Let's Get Meeeeesssssssyyyyyy!

OK, yeah, I've done it before but really not very often

as the tidying up is worse than the doing.

Today's LOAD prompt (and sadly the last for February)

is all about scrapping an unusal style, taking yourself

out of that comfort zone and just going for it.

That was all it took

for me to go all out and get messy...

Paints, stamps, sprays and squirters but then (dun dun duuuuun!)

the spray just made a complete an utter mess,

ruined a piece of lovely MME paper and

I started again.

This time I decided to use a sketch as a guideline

so I could also use it as an entry into a Facebook Group February challenge.

Oh I did have fun, spraying, squirting, daubing and just about anything "ing" really!!!

I really should take myself out of my comfort zone more often
 as I had a great time creating the mess!

(if only I had a fairy godmother to tidy up)

Right, tidy up time and packing for tomorrow's CROP DAY!!!!

Rockin' Back

It seems ages since I joined in with Virginia's

Rockin Your World Friday (sorry Virginia)

It's been a strange few weeks with one thing or another - you know those 

"things that are sent to try us"

arrrggghhh, they certainly do!!!

Anyway, those two weeks are gone and I'm here to share the highs (and lows) of last week.

Firstly the sad news that my good friend Helen took the very hard decision to have her dog put to sleep.

I'm glad of the decision she made (however hard) as poor Jasper had been struggling with an undiagnosed illness.

Run free Jasper
xoxo

 
A night with the X Factor finalists on Saturday

 and a Hi-5 from my favourite, Luke Friend, 

found me whooping and embarrassing DD

(she ain't seen nothing yet!)




Massive gratitude to the lovely waitress in Pizza Hut on Saturday night
for the very kind donation of a hot chocolate to warm up the homeless man.
Every time I go to Manchester,
I try to make a very small difference for a homeless man and his dog.
I only wish I could so much more.

I love recieving a DT parcel from Jen and although the parcel arrived last week
 I was finally able to stroke and drool over the goodies
and play with the contents of the
February "12 Pledges" Kit
(WARNING- January's sold out as quick as a flash so get it NOW)
which uses the Authentique Elegant Collection.
Here is 1 out of 4 layouts I have completed using the kit so far.
The colours are so subtle in this new kit that it can be used for anything
as you'll see over the coming days.
Virginia (our Rockin host) will also have layouts to share too.

Our boy came home from his holidays on Anglesey
and settled back in quite nicely.
Loves his holidays but there's no place like home :)

One thing I've been putting off for a while is sorting the bills.
You know, that never ending task of getting the best and cheapest.
First was Sky...
I'd read on a few forums about existing customers getting better deals
by phoning the retentions team and it worked.
I'm now paying 20% less per month
and the lovely guy I was talking too realised I'd been paying £10 too much for 35 months.
£350 better off without even realising :)

Next, was Gas and Electric but it seems I have the best deal there anyway
Telephone and broadband next and a £50 saving over the year.

Not bad for a couple of hours work - go me!

Very grateful to my Daddy this week for fitting a new, more sturdy loft ladder
(oh and getting me the 10% over 60s discount!)
 and to DH for having the strength to fit the springs.
The access is now so much better and that "sort loft" (part of my "to do" list)
will hopefully be ticked off soon.

Today is the last day of LOAD :(
I have loved joining in with this and the prompts have certainly made me scrap
some topics and photos that I would never have done if I had not been playing along.
I also joined the ScrapHappy family so a few more LOADs
to come (looking forward to May already ...
My LOAD214 Flickr Gallery shows all the layouts I have completed during February.

This week saw my follower ticker go up to 50 - woohoo!!!
I know, it's not many compared to some/lots of you but
it got me whooping.

A special thank you to my lovely daughter who continues to be the most amazingly
kind and ultra wonderful person.
My back gave way doing the shopping and she helped me through,
lifted, carried and put away.
She is amazing!

So, that's my week, what has rocked yours?

I Didn't Know That!!

Did you?

Oh! I haven't told you yet ...

Well, apparently journalling should include the five "W"s and the "H"

 and if you didn't know what they were, (like me), they are...

who, what, when, where, why, and how. 

