New Month, New Post

Well here we are in March, although with the turn in the weather it does feel more like January right now. Still the daffodils outside the flat are in full bloom so although it may not feel like Spring it is starting to look like it.

Its been a busy week here for me, I had another 2 orders for Mothers Day cards plus I had to make my own Mums card. Quite glad those are all done now so I can focus on scrap booking again.

I have a few layouts to share with you today, the first two are for my nephew's album and the pics are of him and his lovely girlfriend Lucy and the second two are of hubby and I on our Vegas holiday last year. For the first one I used a picture of them all done up for a Halloween themed night out. I used Bazzill cardstock as the base. The papers, letters and stickers are all Basic Grey, from the Out of Print collection.

The next layout has Bazzill cardstock as a base and the papers on this one are from a Me and My Big Ideas kit that I bought in the States last year. I coloured in some of the works on the top half of the layout to make them 'pop' a little and to match the red of the base. The embellishments are all from a old basic Grey kit and the ribbon and ric rac are from my stash. The pic is of G & L enjoying the Creamfields festival.

This next layout is of hubby and I on our flight out to Vegas last year. We flew out economy but were lucky enough to reserve seats in the upstairs cabin of the plane, it was a whole lot nicer than the main downstairs part as there are less people so it feels slightly more exclusive. Plus when you are in the 'bubble' you are the first one to board and exit the plane. For this page I have used papers and embellishments from the Echo Park Getaway collection. I bought papers these with the holiday pictures in mind so you will probably see a few more of them as I work my way through scrapping Vegas!

Finally the last layout (which I have to say is my fave) which I completed using my first Cocoa Daisy kit. I love the bright colours of the papers and embellishments, they suit this photo of me and hubby at the Vegas sign perfectly.

That's all for now, hope you have all have a great weekend. I am off to make another coffee before I settle back in my room to play with paper.

Love and hugs, 

Jane xx

Another Weekend

Morning, and a very happy Saturday to you all.

Thought I would pop by with a quick post to share with you pictures of two layouts I have completed this month. The first one is based on a sketch that I saw on my friend Sarahs blog and its a Stuck!? Sketch (there is a link on Sarah's page to more of these sketches if you are ever in need of a little inspiration). The papers and embellishments are are left over from an old Basic Grey kit, if I remember rightly this one was called 'Out of Print' or something like that. I sprayed the card stock with a little Tattered Angels glimmer mist in Creme de Cocoa before using the Stampin Up Gorgeous Grunge set to add the lines at the top and bottom of the page. I still need to add my journalling and possibly a title but I need to rack my brains for something a little original - any suggestions would be greatly received. The picture is of my hubby Tom and our hire car whilst we were in Vegas last year.

The second layout I have to show you is based on Sues February Sketch (link to Sue's blog is here). For this layout I used papers from the Authentique Classique Beauty collection. The title is American Crafts Thickers and the journalling card (which again still needs to be completed) is from one of my Project Life kits. The picture is again of Tom while we were in Vegas last year, this picture was snapped inside the New York, New York hotel where there was a restaurant and bar called Toms Urban!

Its been a good week here for us. After last weeks rather de-motivating half a pound gain at Weight Watchers I managed to lose a pound and a half this week. Not sure what caused the gain as I had stuck to the plan, guess it was just one of those blips that I am going to encounter along the way. Still I am now up to a total of nine pounds lost which I am very happy with.

Tom is in work again this weekend so once again I am left to my own devices. Once this post is up I am going to get dressed and head out for a walk along the river and down to Borough Market. Am planning to spend the rest of the weekend in my craft room as I have several orders for Mothers Day cards to complete. Hope you all have a nice weekend planned whether it be a busy one or a nice chilled out one at home.

Thanks for stopping by, watch out for another post from me soon.

Love and hugs, Jane

A Little Saturday Crafting Session

Afternoon all....what a horrible day it is here, its cold, damp and very windy indeed! The perfect kind of day for staying home and being creative.

