Rachel_B's World

Belated JYC - Part Three

2012-01-28T09:22:00.000Z

January seems to be a month of finishing projects for me, I've finished the leg warmer/wellie boot liners and I've been re-reviewing my to-do list. Currently it's looking pretty good:

*Document 2011 - November

*Document 2011 - December

*4x6 photo love - June!

*4x6 photo love - October

*4x6 photo love - November

*4x6 photo love - December

*The other leg warmer/welly boot liner

*Patchwork quilt no2

*Cushion covers????

I have a few more bits to add to my list but I won't do that yet as it feels like I am getting somewhere!

♥

Hopefully you are not bored of my JYC yet!!! Here is some more!

I have another crop tomorrow so I will be packing more projects off the to-do list as well as another maybe!

Bye for now x

Belated JYC - Part Two

2012-01-25T21:49:00.001Z

I thought I was on a creative roll then over the weekend the lurgy came to visit us so most forms of creativity stopped. The only thing I have been doing is knitting because I figured I could sit quite still feeling sorry for myself whilst doing it! So my list is getting shorter slowly but surely!

Onto sharing more JYC:

This page shares the nicer and not so nicer side of Christmas. There are two tags hidden inside the page with the journaling....

The other tag shares my thoughts and feelings on unexpectedly loosing a special lady {my nan} just before Christmas.

The ever-growing to-do lists as on the 7th December 2011 {I actually stopped to take note}

The wonderful sights of Christmas!

Traditions: Old and new! This year we added a new one - Bruge Christmas market, It was amazing and I can't wait to go back next year!!

.....I had to sneak in a page about making decorations:

....and of course, this years colours for wrap!!

Ok, I'm off to cable my heart out...I'm so close to finishing then I can move onto the next project!!!

Bye for now x

Belated JYC - Part One

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000Z

Ooh get me I'm actually blogging two days in a row!! So without further a do........

My JYC 2012!

Did you spot Emily's addition? She kindly took a red pencil to it for me!!!! Oh the anguish! Here's a close up just in case you missed it!

Some reminders of December going-ons....

My Manifesto....Please excuse the poor photos, In my rush to share all I wrongly put quickness first instead of time consuming prettiness!

I've added in extra pages in places as I tend to do JYC and DD together. On the 1st Dec we put up our decorations and we brought Adam his own little tree for his newly decorated bedroom - he was so excited about decorating it!

He decided to put everything on one branch at first and it fell over! I convinced him eventually that everything would work better if it was spread out!

Day 2 = our lack of Christmas weather!

I only made 5 cards this year which is progress as I think I only made 2 the Christmas before! You never know it could be 10 next, Lol!

Day 4 - The perfect Christmas......

I decided to call it Christmas perfection as I love it just the way it is!

Adam counting down the days.....

...and finally before you all get bored - the beautiful lit tree we saw when we went to Bruge for the day ♥

Thank you for all the lovely comments yesterday about my 4x6 Photo love...... What did you do with yours? Did you put them in which other layouts or put them into their own album? I'm not sure what to do - I wanted to put them into their own album with notes as a reminder but now I'm not so sure... Is this a waste of an album??? So many Questions!!

4x6 photo love

2012-01-23T09:17:00.000Z

I'm actually a little sad I have finished this project, I loved looking forward to seeing exactly how Shimelle was going to make A LOT of 4x6 photos work on a layout - How does she think of this stuff? Brilliant!

I don't really know how I managed it but the last time I worked on this I missed out June!

So here it is!

My little cheeky chops!

October was fun and it is definitely one I will try again - although I think I will pick photos that are less busy next time!

It was a lovely quick layout though, I didn't have any of the page protectors that Shimelle used so I opted for modifying a 12x12 one.

...Onto November - another fun one that I will be using again!

It's a double layout with the sneaky pages in the middle.....

It's hard to imagine like that so here is a view of the whole thing....

*December*

I haven't had much time for any Christmas scrapping apart from JYC and this but I feel like I need to put the Christmas stash away for a bit and move on to my to-scrap pile - So currently this is the last Christmas page!

It tells the story of trying to photo the kiddies....which sometimes is a harder task than it needs to be! I was trying to get the Christmas photo that I put into cards to send to relatives - and would they both look at the same time? No! They either had juice cups in front of their faces or they were looking anywhere but at me!

We got there in the end though!

I will be back during the week to share my completed JYC, I am determind to share it before January is over!!!

Bye for now!

Show and tell

2012-01-18T16:01:00.000Z

Time for some show and tell I think! I've been looking through some of my old blog posts - mainly looking for Document 2011 and 4x6 Photo love to see how far I've blogged........SHOCKING!!! I need to share a lot!!! So to kick things off I will share my 2012 calendar before it's July again, Lol!

It's amazing what you can do if you put your mind to it {and find some spare time} Steve kindly looked after the kiddies for me so that I could start on my calendar and because there were no interuptions I finished it that very same day!

All the photos I use are from the same month the year before....look how small my babies were last January!

...and just look at that fluffy hair!

....Oh and the sun!

All of a sudden my little boy looks so grown up.

...and then POW, so does my little girl!

I'm so pleased I have finished it....I will be back soon {I promise} with some more show and tells!

Bye for now!

January

2012-01-16T17:46:00.000Z

Hi!

Isn't it going quick again? I can't believe it's already the 16th......and this will be the 2nd blog post of 2012 so far {Oh the shame!} So things have been just as busy as usual around these parts. Adam went back to Nursery and has now developed a thing for birdwatching after birdwatching week and refers to his binoculars as nock-yilas. He walks around the house looking through them and bumping into furniture which is a little funny to watch {I know....wicked mother!}

Emily is getting more grown up by the day and says a lot more now but still talks more with expression than words! She also has slightly more hair but still not a lot - poor girl! I can't believe that this year Adam will be 4 and Emily will be 2......Oh where does it go?

On the business front we are awaiting an exciting phone call to say that the summer house will be delivered soon and then I can start turning it into my gorgeous beauty room. The shed that once stood in the corner of the garden has gone ready for the upcoming adventure..... I have excitedly picked out my nail station, furniture, decor...oh I can't wait!

.....and the creativeness? Well it is still happening in much smaller doses but somehow I am still finding small amounts of time to add pictures to paper. My JYC is finished apart from one photo and a smidge of journaling - so I will share that soon. My 2012 calendar is also finished, I have knitted one leg warmer/welly liner, October's Document 2011 and I still have a huge to-do list!!!! Hey maybe I should share it to make me prioritise??? Here goes:

*Document 2011 - November

*Document 2011 - December

*4x6 photo love - June!

*4x6 photo love - October

*4x6 photo love - November

*4x6 photo love - December

*The other leg warmer/welly boot liner

*Patchwork quilt no2

*Cushion covers????

Wow what a list!!!! Ok that has frightened me slightly, Lol!

I think I had better go and get started! Night all x

Happy New Year blogland!

2012-01-02T16:19:00.000Z

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I have one ~~resolution~~ intention for 2012! You can probably already guess what I am going to say due to my absence in blog land. I can't believe how busy I was with work over the festive period - it's all good and I'm not complaining as work is work and I am truly grateful to be working. What I can't believe is the contrast to the last couple of years where I blogged almost daily and had a stack of projects to share weekly.... and that I am a little disappointed about! But heyho! I have been partaking in JYC this year and I aim to share that soon....along with a little something else!

....so my one and only intention for 2012 is not to neglect my hobbies, in which blogging is included.

I hope you all have a wonderful, happy and healthy 2012 - happy new year!

Christmas crafty bits

2011-11-15T16:33:00.000Z

I've been thinking of Christmas a lot lately and then Shimelle had a Christmas weekend crop - so that got the creative juices flowing and now Christmas is always on my mind - oh dear!

Apologies about delays in comments on your blogs - for some reason I'm having trouble leaving comments on quite a few blogs!

Back to the festiveness. After a reading a few Christmas challenges I set to work!

I found this website while looking through some crafty projects to make for decorations and I fell in love with it - it's adorable and has doubled up as this challenge too.

... of course I couldn't leave it there so I had to make one straight away!

It is made from a tube that is one of my acrylic brushes came in - I painted the stopper silver to replicate the magical top of the north pole and then to set to work covering it with white cardstock and sticking red ribbon around tightly securing either end with glossy accents.

To weigh it down I have plugged one end with blu tak and it sits quite nicely without toppling over!

The signs are just handwritten and stuck on with glossy accents, with the main one mounted on red dotty bazill.

.....Then I needed to do more to satisfy my Christmas crafting so I moved onto another challenge of Shimelle's.

I created these tags using odds and ends from previous Christmas Journals - so I was pleased to use them up....This one is my favourite. The 'I':

I took inspiration from this post that Shimelle featured and I think it works nicely in those colours.

