Week Two of Cracker

Our elf Cracker is still with us, getting up to all sorts of mischief! 

December 8

Cracker, feeling lonely, went in search of a mate and struck gold with Angel! Do we hear wedding bells on the horizon? 

December 9

Obviously sucking up for something, Cracker went stash shopping on Hey Little Magpie

December 10

Cracker thought about having a change of career and wanted to be a fireman. Unfortunately he couldn't fit in the lift! 

December 11

Cracker and his friends chose what to watch over Christmas. He just hopes that he can watch Downton Abbey in the North Pole! 

December 12

Abandoning the idea of being a fireman Cracker thought he'd better try his North Pole uniform to check it still fitted! 

December 13

Feeling very mischievous today, Cracker played hide and seek. 

December 14

There is definetly something wrong with Cracker's uniform! 

Crackers first week

So we're on the final countdown to Christmas and we have a new arrival in our house. Meet Cracker, who has been sent by the big man to keep an eye on us. 

So far he has had a fun filled first week. 

December 1st

Cracker brought us our advent calendars, although why he brought us three I don't know obviously wishful thinking lol! 

December 2nd

Someone decided to take up horseback riding on poor Fluffy! 

December 3rd

Cracker had a play date with Percy Penguin who then photo bombed the picture lol! 

December 4th

Cracker decided he needed to bulk up ready to help Santa with the pressies. 

December 5th

Cracker thought he'd join the Black Friday crowds and bag a telly. Didn't have the heart to tell him it was last week! 

December 6th

Cracker told us to wrap up warm and we needed to, it was freezing! 

December 7th

The cold spell must have reminded him of home as he went in search of snow. Unfortunately all he could find was washing powder! 

Festive Traditions: Challenge YOUrself #13

I'm super thrilled to reveal my very first layout for the Challenge YOUrself Blog Design Team! This months challenge is to scrap about your holiday traditions, and as usual to include yourself in the photo! After racking my brains I came up with this layout

For me it is not officially the Countdown to Christmas until the Coca Cola advert comes on the telly! The first time I saw it this year I was watching Downton Abbey and I'm not ashamed to admit I squealed and had to wake Ian up lol! Another tradition I have is to watch The Muppets Christmas Carol while putting my decorations up, this and Home Alone 2 are my fave Christmas movies! Finally we have to get into the spirit of Christmas and dress up with silly headgear, whether it is reindeer antlers or an elf hat! 

I used some old Kaiser Craft Christmas papers I'd had for ages for the bulk of my layout, along with an old MME paper and the remains of some gorgeous Studio Calico kraft star paper. I then raided my mums Christmas stash for some embellishments. Trust me, she has so much Christmas stash they will not be missed lol! 

What are your holiday traditions? Stop by the Challenge YOUrself blog and show us yours x

Truly Magical: My Creative Sketches October Sketch

While the tail end of hurricane Gonzala blew over on Tuesday I sat and did some scrapping rather than venture out. I decided to have a go at this months sketch on the My Creative Sketches Blog

I like the idea of having the punched out negative space but decided instead of circles I'd pull out my star punch. With the star idea in mind I pulled another Harry Potter photo and scraped this layout. 

This was taken at the end of the tour where you enter a room with a huge model of Hogwarts lit up at night. As you stand and walk around the room gradually lights up to daylight. I think the title says it all because it was amazing, I very nearly cried as it was quite emotional. 

I used papers from Recollections and Studio Calico. Rather than punching another row of stars I decided to use the punched out stars raised on 3d foam. 

I added some cut apart phrases from my embellishment box and finished with a sprinkle of Hedi Swapp gold. 

Scrappy Weekend Layouts Part 2

Back again with the rest of the layouts Made last weekend. 

Sweet Sunshine

These photos were from our pool day in the summer. I wanted to use all three on a layout but wasn't sure how, so I decided to set them out in a square with the title going in the fourth corner. I layered the photos on papers from Studio Calico and popped them up on 3d foam for dimension. The title & it's cluster are made from Dear Lizzy Neopolitan project life cards

Munch!

This photo is of the inlaws tortoise Vern munching on his dinner. I love the colour pallette of the Pebbles papers I used as they make the photo & title pop. Of course I had to add a doily! 