Tomorrow hubby and I are off to a surprise 60th birthday afternoon tea. As the birthday girl is a close friend who also loves anything creative and crafty I couldn't let the chance go back to make her a little something special to mark her birthday. I was going to make a mini book but after searching for ideas I decided to make an exploding box, something I haven't made in ages.

I used to make loads of these boxes, in fact I even taught classes at a local shop many years back (please note that I am not claiming the rights to the exploding box - I got my measurements etc off the web and went from there). I opted to make the base layers and lid of the box in neutral colours and then I added a little splash of colour inside with patterned papers and some flowers on the top. You can see below the closed up box....

The next picture is the centre square of the top layer where I put a little card so that I can write a message to my friend.

The flowers on top of the lid of the box are all from Wild Orchid crafts, I gave them a little brush over with some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Antique Lace to kind of 'age' them and give them a bit of a shimmer.

I had forgotten how much I enjoy making these boxes, they are fairly quick and very simple to make but they are so effective. They make such a fab gift for birthdays, new babies, weddings etc. I am sure my friend is going to love hers. If you have a special occasion coming up and would like a box made please do not hesitate to get in touch, my contact details are all here on the blog contact page.

I also managed to complete a layout today, this one is based on Sues January sketch (yes I know its February, I am just a tad behind here!!). You can see the original challenge on Sues blog here. For this layout I again used up the ends of a Basic Grey kit, the pictures are of my niece and I last year before a family party.

Hopefully I will manage to complete the Feb challenge before the end of the month!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jane x

Thursday Ramblings

Hello lovely people,

Thought I would pop by and do a quick update and share a couple more of the layouts I created at the weekend.

The layouts I have to share both feature my nephew George, I seriously cant believe this gorgeous boy will be 21 this year. Where did my oh so cute and cheeky little nephew go?? As you will see from the bottom right of the pictures I have invested in an app called Watermark which allows me to add my own name to the photos, just a little added security in case someone decided that they wanted to pinch them and upload them as their own. Both layouts were complete using up the ends of some of my Basic Grey Kits.

Last night I had my Weight Watchers weigh in and I am happy to report that I achieved a loss of 3lbs, last week, that's a total of 7lbs now which I am over the moon with. I am now starting to see little signs of the loss, I feel less bloated and some of my clothes are now a little less 'snug'. Its such a good feeling and it certainly inspiring me to keep motivated and on track.

One of the things I have been debating recently is siging up to a new scrapbook kit. In the past I have have subscribed to Studio Calico and My Creative Scrapbook, both of which were very good (although in the end I gave up SC as the papers were just too same-y each month and just not to my taste or style). I liked the MCS ones very much and I did think about starting that again but in the end I opted for a Cocoa Daisy subscription. A couple of my friends also get them and having seen their pictures I am now very excited for my first kit to arrive although I do know that wont be until sometime next month, especially as I have to allow for shipping from the US. One of my big loves in scrapbooking has always been Basic Grey. I love their papers and over the years have bought so many of the collection packs, I also had the Page of the Month kit for about 3 or 4 years which I adored. It came as a real shock last night to hear that they have decided to withdraw from the scrapbook market and that the collections that are out now are to be their last. I think over the coming weeks I can forsee a little frenzied shopping as people go on a BG spree!!

Hope you have all had a great week so far, Thanks for stopping by...

Love and hugs, Jane xx

My Week

Afternoon all...

Well its been a fairly good week here, I have managed to keep on track with Weight Watchers and on Wednesday I had my first weigh in and I am very happy to report that I lost 4lbs! I had planned to have a night off after weigh in but I was so pleased with my result that I came home and stayed on track, didn't even look at that Wispa Gold that's in the fridge!! Have tried out a few more WW recipes this week too, last night we had Tandoori chicken which was delicious and today we are having a cottage pie with carrot and sweet potato mash instead of the usual potato one. I am going to use less mince in it and bulk it out with extra veggies.

On Friday I went to have an eye test, something that was long overdue and as was expected my prescription has changed which means I need new glasses. Luckily David Clulow had a sale on which meant I got one pair half price and the second pair were totally free.....still wasn't cheap though but I guess that's what I get for picking designer frames. Cant wait to go and collect them now and get rid of the cheap and cheerful ones I have been wearing since my old ones broke.

