Mandi's Mad Musings

GOGO Month In Review - April 2011

2011-04-29T17:39:00.002+01:00

I had so many photos to choose from for this month but when I sat down and thought about what achievement meant the most to me it was keeping up with the kids while we were on holiday...not being the one left holding the coats and standing by while everyone else had fun...I got stuck in too...

Anyway, using the Scrapagogo kit from April 'Cameo and Roses' I used photos taken on our holidays for my entries to my month in review scrapbook which I'm using to record my Weight Watchers journey this year

GOGO Month In Review - March 2011

2011-04-10T09:21:00.003+01:00

Playing along with the Scrapagogo Month In Review project my March pages are displayed on the Scrapagogo BLOG today.
I am really enjoying using the kits each month to play along with the project. I'm using my review to showcase my Weight Watchers journey that I started in January 2011
The photos on my layout are from our Wedding Anniversary meal out at Las Iguanas at the Trafford Centre in Manchester. We were treated to free Champagne Cocktails because it was a special meal for us. I highly recommend Las Iguanas, the food there is amazing.

Scrapagogo - Month In Review 2011

2011-03-13T20:24:00.003Z

I've been enjoying combining two things which I really enjoy over on the Scrapagogo forum this year. One of the inspiration challenges for 2011 is Month In Review.
I've decided to concentrate my journal this year on my weight loss journey and thus during the month I'm thinking and recording important things that are helping with the journey I'm taking.
These are January and February pages and for March I'd like some photographs of me doing...that in itself is progress for me...

Have you seen this

2011-01-22T15:15:00.001Z

Blueprint To Go-Go

2011-01-09T00:38:00.003Z

I've been spending the evening playing along to the Scrapagogo Blueprint To Go Sketch Challenge

There are lots of new inspirational ideas for members and non members alike to take part with on the Scrapagogo Website this year.

First is the Blueprint to go, then there is Details Delivered and then there's also A Month In Review.

Pop along and checkout whats going on to kickstart that mojo for 2011

Winter Warmers - Scrapagogo

2011-01-03T00:05:00.004Z

In an honest effort to keep my blog up to date with what I'm scrapping this is the latest layout I've done using the Scrapagogo Winter Warmers Kit

2010-12-30T13:03:00.002Z

Just a little photo I took whilst out walking on the park today with DD2 and the dog. Hope to take lots more photos in 2011 and while I can't commit to taking a photo every day I'm going to try to get out and about a bit more with the camera....Happy New Year people....

Like My Festive Decorations...

2010-11-15T13:19:00.002Z

Check out THE SECRET CORRIDOR to get your own :)

Free advent calendar

2010-11-13T20:41:00.001Z

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Twirly Girl

2010-09-18T03:22:00.002+01:00

It's 3am and I'm up scrapping....am I mad, deranged or just have a touch of insomnia....probably a mix of all three. I've been waiting to get my hands on the september scrapagogo kit (click the words to go and see it for yourself) for a while and I've had these photos for over a year and not known what to do with them.....
The colours of the kit work perfectly with the photos.....and I loved the hessian piece that came with the kit because it gives that rustic, rough edged feel that conveys the woody feel that the photos give....I had to fight the urge not to trim off the edges of the hessian and the ribbon and just to leave the edges frayed on everything....didnt come easy....
I love this kit, but I can't wait now to get my hands on octobers kit because if it's possible it looks even scrummier.....click HERE to see

ACWS Tatton Park Event September 2010

2010-09-12T20:46:00.003+01:00

Last of the summer.....

2010-09-12T10:46:00.002+01:00

Mooching about my craft room last night impatiently waiting for my new kit from scrapagogo...(click the link it's a lush kit)I sat down to do a bit of scrapping...You know when you get holiday photos that you think....hmmmm I'm not sure what I'll do with those on paper...it's funny how you look at some papers and go...yep that's what I needed...these photos are 2 years old and I just remembered them when I was mooching through my august gogo kit....funny.
If you click the gogo link above....be sure to check out octobers kit too I don't know how these ladies do it.....every month just gets better and better.

August gogo makes....

2010-09-06T20:52:00.004+01:00

August has been a busy month with school holidays, birthdays (mine) and a lovely family holiday spent in Wales.
I also received the lovely Tokyo Gardens kit from Scrapagogo...
Our family holiday presented me with an opportunity to spend one of the days indulging my scrapping whim and I produced the layouts above

Beautiful Bunting

2010-08-04T21:28:00.002+01:00

I finally got to play with my July GOGO kit tonight. All the planets lined up and the earth was perfectly on it's axis to enable me to sneak into my craft room on a work night to play.....it doesn't happen very often well in truth it's not happened much at all over the past ten months or so. My scrapping mojo has been on a hiatus but I'm happy to say that I feel so back in the zone right now.
Anyway I managed one layout. All parts except the pink fibre are from my July 09 scrapagogo kit
I spray painted the bunting, the natural colour was kind of corn white but I wanted to pick out a colour from the photo so that the bunting didnt get swallowed up into the colour of the paper.

