And then ...both weddings were over

It seems like five minutes ago when we were given the news that two of our sons were engaged and had decided to get married one month apart..
That was over a year ago and now and  I find it hard to believe that both weddings have happened and they are now married men

I have started to do some pages with some of the photographs. This one I'm sharing today is using Barber Shoppe Collection from Kaisercraft and is a page I did for this month's  Merly Impressions Design Team blog

The papers are quite masculine and the colours having  blues and greys made them a perfect match for a photo of my three sons from the second wedding. 

I used some texture paste through a cog stencil to add some texture on the background  and also some Tumbled Glass Distress Inks on the paste and to edge the large cog die.

The collection,paste and stencil can all be found in the shop at Merly Impressions.

I think there may be a few more pages to come  !

Recipes with Bon Appetit and Merly Impressions

Hello everyone - amidst all the chaos that is wedding fever here, I thought I would post a 6 x 4 mini book -recipe book I made recently for Merly Impressions using Kaisercraft Bon Appetit Collection.

I'm one of those people who has a little stash of scribbled recipes that I go to a lot stuffed into an old recipe book from when I was at school ( yes that long ago !) 

I used lots of collectables together with papers and stickers 

The collection has lots of little quotes and bits to use. I really got engrossed 

The recipe cards are a perfect size to jot your favourites down

I created some pockets inside the front and back covers to add some more recipe cards 

I had such fun  making this one - do check out the great collections over at Merly Impresions 

Right, that's me all ready for the off now - wedding number two tomorrow .

I''ll be back with some pics of both very soon .Have a great weekend everyone.

One Photo Twenty Words

One of those photos you love when you've taken it -his last Father's Day before he is a married man.

Born to Sparkle

Hello - time for some bloggy catch up . Today I'm sharing a layout I made with the gorgeous Kaisercraft Mermaid Tails Collection for Merly Impressions

 

I managed to use lots of different papers and stickers and collectables on this layout, and  did some fussy cutting from the 12 x 12 sheets. I matted my photo on to some 6x6 paper pad sheets, punching one along the side to add interest.

I took some of the gorgeous Kaisermist in Wisteria and dripped it over the layout.

I loved the colours in this collection all my favourtites,lilacs blues greens and pinks.Perfect for those lovely summer days - by the way what HAS happened to those summer days ?? !!

 

 

 

Another Little Story

When I was little we used to go to Blakeney in Norfolk every year for a holiday. I have lovely fond memories of those times,and since Mum and Dad have been gone I keep promising myself that i will go back there - I often wonder if it will still be the same.

I used to get so excited when we were going, not only because it was great to be going on holiday but I was going to get to see 'Crispin'
Crispin was a donkey - I loved him so much and really wanted to have a donkey at home. Why couldn't dad have him at the bottom of our garden ? He didn't run about a lot and I could take him for a walk across the road to the field
This layout is all about Crispin - such a lovely cuddly boy he was... I even put my best dress on when I was going to skip across from our chalet to see him ...

Fond memories to keep on a pretty page - this was using Kaisercraft Cottage Rose Collection and was for Merly Impressions 

A Pocket Page a Layout and a Story

Good morning bloggy people
It's been a very busy time here with birthdays and card making and scrappy layouts to make...
I thought I would give you the stories behind these pages today rather than just post them.

A short while ago- himself and the boys  ( well,they're not boys now) went to a family party. Unfortunately I was away teaching at a retreat so I couldn't go. The theme for the party was dressing up party style so himself had this mad idea.He'd seen someone in a tee shirt that looked just like a jacket and shirt and decided they would all be going to the party dressed in one of these shirts... or similar .....whether they wanted to or not they would be doing it !!

So the layout here is using two photos from said party. I loved the colours of this collection - Finders Keepers by Kaisercraft which was my design team kit from Merly Impressions this month.

Although the collection has flowers and yellows in I really wanted to use the photo with it and I love the sentiment 'Live More Worry Less' too..I tried to keep it un florally and simple.

There are so many lovely images and sentiments on these papers I decided to make a pocket page too 

A little bit about the background of this one....

My two eldest sons are getting married this year one  month apart from each other and I was invited to one of the hen dos ...... My first ever ! 

Anyway we had a brilliant weekend in Edinburgh and the following page using Finders Keepers again is all about the weekend..

At a risk of boring you all I think its nice sometimes to tell you whats behind the page - hope you agree ! 

Choose Happy with Kaisercraft and Merly Impressions

So where  did those weeks go ? I'm back today with a layout using some beautiful papers from the Finders Keepers range from Kaisercraft. This is the wonderful kit I was sent by Chrissy at Merly Impressions for this month.
I had some Kaisermist to play with this time so decided to get brave and use it on the background.
I used some kitchen roll scrunched to dab all over then took the lid off and tapped the applicator to make some drips ....

