Winter Scavenger Hunt Finds Part 1

I've gotten off to a good start with the Winter Photo Scavenger hunt. So far I have found 

7: Berries and/or nuts

This is a photo of the hedge outside my parents, full of berries ready for the birds. 

9: a tree that has lost all its leaves

Spotted a row of naked trees on the way into town. 

1: Robin red breast 

Cute ornaments in the local garden centre. We have a robin that comes into our garden but he's too quick for me to take a photo! 

2: Tinsel

There was lots of tinsel in the garden centre but it's not the easiest thing to get a decent photo of! 

Milton Keynes Layouts part 2

Now that I've got a spare five minutes I thought I'd better share the last of the layouts I made during my scrappy time in Milton Keynes! 

This is probably one of my favourite photos I've taken of the gorgeous sunsets at Shell Island. 

I went for something a little different for me, keeping it clean and simple. I used some mist with my heart stencil from Stampin Up to create a background and just layered some papers from Amy Tangerine Stitched. The chipboard elements are from MME. 

Finally I scrapped this layout of a cute puppy pic of the in laws dog Skip. Being a terrier mix he has hyperactive moments running around the house before crashing out! 

The wood floor paper is from Crate Paper Craft Market and the others are scraps from October Afrernoon & Simple Stories. The Love was already printed on the paper so I just added Puppy to it to make my title. 

Family: Challenge YOUrself #24

The first layout I scrapped in Milton Keynes was for this months Challenge YOUrself challenge. This month we sre asking you to use the sketch below and to use your favourite family photo.

I don't have many family photos with everyone in them, we only seem to get together for photo ops during big family occasions such as weddings and I'd already scrapped the family photos from my brother's wedding. Luckily though I found a photo of myself, mum, dad & brother taken during my niece's Christening last year. 

I used papers from Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm collection which I'd recently picked up from TK Maxx as the colours match our outfits perfectly. I also used  Amy Tangerine Thickers, butterflies from Studio Calico, hearts from Teresa Collins and tiny word stickers from Crate Paper. 

Pop over to the blog to check out the other fab layouts from the design team and to join in! 

Winter Scavenger hunt

During the summer I tried to take part in the Summer photo scavenger hunt which I failed miserably at! So when I saw on Gemma's  blog that there was a winter one I thought I would give it another go.

So now I'm on the look out for: 

1.   A robin redbreast

2.   Tinsel

3.   Outside lighting

4.   A star

5.   A snowman

6.   A puddle

7.   Berries and/or nuts

8.   A wreath

9.   A tree that has lost all its leaves

10.  A windy day

11.  Your favourite pudding

12.  A fancy button

13.  Street art

14.  Afternoon tea

15.  Candle light

16.  A chimney

17.  A ladder

18.  An arrow

19.  A fountain

20.  Cutlery

21.  Your own handwriting (this one is compulsory and cannot be substituted)

If you find any of the above hard to get you may substitute one or both of the subjects below, except No. 21 which is compulsory.

Alt A  A supermarket trolley or basket, filled with shopping

Alt B  An animal statue

Alt C  Metal railings

I have until 21 March so plenty of time...in theory! 

P.S I've not forgotten about sharing the rest of my Milton Keynes layouts! The post will be coming up soon x

Milton Keynes Layouts Pt1

Now I'm at the end of my week off work I thought it might be a good idea to share some of the layouts I made in Milton Keynes. Better late than never eh? A couple of them were DT layouts for Challenge YOUrself so I can't share those with you. 

This layout is of Boi helping nanny in the garden. She has got her own small bucket and gardening tools but she still insists on dragging the bucket along with her! I used papers from Amy Tangerine Stitched collection and fussy cut some flowers and frames to make embellishments. 

 

This next layout was scrapped on the Wednesday morning. I was quite impressed with myself as it only took me an hour and was finished before 9:30 in the morning lol! 

The photos are of Ian skimming stones while on holiday in Wales this year. I went for different shades of green purely by accident as I picked papers from my scraps pile. The background paper is Studio Calico and the scraps are from Crate Paper & Simple Stories. 

