May CREATE online magazine

My love of sketches over the years has led me to find inspiration in all kinds of places - sketch blogs and magazines (both paper and online) being my favourite mediums :)

Allison Davis was one of those inspirations, and now the business she runs with her sister, Mum and aunt -  Scrapbook Generation - now produce an online magazine everyone month called CREATE. And it's FREE! And packed with a ton of inspiration :)

You can find it here.

And as an aside, you'll find a layout from a certain person on page 242. Just sayin'.....

Having a Ball

The first Sunday in September I went to our local crop. After having a summer break it was really good to see the crafty girls again, to sit, chat and eat cake and do the odd bit of crafting!! I decided that I wanted to scrap some photos from the Mess Summer Ball, and picked out one of Allison Davis's fab sketches from Sketch Support. This is Two Page sketch #17.



The Mess was dotted with lots of polystyrene props, which just screamed out for photo ops! And we actually took a camera with us for once. We have never taken a camera to a ball in the 20 years Mark has been in the RAF. Don't know why, it just never really occured to us! But it was the best idea we've had in a long time, as we got some great shots from the night.

I used Bazzill kraft cardstock for the base, and the papers are from My Mind's Eye Stella and Ruby collection. I actually bought the papers with these photos in mind, from my LSS! They matched my dress!!

Instead of the large star shape on the sketch I used a shaped paper, and substituted the smaller stars with circles. I handstitched through the circles to mimic the sketch. I cut some of the title from cardstock using the Sizzlit Nouveau alphabet dies, and the "BALL" is a BasicGrey raw chipboard alphabet that I painted with yellow paint, and then added Waterfall Stickles to them afterwards.

It's been a while since I have used one of Allison's sketches, and I forgot how easy they make putting a 2 page layout together. I love this layout, even with photos of me on it, and I know that I will keep going back to Sketch Support for more sketches!

TTFN

xxxx

Water lot of fun

This is a layout I did using Sketch Support's One Page Sketch #3.

The photos are from out Turkish holiday in 2008, from the day we spent at the waterpark. I love that I could crop my 4x6 photos to fit the sketch.

I used a patterned paper from Echo Park, and cardstock is Bazzill. The title is done with American Crafts Thickers and cardstock stickers. I made the rossette flower and added a button and some thread to finish it off. I handstitched a border around the edge of the patterned paper, using embroidery thread, and used a Martha Stewart border punch as edging for the photos.

TTFN


xxxx

Not the same

I finally managed to use Allison Davis's November Sketch week sketch as a whole.

I was looking through my storage albums, and found a handful of photos from Christmas 2005. This was the Christmas that Mark spent out in Iraq, and was the first time he had spent Christmas away from the kids. We had the in-laws visit, but even so, it just wasn't the same without him. I took few photos, and sent them to him via e-mail, so this is what he saw of our Christmas.

I used the new Crate Paper "Snow Day" - I just love Crate Paper!

Cardstock - Bazzill Basics

Patterned Paper - Crate Paper "Snow Day"

Die cuts - Crate Paper

Alphabet stickers - American Crafts Thickers

Embroidery thread - DMC

It's absolutely baltic outside today, and although we don't have snow, we have certainly had wintry showers...

TTFN

xxxx

Dinosaurs and inky hands

The kids are back at school again after their extremely long weekend off. In-service days. Ugh.

Anyway, I took advantage of the silence, and got busy in the craft room. I even got a bit adventurous and played about with ink, hence the inky hands...

A walk with dinosaurs. When we were down at the inlaws in October, they took us for a walk around Watermead Country Park. We always called it Wanlip, seeing as it was near there LOL. We walked the Jurassic trail around King Lear's Lake, which had lots of dinosaur and fossil themed sculptures dotted about. The kids loved climbing on them, and generally had a ball.

I used the left hand side of the November Sketch week sketch from Allison Davis, I do like it when a sketch for a double page can be split into singles. I got the needle and thread out for this page too, and did a spot of chain stitch around the edge of the dino paper, which made a change from normal straight stitch.

