Today I have been......

mostly tidying, a bit of scrapping work and sewing this.......

loving my freebie sewing machine - today "she" got her first real work out!

Happy Anniversary to meeeeeeee
These two lovelies were my gifts from Ben on Sunday - this gorgeous padded heart covered in white buttons, I love it so much, and need to find somewhere in my little homey home to display it. I think I have a plan, more on that in a minute...

I woke to these on the bed, gorgeous Gerberas - one of my favourite blooms ever. So pretty, Ben went to the same flower man we bought my wedding flowers from, to see if he had the red lillies, but he did not *I knew it was fate last year!* as he said he almost NEVER gets them in :-D
So Ben opted for these colourful beauties. I love how they look in the vase.

Mmmmmm a close up.

Thank you my hubby :-D *smooch* - my hair looks weird in this photo..... **************
Ok - Anniversary posts over with, onto some craft!
Laura made this amazing mini book and it totally made me want to make one, I dug out this wooden one that I have had since the dawn of creation, and covered it in wood grain vinyl - and Early Bird Cosmo (still loving this range FYI...might have to re-order the collection pack!)
I have decided to make a mini book each year, with my favourite photos from each month. Luckily for me, I store my photos in month files on my desktop.
I cannot wait to start the task of choosing 5 photos from each month to represent the year.
2008 was a cool year, so I am looking forward to getting them printed (onto matte photo paper)
the tabs will go, SPRING-SUMMER AUTUMN-WINTER and SPECIAL MOMENTS or something less vomit inducing... but you know what I mean!
The big button on the front is so cool, it comes from a children's craft pack, and the buttons are all about 5cm across - in rounds, stars, ovals and hearts etc. all plastic - and every now and then, come in perfectly handy for a project or two!
On the morning of our Anniversary - we celebrated by going to a boot fair.
*lol*
Ok - so romance is dead.. but seriously, we love a GOOD bootie, and there is a HUGE three field one near me, we rarely go, so when we got the chance we grabbed it. I found this GORGEOUS vintage frame, its huge and heavy and only £4!!! Obviously the old guy had no idea what he was selling, as Ben (who used to work for an auction house) was like "um.. get it quick before he realises!" so we lugged it around the rest of the fair. I love it. I am thinking of two things:
1: Hanging it empty - with the button covered heart in it.
OR...

Doing this - (keeping it white of course) -Now this is something I saw a LONG time ago, and have always wanted to do.. I love it- PLUS I have some perfect pegs that would go on it.
Don't you just love the concept!? I do! woo. It would happily sit above my PC and hold all the important notes, like "Buy Milk" etc.

Also - I found this little single tile at the boot fair, for £2. I bought it up and it now resides on my kitchen dresser (which needs a damm good tidy! - hence the close up) It came from a fire place. I wish he had them all, I would have loved more. If me and Ben ever get a house, we will include this somehow into the fabric of the place. I love it.

One last random - here are some cheese sausage whirls I made at the weekend - couldn't be easier. Roll out puff pastry, smooth out sausage meat (I hated this bit) then roll, like a swiss roll, cut- cook and sprinkle cheese and brown.
They went down well :-D

Thats all folks.
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365 days.....

365 days.

Some of those days were spent laughing, some were spent crying, some were spent in silence, some not being able to get a word in edge ways, some were spent holding tiny hands, others holding each others heart when it needed fixing, some were spent kissing, some where spent shouting, some hand in hand on the sea front as the sun goes down, some holding hands whilst teetering on roller blades, some were spent blowing out candles, curled up on the sofa, making cakes, walking through fields, in woods, at the edge of the sea, but all, were spent loving him, and enjoying a love that is unconditional and ours.

Happy Anniversary to us.
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This time last year.........

I was handmaking and decorating these.......

Making this.......

And waiting in a que in town for the out door florist, to pick up some tulips for my bouquet - when I saw these at his feet in a little bucket, and I knew my wedding bouquet wouldn't be complete without! I bought a giant banana leaf and some bears grass from him, which I threaded with little pearl beads- and made two of these bouquets for me and my Bridesmaid.
I was SO pleased with them, considering I had never in my life made one before, not that it was complicated or anything, but I was still pleased :-D

I also hung with my family, 90ft of handmade bunting, and sorted out chairs and tables and planned where everyone would sit.
It was a real make-and-do wedding, and the fact that we literally did everything ourselves made it more special when people commented on how lovely the day was.
xxx
Our Anniversary is tomorrow, and Ben is taking me to dinner tonight, and tomorrow we are spending time with my family to arrange our Holiday!
I hope the sun shines like it did last year...

oh mai!

