Paper bag book

I've finished!! Managed to do the last bit of sewing on it this morning whilst the kids were at swimming lessons - Mark's turn to take them this week ;)

I must say that I am really pleased with how it's turned out, and hopefully my friend will be too.
I used 3 paper bags - the american style block bottomed bags. I've had a pile of them for ages, can't even remember where I got them from LOL. I used papers from the Scenic Route Grafton range, and matching Bazzill cardstock. I used my long forgotten Heidi Swapp stamp on some of the pages, the travel themed words worked great. The flowers are Prima. Ribbons are from my vast ribbon box!
The "adventure" title was cut using the "Life's a Beach" cart in my Cricut. Thanks Erika for the loan xx. The chipboard suitcase is from Maya Road.

Wave border is also on the "Life's a Beach" cart, along with the plumeria flower.

The last paper bag book I made was a few years ago for a friend who had just had a baby boy, but it was good doing one again. I used to love looking at some of the amazing bag books for sale on Ebay, and my book has been inspired by their use of machine stitching and distressing - not that I don't ink everything anyway ;)

I'm wanting to do paper bag books for my kids birthday cake photos - every year they have a photo with their cake LOL. I ordered more Scenic Route papers to do them in - I just love Scenic Route, can't believe they are no more :( So I am using as much as possible so I can continue to enjoy it for a wee while yet LOL.

Off to spark up the BBQ as it has been a lovely sunny day up here on the Moray Coast. Even got the garden weeded! A wee walk and an 99 ice-cream made it a perfect day :)

TTFN

xxxx

The past couple of weeks...

...seem to have gone by in a blur.... A quick recap of what's happened in the House of Yoo just lately...

• The planned trip to the falconry centre etc didn't go as planned as the boy was violently sick on the Bank Holiday Monday, so Mark and Jemma went by themselves leaving me and Tom to have a duvet day...
• The craft room finally has it's green wall, as I painted this week :) Also the Expedit my friend brought me from Glasgow Ikea has finally been put together and looks fab in the craft room :)
• Mark's Aunt and Uncle came to visit from Liverpool. We took them on a tour round the Glenfiddich Distillery, and the Speyside Cooperage, both of which have radically changed since we last did the tour about 15 years ago!
• The vegetable growing is going well, I have lettuce in a trough outside, along with a trough of peas. The strawberry plants I transplanted from another part of the garden are doing well in their new spot - I spied some flowers the other day :) I also found some raspberry plants too, which I moved to a sunnier spot. I also got a rhubarb crown - absolutely love rhubarb - so the "Good Life" experiment is going well :) We planted more seeds with the kids when Mum was up, and the carrots are just coming through, but the beans and courgettes have gone great guns, so will need to plant them out in the next few weeks! This is showing Mark that a raised bed is definitely something that we will need for next year!

I have been crafting as well, making some cards (that I forgot to photograph before I posted them) and also doing this layout for a blog challenge on Sarah's Cards Ltd blog. It was a sketch challenge (how could I resist?) and the sketch was provided by Rachel Ward, one of their design team.

I used Kraft Bazzill, and Fancy Pants and Scenic Route papers. The alphas are AC Thickers, and I made the top "lollipop" flower myself. The other flower is from American Crafts, and the other flower and buttons are ones from my stash.

The photograph was taken the day after Mark's cousin's wedding in 2008. It is quite unusual for the whole family to be somewhere, as Mark has a large extended family (well it is compared to mine!) who are spread far and wide - from us in Scotland, to his 3 German cousins :) Everyone was in Liverpool that weekend, so it was rude of me not to take a photo of the 8 cousins all together - the last time was probably about 20 years ago. I had to smile, as they were all pretty much colour co-ordinated too!

I have been on holiday from work this week, so I have been working on a paper bag book commission for my friend (the one who went to Ikea for me LOL). I have busted out the sewing machine, and I love how the book is looking right now. I need to finish off the inserts, and then I'll promise I'll share ;) I had to go to get more thread this morning, and more adhesive too - which meant a trip to my LSS, otherwise known as the House of Sugar ;) I'd already been in earlier this week to get adhesive and some flowers to embellish my project, and I'd resisted getting more stamps, but I ended up giving in today and got a cute little birdhouse stamp from CC designs :) I can't wait to ink it up and play! Especially as I treated myself to more ProMarkers this week too.... Well, I did get paid on Monday....

TTFN

xxxx

More layouts and a birthday card...

... the old grey matter couldn't think of a better title today, so I'll stick with the obvious....

I've had my Mum come to visit this past week, so not much time for computers or blogging, but we did manage a bit of crafting. And a bit of craft shopping too!

The projects I am sharing today were done over a week ago now, but I've only had the chance now to upload them.
This layout I did after the one I posted on my previous post - I used the same PageMap, but I decided against putting this one in the competition. I flipped the sketch so that it was a mirror image - it worked better that way, and fitted in with the branch better.

I used bazzill card, Sassafras Lass and Scenic Route papers, the label is from Shabby Chic, and the alpha stickers are Thickers. The bird and the flowers are both Prima. I used the Bazzill In Stitchez templates for the hand stitching.

Photos are from Landmark, and show Jemma doing her daredevil impressions whilst jumping off a telegraph pole... It's called the SkyDive, or the fandrop, and now Jemma is tall enough to go on it, you can't keep her off it!

This next layout uses a PageMap sketch from April 2010. The photos are from our Easter Sunday walk in Roseisle Forest, where we found an overhanging tree just waiting to be climbed... Mark took a photo of Jemma, and said she looked like a Koala, and then they all wanted to do it. So here is my bunch of Koalas...

I used Kraft Bazzill, and Basic Grey papers and stickers. The journalling spot is a stamp. And, just for Erika, I too can put sequins on a scrapbook page!!

I made this card for my Nana's birthday, which was the end of April. I sent it to the respite care home she was staying in whilst Mum came to visit.


I used an old Sugar Nellie stamp on this card, and coloured it with my Promarkers. I am getting the hang of them now! The papers are all Basic Grey, and the sentiment is from Craftwork cards. I added a few blooms and a jewelled brad to finish off.
I hope my Nana liked it. But seeing as she doesn't remember me any more (she has dementia) she may not know who sent it. But I hope she appreciated it anyway. It is so sad. I'm glad I gave my Mum a break this week, she has to deal with so much at home.

Anyhoo, the kids are off school, so tomorrow we are hoping to go out for the day - weather permitting of course. Our plan is a trip to the falconry centre at Huntly, and then Mark has found us a walk to do just outside Dufftown which leads to a castle that has a colourful history...
Must make sure the camera has batteries......

TTFN

xxxx