So, the question, does journalling have to include all of the above?

Considering my journalling the answer is a definite "no".

I can probbaly say that I have never included all those on a layout 

so today (and just today) I have twisted the prompt around and include

ALL in my journalling.

"This is my guy, the love of my life,
my knight in shining armour, my pain in the arse,
my headache, my rock, my best friend.
He acts like a 3 year old NOT a 43 year old
and sometimes, just sometimes I wish he wouldn’t.
Oh how I would have laughed and laughed if he
had fallen off this boardwalk into the (possibly)
crocodile infested waters in this Florida State Park
last year. How he didn’t fall, I will never know
but one thing he did do was to make sure we were
nowhere near him when he struck this pose!"

All my papers are from the Echo Park "All About A Boy collection"
and available form Jen at Wearcrafts

And of course one of the great things about scrapbooking is

that if you make a mistake (as DD kindly pointed out

that it's alligators and not crocodiles) you can cover it up!

Now There's a Challenge!!

And that's my ready made kits out the window.

Today's prompt is to create a layout - well obviously!!

BUT... the challenge is not to use more than one item from one manufacturer

i.e. each paper, embellishment etc has to be from a different manufacturer.

Here's my list of all the items I have used...

Cosmo Cricket 12x12 (I die cut an arrow with the reverse side of my "V" cut out)

Studio Calico 12x12 (used several times to create die cut anchors and tag)

MME cut off to back my photo

Basic Grey Flag

Michael's (AnchorsAweigh)

Recollections

Heidi Swapp Sticker (epic)

Twine

Random Flair

Authentique Word (only)

Creative Imaginations Word (the)

Recollections Frame

Random Anchor from a Polish company

and here's my layout "The Only Way Is Up" with a few close ups

Only two days left of LOAD and already looking forward to the next one!!!

The Hardest So Far

Wanna' know why?

We were given a template to use to make a die with the words

design, photo, title, story, little stuff and paper

and the idea was to roll the die
and create your layout from the prompts that are rolled.

I didn't make the die but wrote the same words om bits of paper and folded them up.

DD then picked one at a time (I wish she'd done better!) 

and I wrote the numbers from 1 to 6 on them

(so I couldn't cheat)

1. little stuff
2. story
3. paper
4. title
5. photo
6. design

YIKES!!! A title AND a story before my photo - that's gonna' be tough.

First off, I picked out some matching embellishments and
knowing that most of the photos I have already printed are holiday photos
 my story would be based around that.
Next was the paper and I chose 3 papers from the
MME Cut & Paste collection.
Now, the hard bit, the title...
 

"Under the Boardwalk"

(Again, all my photos are from our Florida holiday and we walked a fair few

boardwalks while we were travelling around the coast)

Then comes the photo, and I've chosen one of the many dolphin photos that

we were lucky to capture as they stole the fishermen's daily catch

clean off their hook.

I then chose a sketch from PINTEREST

and got to it....

When I first saw my list I was a little worried but

it turned out better than I expected to be honest.

(I may add a few extras though!)

Lifting Lesley!!

Not literally - I know I'm a bit lighter these days but even so!!!

So, scraplift one of my own layouts

 from one of the LOAD layouts I have already done

 or some random layout from the past.

I decided that my lift would be from my LOAD layouts

BUT

which one?

I asked one of my fellow LOADies and Master Forgers to choose from my
LOAD Gallery.

Lisa (LisaInRe) had two favourites...

                                              LOAD2                                           LOAD10

I decided that the sunburst would go perfectly with my Key West sunset photograph.

Prefer my original but this one turned out better than I'd hoped when I started!

I Killed (K)IT!

Helloooooooo!!!
And a very warm welcome to my bit in the Counterfeit Kit Blog Hop.
I am loving our new style where any of the monthly challenges can be used
- it's great to see different projects in the hop!
- how was Annie today?
 - which challenge inspired her the most?
 - was it the same one that has inspired me?
(If you have no clue what I'm talking about, maybe you could hop back to the beginning)

This month I have decided to go with
Challenge 2 - Angled background
as I knew this challenge would be just perfect for me to "kill that kit".