Happy Birthday to meeeeee

2010-08-02T21:57:00.004+01:00

What a lovely day I've had today.....logging on to all the different crafty forums I'm on....and then there's facebook and twitter I had soooo many messages from friends far and wide wishing me a happy birthday....I took the day off work to spend with my girls...we went to the cinema to see Toy Story 3 in 3D which was lovely.
It meant alot to me to get all of the birthday messages....seems that birthdays get less and less exciting as the years plod on but today I felt properly giddy again.
It feels like I've had a really indulgent day. So if you're one of my friends who contributed to my giddy head then thanks....I've tried to say thank you to every post but I'm bound to have missed something somewhere.
Back to earth with a bang though and DD was quickly overcome with hubby's man flu tonight. literally it was a matter of hours from well...to coughing and sneezing and wheezing which is never a good thing when you have the respiratory issues she has....I've managed to get her off to sleep but for how long is anyone's guess and my clothes are folded ready to spring into action if needed...here's hoping we both manage a good sleep and things seem different in the morning.
So another birthday done but I'm going to bed happy and in the knowledge that I have some fantastic friends and a wonderful family
Thanks for a wonderful day.

More GOGO Sept 09 Makes.....

2010-07-26T20:37:00.005+01:00

Had a fun productive weekend catching up with some scrapbooking.
Following on from finding an unused GOGO kit in my craft cupboard I had such fun creating the layouts Ive pictured. It was lovely to be back in the creative flow...I didnt realise how much I'd missed creating.....

Dragon Coaster

2010-07-25T10:24:00.002+01:00

I ventured into my craft cupboard yesterday in anticipation of a couple of new kits that I'm expecting from SCRAPAGOGO
I'm so happy to have some new kits coming, my supplies were dwindling and I find it so much easier to scrap with a kit than to source all of the bits myself.
Anyway....sorting through my cupboard I was shocked to find a totally unused gogo kit languishing at the bottom of the cupboard completely untouched.
So....I made a start using it.
Photos are from Rhyl taken in April this year. DD1 had taken DD2 on her first roller coaster (if you can call it that) but I loved the fact that when they came off the ride it was my elder daughters face that was the picture...LOL...

Christmas in July

2010-07-05T20:20:00.003+01:00

I was bitten by the creative bug at the weekend....and my inspiration was doing very odd things....like creating Christmas layouts in the heat of Summer.
The photos are from the Christmas we spent in Lanzarote. I remember being truly happy and relaxed for Christmas which normally isnt the case with the race for the turkey...and the stress of cooking Christmas dinner.....
The kids were happy with their lot....ice cream overlooking the sand...and I was just happy to have a walk on the beach after Christmas dinner....the sun stayed up for ages not dark at 3pm like is usual at home....genuinely just happy....to be together, to be in shorts on christmas day, to watch the kids playing in the sand.....

Loving Colour

2010-07-04T21:10:00.003+01:00

I'm loving the colours in my garden at the moment so I thought I'd share some of them

Paper Proposals - Sketch 1

2010-07-04T14:23:00.002+01:00

There's a new challenge blog which you can find here

Week one is 'interpret the sketch' and this is my interpretation

DIY SOS - A Total House makeover

2010-05-11T06:00:00.004+01:00

I was overtaken by the urge to 'craft' something with a day off today.
I've been moving DD2's dolls house from pillar to post every time I've cleaned her room for the past....erm....2 years. Thing is, this was the most unloved dolls house I've ever seen. Me? I had a stonker of a dolls house when I was little, loved it to bits...played with it till it fell apart....and I was sad to see this little dolls house going un played with and gathering dust...so...I decided to give it a facelift.
Now for those of you looking for a bohemian makeover with stamped images and such...sorry this isn't the place....well not this time anyway...but keep watching
Anyway, DD is a girlie girl who loves anything pink...so pink it had to be.

Snow layouts.....

2010-01-23T22:53:00.006Z

Snow.....

2010-01-16T13:52:00.009Z

OK....so this morning the snow has all gone.....woohoooo....but I thought I'd share some of my snow photos with you...these photos were taken with my phone because I wouldn't risk taking my SLR out while the snow was still falling...

New Jewellery

2009-12-28T17:34:00.005Z

I've been finding that the jewellery side of me has been more creative than the scrapping side over the past couple of months and here's a couple of pieces I've made to sell....