♥

Ok nearly there I promise! The last Christmassey type thing I made was some tree decorations:

They started life like this:

I brought them last year in B&Q with good intentions to alter them....and then forgot! They sat in my craft cupboard lonely - until now. I painted them with a few coats of acrylic paint, edged them with a pen once they were dry and then glued some buttons onto them - tada!

Ok that's it for Christmas crafts... Ooh I nearly forgot. This was waiting for me when I got home from work today.....

Wanna see what is inside?

I'm off to make it - see you soon!

Finally - some papercraft

2011-11-13T19:15:00.000Z

Ok, enough teasing..... these are the layouts that I completed at our weekend crop. They are all part of Shimelle's 4x6 photo love.

The first is July and includes 7 4x6 photos from two of the girls nights out I have recently been on.

Half way through making these I realised that I forgot to do June! So that is on the to-do pile now!

I love this concertina effect and I will definitely be using it again!

The next layout is August using 8 4x6 photos, I have used some snaps from our honeymoon in New York that I hadn't got round to scrapping yet.

This is a completely different style for me... and I love it, I especially like that you can see little sneak peaks of the pictures.

Then we move onto September - 9 4x6 photos. I had so much fun making this one, it's the biggest layout I've ever made as it is spread over 3 pages!

This also going to be another one of my favourites to replicate!

I think it may even be my favourite layout of the year so far! I have decided that I might get an album especially for the 4x6 photo love layouts and also include notes from shimelle's prompts so that I can use it as a reference album - it's going to come in very handy!

I will be back tomorrow with a Christmassy post! I've decided it's ok to start thinking festive thoughts now after Shimelle's weekend Christmas craft crop!

Night all x

Something new

2011-11-12T12:44:00.001Z

I can't believe how quick the last 8 days have gone! I started a new project last weekend and just like a good book I couldn't put it down. So every night this week I have stayed up later than I usually do to work on it.... and just like a good book I've finished it too fast and therefore was disappointed that it was over! I'm talking about this beauty:

It's my first one which I know the size of it was quite ambitious for a first but I'm so pleased with it. Its another item for Emily's bedroom when we decorate.... and because I enjoyed making it that much I am going to make one for Adam (he has already requested that it has orange in it!)

♥

Last Saturday we went to Steve's sister and brother in laws house for dinner and fireworks. Emily wasn't too keen and did look a little frightened but Adam loved it and was very excited by the whole thing. He had a go with some sparklers too - assisted by Nanna and smiled throughout waving his arms around.

♥

Now I did promise some pics of my layouts that I completed during my weekend crop. Would you like a sneak peak?

Well I did say a sneak peak! :)

So much fun!

2011-11-04T17:04:00.002Z

*Jumping up and down* I want to do it again! I am referring to my fantastic crop weekend away with V.J and Carrie, there was chocolate consumption, alcohol, giggles and of course scrapbooking! I think we may just have to make this an annual thing ay girls *wink*

We set off on our road trip and got temporarily restrained in traffic but we didn't let that get us down and continued with the giggles and chatting excitedly..... the first stop was Sainsbury's {other large stores are available - Lol!} where we carefully planned food and drink to see us through. I think we were all rather impressed at our resourcefulness {is that even a word?} as we managed to stock up for around £11 each!

It wasn't long before we were straight into scrapping.....and a little drinking!

The progress before heading to bed on Friday night!

After a much needed breakfast we headed to this lovely place:

.......More scrapping until late into the night (check out V.J's nice and tidy crop space compared to ours!).

I managed to get my LSNED 2011 finished at the crop as well as some other pages which I will post later - you can find LSNED 11--------> HERE.

Now I'm off to sort myself out for fireworks.....Night all x

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T19:26:00.001Z

BOO!

Hope your night isn't too frightful!!!

Shiny cobwebs

2011-10-28T12:20:00.000+01:00

Halloween is fast approaching however there isn't a trace of it around the house - unlike last year! I was on maternity leave with Emily and so we had a lot of extra time to make ghost garlands, pipe cleaner spiders and glittery spiderwebs! (see posts here, here and here) I really wanted to add more this year but so far I haven't even managed to put up last years bits and I'm not even sure I will now as I am away all weekend and I don't think Steve will really be that fussed! I am going to try and do some pumpkin carving if I have time on Monday after work.... if not I will have to put extra efforts into Christmas bits!

♥ ♥ ♥

This is the other project I was trying to share the other night, It is also for Emily's bedroom:

I used the Martha Stewart classic butterfly punch and the Martha Stewart punch over the page butterfly, then stuck the middles down with double sided tape and finally hand sewing the middles to create a different effect. They are slightly 3D although it is hard to tell in these pics.

Other sewing type projects include:

I made them one each from fabric and felt for their bedroom doors.... and then I got really excited about Christmas and made these cute fellas......

I love them! I think I am going to make a full size one next as well as the numerous other projects on the list! I've sewn red ribbon onto each end so that they can be hung/tied/pinned from practically any surface! I can't wait to hang them up!

.......and last but not least before I make a final check on my crop bag for the weekend.....My current Halloween nails:

They are Matt Black with Glossy Black spider webs on....Spooktastic!

A croppy adventure

2011-10-26T23:23:00.000+01:00

I'm just bursting at the seams with things to tell you now! This weekend I am going away with the girls - V.J and Carrie.... we have wanted to go on a crop weekend for a long time now but none of us can seem to justify the £300+ that they cost......maybe in the future when the guilt of little ones and home improvements has vanished. ANYWAY! Carrie came up with the brilliant idea of creating our own and so the crop weekend was born! We are going to use my MIL and FIL's caravan in Norfolk and we are also going on a mini road trip to visit capture the magic while we are there!

How terribly exciting!!!

I randomly added those pics as I just found them and they made me smile - she is such a cheeky little miss!

......so yesterday I said I would share some of my sewing projects, I was thinking about colours and schemes for Emily's bedroom and decided to start making a few bits ready for when I decorate it. I'm not sure where the butterflies inspiration came from but that's the theme!

The cushion cover is made from felt - along with the many hand-sewn butterflies!!! I have more to share but blogger appears to be having some trouble uploading the rest of the pictures so I will try again tomorrow.
Night all x

Dear diary

2011-10-25T22:04:00.000+01:00

Man I am bad at blogging this year!

There is so much to tell you - again. My laptop is miraculously working *genius thing fixed itself!* after not working for what feels like 10 years but in fact is only a few weeks - actually lost track of specifics though. Mummy brain is increasingly taking over and some days I wonder how I make myself a cup of coffee without poisoning myself.... or worse, adding the kiddies juice! I know they are older now, Adam is 3 and Emily is...... *pausing to work it out in months* 17 months old but it still seems that I am loosing brain cells at a rate of knots!

It's funny that if I was asked a question relating to Adam's age, weight, immunisations etc I could reel off every detail about him.... but somehow I can't even remember what Emily had for dinner yesterday and I feel awful not knowing these facts straight off the top of my head but I guess that is whats happens after the 2nd is born.

So! Back tracking to September. Of course Adam turned 3, I had significantly more brain cells, a beauty show/exhibition was attended, Euros were purchased, planes {actually plane - singular!} were boarded and a hot country was welcoming. Yes we snuck away for a week without any hint of blogging - I'm not entirely sure how I managed that but I plan to share more day to day stuff from now on.... Ooh like the fact we have already booked next years hols - thought I had better share that before it slips out of my brain! But back to the topic in hand, we went to Tenerife for a week, we go to the North - Puerto de la Cruz and it was lovely and more importantly it was hot and I actually achieved tanage!! I have my sneaky suspicions why.... we didn't take the children! GASP! We had a week away to relax and so lying in the sun with out being hit with a juice cup and asked to go for a wee was bliss and I actually caught the sun! Of course I missed them a lot but we really needed a holiday and they are already booked to come with us in April.

The next big thing is that Adam started school - well nursery! We waited until after our holiday and although he had a bumpy start he thoroughly enjoys it and has asked the last two days of the half term! He goes every day 8.45-11.45am and has formed a lovely bond with his key person - Emily! At first he refused to call her Emily {as we have one at home!} and insisted on calling her lady but it's all good now and he has to tell her everything.

That brings us almost up to date, over the weekend we decorated Adam's bedroom. We painted it Bright Yellow and he has an explosion of Thomas everywhere - quick literally, take a look!

He loves it and so far has spent a few hours a day playing up there, he likes the fact he can build a train set without Emily standing on it and breaking it!

Wow, this has been a long catch up, well done if you are still with me!

On the project front there has been a serious lack of paper craft but I have taken to sewing projects! I will share some of that tomorrow I think.......... Good night x

My grown up boy

2011-09-19T11:46:00.000+01:00

Adam enjoyed his third birthday and had a lot of fun opening presents! He was so sweet all day and every time someone gave him a present he looked amazed that it was for him.

