When you put your page away and realise you've already scrapped thatphoto!

Well not this first photo, but the one on the second layout of Wendy taking the photo and the one of Ben with his grandparents! Oh well, I scrapped them each in a different way for the first time!

The layout above was inspired by the challenge in the Facebook page I follow to create a layout with circles. I got out ALL my circle punches which I hadn't used for ages and had great fun!

I had had the postcard in the layout above for at least a couple of years and now it is on a page - woohoo!

And this layout 'killed' another kit! I was rather pleased with the colours in this one and the fact that I was able to use that background paper.

I have started working in my five favourite photo layouts for February so I will hopefully have those done to share by the end of March. Have you been scrapping much recently?

Remembering last summer

I am working through some page kits I put together using some quite old stash. The background papers for both these layouts had been troubling me - I really couldn't see how to use them and that is why they had been languishing in my stash for so long. Anyway, I found some photos and they just gave me the push I needed to work out how to use them.

The layout above was also inspired by the challenge on the Facebook page I am on to use tags and twine from your stash. 

And so I managed to use up a few more bits and pieces from my stash and I am really quite pleased with the results. However I don't think I will buy papers like these again, even though I really like the look of them, I just struggle too much with them!

Scrapping without a photo in mind

I had the last few pieces of a kit on my desk and decided to just put all the pieces together and then look for a photo - not my usual way of working at all!

I had this selfie which Penny and I took on holiday. I had it printed by Origrami - really good quality prints by the way and quite quick service from Australia! Anyway, back to the layout. I was really pleased with the finished result and the fact that I had 'killed' another kit. 

Final France pages

These layouts complete the section in my chronological album of our holiday to France.

I love the triangle paper with its little splashes of gold. 

I was lucky that Penny and I were wearing toning t-shirts on this day and that these papers go perfectly!

This was a fairly simple layout but got the photos stuck down and the story told. Not my favourite layout but it will do!

And this layout I love! 

So now I have to look at my photos to see what I need to scrap next! Of course there are always my five favourite photos from February so I might make a start on those first. 

Day off scrapbooking

I was lucky enough to have Monday off a couple off weeks ago as I had some holiday I needed to use up before 31st March. As Hugh didn't have the holiday he was at work, but he told me not to do jobs (as I would be tempted to do) and to spend the day being creative!

I firstly made some Slimming World muffins and madeleines which was fun. 

Then I scrapped my little boots off! I completed 5 pages, finishing up one of my kits completely which pleased me!

Here are the first three I completed. 

I trimmed the photos down to make sure I had enough room on the page for all 3 and still had room for embellishment. I used sketches from Page Maps for most of my layouts today. 

I grabbed my butterfly punch for this page - now that is something I haven't used in a while!

And with this one I used the printed flowers in the bottom left as an embellishment cluster adding some enamel dots and a heart. 

I have now scrapped all the photos I want to scrap from our holiday in France - just got a couple more layouts to share with you. The rest of the photos will go into slip-in photo albums. I always get all my photos printed every month and what doesn't get scrapped goes into albums. Do you print photos regularly? What do you do with the ones you don't scrap? Would love to hear what you do. 

Busy using up stash!

I have been making up some page kits and used three of them to make these pages.

I like the idea of cutting down photos to make the layouts look different (as long as I don't cut away any important features of course!). 

I love the colours in this layout - so warm just like the weather was!

Nearly finished my France photos. Just a few more pages to go. 

Oui oui and other such French phrases!

I had a very relaxing and productive weekend of scrapbooking last week, with an evening spent at Wendy's and then a free afternoon on Sunday. I am still working my way through our French holidays photos.

I just love this layout and love the title too. Hugh is actually in a urinal having a wee! They are so open about these things in France!

I really wanted to include all three of these photos and was pleased that I was able to cut down the vertical ones to make them fit above the horizontal photo. 

And my last one for today - using some of Shimelle's True Story papers and some bits and pieces on my desk. 

Have you been watching the new Glitter Girl videos? Have you got any other scrapbookers who video to recommend? I also love watching Nicole Jones - she has a really good YouTube channel, well worth checking out. 

More layouts to share

I had a lovely time scrapbooking with Wendy and Sue on Friday and got a few photos scrapped. However I haven't had a chance to photo them yet, so today I am sharing 2 layouts I made last weekend.

I am trying to use up my Noel Mignon kits as they have been stacking up. I've not signed up for this six months to give me chance to use those I have and also use up some of modern stash by making up some page kits. This layout used up the last bits of of the (I think) November kit. I am not working through them in any particular order, just using those that are suitable for the photos I want to scrap. I also added in some Amy Tan stickers from my stash and some flair and the butterflies. I am quite liking this layout!

This page follows on from the previous one as they were both on the same day. However I am using some of the August kit here! I added the butterfly epoxy stickers which Santa gave me in my stocking! I have also placed all my project life cards into an old plastic mushroom box next to my desk so this I actually use them - and it is working!