 
This it was just a case of placing some collectables around leaving the middle free for my photo..

Last but not least, I layered my photo onto some rectangles of the Finders Keepers paper and adhered to the middle of the layout - all done ! 

This was a photo of my son and his fiancee who are getting married this year so it's a nice memory of them away together when they got engaged . 

Time for chores now then hopefully some more crafty stuff later - have a good Sunday!

#Me

I was sent the fabulous #Me  Collection from Kaisercaft  to use this month for Merly Impressions. 
I absolutely love these papers .

I always find it a bit weird doing layouts of 'me' but then that's what it's all about really isn't it ? 

The 'doodly' paper really took my attention and I couldn't wait to use it. 

Some of the sentiments are very true and I wanted to try to get some of them into the layout. 

I could fussy cut to my heart's content from the papers and also did some colouring in on the doodle paper too. 

Chrissy from Merly also sent some burlap to use so I decided to make a butterfly by using a picture I had in my stash.. I drew round it then cut it out.

It was a very relaxing layout to make as I did some colouring in and fussy cutting - both things I love doing. 

I'll be posting some more layouts with this collection very soon so thank you for popping by and hope to see you back soon 

The Big Leap

My youngest son went off on his travels this time last year for 6 months. He started off in Australia,then moved on  to New Zealand .

Imagine my surprise/ horror when I received the photos via my phone whilst at work that I am featuring on this month's layout I did for Merly Impressions using Kaisercraft My Year My Story

I nearly had a fit when I got these as one of the things I said to him as we waved him off at Heathrow was ' Don't do anything silly like jump out of an aeroplane or bungee jump will you ' ? 

Having said that it must have been an amazing thing to do and I'm very happy he did it ( I think).

He actually sent me quite a few photos - some of them show him as a tiny speck and the view below is amazing - still something I think I'd rather leave to others though........

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Memorandum Monday

I'm joining in with the lovely Sian this week....

Hmmmmm I thought - what have I been up to this weekend, boring stuff , normal stuff , does anyone really want to know that I went scrapbooking Saturday, did the shopping yesterday, sorted dinner , how many times do I think I will blog and then decide my life is far too uninteresting for anyone to read about and 'I haven't got any crafty stuff to show them' but then after reading a post from my good friend Karen this morning it made me think ... Maybe lots of us are the same about putting it out there - are we boasting or showing off ?  I love to see what others make and very often it really inspires me to go and get my stash out or my yarn out . It's about sharing - our thoughts - sometimes our feelings - and sometimes our creations and I agree with Karen and  Deb - let your light shine.

Oh and the one thing I really did get from this weekend was that I really do feel very relaxed when I decide to get my crochet project out that I started months ago out and do a bit watching the telly ! 

My Year My Story with Kaisercraft and Merly Impressions

Hello  everyone,
I'm sharing a layout here with some more inspiration from the fabulous My Year My Story Collection from Kaisercraft that I did for Merly Impressions this month.

I went to the Royal Albert Hall for a ‘Christmas Singalong Concert’  just before Christmas with my friend and really wanted to document it. I decided to go for it and use the December paper and word from My Year My Story.
I took  some of the  papers from the 6 x 6  paper pad  and punched them into squares with a ‘postage stamp’ type punch and used them beside the photos  as part of the background.One of the designs was not what you would think of using for a Christmas layout – pineapples but I think it worked well  !

In the paper pad there were also some unusual self embossed papers with wording and designs – one of these ‘ Love Every Day’ I used by inking over the design with some Tattered Rose and Aged Mahogany Distress Inks. A quick rub with some kitchen roll or a tissue over the embossed wording made it stand out.

I also used one with a hexagon design which I  also inked  over to bring out the design – this time with Spun Sugar Distress Ink.I then  tucked it under the photo at the top.

I also used some sayings from the Collectables Pack on this layout.  I hope you’ve enjoyed this little preview of my layout using My Year My Story.

Pocket Pages with Kaisercraft and Merly Impressions

Hello everyone, I'm back today with some pocket pages I put together for my January Design Team project for Merly Impressions 

I was sent some pocket pages together with some of the gorgeous My Year My Story collection

There is a lot to choose from in this collection as there are many different colours and with the paper pad,the sticker sheets and the collectables lots of options to either use them for planners, layouts of many different things 

I really wanted to tell the story of realising my dream of being on telly as I haven'tt really done any layouts of it. 

I also wanted to document the little episode that happened a few weeks ago.. when at the end of one of the shows, the presenter's mike got caught up in my crocheted top and this caused much hilarity all round. Apparently it is due to be shown on 'It'll Be Allright on the Night ' so watch this space !!

                                         Some of the journalling cards were perfect for this !

They were really fun to put together and didn't take forever either !