Saturday saw us head over to Ikea in Lakeside for a new Raskog cart. I already have a teal coloured one in the kitchen but I wanted to move that into the craft room and have a dark grey one for the kitchen. Anyway as is usual in Ikea we came out with a little more than we went for, a few candles, a new toothbrush holder and a couple of other kitchen bits as well as the cart. Next stop was TK Maxx where I got a lovely canvas basket to hold my planner, notebook and WW books, I also picked up a clock for the craft room. some kitchen storage jars and a really cute little lunch bag complete with insulated containers that I will use for work. A pretty good haul and a nice little trip out. The teal cart is now in my room and has already been loaded up with crafting stash...am sure over the coming weeks and months it will be subject to a certain amount of re-arranging and change! Presently the top tray contains my punches, Selphy and label maker, the middle tray has all my embossing powers and heat guns and the bottom tray contains paints.

So to today. After making some soup, breakfast and doing a couple of loads of washing I sat down to finish a double layout I started last weekend. The pictures are of my niece when we went for a riverside walk last year, she was so excited to see all the Shaun the Sheep along by More London.

Left hand side.

Right hand side.

The papers are all from an old Basic Grey range called Sweet Threads. Just need to add a little bit of journalling and then it will be ready for her album.

I have managed a few single layouts today, once I have photographed them I will get them uploaded to share with you. I am currently working on finishing off my nephews album(s) as he will be 21 in October of this year and I want to give them to him as a present. It was only when I looked through what I have already done that I realized I haven't added anything to his latest album in over a year. So I am now uploading pics to Photobox ready to do an order.

I hope that you have all had a lovely weekend, a big thank you to all the new people who have visited my blog and left me comments - it really brings a smile to my face.

Love and hugs, Jane xx

Weekend Round-Up

Well its been a fairly chilled out and relaxed weekend here with us, just the way we like it to be honest. Friday evening was spent at home, after a nice healthy and smart point friendly dinner of cod fillets in a tomato and olive sauce with veggies we curled up in front of the TV to watch a film. Our choice of viewing this time round was The Heist which stars Robert De Niro, it was a really good film, action packed and with a great twist at the end - highly recommended by us both!

I also sat and menu planned Friday evening which meant a visit to the local supermarket on Saturday morning for supplies, I had great fun using my Weight Watchers app to check the smart points in certain things before I bought them, mind you I did get one or two funny looks! We came home and straight away I started cooking dinner which I had planned for us to have early so we could go out for a few hours in the evening. I chose a Hairy Dieters recipe for Paprika Chicken which I tweaked so it would be WW friendly and I have to say is was very nice indeed, I made more than we could eat so a batch duly went into the freezer for a quick no-cook meal when needed.

So off into town we went, all wrapped up warm against the cold. We were heading in to see the Lumiere London light show and our first point of call was Regent Street. The lights were fabulous but the crowds were horrendous, in parts it was an absolute crush and you had no choice but to keep moving. The pic's below are of the installation that was above Oxford Circus/Regent Street.

Further down Regent Street were these strange looking fish-y things. They were floating about, bobbing around and changing colour as you walked past.

By the time we got down to Piccadilly Circus the crowds were so heavy we were almost at a standstill, there were people coming and going in all directions and I have to say I really didn't like it at all. It was at that point we decided we'd had enough and we would start our journey home. We walked through Trafalgar Square and Covent Garden before jumping on a bus. Once home we had a nice bowl of home-made butternut squash, carrot and cumin soup to warm us up - it was so tasty and delicious and totally point free so that's something else that will become a regular lunch/supper item.

I started today by making a big pot of vegetable soup for Tom to have for his lunch during the week and I also made another Hairy Dieters dish for our lunch. This time I chose their Lamb Hotpot and I have to say it was far, far nicer than I had expected. It was totally delicious and we shall be having that again in the not to distant future (especially while the weather is so cold).

