Embellish your World

Final Snow White sketch challenge

The very last sketch today for the Snow White sketch challenge that has run throughout February and you have until Sunday evening to upload or email any layouts you have created inspired by the 8 sketches shared these last few weeks. If you've been playing along you'll know we have Sleepy to draw the fun to end with a lovely sketch by Allison. Given I am more than a little sleepy right now, I'll shall leave this a brief blog update for today and catch you all again over the weekend xx

 
 

Happiness is.....a grungepaper rose!

The penultimate sketch from the AWESOME February fun over at LCTS, designed by Susan from the team with HAPPY as her dwarf inspiration.  Your challenge: Create a LO around the word HAPPY using the sketch!!!  My page celebrates my daughter first teenage birthday and features my first attempt at a Tim Holtz style GrungePaper rose, with crackle paint and stickles too. Whilst rather lumpy in the album and nowhere near as realistic as Tim's, I do really like my rose!! 

 

This evening I shall be having a go at making some crepe paper flowers from instructions I found whilst blog hopping last night.  If I can master them ok they will be featured on a page too using the new products I have coming from ATDML which may include a couple of yummy Websters pages and almost every Maya Road item! Ooops! 

Before I depart, courtesy of the lovely Mel, here is a photo of me with Mr Inky! Think this may have to be my BEFORE photo for my diet!!

Mr inky himself!

Could I have been anymore in awe of this man?

 
It is one thing to see him take you through step by step instructions on his blog, or watch him on a dvd, but to watch this man create before your very eyes was a joy to behold and had me captivated today at the NEC. (Sir) Tim Holtz, mr inky himself no less!! I am please to say Mel and Jill from ATDML were equally as impressed and I should imagine some Tim product loveliness could well make it's way onto the shelves very soon.  I was lucky enough, along with the other ATDML designers, to be invited along to the trade show at the NEC with Mel and Jill to drool (ok maybe peruse!) the latest industry offerings. Thank goodness you couldn't retail shop else I feel I would not be able to feed my family for a week or six!!!

I do however need to sell my MM Slice and re-purchase a Sizzix Big Shot to be able to use the new Tim Holtz dies and texture plates, and the fabby pop-up dies designed by the very lovely Karen Burniston whom we also had the pleasure of meeting today.  More photos are on Mel's camera and I am sure will be shared very soon but in the meantime here is one of the examples Karen shared with us today (image borrowed from her blog).

 
  I am shattered now but have to prepare for a work meeting tomorrow so sleep (overated??) will have to wait a little longer I feel.

 

Project 12, Doc and Hair cuts!

Yippee do, I managed to complete my January Project 12 layout in time!!

My double layout is two 9x9 pages which will reside in a Making Memories album I have had just 3 layouts sitting in since before my Jamie was born.  Those layouts will become 12x12 pages with a little TLC and then I have an entire chocolate brown album to fill with my project 12 pages - I've already started on February!! 

Link to the Project 12 going's on is in my left hand sidebar of this blog as is the link to Capture these Sketches where we are not that far from concluding the February Snow White fun.  Yesterday was the turn of the lovely Calia to design the sketch with possibly my favourite of the dwarfs DOC. Calia designed a great card sketch which can be found hereand my card using some very, very old papers (still proud of my "use it or lose it" ethos!) is below.  Don't forget the letters too, even if you aren't scrapping from the sketches or have just stumbled across the Feb going's on at LCTS. All the information can br found on LCTS.

 Before I head off to cook my family some tea I wanted to share some latest photos of the children. Eloise had purple highlights put in her hair this week (she sought written permission from her head of year for them!) and both the boys had their hair cut today. Robert's long locks have gone for the time being, and Jamie, well you'd have thought I was murdering him how much he screamed! but after a play in the bath with his musical flutes (thanks Clare, great gift!) he was soon back to being ok. Well, so I thought anyway...some five hours later and he just asked me where all his hair had gone (whilst rubbing his hand over a nice crew cut) and started crying! Bad mummy!

 

 

Challenge 5 of Feb's Snow White Sketch Fest!!

Over half way through February already and we are now into the second half of the sketch challenges at Lets Capture These Sketches. Today it is the turn of Lynne with her terrific Sneezy sketch with a challenge to scrap your wintery photographs. Check out the sketch here and Lynnes blog here. Don't forget to pick up your next letter too if you playing along with the word search!

Be sure to look at the previous sketches over on the LCTS blog, you've all of February to play along! On Friday this week we have a card sketch by Calia, changing things up a bit for you and the DT examples are all so different! Can't wait for you all to see them!

My take is shown below made with glittery MME papers and featuring one of my fave stamps of late, my deer.

   

Christmas seems like a million days ago, and with valentines day just this weekend gone we now find ourself making pancakes today, the eve of lent.  I am giving up bread for lent, did this a few years back and lost a few lbs so I'm hoping for a repeat performance. Eloise and the boys decided to take over the kitchen for a short while! Not the greatest pancakes produced, but some fun photos for sure. I love how the boys will smile and face the camera at the same time for their sister but not for me!!! (she is now my official photographer!)