AWOL

2009-12-26T23:46:00.002Z

Hello to anyone who still visits....LOL
It's been a manic time and I've sorely neglected the blog but suffice to say I'm turning a new leaf and preparing to blog until the cows come home.....
Christmas has been and gone....the snow remains but it's causing mayhem where we live with untold layers of sheet ice...but with another week off work this gives me the chance to dust off the cobwebs in my craft room and time to dig out some photos for scrapping. Keep tuning in scrap fans....

Published......

2009-09-02T21:42:00.003+01:00

Some of my jewellery has been published in a magazine and here it is...
Red Lines Publication Bead Trends has two pieces that I made for a a bride and her bridesmaids.
Watch this space.... :)

Smirk Christmas Cards

2009-09-01T16:15:00.005+01:00

Yes I know I know before you bellow that it's only just September....I've just had a lovely week away in Wales with the family in a caravan and on the couple of days that the weather wasn't the greatest (the remnants of hurricane something or other hit us on one day) I sat and made some cards. I got the Smirk Christmas set for my birthday (yes someone else was thinking ahead as well) I hope you enjoy looking at them.
Please don't take my designs and pass them off as your own. If you'd like to use my designs please credit me with any publications you make and please leave me a comment with your email address (I wont publish your email address) to ask first.
Of course I'll be flattered if you think they're good enough to use yourself....LOL.

Make a Smilebox photobook

I'm back

2009-06-20T18:30:00.003+01:00

Gosh what a month it's been...I've had a birthday party for DD (photos another day) I've been to the gogo getaway...and what a fabulous weekend that was....and it's just been a hectic month at work with changes and stuff......so today I had plans to go out but DD woke up this morning feeling very sorry for herself and full of a cold and a sicky tummy so I thought we'd have a PJ day and I could catch up on a few bits that needed doing around the house.
I've finished off a couple of projects I had left over from the getaway weekend, and I've even broken into the new June kit that was delivered from Scrapagogo this week.
So I will share that with you today. I've used a couple of techniques I picked up from my weekend away...Flocking (waahhhhey Liz) and I've done some sewing, some layering and ribbon ruffling..

Tu Tu.....Fabulous

2009-05-14T20:11:00.003+01:00

So my DD2 is having a ballet party and wanted in her words 'cool tutu's' for her and her friends to wear...
So a trip to the fabric shop and an hour later and I've made my first tutu..
Whaddya think?

Go Go Getaway is Close

2009-05-10T12:48:00.002+01:00

As usual as the GOGO getaway looms closer the girls come up with some pretty cool challenges.
They've issued all delegates with a hybrid challenge kit and I've had a little play with it today....

Easter Egg Mini Book

2009-03-01T17:20:00.003Z

Easter Egg Mini Book

Using Cleo Crafts Pastels Mini Kit.

By Mandijane55

I used an old dog food box in place of chipboard to keep costs down.

An empty cereal packet would do the same job.

I drew , freehand, an Easter Egg shape onto the cereal packet.

I cut that one out and used that as a template to draw and cut out more.

You need 6 egg shapes in total

Once you have the egg shapes, use them to draw templates on the paper.

Before you begin to cover the egg shapes, use a sanding file to smooth any rough edges from cutting.

Be sure to use different papers to ensure that you have varied papers to cover the front and reverse sides of the egg shapes

Once covered the egg shapes should look like this

Not included in the mini kit, but easy to make with a stencil and another sheet from a cereal packet

I used chipboard alpha letters EASTER covered in Lil' Davis Glitter Glaze.

You could use paint or the remnants of the papers from the kit to cover the alphas.

Once dried the letters are stuck, one on each egg

Then I embellished the eggs using the brads and fabric flowers from the mini pastels kit and using some additional Anitas sticky ribbons.

The whole reverse side of the egg is left blank for photos while the top part of the egg could be used for journalling.

Finally I punched two holes in each egg with my cropadile, you could use any punching tool.

I threaded very long lengths of ribbon through to bind the book together, the length enables the whole page to be turned and used without restriction.

CC Crafting. (Cyber Crop on UKS)

2009-02-12T22:50:00.003Z

Well my plans for a creative cyber crop weekend were kyboshed (often wondered how that was spelled) My little cherub (5) was taken into hospital with pneumonia and it's been a roller coaster weekend/week. Thankfully she's on the mend and fighting somewhat fitter just in time for half term...
Anyhoo...I only managed one Layout and a keyring/mini book so I thought I'd share that.
Hoping to get some bits done this weekend but I really must get some holiday photos from Christmas printed to scrap.
My laptop has given up the ghost so I'm going to have to fight hubby for the desktop I fear.....it could get ugly. But I resolve to be more productive with my time now that the laptop doesn't have it's spell on me.
OK my makes were from the Bubbly Funk - The Unexplained class over on UKS...a fun class and easy to recreate with a bit of chipboard (or even the inside of a cereal packet or pizza box if you print off the X O and the jigsaw shape onto paper and draw round them. Have a go with whatever 'love' papers you can find to hand voila...instant valentines gift and no money spent.....recession busting ideas here matey....hahahahahahha
OK.....be careful out there it's a bit chilly

Mojo is back in the house....

