Rockin All the Way to Cardiff

Good morning/afternoon/evening!!
It's Friday again which can only mean it's

 with Virginia over at Celtic House

Today finds me on a journey down to Cardiff for a scrap happy weekend.
 I am sure I will have more to share on that next Friday!!


 Back to this week

and since I saw you last
I have rocked in another 2lb loss
and am now at Club 10!!!

Saturday was the dreaded dentist appointment to refill that empty hole in my tooth caused by eating that chocolate eclair - I am happy that I went and got it over with but was a nervous wreck on Saturday morning. It wasn't as bad as I'd expected, I think paying £49 for the privilege caused the most pain!

Sunday was spent just chillin' in my PJ's and not really doing much at all - love those kinda' days!
A phone call with Mum and Dad made me happy - they've been away for a week and I miss not being able to talk to them.

Monday - don't Mondays just come round too fast?
The usual Monday morning catch up cuppa with a friend always brings laughter
and I'm always grateful for that.
A blog revamp brought some good, constructive feedback from my lovely readers for which I was very grateful. I think we got there and I love the new look.
And yes, all that washi is mine (plus another 8 rolls I found later!)

 This is how it is usually stored...

on a trousers hanger that I found at a car boot for £1!

Tuesday - caught up with another friend over a cuppa. Had a lovely chat and catch up. We don't see each other very often but we love to gossip and put the world to rights when we do.
A bit of good news from DH brought smiles and relief too.

Wednesday - I has signed up to do a mystery shop - I haven't done one in ages and now I remember why! All the things you have to remember and all the specific questions that need to be asked - flippin'eck, I don't think I'll be another one! Oh well, made myself a tenner in the 20 minute process so I can't really complain.

Yesterday (Thursday) I packed up my cropping gear, weekend bag and a "naughty" bag
 before indulging in relaxation and retail therapy.
I had booked myself in for a stress free afternoon in the floatation tank followed by a lovely massage to prepare me for my trip to Cardiff. Well it will be hard work pushing all that paper around!
Being so close to Broughton Retail Park and not having to worry about getting home, I then whiled away a couple of hours wandering around the shops.


So, back to today and, by now I'm either getting ready, driving down the motorway or cropping in Cardiff
(if you're really late reading this - Happy Easter!)

A pretty good week all in all - what rocked your week?
Fancy sharing...?

I Used a Stamp!!!!

It's already time for

Challenge #3: Stamping on Patterned Paper:
Stamp an image onto patterned paper and use it as a page element.

at the the Counterfeit Kit blog.

It was my daughter's 15th birthday at the beginning of the month so I decided that I would make her card as part of this challenge and I can tell you she absolutely loved it.

She nearly caught me photographing it a couple of days before her birthday and had a sneaky look on my blog to see if I'd blogged it!

Anyway, you'll see that the bottom half of the card has been stamped with a large background stamp. 
This wasn't part of my Counterfeit Kit and neither were the gems and lace but I do throw a few added extras in when necessary

 

What will you make as part of Challenge#3?
Will this be the challenge project that you use for the blog hop?
Remember, you can use any challenge to join in the blog hop and we would love you to take part, just email
 counterfeitkitchallenge@yahoo.com
by the 18th

Revamp!

As you may have noticed, my blog has been revamped.

I got fed up with the boring background so this morning I've been having a play.

I think I like it, but how is it to you the reader?

Background too bright? Does the photo need to be black and white?

Writing not bold enough?

Please let me know what you think as you are the lovely people who come back day after day to read it!

While you're deciding and hopefully giving me some feedback

I am off to retrieve the four rolls of washi that fell behind my cooker whilst taking the photo!!

What do you think?

You may need sunglasses!

Over at Punky Scraps the inspiration/mood board for January is rather bright

don't you think?

I was slightly worried as I had absolutely nothing is my stash which contained such bright colours apart from a sticker sheet and some matching material brads.

