I'm Back...

It might not have seem so on my blog, but we've been away on holiday and just got back. We had a great time driving to Sweden and back (plus staying there for 2 weeks) through mainland Europe. England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Denmark and finally Sweden. And then back again. We worked out we'd been to 5 countries in one day - pretty cool! :)

4 days of driving is kinda tiring...so we're just trying to "recover" a bit now LOL! But it was a really, really great trip.

I have millions of CT assignments (well, maybe not quite LOL!) to catch up on so I better get some work done but hope to (have the energy to) be back tomorrow again :) See you later :)

Finally...

Ever since I got my iPod Touch back in December I have been on the look out for a case for it. It's kinda been a choice between colourful silicone sleeves or quite "boring" plain black leather type cases. I bought some really cheap silicone ones just to keep it protected for the time being but I have been on the lookout for a nice case ever since...

6 months went and still nothing that I really liked...

Then imagine my surprise when I run in to the perfect one by pure chance. Stopping off to do some shopping on the way down to Dover to take the ferry. And I find this...

The first picture shows the colour best I think. It's like a muted wine colour. Really pretty. Suede with stitched details. And I totally love the design. Makes me think of Rhonna Farrer's designs etc.

They only had one and it was reduced in price from £23 to £10. It was kinda meant to be. I spent some time trying to decide whether to buy it or not, but now I'm so pleased that I did :) Sometimes it's really worth waiting for that "perfect" thing rather than making do with something "okay"... :)

Another "Find"...

When I backed up my hard drive last week I came across a folder with some older layouts that I totally forgot to put on the blog. Most had indeed been put on a the blog, but a few hadn't and this is one of them...

I don't know when I made the layout... I do date them on the back but it's in an album by now and I really can't be bothered to go and hunt for it to be honest...but I'm guessing it's at least a year ago since I made it.

The photo is one my sister sent to me of her and her boyfriend getting ready to go to a wedding. I think it's a really nice photo and also quite special as she was pregnant with my niece when this was taken :)

Bookmarks...

A few weeks ago I was talking about my love for reading, which I have always had, and also my love for making bookmarks. Can you ever have too many bookmarks? Well, I guess you can :) But when you make them yourself it's just fun to swap about and use different ones etc.

[Supplies: Happy Camper - Dani Mogstad, MandaBean, Print It! - Darcy Baldwin (font) (both from SSD)]

The quote was one I found on the internet a long time ago and made a note of as I really liked it (and I really can't stand houses with very few or very small windows LOL!) So, sorry, but I have no idea where it's from or who said it.

Safari...

I love going to zoos and safari parks. Always have done. And this summer we have been to quite a few of them...in England, Germany and Denmark. My favourite? Hrm...tricky! Probably one of the ones abroad as it seems a bit more "special" then. :)

We're also planning to return to both Knowsley safari park and West Midlands safari park sometime this autumn. Can't wait :)

We've taken so many wild animal photos this year that I'm not even going to attempt counting them ...but we're easily talking high four figures. But I am definitely going to try to scrap a few of them. I'm particularly partial to big cats so I can see a lot of those layout coming up in the future :)

"When" 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:
Sassafras – Take A Chance
Sassafras – Love Letters
Sassafras – Say Timber
Sassafras – In Love
Sassafras chipboard stickers, Fur & Fabric Pal Around #25007
Sassafras chipboard stickers, Fawnd Of You #21127
Bazzill Kraft Cardstock
American Crafts – Thickers – Green, Prancer #42812
Corner Rounder

Also needed:
Glue (I use Herma removable)
Black journaling pen (Zig Millennium)
Charcoal Chalk Inkpad (optional)
Cuttlebug + “Tiny Bubbles” embossing folder (optional)

Start by cutting your Bazzill cardstock to size. 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. 8.5x11 or 12x12 would work great for this too.

Pick your photos. I have 3 photos at 10x6 cm (15x10 cm landscape photos that I have cut down to the required size).

Get the “Say Timber” paper and cut out the two tree trunks as indicated on the photo below.

Hand cut (they do NOT need to be perfect…and shouldn’t be) two ovals for the trees. One from the “Love Letters” paper and one from the “Take A Chance” paper. Ink the edges if you wish and emboss using your Cuttlebug.

You should now have these pieces to create your trees with.

Cut a piece from the “In Love” paper. The same size as your photos. 10x6 cm. Now decide in which order you want the photos and lay those out together with your journaling piece of paper on your desk so they form a rectangle. Use your corner rounder on the corners shown in the photo below.

…and then attach these parts to your layout.

Add your trees at the right side of your photo arrangement, letting one tree go over the edge of the layout (cut off any part that hangs over).

Write your journaling. Draw the outline around your photo arrangement. Two hand drawn lines that are meant to be closer together and further apart in different places. Go for a really lose hand drawn look.

Get your chipboard and cardstock stickers and create a little collage in the bottom left corner.

…and your layout is finished!

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

Make Someone Smile...

Isn't it nice when you can make someone smile for no other reason than "just because"? :)

Take today and make someone smile. Just a little unexpected note to someone or a pretty card with a few words "just because"...

[Supplies: Easy, Breezy, Beautiful - MandaBean, Libby Weifenbach (available at SSD)]

This is a typical "just because" card. And who will not be happy to get an unexpected card? Not just one because it's your birthday or because it's Christmas. These are my most favourite type of cards and I think we all send them far too rarely. And yes, yes I know, of course, it all takes time and thought etc. Therefore it's so extra nice when we DO take the time and we DO show someone we care and are thinking of them :)

Back-Up Your Hard Drive...

When did you last back up your hard drive and, most importantly, your digital photos? I'm just doing mine as I type this. It's one of those things that are so easy to forget. Or to think "oh I'll do it tomorrow"... tomorrow comes and you think "oh I'll do it tomorrow". Right? Don't let it become too late - that's just a situation none of us wants to face.

So please, join me right now and back up your precious photos. Take 5 minutes and set that back-up going. Really, it's so worth it. Tomorrow might be too late!

...also you never know what you find once you start backing up. I was going through a folder on my hard drive with layouts in it and came across this one, which I must have made well over a year ago and which never made the blog for some reason.

SSD Assignments...Or Rather Not...

I have been really busy working on my SSD assignments the last few weeks. These all have to be hybrid as I'm on the hybrid part of their Creative Team. But above the required hybrid assignments I'm of course free to do whatever I want. So occasionally, when I find some extra time and have finished my required projects for the month, I find myself grabbing a kit and playing around with some digital scrapping.

This layout is such an example. A cute kit and a template that I couldn't resist, some photos sent to me from my niece's birthday...and I took some time out to play around a bit :)

[Supplies: Party Poppin' Fun - Lliella Designs, Inspired By Kellie - Bree Clarkson (both from SSD)]

Boy-ish Card...

Remember a few days ago when I was talking about liking the thought of having a few greeting cards spare ...for whenever you need them? Well this is another such card. Made with no-one particular in mind.

Firstly I spotted this cute dinosaur kit by Mindy Terasawa a few weeks ago. I really liked it but I was kinda like ...scrapping dinosaurs?! Not really something you do every day. So my thoughts then went to a general, probably boy-ish, birthday card and this is what I came up with:

[Supplies: Stomp - Mindy Terasawa, Stomp Stickers - Mindy Terasawa (Designer Digitals), Party Pop - Melissa Bennett (SSD)]