The next layout features photos taken at the beginning of the year when we went for a walk in the woods after we'd had a little bit of snow. I think I have got another layout from another snowy walk in the woods with the same title but never mind! 

I picked out the colours of Ian's coat using papers from Basic Grey for the most part, along with scraps from Simple Stories & Crate Paper. While I was away I picked up a MME Chipboard sheet from TK Maxx which was perfect for this layout. 

A Break From the Madness

With only five, yes five, weeks until Christmas I'm lucky enough to have a few days off work and boy do I need it! As you probably noticed Blogtober went out the window mainly cos I work every day and had very little to blog about especially when I wasn't getting in until after 8pm some days! So I'm using these few days to relax, get organised for Christmas and have a bit of me time. I was lucky to spend the first couple of days of my break in Milton Keynes shopping, scrapping and generally having a laugh with Gemma. We started having a second crafty break last year to break up the time between our crafty weekend in Herefordshire. We booked a Premier Inn in Milton Keynes just a short walk from the shopping centre and just chill and scrap. Obviously the Do Not Tidy this room sign is hung outside when we pop out cos housekeeping would have a field day! 

I had a fab couple of days, managing to cross a couple more pressies off my shopping list, find a dress for my Christmas party and I managed to scrap an amazing seven layouts! 

Me & You: Challenge YOUrself #23

After a brief break for Scraptober, which I sadly could not take part in, it's time for another Challenge YOUrself challenge! This month over the Blog there is a tic, tac, toe challenge for you all.

All you need to do it choice a row, column or diagonal line and use the three elements in your layout. I chose the diagonal line from top left corner to the bottom right. 

I chose a black and white photo of me and Ian and went a bit mad with the bright colours! The background paper is from Chic Tags and some scraps from Maggie Holmes and American Crafts. The lush gold heart vellum is from Stampin Up. 

I did have a slight accident with my mist. While finishing off with some splatters, as I normally do, one splatter was not quite dry when I picked up my page so dribbled slightly down the page!

Make sure you stop by the blog to check out the other amazing layouts from the design team and to join in! 

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Girlie Birthday Cards

This month I brought myself some super cute Unicorn Stamps from Cynthia Renard who I follow on Instagram. I'm a sucker for Unicorns so had to have them!

 Luckily they arrived just in time for both Boo's & my friends daughters birthdays, so I went straight to work making birthday cards for them. I coloured the images with my Promarkers. 

For Boo I used papers from Dear Lizzy Daydreamer collection. The heart paper is the same pattern as the cover of the scrapbook album I have for her. 

For Ava I used papers from Pink Paislee Bella Rouge. 

Me on Monday

Today I'm waving to Sian as I join in with my first Me On Monday. This weekend started with me having to work until lunchtime but in the afternoon I went to our local garden centre to check out their Christmas room. This has become a tradition of ours and every year I come back with more yummy decs, I love Christmas and if I could I'd have my decorations up all year! When we came home I sat down to make birthday cards for some up coming birthdays, I'll share the cards in full once the birthday girls have opened them.

On Sunday we had a couple of jobs to do in Peterborough and took the opportunity for a walk around the cathedral. We did have a chuckle at the old graffiti especially as they were the mans initials! After that we had a cosy evening watching The X Factor complete with our house guest. Yes it's Vern the tortoise, yes we are mad! 

Today it's back to work for another working week. I'm counting down the weeks until my mini break with Gemma to Milton Keynes, I can't wait! 

Blogtober Day 11: Spotify Sunday

My Spotify playlist is probably what you call eclectic. I have a mix of current chart songs to Bon Jovi (obviously) and even some 70s glam rock! Lately I've enjoyed listening to a band called Churches. I heard them a few weeks ago on the live lounge on Radio 1 and loved their sound.

Blogtober Day 10: Saturday Snapshots

It's finally the weekend yay! Today I've had a lovely day just chilling. I popped into town this morning to post a parcel and pay some money into Ian's account. While I was there I went to the library to rent some DVDs as there isn't a lot on the telly tonight as the rugby is on, I don't mind rugby but Ian isn't a fan. I rented Fast & Furious 7 as I've wanted to see it for ages! I've always been a fan of the films, mainly because of Vin Diesel, and had to watch this as it is the last film with Paul Walker. I couldn't tell you much about the story line tbh and I cried like a baby at the end, I knew I would! As soon as the music started I was off, and the "For Paul" at the end...I was gone! 

