I've been a bad, bad blogger....

...*hangs head in shame* - I know, I have neglected my poor old blog. It's a cliche, but time flies, and the past month has fairly whizzed by. A few things have happened though...

The Norty Crew meet in Blackpool was one of the best weekends I have ever had in my life!! The girls were all lovely, and a complete scream. We got a full days crop in a conference room in the Hilton (where we were staying), the food was amazing and the company just couldn't be beat! I have not eaten, laughed or stayed up late as much as we did in a LONG time, it took me a week to recover !!

I managed to do a board book and a LO during the crop.

The board book is a Maya Road - I cut the spine as I knew it would end up fat LOL, so used my BIA to bind it at the end. Its all done with a BG Archaic 6x6 paper pad. The poem is "Now we are six" by A.A Milne. I was inspired to do this after seeing a book using this poem on the homepage of UKScrappers in August.

This LO uses all BG Archaic range - I bought one of the purple pizza boxes from my LSS, a DO craft promotional thing, with a selection of papers, a box of buttons, brads and chipboard accents :) The title is Sizzlit Chunky font cut out in funky foam - I made my own thickers LOL.

Since then I have been in a creative downer - completely devoid from creativeness, not able to find motivation at all. Due to a few reasons I think -

• Mark left 10 days ago for 6 weeks in the sand


• I have been suffering with an unshakable cold (which spookily started as Mark departed)


• the kids are on a 2 week half term, and I am just worn out


• just looking in my cubbie made me groan, as it was a pigsty and I couldn't get in it, and I couldn't be bothered to tidy it

The lack of creativity makes me feel bleurgh which in turn makes me feel even less creative - a vicious circle I just have to bite the bullet to break.

I finally broke it this weekend. Tom has a party to go to, so I had a card to make, so I had to tidy up the cubbie. So I tidied, then I crafted - and did the card, and felt sooooo much better. I got the creative juices flowing again and it felt good.

I then decorated some candles with Christmas clip art images from PCcrafter.com.

I then got working on another board book. I had originally begun this a couple of weeks back, but nothing more had been done since. It is a book about memories from my childhood. As I sat there working, my mind began to wander and lots of suff came into my head - about things I had in my home as a child, about the sweets I loved, about things we did. I got a notebook out and started making lists, and then something I wrote made me think of Papa - my maternal grandfather. I sat and wrote 2 pages of journalling about him and I just know that its a LO I need to do asap.

For now the flood gates seem to be open, and I hope I can get back to doing pages again quickly - I haven't scrapped a proper page yet this month.

I managed to finish off my Shimelle album (a 4x4 so not "proper" pages iykwim !) and I was so glad I perservered with it, and its a smashing little book, even if I say so myself LOL.

I really enjoyed having a sketh to follow each day. I think I may use the sketches again for my Christmas journal, if Shimelle doesn't do sketches for it this year. Sometimes I find it hard enough to follow the prompt, without having to think about the page design too... I am already thinking of papers for this though - may get a co ordinated paper pack and some stickers... more stash spending... I was doing well with that until today, when I bought 4 stamps (2 journalling, 2 definition) from one site, 2 American Crafts 12x12 D ring albums and a US scrapbook magazine from another, and then Monica left a link on our team thread to a bargain on QVC which I then bought.. LOL. But in my defence, the stamps were to replace some that had been damaged in my cubbie, the albums I have been after for a while (so I can set up my Library of Memories) and the magazine is one I haven't had before. The QVC stuff was a real bargain, and if its not to my taste it'll become part of my Mum's Christmas present....

If you got this far, then congratulations!!! I know I am not the best updater in the world, but when I do update, boy do you know about it tee hee hee...

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September

Crikey, September already....

What I have been up to so far in September -

• I became one year older
• I started playing netball again
• I joined a Pilates class - first one was last night, so far so good :)
• doing Shimelle's "Learn something new every day" class, and actually managing to keep up to date - bought a great kit from Shimelle to do this class with, and its a 4" x 4" format which is making this project sooooo much easier and quicker ;)
• making up page kits, and mini book kits to take to our UKS team get together in Blackpool next week - NEXT WEEK!!!!! So, so excited about this. And hoping and praying that Anne will be there with us too :)
• getting far too excited about above weekend, and also about seeing Amanda again :)
• trying to research some family history
• enjoying walking trails, bike rides and counting slugs with the family this past weekend :)
• learning alot about rivers courtesy of a P6 project...
• making christmas present lists - not entirely my doing or my suggestion, more like a "keeping hubby happy by making a list" list :P
• trying not to think about Mark going away in October :(
• spending far too much money on stash for my liking LOL
• did I mention looking forward to the weekend in Blackpool.... :P
• oh, and last but not least a little bit of scrapping.....

I did this one today, when I saw the BG Archaic range I knew that it was perfect for Tom - dinosaurs and orange, what more can I ask??? And to get a chipboard orange dinosaur, well that tipped the balance and that's why I ended up with the stash in the first place...

Cardstock is Bazill Kraft, and the rest is Basic Grey :) LO based on a pagemap from Becky Fleck's book "Scrapbook Pagemaps".

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A few more things to share...

...as I have had a productive crafting week :) Helps when the kids are back at school :P

Really trying to finish off this NZ album now, as I am determined that I will not be taking NZ photos to our team get together in September :)

Not much to say today, I think I talk too much anyway LOL, so all I will say is that the following LOs are all based on Pagemaps :)





I did another 2, but I think 4 is enough to bore you with today - it's getting to be a bit like the dreaded holiday slide evenings of the 70s...

So that's my annual total up to 73 :)

Continuing to strive for balance, although most of the time I am like Bambi on ice.....

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More LOs to share...

... and more of New Zealand :)

First LO is from Christchurch, at the caravan park we stayed at. Kids and play equipment eh?