Adams Aunties & Uncles and Nannies & grandads came round for a little tea party and he proudly showed off his Gordon cake that mummy made.

When I made the cake, Adam quietly sat and watched and then when it was finished he said 'I love you Gordon!'

He smiled the whole way through 'happy birthday to Adam!' and then had to blow out his candles 3 times. I didn't think we were going to be aloud to cut the cake but I started from the back so that he could still see Gordon's face!!

Thankfully he has forgotten about his Gordon cake now because it is all gone!

LSNED Update

2011-09-14T14:11:00.000+01:00

Lots to tell! However, I am going to share my LSNED pages first as I have to go to work soon.

Lesson 6: I'm not as organised as I used to be! I just keep realising this again and again! Oops!

Lesson 7: Today I relearnt I'm rubbish at keeping spare inks! You all know how rubbish I am at that!

Lesson 8: Breaks need to be booked they don't just appear!

Lesson 9: Kiddies may just surprise you! Adam is starting nursery soon and we went to meet everybody and play for a little while before he starts. I thought he would be very quiet and shy {as he is around most new people} but he proved me wrong and dove straight in - he didn't want to come home actually! Phew!

Lesson 10: Gordon has a lot of wheels! I discovered this whilst making Adam's birthday cake! {Will share later}

Lesson 11: 3 year olds take minutes to open their presents! As oppose to last year where he took 2 hours! I though this was a fun page to do as it featured in last years LSNED.

Lesson 12: ...and everywhere that Adam went the balloons were sure to follow. They went everywhere with him!

Ok, so today is short and sweet as I must dash but I will be back soon with birthday tales and pics!

The one about the explanation

2011-09-06T11:34:00.000+01:00

As most of you are aware I am a Beauty Therapist/Nail Technician and teach my subjects at the local college. In April, I decided to start working from home - adding in clients on my days off from teaching. I LOVED IT!!! I missed working in that environment, I missed the adult conversation {don't get me wrong, 16-19 year olds are lovely, but can be very dramatic!}, but most of all I missed actually doing the treatments!

So since then, I have been slowly building my business, working more hours than I normally do to build that healthy base..... it worked. Last month I decided to cut my hours down at college to one day a week and work from home more. I love my job but it was beginning to get me down a bit, there have been a lot of changes recently and while I embrace change these changes were very stressful for all staff and it was turning into a place that I no longer wanted to be in. I still work there, but the subject I teach is completely separate and so I no longer have to deal with the stress and emotions that came with the old package.

....so there you have it! The reason why I have been missing in action since June, but I am back as a much happier and healthier Rachel B.

♥ ♥ ♥

*Learn Something New EveryDay 2011*

Lesson 5: If Crickets are not fed they eat each other!

This is an odd lesson but one where I found myself saying 'Really? Well you learn something new everyday!' So I thought it was quite appropriate. One of my clients has reptiles and one of them has to be fed live crickets, however the crickets need to be fed too - otherwise they turn and eat each other!

Apologies to all whose blogs I have neglected to read recently, I am off to do a spot of reading now!

Have a nice day :)

Hey Guys!

2011-09-04T20:09:00.000+01:00

There's nothing like a new class to give that well needed kick up the proverbial!!

PLEASE excuse the embarrassingly long delay - there is sooo much to share and I just don't know where to begin!

Maybe LSNED is a good place to start?

This is my Third year of Learn Something New EveryDay, I couldn't just let it go without joining in - especially as it is Adam's Birthday month.....3 in 8 days! Where does the time go????? So...naturally he is the new blog header! Pictures aged 1, 2.. then nearly three {taken this week}

Sooo, I decided on a different size this year. 2009 I developed a 6x6 album with my shiny new bind-it-all, 2010 I opted for a 6x4 chipboard album and this year I decided I needed something uber quick to create each day {more stories and explanations later}, therefore I have made a 4x3 album from chipboard and book rings.

I loved last years style so much that I have replicated it but it is half the size. I have 15 kraft envelopes for the pages, each side will scrapped each day and inside there are two kraft journaling cards. I haven't decided whether I will purposely take a photo each day but if I do they will be printed at the end of the month.

Lesson 1: I will be missed more than I thought. This isn't a morbid lesson! It is to do with work and new ventures {story for another day - arghh, keep you in suspense!}

Lesson 2: It's the little things that really make you the happiest. We took Adam on the light railway and I actually thought he would burst with excitement. It was so lovely to see the look on his face - ALL DAY!

Lesson 3: I really should check first! This is about the forum for the class. I didn't check until day 3 and then realised the beautiful printables Shimelle has given us match perfectly with my colour scheme....then I wanted to redo days 1 & 2 - but I didn't!

Lesson 4: You can make a game out of anything! {Picture to follow} Adam decided to make a bridge out of Emily's nappies and kept himself amused for ages!

Ok, that's it for tonight. I have a front room to tidy as The little people have trashed it today!!

I will be back soon - PROMISE!

Night all

4x6 photo love - May

2011-06-27T21:55:00.000+01:00

Just quickly stopping by today , I've only just managed to take a picture of this layout, it's been sitting on my desk for a couple of weeks - finished and waiting to be papped!

It's part of the 4x6 photo love that Shimelle is currently teaching, Only just made it though as June's will be posted on Shimelle's blog soon!

Ooh, I haven't forgotten my fellow knitters! I have something to share with you soon........

A crop day - on a Sunday?

2011-06-26T21:12:00.001+01:00

...Yes that's right - a Sunday. Our crop has now moved from Monday's to Sundays, which has been really lovely today. The Kiddies played well together plus it kinda felt more laid back in general. Emily stayed at home with Steve as she needed to catch up on her naps {teething stage again = lack of sleep = tired and grumpy Miss Emily!}

Adam came with me and played really nicely with Miss H, they shared cheesy biscuits and sat and watched Thomas together on the couch - so cute but I'm not sure what Miss H's daddy would say!

In fact the day went so well that I achieved my envelope page for Document 2011, my feature page and my little pages! {Please ignore the first rectangle in this next picture, I thought I had left a photo at home that is supposed to go there, but it turns out I haven't printed it and I need more black ink! So that will have to wait!}

I need to sort out my June photos now ready for the next Photobox order, I can't believe I am almost half way through my document album again! Where is the year going?

I really enjoyed this layout, I am finding that I am using a lot more 3 pic layouts since I have started Shimelle's 4x6 photo love. I'm just a bit worried that they are starting to look a bit samey!

I need to go and sort my nail kit out now, I'm doing another nail course tomorrow. Very exciting!

Cheerio!

Photo of the week - baking buddies

2011-06-25T13:58:00.000+01:00

When I discovered I was pregnant I started to think of all the things I would do with my baby - baking being one of them... we have had a couple of goes at it together but so far there has been far too much mess!

So Last Sunday when I saw a Thomas cake kit I was dubious - I brought it but expected it to stay in the cupboard for a little while...... I was totally wrong and while unpacking the shopping Adam caught a glimpse of it. Naturally, Adam was very excited an immediately wanted to open it {he didn't know what was inside, he just wanted to see more Thomas}.

10 minutes later the shopping had been put away and Adam was patiently sitting at the table waiting to start! He started off by placing the cases one by one in the tin, he did all of the mixing himself {apart from one final mix from mummy at the end}, he used a spoon to put the mix into the cases, mummy put them in the oven and then Adam patiently sat and watched them. In the oven. For 10 minutes!

After they had cooled down he even iced them himself and added the Thomas pictures *so proud*

Don't they look yummy?

Of course it was then time for official tasting!

Turned out to be quite a few photos for photo of the week - opps!

A town tradition

2011-06-19T23:05:00.000+01:00

In our small town there is a carnival day/fete that happens once a year and has been a tradition for about 142 years {minus breaks for world wars}. I have gone every year ever since I can remember and Saturday was probably one of the best since I was a child.

Adam wasn't sure about the rides at first and was quite nervous on Thomas - even with mummy there!

There was a huge fire truck in the events section, part of the guy's act was to pirouette {his word, not mine} around his son and then try and pop a balloon by landing on it - the balloon was on a stick under his son's foot!

Don't worry, it went OK!

I couldn't resist the Eat, drink and carry on sign!

Adam finally found some courage and then we couldn't keep him away from all of the rides!

Some family and friends {not for me *queasy face*} went on the cage - mad people!

The kiddies sat and watched the waltzers spin round and round - Adam was fascinated ♥

After we headed back to my sister-in-law's house for a barbeque and some Pimm's-o-clock! Before heading back again. Steve went on the bumpers cars with our brother-in-law whilst Adam lauged his head off. Everytime they drove into each other Adam shouted 'crash!'

