OOPS!

Looks like I've been AWOL again! So what's happened since my last visit to this dear blog...

Madison started walking & now has a very pretty pair of purple shoes, with 3 little hearts on the bottom! How clever of her to put her feet like this for my photo! Especially as she fell asleep like that! LOL

Madison now has 10 teeth however I don't think any of them apart from the bottom two at the front have come through in the order they should!
Kyle has just turned the grand old age of 9!!!I was very proud of him because his birthday was on Remembrance Sunday this year and as a cub scout, he took part in the Remembrance Parade in Crewe!

Every year, I take a photo of him holding up his fingers to show his age, only one more year of doing it though or the socks & shoes will have to come off! Above is a rare photo of him & below is a normal photo of him - well, you know what boys are like!
I've finally seen a Rheumatologist and as usual, consultants don't like giving a proper diagnosis so I was told it's 'Highly Likely' that I have ME/CFS as well as the Fibromyalgia :( So now I'm waiting for physio & occupational therapy appointments as well as a trip to the Chronic Fatigue Service.

And Andy is putting up with us all - bless him!!!

As far as crafting goes, I've been plodding on with a Crochet Bag, knitting scarves, scrapping in real life & digitally, making cards for birthdays where I can - oh no, I better get on with the dreaded C******** cards too lol - and I've signed up for an Art Journal Circle Journal on UKS, which starts in Jan 2012.

Speaking of UKS, I hosted my first solo challenge on there in October - here are my 2 example LOs - using a different size photo, halloween colours & a stamp thats never used!

I was interviewed by Lisa Griffin, a fairly new DT member in ScrapaGoGo Land - the interview was posted on Kyle's birthday - you can read it here if you want to know more about my scrapping history!

The Chinese Whispers CJ in GoGo Land has come to an end but never fear, I will still make use of my kits - I've signed up for 2 more!!! These are the 10 LOs I've created over the course of this first CJ. Chinese Whispers are the best type of CJ's - I love being able to use my stash for a LO that I get to keep! LOL

Thanks for stopping by :)
x

Haslington Crop UKS Weekly Challenge

Once a month, I have a day (well, 6 hours) of 'me' time when I go to a local crop in Haslington. I have a fabulous time EVERY time - lots of laughing, lots of coffee, lots of cake, lots of fantastic company and sometimes a bit of scrapping! We decided that we would host a weekly challenge over on UK Scrappers and that week has arrived.

Our challenge consists of making a LO with a group of photos or photos of a group, to include the letter H in the title, to include a star (as our crop only started this year!) and to follow this sketch from Page Maps.


It took me a while to find suitable photos but eventually I remembered these photos of Kyle carefully & patiently standing all his Crazy Bones in lines - it was only when he did this that I realized just how many he had! Yikes!


Now due to having a distinct lack of time, this LO was only completed a few days ago - I got my February Studio Calico kit, sorted out which papers I was going to use and then... nothing! No time = no LO! But then one evening, I just threw everything at the page and hey presto! It was complete!!!

I hope you'll find the time to pop over to UKS and look at the gorgeous LOs my fellow croppers have done & maybe join in too :)

Scrap Factor entries

I was having a sort out of my photos of layouts & looking back on here to see what I've posted when I realized I haven't shown off any of my digital LOs... I hadn't done many before when I decided to enter the Scrap Factor competition over on UK Scrappers - using digital LO's! So without further ado...

Entry requirements were for 5 layouts with criteria given for three of them...

First up... A LO about ME - Yikes!!! I used the Smitten kit which was available from a Scrapbookgraphics blog hop & kept the LO very simple. Those that know me will know that I don't 'do' pink yet there's a LOT of pink on here for me!!!

This is Me

Second... a Double LO - I've done a few DLO's in real life but doing it digitally completely took me out of my comfort zone - but I'm pleased with it! I used Sir Scrapalot's kit 'Snow Much Fun' - which was beautiful but not the traditional colours you'd expect to see on a wintery LO.

The End of the Snowman

Third... a LO without photos! Easy! I wanted to do a LO with all the nicknames Madison has already acquired... Took me a long time but when I look back at it now, I can see why - its too busy!

What's Your Name?

Then 2 more LOs - any size, any theme...

