Off to the carnival!

Well as I mentioned earlier I had to make a carnival style mask for Saturday nights party at Innovate. Well below is my effort. I must admit I am quite pleased with the result.I bought a white plain mask from then painted it with pink and silver acrylic paint, added flat back star gems and baby pink feathers.

After painting and doing the mask I didn't have much inspiration left for scrapbooking tonight so I decided to have a go at making some flowers from scraps of paper.

I got the instructions from a great blog, they were very easy and step by step. Click on the images to fink the link to the instructions on Helen's blog.

Am hoping to get some LOs done tomorrow, really want to play with Cleo crafts Feb Kit.

Unfortuantely no photo!

Well although I have been a little crafty this afternoon I am unable to post my make on here before a certain person's birthday! Will upload a photo after 9th Feb.

Today I added yet more stash to my ever growing pile! Mum and I went to Elsecar Heritage Centre, Barnsley to 'The Craft Box'. They had lots of WRMK gromlets in the sale so I bought quite a few packs. They are gorgeous. Also managed to get some grunge paper which I look forward to using, am planning to start by having a go at making some flowers. I also picked up some small mosaic tiles and small craftwork cards card spots.

Off to make a Carnival style mask for Centenary Innovate at the weekend. We are raising money for breast cancer so think pink!!!

A New Challenge!

Pink Gem Designs have started their very own challenge blog called 'A Gem of a Challenge'. I have recently purchased three gorgeous stamps from them in their January Sale. The First Monthly Challenge is to be posted on the 8th February, and the winner will be able to choose 2 stamps from the Pink Gem Designs Website. I can't wait to take part, am in love with the stamps I bought from them (Winter Hoot, Spring Mimi and Denny in Love).

Cleo Crafts Jan Kit and housey stuff!

Well I finally plucked up the courage to cut in to my gorgeous Cleo Crafts January Kit which contains these lovely Webster's Storytellars papers. This is my offical photograph from my graduation in November. I found it quite difficult to add anything to the page as I didn't want to cover any of the beautiful pictures on the paper. Therefore I went for simplicity. I am absolutely loving their kits every month. Wasn't sure I was going to like these papers after looking at them online but when I saw them in the flesh they are gorgeous!

Well although I still live at home with my parents my boyfriend and I have started to buy housey stuff, especially kitchen things. So far we have 2 cutlery sets (1 posh, 1 everyday), a carvery knife set, various dishes, various utensils, numerous glasses and various silicon and non stick baking trays.
This is our latest purchase:

I dragged him to morrisons to look at the slate placemats and as we were walking out we saw this gorgeous dinner service. As it was on offer we bought 2 sets which gives us 8 place settings. Yey! However, we are quickly running out of space to store things.

I can't wait to get Cleo Crafts February Kit, the papers look gorgeous!

The snow mini book has landed

Well after all the beautiful snow we have had and the lovely pictures I managed to take I thought it was only right to put them all together in a mini book. I used my December Cleo crafts kit with a few added extras from my stash. Apologies for the quality of some of the photos the light was really bad.

The page on the left above has a flap created by the photo and the ribbon as a hinge to hide my journalling.

To make the frames I measured the photo then drew it on to chipboard and cut it out with a craft knife. I then painted it with purple acrylic paint and stamped snowflakes on to it with silver ink when dry.

I used a watermark ink pad and a fern stamp to add some texture to the background although you can't tell very well on the photos. The definition was created by stamping on glossy card with archival ink and then using alcohol inks to make a pattern over the top. I wasn't completely happy with it as the colours can out abit too vivid for what I had wanted.

The final page shows a big contrast in the weather between Jan 2010 and Jan 2009. The photos were taken from almost the same spot at the same time of year.

Sale time! Well a little clear out.

Well I'm selling a few items over on UKS so here are the photos. All are new and unused. The Rusty Pickle Class Kit - K85 "Lucky" is £6.00 inc P&P.

The ellison design embossing folders are £2 each incl P&P.

The Sizzix embossing folders are £2.50 incl P&P.

Baby its cold outside!

I can't believe how cold it is! Although the snow is actually thawing her it feels absolutely bitter. At work this afternoon/evening so thought I had better update now.

Heres another page for my JYC, its been almost done for a while, was just waiting for a title, planned to wait until my sizzix sale order comes but am still waiting so I used webster storyteller alphabet stickers that I go as an add on to Cleo crafts Jan kit.

