Meet My New Gadget...

I had some birthday money left from my parents (yes from back in November LOL!) I didn't want to buy little bits (you know...a book here, a CD there etc). Instead I wanted to buy a "proper thing"...so I saved my birthday money until I could think of something fun to get. And yesterday afternoon was the day. Please meet my new gadget:

I have got a graphics tablet and I'm loving it! Honestly, I have no plans for what I will do with it at the moment (crazy?) but I just love sitting scribbling and drawing things for the fun of it. Yesterday evening we challenged ourselves by telling the other person to draw something. I'm sure you can imagine how much fun it turned out to be? We were laughing so much tears were running down our faces! Great fun!!

Happy Easter...

Wishing you all a Happy Easter weekend!!!

I'm sure some of you are thinking "isn't she one day ahead?" Maybe. I guess. It depends. We have decided to go with the Swedish Easter traditions (as far as you can call it Easter traditions as we're not religious and all we do is Easter eggs LOL!). The big Easter day in Sweden is the Easter Saturday (also known as Påskafton = Easter Eve). I know here in the UK it's Sunday that is the big day and the day for Easter eggs...

And talking about Easter eggs. They differ between Sweden and the UK too. In Sweden you typically have these cute cardboard eggs (with bunnies, chicks etc on them) filled with lots of yummy candy and chocolate:

...but in the UK all Easter eggs seem to be hollow chocolate eggs (see pic below). In fact the one below is the one waiting for me in the living room right now. And you know what? We're going by the Swedish Easter traditions. Which means: eggs on Saturday. Which means? I can have mine now!! Yum!!! LOL!

Inspiration Journal...

If you visited my blog yesterday you will have seen this post with a photo of my desk and work in progress. I promised to come and show you the finished project today. I have made an inspiration journal using some yummy Sassafras Lass papers and my Bind-It-All. The title is made up of American Crafts Thickers and I have also used some Doodlebug jewels.

The inside is just a mix of white and black cardstock pages. I thought it was cool to do a mixture of white and black pages (I included less of the black ones) in case I wanted to experiment with different pens/white pens etc. I'm basically going to use this as a fun journal to scribble down little cool design ideas as I see them in magazines, on the internet etc. I wanted to create a cover that makes me smile - and I succeeded :)

Excited...

Well the weather outside might leave a bit (!) to be desired today (it's dark, dull, cold and rainy!), but I'm happy. Tomorrow is the start of a 4 day long weekend and I can't wait!! We haven't got too much planned yet (waiting to see how the weather turns out LOL!) but I'm sure we'll go out some places if we can :)

I thought I'd share this photo:

It's my desk about 5 minutes ago. Something is in progress...but what? You'll just have to wait and see tomorrow when it's finished (sorry to tease LOL!)

Hoping that, wherever you are, you also have an extra long weekend to look forward to :)))

Not Liking Papers...

You know when you just don't like some scrapping papers - they are not *you*, you think you just can't scrap with them, or they don't inspire you? And then you get them in a kit and there's nothing you can do. Do you still scrap with them? I try to. To use them up. Most of the time I end up doing something that I'm not so keen on when it's finished. At other times I surprise myself.

Yesterday was one of those days. I have had these Cosmo Cricket papers for a while which just seemed soooo dull and boring. So I wanted to use up the papers and get them out of the way LOL! I decided to go a bit mad and totally cut up a paper and follow the shape of the pattern. The result? I'm pretty happy with it considering how much I disliked the papers to start with LOL! So what did I create? This:

Supplies: Cosmo Cricket papers, the frame is made with Bazzill cardstock & Uniball white pen, paper strip is from a Scenic Route paper, Autumn Leaves, October Afternoon and Sassafras Lass stamps plus American Crafts Thickers (of course!)

So why not pick up those "dreaded" papers you have and try to scrap something today? :)

Photo Fun...

I got this great magazine yesterday (and yes I know Creating Keepsakes have a tendency to call them "books" - but sorry, to me, they are definitely magazines LOL!)...