Cardstock - Bazzill

Patterned paper - BasicGrey (Archaic)

Cardstock stickers - BasicGrey (Archaic)

Border sticker - BasicGrey (Archaic)

Alphabet stickers - BasicGrey, American Crafts

Embroidery thread - DMC

Button - BasicGrey

Tag - Making Memories

Lace - from my ribbon box

Glitter - Stickles

Don't... Yes, I have yet another set of photos of me looking particularly grumpy and disgruntled whilst trying to conquer my fear of heights... Mark takes a lot of pleasure recording my discomfort whilst doing these kinds of things.

I had a lot of fun making this layout - lots of inking and distressing going on! I wanted to use a KI Memories die cut sheet, but the problem was that it was fushia pink, so I turned it over and inked the back of the sheet with 3 different shades of green ink. Lots of mess, and lovely green inky hands after! I then tore up a cardboard box to make a sort of tree trunk on the left hand side of the page. I took the right hand side of the November Sketch week sketch as inspiration for this page. Maybe at some point I will use the 2 sides together and make a double layout LOL.

Journalling reads - Don't... ... keep pointing that camera at me. You know I am scared being this high off the ground. You know I don't like having my photo taken. I am not photogenic. And do we really need to see my Paddington hard stare? So, please put the camera back in its pouch. Please? Pretty please? With a cherry on top???

Cardstock-Bazill

Die cut paper - KI Memories

Patterned Paper - BoBunny Press

Inks - Colorbox

Chipboard elements - Scenic Route (circle), leaves from unknown source

Flowers - Prima Marketing

Brad - American Crafts

Alphabet stickers - American Crafts Thickers

Other - cardboard from a packaging box

TTFN

xxxx

Yes, I know...

...it's been a while. You must have thought that I'd got lost on our trip around the country in 8 days... Alas, we did not. I thought I would bring you up to speed on whats been going on around here, but first...

Today is Remembrance Day in the UK and Veteran's Day in the US. As a proud wife of a RAF serviceman, I wear my poppy with pride. We will all be marching in the village Remembrance Parade on Sunday. Also as a Granddaughter of a RAMC Burma Star recipient and the Great- granddaughter of a RGA Gunner who saw action in Ypres and Gallipoli I feel very proud of all the sacrifices my family has made over the decades to ensure we enjoy our freedom today.
We will remember them.

So, back to the recap of the past few weeks in the house of Yoo...

Our trip.
15 - 25 October. We had a great time, catching up with family and friends, exploring London, and seeing the boy's face when he walked through the gates at Legoland. It was so worth the travelling, the getting stuck on the M25, the 2 nights in a dubious hotel in central Watford and the having to sleep on a blow up matress on the lounge floor.
What wasn't so great was the announcement in Parliament on the 19th October. An announcement which sent our little family and the local community into a stae of shock and disbelief. Uncertain of what the future holds, but coping as best we can, even though we have no definitive answers. When we know what we are dealing with, I can get my head around it and carry on. It's what Military families do. Whether we like it or not...

Hopeman Crop.
31st October. Another great afternoon with a lovely bunch of girls - some old and some new. It was so therapeutic to sit down and craft, something I hadn't managed to do since returning from our holiday. I managed to complete most of a double layout and a single layout. I never seem to finish things off completely at a crop - usually due to me forgetting an important element (this time it was foam sticky pads) - and I always go home to add the finishing touches! Thanks to Erika for the delicious Halloween themed orange muffins. Nom nom nom!

Tang Soo Do belt grading.
6th November. The kids did really really well, both achieving their brown tag belts - which look like a huge long Oreo cookie, brown with a white stripe down the middle! And thankfully, no new trim to sew on the suits this time around!

Finally, I have some layouts to share. The first 2 are the pages I was working on at the crop.


Drivin' me Crazy. This page is based on a PageMaps sketch from January 2010. It is my Mum and Dad on their wedding day - my Dad held only a Motorbike license when they got married, but my Mum had passed her full driving license, so it was up to her to drive them away on their honeymoon.

