A Good Day...

[Supplies: Hippity Hoppity - Kate Hadfield, Tall & Skinny Alpha - Kate Hadfield, Painted Pretties - Kate Hadfield, First Love - Anne deJong (all from The Lilypad)]

I'm in a happy mood as we're off to a safari park today. I totally love safari parks :) We've got about 2 hours drive to get there so we're setting off early, aiming to be there for when they open at 10 if we can. We prepared a picnic last night, put bottles of drink to be chilled, freezer blocks in the freezer and charged camera batteries like mad. Picnic blanket is already in the car and we're ready :)

No doubt will we be coming back with a million photos, as usual, but that can only be good. Lots of memories to look back on and lots of pictures to scrap. The weather looks to be amazing too! :) Whatever you decide to do, I hope you all have a great Sunday and please share your plans if you have a minute - I'd love to hear them. :)

Sunny, Sunny, Sunny...

Yay the weather is great here today and it looks like it will stay like this at least for the next few days. :)

We have just been out hunting for coal for the BBQ and it took 4 (!) supermarkets before we found one that had any left. And we left the house before 10 this morning so it was not like it was even late in the day. I think everyone is having a BBQ today...trolleys filled up with burger buns, meat and sausages everywhere. We're having our first one tomorrow :) Got s super cute little green bucket BBQ today that we'll try.

Anyway before I'm going out in the garden to enjoy some of the sun, I wanted to show you this layout from yesterday. It's using a new collab kit by Kate Hadfield from the Lilypad:

[Supplies: Backyard Bliss - Kate Hadfield, Gina Miller, Rachel Young (the Lilypad), All Stitched Up - Zoe Pearn (SSD)]

ECWAL...

Everyone Can Write A Little...such a great class. I'm really enjoying it. :) Woke up again this morning feeling pretty yucky. So I thought, okay let's try and take it a bit easy. You know, when you don't feel great and don't want to do anything? Well, it didn't make me feel any better. Sometimes I think I'm incapable of doing "nothing" or even relaxing... So I took the other approach: do something that makes you happy, no matter how hard it seems to actually start it.

...and having hunted out some matching cardstock for my ECWAL album, sorted through some Tweets and got the start of some pages printed, I feel a lot better. :) Not physically (my throat still feels like yuck and my nose like a cold is imminent) but it's made me feel happier and in a better mood despite feeling a bit under the weather. Isn't it great how some pretty colours & papers can make you feel? :)

Wednesday...

...well sometimes it's just difficult coming up with titles for blog post. Especially on a dark and rainy Wednesday. I can't believe how cold it is today here! Brrr! It's the end of May! I wonder if someone forgot to tell the sky. Seriously, I'm freezing.

Though maybe it's partially me as I did wake up this morning feeling like I'm coming down with something. Hot all over, head and throat do not feel great, nose a bit sniffley. And now I'm so cold. All I'm hoping is that it's one of those days when you feel like this and then wake up the next day and you're fine. That's my plan :) ...and the weather is going to turn warmer again tomorrow. Weekend has been promised to be nice so I can't wait :)

[Supplies: Panda Zen - Lliella Designs (SSD)]

This is a card which I made as part of my Sweet Shoppe Designs Creative Team work. This month brought 2 new designers to SSD, one of them being Lliella Designs...who seems to make the perfect kits for hybrid cards :)

Some Things To Stroke...

I feel very smiley as I got some new lovely stash to stroke. First up some Doodlebug. Now Doodlebug is not actually a brand I really buy. I have my Doodlebug craft knife and some of those Paper Frills (you know, from about 2 years back) which I love but I've never really been into their papers etc. Not really sure why. But this release? So much yummy colours and cute papers that I just couldn't resist.

Also some new October Afternoon - which is one of my all time fave paper manufacturers - which I have been waiting for.... what seems like ages for. I picked a few of my favourite papers from the two collections plus decided to stock up on the journaling stickers as it's something I used a LOT :)

Then some little bits and pieces. Some Doodlebug brads which matches the collections in the first photo. Some Sassafras chipboard and flowers plus a new Scrapbooks Etc special issue.

And finally my bargain...

My Minds Eye big chalk ink pads. I can't check the exact price because they sold out...but I ordered these from the US and I'm pretty sure they should have been about $19-20 each. I'm also pretty know I only paid $5-something each. A bit like "get 4 pay for 1"...so definitely a bargain.

Sunday...

Hoping the weather will stay pretty ok today so we can go out in the garden and sort that out. All the rain lately has made it impossible to get a chance to cut the lawn and it's really getting rather long at the back now. Fingers crossed we can get it done today :)

I had a play with some Sassafras goodies and created this layout. Photo is of my mum and niece. I really love the latest collections that Sassafras released. So many happy colours and patterns that really make you smile :)

The New Class...

I mentioned yesterday that I'd signed up for a new class. Actually I did this a long while back, when the class opened for registration, and I totally forgot to blog about it. I was showing a little pic of my work in progress yesterday but I guess it was not giving many clues...eh? The one piece that could have (the Kraft cardstock) was lying up-side-down in the photo (not done on purpose I promise)...so I guess it was a pretty hard thing to work out. But maybe this will give some more clues...

It's my covered American Crafts album for the new Big Picture Scrapbooking "Everyone Can Write A Little" class by Cathy Zielske. I'm really excited about this class as it's a bit different and takes scrapping to yet another level of journaling etc.

It started last week and next we're working on making a start on the pages for the album. Cathy used some Basic Grey to cover her album. I totally couldn't resist using this super cute Sassafras paper for mine (at the moment it's my all time fave sheet of paper from Sassafras). I really can't wait to make a start on the pages to go inside but that will have to wait for next week :)

A Little Peek...

First of all: Kimberley - thanks so much for the comment you just left about how to get your Twitter updates onto your Blogger blog. I will investigate the link you shared with me. Thank you :)

Today I'm super mega busy. My "to do" list is like two big pages long. Considering it's not even two o'clock in the afternoon I'm pretty pleased that I have got over half done already. But there are some pretty big jobs left to do so I doubt I'll get it all done today. Still, I can give it a good go :)

This is a little peek into something I'm working on today. I'll be back tomorrow to tell you more about it (and hopefully have a updated photo) and the great class that I have signed up for at the moment :)

Blogger Blogging...

Before I go any further I need a little Blogger help please :)

1. Anyone know how/if you can include some of your Twitter latest updates on your Blogger blog please? (Like Cathy Zielske has for example)

2. Anyone know how I can create another column on my blog please (again Cathy Zielske's blog happens to be a good example LOL!) Just like I have a column to the right with links, stats etc, I'd like to add one to the left with my Twitter updates. But I have no clue how to do this with Blogger LOL!

Please say that I can do these things and that you know how? Thanks in advance :)

Right, then it was the matter of paper scrapping. My layout from Monday afternoon which the weather didn't permit me to take a photo of yesterday. I managed to snap a quick shot of it this morning before it got all dark and rainy again. :)

Recipe Hunt, Graze and Scrapping...

At the weekend we had some yummy pre-made Moroccan chicken and halloumi kebabs. I figured it would be something that would be pretty easy to re-create yourself. Chicken and halloumi is on the shopping list, skewers are in the drawer and all I need now is a good recipe for a Moroccan spice mix/marinade. I'm off for a little search on the internet in a bit, but if you know of a good recipe...please, please post in the comment section. Thanks :)

Kim - you left a comment regarding the Graze code I posted last the week: " Ooh thanks Anso, just ordered my first box to be delivered on Thursday, can't wait to try it!" You're very welcome! I hope you enjoy it. :) I'm expecting my second box tomorrow and I really can't wait. For anyone who's interested, here's the message & code I posted last week:

******
www.graze.com ...I keep hearing very good reviews for it and have been tempted many times. I have just ordered my first box the other day to arrive today. Can't help but being a bit excited about it *smile* If anyone wants to try it, here's a code: VZFTZ7NE

it gives you the first box totally FREE and the second box half price. You can cancel whenever you want which is great. Nothing to lose really :) That's the offer I have tried.
******

I really enjoyed my scrapping yesterday. Got my layout finished in the afternoon. Though today the weather is so rubbish here (dark and rainy) that I better wait for another day and better weather (light!) before I try and take a photo of it. Instead I have this digital layout to show you which I made this morning:

[Supplies: Scrap Pad Mini Polly Love 1 - Amy Martin, Four Seasons - Jacque Larsen, Blues 'N Greens - Kate Hadfield, ketchbook Pages - Kate Hadfield, Fresh - Rachel Young, Fairy Garden Alphabets - Jacque Larsen, Rachel Young (all from The Lilypad)]

Okay I'm off to hunt for good recipes... :)

Scrapping...

This is what my desk is looking like right now. I'm paper scrapping! Yay! It's been a while since I had time to just sit down and do that. I'm enjoying it but at the same time I feel like I'm struggling after each part added to my layout. Too many things on my mind and too many things on my "to do" list, so I can't really enjoy the process like I would want to. Or maybe it's just one of those days :)

Let's see if I get something finished to show you tomorrow or not...

Bears...

We were out most of yesterday and by the time we came home was not far off time to watch Eurovision so I didn't manage any blog post for the day. We went to an outlet centre and I got some nice bargains. A great pair of Scholl sandals for the summer, 2 t-shirts and some nice perfume :)

Oh and we went to Nandos for lunch. Yum! Love Nandos even if I do find it a bit on the hot side. But why on earth do they have to make all their table sauces so extremely SALTY?!? Can't be healthy for you :(

Got another layout to show you. This one is a digital layout which I did for some new Friday releases at the Lilypad. I loved the new papers by Amy Wolff which have this cool crayon effect. Photo is from last weekend and Woburn Safari Park :)

[Supplies: Black And White Swirls - Anne deJong, First Love - Anne deJong, Scrap Pad Polly Love - Amy Martin, Pretty Poises #2 - Amy Wolff, Sketch Pad Papers - Amy Wolff, Swirly Waves - Jenna Desai, Four Seasons - Jacque Larsen, Animal Doodles Wild - Kate Hadfield, Tall & Skinny Alpha - Kate Hadfield, Sketchbook Pages - Kate Hadfield (all from The Lilypad)]

Grazing and Printing...

Totally love the Graze box that I got yesterday. Fresh pineapple (yum!), Japanese Rice Cracker Mix (so nice and really fun to try!) and some tasty BBQ almonds. Can't wait for my next box :) If you have no idea what I'm talking about, check out this post (if you're in the UK, you can get your first box free and second box half price with the code I posted, no obligation, so definitely worth a try!)

Now, Mikaela left me the following comment on Wednesday evening:
"Hi, great blog you have and lots of beautiful inspiration! I see that you use a lot of digital images and I wonder if you could help me with one thing. What settings do you use to print them out. I would like to try printing out digital images and then color them with promarker's. Do you know which settings and paper to use for that? Thanks"

Right, let's think about my process. First of all I would open a program of your choice (I use Photoshop Elements 6 at the moment). Create a new document that suits your printer. So if you're in Europe etc you would create a blank A4 document or in the US a Letter Size document. Open your chosen images (might be one or several in a kit) and drag them to arrange them how you like to have them on your document.

(A cute kit by Kay Miller which I have my eye on...)

Now to the printing. The settings you choose based on your PAPER. This is very important. I would recommend using the same brand paper as your printer. But of course you can experiment with some cheaper brands too. I have a Canon printer so I try to stick to Canon paper as much as I can. Then read on the packet for the exact name of your paper and choose this setting when you print. If you have gone for a "cheaper" brand then just use the appropriate "general setting" like "glossy photo paper", "matte photo paper" etc.

If I print something to use on a scrapbooking page, I would generally print onto good quality smooth white cardstock. For cards I would normally use a "matte photo paper"...though occasionally I do print onto smooth white card or "glossy photo paper".

Now you mention wanting to colour your images in with pens afterwards - this is a tricky area and I'm not 100% expert on this so I would advice you to do a little more investigation than just trusting what I say here LOL! But I do know that ink jet printer ink bleeds if you get it wet so that would obviously not be good for colouring in and accidentally touching the printed lines with your pen. I do believe that laser printers do not bleed, though maybe that's not the case for all of them. I'd do a little more research on this to be sure. Smooth cardstock or even watercolour paper might be nice to try and print on.

Hope this was of some help for you or anyone else out there wondering how to print out stuff from digital kits :)

Grazing...

Going slightly off my normal scrapping topic for today...

...but has anyone tried:

www.graze.com

...I keep hearing very good reviews for it and have been tempted many times. I have just ordered my first box the other day to arrive today. Can't help but being a bit excited about it *smile*

If anyone wants to try it, here's a code:

VZFTZ7NE

it gives you the first box totally FREE and the second box half price. You can cancel whenever you want which is great. Nothing to lose really :) That's the offer I have tried.

Mikaela - I got your message regarding digital supplies and printing etc and I will have a think about what to write and post about it very soon...probably even tomorrow.

Oxford & Cambridge...

Puh! Yesterday was one of those days when everything happened and there was time for nothing. In fact, today is one of those days too, I feel like I'm getting nowhere... but there's no way I'm not going to take a few minutes to sit down and blog :)

We spent a really nice long 4 day weekend down near Oxford and Cambridge this weekend. Yesterday was the first day back home and it's not really strange that there were a million things to do.

I think I possibly preferred Cambridge to Oxford. But then again the weather was totally gorgeous when we went walking around Cambridge so I'm sure I was a little influenced by that too.

It was really beautiful when we went down towards the river in Cambridge on Sunday afternoon to watch the special punts.

On the way back home we visited Spalding and discovered these really amazing animal "statues" completely made out of flowers. They had been made for a special show the week before but had been left in the park afterwards. Very special :)

There were loads more animals made into flowers and these are only a selection of the photos I took. The one above with the polar bear is made from the "Golden Compass" movie.

Will Be Back Tomorrow...

And It's Come To An End...

My album is full. The class is finished. The final layout has been added. And what a great, great class it was. What am I talking about? The "Design Your Life" class held by Cathy Zielske at Big Picture Scrapbooking from October to December 2008.

I was abroad during the last 3 weeks of the class and therefore had no access to my stash. This was something I knew and had planned for even before I registered for the class. I knew it was a class that I didn't want to miss and I also knew I would be disciplined enough to finish those last three weeks at a later stage.

It always feels a bit tough "being behind". It IS hard work. And of course the easy option is just to forget about it and never catch up. And this time I was pretty close to giving up. More than I normally would be. But I'm so glad I put the extra effort in and made those 10 or so final layouts as it's one of the best classes I have taken :)

"Our Yearly Summer Trip" Layout Class...

I designed this class as part of my on-line class work for A Trip Down Memory Lane. Please feel free to use these instructions to make your own layout. You are free to link to this page from any forum etc if you wish. Please do NOT copy this information and/or photos to use for your own classes/forums/webpages without permission.

Supplies needed:
Prima – Dude Collection – Super 2
Prima – Dude Collection - Funstuff
American Crafts – Thickers – Roller Rink, Black Glitter #42863
Autumn Leaves Stampology “Journal” stamps AL3189
Kaiser Scrapbook clear rhinetones
Making Memories “tiny alphas” black on white
Fiskars Threading Water punch
StazOn “Blazing Red” ink pad

Also needed:
Scraps of white cardstock
Glue (I use Herma removable)
Black journaling pen (Zig Millennium)
Charcoal Chalk Inkpad (optional)
Woodware 3” square punch (optional)

Start by cutting your “Funstuff” paper to size. We will be using the green side as the base for the layout. I scrap in true A4 size, so I cut mine to 29,7x21 centimetres (cm). Please feel free to adapt to another layout size if you prefer.

Cut a piece of the “Super 2” paper, measuring 21x23 cm.

Use your Fiskars punch on the two edges measuring 21 cm. Back the holes with white cardstock. Attach this to your background. Mine’s about 2 cm from the top of the layout.

You will need 8 black & white photos. I used my square Woodware punch to cut mine to size. If you don’t have one just cut them to 5,5 cm square. Back them with white cardstock (6x6 cm). Stamp your scalloped round stamp, in red, onto some scrap white card. Cut out. Write your journaling on this piece. Place the photos and your journaling as the photo below shows.

Time to create your title. Stamp another journaling stamp, in red ink, onto white cardstock and cut out. Pick one word from your title (something in the middle) and use the Thickers for this.

Grab your “tiny alphas” and make up the rest of your title. Add a little strip of paper and some rhinestones.

And your finished layout should look something like this…

I hope you enjoyed my class! Wishing you lots of fun creating your own version!

Another Layout...

I have got another layout to share with you today. And I'm actually continuing my "weird" thing from the other day about "Easter Without Easter" LOL! And it was totally, totally unintentional too. I just spotted another Easter kit which I found really cute. Yet I had no reason to make anything Easter related...

Seriously cute, eh? So I had to get my thinking cap on again as I really wanted to use this kit. Not Easter...but cute characters...so "baby" was my next thought. I spotted another kit by the same designer which would work well combined so I ended up making this layout of my little niece.

[Supplies: Inspired By Kris - Bree Clarkson, Big Font Pack 3 - Darcy Baldwin, Easter Fun - Lliella Designs, Li'l Miss Cartwheelie - Lliella Designs (all SSD)]

New On-Line Layout Class...

I have a new on-line layout class up at A Trip Down Memory Lane. It uses some fun Coredinations & Bazzill Dotted Swiss cardstock etc. As usual it's totally free to take or adapt in any way you like. Also this time I have supplied a sketch to go with it, so if you're into using sketches while scrapping this might be something for you :)

If you have a spare moment please take a look here. Thank you :)

Funny (Silly? Stupid?) Card...

As I spotted this wintery kit at SSD the other week I knew I wanted to make a card using the funky snowmen. But instead of doing the usual "Merry Christmas" or "Winter/Seasons Greetings" type card, I decided to go down the silly route and ended up with a "Frozen Friends" card! And yes, it might just be the very first "Frozen Friends" card in history LOL!

[Supplies: Frosted Flakes by Dani Mogstad (SSD)]

I'm not quite sure what made me come up with that title. Well I guess it was the wordart included in the kit...and paying around with those combinations, but still. So it's a bit silly, or stupid, or funny, or whatever... I don't really mind. :)

And talking about SSD, I have spotted this yummy kit over there with birthday cakes and cupcakes which is calling my name... See ya! :)

PS. I'm still on the look out for good Nintendo DS games. Any recommendations please? Esp puzzle type ones... :)

Easter Without Easter...

Strange title I know LOL! It's just that I fell in love with this Easter kit the other week. And now it's kinda not Easter anymore... So what to do? Use the Easter kit anyway without creating something specifically for Easter of course :)

The Easter kit in question which I couldn't resist was this kit by Mindy Terasawa:

...and when I found out that she'd also done a matching "stickers" kit full with cute little animals I was totally sold. I mean, who can resist this:

So anyway, I was on a mission of using this kit for something. Something that was not Easter related. I felt the bunny was maybe a bit too much "Easter" but then I spotted the little cute birds and immediately came up with a card idea:

[Supplies: Bunny Hop Hop Stickers - Mindy Terasawa, Bunny Hop Hop Kit - Mindy Terasawa, The Love Bandit -Mindy Terasawa (all from Designer Digitals)]

NSD Luck...

So I hope you all had a great {inter}National Scrapbooking Day weekend :) In fact we're really lucky here as it's still weekend here as this Monday is a holiday. Yay :) I didn't do any scrapping over the weekend but I did spend a little time at various forums entering some NSD competitions. And it seems like that time paid off as I was really lucky and won some gift coupons in a few places so that was a really happy surprise :)

I wanted to show you this layout which was also part of my work on catching up on the BPS class by Cathy Zielske. For this layout assignment she supplied us with this really cool box template for us to print and scrap straight onto. I really enjoyed this :)

NSD...

Happy {inter]National Scrapbooking Day!! :))

Yesterday I did a little spotlight on the Lilypad and the great kit that you get free with any purchase over $10 over the weekend.

Today I wanted to share with you another one of my favourite digital stores. Kay Miller Designs. If you like cute things and you've never visited Kay Miller Designs before you're in for a total treat. Seriously! Make sure you visit over the weekend as she's running a 30% off sale, store wide, at the moment :)

To pick my favourites from this store would be nearly impossible. The kits are perfect for hybrid scrapping and the colours and characters she uses are just so "me". This dino kit is a perfect example of happy colours and cute animals:

And of course I can never, ever resist some scrapping owls. It's just one of those things that I just need :)

How cute is this Halloween kit? Totally love it! I don't even really celebrate Halloween and it still makes me want to get busy making Halloween cards when I see this kit. Again, I totally love the happy colours :)

...and then we have Christmas. My favourite time of the year. I love the cosiness and all the twinkling light etc. Give me a Christmas kit any day and I'm totally sold.

So what are you doing here still? LOL! Don't miss that great 30% off sale! Head over to Kay Miller Designs and get yourself some cuteness now :)