After we left to take the kiddies home the firework display started, luckily we can see them from our back garden and I managed to get some piccys

...this one is my fave:

All in all it was a fab day filled with memories - including this little gem that I have only just remembered!

In the morning it was raining and Adam asked me if he could go outside. I explained that it was very wet and that he would get soaked as it was raining....he paused and said 'towel please mummy, Adam do it, Adam dry the garden mummy!'

Night all

I've lost my blogspot!

2011-06-13T18:40:00.000+01:00

Source

Hello everyone! Apologies for the strangeness in my blog in the last 3 days. I decided to change to a custom domain {loosing the blogspot from my blog address} and had a few problems along the way but all is back to normal. You may have to re-subscribe or re-add me etc to google reader or however you follow as I'm not sure if it automatically changes......

I'm now www.rachelbsworld.com - goodbye blogspot *waves*

10 things I really need in my scrapbook stash

2011-06-10T15:00:00.000+01:00

*1. Adhesive - naturally! I use American crafts roller adhesives for my main papers and for sticking photos. I also use a wide double sided tape for heavier items... and have recently discovered the most brilliant Glossy accents - thank you Rebekah and Kirsty.

**Click here to see the source and/or purchase it!*

*2. Journaling pens - When I first started scrapbooking I wouldn't write on my scrapbook pages as I was afraid I would spoil them! That soon changed and now I do not feel right without my handwriting on a page. I use lots of different pens, normally a roller ball type of pen that doesn't smudge but I have just recently purchased the American crafts precision pens - so I will giving them a go soon.

Source

*3. Ink pads - I love adding definition to my scrapbook pages by inking pieces of patterned paper or borders. I mainly use black and brown and my current ones are Maya road.

*4. Border punches ♥ - I can't seem to create a page without one these days. My two favourites are Martha Stewart's around the page loopy design and EK success slim edger punch - pointed flower.

Source

*5. Journaling blocks - these can be in sticker or card stock form. Sometimes I use lots of one page and other times just one or two. I love all kinds of brands and styles - anything colour complimentary to my layout really!

*6. ALPHA STICKERS - these have become my scrapbooking must-have! I hoard them. I love using different types to make up my titles - mixing and matching. I brought theses beauties on Saturday at scrapagogo: go to you.

*7. Washi tape! - This is only a recent love of mine and is now used frequently!

Source

*8. Pretty scissors - I use these to create border pieces or cut out journaling blocks.

*9. Crop-a-dile - I love that it is all-in-one and can punch through thick cardboard

Source

*10. Ranger ink applicator - another new discovery {thank you Shimelle}... used to apply ink to card stock. It's easier on smaller pieces rather than using the ink pad itself {plus less messy}.

Shimelle has more of 10 things on the 10th here

Ooh normal business will resume tomorrow ♥

Sketches and cars!

2011-06-09T22:22:00.001+01:00

The students returned after half term this week and usual for this time of year - they start panicking that they are not going to finish. They have three more weeks left of college and will now spend those weeks waving bits of paper at you and demanding signatures in a 100 places in their portfolios etc etc... so with all of that going on, it's gets a little stressful.

Today was not any different and I left work with a headache that I could sense would turn into a migraine - I was right! On the way home from work {about 10-15 minutes from my house but still too far to walk} the car broke down! So there I was in the sunshine, with a headache/migraine, wanting to throw up with cars rushing past me {I wasn't in the car, I had got out by then}.

I was rescued by Steve and my dad and when I got in I had to go straight to bed to sleep off my head!

What a day!

Layout made using Shimelle's sketch of the week

Scrapagogo - Go to you

2011-06-06T13:03:00.000+01:00

*Apologies in advance for the lengthy post!*

Firstly I wanted to share some information that I found very useful, it was emailed to me from someone called DarkUFO on the blogger forum. Here goes:

DarkUFO has posted an answer to the question "Why do I keep appearing as anonymous?":
Known Issue
Here are some things that worked for a couple of people.

1) Before attempting to Login in Make sure the "Remember Me" Checkbox is UNTICKED
2) Make sure you are running the latest version of your browser, if not, upgraded it.
3) Make sure you REALLY have cleared both your COOKIES and CACHE
4) Once Cleared shut down the browser
5) Then Open it again and Check that the Cookies and Cache are indeed Empty. This is very important. The problem seems to be with corrupt cookies and cache files
6) If that is OK try going to www.blogger.com . Don't login yet, press CTRL-F5 and then try logging in again
7) If that still does not work try logging into Gmail first and then go to www.blogger.com and try again
8) If that does not work try going to this address http://www2.blogger.com/home
9) If that does not work try going to draft.blogger.com
10) If you use IE8 or IE9 try pressing the compatibility button (at the end of the address bar) when you're on your blog page.
11) If all those fail, try installing another browser to see if that works eg Firefox, Chrome, Opera etc
12) If you comments box on your blog is not appearing, change from Embed Comments to Popup or Full-Screen until the issue is fixed. Also try. Or you can try , but backup your blog template first, is to try resetting all your defaults. see screenshot. You do this from the Design, Edit HTML screen. (http://i54.tinypic.com/vfv883.png) This fixes about 99% of issues with the missing comments box.

If those do not work, leave your details on this thread
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/blogger/thread?tid=4bd36d5355dbcf8c&hl=en

I hope that helps, I found a solution after point 1 then clearing the cookies!

****************

Right, back to business!

I rather meanly {but by accident} left out the pic of THOSE SHOES from yesterdays post...

READY?

♥ ♥ ♥

Saturday was wonderful - I just can't believe how quick it went! We arrived bright and early at Branksome place

....and was greeted with a cute goody bag and a voucher for the shop :)

The first class we took was by Rebekah Montague and we did lots of small cutting and making little flowers, It was very fiddly but I loved it and really love the results

The flowers took quite a while as we had to fold 15 small squares into origami flowers then glue each one... then glue them together! So we spent the time from the first class to our next class trying to finish this in our crop space

The next class we took was by Kirsty, I found it strange but satisfying to screw up the paper for the layout and I really like the effect it has given.

After the last class it was time to go home, so we packed up our stuff and reluctantly left! After the journey home I decided I hadn't scrapped enough so I broke out a class kit that I brought earlier on in the day and had a go at that.

I loved all of the distressing involved!

*Congratulations if you made it to the end of this post!*

Right I'm off, Emily has woken up from her nap....

Bye for now!

Chapter 4 - The boy and girl's adventure

2011-06-05T09:00:00.001+01:00

The boy and girl had always dreamed of an adventure in the big Apple and what better time to do then on their honeymoon!

The Aeroplane took off and the girl's stomach had that familiar twinge of excitement, they discussed their holiday, planning - as they wanted to cover as much as they could and they both had a 'to do' list! The girl loved Sex in the City and liked the idea of the tour and fancied a Cosmo! They wanted to explore the empire state building and take a helicopter tour and the girl wanted to look on fifth avenue!

They ticked off a huge amount until there were a few things left on the list, they took a yellow cab to fifth avenue and began 'window shopping' The girl {a BIG shoe fan} gazed longingly at that shop! 'We are here, I've only ever dreamed of this - quick, take my picture!' The boy obeyed and took a picture of the girl outside 'that shop'....... Jimmy Choo! The boy could see that the girl was almost hyperventilating from excitement and suggested they go inside! The girls eyes widened and she was convinced the boy could see small shoes inside them! They entered..... the girl held her breath and let out a small discreet {discreet from the shop assistant, but not from the boy!} squeal. She was here, she wasn't dreaming! The shoes had a magical Aura around them calling the girl to go and see....there they were! They sparkled and sat like they were royal subjects - they were gorgeous!

The shop assistant {looking at the boy and the girl somewhat suspiciously!} had sauntered over 'does madam want to try them on?' The girl held her breath again and remembered where she was, what shop she was in! before she could exhale and open her mouth, the boy answered for her....... 'yes please'...... The girl looked at the boy confused at what was happening 'Is he serious? Does he know how much they cost? Maybe he just wants me to experience trying one on!' The excitement was daring to take over but the girls head was in charge! The girl tried one on, In her head she was Cinderella and this was her glass slipper {having already found her prince} 'but we are not in Disneyland Rachel!' she told herself. The shop assistant {still looking nervous at the crazy lady trying on the very gorgeous shoe!} cleared his throat 'would madam like them wrapped?' yup, that's where we were - they just assume!

...Only this time, he was right to assume, the boy nodded like he was all too familiar with these transactions 'Is he mad? Surely it's a joke, a blimin mean one but.... before the girl could finish thinking the bag was in her hand - they were hers.....