So firstly... whizzed together using Sir Stampalot's Spookilicious kit & Echo Park's digital Halloween Alpha.

Candy

and lastly, my favourite... 'a Model ?' using a kit from Dawn Inskip called Snapshots, which was just perfect for this LO.

A Model?

I didn't get through the 'auditions' for the competition but I enjoyed doing them & I certainly learnt a lot more about Photoshop Elements. I've done some more digital LO's since but I'll save those for another post. I also think I need to be a bit bolder on my shadowing - maybe I'll go back to my very first digital LO's and practice on those!!!

WOYWW 97 & LIttle Musings Stamps

I remembered to take a photo of my workdesk on Wednesday and this is the first time I've had chance to upload it!

So for WOYWW 97, I got to kill 2 birds with one stone, & show you my finished LO - My Angel - the photo was taken just a few days after Madison was born. We have a fair few photos of her on the settee this day as she started smiling in her sleep - and NO, it wasn't wind! It was definitely a smile!
After completing this LO, I realized that it fit the challenge over on UKS this week - a celebration (Madison smiling), using pink or blue (used both in this) and for the third 10 points, I claimed my points by using my new stamps from SJ's Little Musings. They are sooooooo beautiful I just had to buy them all!

As soon as I saw these angel stamps, I knew I wanted to put them on a LO with a photo of my very own little angel! It's unusual for me to stamp like this on a LO but they were just perfect!

I've only used 3 on this LO but don't worry, the others will be used - rest assured!!!

WOYWW 95

Oooh, looks like I'm getting into this blogging lark now!!! LOL

So, for WOYWW, I have some very exciting stuff on my workdesk today!!!What do you mean you can't see it???

Oh, okay, yes I'm kidding - that is it - absolutely nothing! Its not that I don't have loads of projects on the go already or that I haven't got any LOs created in my mind, its just that I'm digiscrapping at the moment!

I'm in the process of creating 5 digi LOs for the Scrap Factor competition over on UKScrappers. But I'm definitely missing the 'real life' cutting & sticking! Hopefully the empty space will be filled again very soon!!!

Happy

Finally completed LO for the UKS weekly challenge I mentioned on WOYWW this week - knew it would take me the rest of the week!!!The journalling is about Kyle starting his day with a singsong & a smile when he was younger.

I suppose nowadays he starts & ends his days thinking about Pokemon!!! LOL

WOYWW 94

WOW - I've actually blogged WOYWW on a Wednesday - see miracles do happen!

Fairly tidy for me (that'll be the tidying I did on Monday!) - on my desk is the LO I'm doing for this weeks challenge on UKS set by my fellow Red Ribboner Jo (aka Wonky) - the challenge is to use scraps, bunting, 2 photos & stamping - all criteria met, I just need to get my sewing machine out, do some glueing, add a few bits & bobs & it'll probably be complete by the weekend! I hope!
At the far left & far right of the desk, is my latest stash of Bo Bunny Ad Lib & Timeworthy goodies - I just couldn't resist!!!

Quick LOs

Hullo - I'm still here... and STILL waiting for baby to arrive... if Mother Nature still hasn't taken over before Tuesday, then I'll be going in to be induced! Come on Little Lady - everyone is getting impatient, especially ME!!!!!

I've managed to do several LOs though in the past week or two while I've been waiting and I'm now down to doing LOs with kits and/or instructions so I can complete them quickly - just in case!!!

So firstly, Hello Mr Dragonfly - I was quite happily scrapping when I heard Gizmo behind me and a very LOUD buzzing noise... turned out she had caught this beautiful dragonfly. Andy managed to rescue it and the camera came out rapido to get some photos as it recovered from its ordeal. I don't think I've ever seen a dragonfly soooooooo close before so I was really happy to get some decent shots of it. Then I just had to wait for my September ScrapaGoGo kit to arrive as I knew the contents of the kit would be perfect for these photos. With the addition of some pre-made ribbon dragonflies from BF Suzy, the LO was complete...

I also had another perfect photo for the same kit - Andy & I went to the 'official' opening of Rare Aquatics in Crewe and I had to take a photo of this pleco Jo had in a tank. I was gobsmacked at the size of the fish, probably about 8 or 9 inches in length and those teeth!!!

