I Did - Will You?

Last month saw the launch of my new monthly meme

Do Something...MAD

The idea is to Make A Difference by doing something, giving something, making something

or anything else for that matter to brighten someone's day and hopefully raise a smile.

My little gesture this month was something I've wanted to do for a while now.

In our local Asda, there is one lady who always falls over herself to help you.

She tries so hard and always with a smile.

A few days ago, she once again went out of her way to make my life a little easier

and I wanted to let her know so apart from

just telling the management I took her just a small bunch of flowers

and the smile I received in return made a difference to me too.

Thank you to all of you who have commented and taken part.

Please link up at the bottom of my post if you

Do something...MAD
The link will be visible on the 1st of the month

Thank you Carmen for the badge idea!!!

It's not the best but it's a start!!!

Were You Quick?

Today I'm sharing my final layout using the very lovely

Prosperity Kit

from 

Wearcrafts.

This is the April Kit in Jen's 12 Pledges - a monthly kit released

at the end of each month to tie in with her Friday crop.

These kits usually fly out of the door and as it was released a few days ago now

then you'll be very lucky if there are any left HERE.

My 3rd and final layout using the £5 kit shows 

Mummy toad carrying her baby around our back garden last year.

The baby is nearly as big as her!!!

I have used my printer to journal around the edge of my layout and die cut

from the scraps - this way I have avoided adding anything to the kit.

Now a little promise from me - you are not going to want to miss the May Kit.

Be sure to get your name down quick as I know it won't be around for long!!!!

It's All Gone!

Yes, that's right, my April kit is all gone, done and dusted, there is nothing left...

zilch, nada, nothing!!

Here is the last layout using my "April Fancy" Counterfeit Kit

I used up my letters but highlighted my title with a white pen.

Did you manage to kill your kit this month?

Be Quick!

The April Kit - Prosperity was released by 

Wearcrafts

on Friday and it is certainly selling fast.

So before it flies off the shelves and you're left disappointed,

hop on over HERE to grab yourself a bargain or two!

I was lucky enough to play with the £5 kit and managed 3 layouts

without any difficulty at all.

I love spending time with my daughter these days - we are like best friends 

but she is growing too fast for my liking.

I'm sure she must have been standing on something in that photo as

she surely can't be that much taller than me - can she?

These papers from Prima are beautiful and ones that I probably wouldn't have personally chosen.

It just goes to show that whatever we get our hands on we can make it work.

If this collection is not something you would normally buy just take a look on PINTEREST

and see the gorgeous projects that can be achieved

then hop back to Wearcrafts to grab our bargains!!!!

And don't forget, Jen is holding a very special event for
National Scrapbooking Day
and you can sign up HERE on Facebook now.
It's all online so you can attend from the comfort of your own home.
Even if you can't join in on the day you will have a week to catch up.
What are you waiting for - go, go, go!!!!

Feet

Our Beautiful World

 encourages us to share the world through our camera lens.

I came across this blog courtesy of fellow Master Forger, Julene

and due to the fact that, as a family, travelling is high up there on our LOVE list,

I decided to join in.

This week the prompt is "transport"

and what better way to get around than to use our feet?

Most of us are very lucky in the fact that we can

but there are many that can't.

Saying that, so many people amaze me in how they overcome their 

disabilities and achieve great things.

Trending!

Challenge YOURself
is a blog that encourages us to create layouts
about ourselves.
Yep, that's us, scrapbookers who stay behind the camera and hardly ever
get into photos.
Since I've been joining in with their challenges I have been consciously making
more of an effort to get someone else to take the photos.
Having recently bought a new camera my old one was donated to DH who is now very snap happy
and taking some pretty good shot so expect lots more layouts with yours truly in them!!!
You have been warned!!!
So, onto Challenge#5
Something Trendy!

Put those scrapbooking trends to work on your page!  
Use a minimum of THREE trendy things on your layout. 
 List your items.  
Don't forget to include a photo of YOU in your layout.

Arrows, chevrons, cork, wooden shapes, chalkboard, vellum etc, all spring to mind
but what have I got in my stash that I can call trendy?

First and foremost I found a photo of me on our Florida travels last year.
We always play crazy golf on our road trips and after losing the first game, DD pleaded for a second
and guess what, she lost again - hee hee!

Flair, wooden shapes, puffy stickers, bling and arrows are all included on my layout
so I think that fits in with the trending theme
as does my very colourful background paper from Sassafrass.
Those cute ATC 2"x 2" Journal Cards are available from
Wearcrafts (a pack of 60 for a mere £4) as are the frames.
I love the Leeza Gibbons collection - not only is it so versatile, not just for pocket pages
but it is great value for money and goes a very long way...

May 5th is the closing date so get trending!

