Sweet Sixteen!

Happy 16th Birthday to my eldest!

Am I really old enough to have a 16 year old son!! Gosh the years really do fly by!!

Showing off just how much taller he is than his Gran now!!

And what does a 16 year old want for his birthday - why Alvin and the Chipmunks of course!! This was because he didn't get to go see it at the cinema when it was here. We have a small cinema here and it only shows films twice a month, so you really only get one chance to see a film. Well how was I supposed to know it would be a sell-out and we really should have bought tickets in advance!!!

Canvas

The last class that I did for the UKS cybercrop was this canvas one by Sharon Sim. First I painted the canvas with a few different colours, then stamped the flourishes using Distriss Inks. Paper used is Basic Grey Aged and Confused. The swirl at the top left was cut from Grungeboard using a diecut machine and then painted. The photo is of 'The dark hedges' in Ballymoney, Co Antrim, the trees are around 300 years old and form an ark over the road, they are supposedly haunted by a 'grey lady'.

Bit different!

This is another class from the weekends cybercrop - and it is a bit different for me! The class was by Angela Matheson, it was a hearts and kisses chipboard wreath from Tando Creative. I different Crate Paper to cover the hearts and kisses and then added flowers, ribbons and a bit of bling. This will look great hanging in my kitchen.

Classes

I managed to do a few of the classes over the weekend for the CC at UK Scrappers. This one was a class by Sarah Youde, the technique was to use stitching. The papers are My Minds Eye  Bloom & Grow. I have to admit that the stitching around the sides is not really stitching, just pen marks - so I didn't get full marks for this one! Photos are from our trip to Rome, my album is getting full!

This next class was by Beckie Dreyer. I had to adapt the class slightly to fit my frame, which was a slightly different size. This was my first time using glimmer mists! Still not too sure about them, they seemed to splodge and drip a lot. Anyone got any tips? Anyway I have a nice framed layout to hang on the wall for a change instead of just putting into an album.

It's a Mystery!

We all love a good mystery - don't we! We the cybercrop is no different. One of the fun challenges at every CC is the Mystery Kit challenge. Each team has a different kit from a different sponsor which you can buy and then create something with - but the catch is that obviously you do not know what is going to be in the kit and you are only allowed to add white or black card if you want! Well I was weak-willed this time and sent for one and here is what I made:

The paper is by American Crafts. I weaved the bit on the right hand side and covered the chipboard heart with the yellow ribbon. I had never seen the flowers before - they are sort of puffy and soft! The photo is of the arrangement I did for our Church's Flower Festival last August and represents Children and Young People. I still have masses of stuff leftover from the kit as well.

Monopoly Cybercrop

It's cybercrop time again - this time over at UK Scrappers. The theme this time is Monopoly and I am in the Ships team - so hopefully will get some scrapping done again this weekend.

I've been busy this week with a friend who came to visit. We went out for a great lunch on Tuesday, then for a shopping day on Wednesday. Yesterday was spent tidying and cleaning and today I am off to the gym!! 

Walk by the Sea

I am so lucky to be able to live near the sea and have some great beaches for walking along near by. This photo was taken last month when we all went for a walk (and then some tea and cake!). I really liked the way the boys were leaving their footprints in the sand behind them as they walked! This layout was for another of Shimelle's challenges - to do a layout about your neighbourhood. The paper is Basic Grey Oh Boy! I really like Basic Grey paper and have quite a collection of it.

More Cake!

We seem to like cake a lot in this family! This photo was taken on holiday in Yorkshire in 2007. We were staying in a lovely little village and we found a shop that did yummy homemade cakes. So after a walk through the park we thought we deserved a little treat - so we bought some to take home.

This LO was for another of Shimelle's challenges - challenge this time was to use 4 different patterned papers. I have also managed to use up some buttons!