Photo of the Week

2011-06-04T23:06:00.000+01:00

On Wednesday the fella and I went out for dinner:

We celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary {today} and 12 happy years together.....

Happy Anniversary Mr B ♥

We had a long {but fun} day today cropping at scrapagogo, I have just added the finishing touches to my layouts but my bed is calling me so I will share them later

Night all x

365 Friday

2011-06-03T22:58:00.000+01:00

This is what my craft room looked like this afternoon:

I have been madly prepping for the scrapagogo crop tomorrow in Surrey, I'm pleased to say it no longer looks like that! I have sorted out 10 packs of potential scrapbook pages. I'm not sure if that is too adventurous or not adventurous enough! Only time will tell!

...Moving onto 365:

21st - I brought a new compost heap collector type thing ;)

22nd - Adam decided to feed Emily

23rd - Adam fell asleep at the kitchen table

24th - Easter day

25th - Egg rolling day

26th - New lights for the drive

27th - Emily's breakfast giggles

28th - Emily stood up in her cot for the first time

29th - the royal wedding

30th - I started Shimelle's Beyond Blogging for scrapbookers class

I like the close up of the toast in this picture and the fact that Emily is sightly blurry

I finally got round to using these Doodlebugs rub ons and sticker title that I have had for over a year now.....

Right I'm off, up bright and early tomorrow x x

Bloggy break

2011-06-02T22:55:00.000+01:00

I took an unexpected break from blogging for my coursework. I buckled down to finish an assignment and before I knew it a few evenings had been absorbed into it and I had missed lots of blog town. I'm pleased to say it is all finished - I mean completely! After a long old four years I will be handing in my completed portfolio on Monday and to say a weight has been lifted is an understatement! Goodbye to the frustration, tears, brain ache and general numbness that comes with this type of thing. I fought through and BOY DOES IT FEEL GOOD!

So, life carried on around my typing madness and I did manage to take a break on Monday for our monthly crop, sadly though Emily was in no mood and decided that she needed lots of Mummy cuddles and therefore I completed one layout:

I used my new Glubers which I always want to call grubers! {Not really sure why!} and followed last weeks sketch of the week from Shimelle. I turn it round and used two pics instead of three.

**** In other news, I am getting majorly excited at the countdown for scrapagogo! I have been sorting out bits and pieces and tomorrow I am going to separate 'potential page' items in preparation for Saturday's crop****

Ooh, nearly forgot. For my fellow knitters I will be updating the knitting section soon - I will let you know when! {Let's just say the giant knitting sticks are in use at present!!!}

Photo of the Week

2011-05-28T22:29:00.002+01:00

Having some blogger {and time} issues, so I will leave you with photo of the week for the moment ♥

An action shot!

- Posted from Rachel B's iPhone, a bit of loveliness!

I'm totally addicted to tape, washi, washi!

2011-05-23T23:02:00.000+01:00

I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment of Shimelle's 4x6 love, I'm so intrigued how the photos are going to change each month. Especially December where 12 4x6 photos are used!

I really enjoyed making the hidden door for this layout...and I finally got to use my bunting stickers and a badge that I have had in the drawer for a very long time!

My journaling is about the egg rolling that happens at Easter, I have done two previous layouts about our Easter tradition but this is the first time I have journalled about it.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

After winning some blog candy from the lovely Kirsty I caught the bug to seek out more washi tape!

Aren't they pretty?

...and this pretty bundle came all wrapped up!

....These are the lovelies inside...

I found them via Sally here!

Watch out craft projects, you are about to be taped!

Chapter 3 - I now pronounce you man and wife

2011-05-22T16:33:00.001+01:00

Two years had passed since the boy proposed to the girl, they had brought their own house and had been living together for a year and a half..... and today was THE day.

It was 7.30 am on a Saturday morning and the girl {now 22} was sat sipping coffee nervously in the hairdressers , happy thoughts whizzing around her head along with nervous energy, sat beside the girl was her little sister {only 5 years younger} - her bridesmaid ♥ Tears welled up in the girls eyes, it was an emotional day and her sister looked beautiful smiling back at her. Soon it was time to leave the hairdressers and the girl was excited at what the day was about to bring..... in four hours she would be a married women!

.....the girl is outside the Church, it's time . She holds her dad's hand and he whispers 'I'm proud of you Rach'. A rush of emotion fills the girl, 'I mustn't cry - not yet!' They walk down the isle towards the boy, he turns to look at the girl and smiles.

The girl smiles back, forgetting the sea of faces staring at her. Butterflies fill her belly, it's a good feeling of excitement and wonder 'will I be able to speak when asked?' The girl stares at the boy, everything is quiet, all she can hear is her heart beating and then... It's announced. They are husband and wife. The girl feels like giggling, 'that sounds weird - but good weird!'

They leave the church, smiling to their friends and families, pictures are taken, the reception begins and they dance as man and wife in each others arms.... the day draws to an end and they leave ready to start the next chapter of their lives, where will the journey take them?

Photo of the Week

2011-05-21T14:24:00.000+01:00

For last weeks party I made some birthday cupcakes.....

I kind of like the idea of having a go at photo editing on Picnic after seeing Shimelle's post....

So here is my pic of the week, Do you prefer the before or after?

Happy mail

2011-05-20T15:44:00.000+01:00

This morning some happy mail arrived from Arizona........

courtesy of Deb @ Paperturtle.......

......Thank you Deb ♥

In with my lovely parcel was also some American sweeties!! We have M&M's in the UK too but not exciting ones like these {or at least I have never seen them} There are Dark chocolate ones, Coconut ones, pretzel ones {intrigued} Peanut ones and Milk chocolate ones {these are already in my belly!}

....Also the cutest little bag of personalised embellishments....

I LOVE them! Thank you so much! I already have a page in mind for all of these lovelies {I will share that later}

♥ ♥ ♥

*April 365*

11th - Our monthly crop ♥

12th - Adam crashed out after a busy day!

13th - Time for new plants, trees and strawberries!

14th - Steve put down some slate in the front garden to finish off the driveway

15th - My {mash} potato salad, I have no idea how to make this - but it tasted good!

16th - I did my nails and toe nails.

17th - More planting!

18th - We arrived in Norfolk!

19th - Chilling on a VERY sunny day, hence the misty photo!

20th - Adam met some trains at the model world.

...and the weekly layout for 365....

I decided to bend my own rules a little this week. This picture was in my Document 2011 for April BUT the photo was very small {I think I am trying to convince myself here!}

I used Shimelle's sketch of the week from a few weeks back for this layout.

I'm getting more and more excited about the scrapagogo crop now, The two classes have been booked for the day and I have started checking things off of my 'to-buy-then-pack' list {like more adhesive!!!} The next job is too order more photos as I seem to have gone on a mass scrapping spree and do not have many left now!!!!

What adhesives do you tend to use in scrapbooking? Just wondering ♥

sketch and punch {paper}

2011-05-19T22:57:00.000+01:00

I think I have fallen in love with punches all over again!

I love my new border punch from EK success ♥

The lovely little punch was waiting for me when I got home from work and so I had to put it to good use!

This layout was made using Shimelle's sketch of the week

I have been a busy bee and I have made month 4 of 4x6 photo love but I think I will save that for another day ;)

Ooh , nearly forgot!

....yes I did make Emily's birthday cake. Thank you for all of the kind comments and birthday wishes for my little Miss :)

Night all

birthday girl/s and 4x6 photo l ♥ ve

2011-05-16T20:39:00.000+01:00

Something lovely arrived in the post this morning courtesy of Kirsty {thank you Kirsty} I set to making good use of it as I started another new class today {not new to scrapbooking classes but new to me!} Shimelle's 4x6 photo love, I am quite behind but really enjoyed making the first three layouts.

Yesterday's tea party went well, Emily had a new party dress for her birthday and looked so cute and the cake went down a treat {which I can let you see know}. Adam decided he would help blow out the candle but sadly I didn't get any pictures of this as I was holding him!

As well as it being Emily's party it was Carrie's birthday, Happy birthday again Carrie!

♥

In my madness and rushing yesterday I forgot to mention that the inspiration for yesterday's layout came from Kirsty {the same Kirsty as above} Sorry I forgot to mention it - I had party brain!

Chapter 2 - ♥ Boy gets down on one knee

2011-05-15T11:36:00.000+01:00

The girl and boy started officially dating in June 1999, the girl {aged 16} was just finishing off her last exams and was wondering what the future would bring..... fame and fortune?!? The girl pauses and laughs to herself......... 'as if!' the last exam finishes and the girl's journey begins.....