I was naughty though as I "accidentally" brought a large skinny hot chocolate from Costa for the walk home! 

Then I came home to happy mail yay! I ordered some stamps from a lady I follow on Instagram, I couldn't help it they had unicorns on them! How cute are they???

Now my Saturday evening consists of wine and Spotify, bliss! 

Blogtober Day 9: Flashback Friday

Today I thought I would share some more of my early layouts. 

This layout is about when I brought my old car Suzy Suu. The paper framing the layout is from Basic Grey Lime Rickey. I got the idea of using it to frame my layout from an issue of Scrapbook Inspirations, I miss that magazine. I was all about the jaunty angles then too lol! 

This layout was made for a challenge during a Twilight Addicts Cyber Crop. All the papers are from Bo Bunny. I think this was also my first attempt at distressing my paper edges, obviously not very well lol! 

 I love this background paper from Bo Bunny, it's so pretty. I added some glitter to my thickers to give a frosted feel. 

Very simple design here, I say design I basically just stuck some photos to the paper lol! Nothing has changed since I took these photos, it's still impossible to get a nice photo of the two of us together without Ian pulling funny faces. 

For this layout I used papers from MME Bloom & Grow. I brought a pack of papers from the collection and I've still got loads left to this day! 

Probably one of my favourite layouts I've made, not for the design but for the photos! These photos were taken during a picnic at the park. Ian placed some food at the bottom of a tree to entice a squirrel to come down and made it look as though Vern had come to see the squirrel. I used cute woodland chipboard pieces from DCWV Green Stack. 

Blogtober Day 8: Currently...

 1- Thinking: winding down from work.  I'm on a late shift this week so I don't get home until 8:30pm

2- Enjoying: my time to relax. My make up is off, I'm in my pj's and I'm blogging in bed! 

3- Feeling: tired, but it's Friday tomorrow so only one more 12-8 shift! 

4- Wearing: my pjs

5- Needing: a lottery win so I don't need to work another late shift again! Noticing a pattern emerging here lol! 

6- Wanting: it to be summer again! I miss the light evening, it's not much fun driving home in the dark! 

7- Listening: to the television. Ian is watching Wheeler Dealers, boring! 

8- Making: the most of my evening. Sorry, this is a very boring blog post! 

9- Eating: I've just finished a bowl of cornflakes. When I'm on lates my eating is all over the place because I don't really want to cook when I get in! 

10- Drinking: a cup of tea. 

Blogtober Day 7: What's on your work desk?

Wednesday means time to share what's on your work desk. Normally this would be what's on your craft work desk but more me I've been at work all day so I have a different desk in front of me. 

I can't share too much of my desk but these little guys keep me company during the day. I collect Momiji dolls so when I saw the lucky cat doll I had to have one. I love lucky cats, they're so tacky they're brilliant! The unicorn was made for me by my Facebook friend Emma. I'd shared a link from Hobbycraft and said I wished I could crochet, a couple of days later she messaged me with a photo and said he was mine! 

Blogtober Day 6: Coveted

Today I thought I would share what my dream crafty items would be, if money was no option these are the things I'd most like to have. 

1- A beautiful Raskog Cart

Ok I know these aren't the most expensive things in the world, and people will probably just tell me to go out and buy one, but as much as I'd love to have one (or more) I just haven't got the space for one. I love seeing people photos of their lovely organised carts and dream one day of having my own

2- A Silhouette Cameo

Again this is one of those "if I had space" items but they aren't the cheapest either. I love seeing layouts with cameo cuts on them. I think this would be great for making my own embellishments and the cut files available are endless! Also if I had one of these I would have to have a lovely new computer to use with it!

Finally 3- my own craft shed

This is the ultimate crafty dream for me. I'd love to have my own crafty hideaway at the bottom of the garden with electricity and decked out with bunting and fairy lights. I've even picked one out already, this one I saw at Burghley Horse trials was a snip at £5500!