JANUARY PL PART 3 

MONDAY, 09 FEBRUARY, 2015

Today I am sharing my final Project Life layout for January and I'm very happy to be able to say that as I do so want to start on February!

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The first completed page

I had most of this page completed from my previous post except for the two lower pockets down the right hand side. 

Close up of the pockets completed

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I have finished The Husband's Secret and started reading Thirteen Reason's Why. I have also now finished this book as well. 

The next completed page

I included a snapshot of an almond croissant that I bought from the bakery. Not something I would usually photograph but they were having a special offer at the bakery and as well it not something that I usually eat, pastry that is. But I just couldn't resist as almond croissants are my favorite! I included a picture of Rupert on one of our walks at Cookham.

It got so cold this week that the bird bath actually froze. Poor birdies. Met with Sarah for our monthly catch up at Stubbing's Cafe for tea and cake. Sarah has now completed her Yoga coursework and has become a licensed Yoga instructor. I have been supporting her in new endeavor by going to her beginning classes. 

Rupert genuinely looking sad when I took the Christmas decorations down. 

Close ups of individual pockets

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I wanted to try some of the double 6 x 6 inserts as thought this would be a fun size to work with. 

Close up of the 6 x 6 pockets insert

Front 

I had most of this page completed from my previous post except for the two lower pockets down the right hand side.

Back of the insert

Close up of the bottom pocket

I joined a Facebook group for Planner Addicts in the hope that they would help inspire me to become more organized this year. I have come to learn that they are genuine addicts and will probably more than likely get me addicted to loads of stationery rather than help me to actually get organized!

I also purchased a monthly/weekly planner from Paperchase to help me be more structured in my organization. Here's hoping it wasn't all in vain. 

Thanks for taking the time to drop by.

Hope your documenting 2015 is progressing along nicely!

SNOW DAY LAYOUT

THURSDAY, 5 FEBRUARY, 2015

I haven't had a chance to sit down and document my recent pictures for my Project Life properly so today I am sharing a layout about the recent snowfall we had here in the UK. They have been predicting snow now for over a month but we had yet to receive any until the start of this week. Although I suppose in all fairness, I should clarify to say that we haven't received any down south, in Berkshire but there has been a fair amount up north and in Scotland as well. 

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You could really feel the temperature drop at the start of the week and then before it snowed it almost seemed to warm up a tiny bit on the day and then went eerily quiet just before it fell. 

Having grown up in California snow is not something I experienced on a yearly basis, so I actually find it quite serene and peaceful. That is, when it's falling. But then having to go out in it and drive around as well as be mindful not to fall down in icy areas can become very bothersome. 

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I hadn't originally intended to scrap this photo in a layout but then I was on Studio Calico and came across a beautiful winter layout by Sherry C. which you can find here. I was so inspired by her beautiful layout that I wanted to create my own wintry layout. If you like, you can also visit her blog here to see what other lovely things she is currently working on! 

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I wanted the photo to be the focus of the layout and had imagined using white wintry colours like Sherry had.  However, I did not have enough supplies to create a look such as this plus I wanted to use an acetate overlay so went with other wintry colours, such as the blue and silver. 

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I knew that I had some silvery gray cardstock and as I mentioned, I wanted to use this acetate winter overlay that I've had for ages by Creative Imaginations so I thought this would be a good start, to help the white script pop off the background. 

I also wanted to use up a few blue paper scraps from my December Daily album along with some snowflake wood veneers so these were incorporated into the layout. 

I wanted to get a bit of sparkle in there so used some glittery silver tape by Paperchase that I had picked up at Christmas. I used a scalloped border from Bella Blvd from their Thankful alphabits sticker sheet by Stephanie Hunt. 

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I added some metal snowflake brads by Papermania and used Glossy Accents on them to give them a bit more depth and sparkle. 

I finished the page off by adding the title with Dymo type words called Label Lingo stickers by EK Success onto a bit of scrap paper also from my December Daily album. 

I also added a further Dymo style label at the top of the page, near the snowflake brad. This is Marcella by Kay. 

And finally, the completed layout.

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Thank you for taking the time to stop by my blog. 

Hope your Project Life and scrapping for the new year is coming along nicely. 

JANUARY PL PART 2

TUESDAY, 27 JANUARY, 2015

Hello Fellow Crafters!

Looking at my post date above I cannot believe that January is nearly over. Where did the month go?

Today I am sharing a few pages from my January Project Life. 

I have to say that I am liking the bigger size album this year. A change was definitely needed and I am glad that I chose to go with the 9 x 12 size. Although with the bigger size I do feel that I haven't done that much yet this year whereas with the smaller 6 x 8 size it definitely fills up quicker. 

The first page

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Just before the Christmas break I was having difficulty with my right shoulder. It got to the point where just after the new year the pain became unbearable so had to visit the GP. She referred me to a physiotherapist. 

