Embellish your World

Looking for crafting inspiration this half term?

If like me you have a few more hours to craft in this half term and are looking for inspiration to kick start your next project take a look at MojosChickenSoup. This week the recipe featured film strips and inspired me to create these two layouts.

 

And I truly believe that tea is happiness in a cup! I used lots of odds and sods to throw this page together of my daughter enjoying a cuppa. My layout included left over papers from the Echo Park Be Mine class I taught at Ecelectic earlier this month, some Jenni Bowlin butterflies, Basic Grey Paper ribbons and more.  I then created this page of my two boys.

 

Not only do I love these photos (taken July last year) but I love the papers I have used which are again from Echo Parks - this time from their new collection "For the Record". I have held onto the Creative Imaginations large film strip for a while now and am really pleased with how this layout came together and still LOVE the photos!

 

I loved the papers so much I through this layout together with them two, and added a couple more of the Jenni Bowlin butterflies. I love that the paper kit comes with matching alphabet stickers too, everything you need to create a quick page or two.

I hope you'll pop on over to the SOUP blog and see what inspiration you can find. be sure to share your creations too!

Rehomed

 

Thousands of laying hens in need of a new home, another British farm forced to close due to poor prices being paid by the supermarkets for free range eggs. We took a trip up today, three hours there and back, and returned with five new hens to add to the five we already have.  Our new girlies are called Honey, Sage, Rose, Peaches and Scarlet, and thanks to hubby and father-in-law the coup extension was completed in time for them to be settled into their new home this afternoon.  This of course is not said home but the farm from where they came.

   
It was hard to just take five when so many still need a home, but I think 10 chickens is plenty for a London family, indeed I have already been referred to as a mad hen lady!!The boys are so excited to go and check for eggs tomorrow and seem convinced we will now have hundreds!!    So this is Rose, the only one I can currently tell apart from the others due to her shorter tale, and she is also the cheekiest of them from what we have seen so far, making several attempts to escape the garden already, even with her clipped wing! 

 
Off to the pet store tomorrow to purchase another water feeder and maybe top up on some mealworm treats for them too.  Then we have swimming on the agenda and Gnomeo and Juliet at the cinema all things being well. Gotta make the most of the couple of days off to enjoy half term with the kids, I'll be back at work by Wednesday :(

Snap, snap, Snapping away!

Quick post tonight as I am shattered after a long day in the office followed by a Zumba Class tonight.  But I did want to pop on to share a couple more {joy of love} photos.

 
This is our eldest cat Georgia and my photo for prompt 12 - eyes

 

And my scrumptious husband last night, St Valentines Day evening, when we shared a bottle of red with our tasty M&S steak dinner. The photo is for the wedding band prompt for day 14. I haven't captured an image for the 13th prompt yet - -routines, too busy living them I guess. Maybe tomorrow.

Busy, busy, busy and more JOL photos

Another busy week for me and mine and we saw our youngest Jamie turn 4 years old on Wednesday. We bought him a few random gifts, nothing spectacular it being so soon after the Christmas hoard, but his favourite was his new Mickey Wii game and Mr Potatoe Head from the Toy Story films (which came with a Buzz Lightyear costume - making him SPUD Lightyear!)

 

I made him a JAMIE-4 cake with alphabet baking moulds bought from eBay and featuring characters from his favourite Mario games. I was really pleased with his cake, nothing too fancy else he would not have eaten it, and as it was he was rather more interested in spelling out the letters and blowing the candles out than eating it!

 

I did manage to get a photo of him not long after opening his Mickey Wii game which suited the JOL prompt for day 09 (his birthday) which was hobbies, and he can more often than not be found with a Wii controller in his hand begging to play "just one more game?".

 

And I have my photo from day08 to share also, the prompt for which was gifts from the heart.  Having just recently got my engagement ring back from repairs, with my mislaid diamond now replaced with one from a ring belonging to my late-grandmothers, this most definately counts as a gift from the heart, both from my husband and also my grandmother now.