{September 1999}

3 years have gone by and the girl and boy have moved through life experiencing a lot - they both had passed their driving tests {some quicker than others, the girl ended up thinking she was meant to be driven not drive!} they experienced the turn of the millennium, the boy now worked in IT, the girl had finished her qualification and was now working in a Beauty salon..... they were very happy ♥

{February 2004}

the girl knew she had found her prince and hoped in the future he would officially make her his princess. That was to happen sooner than she thought and after snuggling in front of a film the boy nervously asked the girl to marry him. Her heart pounded and she recognised the feeling from four years ago. 'Have I said anything yet?' The girl took a deep breath and quickly blurted out 'of course I will!' The boy exhaled quickly looking extremely relieved.... it was official. They were engaged.....

♥

Photo of the Week

2011-05-14T23:38:00.000+01:00

On Monday I did some nail training for something called Minx, it is a vinyl wrap for fingers and toes - a bit like a shrink wrap...It is amazing! You can get all different designs and it lasts a good 6 weeks on toes.

So this HAD to be my photo of the week:

{Amy, I'm not ignoring you. I am going to post a piccy of OPI shatter polish for you soon}

It has been a busy day, cake decorating, shopping for party food and of course celebrating little Miss Emily's first birthday:

...not sure why she is opening this present in the kitchen - I just followed her!

♥

Wanna sneak peak of her birthday cake for tomorrows tea party?

That's enough!

I will post more later ;)

Night all

A bit of bother with blogger

2011-05-13T22:50:00.000+01:00

Yay, I can finally blog now!

This week has seen: Some nail training, a new crop bag, watching a 3 hour exam, working from home on clients, a trip to buy some thermal mitts, building a bench, scrapbooking, booking scrapagogo classes and baking lots of cakes! The cakes are for Emily's party - more on them later!

...Let's travel back in time to April:

1st - I made potato square things!

2nd - new blog header {a day late!}

3rd - Mothers day in the UK ♥

4th - My niece's birthday {cool card!}

5th - Ahhh, course work!

6th - Adam helping with the gardening

7th - bath time babies ♥

8th - At the park

9th - Emily becoming independent!

10th - Miss H party :)

So my new take on 365 is to do a layout using a picture that I haven't used for Document 2011, this week I decided to use Shimelle's sketch of the week for it:

...this was a bit different for me but I am pleased I went with it and scrapped out of my comfort zone :)

Now I have some blogs to read as blogger decided that I wasn't allowed to stay 'caught up' {how rude?}

Night all

April documented!

2011-05-09T23:13:00.000+01:00

Scrapping time was at an all time high this weekend due to Saturday being {inter}national scrapbooking day, as well as a couple of challenges I managed to complete April's Document 2011.

I love this kit ♥ it is the April scrapagogo kit and I think it has to be one of my all time favs! Look at all of that lovely blue - my scrappy colour!

These pages were harder to photograph as they go all wibbly on my little easel.....

Emily is one this weekend..... It has gone so fast!! I had to document the fact that she is only just in 9-12 month old clothing... my little dinky-doodle!

...and I ♥ this page:

...I want to buy this kit again!

I have been on a course today to learn about Minx nails, which I will reveal more about later! In the meantime I have to go as blogger is being strange....but it sounds like I'm not the only one having problems!

Night all

Chapter 1 - Girl meets boy

2011-05-08T11:30:00.001+01:00

In 1987 a small boy {aged 5} is told off at a party for putting his hand upon a small girl's knee.... the girl and boy went to the same nursery and go through Primary School not really noticing each other, preoccupied with childhood 'stuff', however their lives continue to cross paths. Appearing in each others family photos and attending the same youth clubs and activities.....

...they progress to the same secondary school, catching the same bus as they live in the same town. The girl 'notices' the boy but is a typical shy 11 year old and the boy is already a second year {would he notice her back?}

.....Fast forward 5 years:

The girl notices the boy once more, remembering those feelings, she blushes as the boy makes eye contact - he winks! The now 16 year old girl's heart flutters - did he mean that? He is like, the most popular boy at school! {Although now he has left school - he is a college boy} The girl notices she is starring, 'Opps look away quick! ....but hang on, he is starring back...and he is smiling! What does this mean?'

After what seems like hours the girl moves towards the boy, he signals it's ok by waving her over. 'Surely, he can see my body shaking?' They start talking - it's not awkward! The girl feels like melting.... the boy asks the girl to meet him again.......

June 1999: 16 & 17

♥

Photo of the Week & Scrappy challenges

2011-05-07T20:07:00.000+01:00

Happy Scrapbooking day!

I hope you have a great day, before I share what I have been doing I will share this:

Today's may look a bit random but after buying a new polish {which is uterly amazing, it crackles when applied creating a nail art look - opps off topic!} I decided to photograph it for my 365, I had a pllay with some different angles and I really liked the look of this one.

Speaking of photos, this morning I received a photobox order. I havd decided that I spend too much printing my own photos at home and it is more than a third cheaper to have them printed properly. I can't wait to scrap these beauties.....

...so, I have been participating in a couple of challenges over on Shimelle's blog.... go check it out, I will wait!

The first challenge set is to use patterned paper as a background, I have had this paper for ages and I'm so pleased I have finally used it:

The second challenge set was to create a triangle somewhere on your layout, I decided to use Adam and make the triangle with the pictures

Adam is obsessed with picking dandelions at the moment and gets so excited when he sees some.....so you can imagine what he was like when we went to Norfolk!!!! He also says 'dandelions like it is two words, hence the title!

I think that maybe it for me tonight.....look out for a special post tomorrow!

Night all

365 Friday {with a twist}

2011-05-06T23:21:00.000+01:00

Happy Friday to you!

Before I forget I just wanted to mention that the cute journaling card on yesterday's layout is a printable freebie from Shimelle.com - click on Shimelle's name to take you straight to the link :)

Onto some 365.....

Friday 18th March - Red nose day!

We didn't have red noses so opted for red baubles instead! {we still donated to Red nose day though}

19th - I finished knitting my butterfly gloves

20th - Emily laughing at Adam!

21st - The last ever day of baby porridge and baby milk!! It's big Girl milk now!

22nd - Adam thought this swimming life jacket was an actual jacket - until he couldn't move!

23rd - I began knitted my owl jumper

24th - Adam discovered a new toy...turn, turn, turn!

25th - Giant knitting needles! I still haven't done anything with these yet :(

26th - Decorating gingerbread men with Auntie Stacey

27th - We began potty training!

28th - Poorly boy :(

29th - Knitted progress

30th - Awww, Brother and sister love!

31st - Engrossed in the telly before bed!

...now for the twist! To make 365 more scrappy I have made a layout that I wouldn't normally include in my Document 2011 {as that is what I do with my 365 photos}

I picked the potty training topic and decided to do a non-photo layout as I didn't really want a big potty on it, I tried making the picture black and white but it is still a big potty!

....this is a first for me - sharing personal journaling. I haven't done this in the past but it feels good!

Have you tried non-photo scrapping?

Smiley Jam face

2011-05-05T21:53:00.000+01:00

Last week I mentioned some changes to my weekly blogging, I decided that I wanted to add more scrapbooking to the mix...I already have project Monday but that is only once a week so I am going to add in a sketch day although I'm not actually going to commit myself to a day at the moment - I'm just going to go with the flow and see what happens.

The last time I followed a sketch was for an online crop back in August {of course it was from the lovely Shimelle} and this time it isn't any different! Shimelle posts a weekly sketch for inspiration and so I thought I would give it a go!

Click here to check out this weeks sketch

.....the result, Smiley Jam face! Do you like Jam {or Jelly for my American friends}?

Wordless Wednesday

2011-05-04T23:19:00.001+01:00

- Posted from Rachel B's iPhone, a bit of loveliness!

a bit of blogginess

2011-05-03T10:02:00.000+01:00

With two small children, a husband, a work load and the usual house chores....like many bloggy friends, I have to share my time evenly with all - including my love of scrapbooking, blogging, blog reading, taking photos and knitting.

A while ago I declared that I had 1500+ blog posts to read.....I did it! Well I have almost done it, I still have 149 to go, {which in comparison seems like such a small number now!} so I apologise if in those 149 posts-to-read is one {or 10!} of yours, as many fellow google readers will know reader sorts your posts into the most recent first and lately I have been reading the posts for the day and then I have been going back and reading through some older posts - this causes me to miss things!

.....like this post, I feel awful for missing it...goodness knows what Kirsty thinks?! {very sorry Kirsty}

At the same time, I am very excited about winning this giveaway....and not only that I won another giveaway last night from Deb @ Paperturtle. I've gone from never winning a blog giveaway to finding I've won two!

Thank you Kirsty and Thank you Deb...

from a very excited

Project Monday

2011-05-02T21:58:00.000+01:00

I'm not a Royalist but on Friday I felt the need to document the wedding for my scrapbook albums, throughout the ceremony I clicked away at the TV and managed to get lots of nice pics of the happy couple..... I had been thinking about how I was going to scrapbook these and then this morning, whilst reading the Scrapagogo blog, I fell upon a gem!