However, luckily for me, I was able to use some of a friend's matching paint at my recent crop and sticking to usual white background I ended up with a layout that I really quite like

(even if I do need sunglasses to look at it)

I am off to a retreat soon and one of the pre-retreat challenges is to use ONLY pink, black, white, silver/grey so this one will be having a weekend holiday in Cardiff!!!

What bright colours will you be adding to your project?

Don't forget to link up and show us your stuff....

Is it a Jar, is it a Basket, is it a Vase?

When I saw my assigned  Counterfeit Kit challenge for this month 

Challenge #2: Container Challenge:  
Use a jar, basket, vase...some sort of container in a clever way on your project.

I was a little confused about what it meant and imagined all kinds of things...

a jar stuffed with scrapbook paper? a vase with paper flowers? or a basket made out of my lovely 12x12s? - why on earth would I want to do anything like that?


Then, in keeping with my 2014 word "resolve" I looked up to see who was having a birthday in the coming weeks and decided to take this opportunity to make a card

So, to answer my own question...
 Is it a Jar, is it a Basket, is it a Vase?
NO - it's a birthday card for my Mother-in-Law

 I simply printed a picture from Google Images for my jar and coloured it in using ProMarkers.

 

How will you interpret Challenge#2 and will you be joining in the blog hop on the 24th with your creation?
Email
counterfeitkitchallenge@yahoo.com
 by the 18th if you want to take part.
 

Not My Style BUT...

...I do love how this heritage page has turned out.

I find it quite interesting to see how differently I and others can scrap sometimes.

As you know, my backgrounds are 98% always white with quite a modern feel so when Jen sent me some "French Country" papers from the Graphic 45 range I was very unsure whether I would actually be able to use them.

I had this copied photo of my Mum as a baby which I had wanted to scrap for a while but all my modern papers with their chevrons and bright colours just didn't do it.

Although I have used modern items on my page, the layout still has a heritage feel to it.

Do you use papers that you wouldn't normally use?

Do you stick to buying the same things over and over because you're not sure how you would use something different?

Maybe this is the time to use something different - go on, challenge yourself!!!

Friday Rockin!

Have you joind in with Virginia's

Rocking Your World Friday???

It's a great way to look back at your week and celebrate the positives rather than dwelling on the negatives.

With Christmas out of the way, I am back on track and I lost the 1lb I put on over the festive period.

Saturday was Crop Day, I love a good crop and the girls were on form as usual.

I did feel bad about being out on my daughter's 15th birthday but I did get permission from said teenager.

She had some lovely gifts from friends and family and her best friend made her a cake too!!

Scary photo!

I bought DD a lottery ticket (amongst other things) for her birthday using significant "life" numbers.
She won £25!!!

Sunday -  a lazy day followed by the last night at the panto.

We had already been back in December but she wanted to go again so who was I to say no!!!???

Monday - a visit to the Orthodondist on her last day off school made DD happy as she doesn't need a brace. Treated her to a Costa and she relaxed in the bath for an hour.

Tuesday - Aaaaahhhhh, the house all to myself once again - it's amazing how much more can be achieved when it's just me and the dog. My desk is clear of ALL paperwork - a lovely feeling (until the next lot arrives)

Clear desk and empty "in tray"

Wednesday -  catch up with DH on all the things I can't talk to him about while he's "on shift" - I might as well talk to a brick wall as his brain switches off when he gets home from work.

Happy Post
I received a parcel in the post today from Gemma - took part in her PIF last year

Just look at what she made for me.
There's a little glass inside to put a tea light in too

Isn't it lovely?

Thursday - woke up to a happy email stating that two of my layouts will be published in the online magazine Life Paper Scrapbook at the end of the month - I'll shout a bit louder nearer the time so you can see for yourself ;)

Also this week, I plucked up the courage to make an appointment (there's no saying I'll go but I've made the first step!) to have my tooth refilled after the filling fell out on Christmas Day - no more toffees for me!

How has your week rocked? Why not share your highs?