The Royal Wedding

i know everyone is probably sick of hearing about the wedding by now, but i'm not! i have been getting more and more excited in the last few weeks about the special day and i loved watching all the footage leading up to the wedding and the ceremony itself. My favourite part was when William first saw Kate and told her she looked beautiful, so sweet. i think her dress was perfect it was so elegant and she looked radiant. Wills looked very dapper too. i'm pleased that they were able to keep little touches that made the wedding more 'them', like Kate doing her own make-up and Will's driving them to Clarence House in his dad's Aston Martin. They both looked so happy and in love, it melted my heart.

i for one was feeling very patriotic yesterday and wouldn't stop waving my union jack flag. i even wore a mini top hat fascinator and a dress with a pattern of the Queen's Guard on it. We had a little party at my friend Miss' (thanks love) to celebrate all things British and sipped on Pimms & G+T while scoffing scones and a wedding cake that Verity made (she's so clever!). My contribution was egg mayonnaise sandwiches and Raspberry and White Chocolate cupcakes, with a union jack theme of course! i made cupcake toppers and bunting designed by the talented SJ, you can download them here if you so wish. This was my first attempt at anything hybrid. All things digital normally scare me! But it was a lot easier then i thought, i just printed them on cardstock, cut them out and did my thing. Here's a closer look at the yummyness:

So what did you get up to? Were you as excited about the wedding as i was? Did you celebrate, have a street party? i'd love to know!

A Sassy Sketch

There's a lot more happening over at the Sassafras Blog these day including monthly challenges. i decided to play along with this month's sketch designed by Valerie Salmon because i loved it so much. i can see myself using this one again, especially as the Paper Whimsies would work so well for this design.

When i was visiting Singapore Zoo, i was most excited to see the Orangutan's. i hung around for a while waiting to get my picture taken. But it turned out i was waiting in the wrong place! Luckily, i saw them all woalking back to their enclosure (hand in hand, so sweet!) and their keepers offered to take a picture for me.

Papers: Sassafras, Cosmo Cricket, American Crafts, Studio Calico, Alpha Stickers: Sassafras, Mist: Studio Calico, Bloom: Sassafras, Brads: American Crafts, Other: Button, Tiny Attacher. 

Speaking of Sassfras, have you seen the new line Sunshine Broadcast? Love it! And they've released some new alpha's including a woodgrain print! Eeep! These alpha's are my most used and i LOVE woodgrain so i am particularly happy about this combo! Can't wait to get them!

Wonder Fish

This week's challenge over at the Studio Calico Blog is to use a background stamp. i must admit, mine have been somewhat neglected, so what better excuse to get some use out of them?

Paper, Stamp, Mist: Studio Calico, Border Sticker: Basic Grey, Alphabet Stickers: American Crafts, Sassafras, Bloom: Sassafras, Ink: Tim Holtz for Ranger, Label Stickers: Li'l Davis Designs Other: Twine, Tiny Attacher.

Back in September i had a lovely trip up to London with my sister. You can read more about it here. One of the things we did was have our feel eaten by fish. Ha! Just kidding, it's a spa treatment in which Gara Rufa Fish nibble on your feet to exfoliate them. it's crazy but cool. 

Good Reads in March

March was a very busy month so i only got through one book, in fact I only just finished it mid April. The Shadow of the Wind (the translated version, i am not fluent in Spanish!). It's a historic mystery about a boy who discovers a book titled The Shadow of the Wind, by Julian Carax, in a secret library of Forgotten Books. He loves the book so much he tries to find more of the author's other work, but soon discovers that someone is destroying every copy of Carax's work and that his copy might be the last in existence. He becomes obsessed with the author and sets out to discover the truth about him, which leads him down a dangerous path.

This is an intricately woven, layered mystery about doomed love, cruelty, darkness, loss and hope. But it is not  a depressing read, it is actually very intriguing and has lots of twists and turns. I cared about each of the characters in the story and could imagine myself in their world, because it is so well written. I also wanted to write down lots and lots of quotes from the book. In short, it's a classic, and how a novel should be.