2009-02-07T15:10:00.006Z

Well, what a trial of bugs and germs it's been here....
But anyway.....here's a couple of crafting bits I've done.

This was made from the lid of a pizza box and a few clever folds.
It's for the UKS Cyber Crop which is on this weekend and this was made from the special branch mystery kit. It's been so much fun to checkout what everyone else made from the kit and the other teams kits look like they were fun to work with too...

OK next was another GOGO Use It Up challenge at Scrapagogo. The challenge was to use up feb kits from previous years....I found that I had bits from 2007 and 2008 LOL so a good excuse to purge my older stash :)

And this is one of my favourites...one of the pre crop challenges was to get fingerprints of the family...

AWOL

2009-01-22T10:53:00.002Z

Sorry Sorry Sorry
Life has been just majorly hectic for the past couple of weeks...
DD2 has been bad with her asthma problems....but we're out the other side now and I am hoping to post some recent crafting soon.
I am taking part in the UKS Cyber Crop....I'm going to the GOGO oooop North Event and I'm going to GO GO Getaway in June so my resolution to take part in more crops is being upheld....
Back soon...xxx

First LO of 2009

2009-01-05T18:30:00.006Z

Happy New Year....OK I'm a bit late I know but I've been busy since we got back from hols with one thing and another...
My resolution for 2009 is to scrap more. I've so much to do it all gets overwhelming. Do you feel like that?? For a hobby I find it all consuming sometimes.
So I want to join a local crop, or at least find some like minded crafters in my area to get together with. I spend alot of weekends twiddling my thumbs because hubby works three weekends out of four and eldest DD goes to spend the weekends with her dad leaving me and DD2 with each other for company...
Alot of people are joining up to the challenges on UKS to encourage their scrapping, but I just want to fill up my albums a bit more this year.

There's a fab initiative on the Scrapagogo thread on UKS and in the GOGO Clubhouse to use up past kits and I've made a start by joining in with that. It's called Go Go Use It Up and it's a brill way to encourage you to dig through old kits and use up the bits you have left...

And to coin a phrase...here's one I made earlier using the January 2008 Scrapagogo Kit bits I had left over.

It's a scraplift of Fiona's LO that you can see here

Guitar Hero?

2009-01-04T11:44:00.000Z

After seeing mandy's hubby rocking out to Guitar Hero on her blog I promised to show a photo of my DD2 rocking out beginner style to our guitar hero....so here you go :)

Biosfera PDC

2009-01-04T11:42:00.000Z

Just a photo I wanted to share of a local shopping mall to where we were staying in Puerto Del Carmen....it was so pretty at night....

Our Lanzarote Christmas

2008-12-31T18:56:00.002Z

Oh Christmas Tree!!

2008-10-26T14:31:00.003Z

So I wandered into Crab Apple Crafts in my lunch hour the other day with the intent of buying some adhesive and I came out with an Acrylic Christmas Tree Album....
I had the intentions of inking it and such like but when I got it home my acryllic paint was calling to me....so I used a new dish sponge and sponged several layers of the same colour to both sides of the acryllic and then I mixed in some white and sponged over the top again and just before the paint 'set' I gently poured some glitter into the mix.....
This all took about 24 hours to achieve and then the fun began.....
Papers I have used are pinecone press, candy and the stripy piece doesnt have a name.....just a number PP2007
Thanks for looking...:)

Missing Christmas Trees

2008-10-05T11:38:00.004+01:00

I took some more photos of my makes from yesterday because the sun decided to come out today and the light was good...

Christmas Tree Earrings...

Christmas Decorations....

The next project......LOL

Christmas Preparations

2008-10-04T20:03:00.004+01:00

Yep....I've been preparing for Christmas today......well in so much as I've been making some bits to sell
First.....Fire and Ice.....Charm bracelet with swarovski beads, moonstone and a veritable plenty of lush beads...this looks GORGEOUS on.....

Next.....earrings......

there are some christmas tree ones too....but I dont know where the pic has gone....LOL
Christmas decorations....

It's never too early for Christmas....