We popped out for an hour or so his morning to have a walk and we we took our usual route along the river with one or two diversions to make it a little longer. It was cold but it wasn't raining or snowing so it was nice, plus it meant we were both upp'ing our FitBit steps which usually at the weekend are pretty low. The rest of the day has been spent pottering about the flat but I did manage some time in my craft room, I finished one double layout using a Basic Grey Page of the Month kit and I currently have another double layout 'in progress' on my desk.  Pics below of both sides of the completed layout and feature a few pics from last years Vegas holiday.

I am now halfway though my first week on WW and I have to say so far I have found it pretty easy, yes I need to think a little more and make better choices about what we eat but on the whole I/we haven't been hungry at all and on the up-side we have still managed to have a few drinks over the weekend!

Hope you have all had a good weekend, and that the coming week is kind to you. As always thanks for stopping by and having a read. Please feel free to leave a comment, I love to read them and I promise to return the favour and stop by your blog too.

Love and hugs, Jane xx

Motivate Me Monday

Here we go, the first day of another week and the first day of my 2016 healthier eating and lifestyle plan. I did my first at home weigh-in this morning and my starting weight is 11st 11lb's. I wasn't entirely shocked by that, I was just disappointed that I have let my weight creep up so much again. Still I have now announced to anyone who will listen that I am going to do something about it this year so I will. I even managed to walk to the station this morning despite hubby's offer of a lift and the impending rain!

I am not usually big on breakfast and if I do grab something on my way into work is usually a cinnamon pastry or an all butter croissant which would be filled to the brim with jam, of course this would be to go with my large skinny latte!! This morning I was determined to bypass these sugar and fat laden treats and go for something that is better for me. The smell of the freshly baked croissants in M&S was enough to tempt even the strongest willed person but I walked on by and bought some fat free yogurt, fruit and porridge. I even skipped Starbucks to make my own coffee at work so that's both lbs and £'s I should start saving. I have to say the porridge wasn't too bad at all, I sweetened it naturally by adding a few blueberries so it was a little more tasty. It actually filled me up a lot more than I thought it would so I saved my banana and yogurt to have as a mid-morning snack or with my lunch. Luckily my colleagues are all being really supportive and have stopped waving the biscuits and chocolates in my direction. Lunches from now on will be healthy salads and soups followed by a filling and nutritious evening meal, my plan is for us to have at least one meat free night a week and to have more fish. I will be digging out all my cook books to find some new recipes for us to try.

As well as using my blog to keep me motivated and on track I am also going to use a journal. I had an old Stampin Up This and That book hanging around so I covered it with some pretty Basic Grey papers and added a title and voila its all ready to go. I honestly cant wait to join Weight Watchers on Wednesday, I am even thinking about starting to go for a little run a couple of times a week, although for now I think I might just stick with the walking!!

Thank you for stopping by and having a read, I love seeing that people have left me a comment. I really want to focus on my blog this year, so with that in mind I thought I would change it up a little bit and start the New Year with a pretty new wallpaper.

Love and hugs, Jane xx

Bank Holiday Crafting

Evening all..

Hope you are all well and that you all enjoyed the Bank Holiday weekend. Hubby and I had a lovely one, spent time with family and friends as well as a little bit of relaxing at home. A perfect weekend all round really.

I didnt get to scrap at all on Saturday which was NSD (National Scrapbooking Day)so I made sure I got some time yesterday to do a couple of layouts as well as update project Life. The first layout was done using some left overs from one of my Basic Grey Page of the Month kits..the picture is of my very dear friend Michele and I in Portugal last Summer. I love how relaxed and happy we both look...wish my skin had that healthy Summer glow all year round too!!

The next layout was created using a few sheets of paper from my stash, I think its maybe Echo Park but I am not 100% sure. The title is American Crafts Thickers. The pic is of hubby on the terrace of our villa in Portugal last year, with just a few of his empties (I would like to add he didnt drink all of that in one night!!).

Finally here are three more weeks of Project Life...

As always thanks for taking the time to stop by and have a peek at my blog, please feel free to leave me a comment if you like what you see.

Love and hugs, Jane xx

March Crop

Afternoon all, hope you are all well and that you have had a good weekend.