In the Spring of Things

Spring makes me really happy, because it means winter is over. And winter makes me really unhappy. When the sun starts shining and the flowers begin to bloom it's like i have had a personality transplant and i start to feel like me again. i start to get excited about life. Here's a layout about those thoughts:

Paper, Butterfly, Banner Stickers, Button: Jenni Bowlin, Ribbon: Making Memories, Alphabet Stickers: Cosmo Cricket, Mist: Studio Calico. Other: Twine. Tools: Tiny Attacher

Yesterday i spent a lovely day in the sun with some of my dearest friends. A picnic on the common, a stroll along the seafront, ice cream and roly-poly-ing down the hill. It's days like this that make my heart happy.

i hope that you have a wonderful weekend  and that where ever you may be, your days are filled with sunshine! Happy Easter. 

Be you

The other day i was thinking about how much fun stuff i get to do. And how many wonderful people i have in my life. i'm getting much better at taking photos of that funness and those people, but for some reason it often takes me a while to get around to scrapping said photos. One thing that i never struggle to scrap about is me and what's going on in my head. What i like to call my 'scrap therapy' layouts. Pages to encourage me along, remind me to be my best self, to get my not so great feelings down. These are the pages that come most naturally to me, but i don't often share them with anyone. And i feel like i should. Because it's ok to be me, and it's ok to scrapbook about myself. No matter what anyone else may think.

i mentioned in January that i've been dipping in and out of The Happiness Project by Gretchen Ruben. What's  resonated with me the most from that book is one of Gretchen's 'commandments' for happiness, to 'Be Gretchen'. Meaning she should pay more attention to who she is and not what she wishes she was. Do things she likes and not just what she feels she should be interested in.  'Be Alexa' is becoming a bit of a mantra for me. i've been on a huge personal journey these past 6 or so months and i'm having to face up to a to of truths and make some big decisions so that i can live a balanced, happy life and just be well.

i've had to pass up on opportunities recently because i knew that if i had taken up on them, i wouldn't be true to myself. And i don't regret taking those decisions one bit. i am still finding my way, slowly, but it is my way.

Here's a page i made to remind myself that being me is one of the most important things i can do.

Paper: Crate paper, Mini frame: American Crafts, Alphabets: Jillibean Soup, Basic Grey, Mist: Studio Calico, Punch: Martha Stewart. Other:  paint, buttons, embroidery floss, crochet doilie, white pen. Tools: date stamp, tiny attacher

Ah, yellow + grey, you really are one of my favourite combinations. My beloved square punch always comes in handy when i'm in a funk, it's a good way to use up scraps and house embellishments.

My real reason for sharing this layout though, is to remind you that your uniqueness is the most amazing thing that you possess. There is no one else like you, and that is something very special, so be proud of it!

Loves.

Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day in the UK and i was fortunate enough to spend the afternoon with my very own mama. We took a picnic to the common and went to the Little Black Dress Exhibition that is currently being exhibited at the City Museum. My mum is the most caring person i know. i inherited my best qualities from her. Except for my curly hair, it's still a mystery where that came from. 

When i saw this sketch over at the Stucio Calico blog based on a layout by the fabulous Emily Pitt's, it screamed 'instax photo' at me. 

And i happened to take a picture of my mum + i this afternoon with my instax camera. i don't think i've ever scrapped a picture the same day i took it before. i used my favourite SC kit ever, Granny's Cupboard for this one, along with some sassafras stickers. i still dig into that kit all the time, i don't ever want it to be finished. It was the most 'me' a kit has ever been. And i'm still in love with that paper from Girl's Paperie (which i am sad to hear will be no more). i'm glad to finally have a page to share with you. i'm working such long shifts at the moment i feel like my life has been put on hold a little bit!

Paper: Girls Paperie, October Afternoon, Die Cuts & lace: K&Co, Alpha Stickers: Sassafras. Baker's twine.