Looking forward to this coming weekend as I will be seeing a very dear old friend and spending time catching up with her. Hopefully with some photos to share next week. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Summery layouts

I've managed to grab some time over the past few weekends to do some scrapbooking - I have to admit that perhaps I should devote some time to some housework this week! Anyway, I digress.

Here is a layout based on one I saw on the Noel Mignon blog. As soon as I saw the sunflower paper from the kit I knew which photos I would be using!

Just looking at these photos made me feel warm and happy. I love sunflowers!

And this layout is based on Glitter Girl's video about using up your stickers. I used some stickers and some die cuts, but the important thing is that I used old stuff from my stash!

I've got a few more layouts to share and tomorrow I am off to Wendy's for a scrapbooking evening. I've made up 3 page kits to use and am hoping to get those three pages made!

Christmas Scrapbooking

So this festive period has seen me create a few 12x12 pages and my biggest love for December, my journal! I keep promising to share my journal with you, but keep forgetting to photograph it when the light is good! It remains my goal to share it with you, so keep an eye out!

I bought most of Shimelle’s Christmas line this year to scrap my Christmas photos with. Then realised that I never actually got around to scrapping last year’s Christmas photos!

I did a total of 6 layouts, but realise that I have only photographed 4 of them, but here they are anyway!

Love these calm photos of Christmas Eve.

Opening our presents on Christmas morning. I actually found it quite difficult to stick these photos down of me as I really don’t like how I look. I really didn’t realise at the time how much weight I had put on and how tired and not very happy I looked. However, it was a time of my life I will never get back again, so it needs to be recorded! We were happy on the day, and that is the important thing to record.

Christmas dinner. We never think to get the tripod out and take a family photo of the 4 of us at dinner, so it is always 3 and 3!

And Hugh being Father Christmas again. Love this tradition and record it every year!  Just love that red polka dot paper too!

Did you manage to spend any time crafting over Christmas? I also managed to knit a beanie hat! My mother-in-law gave me a kit for Christmas and it took me about 5 nights to complete it. Now need the weather to get cold so that I can actually wear it!

A quick share

As I said in my last post, I managed to get some layouts done last weekend! Three of them are for the 'Five Fave' project so I can't share them yet, but I can share this one!

I found that I had a lot of Shimelle's True Story collection still hanging around in my stash, so decided to use a bunch of it up! Sorry the photo of the layout is a bit wonky! The strip along the bottom is actually the branding strip on the other side, but I liked the look of it being there, so trimmed some off the top of the page to accommodate it.

This weekend I didn't get any layouts done, but I have started preparing my pages for JYC. I also went up to ExCel with Wendy and Sue for the Stitching, Sewing and Hobbycrafts show. We had a fun day out although there was not too much in the way of scrapbooking 'stuff'. The stalls that did have scrapbooking stuff were absolutely mobbed! I did manage to spend a little bit of money though on a couple of snowflake punches, some embellishments and a couple of other bits and pieces including that good old standby of sticky pads! It made for a good day out with friends which was really important.

 I am off to see my GP this morning as I have absolutely no voice and a hacking cough and have been this way for about 7 days now. Time to see if I need some antibiotics I think! Especially as Wendy and I are off to see the final part of the Hunger Games tomorrow!

Hope you have a fun week!

Sunday scrapbooking

Well this weekend didn't exactly turn out how we were planning. We went to Slimming World first thing on Saturday and Hugh had got to target which was wonderful! However he then went to the dentist and had an emergency extraction, which has left him feeling a little under the weather for the rest of the weekend. We were supposed to be working on decorating Penny's new bedroom for her, but that hasn't happened! However, it did free up Sunday afternoon for me to do some scrapbooking.

I have recently been watching Nicole Jones on YouTube and love how she manages to 'kill a kit', so I decided to have a go myself and use up some of my earlier Noel Mignon kits which have been sitting on my trolley for a few months now!

I was really pleased to completely use up 1 kit (I just had a few alphas left) and I have nearly used up another. I have decided to move on any embellishments or alphas to the next kit to try and use them up and it seems to be working quite well.

So here are the four layouts I managed to create on Sunday.

These photos were taken earlier in the year and were perfect to go with these papers.

Going through my papers I realised that I had hardly scrapped any of the couple of hundred photos I took when we went to Florence, so I have now made a start!

I just love how happy Brenda is looking in this photo - she really enjoyed her retirement party.

These photos were taken in August last year when we went to Cadbury World for Ben's birthday. Again I took a load of photos and had only scrapped 1 so far! Really need to do a few more!

Well this week we have Penny's graduation, so keep your fingers crossed for it staying dry on Tuesday so I can take lots of photos! Hope you all have a nice week!

A quick catch up!

Last weekend went by super fast! Ben arrived home Friday evening for the weekend, so I had both children in the house which was lovely.