Christmas in Covent Garden

It's not like me to scrap Christmas layouts but I love these decorations from Covent Garden last year and couldn't resist. I used papers from Pebbles, not Christmasy patterns but they are festive colours. I'd had these Thickers for some time but hadn't used them until now. I finished with some Washi borrowed from Gemma

Scrappy Weekend Layouts Part 1

Since I came home from my scrappy weekend I have managed no crafting at all. Even though I had the week off work I used the time to catch up with friends and chill rather than craft. I have realised though I've neglected to show you the layouts I did make while away, so here are a few and I'll show the rest in another post. 

Hello my name is Skip

I thought it was time the newest edition to our family, my inlaws puppy Skip, got his first layout. This photo was taken the day they brought him home. I used papers from Studio Calico, words from Maggie Holmes, Freckled Fawn arrows, Amy Tann Thickers & I finally used the Hello My Name is... Die cut from MME I've had in my stash for ages! I finished with splashes of Seafoam & Shell Mister Huey's 

Yule Ball

Another one for my Harry Potter album, this time photos of the Yule Ball centre piece. I love the Studio Calico star paper, I feel it makes the photos pop. I matted this onto a sheet of Kesi Art paper to make a border, and used a scrap of Studio Calico paper I had next to me. I cut into some Maggie Holmes Styleboard project life cards to embellish and used some glitter thickers. 

Just add Bond

I had this photo in a box with some scraps of paper to make a layout for a couple of months but hadn't had chance to scrap it. I used papers from Crate Paper the Pier & Close Knit, and Amy Tangerine. I then just clustered random embellishments and used two different fonts for my title 

Stay tuned for part two later this week xx

Forget Everyone & Be Yourself: Challenge YOUrself October Challenge

This months challenge on the Challenge YOUrself blogis to use an affirmation or saying. I had a browse through my sayings board on Pinterest and decided to use this affirmation to inspire me

I've been admiring layouts on Pinterest using circles and decided to dust of my circle punch and make this layout. 

I used a paper collection from Recolections which is based on an old MME collection, punched circles from random papers and arranged them into a grid. The collection also had a sheet of cut aparts which had some sayings on which seemed apt for the layout. 

I finished by adding a scatter of sequins, a couple of embellishments from my box and my trademark doily lol! I used some October Afternoon mini market letters to spell part of my chosen affirmation for the title. 

Overall I love this layout and will use this design again. It may even be one of my favourite layouts of mine. 

Sketchy Scrappers: Anyone for Chess?

This past weekend I went away on a girly, shopping & scrapping weekend with Gemma to Milton Keynes. We booked a Premier Inn about 10 minutes walk from the Shopping centre and just shopped, scrapped and drank wine! Seems as we spent most of Saturday shopping I still managed to make 8 layouts which I'm pleased with. The first layout I made was for this months sketch on Sketchy Scrappers coincidently set by Gemma! 

As the sketch had three photos on it I delved into my Harry Potter photos and pulled three photos of the chess pieces at the entrance to the studio. 

I wasn't short of paper for the weekend as took the mammoth box of paper Gemma had collected for me from various TK Maxx trips. These papers are all from Pink Paislee with various die cuts from my stash. 

For the title I used some Crate Paper stickers and some Thickers. 

Stay tuned for more layouts coming up! 

Fancy a Dip?

Looking through my phone I've just realised I havnt shared this layout I completed during my scrapping therapy weekend with you. 

Another of the recent challenges on the UKS summer cyber crop was to scrap in summer colours or using summer photos. This is just a random pic i snapped over the summer by my MIL's employers pool. I used paper from Crate Paper The Pier as well as some Studio Calico vellum I've had for ages, and die cuts from Echo Park and Simple Stories. 

Chanel Chic: The Studio Challenges

Over on The Studio Challenges Blog this sketch was set

I loved this sketch and was keen to join in. I chose this picture of the Chanel window at Harrods last Christmas. 

I wanted to use the black and gold colours in the photo but was worried this would be too dark and oppressive. So i decided to use them in small doses with a pop of other colours. I mounted some white card onto an old piece of Echo Park paper and then used scraps from my scrap bag. I drew around a plate a couple of times, moving it slightly each time to replicate the circle on the sketch and added some sequins to this. 

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