I used a July 2007 pagemap, the papers are Sweetwater and Paperloft. I added a bit of ribbon, and some rik rak and the title are foam thickers alphas :)

The DLO uses photos from one of the most unexpected finds of our holiday. We rounded a corner on the Arthur's Pass road, to see a Lake completely frozen. There were people on the ice on skates, with babies in bathtubs, so Mark thought it would be good to stop and have a go, seeing as he had never been on a frozen lake before.... So the 2 of them went to explore, walking on the ice in trainers - with me stood back on the hard, non slippy, safe ground LOL, armed with my camera and a 10x zoom :)


I used a November 2007 pagemap, Kraft bazzill, and Urban Lily paper. I used a zig pen to continue the black curved lines from the paper, and added MM flowers and buttons. The large flower came from a Little Silver Hat kit, and the centre of the flower is a MM chipboard accent. The title uses American Crafts Stickers.

Hoping to get some more LOs finished this week - and with the kids going back to school, I should find a bit more time to do it LOL. I can't believe the holidays are nearly over, this summer has gone so fast...

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Keep that mojo working!!!!

Seems my mojo has come back from holidays refreshed and raring to go LOL. Another 2 LOs done for the New Zealand album - I am sure going to miss it when its done!!
This DLO is of Pancake rocks - Mark was obsessed with catching the waves splashing up on the rocks on camera, he spent ages stood there with MY camera trying to get the perfect shot LOL. But it was a truly amazing sight, the scenery was unbeatable.

I used K&Co Wild Saffron papers, kraft cardstock, and a MM journalling page. Title is using foam thickers, and the stamps are Autumn Leaves. This is based on a pagemap from Becky Fleck's book - this is from page 63:)

The next LO uses a photo taken at Shantytown. Whilst Mark and I were dressing up in period costume, the kids were adamant they were staying in their nice warm 21st century clothes thank you very much LOL. So they amused themselves with the 1860's props dotted around the saloon - namely the piano and a huge shotgun :s

I used an April 2008 Pagemap, bazzill card and Daisy D's papers. The title is foam thickers, that I inked with cats eye ink, but it didn't dry, and I ended up getting ink everywhere, so I covered them in 3D gloss to stop the mess :) The flowers and brads are from Little Silver Hat kits :)

Finally, I can show you the other mini book I did last week :) Now I know that it safely reached my teamie Sharon all the way in Michigan, I can share it:)

I used K&Co Wild Saffron papers and tags, and then went to town on the cover with leaves, blossoms and a birdie :)
I'm glad she liked it, and can't wait to see it when she has put some photos in it :)

I must get cracking with some organising - I am half way there with my photos, getting some albums to stick my scrapping fodder in to get them out of envelopes :) I also have 5 pizza boxes in my craft room - which ain't a big space - filled with kits that I haven't had a chance to use yet....

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Getting back on track...

My scrapping has certainly taken a back seat over the past couple of months, and so it was really nice to be able to sit down on Friday night and get some LOs done. Two more for the New Zealand part deux album LOL.

Whilst on South Island, we visited a place called Shantytown, on the West Coast near Greymouth. It was mid winter, cold and very damp, and the place was almost deserted, but we still had a great time, looking at the buildings and shops recreating the 1860's - Gold Rush era. We even got to pan for gold - we all came home with a tiny bottle with gold flakes in the bottom, and panning is not as easy as it looks :)

The LO was done using an April 2008 pagemap. I used bazill card, and Chloe's Closet paper. Braid is from a Little Silver Hat kit, and the title is American Crafts foam thickers :)

The second LO is also from Shantytown. In the Saloon, there was a photographer, taking sepia photos in period costume. Mark thought this was a great idea, persuading me that it would be fun.... Hmmm.... Well, I got given a skirt and a corset top, both of which were about 8 sizes too big, so I was pinned together with about 25 safety pins, to get it to look right. I was wearing walking boots, so I had to go barefoot - and it was not the warmest days of the year, so I was absolutely freezing LOL. Mark fared better with the clothes, but was not as enamoured with the hat, as it did make him look like Stan Laurel LOL. The photographer had quite an old DSLR, and actually, my little Fuji S5700 took better photos than hers, so she kindly took some with my camera too, and we also bought the proper print she did for us ;)

The LO is done using a June 2008 pagemap. The card is Bazzill, with the hearts already punched out. The paper is Junkitz. I used thin organza ribbon from my vast ribbon collection, and the title is using foam thickers again :) The flower ribbon slide came from a Little Silver Hat kit :) I inked this LO within an inch of its life ;)

It's so good to get a couple of LOs under my belt, hopefully this is the springboard to help me get back into the swing, and to reach 100 LOs for the year :)

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Finally back...

... after my holidays and the week or so it takes to get over a holiday LOL :) Plus I didn't have anything crafty to share - and I'm sure you'll get to see my holiday snaps over the coming months anyway LOL

The first bit of crafting I have done is a minibook - instructions were given by Annette (Voodoo Vixen) on the homepage of UKScrappers on Monday showing 2 different minibooks. I chose to do the square book, and thought it would make a nice gift for our cousin whose wedding we attended at the end of July :)

I used Papermania 8x8 card, and Basic Grey Sultry 6x6 pad - went fantastic with the photos :) I added a few mini prima flowers, and used American Crafts foam thickers on the front cover. The ribbon I think came in a Little Silver Hat kit.

It's taking me a while to get back into the swing of crafting and scrapping - I ordered 919 photos from Photobox when we got back, and have only just organised them into an album so I can see what I want to scrap. With the kids on holidays still, it's all go, and at the end of the day I feel shattered after all our activities. When the kids are back at school, and we are back into our old routines I think that I shall feel up to scrapping more - I hope so !!

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