I was really pleased with the aged effect I managed to give the song sheet. I crunched it up and then applied distress ink lightly over the top to show up the creases.

I finally managed to finish this project which has been sat on my desk since the summer minibook even on UKS. I made the book and added the papers the day it was launched but then never got round to printing the photos off for the book. The papers are another kit from Cleo Crafts which I absolutely love.

Innovate is almost like a guiding conference weekend for girls aged 16-25 years old. Girls travel from all over the UK to coem together and discuss the development of girlguiding UK. Its not all hard work there is a lot of fun involved too.

I am looking forward to going to the Centenary Innovate which is at Wyboston in February.

Pink Gem Blog Candy!

Pink Gem are giving an amazing candy away on their blog, go and visit it now to be in with a chance. It ends on the 18th January. Good Luck everyone!

2 posts in 1 day!

Here is my actual book for my 'Journal your Christmas'. I have used a 7 gypsies D ring 6x6 album. I wanted to keep the front quite rustic looking so decided to use the brown kraft background and just add a title and co-ordinating papers. I tried to use lots of different scraps of paper that I had already used on pages inside the journal.

I am quite behind with my journal you christmas, especially with the scrapping side of things. I have got about 9 pages either completed or just waiting for a titles ( I am waiting for an order of alphabet dies coming from Sizzix).

I am just sorting out more photos and bits of journalling to complete more pages over the weekend. Really want to get this finished as soon so I can do lots more scrapping.









22nd December - Today is my 'To Do list', I have to admit that I was quite pleased that by this point in December I didn't have much left to do.

Walking in a winter wonderland!

Today as I was off work my boyfriend and I decided to take his dogs for a walk to Rother Valley Country Park, which is about a 10 minute walk away from his home. The scenery was stunning, the sun was shining and glistening off the snow which covered the ground. It was absolutely freezing but we really enjoyed walking round and exploring in the snow with the dogs.







I have never seen the lakes frozen over as we don't tend to have weather this cold for any period of time. I am looking forward to making a minibook of all these photos. Will be back later with a crafting post.

Well I ended up staying a work last night. I was on a late shift (13.30 - 21.30) then an early shift (07.00 - 15.00) so I decided it really wasn't worth struggling home with the weather just to sleep and then have to get up early to go back. It was definately the right thing to do but as it was a sofa bed it wasn't the most comfortable nights sleep. I had a very busy day at work as some staff couldn't get in because of the snow. Therefore, I'm very tired tonight, but I have had a quick snooze and am getting ready to go out to the pub!

I have ordered an ATG Gun and 10 rolls of DST with my christmas money. I can't wait to get it, everyone on UKS seem to swear by it. Look forward to receiving it and playing!

SNOW Again!

Well good morning! I woke to find this outside my house. We have about 4 inches of snow in places. Apparently it has only been snowing for 3 hours and it is showing no sign of stopping. Oh dear! Going to take an overnight bag with me to work just incase I get there but not able to get back.

I'm a little worried how I am going to manage to drive the 7 miles to work. Well at least I will have some nice photos to do some scrapping with. I think these continued snow showers may result in a winter themed minibook.

Big Cat Diaries!

Here is the double layout that I have been working on for the last couple of days. Found it quite challenging as I had 7 photographs that I wanted to use. I took inspiration from my mum's pagemaps book and managed to make this layout whhich I am very pleased with. I love the Bo Bunny 'Fluttery Buttery' Papers and stickers that I used. They actually came in a recent Cleo Crafts kit.

The photos are some taken at Ranthanbore National Park, India. We spent 3 days at the park and were very fortunate to see tigers on 3 out of 5 jeep safaris. There are about 40 tigers in the park but they are still rarely seen. National Geographic was actually filming this tiger when we arrived at its location.

Keep an eye out for further India and Tiger related pages over the next few weeks/months.

Wicked CC - Just a little late!

Well finally I have remembered to upload my LOs from the Wicked CC in November 2009. It was the week before I went away on holiday so they were uploaded to the UKS gallery but not on my blog. Am really pleased with how they turned out.

Mystery kit - We just so happened to have Wizard of Oz as our theme on brownie pack holiday so I new exactly which photos to use for this. I cut out and decopaged some of the flowers.

I really enjoyed doing the 'Over the Rainbow' class and am really pleased with the results.