Have you killed your kit yet?

So, you've seen mine, will any of the 14 hop participants inspire you enough to show us yours?
Carry on hopping (Maggie's next) and I hope to see you linking up with us soon.
Why not join our Flickr gallery too
(Please add a tag to your posts for the month & year it belongs with, like this: CKCMMYY. 
(For example, if the post has to do with your April 2013 kit, please add the tag CKC0413.)
or even just take a leisurely browse...

CKCB http://www.counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com
Jemma http://just-jimjams.blogspot.co.uk
Julene http://julenebydesign.blogspot.com.au
Tina http://tinasscrapcorner.blogspot.com
Annie http://www.artyfartyannie.com

Lesley http://ohblogitifyoucantbeatthem.blogspot.co.uk <<<<< YOU ARE HERE

Maggie http://maggiebscrapblog.blogspot.fr
Chrissy http://craftychrissycreates.blogspot.co.nz
Leslie http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com
Elaine http://chidkids26.blogspot.co.uk
Karen http://www.karenscorneroftheweb.blogspot.com
Susanne http://snapsandsnippets.blogspot.com
Virginia http://celtichouse.blogspot.co.uk
Cindy http://www.cindyscreations-cinmfoster.blogspot.com
Lisa http://lisahausmann.blogspot.de

Love a Lazy Day!

After a hectic half term week today is a PJ day.

It doesn't matter that I've had two visitors already this morning

 (they know all about my PJ days)

I refuse to get out of my PJs!!

Day23 of LOAD already and today is all about scrapping the future.

Whilst I think about that one here are a couple of cards that I've ticked of my sisters list

(which I left until the last minute - RESOLVE quicker next time!)

This one I saw on Pinterest so could be another

See It Pin It Do It - a meme by Fiona

 Anyway, back to LOAD and the future.
This layout is mainly about her future job prospects.

" 2014
You are such a wonderful girl. Caring, kind and loving
and always a happy smiling face.
Astronaut, vet, firefighter, student, employee or whatever you become
just BE YOU and you will be the best.
Follow your dreams and become who you want to be,
not what others want you to be.
Always be you and you will always be loved"

Can You Capture Noise?

Myth or reality: The photos you use have to match the event or topic you are scrapbooking

Here is a "posed for" photo taken on our Florida Road Trip last year
 and although I should probably scrapbook about the holiday
 I actually wanted to tell the general story of how much DD and DH
always find their own entertainment in anything they do.
 It's such a shame that "giggles" can't be captured in a photo
 but I hope that this layout will tell that story to many generations to come.

Today I am also joining in with the first monthly challenge over at

The Studio Challenges Blog

The idea is to create a layout about love and use the following colour pallette

Will you join in?

There's a few days left (2nd March) and also a chance to win a voucher from AbsoluteSCRAP.

One Week To Go...

So today I am three quarters of the way through my first ever LOAD.

I've had a few difficulties along the way but none that have phased me or stopped me in my tracks.

Yesterday's LOAD was all about including quotes etc on your page and asked...

If you include a quote on your pages it should be from a real book or a famous person

I took the liberty here to scrap a poem that DD wrote for me last Mother's Day.

It brought a few tears to my eyes I can tell you!

 Who knows, she maybe famous one day!

Today is all about scrapping a different size ....

Myth or reality: Scrapbook pages are either 12x12 or 8.5x11

Well I suppose 95% of mine are 12x12 but I do occasionally add in the odd 6x6, 8x8 as I think it gives albums a more interesting feel.
Today I have created a 6x12 to slot into my album.

"Celebrate New Pants
Here you are showing off your new Duck Dynasty Knickers.
I wonder if you realised that I would be scrap it when you lifted your skirt 
to pose for the photo!!!"

Back to Life, Back to Reality!!!

A few days away in the countryside with DD and DH have been lovely.

The cottage was right in the middle of nowhere and we were serenaded every night by an owl

BUT

what a major panic when the wifi went down on the second day.

Being in a huge valley meant no 3G and no way of uploading my layouts to the LOAD gallery.

