Sketch book Class

So i'm taking Kelly Purkey's Sketchbook class at the moment & i'm loving it! Sketches are a perfect jumping off point for me and a great thing to turn to if i'm ever stuck for inspiration. Here's a layout using sketch #1.


It's a page about the little corner of my office.

oh and i've had to take my blog buttons down while i tweak a few things but i'll post again when they're back up!

The Tangle Teezer

My hair is super long + thick + curly which = total nightmare to brush/wash/control. i have lived with these curls for 27 years now and have found my own ways to look after & (try) to tame them so i don't look like i've been dragged through a hedge backwards. Or at least i *hope* i don't look like that! However, as it's grown longer it's got more knotty & it is taking increasingly longer to wash & comb my hair. Frankly i have been dreading having to wash it because it is such a pain. A few weeks ago, whilst browsing a magazine i saw an ad for the Tangle Teezer. It's reasonably priced, it comes in lots of colours & the speel on their website seemed fairly logical so i thought i'd give it a go. And i'm so glad i did! It makes brushing my hair a breeze! i am sooo glad to have found a brush that actually does what it says & it has cut down my hair washing time dramatically. Hurrah! i just wanted to post about it here in case anyone else was looking for a smilar thing, becuase i can highly recommend it.

Scrapbook Shares on Sunday

i think i've been holding on to this photo for a few years now but i can guarantee that there are much newer dvd's in my collection. The number of films & tv box sets i have is a bit out of control! Everything i used on this page is from the March Studio Calico kits.


i promise this isn't so wonky in real life, it's the scanner! i kept it pretty simple for this one. i was trying to challenge myself to use some of my ever growing sticker collection after one of Shimelle's Something from Almost Nothing prompt this week, but i only ended up using three, oops! The balls of wool image is from a kit i got last year from RVA.

Hot Tub Time Machine

i'm usually pretty up on the latest film releases, but somehow this one had slipped under the radar, until a friend told me about it last week. It looks like total comedy genius! i don't think it's out in the UK until May, but i can't wait to see it!

More Layouts

So i promised i'd share my layouts i did at the weekend. Here's Saturday's, another snowy one.


Here's a close up of the lettering, i used Heidi Swapp ghost letters and used a sharpie to add some little snowflakes on them.


Unfortunately i haven't managed to get a photo of the page i did yesterday so i'll just give you a sneek for now.

Scrapbook Shares on Sunday

This week Kara decided to make a layout a day & challenged her blog readers to do something everyday too. As my social calendar was relatively free this week i decided to make a layout a day too. Things were going quite well until a friend came round for dinner on Thursday & i didn't have the opportunity to scrap. And Friday i was completely exhausted. Plus my New Moon pre-order arrived early so She Who Must Not Be Named & i decided to have a twilight fest & watch both films in a row. So no scrapping occurred on Friday either. i still think this is a pretty good effort though as i don't usually get my scrap on during the work week, so i'm not going to beat myself up about it. After all scrapping is for funs! Today i'll share what i made Monday through to Wednesday & i'll be back tomorrow with my weekend scrappies :) i got good use out of my Studio Calico Kit this week.


Apologies for the shadowy image, i didn't realise it was so bad until i just uploaded it's not worth re-taking now it's dark. i used a mist on the card to get the glittery effect & it's so pretty in real life. Here's a close up.


i've been holding on to this photo since 2006. Goodness knows why! So it was about time i did a little ode to Lush, i loves lush so. The woodgrain paper used on this page is from the packaging of the SC exclusive wood veneer....



...which i used on this page. The yellow paper behind the photo on this one is from a ad card that came in this month's kit. i love it when packaging & ads are pretty enough to reuse on pages :)


Photo credit for this one goes to Miss Adrienne Sweet.

Love List

Last week over on the SC blog the challenge was to create a layout with a list. Some of my favourite pages to make & to look back over are always based on lists about my favourite things. It's so great see what things were a part of my life at that time, especially, things like music, tv, fashion and technology. Moving forward i think we always forget this kind of stuff! i try and do these kinds of pages a few times a year, last year i even did a whole mini about it. Enter the Love List: stuff that is rocking my world right now.


This was one of those pages that just fell into place perfectly. Navy & Yellow are my favouritest colours right now, so that was an obvious colour choice. i knew i had to include that Dear Lizzy music paper because i'd included a couple of music loves in the list. Misting & crochet also made the list, so i had to include those! Although i'm not good enough at crochet yet to make my own flowers so Dear Lizzy stepped in again. i've been crazy for all things woodgrain for a while now & type writer fonts are also a firm favourite. i added the hearts to the brads with a sharpie pen. i just *love* it when your papers & embellies reinforce your theme :)

What's on your love list right now?

Create It Green March Layout

This month for my green item i used pages from an old book that i picked up in Barcelona 4 years ago. i used walnut ink to create a base for the photos and inked around the edges to create a weathered effect. The map embellishment was from a kid's pack of playing cards. And the map paper can be bought at Art=Happy.

Head over to CiG to see what fabulous creations the other ladies made this month.