2008-09-06T07:51:00.004+01:00

So I am beginning my little empire of Christmas crafts .....I enjoy making wine glass charms and bottle charms because they are such fun little items. Keep an eye on the blog for more craft gift ideas!!!

Is it raining where you are..it's not stopped here for 24 hours.

Mini Book Challenge

2008-08-31T03:07:00.003+01:00

So the last challenge that I've had a go at from the GOGO celebration challenges is the mini book....it's not really along the theme that was set but the theme being 'in bloom' didnt suit my cause so what do you do? Adapt!!
Anyway....there are no photos to put in it yet because they're not printed but hey ho....the deadline to upload was the 31st so I thought I'd better get it done.
Anyway....if you scroll down you'll see the card / invitation that I made to go with this mini book.... :)
Thanks for looking......

GOGO is 3

2008-08-26T22:19:00.002+01:00

Well, it's been a fun month over on the clubhouse at Scrapagogo...to celebrate the fact that they've just reached a third anniversary there have been fun and frolics at the gogo HQ clubhouse with classes and challenges a plenty....
I've had a pretty crappy month and this was just the tonic I needed to kick start the scrapping mojo and to get me using up some old bits of kits that were waiting to be used....
First challenge was using a sketch by Karen Cole to create a layout....and this was my effort

First class was a fabby one to create a fancy edge using a stamp by Nicola Kerridge and was just so much fun to try out....I did it twice

Next was a card sketch challenge by Sally Hodder...

Then a weaving technique class by Eileen Webdale

There have been other challenges that I've not risen to yet, but hope to complete before the dealine this week.....but lots of fun and chatter going on over there at the moment...been nice to catch up with alot of friends I met and made at the getaway this year in June....

Goodbye Reception....

2008-07-20T20:33:00.003+01:00

Well DD2 enters her final week of reception, I remember how worried that she was too little to start school last september and here she is just about to finish the year.....When they go back in September DD1 will be entering her final year of primary and we will have the fun and games of High School visits to contend with....not that you really have a choice as it's pre determined by your post code!
Anyway....I thought I'd try to do something different for DD1's teachers as an end of term thank you.....the cards that DD2 has written read...
'Without you I could not read this' 'Without you I could not write this' 'Without you I could not spell this'
I hope that they enjoy them.....

Happy Birthday To You......

2008-06-17T08:00:00.002+01:00

Today is my baby's birthday.....My mind wanders back to the day she was born and my hubby walked into the labour room to me high on gas and air and I came out with the line....'guess what?....we're having a baby today' (cue great guffaws of laughter and me sounding like I'd been out on the beer)...an emergency c-section and sleepless nights, lots of tears and lots and lots of laughter later....here we are...so today I thought I'd share a couple of photos from the weekend. We had a bit of a party at the weekend and these are couple of shots I took of my girls.

Grandad's Girls

2008-06-16T08:30:00.002+01:00

So what do you give the dad that has everything....
I really struggled this year, and in the end I plumped for a mini book of photos of his girls.....my girls.....I used the DCWV BLossomes and Butterflies stack that I bought from cleo crafts

I've been to gogo getaway....

2008-06-14T22:02:00.002+01:00

Awww what a fab weekend I had at getaway.....apart from the car breaking down on the M25 in reach of the blooming hotel at that....
Anyway it's late so I thought I'd share my photos of the weekend....
It was so fab I've booked for next year.....

Normal Service

2008-06-04T16:16:00.001+01:00

Hey folks, no I've not dropped off the planet, been feeling a little bit ropey since my short european excursion last week.....however I'm off to the gogo retreat at the weekend so I'm going to have lots to share with you on my return...so keep your little eyes peeled.....
Have fun while I'm gone....

Away from blogland

2008-05-28T11:42:00.000+01:00

I'm in Holland today and tomorrow.....
Normal service resumed with piccies on Friday :)

Rather Special House Art

2008-05-26T08:57:00.002+01:00

OK so I've noticed alot of House art on my travel through blogland and after consultation with my youngest DD we thought we'd give this a go.....
She worked long and hard on the exterior and even longer on the interior chosing matching and coordinating colour schemes....
It makes me proud to debut ......

The Dolls House A La Asda Drinks Box......

Critique if you will.......(if you can critique with that beaming face smiling back at you)

Arghghghhhghghgh EBAY

2008-05-25T16:56:00.002+01:00

Have spent the entire afternoon....an afternoon that I will never get back again...listing on EBAY....oh that site infuriates me so much...Every time it happens I swear I'll never go back there again.....but in my quest for much needed stash money...it's my only hope....
On the plus....found some beads I had forgotten about.....want to see?

Do you follow Raff?

