Confession

This is supposed to be about using up OLD stuff isn't it? So could someone please tell me why I ended up in Hobbycraft yesterday buying NEW things? For a start, this prompt was about transparencies. I have none. Even if I did, I'm not sure that I would be able to fashion them into anything attractive. So I found myself looking at vellum. Oh, here's a pretty one, the design on it reminds me of the circular window in the Notre Dame in Paris. Oh, I have a photo of that at home .... Oh my goodness, look at that pretty butterfly cutter. Lots of people have used butterfly cutters on their pages and I could really use one of those. Oh look, and here's a pair of scissors with a curved scallop edge to them, that would look good round the circular print on the vellum. And so, here is my page using (ahem) lots of things I already had - like purple card stock, photo of me in front of Notre Dame taken on my 50th birthday, silver ink pen ... and a couple of new bits :-)

Easily distracted by pretty things

So I'm in Tesco at the pharmacy, dropping off a repeat prescription in for my daughter. "There's about a 10 minute wait, do you have any other shopping to do?" "Yes, that's fine, I have a couple of bits to buy, I'll come back in 10 minutes" I then go in search of the chicken breasts and stir fry vegetables and Hoi Sin Sauce. On my way round I find myself in the wine aisle. And at the end of the aisle, round with the flavoured liqueurs, I saw a box that had the prettiest bottle inside it. Only £6. 'New In' - the sign declared. 'Take a tall glass, fill with ice and pour a measure of this over. Add 10 ml gin and top up with lemonade' Raspberry Liqueur - mmm I'm sure I could make use of that in summer desserts. And look how pretty that bottle is. How have I lived without this? I came home and showed my daughter the beautiful bottle and we both agreed it reminded us of the Vivienne Westwood jewellery collection with the jewel encrusted orb. We mixed the drink and both agreed that it really was delicious. Then she asked the crucial question: 'Did you pick up my prescription?' .....

I knew there was something else I was supposed to be going back for ;-)

Chilling

See that blue bottle in the photo? That's sun tan lotion. When was the last time you used yours? Feels like it was years ago that we needed it and it definitely isn't a factor 20 day today here. This is the layout that I did for the sketch challenge at Saturday's crop. I had taken along this photo of the 4 of us on holiday in Portugal back in the mid 90s with the idea of using it on a page kit that I had bought at a Crafty Stash crop a while ago. However, when I saw the sketch I realised that I could use the papers I had brought and use them for my own ideas on interpreting the sketch Karen from Eclectic Keepsakes had given us.

Now, is it worth keeping that sun lotion out of the cupboard? Let's just check the weather forecast ... no, don't think I'm going to be needing it again any time soon!

Easter Weekend

Firstly, Happy Easter! Isn't it lovely to have a long Bank Holiday weekend? Time to relax and spend time with the family and remember that it's not just about chocolate!
The weekend here got off to a good start, I went to a crop run by Eclectic Keepsakes and they had a guest designer there , SJ Dowsett, who had designed some adorable cards for us to make. They were fun to do and you've just got to admire the talent that S J has. I have trouble drawing a straight line with a ruler, so no way could I design little characters like these:

The first half of the day is allocated to doing your own projects and we were also given a sketch challenge to do. I've forgotten to photograph the design I came up with for that at the moment, but I also used the time to do the 'chipboard' prompt from the Shimelle class. I have so little chipboard that this was a tough one for me, but I sneaked a few bits onto this page and hope it qualifies for the 'chipboard' category. Speaking of Shimelle ... guess who is the guest designer appearing IN PERSON at the next crop .....

Buttons

By the time I started scrapbooking, I think buttons had reached their height of fashion and other things had taken their place in the embellishment world. I can think of no other reason why I do not have the dozens of buttons that other people have! In fact, in making this layout I have halved my supply of buttons.
These photos were taken in Menorca in 1995, kids aged 8 and 5. Sitting in a beach bar overlooking Cala Galdana beach. I can still remember that day so clearly. One of those lovely days where the sun is shining, everyone is happy and enjoying being together. Definitely one for the 'Celebrate Life' album!

Keep calm and eat a cupcake

Today was my day off from work and I decided to dip into the new cookery book that I was given for my birthday. It's the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. With so many delicious goodies on offer, it was hard to know which recipe to choose first. So I went for a cupcake that has melted marshmallow in the middle and a vanilla icing with baby marshmallows on the top. I seem to have melted marshmallow all over myself and the work surfaces of the kitchen, but I'm pleased with the end result. It kind of seemed appropriate to bake cupcakes when on a Shimelle class!

Flower Power

When my daughter was three, we enrolled her for ballet lessons at the local dance class. She loved it. She was always a 'girly' girl and the pretty pink leotards and the satin shoes with the ribbons were just what she loved to wear. As she got older, different dance classes came into the mix. First came tap, then modern, then jazz. Exams were taken and passed, demonstrations at local fetes were given, shows were performed once every two years and she was even given the role of 'Jasmine' when they performed Aladdin . How she loved to dance. But how did I, a mere 5' 1" tall mother, manage to have a daughter with such long legs?! But the teenage years came and other interests took over from the dancing: shopping, make up, boys .... and she suddenly gave it all up. So, when a prompt for flowers came up in my 'inbox' I knew I had to do a feminine page and whilst sorting through photos, came across one that had been taken when the ballet school had a professional photographer come to take pictures before one of their shows.