Grandbaby I Have Yet To Meet...

I am so excited at the thought of becoming a Grannie again... I planned this layout in my head... but then decided to just start poking around in my stash and see what appealed to me most. The process was very relaxed - I just 'let it flow' and the layout almost created itself :) I know it's very samey-samey... but it's my 'style' and how I do a layout *lol* I decided that rather than the original idea of using monochromatic scheme - possibly black and white - I would let the scan photo stand on it's own, and use muted tones around it instead... I chose creams, greys, and a soft lilac-ey sort of colour as well as white. I started off with a blank cream 12x12 sheet, and embossed with white my favourite stamps - the poem "Love Is Not..." and a "Wonderful" definition stamp. I only used black inking on this layout, as I wanted it to stay quite 'pure' looking - and softened looking too. Of course, lots of stitching was used (grey, cream, and white threads), as well as sticky pearls from DoCrafts and also Papermania. The tiny silver/pearl roses are handmade, and the butterflies, bows, and other flowers were a bargain at a £1 craft supply shop.
I can't wait to meet my new grandbaby in January :)

Nice Niece

I came from a small family - just my brother and I... and my husband only has one brother (who has never married or had children), so I have just one niece - and she is such a beauty!
I created this layout quite a few weeks ago and couldn't decide whether I wanted to add lettering to it or not. For now, i'm leaving it as it is.
I have no idea what the background paper is, and all the flowers are made by myself. Of course, stitching appears as usual - but not as much as in previous recent layouts. I loved using liquid pearls - I quite often forget I have them, and making the dragonfly bodies and centres of the flowers was so easy with the liquid - even if I do find it difficult not to poke and prod to see how much they're drying :) I also used spray glimmers on the papers before making the flowers.

Hello There!

Although only a few weeks really, it feels as though I've been 'away' for much longer! I have a lot to catch up on, but that will have to wait for a few days, as crafting comes first :)

So, no new layout today... just a catch-up on the little bits of gossip I have to share.

I'm going to be a Grannie again! I have scan pictures of my future grandbaby, but have no idea as to whether my daughter is having a boy or a girl. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for another grand-daughter... only because her partner has agreed that if the have another daughter, then they will try again for another baby in the future. If it's a boy, then no more grandbabies for Nonna :( and this particular Nonna (that's what my granddaughter calls me) wants LOTS of grandchildren.

The pregnant daughter is also getting married in September. Of course the baby wasn't planned for just yet, so she'll be walking the aisle with a huge bouquet covering her beautiful bump.

My other daughter is single again (any 20-ish good looking lads want to date a real stunner?? *lol* joking - about the dating bit - she really is a stunner) and is currently in Benidorm. I really don't want to see her holiday photographs this year - last years' made me have a few more grey hairs than before I'd had he shock of seeing them, and I have enough grey now thank you!

The credit crunch has finally hit home. After seeing my credit card statement last week, Hubby has confiscated my store cards and cut up my credit cards. Oops... I have definitely NOT been a good girl on the spending front. I really can't say I am undeserved of Hubbys' treatment... but I am going to TRY and curb my excessive spending. Without credit cards or store cards, I reckon not spending could be a breeze!

Lastly, the dog and our kitten... Best friends now! It's just too sweet to see them together, playing and running around.

That's about it for now... hope everyone has been enjoying the summer weather (I hate it *lol*) and getting all that Christmas crafting ready - it is July after all :)

Hopefully I'll have a layout to publish here very soon, and will try to keep posting a bit more regularly.

Callie Cat in the Garden

Our little kitten, Callie, having a jaunt out in the garden at 8 weeks old. Yes, I finally had time to do a layout - even though I've been interrupted several times (including when the kitten decided to use our granddaughters toybox as a litter tray - how unco-operative of her!). She actually hated being outside - too many sights and sounds to take in all at once I suppose - but she did enjoy sitting with me watching the fish in our pond. Somehow, I don't think our thoughts were the same at that moment. Lily the dog has been no trouble at all - even though she's not at all used to having a little kitten around the house (Bagpuss, our old cat, had been an outside cat all his life, and we had him before we had Lily). Callie's attitude towards the dog has taken a little longer to become amiable. She's learnt that hissing and spitting at Lily just encourages the dog to want to sniff kitty-bottom and so she has now begun a new tactic... She has discovered that the dog is actually a bit afraid of her (after Bagpuss, I'm not surprised!). Callie sneaks around the dogs basket and tries to pounce on her unexpectedly. The dog whines and runs away - of course, the kitten just thinks this is all part of a fantastic funny game and starts hurtling around the front room like some sort of demented furball! Mayhem ensues until I manage to catch the little criminal-minded feline and the dog gets her peaceful sleep in her basket again.
I used a Prima paper called Grape Twilight, and cut out the middle so I could lay another paper behind - one sheet from a book I have of My Minds Eye papers - the Jen Wilson Collection. Of course I stitched! I didn't make any of the flowers myself this time though - just layered up some I had from Prima (the E line collection). I also used the leftover paper bits to make some butterflies from two punches I have, and stamped the lettering on punched circles then layered them up onto punched flowers to make it all stand out a bit. Not too much distressing technique this time - but I did use Ranger inks a little to blend in the colours of the papers and the photograph.