Prosperity

pros•per•i•ty (prɒˈspɛr ɪ ti) 

n.

a successful, flourishing, or thriving condition, esp. in financial respects; good fortune

It's your lucky day!
Today sees the release of the new
12 Pledges Kit - Prosperity
over at

Wearcrafts

and believe me, you don't want to miss out for two reasons...
1. the contents are just gorgeous
2. the price is unbelieveable

I have made 3 layouts using just the basic kit and the first I am sharing here with you today...

This layout shows how the lack of technology on a recent trip to Yorkshire
made us appreciate the smaller things in life and the time we spent together became more special.
We never did finish that jigsaw though!

I die cut my letters from some of the papers
and therefore it wasn't necessary to add anything to my kit.

The kit comprises of:

Love Letter, Roses are Red, Red Romance and Side Note and are all from the 

Stationer's Desk Collection by Prima Marketing Inc.

as well as a set of Prima Lace Stickers, 12x12 pearlescent cardstock and ribbon

The normal value of the kit is £6 so, at just £5 you're getting 15% off!

Just look at all these wonderful creations made from Stationer's Desk

These kits don't last long so be quick if you want to get your hands on this or the two add-ons!!!
All available HERE

Jen is also one of the wonderful sponsors offering a prize for the

So make sure you get the dates on your calendar - you wouldn't want to miss out!!!

A Big Title in Numbers

Hey there! Thank you for hopping over from Isbaha today.
How was she in her little corner of France?

Having recently stumbled across Grey's Anatomy I wanted to capture my love of it in a layout.

Using my Counterfeit Kit and a couple of added embellishments I embarked on another attempt at 

CH#3-Big Titles

Using a new chevron mask, I used my inks to highlight my background around
where my photo would be centred.
I was originally going to use one of the numbers on the "grid" paper but then,

just at the right time, my feedly told me that

The Studio Challenges

had a challenge to use numbers in your title or journalling - Perfect!!

Many thanks for hopping by today, I would love to hear what TV programme you are hooked on before you leave to see which challenge Annie has joined the hop with.

The full blog hop list is at the bottom of this post just in case you get lost along the way

And don't forget...

there are some amazing prizes to be had!!!!

CKCB           http://www.counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com

Jemma         http://just-jimjams.blogspot.co.uk

Tina              http://tinasscrapcorner.blogspot.com

Isbaha          http://isbahashome.blogspot.fr

Lesley          http://ohblogitifyoucantbeatthem.blogspot.co.uk

Annie            http://www.artyfartyannie.co.uk

Elaine           http://chidkids26.blogspot.co.uk

Leslie           http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com

Kate             http://kateblue.blogspot.com

Virginia         http://celtichouse.blogspot.co.uk

Kim              http://texassantagertrudis.blogspot.com

Maggie         http://maggiebscrapblog.blogspot.fr

Julene          http://julenebydesign.blogspot.com.au

Lisa              http://lisahausmann.blogspot.de

{Op}Posed

Did you see what I did with my title?

Here's another one of those photos of my husband acting the fool

when he sees the camera come out!

I created this layout at the last crop I attended and a couple of my fellow

croppers suggested he looked like 

Reece Shearsmith from The Widower,

a three-part drama based on the crimes of convicted murderer Malcolm Webster.

Thanks guys!

I think he looks more like Kenneth Williams.

Anyway, this is another layout created from my April Counterfeit Kit

which is now much depleted which means, apart from the blog hop tomorrow,

I'm all set to start on our May Kit!!!

Don't forget, the Counterfeit Kit Blog is having a two day

National Scrapbooking Day celebration

with lots of prizes to be had.

Don't forget to join us!!!!

Guest Spot!

I've had such a lovely Easter Sunday with my girl today.

A nice relaxing Costa followed by some retail therapy before watching the crappiest of films ever

at the cinema. Now I know why I don't venture to the cinema very often...

It's far to expensive when a film turns out to be as rubbish as Locke.

If you were thinking of going to see it, save your money!!!

To top it all off I have won a Guest Designer spot over at The Studio Challenges Blog

for my "Love of Music" layout - I'm watching my inbox like a hawk :)

Now for another layout from my April Counterfeit Kit and it seems I'm getting a bit soppy

in my old age as it's another one showing my feelings for DH - he's getting a big head you know!

I'm still loving the vellum but with not much of my kit left I think I'll be needing to

move onto something else!

Whatever you're doing I hope you're having a great Easter break.

Here's One I Made Earlier...

The last couple of days have been spent sorting out my clothes.

I have one of those lift up beds full of a variety of outfits as well as a huge wardrobe

with far too many clothes for anyone to ever wear.

My Mum does a lot for the Hope House charity

and I always give my unwanted items to her as I know it's all going to

an absolutely wonderful cause.

I still haven't finished but so far have 4 bin bags full of clothes for the shop.