Arrggghhh!

A 2 mile drive found me sitting outside someone's house to log on to their wifi on the first night and a hike up a huge hill the next day allowed me to access 3G.

One thing is for sure, it's amazing how much we rely on the internet these days.

Anyway here are LOAD 17, 18 and 19...

It has been lovely to sit and enjoy my hobby in the same room as DD and DH 

as, at home, we are usually in separate rooms around the house.

To Kit or Not To Kit?

I don't know about you, but if I'm going to a crop or a retreat

I try to put a few kits together beforehand.

I find it helps with the packing process as I always tend to take too much.

 On my recent trip to Penny's Retreat and knowing I had two "moustache" photos to scrap,

I'd put a little kit together to make things a bit easier.

Not the greatest of photos but it's the only one of DH's bum fluff 

as he joined in with Movember at work.

They raised a considerable amount of money for Prostrate Cancer.

You can see the other layout HERE.

I am running my own retreat in March and I think a lot of kits will be required for 

3 days and nights of scrapping!!!

AWOL!

A quick share today.

I promise I am still doing my LOAD and uploading to the site but while I'm away it's easier to schedule than try blogging from my phone!

Here are two layouts from Penny's retreat back in January.

I loved this kit we were provided with - I still have a few bits left too!

SIPIDI - See It, Pin It, Do It!

A visit to Gemma's blog a couple of weeks ago 

brought my attention to a brand new meme.

This meme, brought to you by Fiona, 

is probably something we all need to be joining in with 

especially if you are a Pinterest fan!

Now, how many times have you "pinned" something "to do later" 

and how many time have you "done it later"?

I am terrible for "pinning" and never getting around to doing so this meme

See It, Pin It, Do It

is just perfect.

Here is my To Make At Some Point board.

Out of 20 pins, I have previously made just one back in December 2012 - that is until now!

I will join in with SIPIDI at least once a month and here is my first of (hopefully) many.

You can view the pin HERE

Such an easy card to make with lots of possibilities!

Will you join in and get those projects started?

Deeper Stories Can Be Told

The myth is stay positive when you scrapbook. 

No one wants to hear the tough stuff. Wrong!

The idea today is to scrap about something that has been difficult in your life so that generations to come can read about it and either laugh, understand or feel sorry for you!!!

The topic for this one is really easy for me...

"1994 saw the end of my dream career as an Aircraft Mechanic in the Royal Navy.
This brought dark days, depression & arguments a plenty.
Today & 20 years later. 18 tablets a day get me through
& I thanks my lucky stars that I can  celebrate life"

The "deeper" story and my feelings can be found inside the envelope.

I am linking this layout up with The Studio Challenges.
Their second challenge of the month is to create a layout with no photo.
Why not join in, you have until the 2nd of March if you fancy linking up.

A Quick Card...

...is the challenge today at the Counterfeit Kit Blog

Challenge #3: 10 Minute Craft Dash.  
Time yourself and scout's honor because you have TEN MINUTES to make a card.  

This Valentines's card was super simple to make and took less than 5 minutes to create but

shhhhhh!

don't tell the husband - he thinks I spent hours on it!!!

End of the Month Blog Hop:

On the 24th of each month we offer a blog hop opportunity to all of our followers!  A chance for you to show off a special project made with your counterfeit kit for that month.

Here is how it will work:

Your Blog Hop Project may be from any of the 3 challenges we offer throughout the month.

Your project must be something new that you have not shown before and only post for the hop.

To be a part of our blog hop:

1.  E-mail us your name/blog address/promise to participate at counterfeitkitchallenge@yahoo.com  BY THE 18th!  (No late requests will be able to join this time due to the work it takes for us to get it put together.)

2.  You will receive  an e-mail from us by the 20th with a list of the hop participants.

3.  You will need to schedule your own blog post showing your project based on this challenge and links to the person after you in the hop.

4.  All Blog Hop posts will need to be scheduled to go live on the 24th at 12:00 A.M. Mountain Standard Time (Arizona)

Knowing Me, Knowing You!!!

