MID WEEK FUN!

OK - so thought I'd manage a mid-week post - yes it's not a What's Rocking Your World Friday for a change - it's a good old fashioned scrapbook layout tee hee!

Got a load of photos printed and they dropped through the door earlier in the week, so set too with a favourite piccie and this is what I made 

I love this photo of my beautiful sister Melanie and her daughter - pure natural beauties - both of them - not a stitch of make up was worn, not planned, nor organised - just the two of them enjoying time together on my niece's 11th birthday! 

I loved doing the layout, using my Tim Holtz stack of papers, tearing paper, stitching it, inking flowers, adding buttons and 7 Gypsy's stamps for the title!  A few subtle additions - glossy accents and little tiny diamantes

then I managed to use up some of these black hearts within the stitched hearts this morning - I'd left it out on my table and finished it this morning when the idea came to me!

 then a rub on to remind me that they aren't just mother and daughter but girlfriends too!

 Right off again now - super quick post do you like?  I'm off to try and fathom out how to empty the office contents back into the office without it looking like it did before, I've already managed an hour and well it doesn't look any different LOL - but I'm sure perseverance will help!

Finally it's a whole twenty years since I met my soulmate I can't believe how quick that time has gone my life has been beautiful ever since I met him and I am truly blessed and grateful every single day - so what to do for an anniversary evening? 

I could make a romantic meal and we could sit and chat and eat (which is pretty much something we do most weekends) 

or my other idea is 

well it's a little bit different 

what do you think?

I'm thinking about getting one of the giant canvases out and setting up in the dining space - moving the table out of the way, grabbing some cushions for the floor, getting some simple foods to nibble on and then spending the evening doing a giant canvas to celebrate twenty years together, listening to music, laughing and giggling - so what do you think?  Which one would you do?

WOYWW IF YOU'RE STAYING FOR THE LONG HAUL GRAB A CUPPA!

I've been trying to get back to WOYWW for a while now but every time I do I get scuppered for some reason, so best foot forward!

Yes that really is my work station - cup of tea and all! I keep balancing everything precariously until finally I have to tidy it.

I've been working on a few items recently including this book that I've had forever - another item out of the alterables box, it has all slidey pull outs on each page and came in a plain white finish, but after buying the penny dropped that the pull out slidey things were quite a tight fit and any chance of adding even a matted photo were remote let alone any embellishments, so into the alterables box it went occasionally waving at me as I passed it by - but finally having received my 431 photos through from bonusprint last weekend (yes I did say 431!) it has emerged and rather than try and layer it up with paper like I normally do I went for throwing colour wash at it, stencilling, masking etc and well I likey now - although I've got stuck again but that's another problem, promise to show you the finished article when I've finished fighting with it!

I'm going to use it for the pictures of my giant canvas (yes I'm making a mini book of the journey LMAO - I'm an artist don't you know and it's my perogative to get the most out of my work - every last little drop). Don't believe that I squeeze every ounce out of my creativity - well here is proof on an epic scale!

I made this mini book of an awesome art wall we discovered in Scarborough recently, the papers are just out of a spring stack I bought a while ago and I just love these stacks because I can use them away without feeling guilty because on a sheet by sheet basis they really aren't that expensive!

The covers were from a rescued book I did a while ago - I attempted to make a waterfall book - but the card stock I used didn't have enough strength in it - so despite sticking 3 back to back they never had the rigidity to behave properly and I simply got stroppy and you guessed it threw it in the alterables box. So I took it back out, removed the waterfall parts and put them to one side because I'm sure I can recover them somehow and then set to work.

I wanted to generate a really quick mini book - you know when you want it finished before you've started, so I simply cut 12 x 12 paper in half and then folded each piece and then stuck them together - simple! Took about half an hour to put the basics of the book together. The right hand side of the book opens like normal, the left hand side lifts from the bottom upwards, there was no way I could make the book deep enough to fill the inch spine (well I could but the spring stack would have been no more as a result and I may have had to reinforce the floor!) so this seemed the best solution

I loved making it, I also decided to make a 12 x 12 double layout to document it - because I like to do chronological 12 x 12 layouts that relate to my life (I know how mad am I) and because I liked the papers so much I used them for the layouts, I took inspiration from Angie Woolfall's Angel Islington layout that she did for the last cyber crop on UK Scrappers, I just loved the effect and the simplicity at achieving it, I love how you can go back and look at the cyber crops at a later date for blow by blow instructions or just for a little bit of inspiration!

I enjoyed doing both pages although they differ slightly they pull together nicely!

A little bit more detail from the layouts - the chipboard onlong the bottom of one of the layouts are cut up photos of some of the gorgeous clay tiles that have been made and adorn the side of the one of the houses below the art work.

Then I was left with the usual offcuts and again squeezing the creativity I did these cards (I love these photos - because you can see the glossy accents) believe it or not the 12 x 12 layouts had the glossy accents too you just can't see them!

So has that been it?

No of course not, I went to my scrapbook class on Monday, it is true that art therapy works wonders, Sandra had designed a gorgeous layout for us to do and when I got home I finished it - ta da! I altered it slightly because my photo was quite big but the overall essence is the same as the class layout and I loved doing it, so thank you Sandra for a little therapy - it does wonders!

And likewise I had some left over paper (although not huge amounts but a little can go a long way so I made these, using some stampotique images don't you just love these)

and a photo of them all together

See me squeezing the creativity out! So off to Julia's stamping ground to say hi and add myself to the list - wonder if I should warn them they'll need a cup of tea for this one?
Oh nearly forgot - hold on!

Yes that is my little sister enjoying herself on her 30th birthday - do you think she was giddy?