards Magazine's July edition
I used the beautiful Kaisercraft Oh So Lovely collection and Prima Julie Nutting Doll Stamps

I love the way you can add the little collectables from the range to use as embellishments.on your projects - there are always lots to choose from,and who doesn't love tipping them all out and rooting through  them all to find what you want to use ?.,,

I stamped the dollies first on pinky colour paper then stamped them again on coloured paper and cut the clothes out. The clothes were then paper pieced onto the dollies - just like all those years ago in Bunty Magazine (showing my age now !!) and it that dog cute in his little hat?  

One Photo Twenty Words

It was such a lovely treat for us to have all our three boys together at home at the weekend

I

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My first post for Merly Impressions

Hello everyone.I'm posting a couple of cards today using the fabulous Lavinia stamps from Merly Impressions.
Chrissy has just started stocking these and I must say they are so lovely. Whimsical and magical is what I'd call them.
I was so happy when Chrissy invited me to join her mega talented team and am really looking forward to playing with Kaisercraft papers and Beyond the Page items together with the Lavinia Stamps each month
Here are my first two cards

This is using 'Freya' the fairy together with some papers from the Oh So Lovely collection -Fairy Pod and Zen Plant stamps I stamped all round the edges of the card with the top of the Fairy Pod stamps then inked over with Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink. The fairy was stamped with Black Archival I then inked around the edges with Chipped Sapphire and Cracked Pistachio. She was then matted and layered with some more papers from the 6 x 6 paper pad .Finished off with a double ribbon and a sentiment from the Collectables  pack

For my second card I went a bit pink and made a 'twister' .Using papers from the 'Oh So Lovely' 6x6  paper pad I covered the card in 2 inch squares then matted and layered some embellishments from the Oh SO Lovely Collectables pack - don't you just love tipping them all out and sifting through them ? I also used the Fairy Pod stamps which I stamped cut out and coloured with Fired Brick distress ink then added a tiny it of stickles. Finally I stamped some 'Slender Mushrooms' just on the left hand side. These are really fun cards to make and the beauty is that they can completely fold up to go in an envelope and you can also have them 'twisting one way or the other.

Say Aloha

Back in the land of blogginess again, I thought I would show a layout today that I made with the gorgeous Say Aloha papers from Kaisercraft.
When I saw this collection It immediately made me think that it would be perfect for some photos I had just seen of our son celebrating his birthday whilst in Thailand.
He has been travelling for 6 months now - and is home this week.....Oh how I can't wait and have warned him there will be Mummy hugs involved when we go to meet them at the airport.

They were going to a 'Full Moon Party while they were in Thailand- there seems to be lots of body paint and partying involved.

Anyway, I thought these papers were perfect, so colourful and tropical. I did a little bit of fussy cutting and used the pack of collectables. I love those, there's nothing better than tipping them all out and reefing through them and I love that Pelican !

Has anyone out there signed up for Shimelle's new class  Ready Set Scrapbook? Its great to see a new class of hers again as she's been a busy girl with her lovely little man for a while.

Kaisercraft Blue Bay Class

I can finally reveal my class I have just taught at the ATDML retreat

I used the beautiful Kaisercraft Blue Bay collection together with some Cracked Pistachio Distress ink and quite a lot of foam pads!

Layout one used the embossed Dew paper which once inked over revealed a gorgeous design - as one 

lady in the class said ' it's like magic painting '

Layout two used lots more from the ephemera pack again with more inking 

The little frames in the pack were perfect for photos - and the embossed frame lent itself perfectly to being inked 

Time to relax now and get scrapping ! 

Kaisercraft Design Team 2015 Entry

Anyone who knows me knows that I love Kaisercraft products. My crafty style can be very flowery and layery which I think works very well with many of their collections.I also love the fact that there are lots of other products apart from paper within their ranges especially stamps which always stamp beautiful crisp clear images and gorgeous off the page products too.
 I've not applied before but thought  if you don't try you'll never know  -so why not !
So....

First up I have a layout

I fell in love with this frame when I saw it and have actually designed another layout for a retreat I am teaching at with it. What I really like is that you can ink the embossed shiny parts on the frame to echo whichever papers you are using. This is using the All that Glitters collection and I've used Picked Raspberry distress ink on the frame.I also did  a bit of gentle splatting with spun sugar distress stain on the background.

I've also used the Kaisercraft All That Glitters clear stamp set for the two sentiments and separate little butterflies, together with the All That Glitters sticker sheet for added embellishments.

Next up is a Beyond the Page project using the Kaisercraft 3D  Wall Art Square Frame 

I've used the Wunderlust paper collection as this is perfect for the photo I wanted to use in the frame.

I've also used Kaisercraft  clear stamps again  - this time the 'Sweet Pea' for the flower and banner  'All that Glitters' for the sentiment ,'Rocks' stamp for the background and 'Butterflies' ....for the butterflies!

I've cut various little sayings from the papers,inked the edges of the frame with Chipped Sapphire distress ink and also used a tiny bit of Treasure Gold on the corners of  the frames.

Thirdly - a Card

This is unashamedly blingy - typical me. I love pink and gold together so this combination in the All That Glitters range really appeals to me 

I've used lots of items from the Ephemera pack here from the All That Glitters collection together with two of the papers using the pink and gold side of one. The pink oval frame is layered over one of the flowers and I've edged this and the Dream Sparkle Shine sentiment with gold leafing pen.

So there we have it - my entry for this year. 

I do know there are a few of my crafting friends over here  who are also applying for a place so I wish everyone all over the world good luck but we are flying the flag for the UK  Kaisercraft lovers !

Graphic45 and blog meet up memories

Good morning bloggy people 

I've been looking over my past creations and thought I might post a little collage of some of my Graphic 45 creations One of the layouts is of when some of us who met via Shimelle's online class all met up in all London. Was it really two years ago ? 

Me on Monday

It was an 'oh my goodness how nice to see you after so long' catching up with blog/scrap friends,eldest moving his things back in whilst they look for a house AND after having a word with myself catching up on friendship squares kind of weekend for me..
Imagine my surprise upon turning up at a bi monthly crop to find my seat and who should be sitting right there next to me but 'Scrappy Sandie'  Lots of chat ensued and the day flew by.

Of course we had to have a selfie - I really hope Sandie enjoyed her day back scrapping,it was so nice to catch up.
So the other thing I did was to make some more friendship squares - apologies ladies but I really really am back to it now and there will be three more posted tomorrow

I'm joining in with Sian's me on Monday blog feature today - so I'm waving hello to her and all the others playing along too.