Amazing! Or... at least I hope it will be! Tim Burton is usually awesome, so I have high expectations for this.. the fact that Johnny Depp is playing the mad hatter works for me, he is fast becoming one of my favourite actors of all time. In fact - the cast list looks pretty cool overall, especially Stephen Fry being the voice of the cheshire cat. :-)


CAST:
1.Johnny Depp - Mad Hatter
2.Helena Bonham Carter- Red Queen
3.Anne Hathaway - White Queen.
4.Michael Sheen -White Rabbit
5.Alan Rickman -Caterpillar.
6.Stephen Fry - Cheshire Cat.
7.Matt Lucas - Tweedledum and Tweedledee
8.Christopher Lee - Jabberwock
9.Noah Taylor - March Hare
10.Barbara Windsor -Dormouse
11.Timothy Spall - Bloodhound
12.Crispin Glover - Knave of Hearts
13.Eleanor Tomlinson -Fiona Chataway
14. Jemma Powell - Margaret Manchester
15.John Hopkins -Lowell Manchester
16.Lindsay Duncan - Helen Kingsley
17.Marton Csokas - Charles Kingsley
18.Frances de la Tour - Aunt Imogene
19. Leo Bill - Hamish Ascot
20.Tim Pigott-Smith - Lord Ascot
21.Geraldine James - Lady Ascot
22.Mia Wasikowska - Alice.

Shame we have to wait till MARCH 2010!!

You see the butterfly above? Its based on a freebie font - coloured, edited, layered and changed. I love butterflies. I have saved it so it can be used on a digital page, and well, anyway - if you want the it.. you can download it from here:
It looks like its on a blackbackgroud - but it shouldn't once downloaded.. let me know if it doesn't work!
xxx

Crate-a-licious

Summer CHA is around the corner, and with it Crate brings these...
(oh, and a Christmas one one, but I'm not so keen on that... maybe because I really dislike Christmas papers but that's another story!) Anywhoo, I just wanted to post the eye candy, even though we cannot wait to "see them for real :-)
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pink and black! This combination reminds me of my teenage years, I had a friend who said the only colour I wore (along with my MOUNTAIN of black) Was pink. I was a goth/punk (a real bizarre blend of the two!) Who wore floor length black handmade velvet skirts that my mum made for me, had black hair (or pink!!) and piercings, with the occasional hint of pink thrown in.
I really don't know what prompted that era of my life, sitting in my room writing random poetry on the walls, listening to Pearl Jam... anyway... "blog tangent" - back to the topic, yeah, so, pink and black, hey, it works for me! I love the shaped papers in their new releases...

MMMMMM I want so bad to scrap some of my wedding photos with this next range, yum!

This range look really cute - really handpainty and doodley.. but I don't know how usable it will be, it will be a bit like the old stuff Elsie Flannigan brought out - cute to look at, but not so easy to scrap with, do you know what I mean? But the colour scheme is very cool, I love scrapping these tones, I've never been a Cream and Lace kinda scrapper, I admire peoples collage style work, but its a style that I have never been drawn too.

(Images taken from Christine Middlecamp's blog- who is awesome by the way)

This week has been a bit odd = It didn't start well and so far it is showing general signs of sucking big time. I woke up on Monday morning around 2am in excruciating pain, I got up and sat down, lay down, cried, and eventually went to A&E at our local hospital to find out I had a ruptured Ovarian cyst. Man, I know how common these are, so if you have ever had one, I sympathise with the pain! Literally on par with child birth!!
So, I have taken it easy for the last couple of days. I am working on a few cute projects which are keeping me busy, which is good for the soul.
Anyway - I don't really have much else to say of interest today - I hope you are well and happy in blog land, as always, thank for stopping by :-D
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Sunday Blogging

I have had a verrrrrrry lazy day.. my sister and niece popped in this morning, and Finlay showed his cousin just how much he loved her by hardly putting her down the entire time she was here. He has recently developed a very huggy personality, wanting to kiss and cuddle at every opportunity. Its beautiful to watch, and indeed be at the receiving end of.