Yesterday was the March Kingshill crop, it was supposed to be a 10am to 10pm crop but as we were low on numbers and I needed to leave early it actually finished at 6pm. Still 8 hours is a good amount of cropping time. I had made up packs in advance meaning I was ready to scrap from the off and by the time I packed up to leave I had completed 8 layouts.

I scrapped some of our Vegas photos...

For all of these layouts I used papers and embellishments from a Simple Stories collection pack. I just added a bling swirl to one and I used a couple of different alpha's to the ones in the pack.

I also scrapped some pics of Tom and Georges Segway day..

For both of these layouts I used a mix of leftover papers and embellishments from my Basic Grey and Studio Calico kits. I just added a couple of gems, brads and lace from my stash.

Hope you like my layouts...if you do please leave me a comment with a link back to your blog and I will return the compliment.

Thanks for looking, Jane

On a scrapping roll!!

Well here I am again with some more layouts for you to see...these were all created at the Kingshill crop I went to last Saturday.

The first one is of Tom and I at the famous Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign. The papers are all from a Studio Calico kit, the little flowers are Prima and are from the stash I bought while we were in Vegas last year. The only thing I have not yet added is a title, not sure it actually needs one, what do you think??



The next layout is of Scarlett, I took the pictures last year when I got my new camera and wanted to have a play with it. I am not sure where the kit/papers came from. It could have been from Gottacraft or from Creative Craft World. The flower and the bling swirl are Prima and are from my stash.



The last layout I have to share is a double layout and is one of the Basic Grey kits that I get from Crea8tive. As usual I have followed the sketch but tweaked it slightly to fit with my pictures.



Thanks for stopping by and I hope you like what you see. Please feel free to leave me a comment and if you have a blog of your own leave a link and I will pop by and leave a comment for you. It really does make a girl feel good to know that those who stop by like what they see.

Love and hugs, Jane xx

Layouts

Evening all...back again to share a few more layouts with you. Again they are all for the Vegas album, which is just as big as the first one I did back in 2008!! Every time we go I think I wont take as many pictures as I did the last time but I always end up taking hundreds!!

The first one is of Dani the barman making a whole lot of shots in Margaritaville (our newest and most fave place on the Strip!). We went there for cocktails on our last night with Liz, Andy and Eileen and the frozen margarita's were delicious. The papers are all left from one of my Basic Grey kits, the yellow letters are AC Thickers and the tag I have had for absolutely ages and ages, I think it may have come from a old total paper craft's kit. Sorry this one is such a poor image, just couldn't find the right place or light.



The pic on the next layout was also taken in Margaritaville and is of me, Liz and Eileen. We bought the Elvis shades for Liz and Andy's wedding vow renewal. All the papers, embellishments and letters on this layout are from my Studio Calico kits.



The last layout is of me and Tom having a meal on our last night. The papers and embellishments on this pate are all from an Echo Park collection pack that I bought at Ally Pally. I just added a pearl swirl from my stash....I do love a pearl or bling swirl!!



Thanks for stopping by my blog, if you like what you see please leave me a comment and a link back to your blog if you have one so I can pop by and leave you a comment.

Love and hugs, Jane xx

More Scrapping to Share

Morning all....

Hope that your all keeping well and warm where ever you are. I cant believe that we are now at the end of March and that we still have snow, sleet and sub zero temperatures!! I really hope that the warmer Spring weather arrives soon, I am so fed up with the cold, grey skies and being bundled up in big coats, gloves and scarves.

Last weekend I joined the ladies at Kingshill for our monthly crop, as usual it was a day full of chatter, laughter and of course lots of scrapping. I love my Saturdays down at Kingshill, especially as it starts with a catch up with my lovely friend Jules over a Costa coffee and some cake.

For the last few months I have mostly been scrapping with my Studio Calico kits, which I have to say I was unsure about when I first started a subscription to them. They are really not the kind of papers or embellishments I would usually buy as the colours and designs are totally out of my scrapping comfort zone but I have to say I do love them. As soon as I get the email telling me the kits have shipped I start stalking the postman LOL.