Woodgrain

Another of Shimelle's challenges was to use a sketch and to try and use woodgrain in your LO somewhere. I really like using sketches, even if I change them slightly, it gives me a starting point. How do you feel about sketches? I have even managed to use woodgrain on my LO - the brown bit at the bottom with the white flowers is a bit of wood veneer from a pack of wood veneers for use in cardmaking that I got in a recent swap. The photo is from our holiday to Rome in April 2007. After taking lots of photos with just one of us in them, we were very brave and asked this couple next to us if they would take a photo of us - and then we took one of them!

What does a party need?

cakes of course!

Shimelle's first challenge was to do something with cupcakes - which are definately one of her favourite things. Would I do a LO - did not have any cupcake paper. The boys thought I should just bake some, they would decorate them, so they could have cakes for tea. So I did and here is a photo of them - and they taste delicious.

It has been such a warm and sunny day here that I could not stay in and scrapbook, I just had to get out. We went for a run and a walk along the beach - but forgort my camera - oops! Then went to the garden centre to get some seeds to plant for the garden - will definately remember to take photos of them once I plant them.

Hoping to get some scrapping done this evening as the rest of the challenges look good too. If you haven't checked them out yet you should pop over to Shimelle's at http://www.shimelle.com/

Online Party

If you are anything like me you love a party - and especially an online Crop Party. Well Shimelle is holding her first online crop this weekend, 16-18th April. You can find details about it here. Hoping to get lots of scrapping done this weekend - although hubbie thinks we should go and make a start on the garden!!!

Easter Pages

Feeling pleased with myself as I have just finished a LO using photos taken this Easter - although I may also reuse some of the photos for my Document 2010 April pages later on in the month. I saw this Easter paper, by The Paper Company, Spring Easter Sentiment when I was shopping last week and couldn't resist. A few other things also managed to fall into my basket as well, but shhh! don't tell anyone!

Quick pages

Manged to do these two pages at the weekend for the March 2010. I realised I had taken almost no photos last month, so decided to use my Mothers Day cards and Anniversary card for one of the pages. Also decided not to use the middle photo protector page this month - will also do this some other month as the pack I bought only had 10 pages and it will save me buying more!!

Spend some time last week visiting in-laws. We managed to go and see a couple of films with the boys. Clash of the Titans which was good and How to train your Dragon which was also good. The second film was in 3D which was interesting and took a bit of getting used to, but certainly some of the effects were very good. I just hate wearing the glasses as I do wear glasses and find them awkward over my own glasses!

Back to normal this week, boys went back to school today and I have lots of studying to do this week, with another assignment due next Monday.

Happy Easter!

Christ is Risen, Hallelujah!

This flower arrangement was taken at a Flower Festival that I visited over the weekend.

We had a lovely Easter day today. Church in the morning, followed by a lunch. Then home to decorate our hard boiled eggs.

Luckily the day was lovely and warm so we got outside to roll (or throw) them in the garden!

Then we had an egg hunt for the kids (including Auntie!!!)

Hidden up a tree - no problem!!

Finishing off with cake! (The one on the right with no eggs is for my sister, who is gluten free and doesn't eat chocolate in case you wonder why there are no eggs on it!)

Hope you all had a lovely day.

Next Journey

This week's challenge over at FaithscrappersUK blog is the next part of our Journey with God's People. The character we are looking at this week is Zacchaeus. This is the LO that I have made for it. Do pop over and check out the study and the other creations.

Three Photos

Life has been getting the way of updating my blog recently, as it has a habit of!! For the past two weeks my Mum, who lives with us, has not been well at all, so that sort of dominated my life for the past couple of weeks - well also trying to study for my Open University course. I have not done any scrapbooking or crafting to share with you, so I looked for a couple of photos to share.

This first one is the DVD New Moon, which I managed to watch - excellent film, now can't wait until July to see the next instalment!

This was a basket of flowers for Mothers Day, which are still going strong!

The last photo is of my collection of needle felted animals!

This week is very quiet in the house as Andrew is away at Scripture Union camp - I assume he is having great fun as I have not actually had any phone calls from him! John has been at Easter Study School this week getting ready for this exams at the end of the month.