It's not that I just keep buying clothes but the fact that I hate to get rid of things - so I store them,

you know, "just in case".

Also having lost a bit of weight lately I can get rid of the bigger clothes as I am so determined NOT to put that weight back on.

Will you help me?

Those of you who read my blog and see me in real life (whether regularly or occasionally)

I NEED you to promise me that IF you see those pounds going back on

you MUST tell me and I PROMISE not to thump you ;)

Thank you!!!

Anyway, onto a layout I made a while ago.

Whilst playing with my Cricut.

I decided to cut some words...

 I used fotor.com again to print the photos in three heart shapes.

Think I'm getting slightly obsessed with that website!

I do like how this layout has turned out though.

Don't forget there is still time to Do Something...MAD

and link up - go on Make A Difference

Would I Lie To You?

Well, yes is the answer but only because it was a little game we were playing

over at the Counterfeit Kit blog!

Do you remember our kit reveal at the beginning of the month

when all us Master Forgers asked if you could guess which

one of our facts was a little Porky Pie?

My 3 facts were...

1. I own, at least, 100 pairs of shoes.

2.  I can speak 5 different languages.

3.  My middle name is Jane

I can now reveal my untruth - No.3, Jane is NOT my middle name

which means that yes I do own at least 100 pairs of shoes

(ssshhhh, don't tell my husband!) and English, Welsh, Spanish, French and German

are all languages that I can "speak" - well I certainly took exams in them all a loooong time ago!!!

Thanks for playing along with us, our leader is announcing the overall winner HERE today

 and don't forget that Lisa, a fellow Master Forger was also offering her very own prize too.

While I'm here I thought I would share a layout I created using my April Counterfeit Kit

 I used fotor.com to create my photos hexagon style but there are loads more ways

to create different photos to add to your layouts.

I'm loving my badge maker too - being able to make just the right flair to add to a project

is pretty good I'll have you know!

Coming soon... 

...to a computer near you!!!
 
Thanks for popping by today - happy creating!

BIG Title

I don't know about you but I don't do a lot of journalling so a big title works well for me and hopefully tells the story without too much added effort of extra journalling.
The Counterfeit Kit Blog has a new challenge up today which is therefore quite perfect for me!

Challenge #3: Big Titles!  
Use a BIG TITLE (or sentiment) on your project

I love this photo of my husband.

If you're a follower of my blog, you will know that he always plays the fool when the camera is out

so I never usually get a nice photo of him.

This one was captured in February as we were out walking trying to get a 3G signal so I could upload a layout to the LOAD gallery.

I love the backgroud paper as it needed no work whatsoever.

I coloured my wooden circle as the plain look just didn't do it for me.

All the layers can't really be seen in the photo but there are plenty.

Vellum seems to be back in fashion and I am loving that I have loads in my kit tio use this month.

My fellow Master Forger Jemma had some great ideas in her post HERE.

I've used a few buttons, a bit of twine and gems to highlight my homemade flair.

 Will you have a go at challenge#3 this month?

Maybe you could join in with our blog hop on the 24th?

Just email

  counterfeitkitchallenge@yahoo.com

 by the 18th to let us know that you want to take part and don't forget you can join in with any one of our challenges from this month. 

Feeling is Better! (Part One)

On my recent visit to Durham, I landed on Jen's doorstep and got the most fabulous of welcomes.

We chatted and drank coffee and then I had the pleasure of getting my paws on some fabulous stash from her Wearcrafts shop.

It's amazing how things look so much different (and often better) in real life.

Over the next few days I hope to show you what can be done with just a few of the items I got my hands on and that I probably would not have bought if I hadn't been so lucky to see them in my own hands.

This is the first item that I wanted to play with and it's available HERE is you fancy it yourself.

It's a pocket pad by Leeza Gibbons and has two of each of twelve designs inside. 

Having just seen the April Sketch Challenge over at

Life Paper Scrapbook...

I decided that the pockets would fit perfectly if I flipped the sketch 90 degrees clockwise.

I love this photo of the three of us.
Each of the tags will be used for each of us to write something about the photograph
and stored away for future generations to read.
(If she has kids that is!)

You have until April 28th if you fancy joining in with the LPS Sketch Challenge.

1P&20W

Today I'm joining in with Abi's Meme

One Photo and Twenty Words

Find out more and join in HERE

A beautiful and stunning chandelier, wasted!

It hangs but no light eminates.

What a waste! Torch anyone?

Failed Forger

Sorry, sorry and many more humble apologies.

Halfway home from Durham this morning I had one of those heart stopping moments when I realised it was April 12th and I hadn't scheduled my post.

Luckily for me, our wonderful Guest Designer Maggie had made the effort and her post is up and running.

I can't quite believe that I have been in such a time warp lately.
It's actually my sister's wedding anniversary today too so how could I forget it was the 12th of the month!?

