A scrappy Sunday...

... to end a great weekend! Mark and I had a great night out at the wedding reception - catching up with friends, doing a spot of dancing on the dancefloor, and watching old friends relive days gone by. Add into that a stunning bride, some very cute bridesmaids and the sight of men in kilts, and it truly was the best night out we have had in a long time!

Today, Mark and Tom went to walk along part of the Dava Way, whilst Jemma was on day 2 of her camping/hiking adventure. And me, well today was local crop day, so I spent most of the day playing with pretty paper, drinking tea, chatting and eating cake. Bargain! Erika had set us a crop challenge, to make a scrapbook page using a sketch she chose from the May 2011 PageMaps. Not so much of a challenge for me as a scrapbooker, but we have a good number of cardmakers come to the crop, so it really was a challenge for some of them who had never done a page before. The pages were fantastic, everyone had there own take on the sketch.
This was my offering...

Tom, dressed up as Sully from Monsters, Inc. This was the first time he went trick or treating, and he was a big hit! Everyone commented on how cute he was, and he came home with a big haul of goodies!

I used just one piece of patterned paper and one sheet of cardstock to make this layout. The paper is Scenic Route - Metropolis Scrap Strip 3. I love the multi patterned papers. And they were perfect for this sketch. The bunting is Maya Road chipboard, painted with Making Memories paint, and topped with some patterned paper and epoxy stickers from Paperchase. I used a notebook paper border punch, and a stitching template from Bazzill, and finished off with the title made using Scenic Route chipboard letters.

This past week has been great fun for me - pampering and playing - although I have learned a few lessons along the way...

• Next time you decide to have a spray tan, make sure you book it on your day off.... Going to work and continuing to turn a deeper shade of brown tends to freak out both customers and members of staff...
• False nails do not help you when you are trying to take the backing off double sided tape. In fact they are a complete hinderance...
• Make sure that the dress you wear next time you get a spray tan is not dry clean only...
• Changing your shoes at the last possible moment was in fact the correct decision. Pretty shoes can also be pretty impractical...

TTFN



xxxx

Catching up....

.... with family, work, friends, and just life in general this week. It's amazing how much having visitors come to stay can knock your whole routine out of whack, so I've been trying to get back to normal, whatever that may be...  I have a few treats lined up for the rest of the week - a bit of pampering, some beautification, a night out with my bloke, and to round it all off, an afternoon crafting, chatting and eating cake with friends.

I also have a bit of catching up to do with regards to sharing some layouts...  Last week, there was a new sketch every day over at Nuts About Sketches, to celebrate the 3rd Birthday of the blog.

Here is my layout for sketch #4

The photos are from a canoe trip Mark and the kids took with his best friend and kids. They both had a Canadian canoe, and paddled down the River Spey from Kingussie to Loch Insh.

Next up is the layout I did for sketch #5



Mark took these photos when he went to watch the All Blacks play France at Eden Park in Auckland. I was so jealous when he told me. I was brought up watching Rugby Union, and my Dad was a referee at a local amateur leve;, and I spent many Saturday afternoons on the touch line watching him. I would have given my right arm to watch a International Test, and maybe my left arm as well to watch the All Blacks play. His seats were on the try line, and he got a great view of the game. He said the Haka was just amazing - it really is a different experience seeing a Haka in the flesh rather than on the TV.

I used a couple of stamps I purchased in New Zealand on this layout - the fern leaf looks better in real life, I stamped it with white ink and then embossed it with clear embossing powder before handcutting round it.

Then there was the layout for sketch #6

These photos have been knocking around my desk for a while - I took them while we were on holiday in North Wales in 2004. We visited a woodland adventure park, not unlike our own Landmark in Carrbridge. There were plenty of activities to do, mostly involving wood! These wooden stilts were fun, although the kids were just a little bit wee to actually use them by themselves, so Daddy helped them.

The final sketch #7. This was a 2 page sketch, but I just took the lefthand side of the sketch, and I also flipped it horizontally to make it work with my photos.



These are photos taken at the Gravelpit Pond in Culbin Forest. We like to go there to see the tadpoles, and there are usually millions of them. Later on in the year the fully formed frogs go back into the forest, and you can watch them slowly navigate across the trails. You really have to watch your step!

I cut the frog out of a scrap of BasicGrey paper, and fixed it to the layout using sticky pads. I added some handstitching to look like hopping, although it didn't really turn out the way I had hoped....

There is still time to enter a layout for the Scrapping Spot kit - the competition closes at midnight on Saturday 14th (the midnight between the 14th and 15th). All the details are on the blog :)

So now to this week. Monday was the usual reveal for the Nuts About Sketches weekly sketch, and this week was sketch #160

These are photos of Tom learning to fire a catapult at Millbuies Loch.