Patterned paper - My Minds Eye, Prima Marketing

Cardstock - Bazzill

Punches - EK Success

Alphabet stickers - American Crafts

Buttons - Paper Mania

Stamp - Close to my Heart

Flower - Prima Marketing

Ribbon - from my ribbon box

Temple. These photographs were taken on our holiday to Turkey in 2008. We visited the Temple of Apollo at Didyma, the ruins are spectacular, and the remaining standing pillars are just breath taking.
I used an Allison Davis sketch from her August Sketch week.

Cardstock - Bazzill

Patterned paper - Making Memories, Fancy Pants Designs, Prima Marketing, K&Co

Alphabet stickers - American Crafts

Embossing plates - Cuttlebug

Buttons - Paper Mania, my button box

Gorge walk. These photos were taken during our "adventure week" in July, when we went gorge walking just outside Aviemore. The photos were taken by one of our guides with his waterproof camera, and then e-mailed to us after. They aren't the best quality, but they convey the whole experience we had that day! Again, I have used an Allison Davis sketch, this time from the January Sketch week.

Cardstock - Bazzill

Patterned papers - October Afternoon, Doodlebug, Prima Marketing

Stamp - Close to my Heart

Buttons - Paper Mania

Alphabet stickers - American Crafts

Kleines Fraulein. This page uses photos of our youngest German cousin, Eva Lotte. Mark has a German side to his family, as both his mother and his Aunt both spent time in Germany in the 60s as nurses. Doreen met a German guy, married and has lived in Germany ever since. Mark has 3 German cousins, and now there is a second generation of cousins. At cousin Sara's wedding in 2008, we got to meet them all for the first time. Eva Lotte was a complete darling, and everyone was besotted with her. I took these photos of her after the wedding. I converted them to sepia as the colour photographs I had were not fitting in to what I was planning! I used an Allison Davis sketch again, this is the latest Sketch week sketch - it's happening this week! I took the right hand page of the sketch, and just made a single layout. The flowers I made by punching 2" circles out of tissue paper, stamping some of them and then scrunching them all up and inking them, before fastening a button to the centre with embroidery floss.

Cardstock - Bazzill

Lace cardstock - KI Memories

Stamp - Prima Marketing

Ribbon - from my ribbon box

Alphabet stickers - American Crafts

Buttons - from my button box!

Embroidery thread - DMC

I have also been working on a couple of projects - things that I don't want to jinx by mentioning them here... But don't worry, I'll spill the beans soon enough, whether they come to fruition or not.

I hope you like the look of the place - I thought I would redecorate, although getting to grips with a new blog header is driving my nuts....

TTFN

xxxx

Millbuies

The sun is out for the last day of September, a lovely end to the month. Obviously, I will be at work for most of it - extra hours again.

I found some more time this week to do some crafting, and I was itching to make a layout with Allison Davis's Sketch week sketch. I took some of the photos from when we went to Millbuies Loch. We'd never been there before, considering that it is not too far from us, and we enjoyed a leisurely walk around the loch, trying out the slingshot (safely and responsibly of course) and also following a family of ducks.

I used bazzill card stock, and papers from the Basic Grey Archaic collection. The trees are handcut, and I used a Papertrey Ink stamp for the trunk/branches. The title is done with American Crafts "Lullaby" foam Thickers.

I really enjoy using these sketches, it's nice to do some 2 pagers every now and again.

When the kids saw this layout, they asked where the photos of Dad's bottom was.... Erm... The highlight of the visit for them, was shoving pine cones down Mark's shorts, and at one point, he had to take his shorts down to get rid of all the pine cones... So of course, being papparazzi, I took some shots... Photos are not really suitable for those with a gentle constitution, but Tom said "But Mum, you could have made a flap on the page and hidden them underneath..." Maybe next time, Son...

TTFN

xxxx

Holidays and heritage

I finally managed to find some time to do some scrapping at the end of last week, and managed a double and a single layout, using sketches - an Allison Davis one, and a PageMaps one.

The double uses an Allison Davis sketch - the same one I used for the last double I did! I love the circle elements on this one.

The photos are from a boat trip we took in Turkey, 2008. I love the ones of the kids, as Tom is hamming it up for the camera! I used Bazzill cardstock, Heidi Grace paper and some paper from Tescos. The title is chipboard Thickers from American Crafts.