...this layout is scraplifted frrom Nicola - you can see it here, my take on it has a few small changes to it....

...like the flag stamp. I now WISH I had purchased the stamp with that months kit...BUT I didn't so I had to improvise and come up with something else as I still really wanted a flag border!

I took out my coloured pencils and found a white that has shown up beautifully... and I sat and hand-drew the flags. It didn't actually take that long in the end and I found it quite therapeutic {I used to LOVE colouring in as a child!}

What do you think? Is it patriotic enough? *wink*

A finished {knitted} project

2011-05-01T22:54:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I posted about stopping Knit day Thursday and afterwards I had a few comments from lovely bloggy friends asking to still see my knitted projects....

........So from now on, all of my knitted projects will go onto the page above {in the tabs section, under the blog header} and I will share when I have updated the page so that anyone who wants to see them can go and have a look....But I won't be posting every week about knitting.

So this is the knitted project that appeared a couple of times - including last Wednesday when I posted my day in photos for Shimelle's class Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers....

It is my first ever {adult-sized} jumper that I have made using a cable technique for the owls, I just have to add the little buttons for the eyes. I am very pleased with it as I didn't think I would be able to stay focused enough to complete it - there was a lot of plain knitting involved!

Hope everyone is enjoying their evening, I'm off to look at more blogs........

Photo of the Week

2011-04-30T21:35:00.002+01:00

Can you believe it is Saturday again? Did you have a good Royal Friday fellow Brits? We had a nice day, watching the royal wedding then we went off to Steve's Brother and Sister-in-Law's house for a-bit-of-a-do where we ate Royal Rice! {Normal rice coloured Red, White and Blue, didn't get a picture as they think I am geeky enough!}

We played pictionary again after dinner and the Girls beat the boys, so the score is now 2-1 to the girls....get in! {Note to self....Scrapbook this!}

This week's POTW is from yesterday morning, Adam does not normally share his car...he is good with other toys but that is HIS car! Anyhoo, he decided to let Emily have a go and he had just as much fun as she did, pushing her around the living room shouting...READY....STEADY....GO!

.............................

I have been thinking a lot about my blog lately and it's purpose. I originally started my blog to share my love of scrapbooking and gradually over the past 2 and a half years it has changed considerably - Looking over old posts today confirmed that, with my style of writing changing as well as my scrapbooking. Although sadly over the last year it has become more of knitted projects and photos blog. So I am going to make some changes....after all it is a scrapbooking blog and that is my main hobbie besides what I do for a living.

The poll that appeared on my blog last week helped me to make a few decisions, the most popular features from the poll were Project Monday with 52.17% of the votes and Photo of the week. So I have decided to stop Knit day Thursday and change 365 Friday slightly {more on that later} The changes are going to occur next week, but I won't get rid of Knit day Thursday without showing my last completed project as I have been blogging about it! After that if you want to keep up with my knitted things you can find me on Ravelry or click in the tab above ♥

.....................

....So you may have noticed the new look? Many if you know that Red is my favourite colour, however when it comes to creativeness {that doesn't seem to include my house} I find I loose my muse with Red. So I decided to think of my blog in the same way I think when I scrapbook and this colour seems to be my creative muse, as soon as I changed to it all my creativeness felt like it was coming back...... Is that weird? Do you have a Creative colour?

5 things I ♥ right now

2011-04-29T22:48:00.002+01:00

1. Conversations with Adam

2. Emily giggles

3. Scrapbooking time

4. Easter chocolate

5. Regular blogging!

My Day in Photos

2011-04-27T13:14:00.000+01:00

See more days here:

www.shimelle.com/paper/1005/myday-in-photos/

the pick of the {scrapbooking} crop

2011-04-26T10:19:00.002+01:00

Long gone are the days where Adam will smile for the camera upon request, now that he can speak we get the reply 'no more mummy' or sometimes just a plain no! Last year he went through a phase of performing quite well and if you put the camera in front of him he would say 'cheese' with a great big Wallace and Gromit grin:

I didn't want to put any journaling on this page when I did it but I am now thinking of writing on the photo at the bottom....what do you think? I still have to add the date.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

At the bottom of Grandma and Grandad's garden is a swinging chair. Adam loves to sit and swing, singing away at the same time..... On this occasion Adam didn't sing, he just listened.

This layout was a little out of my comfort zone as I do not usually use a background like this but I am pleased with the result.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Emily used to have her own bath time in a baby bath, as she grew it became easier to do bath time together...and more fun for them!

Bath time was over and the small people were drying off all wrapped up....

.......snug as a bub in a rug!

Cheerio

The eggs have been rolled

2011-04-25T23:06:00.001+01:00

Happy Easter Monday everybody, I can't believe how quick the last two weeks have gone and that I am back to work tomorrow. Easter Sunday was a strange sort of a day for us, Steve was working so we rescheduled Eggrolling until today.

Adam thoroughly enjoyed it and laughed the entire time and Emily stared at everybody like they were crazy! The whole of the eggrolling was caught on video so I will try and upload it tomorrow along with my layouts from this mornings crop - busy day!

I have caught up with the prompts now for beyond blogging for scrapbookers, making small changes to my blog, keeping notebooks and tomorrow I will share and explain my scrapbook pages. So until then...

Night all

Checking emails

2011-04-24T23:15:00.001+01:00

When I log into my email account I go directly to my inbox to read the latest bits and that is it....I log off, I hardly ever check the junk mail or empty the deleted items. I'm ashamed that I do this and even more so after today!

I randomly decided to look at my junk mail folder and discovered an email from the lovely Louise *thank you so much Louise* to say that she had nominated me for a stylish blogger award....and I felt terrible that Hotmail had decided this email was junk and moved it! So from now on i will check more often!

My May sunshine is Louise's blog and it's pretty stylish itself! Go check it out :)

Photo's of the week from Norfolk

2011-04-23T21:48:00.003+01:00

I just couldn't choose!

Night all

Back from holiday - with a question

2011-04-23T10:09:00.002+01:00

Trust me to go away just when a new class starts!!
We had a lovely few days away in the glorious weather, eating far too much, as you do when you are away! Anyway........

WELCOME.....

Hello to friends old and new, this is my little space of the web where I share my projects and other bits about life. I started sharing scrapbooking layouts to begin with and then began gradually adding other projects, hobbies and classes..... If you are new to my little area of rambling and sharing then the *rough* usual schedule is:

♥ Project Monday: Sharing recent projects *mostly scrapbooking*

♥ Knit day Thursday: A peak as to what the knitting needles hold every Thursday *behind with this at the moment - eek*

♥ 365 Friday: Shares the photos from my 'photo a day'

♥ Photo of the week (Saturday's): My favourite photo from the week.

If you want to check out any of the past posts for these features just click on the icons to the right of the screen and they will appear!

....Now a little question for my friends that follow:

I would be so grateful if you can please participate in my poll in the sidebar, you can select as many answers as you like and the poll closes on 30th April at midnight. It will remain in the sidebar until the closing date.

♥ Thank you ♥

I will be back later with my photo of the week, I need to upload all of my pics from my camera :)

Cheerio

Wordless Wednesday from Norfolk

2011-04-20T16:57:00.001+01:00

- Posted from Rachel B's iPhone, a little bit of loveliness!

Photo of the week

2011-04-16T22:19:00.000+01:00

Sunday was a beautiful day, just right for Miss H to celebrate her first birthday. We had a fab time in the garden playing and I took lots of piccy's, among them I snapped this one:

The party was finishing, the cake had been cut, guests were leaving but Miss H was still going strong!

Night all

“Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans”

2011-04-15T15:31:00.000+01:00

bus·y (bz) adj. bus·i·er, bus·i·est

1. Engaged in activity, as work; occupied.
2. Sustaining much activity: a busy morning; a busy street.
3. Meddlesome; prying.
4. Being in use, as a telephone line.
5. Cluttered with detail to the point of being distracting: a busy design.

tr.v. bus·ied, bus·y·ing, bus·ies
To make busy; occupy: busied myself preparing my tax return.

Well I haven't been meddlesome! But it has been a bit of a busy week, hence the lack of blogging this week. A quick round up from Monday:

The last crop ended up being rescheduled to Monday after Adam was poorly, I managed to complete two layouts and then Emily decided that was enough! She started to become very clingy and upset....which I later found out was the start of a cold!

The crop layouts were the envelope page for March (document 2011)....

...and the feature page for March:

I'm not sure if any of my overseas bloggy friends have heard of this but every two years we have red nose day! It's a charity event to raise money for Africa, people do 'something funny for money' so we end up with people wearing pyjamas to work etc. We didn't go anywhere for red nose day but I did watch it on telly and gave to charity...