Then, literally we just sat watching Disney TV till Ben got off work.
Chocolate flap jack was made and devoured.
It's been a real "home day" - and I love it.
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In scrapping news,I have been recently falling in love with Cosmo Cricket. Seriously, these guys NEVER get it wrong. The new ranges for CHA Summer 09 are rocking my world, and I cannot waits to get me some! I considered ordering from the US, but they should start appearing in UK stores at the start of August all being well. Cosmo as far as I am concerned are fantastic, not only at getting new releases out on time, but their blog is often laugh out loud funny as well as heart warming.
AND their B-sides are often as cute *if not cuter* than their A- sides!
anyway - enough "Cosmo will you marry me" talk... if you haven't already seen, swoon here:

And then have a biscuit to get your sugar levels back up...
I made these shortbread buttons the other day - they were so cute and yum, and reminded me of American Crafts. In fact - thats given me a cool idea for a layout... mmmm.. yay!
I was lucky enough the other day, to be given *for free from freecycle* This sewing machine!
I love it - Its the same make machine my mum had (and still has) from when I was little. So I know how to use it and it feels so familiar, I hope to make some pretty things on it.... I feel really
lucky to have had such good freecycle finds.. some people have had horrific experiences with Freecycle, I have had nothing but good, apart from a rug someone was too lazy to take to the tip!
We accepted it, and when we got it home and unrolled it, it was smelly and stained and I freaked out and made Ben drive it to landfill straight away! Some people are just naughty and lazy.
Anyway - sorry about the photo, it was done at dusk on a mobile.

Well.. that's pretty much all I have to say about that...
I will leave you with an awesome Video from LISA HANNIGAN.
I love this song and the video is amazing...

That Friday feeling.

I am really loving the idea of learning to sew better. I love what I have been seeing recently with people making their own summer dresses, kids clothes, and cute-beyond-words quilts! I have managed to book myself a couple of beginners lessons starting the 27th (Patchworking) and I am seriously foreseeing a fabric addiction. I LOVE what these two designers have made... Amy Butler fabric is obviously very pretty, hence the reasons these work so well together...

How cute is that throw!? I could picture myself in a large sun-soaked bedroom, painted in delicate hues of white and green, lounging on a bed surrounded by this beauty!.. and then there is this one... which would serve its purpose in the sitting room maybe to snuggle under if it got chilly... or wrapped round my shoulders as I sit on my porch swing watching the sun go down.

Wow. The power of dreams! Instead no doubt I will make one, and Finlay will cover it in mashed up biscuit and it will become a crusty mess shoved in the corner of the sofa...

Still, it's nice to be creative... *insert sigh*
talking of fabric, I bought these little fat 1/4's today.. these will be my first mini project.. I would quite like to make a cushion cover for our sofa, or at least, get them sewn in a straight line! I have been confusing myself today with online tutorials.. I wish someone would start one with "Right,.. get some scissors..." instead of "start by making your normal 9 square sets".. um.. what now? Anyway.. no doubt it will all become clearer as my new love develops.

And this selection of 10x10 squares is winging its way to me as we speak! Its by a fabric house called MODA. And they are so cute it makes me weep. I love the fact that nearly everything I love is printed in one range!!! Craft (scissors) butterflies, flowers, tress and polka dots!
IMMENSE.
And the colours are gorgeous! When these arrive it will be a happy day in my household!

So, the last thing I have for you guys today, is more printing! I have fallen for the canvas paper well and truly. I love it. A LOT. I used a free butterfly font and covered a A4 sheet with various sizes and colours and printed onto the canvas paper.. and cut out. These will adorn many things of mine soon, maybe even a patchwork or two!! (oooooooo pretty!!!) But as they are canvas, imagine them blinged up with some seed beads and attached to you bag, or on a layout. Cute.
Right - I have been typing for longer than my wine slurred mind cares for. So I will bid you good night.. Oh one last thing, I saw Harry Potter last night - it was epic. I laughed, I cried and came out enriched and keeny Mckeen for the next one!!!!!

These things......

These are the things that surround me today.. Today is a good day, in the respect that I am going to see Mr H Potter & Co later! Whoop! So I have had to keep my mind busy otherwise I might go boom.
I have made some really cute Vinyl wall butterflies, by using a butterfly design, repeated over an A4 page, and running some sticky backed vinyl through the printer, so the butterflies are printed onto the paper side. Then cut out, and volia! Decorate various corners of your house, till your husband grabs your scissors and throws them to timbucktu.
(Sorry Ben!! - but really.. its sooooo pretty, embrace that!!!)