A-haaaaaa.
(have I got you all singing now?)

Yesterday was officially the halfway point for my first LOAD and
LOAD14 was just up my street...
 Myth or reality: 

Scrapbook supplies are purchased from scrapbook specialty stores.

Not on your Nelly!!!
I will use whatever I find useful to create my pages and in the past have used all manner of things not bought from a specialty store! 

Today I have used the inside cardboard packaging from a Mullerlight yogurt 6 pack
to create my circles before cutting one of the circles out to create a frame for my photo which I embossed.

 Back to today and LOAD15 once again brings up a question 
I asked YOU a couple of days ago!
 Myth or reality: Don’t ever use the same photo twice 
Well, you know me, and those favourite photos that I have scrapped a few times already and today you're going to see one (or 4) of them again!
I have scrapped this photo (I think) twice before and 
today I'm using my homemade forged background paper and embellishments from my 
February Counterfeit Kit, "For The Love of Paper" 
and you can print this paper HERE either as a 12x12 or 3x4

There is no journalling as all the little words tell the story.

Ran Out of Time

LOAD13
Myth or Reality: 
Does good scrapbook journalling always mean a complete sentence?

Considering I don't often journal then my answer would be "no" .
Today I just plain ran out of time 
and quickly threw a digi together but I'm still on target...

I hope I can get back to normal paper cutting tomorrow!

Made!

Myth or reality: Scrapbook supplies are purchased, always.

Definitely not! Especially when you're a Master Forger.

Being on the Counterfeit Kit design time with some fabulous ladies, we are always thinking about making and forging our own supplies.

For today's LOAD I have created my own background and made my own tag, arrows and letters. (Not very creative but I love how it's turned out!)
 The only thing not made is the date label.

The photo is DD wearing her new "joke" hat on Boxing Day. 
She is an absolute nightmare when it comes to anything "flying" and she imitates a windmill just perfectly.
The journalling states...
"we are hoping that your new hat with stop those windmilling arms 
on our upcoming trip to Madagascar"

My Eyes Have Gone All Wonky!

Challenge #2: Angled Background challenge

is now live over at the
Counterfeit Kit Blog.

This is my assigned challenge for the month and to be honest I was a bit worried how these wonky angles would turn out so much so that I put it off for so long that I nearly missed the deadline!!!

 DD created the photo a couple of years ago. The writing underneath states...
"It's only when you get older, you realise how fast time goes by"

My kit this month "For the Love of Paper" 
is going a long way and I still have lots left to use.
Have you got plenty of "kit" left, will you have enough to join in with our blog hop on the 24th - have you emailed to let us know that you're in?
All the details on how to join in are in the CKCBlog

No.79

Firstly today I noticed that a layout I created for the  

The Studio Challenges January Sketch

  was one of the DT favourites - thank you for featuring my layout on the blog post :)

Secondly is One Photo & Twenty Words created by Abi over at Creating Paper Dream...

Mouthwateringly delicious, I tucked in and savoured every scrumptious forkful.

A girl needs a little treat after Friday weigh-in.

And thirdly, you guessed it Day 11 of LOAD...

Myth or reality: 

When you scrapbook you have to use the same process every time.

 I don't think I use any process to be honest so here's the first prompt that has me flummoxed!

I'll sometime choose a photo first or a title but then another time I will choose the papers first and find a photo to match. A sketch challenge or a colour combo are options too as I have plenty of challenges to be joining in with  BUT I want something different this time!

Earlier today I commented on the LOAD discussion board...

"Just thinking about today's and wondering where the prompt will take me.
One thing I don't do is look at the gallery until I've finished my own layout as I don't like to be "influenced" by the fab work that I see there!"

And that's when the lightbulb moment came, that is exactly what I will do today, choose a layout from the LOAD photo board and lift it.

So I scrolled and scrolled and scrolled (favouriting along the way) until I could scroll no more and had 88 layouts in my "favourites".

I then asked my facebook friends to choose a number from 1 to 88 and the first person to comment chose No.79 which is this lovely layout by MajicInOz and I hope she doesn't mind!

"At the going down of the sun,

we will remember them"