Scrapbook Shares on Sunday

i've had a lovely weekend with this boy. We live a couple of hours away from each other so we only get to visit a few times a year, but it always fun & we had so much catching up to do. We've known each other for 5 years now so i made a page to document it. i'm taking Shimelle's Something From Almost Nothing class at the moment and one of the focuses this week was using metal's. So i made myself use some of my hoard, they are perfect for masculine pages i think.


i went a little crazy on the misting with this one, but i enjoyed myself. i think my dad must have taken this photo of me as a young'un, i really cherish this photo. i love that it proves i've always been a photographer :)

CiG March Sneak

The 15th is fast approaching which means it's time for some sneaks of my CiG layout for this month.


i've been getting messy with walnut ink & old book pages this time around, so fun! You can see the full layout & what the other ladies in the DT have come up with on Monday at the Create it Green blog.

i'll be back tomorrow with my Scrapbook Shares on Sunday. Have a great weekend!

Robin Hood Tax

i know that politics is a very personal issue & i don't usually touch on it here, but i just wanted to spread the word about Robin Hood Tax. In case you haven't heard anything about it yet, here's a little bit from thier website explaining what the Robin Hood Tax is:

The Robin Hood Tax is a tiny tax on bankers that would raise billions to tackle poverty and climate change, at home and abroad.

By taking an average of 0.05% from speculative banking transactions, hundreds of billions of pounds would be raised every year.

You can read more here about how it works. This is something that could actually happen with your support. There's some bigwig's already backing the proposal, like our current PM, the French President & the German Chancellor.

So, how can you help to make it happen? If you live in the UK you can write to your MP & ask them to sign the early day motion. There's also a list of other things you can do to spread the word. If this is something you believe in, please show your support!

Scrapbook Shares on Sunday

This week i'm sharing another two using Feb's Studio Calico kit, can't tell you how much i am loving being a part of that kit club! This one was for the lift a member challenge & i should explain to those of you who are not scrapbookers that 'scraplifting' means copying someone elses layout. Be it from the general design or just an element to re-creating the whole layout right down to the last product! It's seen as flattering, provided you don't try and pass the work off as you're own. The layout that i lifted was by Keshet & can be seen here.


And this one if of the Jakemeister. i took these photos when he was 2, now he is 6! eeeep! He is growing up much too fast for my liking!

New Glasses

i mentioned on Saturday that i got new glasses. Well i've been wanting a pair in this style for about 18+ months now. i had my eyes tested last year and my prescription hadn't changed, so i figured i couldn't really justify a new pair of specs. But they did tell me to start wearing my glasses more often. Which i tried to ignore for a while, but lately it's become more obvious that i really do need to be wearing them, pretty much all the time. Which i haven't been, so i thought some new glasses might be in order. Then Glasses Direct were doing a 2 for the price of 1 and if you're a first time customer you get a 10% discount too! Plus they do a 7 day trial where you can choose 4 sets of frames to try at home to see if you like them. So i could show my friends & family, get their opinions and then just buy the ones i liked anyway. i ended up settling for the same pair, but getting them in 2 colours.





They've taken a bit of getting used to, but now i love em'! Whatcha think?

Round up of my week

So it's been a busy week! Last Friday i travelled to Bournemouth to see Dave Gorman. My sister got me a ticket for my birthday & he was so funny! It was my first time seeing a stand up comedian & i would definately go again. But i have been a fan of Dave's for a while & read all his books. Saturday morning we headed to Brighton for a girlie weekend. We saw the X Factor tour, which was soooo fun & much better then i was anticipating. Then we got some shopping in on Sunday (hence the no Scrapbook Shares on Sunday last week, sorry about that!). We managed to spot a celeb, or at least she was in the 90's. Ha! Faye from Steps and the Conservative Party Forum that was going on (or as my sister so named them, The Conservatories). It was a lovely weekend of laughter.

My new glasses arrived this week too, i'll post proper pics of them soon.

i managed to see Leap Year & The Princess and The Frog.

i also made my first ever granny square! With help from Caketin, of course! Although i still need to sew the ends in. i was so pleased with how it turned out, i think these things might be addictive.

Happy Birthday Sis!

Photo credit Hayley Gisbourne

It's this lovely's birthday today! i feel so lucky to have such a supportive, loving & fun sister!


Among other presents, i got her some yummy stuff from Cupcake Style & made her some co-ordinating cupcake toppers. i think it might be my new latest craft obsession. Plus we're going to a cupcake making day, yay!

Give-away winners!

Drum roll please...

i used the random number generator at random.org to choose the winners.

The first number it chose was #3 which was:

Faye Marie said...
I am really inspired by color. I have the colors i love to use but I am trying to change the way I look at color and pair uncommon colors together... teal and red are my favs right now!!!!

Next was #8 which was

Tillie said...
Ive found lately that I have been being inspired by the blogging community. I have only really just started getting into blogging, and there are just so many talented incredibly amazing beautiful people out there that are giving me so much inspiration to do more, to strive for more. Its really inspiring and oh so motivating!

And lastly #6
Tatanky said...
Congratulations !!! and thanks for the chance to win. What inspires me right now is COLOR....I just found out this blog http://color-stripes.blogspot.com/ and love all the color inspiration in there

Congratulations ladies!! Please e-mail me your address at alexa_gill@yahoo.co.uk by Fiday so i can post your kits out this weekend.

Thanks for all your comments, i loved reading what you are inspired by right now!

And if you didn't win this time don't worry, i'll be doing a give-away for every 25 followers plus random ones, yay! So there will be more chance to win. Also Faye-Marie is giving away a $20 voucher for her etsy store which sells yummy kits so hop over to her blog for a chance to win.