Sisters In Law

Oops another month has gone by since my last post, sorry! And now we're in December how did that happen! Anyway as its the start of the month that means its Sketch & Scrap time again. This months sketch was set by Wonky AKA Jo

As I've finished Leah's album it means I can now catch up on my own photos. This month I decided to scrap my fave photo at the moment of myself with my SIL Jojo.

This photo was taken during the summer when we went to Wells next the Sea. We spent ages trying to set Jo's self timer, then trying to prop the camera up! Needless to say we had lots of out take photos lol! The papers are all American Crafts papers which I recently brought from my fabulous Twilight Addict friend Gemma. I had planned to use a different border punch to the loopy one but it wasn't playing ball and decided to eat the card instead! I then had another dilemma when it came to the title as I wanted to use the sparkly Thickers but had no T's or E's, so thought I'd use the other Thickers but only had other letters missing so I had to improvise :)  Ahh the fun of scrapping!

Leah's album: last two layouts!

I'm feeling very happy and chuffed with myself this weekend as I've finished Leah's album woohoo!! The first layout was completed for Sketch & Scrap. This months sketch was chosen by the lovely Lesley

I loved this sketch once I'd looked at it a few times, and have to admit I struggled to do it justice on an 8x8 layout so I'll definetly save it for a 12x12. This was my layout...

The photo is of my late grandad Grey who before he retired had a haulage firm with his friend. I moved the circles around on the sketch and used different punches and textures to make each one stand out. The idea for the bakers twine circle came from Hannah Young on her blog, the twine and papers also came in one of her grab boxes.

This last layout was inspired from a layout in the last edition of Scrapbook Magazine by Louise Collins.

The photo is of Leah with her family, my cousin Emma (mummy), her partner John (daddy), and her brother Ben who isnt always crying honest! The paper hearts and gem hearts have been in my stash for ages, gifts brought my family members which I never thought I would use I have to admit! The paper heart was coloured with stickles for extra sparkle.

Two to go!!!

Last night I finally finished a layout I started on Monday! To be fair the only thing which needed doing was embellishing and adding the title, but every time I wanted to sit down and do this something else came up! But anyway its done know lol! This layout is another page for Leah's album which means only two more to go yay!

The photo is of my nanny Grey who we sadly last at the beginning of the year after fighting dementia for some time. Whilst sorting through old issues of Scrapbook Magazine last week I saw a layout which had a large heart filled with smaller punched hearts. It looked really pretty so I decided to have a go for this layout. The hearts were cut using the new nesting hearts die from X-Cut and are a great way of using up scraps as well as looking fab!

Scorching Sketch & Scrap

Hi all hope you are all enjoying the Indian Summer we are having. Its lovely, even though its warm I'm finding it more bearable than the summer prob cos the sun isnt so high up? Anyway its time to share another Sketch & Scrap layout which has been the only bit of scrapping I have done this month :-( This months sketch was chosen by the fabulous but as mad as me Lisa.

This sketch is lovely and gave me a chance to do another page for Leah's album (only 3 more to go now woohoo!) I turned the sketch on its side so I could use a portrait photo and came up with this...

The photo is of Leah with her mummy & Daddy when she was a baby. I used Glitz papers from a recent grab box I purchased from Handmade Hannah. The embellishments were also from an embellishment kit from Hannah. I had planned on using black bling swirls under the photo but my swirls didnt swirl in the way I wanted them to so that was scrapped lol!

Make a Wish

I had a break from birthday cards last night and did some scrapping yay! I managed to do another layout for Leah's album which means only 4 more to go, double yay! This photo is of Leah's mummy and Nanny when Emma was just a baby

The inspiration for this layout came from a sketch on the My Creative Sketches blog. Papers used are all My Minds Eye, mainly from Quite Contrary with a couple from Bloom & Grow. I wasnt sure on the title for this but decided less is probably more and cut a sentiment from a sheet of paper.

Birthday Cards

I made some more birthday cards over the weekend, one for my mum and one for a friends son. This is the card I made for mum

I used the Papermania Tulip range which is so cute, although the colours are so soft they dont photograph very well lol! The next card is for a friends sons second birthday and I have to say I'm rather chuffed with it!

I'd seen a card on Pinterest with kites on it and thought it would be cute for a little boy. I raised the kites on foam tape so the ribbon tails looked as though they were flying. I used My Little Shoebox paper for the sky, kites are Echo Park papers, and I finished over with a good old American Crafts Thicker.

Cousins: Sketch & Scrap

Its the first of the month which means its time to unveil our layouts for Sketch & Scrap. This months sketch was chosen by Shirley

Yet again I did another layout for Leah's album, I'm slowly getting through the photos yay!

The photo was taken in 1985 of my Nanny Grey with her grandchildren at the time (2 more arrived later lol). I'm sat at the back next to my cousin Simon. In the front is my Nan holding my brother Vincent and Leah's mummy Emma. I used the free papers from Scrapbook Magazine which were gorgeous this time. The alphas are Papermania stickers coloured with Pro Markers.

Anniversary Card

I thought I would quickly share with you a card I made today for my mum and dad's anniversary tomorrow.

