Scrap Fever!

Well you can tell its half term as Ive been scrapping. I went to my crop thursday night and did three layouts, and then yesterday my mum came over in the afternoon and we scrapped for a few hours together. Matthew was at my inlaws. And then I did another layout last night. With the football now on most evenings, Im hoping to get a few layouts done over the next few weeks, but going back to work on Monday may slow things down!

The first layout is one of Matthew playing with Simon's umbrellla after his birthday party at Godstone Farm. I was desperate to use these MME papers, but was gutted to find I didnt have any of the umbella papers left so a massive thank you to Jo B who managed to find a piece for me. I added a few other bits from Making Memories and some journalling spots.

The second layout uses photos taken last weekend at a friends birthday BBQ. There was lots of fun in the garden with tug of war, hula hoops, a slide and of course skipping! I used the October Afternoon range sidewalks which was just perfect with the little sticker of the girl skipping

The third layout uses a really old range called Finlay's Estate from Cloud 9. Not even sure if they are still around. I love this photo taken of Matthew in the garden. It was taken that really hot Saturday a couple of weeks ago and we went out in the garden in the evening when it was a little cooler and he helped water some of the plants. The photo matches the papers perfectly and I love all the wording stickers that came with the papers. Added a butterfly and a few paper pearls to finish it off.

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The fourth layout shows Matthew and Eva who share a birthday. I bought these Authetique papers before Matthew's Birthday but the colours are quite strong and wouldnt go with just any photo. However this photo is just perfect - thanks to Eva's red cardigan. I love all the little stickers and used quite a few.

The next layout is my 12 on the 12th photos from May. That day we went to a 2nd birthday party ( the 7th one !). I love the colours of the boys t-shirts and they matched perfectly with the What's up papers from Basic Grey. My layout is based on this layout using the same range.

The next layout uses more Authentique papers. Again they are quite unusual colors so I was lucky to find a photo that matches.  I love this dreamy photo of Matthew taken in the pub garden after  a friend's 40th birthday party. It was hot day and it was nice to escape the party for a little while and relax in the cooler garden before the long drive home. I love the little arrow stickers that say 100% genuine and 100% original.  I was inspired by this amazing layout by Michelle Logan .

The last layout is probably my favourite of the seven layouts. I love this photo of Matthew looking super cool after a trip to Wimbledon Park and wearing his Dad's shades. Not yet two in this photo - he looks so grown up - I can see the teenager in him already!! I used a mix of old papers by Kaisercraft. I love the sprayed inks in the background and should do this more often as I always love the result.

Thanks for looking. Sorry its such a long post. Which one is your favourite?

12 on the 12th and other things

Why do I blog?

One reason is because I want to keep a record of some of the little things in our lives that we may look back on. It will help with the details. Just the other day I was reading some of my old posts about Matthew's first few days and Id written that he took 1 hour 45 minutes to have  bottle - now his bedtime bottle is gone in a few minutes - he loves it!

I also like to keep a record of my scrapping and of course its a lovely way to show off your work. One of  the things I love about scrapbooking is that I do it for me and my family but it does mean that I might be the only one to see my pages ( my husband isnt that interested). But by going to crops and blogging it does mean  you get some feedback on your work and we all like a bit of praise if someone says something nice.

And I like to enter challenges. Last night I went to a crop armed with some challenges Id added to my Pinterest folder and managed to complete three layouts during the evening. By having a blog I can enter into the challenges easily. Ive been honoured to have been featured on Shimelle's favourite scrapbooking starting points twice in recent weeks. And of course a place to show any design team work Ive done.


So tomorrow I will show you the challenges but today is about blogging and recording the little things.

So yesterday was the 12th and so I take part in a 12 on the 12th photo challenge. Here are my photos ( sorry cheam croppers if you dont like them).

Top row - Debbie, New girl Helen, Jo, Sandra F
Middle row - Petra - Sandra B ( had to include this picture - sorry Sandra), Sandra again and me
Bottom row - 3 layouts and us at work ( or chatting)

What else has been happening?

Well Matthew is under the weather. He has been full of cold this week and Im sure he has a sore throat. Last night he had a high temperature, made himself sick crying and was awake for nearly 3 hours ( yes - we are tired today!) Ive taken him to the doctor and chest/ ears upper throat are clear so its probably just lower throat and we just need to dose him up with calpol and nurofen and give it a couple of days.

However, he did wake up from his lunchtime nap in time to sprint down to Toys R Us in Colliers Wood. Matthew loves Fireman Sam and when I found out he was visiting during the school holidays I had to make sure we went for a photo op. Matthew was very in awe at first, but he did get braver. Lovely photos for the future - the day Matthew met the hero next door.

Hopefully Ill be back tomorrow to show my 3 layouts from the challenges I completed last night and I hope to enter some of Shimelle's challenges too.

By the way Ive made a few changes to my blog design etc - any thoughts?

12 on the 12th

It feels like a long time since I posted, but it is only a week, but it has been a busy one. Last weekend we went away to the christening of my cousin's little girl Faith. It was a great weekend. Matthew was very good on the long journey to Devon. We have a DVD player for the car and although I feel guilty about him watching too much , it does keep him occupied and of course he naps some of the time too. Last weeks DVDs  were Kipper, Fireman Sam and Jungle Book.

It was lovely to see all my family and we stayed one night at my cousin Lizzie's so it was really fantastic to spend some quality time with her - we havent done it much in recent years and it was great to really catch up. Im sure photos of the weekend will be on my blog soon or on my layouts.

So this week has been busy. We came back on Monday and then it was back to work on Tuesday so Ive been chasing my tail catching up with jobs and getting myself organised at work (something I can normally do over a weekend).

So not much time for scrapping or blogging this week, but the Easter Holidays start next Friday so hopefully I will find some time then.

However, I still have some photos to share with you so I thought I would blog today with my 12 photos taken on the 12th of the month. Its a great way of making a true record of a day and all the little things we did. Ive scrapped my Feb 12 on the 12th and look forward to scrapping this months too.

The 12th  fell on a Monday ths month. The day started with fog and I could see spiders' webs on our terrace. Matthew played at home in the morning in his PJs and then we went to soft play and lunch with Karen and Bella. Matthew puckered up for a kiss goodbye with Bella. In the afternoon the sun came out and my daffodils in the garden looked lovely. Matthew had a trip to Nanny's while  I did some school work at home. I had another win on facebook of £5 to spend at Craft island and in the evening I scapped this layout for Shimelle's Starting Point Challenge. You can see layout better here.

Hopefully I'll be back blogging again soon. x

12 on the 12th

So this was the first time I did the 12 on the 12th challenge that I mentioned last month. This month it fell on a Sunday - not quite sure what im going to do when it falls on a work day as I barely have time to the loo at work , let alone take photos! I might have to cheat that week.

But this time I managed it. Here they are:

The remains of our snowman

• Dinner out - my roast ( please note this includes Matthew's food and I did NOT eat two large Yorkshire puddings) and eton mess.
• Matthew mastering bananas and custard. He did a good job.
• My preperations for valentines - heart cookies complete with initials for our little guests coming for tea today, blueberry muffins and cards for the three little girls in Matthew's life.
• Just some really cute photos of Matthew sitting all grown up.
• Bathtime.