A couple of new Layouts

My counterfeit kit came in handy at the crop last Saturday and I had fun playing around.

The first one is 7 Gypsies paper, with matching tags, a little fabric tag from Ormolu, glitter thickers from my Advent Swap, tiny letters from my 25 Days of Christmas papers (used for as yet unfinished December Daily!), buttons are MME.  The photos came from a Groupon course I took to learn how to use my DSLR on possibly the greyest day of the year!  It was cold and dull, but luckily the location made it ok.  The South Bank in London is such a vibrant place - so different from when I used to dodge the drunks in the underpass to get to work! - it had a carousel, street performers, stands and musicians, as well as it's breathtaking views, which I got to enjoy every lunchtime in the canteen at IBM - those were the days!

The second LO has an extra paper snuck into the kit, but hey who's counting?  This is a print taken from a slide that I recently scanned from my parents' collection.  It shows my sister and me in the garden in bright red jumpers - not much has changed really - I'm typing this wearing a bright red fleece!  She lived in her wellies - still does, being a horse lover and owner!

I vaguely scraplifted a layout from Lorna (second layout down) who was sitting next to me at the crop, using her technique of cutting different sized boxes of pp and seeing where they patched together - she used 3, I only used 2.  My donut punch came in handy as embellishment and I raided my LYB Sweet Summer embellishments for the tree (another cheat - oops!)  I also got to use my much coveted and finally owned umbrella stamp from Maya Road which I ordered from the States as I HAD to have it! and used the glitter thickers from my advent swap again - thanks Emma :) again!

Twisted Sketch #135

Well, this is the layout that finally broke my mojo famine.  Head over to Twisted Sketches to see the original sketch here as well as all the other layouts created by my talented colleagues on the team.

The twist is Sparkle - and boy! did I take that on board.  As a basically non-glitter user, this is well outside my box, but I had a lot of fun and it jazzed up photos taken on a rather dark snowy day.

The papers were my Christmas present from my Advent Swap - thank you Emma :) and are from the Basic Grey Nordic Holiday range - gorgeous colours and patterns - I so love the gingerbread men that I gutted the paper so I can use it again in another project!  The photos were printed as a collage made with Picasa, then matted.  The frame is made with the same cardstock.

The frame is made using DST covered with a mix of Pink Paislee Stix and silver coarse glitter for some texture. I covered the chipboard snowflake with fine glitter and the letters are Making Memories and came ready-glittered!  I used an asterisk for the centre of the snowflake and finished off with a couple of snowflake brads (to keep up my plan to use up old supplies on my layouts)  Some journalling, a swish of ink round the edge and I was done!

Thank you for looking.

A counterfeit kit LO

The first of this month's kit rolled off the production line (well, not really! - the lack of mojo means it is only the second LO I did this month)  But I have used almost all of the Authentique papers in the Gottacraft kit that I bought last summer, and the last of them are in my counterfeit kit for this month.  Funny, I didn't realise I would find yellow so easy to use.

Using a border cut with my lovely friend Debbie's Cricut and Paper Lace cartridge, I went back in time to my student days for my travel album which is slowly taking shape.  We loved the fact that Roman taxis were the same as the car we had at the time, so I've used the holiday photo to journal a semi-holiday story as I don't have a photo of the car in question.

10 things on the 10th

Ten things I've enjoyed doing in 2012:

1)   Knitting socks - I didn't know it could be so much fun
2)   Painting my bedroom - it looks so much fresher already, even though I haven't finished
3)   Playing games and listening to music on my new iPod Touch
4)   Making marmalade
5)   Going to friends' for Sunday Lunch
6)   Planting bulbs
7)   Eating my Hotel du Chocolat chocolates
8)   Watching 'The Way Back'
9)   Seeing the birds on the bird feeders
10)  Organising my stash

No Mojo can have positive consequences

I've been wanting to scrap - really I have, but the combination of no mojo, delayed photos and a freezing cold bedroom have conspired to keep me away from my scrapping table. I'm hoping the photos and the forthcoming crop on Saturday will get me back into the groove - that and some Twisted Sketches that have landed in my inbox to provide much needed inspiration.

However, there is a bright side.  No scrapping has meant that other crafty things have come to the fore and my sock knitting is coming on a treat.  Ok, it's still only the first sock but I've started the heel bit - a whole new realm of discovery for me.  The wool has made a fab pattern on the socks so I'm very motivated to finish them so I can wear them!  This one is definitely a bit wobbly but you live and learn and I'm hoping the next one will be an improvement on the first!