Papers used are free Fancy Pants papers from a magazine matted onto a kraft card blank, I love kraft cards! I used my Confetti Heart punch and some bling to finish it off. I hope they like it!

5 more to go!

I managed to get another layout finished for Leah's album yesterday which means only 5 more to go! Dont get me wrong I have enjoyed doing the album but at the same time the "I hope they like this" thought keeps running through my mind and making me panic! Now my mum want me to help her make the invitations for my brothers wedding next year! I dont know if I can cope! Anyway back to the layout...

Photot is of my aunty Wendy (even though I'm not allowed to call her aunty cos it makes her feel old lol) and uncle Steve.

Papers: free papers from Scrapbook magzine
Alphas: American Crafts
Heart Trim: Panduro
Flower: Prima

Bridesmaid

I've managed to do 2 more layouts for Leah's album this week which means only 6 more to go. One layout is for this months Sketch & Scrap and this is the second

The photo isnt that great as it was taken on my phone. The layout is of my Uncle & Aunts wedding where Leah's mummy was a bridesmaid. The papers used are various free ones from magazines.

Punch: Martha Stewart bangle chain punch
Alphas: Papermania coloured with Pro Markers
Flower: Prima
Heart ribbon: Panduro

A day by the pool

The in-laws are house sitting for MIL employers at the moment. The house is a lovely big house close to Rutland water, complete with tennis court and swimming pool! On Sunday we were all invited over for a day by the pool.

Heres a pic of SIL Jojo and myself

Ian with his new convict style hair cut which I dont like!

Buster doing his Baywatch dive into the pool (cue the theme tune!)

And a pic of my gorgeous boy taking five

A day of antiquing

My SIL, Jojo, and I both have the same taste when it comes to interiors, we love the French Shabby chic style. As a result we both love flea markets and would love to have our own stall. Yesterday we went to a local antiques fair at Grimsthorpe Castle to see what little treasures we would come across. Neither of us have been to Grimsthorpe Castle before, even though its only a 5 minute drive from where Jojo lives!

We had a great time looking around all the stalls and we were both very good and didnt go too mad with our purchases. There is a doggy theme with what I brought. I brought these two Tunbridge Wear boxes, the larger I was brave enough to barter down to £25, the smaller which doesnt close very well was £8

I also brought for the princely sum of £2 this gorgeous fellow

As I mentioned Jojo and I would one day like to have our own stall. If we did then this would have to be our home for the weekend hehe!

What time is it???

ITS SKETCH & SCRAP TIME!!!! Yep its the 1st of August which means time to share with you my Sketch & Scrap layout for the month. This months sketch was set by Heather

And this is my layout

The photos were taken during our weekend on Shell Island in June, when one evening we decided to have a bonfire on the beach as the sunset. Dont be fooled into thinking it was a lovley summers evening it was flipping freezing! I had a go at ribbon folding for this layout which looks fab if you can get the silly thing to stick! The shells are actually from the beach

Two more Layouts

Its been a while since my last post and I have no idea where the time has gone! In my last post I was on a scrapping roll but that soon stopped, maybe Zumba has had something to do with it as I've recently taken this up and love it! I'm not one for exercise but this is so much fun you just dance and wiggle your bum alot! The down side is I come home completly shattered and dripping with sweat so scrapping has been put on hold. I have however managed to do a couple of quick layouts for Leah's album, as well as a layout for Sketch & Scrap but you'll have to wait a couple of days to see that (insert evil laugh here!) Anway on with the layouts...

 This layout is of Leah with her brother Ben who was born 3 years ago. I would say he was her little brother but he was a whopper when he was born! A close up of the star embellishment I made using Sizzix Primitive Star dies

The second layout is of Leah's grandad, my Uncle. The paper used came with the current issue of Scrapbook Magazine, they are suppossed to be seaside papers which I would normally have no use for but found a couple of sheets which were not themed.

My scallop edge punch seems to be playing up at the moment and eating the paper, leaving junks missing. Luckily the photo has covered where this happened!

On a Roll!

I'm on a roll when it comes to the weekly challenges on UKS at the moment. I had stopped doing them as there didnt seem to be much point collecting points when the team wasnt collecting them, but now that should be all sorted and as a result I've now completed 2 in a row get me!

This weeks challenge is set by Wonky aka Jo. The criteria this week was to scrap one photo of one thing; to use circles; to use doodling; and to use eyelets or brads. This is the layout I've done

The photo is of my cousin Emma when she was a wee girl. Her daughter Leah who I am doing the album for is the spitting image of her! I used one large circle, doodled around the edges and used brads in the centre of the flowers.

Papers: My Minds Eye, Papermania & Echo Park
Ribbon: American Crafts
Alphas: Heidi Swapp
Brads: Papermania
Punches: Martha Stewart

Sketch & Scrap and the Weekly Challenge

Its the first of July (where did June go, did we even have a June?) so it means its Sketch & Scrap time again. This months sketch was set by Jessbaby aka me! I chose this sketch from May's Pagemaps

Again I used the opportunity to use the sketch for another page for Leah and came up with this layout

This layout is of my cousin, Leah's Uncle, Simon. Simon sadly died in 1999 before Leah was born. I wont go into details but it was unexpected. Originally I had a rub on swirly flower thing in the top right corner but this just did not look right so I did what all good scrappers do...cover it with a bloom!