2008-05-21T22:22:00.002+01:00

Raff.......
He's my youngest darling daughter's friend in life.....
She's often found in bed at night hugging him so tightly around the neck that it must be decidedly uncomfortable for him......
Raff has lived through many other soft toy fads that have come and gone, disney princess dolls, barbies, and anything else that may have been in fashion for a brief period in a nearly 5 year old's life......
Raff has stayed on hospital wards on many an occasion, Raff has more airmiles than most 20 year old something adults that I know...Raff has flown european and internationally and given many an immigration office a stern looking at....not to mention had his insides inspected in xray machines much to the dismay of my DD who thought he was being microwaved (imagine that as you're clearing security at the airport)
I've written a couple of photobox books about Raff for my DD's much delight at bedtimes.....we've taken photographs of Raff in the strangest of places.....volcanic ranges, cockpits on planes, you name it, Raff has been there. A few people have told me to try and get my Raff books published.....but I don't know.....
The day that Raff is found under my DD's bed, forgotten in dust balls and obscured by teenage paraphenalia will be a sad day for all.....
So today, we'll celebrate him and the solace, sanctitude and utter joy that he brings to my dd's life. If it's been a rough one, or if something has happened that she feels she's got to share, you'll find her sat in her room with him perched on a chair and she'll jabber away to him, and he'll sit and listen with that silly Raff stare of his.....
Today, will now be known as Raff Day.
He was such a bargain too.....£3.99 at woolies.....gotta love a bargain......
PS....leave a comment about / for Raff and I'll read them to my DD...she loves to see Raff on the computer and hear what people say about him....go on....indulge the child in you, tell her your stories of your favourite toy when you were a child......

What can I share with you today?

2008-05-20T09:26:00.002+01:00

I've got no crafting to offer today so I thought I'd share some photos.....I like to take photographs....of all kinds of things, while on holiday this year in Lanzarote hubby thought I was a bit strange taking photo's of the local flowers. Their colours captivated me, I don't know whether it was just the sun that made the colours so much more vibrant, or whether it was because I was so much more relaxed than I am normally that I had the time to stop and smell the flowers so to speak....anyway....on what is a sunny day here in the north west of England I thought I'd share my flowers with you.

Whoops not quite sure how Raff snuck in there

Monday Morning Sneakies......

2008-05-19T06:46:00.003+01:00

Well the sun is out, the sky is blue.....and apart from the fact that it's monday morning and UKS will be down for the better part of the day :( I thought I'd get us off to a good start with more sneakies of the Cleo Crafts June Kit

Just catching up with an old friend

2008-05-17T20:07:00.003+01:00

But you HAVE to check out her website if you're a bead freak or jewellery maker.....
Have a look here
There will be a link in my favourite places to spend money bit later so you can find it easily again!!!

Way to go Clair xxx

Here you go then......

2008-05-17T19:16:00.002+01:00

Sneakies of Cleo Crafts June Kit.......more reveals later in the month....

I've been creating today.....

2008-05-03T20:56:00.002+01:00

For those of you I haven't bored to death about my news, I'm off on my first retreat in a few weeks and I'm just so excited I could crush a grape.
If you've not been with my blog for long, you'll not know of the highs and lows of the last 12 months....and I won't labour on them any more but this retreat has been the one thing that has kept me sane and kept me going.....
Anyway, there are a couple of pre-retreat challenges....a name badge and a passport that I've been working on today and I'm ready to share with the world. I've already posted these in the gogo clubhouse so if you've already seen them....sorry.....If you've not...then I hope you enjoy looking and no...they're not pink, they're yellow because I'm in the yellow group at the retreat.

The badge

The passport

Cyber Crop Weekend

2008-04-27T17:17:00.002+01:00

Well it was supposed to be a full weekend of scrapping but Saturday went by the board because we had 'family day' and spent the day having a nice walk around the newly regenerated town centre.....the girls enjoyed ice cream in the ice cream parlour....hubby treated himself to a preowned ps2 game that he was after and I just went along for the walk......
However today, I've enjoyed completing a couple of classes for the cybercrop on UKS....mainly the class organised by Caroline of Bubbly Funk fame.....and the Sleepless in Seattle class by Voodoo Vixen (Check out Annettes gallery on UKS there is some amazing art in there, and also her blog, it's amazing.......)
Anyway, these were my efforts.....thanks for looking

Just Amazing......

2008-04-23T23:23:00.004+01:00

The may kit from Cleo Crafts is amazing....will let the photo do the talking....
If you're not a subbie yet and you fancy a really good value for money kit that won't break the bank then head on over to the girlies at Cleo Crafts and tell them I sent you.....heheheheheheheh

GOGO Scrap......