January is my least favourite month of the year, and I'm really suffering the winter blues at the moment, but one silver lining is the arrival of Seville Oranges from climates warmer than here.  I am therefore in the throes of making Oxford Marmalade - the first of several batches of different marmalades on the agenda.  As we speak the oranges are simmering on the hob, and after an overnight meld, will be made into marmalade tomorrow.  I don't like peel (but DH does), so I just pick out the bits in between!

In addition, I have painted my bedroom wall this morning - so at least I'm being productive if not artistic!

Try something new every week #19

Another week gone, and a week of illness, back to school and not a lot else.  However, I have done a couple of new things this week, albeit lower key than sometimes.

Firstly, my lovely DS1 had his first BRIT School exhibition, where they showed their Set Design model boxes and all the preparation for the phantom production they have been working on lately.

It was really good, so many different views of what the same story should look like - and lots of well presented research to back up their choices.

The second thing is work related and I can 't say a lot about it, except that I am finally getting to edit a book.  I have done lots of articles, academic pieces etc, but never a whole book and although it's not a well paid venture, I am excited, and hope to have something nice written as an acknowledgement of my work.  It's in the area of business history so it's never going to attract a mass audience, but hey!  you have to start somewhere!

First craft 2012

With a distinct lack of mojo and little time, I finally got round to a little craft project last night in honour of my god-daughter's birthday.

Scraplifted (if you can scraplift non scrapbooking projects!) from Jennifer McGuire at Studio Calico ) - from September 29th 2011, I used her technique of painting with Mr Huey and equivalent spray mists, and made a couple of her adorable flowers, then raided my stash for flowers, brads, buttons to complement my colour scheme.  I had a lot of fun doing it, so I really hope she likes it.

Try Something New Every Week - the catch up!

Well yes! I'm behind - it's official, but only with the blog posts and not with the new things.  Happily I have managed to keep up and tick off two things that I've wanted to do for ages and never got round to doing.

Week # 16 - Be part of a live audience for the Wittertainment Show on Radio 5.

I am a big listener to Radio 5 and although I am not much of a cinema goer (at least in the days since I had kids) I am a huge fan of Simon Mayo and used to listen to his shows in the afternoon.  He is definitely someone I would have at my ideal dinner party, being the most entertaining and well informed person I have ever heard on the radio.  The Film Review however, goes way beyond just cinema and is fantastic entertainment at any level and I listen regularly.  So when the chance came I took it and took my lovely DS1 who I have converted to the cause along with me to see them live in action at the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square.  It was great fun AND I GOT TO SEE MICHAEL SHEEN AS WELL!!!  What a bonus - he has the most gorgeous accent, the maddest jumper and even did a bit of Hamlet with a member of the audience.

It was funny and completely fab and a great way to spend 23rd December!

Week # 18 took a rather different turn - this time last year as a Christmas present my sister gave me money to buy the bits I needed to knit a pair of socks.  This has been on my to do list for ages, ever since the crop girls started making socks some years ago which I have admired and coveted hugely!  However as a world class procrastinator and very average knitter I took my time getting round to doing this.  Having failed as last year's resolution, I took the bull by the horns on Christmas Eve and headed down to the local knitting shop to buy the required articles!

I am proud to say that I have started!  It may take time, but so far so good and I am progressing towards my first heel.

This week I am racking my brains to think of something to try, Christmas has kind of slowed my brain down.  I think it may involve cooking....

Happy 2012

Happy New Year to you, hope 2012 brings us all joy, peace and laughter.

Well I've had a lovely break, with very little crafting, but it's been one of the best Christmases ever so no regrets, but I am looking forward to finishing off my December Daily - photos taken, but need to print, journalling mostly done so really just an assembly job.

I have met my Try Something New Every Week challenge over the past two weeks, although they are AWOL on the blog - to be remedied this week :)

Resolutions?  I'm not too good at them but here are my crafting resolutions for 2012:

1) Finish layouts and get them into albums
2) Make a start at finishing the enormous pile of unfinished ones.
3) Re-order my albums so they make chronological sense
4) Use up old stash on every possible project - mix and match with new
5) Think before I buy
6) Make a card out of scraps when I finish a layout
7) Use my stamps more
8) Finish up half done projects
9) Learn some new techniques
10) Follow a monthly challenge which summarises the month in pictures on a layout.

So bring it on... and happy 2012.