I finally got to use my die cut piece of Making Memories paper that I have been hanging on for what seems like an age! I handcut some stamped leaf sprigs, made some flowers, inked a canvas flower, and did lots of distressing with my CTMH distressing tool. I even managed to get a doily in there LOL. Not a very manly layout...LOL.

Check out what the rest of the Design Team did with the sketch!!

The night out with my bloke I mentioned earlier, is actually an evening wedding reception of 2 of our friends. So I made a card....

I kept it nice and simple - I hear that "less is more" is quite the fashion these days LOL. I took inspiration from my good friend and crafting buddy (who is extremely talented and an expert muffin baker to boot) Erika who was making a gorgeous white with a hint of black card at our last crop. I raked through my Cuttlebug embossing folders, and found one that looked nice and wedding-y. I added a few little jewels, a bit of black ribbon, and a sentiment. You can't beat black and white for a wedding...

TTFN

xxxx

Bookworm

Hello!!!!  As today is the 7th, it's time again for my reveal over at Sassy Lil' Sketches! I had a lot of fun with the sketch this month, and actually got a lil' bit messy with some paint - got to get out of the comfort zone now and again...!!

This months sponsors are:

Digital Delights by Louby Loo



Ippity stamps

This is my layout using the sketch. Photos of Tom reading a book on the beach at Findhorn. He loves to read - he can sit and read a book cover to cover, and would do so all day if you let him. This day, he got cold going in and out of the water, so he just sat on a towel and read a book.

I decided that I needed to jazz up the white background, so used a Donna Downey foam stamp and some Making Memories paint. I stamped directly onto the cardstock, and then stamped 2 more stems onto spare cardstock and then handcut them out and added to the layout with foam pads for some dimension. I also dry brushed some paint onto the cardstock to add some texture. That was the really scary bit!! 

The papers I used are October Afternoon (red pattern) and BasicGrey (blue, yellow and block red). The border was done with a Martha Stewart punch. I made a little lollipop flower from the papers, crumpling the circles first and distressing the edges with my distressing tool. I added a fabric brad to hold it together.  The title is done with American Craft Lullaby Thickers, coloured in with a Canary ProMarker to make them a brighter yellow.

Please head over to the Sassy Lil' Sketches blog to see what the rest of the 7th Sassies did with the sketch, and to get the details on what you can win if you play along with us this month!

Don't forget that there is the Sassy Lil' Card sketches blog too, and they have a new sketch revealed today!! Head on over to see what they have been up to!

I promise to be back tomorrow with the rest of this weeks birthday layouts that I didn't get round to posting - whooops!!!

TTFN

xxxx

Nuts About Sketches - BOGOF....

Well, maybe not Buy one get one free, but over at Nuts About Sketches we have 2 new sketches for you today - the usual Monday sketch plus a birthday celebration sketch!!!

First up is sketch 159, our usual Monday sketch. This week was a two-pager, but I chose to use the right hand page of the sketch to create my layout this week.

Photos were taken at DisneyLand Paris in October 2006. Mark is well known for his extreme rides, so a ride on the Teacups is not as sedate as you may think. Many a time I have gotten off a teacup style ride and felt green. He always takes things to the extreme...

I used My Mind's Eye glittered papers on this layout, with Bazzill Cardstock. The title is done with American Craft Thickers, and I made the tea cup using a Spellbinders Nestabilities circle die, and just chopped off the top and bottom to create a cup shape.

Next up, is the 3rd special Birthday Celebration sketch.

I used photos from Mark's Longlook trip in 2007. This is the Agrojet. It is awesome. I know, as I have had a go on this too!!!

I used a Scenic Route strip paper on this layout, love how you can get so many different designs on one piece of 12x12 paper! I also added a bit of corrugated cardboard, and a few circles and buttons. The title is a mix of Papermania raw chipboard, and Heidi Swapp chipboard letters. I painted the raw chipboard, and then added some Frosted Lace stickles. I also painted a raw Maya Road chipboard circle, and then added a back to it with kraft card. I then filled in the star shape with small buttons and Glossy Accents.

Don't forget to join in with us this week, for every layout you upload on the blog using one of this weeks sketches, you get your name put into the draw for the May kit from The Scrapping Spot! So come over and play, you know you want to!!


This month I have also been lucky enough to get work published in 2 online magazines! You can find me here and here at Scrapbooking.com, and also here at ScrapStreet. I was speechless when I found out. Especially when all of my projects used heritage photos - not really old ones, but my parent's wedding, and a photo of my father-in-law from the 1980s!

TTFN



xxxx

Nuts About Sketches birthday celebration - day 2

Welcome to day 2 of Nuts About Sketches birthday celebration!! Shawn has done another great sketch for today, and here is my layout based on it.



I love, love, love this sketch! I had lots of fun doing it, and also I just can't stop singing when I see the title....!

These are photos of my parents, when they came to visit a couple of years back. We all went for a walk around Culbin forest, and we stopped at the Gravelpit pond to look for wildlife, and tadpoles. I love that I captured both my parents in quiet moments. My Dad, with his camera, and my Mum just looking into the pond.