 

I have taken my EYES photograph for todays prompt but it needs cropping and I will share tomorrow along with my day 10 & 11 images too for now, it is time for some ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZzzzz

Just another manic Monday

Another busy day in the office, my last Monday in my current role for a while as I move into a more corporate finance role from next week. Looking forward to new challenges whilst maybe a little apprehensive at the same time. Still they say that a change is as good as a rest. Wish me luck! So it's just 7 days til Valentines Day, but before that, in just 2 days time, it's our youngest's 4th birthday. I've had a quick practice this evening with the new cake moulds I bought to make his cake. Not altogether a success bit I'm sure it'll please him all the same! I still need to make his birthday card and wrap his gifts so I shall get off of here and do just that! ok....... well maybe tomorrow, I'm tired now as I've been swimming this evening and I ache plenty! Step 2 to getting fitter is my debut attendance at a Zumba class this week! I must be crazy!!

Echo Park Be Mine class

As promised here are photos of the papers, the class project (a double layout), close-ups and some cards I made using left overs and other bits and bobs.

 

 

 

 

Plenty of hand cutting, some distressing, some stamping and maybe a cupcake or two to sustain us throughout the creative process (thanks Karen!). Lots of lovely pages created by the Eclectic Keepsakes crop ladies yesterday who made me feel very welcome and obviously enjoyed the day as much as me.

If you like the papers they are part of the Echo Park Be Mine collection available here at A Trip Down Memory Lane.

 

And before I go get myself ready for the cinema (going to see Matt Damon's latest film where he plays a medium) I am sharing my Joy of Love Day 7 photo (we got both day 6 & 7 prompts today and day 7 was more relevent as my parents visited today) The prompt for day 7: GENERATIONS and my photo is of my Robert (6) and my dad. Just to explain by dad, I mean dad, that is, the man who married my mum and bought me up, cared for me, provided for me and loved me unconditionally for the past 35 years, not to be confused with my biological dad who I buried last month. Thought I'd better explain that point!

 

 

JOL Day 5 - Love to Hate

A very quick update tonight to share my Joy of Love Day 5 image.
I've been teaching and scrapping all day so I need my bed now as I am pretty tired and don't to push myself too hard too soon after having been poorly for almost two weeks.  I will blog again tomorrow with images from my class and of cards made with the left overs but for now, here is my photo for today - the prompt being what I love to hate. The image is of my youngest, four years old next week, fast asleep in the middle of OUR bed and not his own - something that occurs way too often! I love to watch him sleep, so peaceful and calm in contrast to his usual manic/looney self, but I do hate that he always wakes up in the night and comes into us. He has been under the weather the last 24 hours so this evening I put him directly into our bed to save the trips up and down the stairs to his room if he happens to be poorly again. I turned it black and white and brightened the image a little in photoshop, otherwise as I took it which was once more NOT ON AUTO!! Yippee, happy dancing mum!!! Ok, I am worn out again now - off to bed I go!

 

oh and of course my image from yesterday's prompt (#4) which was What they wear and I was thrilled when my teenage daughter agreed to pose in her comfy pjs!

 

 

How they look & Now and Then

Prompts 2 & 3 from The {Joy of Love} Photography course.

Day 02- How they look: a photo I took of my son Robert concentrating on his Pokemon Nintendo DS game - again I struggled with the light on this photo and am going to google my camera settings again when I finish this blog post. I do like how the light shines up from the screen onto his face though

 

Today the prompt was now and then, and with a house full of "not so willing" volunteers this evening I opted to photograph our youngest cat Roxy alongside a photo of her as a kitten.

 

Not so full of flu now but still not feeling 100%. Managed a full day in the office and learnt I will be taking on a slightly different role from a week on Monday which I am very much looking forward to after eight years in the same job.  Still working for the same company, still Accountancy, but alot more technical and hopefully rewarding!  Fingers crossed!!

The Joy of Love Photography course

Started today, Feb 1st and it's not too late to join in on this free course.  Daily prompts in your inbox with some tips and tricks to get you taking better photographs, and did I mention it was free?!

today’s prompt was: what they DO.

I took snaps of hubby at his home computer, changed to B&W to minimise busy background and zoomed in for a close up of his hands on the keyboards (sporting a wedding band which states he is all mine!) Increased my camera ISO setting and took it off auto (SCAREY!) and played about with the settings to try and make the most of the poor indoor lighting.

 

I then turned around and saw my six year old Robert playing lego at the dinning table and couldn't resist taking a few of him also. Whilst I naturally ADORE the subject I'm a little disappointed in my photos which seem a bit orangey and despite messing with the setting a fair bit I couldn't alter this - any clues? Hopefully I can get some better photos as the course progresses, but again I didn't take these on auto so it is some improvement for me - after all, what is the point of having a decent slr camera and not learning to use it right?