A bit of family history...

I created this page over a month ago now - it was for the Papermaze blog and has only just gone up over there. I managed to get hold of a copy of the only photo we have of my Great-Grandad at my Grandad's funeral in November and I wanted to scrap it. I can't believe how much like my brother he looked - I think he was a handsome chap and its such a shame to think he died so young in the trenches in 1918, leaving behind 4 little children.

I obviously wanted to include quite a bit of journalling on this page, so I decided to use a page from a Making Memories spiral journalling notebook. I wanted to keep the rest fairly simple, but I didn't want to make it too oldy-worldy, so these Scenic Route Sonoma papers were just right - the colours are fresh but not too bright as to take away from the subject matter. The lettering is American Crafts vinyl thickers.

My parents are up this weekend and we managed to get the bed built in time - my dad is going to help Ed put a worktop up tomorrow and then it will be time to move my stuff back in to the scrap room - yay!

My Ipod Nano!

I couldn't go long without scrapping about my ipod nano, and this layout was the result - I had some more of the Imaginisce Fairest of Them All papers to use up for the Papermaze DT and decided to make use of them! An Ipod is such a cool toy and the tunes you have on there really say a lot about you - the most interesting bit is finding out what your top 25 played tunes are. I wonder if mine will change a lot over the year or if I have set tunes that I will like throughout?

Tonight I refuse to do any work at all - I didn't stop all day yesterday and could hardly drag myself out of bed this morning, I so very nearly pulled a sickie but I always feel way too guilty to do that! And work wasn't too bad in the end.

I'm on a bit of a health kick so this evening I'm going to try and make myself a lemon and pea risotto - the results could be interesting, so I decided to experiment on a night when Ed is out at the football and only I will have to eat it! TTFN

Scrapping more 6x12

I've been scrapping more 6x12 for my DT work, partly because I'm home after dark and its easier to scan pages than it is to take a decent photo of my work! But I do like the size too, and I created this page for Papermaze using the Imaginisce Fairest of Them All papers - really cute and girlie! I decided to record this photo of my childhood jewellery box with a little clockwork ballet dancer that played the song 'How much is that doggie in the window' as she turned around. Very girlie, I think you'll agree...

I love these green glitter thickers - I had to buy another pack because I used up all the vowels and t's out of my first batch! They add the perfect amount of sparkle. And that little stamp that comes with the range is really sweet too :)

Tonight I have loads to do, but unfortunately none of it scrapping! Marking books, planning lessons, washing dishes and cooking stirfries will form the basis of my evening, while Ed finishes laying the floor. The countdown to the scraproom continues...

Lushalicious - the Retreat!

One of my latest DT creations for the Papermaze blog was this page - dedicated to the Lushalicious Retreat last October. I love these October Afternoon Hometown papers - they were perfect for the colours in the photo, and the diecut shapes make it easy to put together layered embellishments. If you want step by step instructions, check out the Scrap Paper Scissors blog.

The spare bedroom (or scraproom!) is getting closer to completion - the floor should be finished tomorrow, and then we just need to assemble the sofa bed and put up a worktop and I will be able to move my stuff back in! I can't wait. And my parents will be the first to test the new room at the weekend when they come to stay. After that, I will make sure I get pictures to share...

Skate!

I put this layout together this afternoon while Ed had taken over the living room to listen to a football game on the radio. A really quick little layout, but I like it - I never scrap in purple so this was a bit of a challenge, and the photo was a really poor, blurry shot I had tried to take of my whole family out skating, which wasn't an easy one to do anything with!

I used Chatterbox Eclectique which I had received as part of a kit some time ago - the paper is really thin which I hate normally, but as I was going to be layering it up on cardstock it wasn't too much of a problem. One of the papers had these funky doodled speech bubbles on it which were begging to be cut out as embellishments, and they fit the theme really nicely.

The photo was, believe it or not, the best of a bunch I had taken on December 27th when my family and various others went ice-skating at the outdoor rink at Hampton Court. A really beautiful setting and a fantastic evening, but taking photos with a compact in those light conditions was next to impossible! I got a bunch of blurred photos with strange light effects. But I didn't want to forget the evening, so I had to scrap one of them, and decided to highlight the strange lighting by using purple and light blue.

I'm off out this evening to a friend's 30th birthday party, but I'm on roll now so expect to see more pages in the next few days...

Grief

I created this layout for the Papermaze blog last month and found it really cathartic to create. While the photo is of my partner Ed playing the last post on Remembrance Sunday at the Coventry Memorial, the journalling is actually about the way I felt in November this year soon after the death of my Grandad when the memorial services were taking place. The paper was perfect for it, as the flowers had a look of poppies about them and the red and brown tones were very autumnal. I created my own 'lace' cardstock by cutting round the design and layering it up on foam pads. I was really pleased with the finished result - if you want step by step instructions they are on the Scrap Paper Scissors blog.

Today I finished a page for Scrapbook Inspirations - my mojo is definitely working again...

Life got in the way...

...but its been for a good reason. The scrap room is well under way and we just have to lay the floor and put up a worktop for the computer and then I will be able to move back in again! Suffice to say the house has been a little chaotic - the computer has been moved downstairs to the dining table and the internet only works sporadically - but there is an end in sight and I feel really proud of Ed for getting it done. Maybe this means that I will have a burst of creative energy! I have been scrapping whilst the decorating has been going on, but I've had to stick to a corner of my bedroom floor, next to a ladder and a pile of tools, so its not exactly conducive to my best work. But DT commitments mean I can't give up entirely for a month, and I wouldn't want to.

In the meantime, here are the remaining pages of my Christmas Journal (which now seems like a distant memory), and tomorrow I'll share another page I did for my DT. I've created four more which will be up on the shop site next week, so I'll share them here too. Lets hope I can get at least a few posts done at the end of this month!