7am/7pm layout...

Happy Monday... hope you week has started off well.  I wanted to start by saying a huge thankyou for all your love and comments on Instagram about this layout.  You have all be so kind and I really appreciate that you take the time to stop and leave a comment and some love.  I thought I would share the finished layout here and some extra photos.

My favourite scrapbooker/memory keeper, Ali Edwards (you could say I have a huge girl crush on her) has created story stamps and story kits, a monthly subscription based around a theme to get you thinking and recording more stories.  Not only do you get amazing stamps and a fabulous kit but there is an education element available as well.  For this layout I used the am/pm story stamp and kit. As part of the prompts Ali challenged us to pick a day and to take a photo at 7am and then again at 7pm and create a layout using the photos.  You can see Ali's layout here.

I kept the base of the layout pretty much the same as hers and then added a few of my own ideas.  Right now I am totally into stamped backgrounds so I stamped the top half of my cardstock with "morning" words and the bottom half with "evening" words.  I used black ink but for some of the words and for others I "stamped off" the image first onto a scrap piece of paper and then onto my cardstock to give a lighter stamped image.

Next up I created pockets so that I could add  my journaling about each of the photos.  I stamped the top of each tag with "the story of this morning/evening" stamps and then I stamped the date.  I drew lines and then added my journaling.

Lastly I added some of the chipboard pieces from the story kit to finish off my layout.  I used a total of 12 stamps from the story stamp set, pretty good if I do say so myself.

 I didn't actually take the 7pm photo till 7.30 as that is when I walked in the door but it was close enough.  This is a story that I would never have documented but I am so glad I have.  These kits are bring back my mojo in a huge way and it is bringing back my passion for stamping... you have to love that.

Have a great week.
love me :-)

The invites are done...

My daughter is in her final year of High School this year and although it comes with lots of study and lots of stress it also comes with lots of fun things.  Her Year 12 Ball is now only weeks away and we are busy getting everything together.  The dress has arrived (we bought it online so there was alot of praying and crossing fingers that it would arrive ok) and it is stunning and hair and makeup are booked.

It is tradition that the ball attendees gather together prior to leaving for the ball to celebrate "Pre's" as they call it.  They gather, drink softdrinks (no alcohol allowed), have photos taken and then wait for their limousine to arrive to whisk them off to the ball.  Last  night I finished off their invites...

I was totally inspired by Stephanie Bryan and her sweet invitations she made using the "Open Book" frames from Maggie Holmes.  I couldn't get any of these frames so I used by cameo to cut out these cute Polaroid frames in chipboard and then I cut them out again in pattern paper.  I decided to do each one different as each of her friends are different and I thought it would be something fun.  I finished each one off with a gold banner (cut from glitter paper from Stampin Up) and a wood veneer letter (from studio calico) representing their first name.  I also wanted to keep the design simple as the invites were going to both males and females. I then attached a piece of white cardstock with basic info typed on the front and the rest of the details on the back, like address etc.

Thanks for stopping by and if you have any questions please ask, I really don't mind.

Love me :-)

One simple little pleasure...

 A week ago my husband left for a two week holiday to Holland to see family and to celebrate his Uncles 60th birthday.  Most of my friends wondered if I was alright with him going.  And the simple answer is yes.

Don't get me wrong I love my husband and we get on well but when he goes away I get a little excited.  Life has away of going on, not stopping or pausing for anything.  We rush around, to everything on our "To Do" lists or at least try to and at the end of the day we flop on the couch and wonder why we do it.  So when he goes away its like I am getting a little holiday as well.  Things slide down a notch, not so rigid and not so rushed.  Yes there is more take-out meals than normal and yes maybe I get a little slack on the "no electronics" rule but I get to do little things that I normally don't do...

I love reading in bed but it is something I never do.  My husband goes to bed very early night because he gets up very early so reading in bed is out.  On the day he flew out I showered early, got into my pj's and read.  I kept stopping every now and then just to look around, taking it in and simply enjoying this rare little pleasure. I know it may sound silly but this small little thing is such a delight for me.  

I am finding that I am going to bed earlier and earlier every night just so that I can lay there, enjoy the quiet and read, catch up on my online classes, check out instagram, read my new mags, read my favourite blogs and write in my notebooks.  

This one little pleasure... simply magic!

Have a great weekend.

love me :-)

Trail ride...

Happy Sunday, hope you are doing something wonderful!

in amongst all the usual housework/washing/ironing stuff I am finishing up some layouts.  Some of you may know that I have signed up over at Big Picture Classes (I was a member of the original site) and have already taken a few of the classes.  This layout is from one of those classes "Like" and it is being taught by April Foster. 

I have made a promise to myself this year to use my stamps more (instead of just collecting them, favourite habit of mine) so this class was a good choice.  The stamp that was used in the class was available but I wanted to try and use one of my own instead.  It took me ages to find a stamp that was going to work and I will be honest I almost gave up.  I went right back into the archives of my craft room and searched through my Ali Edwards stamps from Technique Tuesday. This stamp set is still available, just follow the link for Technique Tuesday.  I picked out the "Life right now" stamp set which I got back in June 2012 and had never been used.  

The technique we used was to fill the stamped image with watercolour paints. I don't own any water colour paints but wondered if using a water brush and a stamp pad would work the same.  I used a stamp pad from Stampin Up! These stamp pads are great because if you push the lid of the pad down while closed you end up with ink on the inside of the lid.  You then use your brush to paint in onto your project.  It worked great and I was please how it came out.

I have another layout that I am almost finished which uses another stamp from this set.  Its a layout from the same class but teaches another technique.  I am really enjoying finding new ways to use my stamps. Actually I am enjoying using my stamps.

Thanks for stopping by, if you have any questions please feel free to leave your questions in the comments section.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Love me :-)

Its time for a change...

Its been on my mind for such a long time...

to start a new blog.

I love my old blog but its just that, old, and well I felt like I needed to change things up a bit and try something new.  My style has changed a lot since I started blogging back in 2008 (OMG! that long ago) so I wanted a blog that was more my style.  After several attempts at designing a new blog (IT stuff is definately not my strong point) I threw my hands up in the air and decided to get professional help.  I chose a template from Wonder Forest and I love it.  Getting it set up was easy (okay maybe one part I had to get my daughter in to help), and well here I am blogging.

I have a passion for documenting my families stories but I also have a passion for food, photography, lists and definately coffee.  This is where I will share my adventures, both good and the not so good.  My main camera that I use is my iPhone.  Its with me all the time (and I mean all the time) and I find it makes documenting our stories easy, simple and fun.  All the photos that I share here will be with my iPhone, but if I get the urge to take the "big camera" I will let you know.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you will visit again soon.

Love me:-)