This is my pre-crop challenge LO which is the first time I have ever done an 8x8 page. I found it quite daunting at first as I was a little worried about putting too much on.

Tin Man Challenge - I was really pleased with this LO, the photo is of me and my boyfriend before we went to the Rugby Club end of season dinner dance.

Another great class, I had had these photos a while but couldn't think how to use them as they aren't the best (but then its not easy to take photos while balancing in a canoe!). Lol.

I am starting to scrap my trip to India so watch this space for more LOs in the near future. Also I intend to make all my own cards this year aswell.

Christmas cards!

These are a couple of my christmas cards I made this year, I didn't want to show them before christmas as some of my friends keep an eye on my blog. I was really pleased how they turned out. Next years plan is to start using copic markers as I have some really cute christmas stamps which I would like to use.



I have also bought 2 Tim Holtz stamps, 'Christmas Miracle' and 'Reindeer games'. I'm looking forward to making cards and tags with those. My neighbours really like to send handmade cards so they have offered to buy some from me if I make enough. I actually really enjoyed making the cards this year even if it was a little stressful!

JYC update!

Proof that I have actually been taking part in Shimelle's JYC 2009. I have actually got round to making some pages. Am really pleased with the ones so far. I managed to get hold of one of Shimelle's kits so am trying to limit myself to just using her kit as abit of a challenge.

Look what Santa brought me!

My boyfriend bought me a Big Bite for xmas which I was so pleased with. He had also bought me absolutely loads of gromlets in different sizes and different colours. Won't need to buy any for a long time. Just need to find some time to play with it!

Pagemaps end of year sketch challenge!

This is the sketch over on Becky's pagemap blog for the end of the year. There is a great prize donated by Michelle Roudebush.I really enjoyed using this sketch as I had a collection of 3 activities from my last holiday to use for it. I decided to use a Basic Grey 'Marrakech' papers, Tim Holtz tags and flat back gems.

I apologise for the quality of the photo as it was dark so had to use my flash. This LO documents the preparation required for the Maharastrian dinner when we were away at the Guide World Centre in Pune, India.

New Years Resolutions!!!

To be honest I don't normally do new years resolutions because I am usually rubbish at sticking to things. But this year is going to be very different:

There are various different areas of my life which I intend to change, some much simpler than others as you will see, I have split it in to categories.

Crafting:

• Get organised!
• Start to make christmas cards much earlier, so they are not last minute (ie. August).
• Make some homemade birthday/christmas presents.
• Try to use each Cleo Crafts Kit every month so I don't get a stock pile.
• Finish my Gambia, India and Scotland Albums.

Guiding:

• Take part in as many Centenary celebrations as possible.
• Make a Centenary minibook keepsake.

General:

• Think more positively!
• Clear my debts and save for a house deposit.
• Update my blog more regularly.

Some amazing blog candy!

Tracy is giving away a fantastic cosmo cricket 'jolly by golly' christmas kit on her blog. (http://lifeandtimesofa12x12addict.blogspot.com/2009/12/jolly-by-golly-rak.html).

You have got to be in it to win it!
Good luck everyone!

JYC - getting there!

16th – Gift Exchange – This year I met my friends from university for lunch and to exchange our Christmas gifts. It was great to meet up with Tammy, Ashley and Angie because since we graduated and started working shifts its difficult to organise outings that we can all make. As usual we ended up at Frankie and Benny’s

17th – Full month of December planned out on a calendar sheet.

18th – Christmas Curry – Well dinner this year will be similar to that of last year, we will actually be having an ‘Asian Christmas dinner’ at our local Indian restaurant. They put on a fantastic spread of authentic Indian dishes and also a more traditional roast turkey. However, I actually prefer curry for Christmas!

19th – Dear Santa – To be honest there wasn’t really much I wanted this Christmas, so as I write this my main wish for Christmas day is to wake up in good health and enjoy the day with my family. I would like to have one worry free day where I don’t think about my health, work etc… and am able to just enjoy myself.

Thank you for all the wonderful presents in previous years

Terri
X

P.S I hope you enjoy your whisky and Rudolf enjoys the carrot!

JYC Again!