"Computer Tricks for Scrapbooking 2" by Jessica Sprague. I got the first issue (though this seems to have done a disappearing act on me and I'm going to start "part 2" of my hunt for it in a little while. "Part 1" too place this morning and gave no result. LOL!) when it was released and enjoyed it a lot. This issue I got yesterday in my parcel from the US. So I'm sitting here, flicking through, reading, trying out a few of the tutorials in Photoshop Elements etc. It's great!! I just wish it was 4 times as thick LOL! Not that it's specifically thin or anything, just that I'd love lots more similar tutorials.

Oh and I almost forgot: several of you asked me where I got the stash from that arrived yesterday. This parcel was from AMLT. But before you run off really excited ---> they sell out of stuff fast, like really fast, so I doubt much of what I had in my parcel are still in stock. Sorry to disappoint you about that. :(

A Big Parcel...

Just got a big parcel from the US which was sent last Wednesday (wow that was fast!) Lots of yummies that I have been waiting for so prepare to drool if you have similar stash taste to me...if not, at least prepare for a lot of photos LOL!

First some always-useful-stash:

Then some Sassafras Lass yummies... HOW 3D does that owl on the left look?!? I am seriously impressed with these papers and they look even better in reality!!

More Sassafras Lass. Again lots of happy colours and patterns. That deer is just too cute! Hope to use that paper on an album or notebook cover.

I love this clever idea that Sassafras Lass has come up with - to make the little strip at the bottom become a nice edged border for you to use (the back of the strip has the paper/company details just like usual). The perfect idea!!

Lots of little bits. Some cute Jenny Bowlin stuff for journaling. Some Cosmo Cricket "backboard" books. Check out that scalloped one!! H-O-W cool?! :) Making Memories journaling book - always useful and two Bingo cards. I love the look when people use bingo cards. But I also have a feeling it's something that will be trendy for a very short time (and then you'll be seriously fed up of them LOL!) - so I tried to be good and only bought two single ones :)

Some Dream Street papers. Loooove the colours of these. The things you can see to the left are little mini pages to create a minibook from. Cute!

More Dream Street. Very cute bird patterns & nice colours etc. I'm not 100% sure I'm so keen on them in reality as I was when I bought them on-line. Hard to explain. The patterns are a bit "boldly printed" and I guess I just expected a little more details maybe. Still - they make me smile :)

Some magazines - "Cards" is a very beautiful magazine and I can't wait to read part 2 of "Computer Tricks".

And finally some happy pastel Making Memories papers...

Out For A Walk...

Been out for a little walk to a place called East Riddleston Hall today - so I thought I would share some photos. Not the ideal weather for photography and I haven't had the chance to edit them at all, but still...

More Easter Stuff...

We're not religious at all - but I do *love* all the cute things about Easter...the eggs, chicks, bunnies etc :) Just makes me smile.

So of course we have to have some of those LOL!

I also wanted to show you this thing that I have made called Påskris. It's a Swedish Easter tradition.

You take some branches (normally Birch) which you put in a vase. Then you decorate it with special Easter feathers (they have a piece of metal thread near the bottom which you wind around the branches). You can also hang up little eggs etc. When you're in school you might make some Easter project with felt...chicks or bunnies etc to hang in your Påskris too. Hope this doesn't sound too mad! Anyway, for me it brings a bit of happiness and colour into the house so it's a nice thing to do for Easter I think :)

Cute Easter Boxes etc...

Yesterday I kept doing little projects with a big smile on my face. Why? Because Kate Hadfield has made this super cute pack with Easter toppers, pillow boxes etc which got released this morning. I couldn't resist the pillow boxes yesterday and I just have to show you how cute and easy to make they are...

First pick your items from the pack and print them out (I printed onto white smooth cardstock):

Then take your favourite scissors (mine are green - of course!! LOL!) and cut out:

Score on the lines, put a little glue on the flap and fold together in 2 seconds:

Yep that's how simple they are!! And then come with nice PDF instructions too. So cool! And if you need these, which I'm sure you do, just pop over to the LilyPad and get the Easter Treats package :)