2008-04-20T21:43:00.003+01:00

Awww now this has to be one of my favourite LO's...there's nothing technically proficient about it, and it might be a bit too pink for certain perusers of my blog.....yes yes I do tend to scrap in pink a bit too often...but there has been variety of late and I have a good excuse for this one...
This is all scrapagogo April 08 kit....a kit that will lodge itself with me as being a firm favourite and it's pink because the flocked paper matches a rare piece of pink clothing that DD1 has....she's not a pink chick....more black than anything...teenage angst is rife at 10....

Anyway....here is...Laugh and Smile....enjoy and please leave a comment...it makes my day to read them.....thanks

Bored?

2008-04-13T15:11:00.002+01:00

WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooo scrapping mojo seems to have returned and today I've been creating with the March Scrapagogo kit....gosh I just love the colours in this kit and glad I've managed to cut into it just days before the April kit is due to land.....this is my DD2 who is forever proclaiming that she's BORED....so when this photo op presented itself I just had to snap and scrap.....

Let me know what you think......

Fimo......again

2008-04-12T17:34:00.003+01:00

Was having a sort through my fimo drawer today with a view to chucking some old stuff out, but that's the thing about fimo....you can't stop messing with it....I was trying to achieve a kind of marbelled effect, I dont think they came out bad considering it was destined for the bin this morning...

No updates because

2008-04-10T06:01:00.001+01:00

DD is poorly sick......we've had a stay on the children's ward at the hospital and I'm tired and DD is poorly.....we're home now but I'm too tired to be crafty...
Will update soon.......:-(

No craft piccies today

2008-04-01T05:35:00.002+01:00

Am absolutely indundated at work this week and sooooo desperate for the week to be over so I can play in my new craft space....just seen the details for the mystery kit for the cybercrop on UKS, but happy to see also that there's a no kit option to play along at home.
So, to compensate for the lack of crafting photo's yesterday and today, I thought I'd entertain you with some photos that I took of the kids at chillfactor_e from the weekend. The girls were a bit gutted we didnt get snow in the last deludge to hit the country so we went off to play in the snow.....we've done this before at the snowdome in tamworth?....but the chillfactor_e opened next to the trafford centre not long back and I'd promised them 45 minutes of snow play followed by krispy kreme doughnuts so that's what we did......
Normal service resumed as soon as possible....

How excited am I.....

2008-03-29T09:30:00.004Z

Hubby gave me the craft room I always wanted yesterday.....wanna see???

Let the fun begin

2008-03-28T04:12:00.005Z

So I was milling around online in the wee small hours as I do and YAY.....the latest UKS Cybercrop has gone up and so i just had to register and lo and behold I'm a Comedy King team member....
I LOVE the UKS cybercrops, I love the pre crop chatting I love the challenges, I just think that the whole thing is a blast....
It's the weekend of the 25th, 26th and 27th of April so don't expect much blogging from me that weekend but you'll find me on UKS having a great time....
If you've never cybercropped before and fancy coming along for the ride have a read
here
There's usually newbie threads for all of the teams (you have to register to become part of a team) but everyone is really friendly and the main thing is to have fun....
In the past I've forgotten to eat during cybercrops and I do generally ignore the family for the whole weekend....which reminds me I must check with hubby that he's off for those days.....childcare of course...
I'm so excited I've got butterflies in my tummy....LOL
Let me know what team you're on by leaving a comment.....

Oh and Helen wanted to see Rainbow Fimo Beads......so here you go....fill your boots....:-)

Fancy making something like this?

2008-03-27T07:05:00.002Z

If you fancied yourself as a wannabe jewellery maker I have lots of sets of fimo beads and pendants that I will be putting up for sale. This is a set I've made myself with a length of cotton thong and some tiger tail but you could also use a piece of memory wire for a circular necklace and bracelet effect...
If you fancy having a go let me know what colours you like and I could probably knock together a kit of 'bits' too.....

Beading Bye Bye

2008-03-26T04:27:00.002Z

So I'm not sure that many of you blog hoppers are aware of my beading fetish....Before I was a scrapper I was a jewellery maker I managed to accumulate many many beads that I have held onto for distant hopes that I might go back to it...but alas...Ive decided it's time for the beads to go because I need funds to pay for my much awaited craft room....so starts the painful task of photographing and writing listings for that much hated auction site that we all painfully put ourselves through when we want to dispose of one craft item in favour of another...
However I thought I'd share some of my favourite beads that I'm deciding to part with. It's a very eclectic Frida Kahlo Day of the Dead inspired string....not to everyone's taste but I bet you can't help to sit and stare at them.....
I'll be selling lots of beads as well as scrapping stash that I'll show either here or I might have a separate blog for the things I'm selling so that they don't consume this blog that I quite enjoy sharing my crafting with anyone who stops by....
If you see anything you like please holler!!

