Sketchy Thursday

I love looking at the sketches and inspiring layouts on Sketchy Thursdays so when Ruth bought a sketch to Cropfest this weekend, I thought I'd had a go. I really liked the sketch so I used it twice, in different orientations. Here's what I came up with:

Poem I like!

I came across this poem on another blog I read, and really liked it so I thought I'd share!

A teacher is not..
A miracle worker
A social worker
A full-time actor
The one with all the answers
The one who never goes wrong
A person with no feelings
A person with no past
A sage on a stage
A test passing superstar
A doormat to be walked over
A punchbag to be hit!
A teacher is..
A fellow learner
A mentor
A guide
One who hopes for you
Shares your dream
Believes in you
And smiles with you
An important part of your life
But not Superman!

Recent layouts

Some of the layouts I've created recently:

This Lady
a 6x12" page. I find these hard to do, to find the right balance but I loved this striped paper that creates sections so all I needed to do was add 2 wooden flower embellishments with buttons, a sticker title and journalling. Simple!
Beauty on the Beach
An 8.5 x 11" page. I love these pgotos of my sister taken on the beach along the Southbank. I was inspired by Claire's style - bright colours and no patterned paper (if you know me, you'll know that I use patterned paper on EVERY layout). I love my scalloped punch that creates this border. The butterflies are Making Memories.

Picture Perfect

I just love this photo taken at Windsor on a freezing cold day. I wanted to keep the photo central so added some cool blues and oranges to accent the colours in the photo. The title is stamped (and tiny!)

Pinterest

If you're anything like me, you miss UK scrapbooking magazines! Okay, there's still The Scrapbook Magazine, but I miss Scrapbook Inspirations and Scrapbook Trends.

So I've been blog hopping a lot to find new inspiration, new layouts, new ideas. And I stumbled across this site: Pinterest. It's like an online pinboard where you can bookmark ideas, layouts - and you can re-pin inspiration that people have already pinned, how cool is that?

Check out Ali Edwards' Pinterest boards - I find them really inspiring, must start my own Pinterest board! Why not take a trip across and check it out. Warning! Procrastination alert! www.pinterest.com/aliedwards/

mini album - living with Coeliac Disease

Being a Coeliac is a big part of my life, it's the kind of thing you always have to be aware of. People often ask me about it - and I don't mind, but I thought that documenting my thoughts was a good record of a big part of me. This mini book was from Boots and holds 2.5 x 3" pages or photos. Here are the results:

The journalling reads:

This is me. I have Coeliac Disease. I am severely intolerant to wheat, gluten, rye, barley and oats. This means that today and everyday I have to follow a strict gluten free diet, avoiding all foods containiing these things, and also any food that could have been contaminated on a production line. This is harder than it looks. It's a daily battle. My biggest problem is cross-contamination. I'm one of the unlucky ones; for me the slightest bit of wheat/ gluten that gets into/ touches my food makes me ill - and quickly. I have to make sure no spoons/ knoves are used for normal and G/F foods, and I try not to show it but it's a huge worry! Warning signs: fatigue, pale/washed out, bloated tummy, severe cramp, introverted, upset. It helps to have understanding friends, to get G/F food on prescription, to do a lot of my own baking. The future: I'll always be Coeliac, hopefully new products will be out, with a greater understanding.

New scrapping space

This summer we repainted the spare room and I got a new desk for scrapping! It's from Ikea and it's 2m long, it's one of those where you can choose the options yourself - legs, shelves, storage etc. I chose a simple white worktop with metal legs and a desk shelf for storing the TV and computer equipment.

There is a small photo shelf which houses my 'One Little Word' reminder (taken from Ali Edwards' blog www.aliedwards.com/2010/12/one-little-word-2011.html), a mini canvas I made with a 'V' on and 2 framed photos I love.

Under the desk I have 2 blue plastic drawer units that came from Macro originally, but they fit 12x12 paper in and I have supplies stored there, such as stamps, punches, adhesives etc.

And to the left of my desk is an Ikea Expedit unit which houses, albums, magazines, photos etc.

I love the fact that the area is organised and everything is accessible, yet mostly hidden from sight so it looks tidy! I've been working on a couple of projects lately - will post more soon!

Back on the blogging track

So I haven't blogged for a long, long time now, but after a scrapping weekend and lots of lovely comments, I've decided to re-start my regular blog!

This weekend was another Cropfest (XXVIII I think, I can't believe we've had so many!) There's really nothing like a weekend spent with incredibly inspiring ladies who scrapped the time away! We had an Alice in Wonderland theme this weekend, complete with afternoon tea party, film night and Alice in Wonderland challenges:

1. Queen of Hearts - scrap using hearts or a layout entitled 'I love...'

2. Caterpillar - Who are You? Create a layout about yourself (not as wasy as it sounds)

3. Scrap a Wonderland - interpret in your own way!

4. Card challenge - Claire's inspiration. Get a set of playing cards and number them 1 - 52. We used Elsie's Scrapbooking Challenges, with each card numbered to correspond with a challenge from the book. This created some pages we really wouldn't have created without prompting!

I always find the challenges inspiring at a crop, it helps to focus you in and create pages that perhaps you wouldn't have done without those prompts.

We also made the most of the light outside in the evening and snapped some lovely shots using bubbles!