13th – Christmas Carols

My top 10
1. Do They Know it’s Christmas – Band Aid
2. Fairytale Of New York – The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl
3. Last Christmas – Wham
4. Step in to Christmas – Elton John
5. Mistletoe and Wine – Cliff Richard
6. I wish it could be Christmas Everyday - Roy Wood & Wizzard
7. Mary’s Boy Child – Boney M
8. Merry Christmas Everybody - Slade
9. Lonely this Christmas - Mud
10. Saviour’s Day – Cliff Richard

14th – The Gift is in giving – Our tradition is for me to hand out presents one by one for us to open in turn. We have done this for as long as I can remember. By doing it this way we manage to stretch out the present opening for a few hours and see what everyone else has received as they open their presents.

15th – Visitors – We don’t really have anyone we specifically visit at Christmas as most of our family either live miles away or we don’t really keep in touch with them. We always visit my Nan and mum’s side of the family about a week before Christmas to deliver presents and have a mini Christmas dinner. We usually visit friends sporadically throughout the festive period depending on work commitments.

JYC update

11th – O’ Christmas Tree – My tree in my room is about 3ft high and artificial. I have decorated it for the last 2 years themed around the colours of my bedroom, teal and silver. I love the way the blue lights twinkle against the baubles and enhance the colours in the room.

12th – The Ghost of Christmas…

Past – Christmas has always been a time spent with close family and friends. As mum was always taken to her Nan’s on Christmas day she chose not to make me go, so we spent the day together at home and then in later years we went out for Christmas dinner with close family friends.

Present – This year will be the first year that my boyfriend has spent Christmas day with me and my family which will be great but also a little weird for me as I have never had Christmas morning with anyone other than my parents.

Future – Next year will be the first year when I have to work a shift on Christmas Day so I’m not sure exactly how Christmas day will work next year with present opening and dinner etc…

Journal Your Christmas!

December 2009

1st – Manifesto – I was away in India as the world geared up for the start of the December Christmas rush but when I returned on the 8th I decided I was definitely in need of some direction. So I signed up to Shimelle’s class ‘Journal your Christmas’. In it, I will write something every day to reflect on the holidays of my past, enjoy the holidays of the present and dream about the holidays of the future. To some, this would be a stack of papers and trivial scribbles, but not to me. I am taking back my Christmas, I am letting it be something I relish and most importantly I am giving at least fifteen minutes to myself, everyday, no matter how crazy this season becomes. This Christmas I will make something with my own hands, my own words and my own memories.

2nd – Winter Wonderland – I have to admit that although I do love to be outside in the crisp winter air, wrapped up in my thick coat, my favourite place in winter is in my pjs sat in front of the fire.

3rd – Jolly Mr Postman – I actually start making my Christmas cards early on in November (well I try to at least make a start!) however, I always seem to end up being last minute. For example I still haven’t written any yet and am not sure I have even made enough. My cards get given to close friends and family. Some are posted while others are given in person.

4th – Love Actually – I spent some time thinking about this and expected me to decide on a children’s classic such as ‘The Snowman’ as my favourite Christmas film but a few years ago around Christmas I went to see ‘Love Actually’ and every year since then I have watched it during the Christmas period. It always fills me with Christmas joy and happiness, as if everything will have a happy ending even if there are a few hiccups on the way!

5th – The big count down – From being little I have always had an advent calendar, in later years it has always been a yummy chocolate one, but this year as I was away at the end of November I didn’t get an advent calendar. I must admit that I do miss opening the little windows everyday and seeing the countdown right in front of me. Maybe next year I will make my own.

6th – The good, the bad and the ugly – Christmas is a time to spend with family and friends, so for quite a few years there was a group of us who went out for Christmas dinner together and then come back to our house where my mum would put on a little buffet and we would stay up drinking and playing games until the early hours.

In 2006 my mum, dad and I went to Gambia for Christmas and New Year. Although we had a great holiday, it just wasn’t Christmas! They celebrate on Christmas Eve which meant that we ended up having chinese for Christmas dinner. It was nice but just not the same.

I must admit that I really am not looking forward to having to work Christmas Day next year, but will try to forget about it for 365 days.

7th – Making his list and checking it twice

Present list

8th – It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… (everywhere you go!)

To include pics of: xmas tree, lights, ice on cars, frost etc…

9th – Traditions – Our family have got quite a few traditions when it comes to Christmas. But the main one which sticks in my head is the annual mince pie making sessions my dad does. No one can make mince pies as good as his and its something I look forward to at Christmas.

10th – All wrapped up! – I must admit that almost all my presents are already wrapped up and some are already under the tree waiting to be delivered.