I cut up the flier from the physio clinic and inserted this into (4) 3 x 4 pockets.  I also created a mock patient assessment file card (don't worry, that's not my real NHS number). Found a little file folder tab from The Daily Grind kit by Simple Stories and enjoyed using my new sewing machine to attach it to the top of the card. 

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I'm not necessarily a Marvel fan, one way or the other but one afternoon I found myself sitting in front of the telly watching Captain America - The Winter Soldier.  And I have to say it was quite a good film - a fast paced action packed adventure! Enjoyed it! 
(This insert is design I) 

The top (2) pockets

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The bottom pocket

A pic of Rupert, full from his dinner, sitting in the kitchen, dozing with contentment as we eat our dinner. He brings me such joy! 

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I also got a chance to do another full size 9 x 12 layout. I am really enjoying being able to work with this size. 

I know I already used this photo on my title page but I really liked it and we so rarely take pictures together (something I aim to do more this year) so I thought I would use it for a full size layout as well. 

I wanted to do a lot of layering with this layout as well as use a pink colour scheme. I am trying to make an effort to use up more of my stash this year as I have quite a lot to use so this was my first attempt at that. 

A close up of some of the smaller details.

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My next page including a new year pic, what book I'm currently reading and some pics of all of us.  

Inserted a 2015 card at the top of the page. A very cute photo that Jason posted on my FB page just after the New Year which is totally my sense of humour! 

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Last year I saw a lot of crafters regularly include in their albums what they were reading. This year I thought I would do the same. I am currently reading The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty. 

I found this great printable on the Happy Go Lucky blog by the lovely Kara, which you can find here. The printable was much larger but I scaled it down to fit into a 3 x 4 pocket.

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More pictures of Rupert as he is the child that I document! This is a daily ritual with Rupert. When Simon comes home for the evening this is what Rupert does.  It makes us both laugh so much!

As you can see this page is not complete. I have a few spaces yet to fill but I wanted to get it up and posted on the blog.

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I have been coveting shoes like these for ages and finally found a pair in the UK, which is not an easy task.  There are many companies that carry shoes like this but mostly in the US or even some in Australia. But I always hesitate to purchase them from outside the UK as the postage would cost a small fortune and as well, if they don't fit and I have to return them I will then lose again with the return postage.

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So this was a great find for me and I ordered them straight away. Took more than a couple weeks to arrive and when they did I was so excited, like a small child on Christmas morning! I was absolutely gutted to find as I was unpacking them from the box that there was a gouge on the outer heel of the right shoe. It doesn't come through completely in the small photo above but in real life you could clearly see it. So sadly I had to return them, after all that. 

I had my yoga mat out as I make an effort to exercise at home at least three times a week. Rupert always likes to roll around and rub his face all over my yoga mat once I'm done exercising. Don't know why he does it but I find it so adorable!

After looking back on my pages I have noticed that they do seem quite busy with all the polka dots, stripes and bold colours. 

Wondering if maybe I should tone it down it bit...?

Thanks for taking the time to drop by my blog!

INSPIRATION FOUND

THURSDAY, 15 JANUARY, 2015

Hello All!

This is a just a quick one today!

As if I already don't have enough crafting projects on the go, this morning I was inspired to create something else. 

I was surfing the members gallery over at Studio Calico last night and came across some Christmas tags by Mandy G. which you can find here.

I was so inspired by her beautiful creations that I instantly pinned them into my inspiration book to covet and pine over later. 

When I got up this morning her lovely creations were still floating around in my head so I decided to sit down at my craft table and see if I could do her work justice by creating something similar. 

I definitely had fun just getting lost in making these with a couple of kits by My Minds Eye that I recently found on the cheap at TK Maxx (the UK equivalent of TJ Maxx). 

I do love when inspiration hits you in that way! You see something that you really like so much so that you want to have a go at creating something similar and then get completely lost in the momentum that follows. 

If you would like to check out Mandy's gallery at Studio Calico you can find it here or see more of her work, you can follow her on her blog or on Instagram @papersandstamps.

Can't wait to use these now on a layout!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by. 

STARTING MY 2015 ALBUM

WEDNESDAY, 14 JANUARY, 2015

As mentioned in my New Year's post I have a lot of catching up to do! I have nearly finished with my December album but have yet to post the completed pages here. 

I have however started on my new album for 2015! It arrived in the post over the weekend and I was just too excited by its arrival and simply got carried away.

I wouldn't say I'm a chronological scrapper but technically I feel like I should have posted my completed December album pages here before my 2015 album. 

Nevertheless, below is a photo of the album I chose for this year.  It's the American Crafts Raspberry 12x12 craft album.  The past two years I have been using the Simple Stories 6x8 albums to document my memory keeping.