Lilypad likes bubblebath!

My grand-daughter, having a whale of a time in the bath! She loves bubblebath and puts the bubbles on her head, blows them over me... and even eats them!
I used a page from a Sara's paper pad, the rest is all me - no distressing this time, but still lots of stitching, and circular dome stickers that I used as bubbles. I also doodled a few bubbles with a white gel pen. It was great to finally find a use for the lettering - I've had it for so long, sat in a drawer after buying 8 sheets of the letters for the bargain price of £1.50.
I was going to use a lot of "Little Mermaid" and "Nemo" characters - but in the end decided that Lily needed to be the star of this particular layout. With my new kitten trying to eat every bit of thread and paper, this one took a couple of days - but even though it's not my usual style, I think it's growing on me :)

No time right now...

Ah, yes... for as long as crafters have needed to work with bits of pretty paper and make a mess with paint and glue, there's been the problem of finding the time! But right now I have the most wonderful excuse for no new scrapbooking pages and no time in the near future for any crafting. I'd like to introduce the newest member of our family. Please meet Callie, our new kitten.

Our very beautiful (but totally vicious) cat Bagpuss died last year - he was about 20 years old, and I vowed never to have another cat. A vow my children did not agree with. Hubby of course, didn't want another cat at all... not even when our daughters cat had kittens could he be swayed into thinking that one little ball of furry cuteness would be a welcome addition to the 'furrmily'. Tonight, I had to clean up so asked Hubby just to look after the cat and make sure the dog didn't have her for a late supper. A little peek ten minutes later and Callie is happily curled up on hubbys shoulder and he is very obviously smitten. She's quite the little character and has already (in just a few hours of being home) learnt that the camera will be a permanent fixture in front of her cute wee face - and is posing appropriately...

The only problem as yet is that she doesn't have any clue what a litter tray is for. Apparently, it's a huge pile of gritty stuff that a kitten is placed in only to see how quickly she can jump out of it, spraying the gritty stuff around the floor until her new owner chases her, picks her up and places her back in the pile of gritty stuff for the chasing game to start again... No poopies as yet - but we have bought her a little house that I thought she'd like. She loves it... perfect for weeing in apparently!
As you can see, the pretty plaid pink cushion inside has been removed... five minutes after putting it together, and it's been taken apart and in the wash already :)
She'll learn eventually...
Little steps... (She's only a babykitty right now, she was born on 27th February.)
And our home feels quite complete now we have a cat in it again.
Not sure that Lily the Dog agrees though.

Dandelion Dreams

I had such fun making this LO! It's an idea I had a while ago, with lots of different things I wanted to incorporate into the layout - including the flowers in the picture being the only colour in a black and white photograph. Of course, it ended up almost nothing like I first planned! The photograph is of my two eldest daughters on one of their first days together at school. They started the same year, but at different times of the school terms because of the difference in their ages. They were so excited to actually have a full day together in school (but that didn't last long though *lol*). I made such a mess making the roses - lots of scrunching up with paper and gesso (and inks and starburst stains)- and thoroughly enjoyed every messy moment. The butterflies were easier - but took a lot longer as I waited for each layer of kids glaze to dry. I get so impatient! Of course I had the usual blank cardstock to start off with, and lots of distressing and inking just for fun. The stitching had to be there - but I did draw back quite a lot on what I wanted to do. I felt that enough was enough, and anything extra may not work very well - especially with those huge scrunchy flowers! I decided to call the layout "Dandelion Dreams"... almost as a follow-on or accompaniment to the layout I had made a few days back named "Dandelion Wishes".