Also, these mini canvas pictures and easels. They came precovered with some sort of "nod to the rainforest" style photos, so using some inkject canvas paper, I soon sorted them out by printing 3"x3" pictures that I {heart} and recovering them. They are about 2.5 x 2.5" and sit on my scrapping desk. Finlay thinks they are "cute" - his new word {beam}

And the postman bought me cuttlebug joy today! The new stars folder! *swoon* This is so cool, I love it alot alot! And also distressed lines. Which... if used in part, will look like woodgrain. *awesome*

Blueberry Buns! Topped with vanilla icing and a blueberry for good measure!
I gotta say, these have worked out SOOOO well, and are ridiculously delicious. I used a basic 4oz 2gg recipe, but substitued one egg for a dash of good olive oil, (Jamie Oliver would be proud) and it worked a treat, the sponge was SOOO light and fluffy, the blueberrys melted into blueberry goo and most of all, Finlay loves them. And Ben does..... and me too....

The last thing that filled my morn, was Finlay's new bath toy. We have been having shocking times with Finlay and water, he recently developed a phobia of it, so we have been enduring screams and panic attacks at bath time. Well, today was a good day. Mum and Dad bought him this cool mechanical penguin slide, where the penguins are drawn up the ski slope and then pop down the slide into the water. I took Finlay into the bathroom, and let him *see* it.. he got so excited and actually tried to climb in the bath! He even let me sponge off his hair. Now... I know this might not seem like blog worthy news, but for my family who read this, it really is!!!!

Anyway - in 1 and 3/4 hours, I am off to the movies to see the potter in action! woooooooo!

I wish I could sew - I wish I could sit and nimbly knock up Finlay a little pair of dungers for the summer, or a little hat, or bag for me, (mmmm!) Or a dress, apron, curtains.. ENDLESS!
But I really don't know where to start - nore do I know where Ben has hidden my sewing machine! (loft of spiders??) I torture myself by looking at fabric online, Etsy is the worst.. Its sooooo pretty and would look soooooo nice just folded up in a little white canvas lined basket...
*sigh*
I promise myself, that one day I will allow myself to buy some, and also learn how to sew. I would LOVE to make a little quilt out of some of the non poo stained newborn baby gros of Finlay's, that would be so cute!
Anyway... reality calls my name....

Lazin' on a Sunday afternoon......

I scrapped yesterday - I have deadlines to meet, so I really REALLY should have done those first - but my parents gave me this picture yesterday, and I loved it so much that I had to scrap it, for his album. Its Finlay in his posh "Autograph" linen suit, which his Great Gran purchased for him as a gift this year. He wore it to my parents Ruby wedding anniversary party, which was back in April. I hadn't seen this photo before, my aunt and uncle gave it to mum and dad, who in turn gave to me. I love how much he looks like a "Mini Man" - I know that sounds strange.. but to me, his little creased up suit, make him look like he has just come home from a rough day at the office. I used YUMMY cosmo cricket and bazzill, and thickers and stitching. I spent about 2 hours on it, which is twice my usual time on a layout, but for some reason, it became a labour of love. One that I am really pleased with...

And then I was asked by Gran to make a card for her to give to her retiring daughter. I got another chance to play with the Cosmo, so I was happy. Its amazing how words can start to look wrong, the word RETIRED began to look alien to me, so much so I had to go spell check it!!
Anyway - these are the two crafty things I have for you today.. I hope you like!
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August Greetings kit from GoGo is my favourite greetings kit to date - the holey card stock and cute cupcake die-cuts go together really well - and look so sweet on the cards.
I embraced my corner rounder for this month - and have decided (for a little while) that I love round corners again. Its funny how your tastes go in cycles with scrapping, I was standing in a craft aisle yesterday, and was ever so slightly tempted by some paper flowers! But then I realised I do actually dislike paper flowers and that it was probably just the air conditioning or something, clouding my judgement.. so I hastily moved on!
So.. back to the topic in hand! August Greetings! - here are a few of my card designs.....

Other news from GOGO this month, which is exciting, is that from now on, if you are a subber, you will automatically be given the Hybrid PDF digital kit for free!!! Very cool. Here is a digi layout I did with the July Elements. They print well too, who doesn't love butterflies right?
And whats cooler, is that as part of GOGO's Birthday celebrations, the July Hybrid kit is free here!
IF you want to win prizes-a-plenty - then the current BIRTHDAY BASH challenge is a sketch challenge and can be seen HERE
It would be great to see you at GoGo if you want to take part!
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Thanks for stopping by!