A recent photo ...

of my darling boys, taken on 18th November, when they were 19 weeks old.  How they've grown!  Lewis on the left, and Henry on the right, dressed in their bargain jammies, at 50p each.  We were staying at Grandma's, so I took advantage of a little holiday and did a bit of a photo shoot with the boys.  :) 

It shall be scrapped in due course, naturally ....



Quidco

All about ways to save money at Christmas and all throughout the year?  I am, especially with only one wage coming in, and two more mouths to feed ...

If you do happen upon this post, and are interested in saving money, then Quidco is a special website which offers deals, and then gives you cashback at the end, depending on how much you've spent with them.  For instance, I recently bought a pair of Clark's shoes on line, which were not only 50% off, but I also earned a cashback reward, simply for clicking through the Quidco site!

If you are so inclined, follow this link, and then start referring other people too, for more cashback rewards ....

http://www.quidco.com/user/1057273/

Happy shopping!

Scrapology November card

This month, the card designer who set our monthly challenge is Joanna Sheen.  She challenged the Design Team to use a mouse image on their cards.  Bearing in mind the time of the year, I decided to try and incorporate the mouse with Christmas in the cheesiest way possible - get it!   (Hee hee hee .... )



Thanks to Linda for sending me some images as this is not really my normal style of card. 

I dug out an ancient piece of patterned paper for the background and made sure that I coloured in the image to match accordingly. 

I made it more "Christmassy" by sticking some felt snowflakes over the top and then stickled them to make them glitter.  I also glittered on the patterned paper on top of the stars to pull the card together. 

I then stamped out my Christmouse message using my PSX Playful alphabet stamps - I have several sets of small alphabet stamps.  I still consider them to be an essential part of my scrapbooking/ cardmaking tools, even though I don't use them nearly as often as I used to.  Great to get out these things from time to time and dust them off!

I then "enamelled" the outline of the flower using the Ranger white enamel accents.  It was my first time using these - they add a considerable dimension to the card, and hopefully look like snow!  The liquid flowed out of the nozzle faster than I thought it would, so I would recommend caution if using them for the first time.  Hope you join us in the challenge, and have lots of fun playing along! 

Supplies:
Patterned paper:  Colorbok Starry Sky
Ranger white enamel accents
Diamond Stickles
Make It Yourself Furry white snowflakes
PSX Alphabet stamps - Playful
Promarkers

Sketch and Scrap November

For my group's challenge on UK Scrappers this October, we were challenged to create a layout using this sketch:

I decided to use a picture of my boys, and make a companion layout to the one I produced for Scrapology for November. 



Supplies List:

Bazzill cardstock
Journalling pen:  A fine black permanent marker
Patterned papers: Urban Lily "Polka Dot", Chatterbox Scrapbook Walls "Stitched Ivy", 7 gypsies "Life Blanc", Sassafras Lass Indian Summer "Pumpkin Patch"
K & Company Metal Art
Doodlebug rubons Sew Easy Lilywhite & Black
Maya Road Office Sheers Journalling Spot
Wooden Buttons: Hobbycraft
Buttons
Ribbon, Lace, Felt, Fabric, Gem, Pearls

It's very satisfying to create what I think is a beautiful result from old supplies and great to get some of this hoard of stash used up! 

The photo is of my Mum with the boys when they were just over two weeks old. We did a photoshoot with a local photographer, and were so pleased we did it. I loved the photo - it's a very precious memory and is just what it says a "special moment".

Scrapology November Challenge

This month, over at Scrapology, we are scraplifting Hannah Young's layout below: 



The challenge this month is to make fabric flowers. 

This is my interpretation.  I decided to interpret the flowers rather differently, so had a shufty through my materials to see what I could choose from.  I had black tulle, bits of left over felt, and various bits of material.  The larger red flower is made from wide wired ribbon.

The photo is one taken at a photoshoot when my boys were 3 weeks old and is of my mother and I.  All the patterned papers have come from my scraps bag and are all ancient - how satisfying is it to use them up?



Supplies:

Bazzill cardstock

Patterned paper:  Urban Lily "Polka Dot", Chatterbox Scrapbook Walls "Stitched Ivy", Scenic Route Laurel "Sailmaker Lane", 7 gypsies "Life Blanc"

Tim Holtz:  Mini Labels movers and shapers die

Alphas: K & Company "Handmade mini alpha", Making Memories "Tiny Alphas white on black"

Stickers: Scenic Route Laurel Monogram ABCD

Wooden Heart: Hobbycraft

Buttons

Ribbon, Lace, Bonbon

Felt

Fabric

Because my target photo was a completely different shape to Hannah's, I had to reinterpret the sketch somewhat, and also decided to simplify the colour scheme. 

I am really pleased with how this layout turned out.  I shall be making a companion page for the boys' albums using another sketch challenge!  Why don't you join us - Jill from Cardinal Colours has once again donated a fabulous prize - check out the Scrapology blog to find out what it is!