The next layout I did is a heritage one. I used a PageMap sketch from the September 2010 releases.

This photo is of my Great Grandfather. I *think* it's my Gran sat on the hedge next to him. I used Bazzill cardstock, My Minds Eye, Bo Bunny and Making Memories papers, Prima flowers, and American Crafts foam Thickers. The buttons are from my Gran's button box.

I was considering going back and doing some machine stitching on it, but have left it for now.

It's good to get the creative juices flowing a bit now and again!

The weekend was busy with Tang Soo Do competitions and long shifts at work. The kids competed in the Scottish Championships on Saturday, Jemma won 2 bronze medals, but Tom came away empty handed. Unfortunately he has just moved up a category, so he is now one of the youngest in his group, so he found the sparring hard going :( He was fourth in his forms, which was a good result, but you don't get a medal for fourth place...
Saturday night was stock take at work - counting small bags of sweets at 1 am is not my idea of fun, but at least it's done for another few months. The store is having a lot of upheaval just now - as well the new shelving and brands, we are getting a new Store Manager next week, and the Section Managers are having a move round too. So, expecting some more drama at work in the next few weeks...

TTFN

xxxx

Where DO all the lost things go.....?

In my house, I am always the person people go to when they have lost something - I have an uncanny knack of finding stuff... until it's my stuff that goes missing. Yesterday it was one of my name badges for my work uniform. I did have 3 of them, but managed to lose one in the store at work last night, but can I find my spare one? Can I hell. I need one for my shirt, and one for my jacket - the store manager insists on everyone wearing a name badge at all times, company policy, although I have the sneaking suspicion that it's more because he is rubbish at remembering names than anything else...



I really hate losing things. I managed to lose my swipe card for work a couple of weeks ago, and I felt like I had lost my right arm! The black hole that is Elgin Simply Foods swallowed it up - I managed to lose it within 2 metres of where I last used it...
But sometimes, it's my own absent mindedness. I had to change my camera batteries whilst down the beach and I keep a spare set in my camera bag, but they have a habit of falling out of the pocket. Many times I have passed some batteries lying on the floor and thought - "oh, look someones dropped their Eneloops" only to find they are mine! So this time, I put the old batteries in my coat pocket for safe keeping. Only to find a few days later that I couldn't find them. I looked in the pockets of the coat. Nada. So I went on Amazon and ordered another set.
This morning, as it was windy out, I put my winter coat on to take the kids to school and wave Jemma off on her school trip. I put my hands in the pockets, and yep, found the batteries. I'd checked the wrong coat. Duh. So now I have an extra set of Eneloops. But one can never have too many batteries...

So lessons learned today - I hate losing things. And try to remember where you put things, as its annoying when you can't find them. And maybe the coat you thought you were wearing to the beach was in fact a different one... I could go on and on.....


I did actually manage to do something scrappy yesterday. It's taken me all week, but I got there in the end LOL.

I found a new source of sketches - Allison Davis. I'd heard about her books via the 2 Peas forum, but was dismayed that they were only available in the US, and ordering would mean high shipping and import duties, not really making them a good buy. But then I found her blog. Every month she does a week of posts called Sketch Week, where she takes one of her sketches and makes 5 different layouts, showing how you can adapt a sketch and use it multiple times. I love her sketches - 2 pagers, with room for lots of photos, and easy to use 4 x 6 photos on. The sketch I used was her July Sketch week sketch.

The photos were taken on our holiday in Turkey, 2008. We did a boat trip, and the boat stopped in various locations during the day, and you could swim in the sea by the boat. The kids had never been swimming in deep sea before. The captain gave them both a woggle float for safety, but they didn't really need it.

I used up alot of scraps on this layout, mainly Scenic Route and Bo Bunny, with some Creative Imaginations in there too. I used circle punches and Nestabilities to get all the circles, and drew round my bin to get the big circle. The flowers are Prima, the buttons are from my button box, and the title is raw Papermania chipboard alphas painted white, and then stickled to death.

TTFN

xxxx