This week I've also completed the weekly challenge on UKS for the first time in AGES! This weeks challenge     was set by the Ric Rac Ravers who as part of the criteria set this sketch

We were also asked to use their team colours of pink, green and white; use Ric Rac; and to use stitching in any form. I used all of this to complete another Leah page

The photo is of Leah's mummy with a wild pony on Quantock Hills near Weston Super Mare when she was a teenager. Hopefully this burst of mojo will continue...

A catch up and another page for Leah

Blimey time has flown since my last post! Lets see whats happened... Last week was my 30th birthday which I have to say wasnt was bad as I thought it would be despite being forced to wear a flashing 30 badge all day at work! We decided to have a weekend on Shell Island last weekend, it stayed mainly dry but very windy which drove us mad and battered our poor tent! We managed to get the same pitch as last year with this amazing view

We were lucky enough to see dolphins one morning but they were slightly too far out to get a decent photo with our camera. The best bit about being right on the beach is being able to have a fire two nights, we built the best fire pit which got called the volcano

Not one to miss out on the action was Vern and his friends

I also managed to get 2 more pages for Leah's album finished before we went away. One is for Sketch & Scrap so stay tuned for that one, the other was this

This layout is of my cousins (Leah's mummy's) Christening. I love how Emma is smiling at our Nanny Grey in this photo

More pages for Leah's Album

As promised here are some more pages I've managed to complete for Leah's album

This layout is of Leah's great nanny Stallon.

The papers are ones I've had for ages, I think they are DCWV. I used my Martha Stewart scalloped punch for the borders. The butterflies and flowers are also punched from old book pages with Martha Stewart punches.

The next page is of Leah's mummy, my cousin Emma, with her best friend Jacky taking part in a parade when they were at school.

The papers used here are some American Crafts free papers from a past issue of Scrapbook Magazine. I created the bunting to match the school flag they are carrying. I also used some old Fancy Pants rub ons I've had for ages.

The final page I've finished is of Leah herself with her younger brother Ben

The papers are from the current issue of Scrapbook magazine. Originally I had drew and out my own clouds but they looked pants so I used one from the free papers! I then had the usual scrapbookers dilemma of running  out of E's in my thickers hence the back to front 3!

So in total that's 5 pages down 15 to go! Luckily this is for Christmas cos its going to take some time! xx

Leah's Album: Wedding Day

This month for Sketch & Scrap we had a lovely sketch set by 2Angels AKA Carin

For my layout I decided to make a start on Leah's album and chose a photo of my Auntie & Uncles (Leah's grandparents) wedding as this was a perfect excuse for adding hearts, which was the perfect excuse to buy a heart punch hehe! This is my layout here...

I love using old book pages in cards and thought they added to the vintage feel with the Dymo labels. The papers are from a recent grab box from Sarah's cards, the floral paper is from American Crafts "I Do" range, the blue paper is the reverse side to some stripey Fancy Pants paper.

I finished 2 other pages over the weekend and will take pics once I can get the camera back from Ian lol!

Weekend at Dalby Forest

Last weekend saw us travelling back to Pickering for the MTB Cross Country World Cup. I'm not a biker at all but love going to the racing cheering on the riders.

Friday night was the Pro Sprint Eliminator around the centre of Pickering. The riders race in groups of four around the town, down tight alleys and even through someones garden!

Saturday was the first day of Cross Country racing. Last year one of Ian's heros, Thomas Frischknecht, was racing. He was there again this year but this time to cheer on his son who was taking part in the juniors.

 Of course no trip is complete without our fury friend Vern! Not to be left out he came along and even wore a British Cycling sticker to cheer on our riders.

He even tried to have some of Ian's cake!

We also found we were famous! We made it into the programme (I'm the one with the Shram Bam Bam's!)

First Page of Leah's Album

A few months ago I was asked but my Auntie Barbara to make a scrapbook of family photos for my cousins daughter Leah. We sadly lost nan at the start of the year and Leah loved looking through the old photo albums so rather than just giving her an album of photos, my Auntie thought it would be nice to present them in a scrapbook. A few weeks ago she dropped the scrapbook and some photos around but as we were going catsitting that week I decided it best not to start straight away unless I wanted a little kitty helper! Anyway I managed to make a start on it this weekend using this months sketch on Sketch & Scrap but you're going to have to wait until next week to see that one...sorry but its the rules lol!

Last night I sat down though and managed to finish another page which I can share with you now.

This photo is of my mum and dad, Leah's Uncle & Auntie, on their wedding day in 1976. That summer there was a nationwide drought but the day they got married the heavens opened and it poured all day, so much so that my dad says it was dripping through the church roof onto the register! The papers used are ones I brought ages ago when I started scrapping but have never used!

Stay tuned for the next page at the end of the month lol!