First thing Saturday found Hugh and me up at Slimming World. I am now on the 'social team' and log everyone in and take their money as they arrive. Hugh runs the 'corner shop' selling recipe books, the magazine and HiFi Bars! We also help set up and put away. I was thrilled to get my 2 stone award - Hugh was 1lb off his!

After lunch Ben had promised to take us out for the afternoon as an early Father's Day treat for Hugh. We went to Tropical Wings in South Woodham Ferrers. Ben, Penny and I had been there before, but it was a first for Hugh. We had a wonderful afternoon, even though it ended up raining! Here are a few photos.

Saturday evening saw us entertaining our friends Gillian and Andrew from Southend. We get together a couple of times a year for a meal and a catch up. I prepared a full Slimming World meal (not going to waste all that effort I've put in!) and thankfully they thoroughly enjoyed it!

Sunday morning we had a relaxed time - Hugh had his presents and cards from Ben and Penny and took it easy. Just before lunch Penny went off to watch one of her wrestling matches. Ben stayed for lunch and then Amy collected him at 3pm to take him back to Reading. Hugh and I then settled down to spend some time on our hobbies. I completed a layout I had started at my crop earlier in the week and did a couple more for my five faves. Here are the two I did at my crop.

I made up a couple of kits from old stash and am quite pleased with the results. The 'rings' of gold on the bottom layout are one of my favourite things, which resulted from a mistake! I was intending to do a light misting of spray and held the container too close! As I liked what I got I repeated it!

Monday and Tuesday I was back to college. It is getting quite heavy going now, like a crash course in GCSE Biology!

And today? Well today is my birthday, so I am taking the day off and Penny and I are going out for lunch. Hugh should be home at a reasonable time, so Penny is cooking me a birthday supper and I shall open my presents and cards then.

I hope that you had a good weekend and that you are having an enjoyable week!

Not a favourite of Hugh's!

This is a layout I completed a couple of weeks ago. It's a scraplift from one I had seen on a blog, but as per usual I have forgotten which blog! On the one I saw there was stitching on all the paper segments, but as it is not easy for me to get to my sewing machine I did 'pretend' sewing'! I actually pricked holes round all the edges of the paper pieces and then joined them up with a fine black pen.

I quite like the effect, but my thumb and finger were really sore by the time I had finished pricking all the holes through!

Hugh didn't pose for this photo. I knew what raki tasted like and knew that he wouldn't like the flavour so was waiting with the camera poised to photograph his reaction.... and it was a classic one!

Looking forward to this weekend as Ben is home for an unexpected visit and I will be relaxing after the past four weeks and celebrating my release from my job! Hope that whatever you are up to you have a nice weekend.

Oh my gosh!

What wonderful people you all are. The support you have given me in the previous post was just beyond everything I could have imagined and you cannot start to comprehend what it has meant to me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

With just two weeks to go now before I leave things are going quiet as more is being taken over by my colleague. I am much more relaxed and managed to get a page scrapped over the Bank Holiday weekend - I would have done more, but I spent a lot of time in the gardening weeding my border! Not my favourite occupation, but it had to be done and at least the weather was nice and sunny ... whilst I was out anyway!

So I had these two photos of Penny at Niagara Falls last summer and a postcard which she brought back for me to use on a scrapbook page (she is well trained!). I also dug out some travel paper with cut apart sheets and used those to make this page. The background is actually a transparency I had which I put onto a piece of blue card. I hadn't been sure how to use it, but I like the look in real life and it is now used and not sitting in my stash!

Here is a close up of the journalling.

I will be back on Saturday with my five favourite photos from April which I have now scrapped! Actually I scrapped most of them at my scrapbooking evening with Wendy and Sue, but didn't get around to posting them!

Thank you again for your support. Blog friends ARE THE BEST!

Did you join in?

With National Scrapbook Day, that is! I have not done so in the past, but this year, with it being a Bank Holiday weekend and not having huge amounts of jobs to do, I DID join in!

The Facebook Group I belong to, For the Love of Pretty Paper (UK), ran six challenges to be completed by the 10th of May, so even if you didn't have time to complete them over the weekend there is still time to finish them now!

I managed to complete 5 out of the 6.

Challenge #1 - make a layout with 3 or more photos and use new stash (I used two new tab and label punches).

Challenge #2 - a sketch challenge

Challenge #3 - make your own PL style cards

Challenge #4 - a scraplift

Challenge #5 - scrap about work. This is the one I haven't done. I am not very happy at work at the moment, so didn't really want to dwell on it and do a layout about it1

Challenge #6 - scrap about 'friends'. And I cannot show you this layout as it is one I have done with one of my five fave photos from April! You will have to wait until later in the month to see this one!

Did you join in this weekend? Did you have fun? I certainly did. We were all posting our layouts in the Facebook group and chatting and it was definitely something I will do again.