I managed to take part in the UKS weekly challenge this week - to scrap an obsession or guilty pleasure - well, as I don't wear matching socks anymore and was proudly wearing my new Little Missmatched socks that day, I set to work basing it on a sketch from the Bo Bunny blog - this turned out to be a very BRIGHT LO!!!
And finally today I did this Tasty LO - one of the quickies! This LO was courtesy of my fabulous teamie on UKS, MJ who put this class kit together for a DLO and gave it to us at our retreat back in June. I only wanted to do a SLO so also based it on a LO that another fabulous teamie Katy created from the same kit, here. Thank you ladies for the inspiration! Photo is of Kyle when he was approximately 10 months old - just enjoying a quick snack!!! There was a very soggy end to that french bread by the time he'd finished munching on it!!!

There is something else crafty I've created but I can't show it yet as it is for a certain Godmum to be!!! Be patient Suzy - I'm not!!! tee hee!

Maybe on my next blog post I'll finally be able to introduce you to the Little Lady!

Zentangle ATCs

I've been looking at the Zentangle blog and receiving the newsletters for soooooooooo long now but never really got round to actually doing a Zentangle! Pretty normal for me!!!

When an ATC Zentangle swap appeared on UKS, I signed up immediately - despite my resolution that I would not do anymore swaps - hey I kept to it for over 8 months!!!

And I have to say I'm suitably impressed with myself! Each ATC is different but with the same heart shape in the middle. Eight done so far, may have another 7 to do yet but have felt very relaxed doing them - although it may not be ideal to do so many all at once - right wrist & shoulder are complaining a little!!! LOL

Quick update on Bump - nothing happening yet - had hospital appointment this morning, have midwife appointment next Tuesday, and if Mother Nature doesn't get a move on, it'll be the 28th when I go into hospital to be induced!

UKS Weekly Challenge August Wk4

I managed to finish a DLO today for this weeks challenge over on UKS - pictures and papers I've had lying around as a page kit for yonks! Really, YONKS!!! I first discovered UKS when it had its 5th Birthday Cybercrop (5 years ago!) and I was sooooo excited I bought almost every kit for the cybercrop, yet I hadn't really got a clue what a cybercrop was!!!

And this DLO was created from one of those kits!!!

Kyle was about 6 months old in these photos, we had just bought this little ball pit to take away with us in the caravan and he loved it!

Another Challenge complete and more LOs

Fellow Red Ribbon Housemate Jo on UKScrappers set the weekly challenge this week - to use bright colours, a TV show or Film title, buttons and flowers. Here is my challenge complete - although I tried hard to place a flower on there, I just couldn't justify a flower on such a 'manly' LO!I've had these photos and these papers & stickers in a 12x12 bag for soooooooo long waiting to be scrapped - I'm proud of myself for actually doing it at last (even if the LO is a bit more themed than I usually do!!!)

Other recent LOs are below - some of which were created at the Wrenbury Crop last Saturday - I really enjoy going there - 6 hours of scrapping & laughing! I'll be sad when I'll have to miss a few once Bump arrives!!!



















"Live with Passion" uses Creative Imagination papers that I've had stored for ages. I wanted the black heart from the background red paper to be on top so I set about cutting it out, recoloured it in black and added Glossy Accents. Took me a while but I think it was worth it in the end!!!



















"Lifeline" and "Our Time" both reflect the time when Kyle & I moved out from the family home after my first marriage ended - we started afresh in a new home and had great fun! Not that we were alone for long - I met Andy only 3 weeks later and have never looked back!



















"Ride" is scrapped at 8.5x11 inches - a size I use for a separate album just for Photos I Love!

This photo was taken on Boxing Day 2006 - Andy & I had bought Kyle a new bike for Christmas and this was his first outing on it - he loved it - he rode it up and down the paths in Congleton park and literally screamed with delight! I love how I managed to capture the smile and look on his face - pure fluke, but so glad I did!

Shakespeare???

Finally, finally, finally got round to doing a weekly challenge on UKS - this week it was to Use Circles, 2 of something, bling and include a quote from Shakespeare. After reading through a long list of quotes (courtesy of Google!!!), photos of an beautiful Ice sculpture sprung to mind after reading "All That Glisters Is Not Gold". I used ScrapaGoGo April 2010 Fabrication kit with the addition of letters from my own stash.

