Meadow Barn layouts pt2

As promised here are some more layouts I did last weekend at Meadow Barn. This first layout is mainly the current Writing to Reach you kit from Quirky Kits with a sneaky piece of paper from ILS from the Christmas kit.



It's photo was taken at Port Meirion last year. I titled it Free Spirit as its a natural shot of me looking at the view without a care in the world,I didn't know Ian had taken it as he was on the next level down. One of the paper in the kit had labels you could cut apart and I thought the "love the view" ticket very apt.

This next photo was also taken at Port Meirion. Ian stood directly in front of me and zoomed in while he was talking to me so you could see his reflection in my sunnies.


I think most of the papers came from my scraps except for the backing paper which i think came from the kit but dont quote me on it! The letters are Echo Park and the "Lovely Day" die cut is MME Nostalgia.

This final layout is of Vernie @ Rodgie swinging on a tyre swing at Wing Hall last year!



The papers are mainly Papermania from a pad I brought in the sale at the Range a couple of years ago, used once and then lost lol! Luckily while sorting through my stash I found it again. The backing paper is Crate Paper and came in a Sarah's Cards grab box, I was hoarding it cos the A side is a cute bird box pattern but at the end of the day I couldn't see me having any pics to use that side!

I have got one more layout from my weekend away but I'll add that in my next post as it was for the team sketch over at the Tag-a-longs on UKS.

Love & hugs
Jess
Xx

Meadow barn layouts pt 1

I had a very productive weekend at Meadow Barn. At our first retreat 2 years ago I only managed 3 layouts, last year 4, this year a whopping 7! I don't know how I managed it, whether it was having a good selection of photos, or having a couple of kits with me, or whether the scrapping gods were looking over me but my mojo was certainly flowing lol! The first layout I did on Friday night was this



This was made mainly using the current Writing to Reach you & Lovenotes kits from Quirky Kits, except for the doily and dark blue paper which came from the Christmas Quirky Kits. I have to admit I wasn't sure how to use the tracing paper which came in the kit so I tried to layer it as a piece of velum which I think works. The photo is of Buster with his toy dog who he sleeps on. He was sulking cos I was about to wash it cos it stank lol!

The next layout was again a mix of the two kits. The backing paper, doily and thickers came from the Christmas kit. The other papers from the current kit, the buttons are from my stash.



This photo was snapped as a self portrait on my phone one day when I was at work over Christmas. I had brought the elf hat from a pound shop so I became the Bubble & Squeak elf lol!

So that was part 1 stay tuned for part 2!

Love & hugs
Jess
Xx

A couple of challenge layouts

While I was away at Meadow Barn over the weekend it was Sketchy Scrappers reveal time. This months sketch was chosen by Ally who chose this Pagemaps sketch



I loved this sketch as it gave me the chance to use up some more scraps. So the scraps bag came out and I came up with this layout



The photo was taken last summer at our local car show. We were walking past the camper vans when we came across this little chap inside one of the vans. If only we could put a Hawaiian shirt on Buster lol! The scraps of paper are MME, My Little Shoe Box & Lilybee Designs, the background paper is Pebbles I think. The felt hearts are from a roll I've had for a while from Panduro, and the letter are American Crafts Thickers and Lilybee Designs.

While at Meadow Barn one of the layouts I did was for the weekly challenge over on UKS last week. We were asked to use at least four different scraps of patterned paper, to use either yellow or circles and to scrap about either cooking, food or a celebration. Luckily I had a couple of Jubilee photos with me and came up with this



The photos are from the BBQ we had over the bank holiday and are of my SIL and the tortoise who wanted to get into the spirit! The scraps are from Crate Paper & MME. As yellow didn't really fit in with the photos I punched some circles and added buttons for embellishments.

Love & hugs
Jess
Xx

Update on my goals

You may or may not remember back in January I set myself 10 goals.

Goal 1: lose weight- well since joining Weight watchers I've lost 5.5lbs. Not loads but if it goes off slowly its likely to stay off right?