Anyway, onto my take on Challenge#2 for the Counterfiet Kit Blog

Pocket Page Inspiration

I don'y know about you but I have hundreds of the pocket page 3x4 cards and I'm always keen to use them but NOT on PL style pages.

The one I have used here is a bigger size.

The colour, in my opinion, was a bit bold so I use a piece of vellum from my kit to tone it down slightly.

 

You can't realy see from the photo but I punched a star through the vellum so the sun could be seen shining brighter.

Anyway, as I type, I am down on bended knee begging forgiveness from all you forgers out there for being so remiss and promise to do better next time.

I hope you will join in with our hop on April 24th.

Don't forget since the rules changed, you can use ANY of the challenges to join in.

A Rockin Good Week!

What a week!

A fabulous few days in our capital city was enjoyed by us all.

From the train journey to the hotel and the lovely walks to the fabulous food and the Lion King, we had some great family time with only a slight bit of bickering!

After a bit of a nightmare with iPhones and a huge thanks to the Apple Store in Manchester, we were able to have another superb night with Elbow. This is the 7th time we have seen them and not once have they disappointed.

Arriving home, we discovered the boiler was defunct, the house freezing and no hot water.

DD and I decided to leave home early for our little trip North and this is the reason why...

I've been so looking forward to meeting this lovely lady and what a welcome she gave us. The lovely Jen, owner of Wearcrafts is indeed lovely. I was even allowed to enter her fabulous little shop and ooh and ahh over the delights she has in that little Aladdin's Cave of hers. I can't wait to start playing with my new bag of stash but, ssshhhh, don't tell DH! 

Jen even came out to see us last night and we sat and chatted over coffee (well that was Jen's tipple anyway!) like we'd known each other for years! I'm so looking forward to meeting her lovely croppers tonight at her weekly crop. Exciting times!!!

Being Ruthless!

Being ruthless is not in my nature but, boy has it made me feel cleansed!

I have been so busy these last couple of days having a really good craftroom clearout that I have completely forgotten to blog or scrap for that matter!

It's Friday again and Rocking Your World Friday has passed me by as has

CH#1 over at the Counterfeit Kit Blog.

This clearout of mine has been brutal and I now know execatly what I've got AND where it is.

The huge pile of layouts that have been gathering dust are now in albums and

all my "for sale" items have been advertised.

I have such a busy week ahead of me that there won't be much time to blog, 

Here's a layout I created a couple of weeks ago of me and my Daddy.

I love this photo (although my daughter pointed out I look like a tortoise!)

 and it's not the first time I've scrapped it.

I also love the quote (found on Pinterest) which is so true.

My journalling is hidden under the PL style card in the middle of the layout.

Don't foget my new meme Do Something...MAD, I would love for you to join in and link up.

Go on, make a difference, make someone smile!

April Kit with a Twist

It's April 1st!!

Have you played a trick on anyone this morning?

Or have you been tricked?

We are playing a bit of trick this month by having a bit of a change and by playing a little game.

If you came here from my namesake Leslie and her magic blue box, 

then you know that already right?

If not, and you've just stumbled here by mistake, then why not head back to the start and join in?

Maggie, our Guest Designer starts the hop this month and will delight us all month

with fabulous layouts and beautiful sunny photographs from her home in France.

So, this month, we haven't been given a kit to forge.

Instead Case File No112 from CSI

has been chosen to inspire us to design our own kit.

I had great fun looking through all those drawers and cupboards that rarely get opened to find some bits and bobs that would fit perfectly into he "evidence" part of my kit and of course following

"the scheme" for the colours.

You will see over the course of the month how I have incorporated

"the testimony" into my layouts.

There are delicate leaves and fancy lace, lovely vellums and delicate materials all included

in this month's kit which I have aptly named...

 "April Fancy" 
 to reflect all the prettiness that has been

included ...

Now, look at my 3 facts and guess which one is NOT true to be in with a chance of winning...

Post your guess in the comments of THIS post before April 16th.  

Only one guess per person will be counted.

1. I own, at least, 100 pairs of shoes.

2.  I can speak 5 different languages.

3.  My middle name is Jane

Before hopping over to Julene in Oz,
don't forget to let me know in the comments box which YOU think is NOT true about me

Guest Designer Maggie: http://maggiebscrapblog.blogspot.fr

Bethany: http://inspiredscrapper-bethany.blogspot.com

Stephanie:  http://skylinepaperie.blogspot.ca

Lynnette: http://www.sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com

Lisa: http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com

Leslie: http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com

Lesley: http://ohblogitifyoucantbeatthem.blogspot.co.uk

Julene: http://julenebydesign.blogspot.co.uk

Jemma: http://just-jimjams.blogspot.com

Angela: http://colestoucan.blogspot.co.uk