Playful Pursuits!

Well I finally got round to completing my Playful layout for the My Freedom class - just four more double layouts to go now, that is if I complete them all which will mean adding extra page protectors to my album. The photos might seem a bit of an eclectic bunch, but they make sense if you read the journalling, which for this page had to be done in a 'pictures as words' way, replacing some of the text with little symbols. I didn't replace too much, for fear of not having a clue what I was going on about in ten years time when I look back on this page!

Because the theme was all the stuff we do to enjoy ourselves, I wanted to make the page a little bit brighter and funkier than some of the others, so I included all my main colours - pink, turquoise and green - on the one page and used some gorgeous scraps of BG Sultry paper to add a bit of life. The stamps I used on this page are from Back Porch Memories, which does the best stamp collections and I subscribe to these monthly - its worth taking a look if you are a stamp addict like me!




Not long to go till I'm back to school now - it would be awesome if I could actually finish my album before then but I fear it is unlikely. Oh well, I'll do as much as I can, and then its time for Learn Something New Every Day - the return!

Mum's Birthday Card

Obviously I couldn't share this one until I had presented it to my mum, but here is the birthday card I made for her this year. Those who have read my blog for a while will know that cardmaking is not my strong point, but I like to have a go now and then for important events, usually the birthday's of my immediate family. I decided to make things easier for myself by using a cardmap from Page Maps, couldn't tell you which one it was now I'm afraid and it didn't end up looking much like the sketch in the end, but it was great as a starting point when you are less than confident like me! So here it is (I couldn't resist the scrapper's urge to include a photo of my mum inside)...

And here are a few photos of us around the dinner table...

I've been taking my Scrap Your Day photos - I have now taken July and August photos, though have yet to scrap my July ones yet! Might try and get onto that this week. I think this is going to be such a great project to look back at when its done :)

Serious(ly late!)

So finally, here is my Serious layout for the My Freedom class - completed ages ago but I only got round to scanning it last night! I really enjoyed making this layout as I decided to write the journalling as a conversation between myself and the inanimate objects that are constantly used in my working/serious side of life. It made the tasks seem a little more fun somehow! The script idea was a really different way of journalling and I'll probably try it again in the future.



I've been busy today getting a layout finished for the Scrap, Paper, Scissors site - I'm a bit behind with my DT work due to my holiday - but that is now done so hopefully I can get on with my Playful layout in the next day or so :)

Just you and me...

I've been wanting to share this layout for ages, but it only recently appeared on the Scrap, Paper, Scissors website. It was created using Fancy Pants papers which, although a little bit 'pastely' for my usual tastes, were actually quite sweet and had some cute little designs to cut out and use as embellishments. I had been wanting to scrap the photo for some time - its not the best shot of us both, but I really like it as it captures us just chilling out together on the sofa. I created the little letters for the title on my computer as I can never seem to get hold of those Making Memories mini alpha stickers which I see being used to great effect by other scrappers!



Tomorrow, I will share my Serious layout from the My Freedom class, and hopefully I'll be able to share my Playful layout on the following day as I really want to get the class completed before the end of the Summer hols if I can.

Portugal Memories...

So I promised an update, and here it is! Apologies to my blog readers for leaving you for a few weeks, but what with packing for the holiday and then actually enjoying it, I had very little time to myself to scrap and blog and all the other stuff I'm usually so much better at doing. I promise to make up for it over the next few weeks...





Our holiday this year was spent in Lagos in Portugal, a really cute town with a gorgeous Marina and beautiful beaches. We went with my mum, dad, brother and sister - the first time we have all been away as a family since I was about 15! We all got along surprisingly well considering we are all a bit argumentative and loud - I blame it on us all being fire signs! :D The apartment was really comfortable, and we had a really nice shared pool which was often more like a private pool there were so few other people using it. We all managed to burn on the first day, and my shoulders are still peeling now! We had hired a couple of cars which meant we could travel around a bit and visit places like the spa at Monchique in the mountains, the little beach at Burgau and the bustling Albufeira, where we saw the awesome sand sculptures. All these places were really pretty and of course sunny.

I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked, mainly because in the first few days of the holiday I thought I had done the ridiculously stupid thing of leaving my camera behind (there is always something!) but several days in I discovered it in the bag and managed to get some shots (I will rely on my sister's photo taking for the rest of them).

It was all very relaxing and I've got a nice golden glow, but I've also managed to put on some pounds after eating at some really lovely restaurants, so unfortunately the diet is back on in earnest now!

In other news, the latest issue of SI arrived while I was away and I have a page in it - this one was for the Make and Take and I had to create a layout using a ribbon kit from Angel Crafts and a piece of pink cardstock - shock! horror! no patterned paper! Still, I did the best I could with it and the layout turned out to be quite cathartic in the making - at the time I had been going through quite a bit of soul-searching about what I wanted and where I was headed and the layout was a way of letting some of that go in a creative way.

So where have I been....?

Sunning myself in the glorious Algarve! Too tired to update much now, but I will be sharing tomorrow - don't worry, I haven't totally abandoned my blog! Off to catch up on some much needed sleep now though...