Story time

Danielle has written a lovely story all about rabbits - she did it all by herself with help from me to spell just a couple of the words (cuddly and holes). Enid Blyton had better watch out lol. (And she can aready draw better than me - not hard mind you - I love how she did the rabbit's ears and the carrot)



And I'm sure this one by Charlie needs no explanation - it's Ben 10 turning into an alien of course. It's funny how all of a sudden kids seem to take a great leap - about 2 months ago, Charlie couldn't draw anything that looked remotely like anything (iyswim) and it doesn't seem long ago since Danielle's drawings looked exactly like Charlie's.

Design Collective news

As of 31st March, the Design Collective will be closing its doors. *sob*

The last year has been absolutely brilliant, although very hard work at times, and I've had a lot of laughs. We have a fantastic bunch of regular subbers and I have loved getting to know them. We've been bombarding them with classes for the last 12 months, so many that they couldn't keep up lol, so I'm hoping that we still see the classes being used for many months to come.

I would like to say a huge thank you to everybody who put faith in us and supported us. I'm going to take a break from "scrapping on demand" and will be doing it all 'just for me' for a little while.

I'm going to share a few pics of some of my most favourite projects from the last year (my classes try to focus on design rather than techniques, so the pictures alone do not really give anything away about the classes themselves). Without the Design Collective, half of these would almost certainly never have been created so, in a roundabout way I have our subscribers to thank for helping to fill up my albums too.

Pink Paislee yumminess.....

....... Sarah's Cards already have the Pink Paislee Office Lingo in stock, so I splashed out and bought me some. It is absolutely gorgeous in real life I'm happy to say, and I decided it was too good to hide away in my album, so I made this for my wall instead. (Apologies for the glare on the pic - it's too sunny today - there's no winning eh?)

It started life as a leftover piece of mdf - size is approx 9x9. I painted the edges using some Tim Holtz Crackle Paint, but the colour didn't go with the pink, so I splodged some pink paint over the top, wiping away the excess before it dried so that it still showed all the cracks.

The photo was mounted onto some scrap chipboard, as was the Scenic Route Loveland circle sticker.

I also used some Magic Mesh (inspired by this blog, to use old products, which can only be a good thing right?) - I layered it over my chipboard photo corner & also on the 7 Gypsies flower stamp (top right of photo) plus a thin strip underneath my photo. I went for the subtle approach when using it because I'm still not sure I really like it lol, but I think it's ok in small doses. It's strange stuff because it doesn't feel very sticky to the touch and I was worried I was going to wake up this morning and find it had all peeled off but it's still there!

This is me.....

...... all made out of beads. Danielle made it for me and I think the likeness is uncanny; I had to take a photo because Danielle (ever the neat freak) wanted to hurry up and put all the beads away in case she lost any (or more likely, in case Max ate them lol).



Danielle had her appointment with the consultant on Thursday, to check her eyes. She had to have drops (cue lots of screaming) but got 2 lollipops to make up for it. I think she scared the wits out of the poor boy who had to go in after her though, because he ran off up the corridor when they called his name lol. We were in there for a very long 2 hours all in all and the room was so hot my eyes were completely dried out by the time we left, so I don't know what poor Danielle's eyes must have felt like. Anyhow, all is fine and the hospital is happy to let our optician manage the squint from now on.

Have a good weekend; it's a lovely sunny day today so I'm going to sunbathe.......

Happy birthday Charlie

My baby was 4 yesterday, I haven't a clue where the time's gone. He's all grown up now and every conversation revolves around Spiderman and Power Rangers! Last night we went to Harvester for dinner because that's what Charlie chose, although he said before we went that he wasn't planning to eat dinner, he just wanted the ice cream lol. But, we went and he actually ate lots of pasta, then chose jelly over ice cream, so go figure.

Puddy Tat

Just a very quick post because I'm supposed to be doing food shopping online instead!!

Friday's bargain buy....

.... (just for Gertie) is something that will keep the kids quiet for hours. Apply generously to mouth area!



Just kidding, although I've been tempted at times this week.

Danielle had an appointment at the hospital this morning with the orthoptist. The lady was lovely, there was no queueing and (best of all) no eye drops needed. Phew! She carried out quite a few tests and confirmed what the optician had already told us. The squint is very sight and her glasses give her perfect vision, so she is happy for Danielle to be managed by the optician. We need to see the consultant next week, who will confirm that she has the right prescrption lenses and, if all is well, no more hospital. The orthoptist advised that we also get Charlie checked just as a precaution, and said that if there were any problems getting him tested because of his age (or more likely his stubbornness -sp?) that we can ask to be referred to the hospital for the test, whch is nice to know.



Oooh, and I managed two LO's last night, both for next month's DC class. Go me! Btw, Paula, you asked where I keep the photo blocks - at the moment they're on a shelf in front of all my cropper hoppers till I find somewhere safe, away from the kids' mucky fingers!

Tuesday's Bargain Buy.......

...... animal masks and ears from Ikea - 50p per set. Danielle can't wear the mask for long because it doesn't fit over her glasses but those ears only came off her head at bedtime last night and were back on this morning as soon as she woke up. Charlie prefers to wear the mask like a hat instead of over his eyes pmsl.

Friday's bargain buy....

..... was this lovely set of blocks from Tesco for the grand sum of £1 from those bins they seem to have at the end of the aisles (most of them full of tat, but these little babies just jumped out and said "Buy me"). To give you an idea of size, each square is approx 1.75 inches wide.



I sanded them first (the pictures were quite shiny but came off really easily) and then mod podged paper and photos on. In hindsight, maybe I should have chosen a pic of the 3 of them that didn't involve cutting Casey's head in half lol. I finished off with some BG rub ons (postmarks and such like) that I've had for yonks and have never used plus some Heidi Swapp fuzzy rub ons. The papers are all scraps and I was a very brave little girl and even managed to mix up ranges and manufacturers. Off the top of my head, I think I used:
BG Lollipop Shoppe;
SR Brighton, Metropolis, Laurel & Charlotte;
MME Kaleidoscope (I'm not sure which line it was from but it was something very bright and a bit flowery lol).






I think they're looking good but Charlie says he prefers the originals!! Have a good weekend. :)

Btw, Maria, I have to tell you that your blog doesn't like me any more - I've been trying to leave a comment for days now. *sulk*

Doing it digi style

I've finally got myself started on digi scrapping. I had a bash ages ago, but couldn't even figure out how to get the papers onto my blank canvas, doh! I've used page templates for now, just so that I can get the hang of things quickly - I give up very easily if I can't get things right.



Template ~ Designer Digital
Papers & grunge border ~ Aja Abney & 2 Peas Future Rock Star kit by Chris Ford



Template ~ Heather Ann Designs
Papers ~ Kellie Mize, Designer Digitals
Quote ~ Katie Pertiet, Designer Digitals
Swirly Overlay ~ by Kim Liddiard from dsp
Blue swirl ~ Aja Abney



I also did a paper version using the pics of Charlie. I saw the quote on a t-shirt a long while ago and thought it suited the pics. (Please imagine a thin border of Kraft cardstock all the way round the edge of the LO - my scanner chopped it off, grrrrr!)

Products used:
SR pp;
GinX Seaver rub ons;
AC chipboard stars;
7 Gypsies stamp.

I also want to add a few pics of some of the cha releases I'm drooling over already:
Cosmo Cricket:







Heidi Swapp:



Prima:



And, I'm also loving everything by Pink Paislee. I gotta start saving me some pennies!!