Monster Post Alert!

OK - I admit it... I'm not very good at keeping my blog up to date but I think I can be ever so slightly forgiven due to the pregnancy sickness! Now 15 weeks pregnant, only 25 to go!!! Had a 2 week break of sickness but it came back this week but thankfully it hasn't been as bad as last month!

Have managed to get my creative streak back into gear though and throughly used up my February ScrapaGoGo kit on the next 3 LOs and a cute mini book - I don't think I've ever (in the 2 years of subscribing) ever used up a kit so quickly!

This was Kyle enjoying his 'Valentine' biscuit in Feb 2009 and as the title shows, he wasn't sharing!!!

Should really have this LO in my section of Photos I Love - photo of DH taken on our first trip to Disneyland Paris. Created the background circle/scalloped edging by hand and used Fired Brick Distress Ink for the scallops.

Created this LO about how the two men in my life get on so well with each other. Did this LO for the March Week 3 Challenge over on UKS.

Then on UKS it became time for my team The Indecisives to set a challenge - being an indecisive bunch, we actually set 3 challenges. I wasn't well enough to get my LO completed before the challenge went live, but I've finally completed it today...

This was for our Challenge No. 2 - where we had to scrap our favourite holiday, using colours of the flag of the country, 1 or 3 photos, use Stamping as a technique (see the stars!), follow a sketch (created by my talented teamie Katy Fox) and use a form of journalling that we haven't used before - as you can see my Dymo machine got used - only had it about 6-7 months without using it, so this seems like an ideal time.

Remember the mini book I created using the Feb GoGo kit, I selected just a few of my favourite and sometimes funny photos to do a mini book just about us as we are now (before Bump arrives!) Here are a few pages from it...

I cut up my GoGo box into 3x4" pages, used some acetate pages and some tags and ended up with a 24 page mini book. Can't take full credit for this little book though - I saw the idea a while back on Kevin & Amanda's blog here to create a mini book using scraps!

On top of those LOs and mini book, I've been doing some circle journals as well. Only a tease of a photo to show you though, can't have the recipient knowing too much about their CJ before they get it back!

This is using the ScrapaGoGo kit for March using a mix of the Sassafras Lass Amplify range and the fabulous GoGo designed stamps.

Now I will try not to leave it so long til my next post - Honest! I'll Try!!!

Ally

x

Where did the time go?

Blimey - shut my eyes for a few minutes and suddenly its February, well actually its almost March! Where did the last few weeks go ? In between feeling sick all day and very, very tired, I have managed to do some crafting - but not as much as I would have liked to! In the last week, I've spent 4 days in hospital with Hyperemesis due to the pregnancy - not the best place to spend my birthday!!!

So what have I managed to do in the last month and a bit???

An Advanced Metal Art Workshop over at Artist Trading Post, taught by the very talented Anneliese Bates. We created 2 mini canvas using the Ten Second Studio materials & tools. Freehand houses for one, stamped images & punches for the other. Colour was added using Ranger Alcohol Inks.



Then using a border mould, we created a bookmark. Once the metal work was finished, we wrapped it round some grungeboard and added some patterned paper on the reverse. Its such a therapeutic craft!

Even managed to create some layouts - 2 for challenges and 2 at a crop! With a mini book completed and a CJ for ScrapaGoGo, that has been as crafty as I've got! Hopefully once the sleepy and sickness stage have passed, I'll be back to my normal craftiness!

First of the New Year!

Welcome to my blog & my first blog post!

Finally got round to starting & completing my first Layout of 2010 today.

Using the January Wk1 Challenge on UKScrappers to start off all my goals for this year, well crafty goals anyway! I'm intending to complete more weekly & house challenges on UKS and various other scrapbooking challenges. I'm gonna be busy!

Here is my First Stocking LO - used October Afternoon papers, Making Memories paper flowers & other bits & bobs from ScrapaGoGo December 08 kit! Really need to start using up some of those lovely yellow boxes!!!


The challenge was to follow a sketch, scrap a celebration & use some ribbon! Tick, Tick, Tick - all done!

Thank you for dropping by and reading. Leave me a comment if you wish to, would love to hear from you!