Valentine

Pleased to have my Valentine Home Decor item featured on Created by ATDML yesterday. For those scrapbookers out there who know me I am not the biggest fan of Sassfrass products, but even I like the heart flower paper I used on this project.

Full materials list and instructions over on the blog.

I hope all the loved up people had a special day yesterday, and the singletons survived without too much trauma. My hubby bought me the most beautiful flocked valentines card and a new Momji doll for my collection.
In return (as well as card/gifts) I baked cookies, cupcakes and apple crumble, as well making a roast dinner. We then watched Proposal on DVD with a glass of wine, top way to end a lovely day.

World Book day and being Bashful!

World book day 2010 and my eldest son Robert proudly went to school dressed as Spaceman Bob, a character from one of his favourite books.  It wasn’t five minutes ago we couldn’t get him to dress up as anything (without significant amounts of bribery for a photograph) and yet here he was, happy as can be to join in, no longer bashful and I got my photos for a future layout.

Talking of bashful, the next Snow White sketch challenge (#4) is up now and my layout features one of my favourite photographs of Robert taken with me tickling him.  My daughter, who took this picture, has a real flair for photography developing I am proud to say! 

 

I am also proud, with my “though shall not covet they stash” hat on, that the pale yellow paper used in this layout by Making Memories has been in my scrapbooking pile since 2005! This proves to me that sorting out left over papers from kits or part used pieces into plastic wallets by colour DOES result in me using them up!  It doesn’t stop me from buying new supplies of course, but it makes room for them!! Good job given my little spend-up at ATDML thanks to their new products section.  I can’t wait to play with my 7 Gypsies Avignon papers and the flocked MME Lush papers are exactly that – LUSH!!!!  And a couple of packs of the Prima eLine flowers may have made their way into my craft room too! They are gorgeous!  mmm, time to play me thinks!!

 

  

Bye bye terrible two's - our youngest turned three!

I think it is pretty clear from this quick selection of photos from the day that Jamie enjoyed his birthday! Lucky boy even got a special birthday cake cooked by his big sister because his mum got stuck at work late (darling that she is!)

Dopey Challenge (3) of February's Snow White Sketch Fest!!

Sketch challenge number 3 over at Let's Capture these sketches, a fun four photo sketch from the very lovely Darlene with a challenge to scrap silly/dopey/fun photos or have a silly/dopey/fun title. I chose some rather fetching (I think not!) photos of me taking in Edinburgh this weekend by the lovely Ally. Silly and Fun they most definately are and I certainly felt dopey a while later!!

I hope you are playing along with the February fun and having a blast! Are you collecting the letters? Well make sure you do!!! After you collect all of the letters - unscramble the letters and email them to capturethesesketches@live.com. You don't have to participate in the sketches to join in the letter hunt game! So you're wondering what letter# 4 is? You'll have to hop on over to Darlene's blog to see what it is!

Once you complete the challenge - email it to capturethesesketches@live.com with the subject line "DOPEY" OR you can load it to the LCOM sketch gallery. I can't wait to see all your wonderful creations!!! 
Will you rise to the Dopey challenge?!!

And before I depart for the evening, a very happy birthday to my little man who is three today.  Terrible two's over with? Let's hope so!! Photos of his special day to follow...

My weekend in Edinburgh

'Edinburgh', said the writer Robert Louis Stevenson, 'is what Paris ought to be'.

Having never been any further north than Manchester (at the age of 14/15) I was very much looking forward to my visit to Edinburgh. I must say I wasn’t disappointed! Armed with thermals, a waterproof and of course my faithful Canon I caught a flight from Stanstead on Friday along with Ally and arrived in the city, ready to explore, not long after midday. 287 steps of the Scot Monument seemed like a good place to start, and given the mist that covered most of Edinburgh Saturday/Sunday we were glad to have climbed and taken our scenic shots on Friday.  A pure scottish beef burger from the HRC (with an ice cold beer to wash it down) set us up for an afternoon of exploring were we managed to find a couple of geocaches to add to the fun; the first of which was at the top of Carlton Hill (great views) and another in Leith were we stayed – a nighttime find (thanks to Ally!).

After a hearty breakfast on Saturday we set off exploring once more and it felt like we covered the entire 500 miles the Proclaimers so famously sung about! A couple more geocaches to start the day en route to the Holyrood Palace & Abbey end of the Royal Mile which we followed up to the impressive castle at the other end, taking in a little history along the way and with an obligatory stop off to visit wee Bobby!

 

    
 

 

After an adventurous climb/mud-slide up the side of the castle (all in the name of geocaching, although I question the 2.5 terrain grade!) we found ourselves a watering hole called Frankensteins and settled down to watch the England:Wales rugby match….Hoorah!

Another hearty breakfast was in order Sunday morning before we checked out of our hotel in Leith and walked into the city via another couple of very interesting geocache sites; our total haul for the weekend was 9 with three trackables bought back down south!

Some souvenir shopping, more photographs and a short (or should that read “shot!!”) stop off in a vodka bar and it was sadly time to head back home.

I took over 200 photographs, climbed what felt like as many sets of stairs/hills and saw some amazing architecture and historic landmarks.  I know for sure I will be back to visit this city again as there was so much more to see and explore, and next time I’m booking the Monday off work too!! ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz