And The Storage Hunt Continues...

Thanks both to Charlotte and Marja for the Copic storage ideas. I would LOVE the Color Cubbie shelves that Jennifer McGuire etc use...

(Photo copyright: Jennifer McGuire)

...but unfortunately they don't seem to be available in the UK as far as I can see (if someone knows otherwise, please leave me a comment). However these would be totally ideal for me. I could sort the markers by colour groups and they would not use up too much valuable desk space. So now I guess the hunt continues... Maybe there's something similar around here in the UK? Anyone knows please...?

I've been looking at IKEA and similar places but found nothing like these little shelevs so far...

Above is a layout which I have been meaning to scrap for a while. Photos are nearly 2 years old now - of my cousin getting married just before New Year's Eve in 2008. So pleased I have finally got these photos into my album :)

If you have any other great Copic Sketch storage ideas, please do let me know. Thanks!!! :)))

Help - Copic Sketch Storing Ideas?...

I need some help with good Copic Storage ideas... for the Copic Sketch markers. I'm not particularly keen on the official Copic Storage like the Wire Stand or the Plastic Boxes (Wire Stands would take up too much precious work surface for me and I don't really get on with the plastic ones).

I need something that is good to keep on my desk and doesn't take up too much work surface (as my desk is very small and my scrapping space is already competing with the laptop + printer).

At first I just created a cardboard box which I decorated with pretty papers. This kept being pushed out of shape by the weight of the pens... so eventually I had to give up on that idea...

Then I bought this proper box. Unfortunately I can't remember the brand. It's from a range that also has bags in the same fabric. Brown with white, baby blue and baby pink dots. You can see the look a bit on the right side of the photo above. I'm sure someone will know the name of the company...?

Anyway, this box has been great and I have liked it a lot. Even though I would have preferred something with dividers of some sort so I could keep all blues together, all greens together etc. The only problem I have is now that I have had about 15 markers lying by the side of it for months as they don't fit in it... and of course any new ones in the future would have the same problem. :(

So can someone help with a good Copic Sketch storage that:
* is not the official Copic storage (as it's not really what I need)
* works on a desk but doesn't take up too much workspace
* preferably has a few dividers/compartments so I can split the markers into colour groups

I'd be sooooo grateful for any advice/tips - THANK YOU!

Seaside...

These are photos I have been meaning to scrap for quite some time. Photos I got from Mum & Dad, which they took on a trip to Madeira two years ago.

In the handout for May Flaum's BPS (or, I should really say: BPC now!) class, there was one specific assignment that made me think of these photos immediately. To be honest, I can't really think of what it was now as there were no layouts about sea or Madeira indeed LOL!

Anyway, I'm really pleased as I now have these two photos scrapped and in my album (...well, when I take a moment to add my pile of layouts to an album that is... that can sometime take several months and the pile just grows and grows LOL!)

Saturday...

Hope you're all having a great Saturday! We're having a very cosy day here. :)

I've baked glutenfree breadrolls (plus a little loaf with the leftover dough), we've got some barbecue beef in the slowcooker for tonight (to go with the newly baked bread rolls) and I have bought a new fun game for my iPad a little while ago called Fiona's Flowers (I love Time Management games!)

Above is a layout which I made for May Flaum's "Adventure In Scrapbooking" class. I'm really enjoying this class still and I'm getting loads of layouts done. Makes me very happy! :)

Christmas...

And no, don't worry, I'm not going to go on about how Christmas is getting closer or closer, how many days it's left or indeed if anyone has already started organising or buying presents LOL! I'm talking about scrapping Christmas. Something that I love to do no matter what time of year it is :)

The layout above is another one which I have done for May Flaum's class. I love JUST using scraps and open packages of items while scrapping. Of course I need to use a full sheet (cutting it down to the size I need) for the background, but apart from that I don't allow myself to cut into a new sheet of paper, or open a new pack of embellishments for these class layouts. Such a great feeling! I've always been good with using scraps of patterned papers etc but this is cool.

I have done some digital CT work this morning and now I'm going to dig out some cardstock and get working on this class some more. Have a great day everyone! :)

Adventures In Scrapbooking...

I mentioned last week that I'm taking a BPS class at the moment which I'm enjoying a lot... It's by May Flaum and it's called "Adventures In Scrapbooking: Use Your Stash". I LOVE this class! And even though you can substitute stuff for most classes, this is specifically one which is "do NOT buy anything, use what you have" kind of class.

Like I said, most classes you can substitute things for anyway, but some might be based on some very special items that are more or less necessary. Like I would love to take Donna Downey's upcoming BPS class. But not only is it a quite pricey class, it also has a HUGE supply list (I think we must be talking hundreds of pounds to buy every single item listed) and a lot of those are special fabric/art-type supplies which are not easily substituted. So no matter how much I'd love to take that class, it's just a huge no no for me. :(

Anyway, back to this class by May Flaum. It's so cool. Dig out old supplies, keep them nearby, and mix with new. Finish things. Use up half sheets of stickers and opened packets of embellishments.

She also goes through some cool info on working out what you buy vs what you USE. I know this is kinda obvious, but if you don't sit down and really THINK about it, you might not pay attention to it. Like I love chipboard, but I really don't use naked chipboard. I'm a fast scrapper and to take time to cover/emboss or paint chipboard while scrapping - well it just doesn't happen for me. So buying naked chipboard (no matter how much I like it) is a bad thing for me as it won't get used. Then take something like flowers or journaling spots/stamps, that's something that I use a LOT, so that's a good purchase for me. :)

Like I said, a really cool class, which I'm enjoying a lot. It's been 2 weeks and I have done 9 layouts for it. Pretty cool, eh? I hope to start on week 3 maybe tomorrow... Got some digital CT work to deal with first...

Yay It's Friday...

I've had a nightmare of a morning with iTunes. For no reason whatsoever (no changed settings, no new version installed etc) my "Apps" folder in my "Library" was missing this morning. Shutting down and relaunching the program made no difference. Restarting the computer made no difference. The apps were there on the harddrive but not in iTunes. So I spent a few hours getting more and more frustrated, Googled and tried different things. I *think* I have got it sorted now (just hope it's still there tomorrow LOL!) but it's left me with a stupid headache LOL!

Above is a quick birthday card made for my brother's girlfriend. Using some Autumn Leaves stamps, Kraft cardstock and Copic markers.

Right I'm off to nurse my head and then maybe do some scrapping for a BPS class that I'm taking at the moment. But more on that another day...

The Perfect Catch...

Lliella Designs have done it again. A super cute kit! This time a fishing kit. I just LOOOOVE her cute animals. You can get the kit at 9th & Bloom where Allie is guest designer this month.

As soon as I saw this kit I knew what photos to use. A few years ago my sister and her boyfriend went fishing and my sister caught a really big fish. My dad took these photos when they returned home and sent them to me. I have been wanting to scrapbook them ever since :)

[Supplies used: Fishing Adventures - Lliella Designs, Torn Bits 3 - Creashens]

A Little Fun For The Gym...

I'm feeling absolutely rotten today. Woke up by an "eye attack" in the night. Sooooo painful! (My eye lid sticks to my eye/cornea and rips part of it off - it's far worse than you can ever describe in words). It kept me awake on and off and now I sit here with a terrible headache (due to lack of sleep I guess), and eye that hurts (and hurts even more every time I blink!), it tears and is very light sensitive. Took some pain killers but they haven't helped one bit...

But there is one thing that cheered me up a little when it arrived about an hour ago...

About a week ago Apple announced all the new iPods, inc the new iPod Shuffle. I have been looking at something to take to the gym and I thought this might be the perfect thing. And no I didn't order 5 like the pic above shows LOL! I ordered one. Guess which colour? Shouldn't be too hard! Answer is further down in the post. Anyway, it arrived with the postman a little while ago.

I could have taken my Nano or iPhone to the gym, but I couldn't think of a good place to keep it on me while there. And even though I'm a super careful person, I didn't want to risk them getting damaged. The Shuffle has that useful clip and it's so tiny that I can just clip it to my top. Also if feels a bit better not to have something too expensive, just in case. Don't get me wrong, "£40" is not what I would call cheap at all, but compared to all the other iPod versions it's definitely the best choice for this :)
And no prizes I'm afraid, as it wasn't really too hard to guess now was it, the colour I went for was of course green :) (Though I do love the look of the pink and blue ones too!)

Right, I'm off to take it easy and try to recover a bit so I can manage play with my Shuffle and to get some Playlists on it, hopefully tonight.

Autumn Joys...

Earlier in the week I got a very cute Autumn kit by Lliella Designs. It's been released this morning so you can get it at SSD now.

Cute, eh? I remembered about some photos I got from dad a while back, he'd taken some when my brother and his girlfriend cleared up their garden one autumn. Perfect to go with this kit I thought :)

I can't believe Big Brother is over. No more. It feels so strange. I'm really going to miss it and I kinda refuse to think that it will never return. Hoping that some other channel will take it over :)

Thanks for the book tips that was left on my other post by the way - I'm definitely going to check them out :)

Reading...

I have been asked several times about my favourite books, book tips and what I'm reading at the moment. So I thought this would be a good time to mention a few books. And maybe even get some book tips back? That would be great please! :)

First of all, onto some of my all time favourite book series...

The Earth Children series (currently 5 books) by Jean M Auel. I have read these several times. The first time I think was when I was about 15 years old (of course the later books in the series had not been released then). I have them in both English and Swedish and I'm thinking about re-reading them soon again - maybe on my Kindle :)

The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. This is so unlike me. I read how people raved about these books all over the internet a long time before I tried them. I don't normally like "weird" books... and by "weird" I mean anything supernatural, paranormal etc. However eventually I decided to give them a chance. I ordered the first book from Amazon. The same day I received it and started reading it, I ordered the second book. The day after that, I ordered book 3 and 4 LOL! I was hooked. And again, because it's one of my all time faves, I have bought these books both in English and Swedish and have read them all several times.

Now you probably think I'm crazy, buying all my books in two different languages. That's not quite the case. I have only done this on three occasions, which leads me onto another favourite series, and the 3rd occassion when this happened...

Harry Potter by J.K Rowling. Again I was unsure whether I would like this or not. So I didn't start reading until the first four books had been released. I managed to find the 4 book box set to the bargain price of £10 brand new. And that was it. I was hooked on the magical world of Harry Potter. :)

Swapping the subject to some current reading, early in the year I enjoyed reading the Alex Cross series by James Patterson. Very quick read books! Having read these, I was recommended another book series...

...and over the summer I have enjoyed the 14 book series about Jack Reacher by Lee Child. Great books and I can't wait for the next one to be released!

So I finished the Jack Reacher books and felt a bit lost. I had read a big book series by James Patterson and then another big book series by Lee Child. Now what? I asked for some book advice on a Kindle message board and got recommended a series similar to Twilight...

My Blood Approves by Amanda Hocking. I'm currently reading the 3rd book, called Flutter, on my Kindle and it's very Twilight-like. I have already bought the 4th book (so I have it ready as soon as I finish the 3rd LOL!) and I'm really excited about that. Will there be more books in the series? I have no idea. I guess when I get to the end of book 4 it might become obvious, or not, depending on how it ends.

So please, as I totally love reading, do share with me what you're reading at the moment? What are your all time fave books? That would be so great to hear - thank you! :)

Photo Book...

Back when we all had film cameras it was easy. There really wasn't a choice. When the film was full you took it (or sent it off) to a camera shop and had your film developed. Everyone had printed photos. Now we seem to be divided into two categories. The people who do have a lot of photos printed (inc us scrapbookers!) and the people who just leave their photos on the computer and have non or very few photos printed.

My parents kinda fit in the second category. They often view photos on the computers but very rarely have any printed. So for the last few years I have been putting my BIA (Bind-It-All machine) to good use doing something apart from scrap/minibooks...


I get a load of photos printed and then get to work with the double sided tape. It's a very simple thing to do... but despite it being simple it does take some time to do... and uses up a lot of DST! I went through a completely new roll of double sided tape and started on another LOL!

All photos are attached back to back. Then I make some covers using Bazzill cardstock and chipboard. I stamp and sign the back cover. The front is always the same on all photo books I make. Just different colours and different letter stickers. I always stick to the plain Bazzill cover with the circle going off to edges.


I use the BIA to bind it all together with a spiral (o-wire) and the book is done. A great little gift which I know my parents (and everyone else looking through them at their house) love a lot :)

My Kindle 3...

Right, now I have recovered a bit from my Kindle 3 arriving LOL! At first my case arrived in the morning. I was a little unsure about getting the lighted case... how it would work and if it really would worth it. Having said that, I'm really, really pleased with it - the light works fantastically well. Much, much better than I dared hoping!

...and I totally love the colour I went for. Green = me. No choice really. I mean, there were quite a few colours to choose from, but I never even considered anything but the green. Then again, if there's a colour choice for ANYTHING and green is available - that is what I will have :)

Anyway, fast forward a few hours until early afternoon and this box arrived with the post van:

Ooooh "pull to open" - I will indeed, thank you very much! Very excited!!

I love, love, love my Kindle 3! I was very unsure on whether to upgrade or not. I mean, let's face it, I really didn't *need* to. I guess it was more of a luxury thing to do so. But I'm so glad I did. The Kindle 2 was the best e-reader I have ever seen. And the Kindle 3 beats this!! Amazing! :)

The reading experience is even clearer and crisper than on the K2. And well... I just love it! :)

Right, I'm off to read ;)

BYOC Time...

It's BYOC (Build Your Own Collab) release time at the Lilypad again! And with all the new designers that seem to be joining constantly, the BYOC just seem to grow and grow every month! I especially love all the greens (no surprise there!) and blues in this month's kits. :)

I was hoping to get two layouts done yesterday but I SO ran out of time that it was completely impossible. This is what I ended up doing using just a few of the BYOC kits:

[Supplies used: Snippets Alpha - Kate Hadfield, Funky School Papers - Amber Clegg, Our Time Templates - Amy Martin, Story Starters - CD Muckosky, Pumpkin Waffles - Gina Miller, Spray Dots Mats - Jenna Desai, Stamp It - Designs By Lili, Flowery Bitz - Neenee Designs, (all from the Lilypad)]

As usual I have had a hard time (and it seems to get harder and harder each time as there are more kits in the release) trying to pick my three favourites. But here we go, in no particular order...

I love flower kits! I guess they are just a very useful type of embellishment, especially if you have a page without any specific "theme" - flowers work with everything. Even male pages I think - as long as you do it right - even though I know some would disagree LOL!

Notebook papers. Some of my favourite papers! I'm not really sure why. I'm just seriously drawn to notebook and kraft style cardstock and papers when I have a choice :)

...and finally this template pack. The style is so "me" that I just knew I had to work with them as soon as I saw them. "Me-style" templates just make me so happy :)

*Sigh*... Phew!...

I've got so much to do to do today. Like way, waaay too much and I feel totally overwhelmed. I wanted to do a proper blog post today but I'm just going to have to work on my todo list instead... so this is just a very short post to add the birthday card I made the other day (at least I managed to get it photographed this morning!)...

It's Swedish (Grattis = Congratulations) for my mum. It's her birthday next week :)

Okay, gotta go...! *deep breath*

My Kindle Is Here!...

Yay - I'm sooooo excited! :))))

Normal service will resume when I can stop playing with it LOL...