...this was just the three of us being silly for the occasion! After the crop on Monday I managed to finish off the March pages:

Steve was off on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday so we took the opportunity to weed the front garden, buy some new trees from Homebase, plant them and lay some slate in the flowerbeds *pics to follow*

....which brings us nicely to 365 Friday:

So continuing on from the end of Feb!

February 25th - I had my heavenly spa day ♥

26th - Family dinner, Game time!

27th - I sorted out bags and bags of make up!!!

28th - Snowed under with paperwork for my course!!!

March 1st - New blog header for March

2nd - Knitting progress for the Menace of Beanotown!

3rd - It's getting warmer!

4th - Emily tried eating toast on her own

5th - A snuggle pic with Emily (black and white)

6th - I finished the Dennis mittens

7th - We went shopping and brought Adam some new glasses

8th - Pancake day!

9th - Back at the computer working again!

10th - Emily learnt to crawl!

11th - I finished knitting Dennis the Menace

12th - Emily said 'dada' for the first time.

13th - Emily's new car seat arrived.

14th - Crafty day to Hobbycraft with some crafty friends.

15th - I was observed during a nail art lesson.

16th - Steve's birthday ♥

17th - New do!

Right I'm off, Emily is trying to pull my scrapbook albums off the shelf!!!

We have all gone potty!

2011-04-10T11:46:00.001+01:00

Potty training that is! Adam has been ready to potty train for a little while, showing disgust at wearing a nappy and generally running away when I try and put one on! I purposely held off though until the weather was a bit warmer so that he could run around with no pants on..... well we have been at it for a few days now and have only had 1 accident - he stops playing, runs to the potty and then claps and shouts 'good boy Adam!' *just so you know he has used it*

We are getting on really well and the 1 accident was when I put *big boy* pants on him, he must have thought they were a nappy, so at the moment he is running around the house with no trousers etc on just using the potty as and when. I'm going to carry on like this for a few days and then try his pants again I think.

I'm learning too as I really do not know a lot about this, I put pull ups on him when we have to go out as it is still early days and we potty train at our house, my mums etc.. Oh and a nappy at night as he is definitely not ready for that yet!!!

Any suggestions gratefully received!!!!

Adam's stickers, one for every time he uses the potty ♥

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Yesterday I managed to get a couple of hours to myself to scrapbook! Emily went for a nap and my mum came round a took Adam out for a bit, I managed three layouts as I kept rummaging through my patterned papers *really must sort them out again!*

This first layout is not my usual style so I'm still not so sure about it, the photo was from Messy play at the children's centre!!!

I've decided that my scrapping colours are blue, blue-green and browns. I seemed to prefer my layouts using these colours - like this one!

Another old picture - from last Easter! Steve's family has a tradition of egg rolling, I blogged about it here!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Opps, it's a day late!

My photo of the week from the park on Friday:

Emily couldn't stop laughing and smiling which made Adam laugh - a lot!

Have a great Sunday everyone, we are off to a special little girls 1st Birthday party later ♥

Cheerio

While the boys watched wrestling

2011-04-05T10:19:00.000+01:00

It's quite bright in my craft room, even when it is cloudy outside and generally pants *like today*, I can still get a nice-ish photo as my desk is in front of the window so there is a lot of light. I managed to take some snaps of my creative spill last night.

I finished my Document 2011 for February:

....the main page for Feb. After a family dinner we tend to get the board games out and we have been through quite a few different ones through the years but recently we have settled on one that we all really like. Pictionary! *Girls beat the boys by the way*

I also managed to scrap this photo from Saturday's post, I think that is the quickest turn around ever for me!

Right, I'm off. I need to go and get ready for work :(

Have a great day everyone.

the house is full of men!

2011-04-04T22:39:00.001+01:00

Last night Wrestlemania was on box office! Steve is a fan of WWE and so naturally it was recorded, he planned to start watching it tonight after he put the small people to bed and gradually over the weekend various male family members and one of Steve's friends were added to this showing, with chips, dips and beer! So when I arrived home early from my evening class I decided to head straight for my little room of tranquility and I scrapped my heart out! I've had a very productive evening and through the little shouts of 'Ooh' and 'he's gonna get it now!' I have managed to create! It's a bit dark to take decent photos now so I will snap them later and share all.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Over the weekend, the little man had a play in my dad's garage.....he was covered in grease and oil but he seemed to love it!!!! *which Steve is very chuffed about, due to Adam normally wanting to wash his hands at every opportunity!*

This is pre-grease!

Ooh, I hope everyone had a fab mother's day and you were all thoroughly spoilt.....

Night all

Knitting walking sticks!

2011-04-02T19:26:00.001+01:00

Ravelry is a great website/forum for knitters and crocheters *if that is actually a word*, I frequently search through patterns and in fact I think 99% of the projects I have made I have originally found there.

The next thing I want to make requires these:

They are huge, I photographed them next to a pencil so that you can compare the sizes! I knew they were going to be big but when they turned up I was amazed, I've never seen knitting needles that large before.

Now...... for another feature that has been missing in action:

Yes it is back! I have been snapping away a lot this week and managed to get this little beauty of the small people:

I love it..... and it doesn't matter that they are looking somewhere else. Definitely one to scrapbook!

Night all

Rachel_B's World

*Belated JYC - Part Three*

*Belated JYC - Part Two*

*Belated JYC - Part One*

*4x6 photo love*

*Show and tell*

*January*

**Happy New Year blogland!**

*Christmas crafty bits*

**Finally - some papercraft**

*Something new*

**So much fun!**

***Happy Halloween!***

**Shiny cobwebs**

**A croppy adventure**

**Dear diary**

**My grown up boy**

** LSNED Update**

*The one about the explanation*

*Hey Guys!*

*4x6 photo love - May*

*A crop day - on a Sunday?*

*Photo of the week - baking buddies*

*A town tradition*

*I've lost my blogspot!*

*10 things I really need in my scrapbook stash*

*Sketches and cars!*

*Scrapagogo - Go to you*

*Chapter 4 - The boy and girl's adventure*

*Photo of the Week*

*365 Friday*

*Bloggy break*

*Photo of the Week*

*I'm totally addicted to tape, washi, washi!*

*Chapter 3 - I now pronounce you man and wife*

*Photo of the Week*

*Happy mail*

*sketch and punch {paper}*

*birthday girl/s and 4x6 photo l ♥ ve*

*Chapter 2 - ♥ Boy gets down on one knee*

*Photo of the Week*

*A bit of bother with blogger*

*April documented!*

*Chapter 1 - Girl meets boy*

*Photo of the Week & Scrappy challenges*

*365 Friday {with a twist}*

*Smiley Jam face*

*Wordless Wednesday*

*a bit of blogginess*

*Project Monday*

*A finished {knitted} project*

*Photo of the Week*

*5 things I ♥ right now*

My Day in Photos

*the pick of the {scrapbooking} crop*

*The eggs have been rolled*

*Checking emails*

Photo's of the week *from Norfolk*

Back from holiday - with a question

Wordless Wednesday *from Norfolk*

Photo of the week

“Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans”

We have all gone potty!

*While the boys watched wrestling*

the house is full of men!

Knitting walking sticks!

Belated JYC - Part Three

Belated JYC - Part Two

Belated JYC - Part One

4x6 photo love

Show and tell

January

Happy New Year blogland!

Christmas crafty bits

Finally - some papercraft

Something new

So much fun!

Happy Halloween!

Shiny cobwebs

A croppy adventure

Dear diary

My grown up boy

LSNED Update

The one about the explanation

Hey Guys!

4x6 photo love - May

A crop day - on a Sunday?

Photo of the week - baking buddies

A town tradition

I've lost my blogspot!

10 things I really need in my scrapbook stash

Sketches and cars!

Scrapagogo - Go to you

Chapter 4 - The boy and girl's adventure

Photo of the Week

365 Friday

Bloggy break

Photo of the Week

I'm totally addicted to tape, washi, washi!

Chapter 3 - I now pronounce you man and wife

Photo of the Week

Happy mail

sketch and punch {paper}

birthday girl/s and 4x6 photo l ♥ ve

Chapter 2 - ♥ Boy gets down on one knee

Photo of the Week

A bit of bother with blogger

April documented!

Chapter 1 - Girl meets boy

Photo of the Week & Scrappy challenges

365 Friday {with a twist}

Smiley Jam face

Wordless Wednesday

a bit of blogginess

Project Monday

A finished {knitted} project

Photo of the Week

5 things I ♥ right now

the pick of the {scrapbooking} crop

The eggs have been rolled

Checking emails

Photo's of the week from Norfolk

Wordless Wednesday from Norfolk

While the boys watched wrestling