I used more scraps for this page - all the patterned paper is from Jillibean Soup. Some is from the Minestrone collection, but the majority is from the Pasta Fagioli collection. I used corrugated cardboard from a pizza box as a frame for the page. The title is done with BasicGrey chocolate chipboard letters. I added a couple of buttons, and a doodled border using a white pen, and called it finished.

Don't forget to check out the rest of the Design Team's work today over on the blog, and find out how you can win a beautiful kit from The Scrapping Spot by playing along with us this week.

It really is turning out to be a great Bank Holiday weekend weather wise up here in the Highlands. Yesterday was perfect, with a lovely breeze. The In-Laws arrived for a visit last night, so we are hoping to get out and about for a walk later on.

TTFN


xxxx

Nuts About Sketches Birthday Celebrations - sketch #1

Good Saturday morning to you all!

Nuts About Sketches is celebrating it's 3rd birthday this week, and in honour of the event, Shawn has produced a new sketch to reveal every single day this week, starting today!! And, in addition to that, The Scrapping Spot has generously provided one of their May kits as a prize! To be in with a chance of winning, you just need to play along with us this week. All the details are on the Nuts About Sketches blog!

This is the layout I made for the reveal. This is a photo of Tom at a playpark in Mission Bay, Auckland. I still can't believe that I have anything left to scrap of our trip to New Zealand in 2007, especially as I did over 40 pages for the 2 albums I have, but I still find the odd photo....

Anyone who was at the Hopeman crop a couple of weeks back will probably recognise this page - it was the one I spent over half the crop handstitching on!! It seemed like a good idea at the time...

I used Fancy Pants "My Family" collection throughout and just added a few buttons as embellishments. The title is cut from Bazzill cardstock using Sizzlit Nouveau alphabet dies in my Cuttlebug. 

Be sure to check out what the rest of the DT have been up to, and check back tomorrow as I have another layout reveal for sketch #2....

TTFN

xxxx

Nuts About Sketches #158 - 3 2 1 Go

Good morning everyone, I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend! Back to normal for us today, kids are back in school after their extended weekend, although they have another short week this week. They are out of school again Thursday until Tuesday, due to the extra bank holiday here in the UK for the Royal Wedding, and then it's May Day holiday on Monday. Throw in an extra days holiday decided by the school, and it's another short week and long weekend...

Anyways, Mondays mean time for a new sketch by Shawn over at Nuts About Sketches, and this week it is a beauty!! I get all excited when I see circles on a sketch, so I loved this sketch right from the start!

And here is my layout...

For a long time I have wanted to start scrapping photos of Mark that relate to his Military career. I always have trouble with this, and also trouble with then sharing them on my blog.  I always have the "national security" thing in the back of my mind - if I told you I'd have to shoot you type of thing LOL. But I do know that I need to get these types of photo scrapped, and get him to give me some stories for them. It is a shame that for the majority of his career, he has never really taken photos of where he has been. Cameras were not encouraged. Maybe it's just a bloke thing, as when they had a girl join the crew, she always took a camera. So I do have shots of him on detachment, and I even have a few of him in a warzone. But not alot really to show for his 20 year career. He's said it himself that its a shame. We've had conversations with friends that have left who lament the lack of photographs they have. Maybe it's a British thing. Or maybe it's just the Nimrod Aircrew mentality. But I am heading off on a tangent here....

These photographs were taken while Mark was on an Exchange trip to New Zealand - called Longlook. This is where member of the RNZAF and the RAAF swap places with people from the RAF for 4 months. Mark swapped places with a young guy called Marmite (actually his name was Simon) who was based on 5 Sqn at Whenuapai airbase just outside of Auckland. During his trip, he did lots of sightseeing, and the occasion flight with work... There were a group of Longlookers staying in the mess, so they used to organise trips out. This was one of thier excursions - a trip to the Agrodome in Rotorua. Home of some of the most bizarre adventure rides you could imagine. And I know, cos I went there too on our trip out there and rolled down a hill in a large inflatable ball...  But this ride was called Swoop. You get strapped into sleeping bags, hoisted up 40 metres into the air, and then it is up to you to pull the rip cord to set the thing in motion.  Someone on the ground took these photos of Mark and one of his companions as Mark pulled the ripcord.

I pulled out one of my few remaining sheets of Scenic Route paper for this layout, one which had strips of different patterns on the one sheet. I used Spellbinders nestabilities to cut out my circles, and then painted some raw BasicGrey chipboard numbers for the title.

Hop on over to the blog to see what the other girls have been creating this week, they are such a talented bunch, that you cannot help to be inspired by them - I know I am!
We are all working hard on the birthday week sketches too, and Shawn posted a sneaky peek of the kit that she has up for grabs if you join in and play along with us that week. It looks amazing!! I hope you will join us for the week of fun and sketches...

TTFN


xxxx