Just a couple of bits

2008-03-25T09:38:00.002Z

Just a couple of projects that I've been up to over the weekend....If you're a UKS'er then you've probably seen these in my gallery but not all you blog hoppers are....I've got step by step photos of how to make the accordian card and I might post these as a project on the blog in the near future....leave me a comment if you'd like to see how to make one....Anyway...the LO was a challenge set by a team member in my UKS team and the accordian tag card is for my mommy in the US for mothers' day which is in May......
Thanks for looking....

The big reveal.....

2008-03-24T10:30:00.002Z

OK so you've be patient enough over the weekend with my sneaky peeks so finally here are the two projects I made using the Cleo Crafts April kit.
The kit really does have a fresh and zingy feel to it but it's very versatile as I hope I've shown in the two projects below. It lends itself to all kinds of different papercraft and altered art projects. I've used it to create a 12 x 12 LO and also an altered canvas. I like to make canvases as all too often I feel that the LO's I make get put into an album and that's that....but my canvases go up on the wall and in the children's bedrooms.....this one I think speaks volumes....Big sister taking little sister by the hand on her first day of school.....the photo says....'Don't worry, I'll be there to keep an eye on you' I didnt think that it needed any kind of title. I've used acrylic paints to cover the canvas and the effect was obtained by scrunching up some tissue paper and dipping it in the paint and then daubing it on the canvas, there are three different colours of blue on there as there are three different colours of blue in the photo if you look carefully. I used a punch to create the cardstock hearts......
Anyway, enough from me, if you're a kit subscriber and would like any instructions as to how I've made either or both of my projects with the April kit then please drop me a comment or an pm on UKS and I'll be happy to help.....

Easter Egg Tree

2008-03-23T08:47:00.007Z

Inspired by Claire and Sky on the blog a thon thread on UKS but taking a totally different perspective the girls and I created an Easter Tree....We had no twigs to use so I used my tea light holder to display the eggs that the girls had made dressing it with ribbons.....
Whatever you're doing today, I hope you have a great day, it's bright and sunny here with no snow......so we'll probably go out and catch some fresh air and walk the chocolate off....

So you want some more........

2008-03-22T13:50:00.002Z

OK so you wanted more.......how about this then.......here's another cleo crafts april kit early preview......the acrylic paints used aren't in the kit, they were my own.....but can you see how versatile the colours in the kit are...suitable for spring crafting.....and girly or masculine LO's with yellows, oranges and blues.....

Are you ready for more

2008-03-22T10:03:00.002Z

Here you go then, more of the cleo crafts april kit....it looks yummy doesnt it....

OK....Here we go......

2008-03-21T11:30:00.002Z

Sneaky Peek.....
Hoping that this tantalises and tempts you to sub to the cleo crafts new kits.....April's kit has a truly fresh and zingy feel to it and was really fun to play with.

More sneaky peeks to follow over the Easter weekend.....

I know the digi secret

2008-02-24T20:14:00.002Z

So I've always been a bit afraid of digi scrapping....me and PSP software just don't gel in the slightest, my lappie doesn't tolerate it very well and I get lost in vectors and rasters.....nope, I didnt give digi a second thought....UNTIL....
One of my teamies on UKS sent me some of her American scrapping mags and lo and behold on the back page of one of the mags is an advert for Scrapbook Max.
Easy it says.....free trial, it says....don't have anything to lose and I LOVE it....
It's so quick and easy to use...and I've watched all the tutorials....dipped my toe into the friendly forum they have going on and I have to say....I could easily become a convert.....well...no...I could easily enjoy doing the two....Digi for when I dont have the time to drag everything out...and paper when my gogo kits come and I can languish in pure selfishness....
Anyway the link to the software if you fancy having a go at the trial yourself to see if you like it is.....HERE

Raff's Adventures

2008-02-17T12:46:00.007Z

Of course we took Raff on our trip....for the followers of my blog and fellow UKS'ers you'll know that Raff holds dear to my heart and that he has his own adventure books for DD2....well he didnt fail to delight on this trip and the photos above show his most animated moments including....
'in the event of a drop in cabin pressure a raff will drop from the overhead compartment'
'Meet MRS raff'
'Raff on the edge'
'Raff pulls a pint of the black stuff'
oh and 'Raff flies the plane with a bit of help'

Enjoy....and please leave me a comment so I can read it to DD2.....Raff after all is her constant companion through life......

You can see more of Raff's adventure pictures from our last holiday here

Christmas is a coming

2007-11-08T12:27:00.001Z

I've got some really cool stuff to share with you later and in preparation I'm setting the scene with a christmas feel to the blog...
Be sure to check back later for something special.......