Here are a couple of layouts I have created using Studio Calico kits, the pictures on both of these layouts are from our trip to Vegas last year...the only thing I added from own stash is the Prima bling swirl.



This layout below is of Daisy's annual Christmas picture, for this I used some very old Basic Grey papers, Jenni Bowlin embellishments and another Prima bling swirl.



Hope you like what I have done, I will be back again soon to share some more layouts and Project Life with you...

TFL, Jane x x

June Already

Well here we are halfway through the year...time is flying past! Just a shame Mother Nature is running behind somewhat weather wise, it is supposed to be Summer after all.

Last weekend was the long Diamond Jubilee Bank Holiday and we managed to have a fab time despite the horrendous weather we had. I have to admit to being a bit of a Royalist and loved the chance to hang out the flags and put up the bunting. We watched all of the celebrations on tv, including the floatilla, concert and flypast. I felt quite emotional when the Queen finally came out on to the balcony of Buckingham Palace, you could tell she was totally amazed by the number of people who had turned up to watch and wave. Long may she continue to reign over us.

I didn't really manage to scrap last weekend, I made some cards, played with my Smash book and made some cup cakes to share with the neighbours.

Anyway I have caught up somewhat this weekend, I have done 3 single layouts and one double, a couple of which I have to share with you today.

The first one was done using up the last bits of a Gotta Craft kit, I just added a piece of ric rak and some brads. The pics are of DH - taken in Greenwich Park last month. I am so lucky to have a hubby who shares my passion for my hobby and is happy to pose for me so I have plenty of pics to scrap.



The next layout has been done using one of my Basic Grey Page of the Month kits from Cre8tive, this is the June kits using PB&J papers. The sample layout title was 'New Mom' but as I have never been that I amended the title so that it would fit with my theme for the album.



Hope your all having a good weekend,

TFL x x

Playtime

In my craft room that is..:)

As mentioned in my previous post I made a 'Home Sweet Home' wall hanging/door plaque. I bought the kit to make this ages ago at the Craft Barn. It had been sitting in my desktop tote for months, it had even been taken to a couple of crops but it never managed to see the paper and glue until last weekend. I used Basic Grey Curio papers to cover it, I inked the edges and added some sparkle mod podge and glossy accents to give it a bit of a lift here and there. I have added a couple of pictures of it for you to see.




I also played around with a wooden heart, I painted it with chalk paint and then I ran the edges around an embossing ink pad before adding some glitter embossing powder then I covered the whole thing (both sides) in crackle glaze. When it was dry I added the tassel and beads....not quite sure what I am going to do with it yet, may hang it from my craft tote or I may just hang it from a hook in my room. Either way I am quite happy with the finished item, I think its turned out rather pretty.



Finally I managed one more layout, pictures are of me and my gorgeous niece Scarlett and where taken last Summer. I have used Girls Paperier papers and letters. I sanded the base cardstock and then inked and lifted the edges of the papers a little to give it a slightly distressed look. I used another of the wooden hearts, this time I painted it and gave it a lick of glossy accents before sanding it to fit with the shabby image.



Hope you like what you have seen, if you do please leave me a comment.

Thanks for looking, Jane x x

Layouts

Thought I would make a quick post to share with you a couple of the layouts I did at the Kings Hill Crop yesterday (as usual a fab day full of fun, chat and scrapping - thanks ladies).

The first layout was done using Bazzil card stock and Basic Grey Kioshi papers. The title is American Crafts Thickers and the bling swirl was hand glued using a Bazzil Jewel template and gems that I bought from Ebay. The scalloped circle was cut using Nestabilities and my Cuttlebug. The pictures were taken in Spain, early one evening while we were sitting on our terrace.



For the second layout I also used pictures that were taken in Spain, this cute bunny rabbit could often be seen hopping about the gardens of Las Gardenias. The pattered paper I used here is Sei Dill Garden and as I had 2 sheets I used one as the base and one I cut into and 3d'd onto the page. The journalling spot was done using a Cats Life Press stamp and the green ribbon was left over from an old Total Papercraft's kits.



Hope you like what I have done, thanks for stopping by.

Jane x x