Goal 2: learn to bake- yeah... So far no baking but there's still time

Goal 3: scrap more- after a dry spell I've definitely achieved this. This weekend I went to Ross On Wye for a scrappy weekend with the Twilight Addicts and managed to do 7 layouts woohoo! I'll share these in another post

Goal 4: use up old stash before buying new- so far so good, other than my kit I've not brought any new stash and have been trying to use my scraps. Granted my scraps bag is still bulging & this weekend I collected the stamping up goodies I ordered from Fiona but these are for...

Goal 5: learn to stamp- I'm still not the best stamper but with some new goodies you never know. I also stamped on a couple of cards recently so it's progress

Goal 6: make my Christmas cards- yeah probably a bit early for this yet!

Goal 7: get my Beetle- now Meadow Barn is sadly over for another year I need to get my act together and sort this

Goal 8: go to see Wicked- finally going to see this in May and I can't wait!!!!!

Goal 9: blog more- I solemnly swear I'm going to start blogging more after this post so keep your eyes peeled!

Goal 10: be happy- still working on this but now the dark cold months are out of the way we'll hopefully get there!

Love & hugs
Jess
Xx

Camping Companions

After a week of mainly card making I managed to get some quick scrapping done this morning. Each month in the Tag-a-longs on UKS we have a team sketch to inspire us. This months sketch was set by the lovely Caz



I tend to struggle with layouts needing more than two photos but luckily I had three photos which fitted the bill perfectly.



These photos were taken last summer when we had a short camping trip to nearby Wing Hall a lovely campsite close to Rutland Water which is far enough away when we want a break but not too far if it pees it down lol! It states on their website that they have free range chickens roaming the grounds (luckily no eggs have been found in our tent yet lol!) but on this occasion they also had pigs! I love pigs and wanted to take a small one home!

The papers are all My Minds Eye and are from my scraps bag except for the backing paper which is from a past Quirky Kit. I used some Maya Road Kraft doily pieces for the circular elements and carried on the Kraft elements with a flag and an Elle Studio label. The "hello" is cut from a cut Part from Echo Park Photo Freedom. The alphas are some older Prima canvas letters.

Thanks for stopping by. Love & hugs
Jess
Xx

My first attempts at stamping on cards!

A couple of my 10 goals I'd set myself in my 10 things on the 10th post last month was to make more cards and to learn to stamp. Well last night I actually did both of these woohoo! It is MIL's birthday in a few days and as she hinted that it would have been nice to have had a handmade card at Christmas I thought I'd better make her a card! I recently brought a cute stamp from Crafty Sellers on FB and so bit the bullet, inked it and stamped it a couple of times and made this card.



It's Vern!! I called Vern with pro markers and cut out using Spellbinders Labels 1. The paper came free with an old issue of Scrapbook magazine and I had to sneak a doily in there lol! Of course it's also Valentines day tomorrow so I quickly made this card for Ian



I finally got around to using both a Stamping Up ink spot from a set I brought from my friend Fiona, and a Visible Images stamp my friend Lisa kindly brought for me. I LOVE using old book papers on cards and have an old dictionary on my desk with pages missing from it which I use. The spotty paper is MME and came from my scraps bag and the little Love embellishment came from a RAK.

So that's 2 of my year goals started as for the other 8... We'll see!

Love & hugs
Jess
Xx

Return of Sketchy Scrappers

After a short break I can finally say the words, its that time of the month again! I made the decision around Christmas that the December sketch would also be the January sketch, giving us all more time to enjoy Christmas and scrap without having to rush the layout. The sketch was chosen by Gemma who gave us this sketch

I decided to scrap yet another Christmas photo and came up with this layout

Vernie and Rodgie were lucky enough to have their own stockings made for them this year and were more than happy to pose with them, even though they were cheeky enough to try and confuse us by getting in the wrong ones lol!

I dont have alot of Christmas stash as I dont do Christmas crafting but i did use two Christmas papers on this layout, the backing paper is Glitz Designs and the shaped paper is MME Christmas paper (sorry I dont know their names). The paper strips are MME and Pebbles, I also created a border type thing with star washi tape I wasnt sure if I liked it at first but I think its ok. The kraft stars, doilies, wood veneer and gem are all from the Current Quirky Kit. The alphas are various Echo Park stickers from past Quirky Kits