I have enjoyed using the 6x8 size and have done so since 2013. The pages are fairly quick to create in the smaller size plus it is different from what I am typically used to. 

I have always been a 12x12 girl but more than a few years ago, due to numerous house moves I had to pack away all my scrap supplies. Then, long story short, as I was living in limited space I didn't have the extra room nor money, to be honest, to pursue my hobby.

It was only in 2013, when I happened across Simple Stories that I took up scrapbooking again in a limited capacity, as I still did not have much space to scrap in.  

However, now that I've been scrapping again for a few years and really have the taste for it, I've genuinely come to miss creating the larger sized layouts. I feel you just can't create the full page layouts with the same impact in the smaller size as you can in a bigger size album. Plus having managed to sequester a small corner of our lounge to scrap in I have decided to go back to a bigger size album now. 

Now I know there has been talk over at Studio Calico about the 9x12 albums coming out this year, but with no specific release date. Being somewhat of an impatient scrapper I didn't want to either fall behind waiting for the release of the albums or scrap pages without an album to put them in. 

So I took inspiration from Marcy Penner and decided to cut down a 12x12 album to 9x12. You can find Marcy's tutorial here. 

Below is my finished album, or should I say at least for now. I wanted something simple but I am not sure that I like what I have created. Bonkers I know!

This is my title page which was fun to create. I used a mixture of PL cards and metallic Charmed cards by My Minds Eye. 

These pictures are from our last walk at Cookham during the Christmas break. However, as it fell at the end of the two weeks it also made it the first walk of the new year at Cookham!  It was so cold and Simon & I were trying to bundle up to keep warm. 

The page below includes some pictures of me with my new haircut for the New Year. I felt I desperately needed a change so booked into the salon on January 2nd and had my super long hair chopped off into a much shorter middy style vintage cut. I was a bit hesitant at first but am very happy with the results. 

A page wouldn't be complete without a few pics of Rupert. Simon was making the bed and Rupert climbed in and managed to tuck himself up. Very cute!

This is a PL Blush journal card with a day of the week bubble and B&W arrow by Simple Stories. The heart is punched from scrap paper.  I then stitched across all of it. 

This is my introduction page leading into my album. 

The polka dot background paper is by My Minds Eye and the pink stars are Studio Calico. I haven't embellished it as I wanted the words to stand on their own but I feel it does need something underneath it. 

As I said I came back to the bigger sized albums as I missed creating full page layouts. And this is my first full sized (nearly) layout which I enjoyed immensely! I went a bit old school with this - some inking and aging of the paper and also some good old fashioned paper tearing!

This was a 12x12 page protector that I cut down to 9x12 and sewed up the open side. You can see my wonky stitching there on the left. 

A close up of my antiqued paper tearing - an old school technique that I still enjoy doing. I think it was the perfect technique for this layout. 

I've had this tag in my stash for ages and thought the creepy old house on it would work well with the theme of this page. I antiqued it, distressed it, crinkled it up and inked it a bit before adhering it to the page with a few wrinkles in it.  

A close up of the actual photo I took that inspired the page as I think the other picture didn't do it justice as you couldn't see the detail in it. 

If you can't make it out it's a picture of the moon through the branches of the trees on the lane next to our house. 

That's the start of my 2015 album which I hope you've enjoyed!

A good start I think.

Thanks for taking time to stop by my blog.

Christine x

DECEMBER ALBUM

DAY 23 TO DAY 25
WEDNESDAY, 14 JANUARY, 2015

DAY 23

"AN EVENING WITH JULIE"

Julie invited us over for a few Christmas cocktails so the evening was spent in front of the fire, chatting, catching up and enjoying each other's company. Made for a lovely evening!

DAY 24

"TRADITION"

It has always been a tradition for me to watch It's a Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve. I love this film and cry every time I see it even though I've seen it a hundred times before. A brilliant tradition. 

DAY 25

"CHRISTMAS"

I just loved this felt Santa gift tag that I decided to use it on my main Christmas page.

Couldn't do a Christmas layout without including a picture of your Christmas roast dinner! So delicious! Now that is one UK tradition that I can totally get used to!

After dinner we did watch a few Christmas films as we sat in front of the fire. I wanted to include these in the layout so punched some holes in a Simple Stories Cozy Christmas pocket and popped it in my album. I printed out small pics of the films and glued them to the back of a couple Christmas gift tags. Done!

The photo-a-day prompt for today was "Morning" and the picture of Rupert documents this. We spent the morning in bed opening presents with Rupert surfing through the discarded wrapping paper. With him loving every minute of it!

That's my pre-Christmas Eve, Christmas Eve and Christmas day pages!

Yay!  Another one finished!

As I'm documenting until the end of December I have a couple more days to complete and then December is done!

Thanks for having a look!