Oooops!!

Oh dear ...... I forgot about the give-away!
So very quickly I will reveal the winner (chosen randomly by my DS)

Jo C. at Sugarandscraps!!

Well done Jo :)))
I will be posting your stash when I recieve your postal details ok?

TTFN xx

My first give-away!

Okay. As promised last week. I would like to give away something to one of my lovely readers/followers :))

Some time ago I met my niece in Shrewsbury and we did some retail therapy (mostly window shopping!) and had lunch together. Of course one cannot go to Shrewsbury and not go in to the QVC shop. That would be too rude.

If I had more money I swear I would by loads & loads of crafty goodness from there as it is all so ridiculously cheap!! The box of goodies you see in the photos below is one of two I bought - in fact these were limited to 2 per customer and there weren't many left in the pile. Each box contains at least 8 sheets of double-sided card/paper and a set each of rub-ons, stickers & brads. The colour scheme is an unusual mix of dark reds, blues, greys & yellows. Very autumnal & very pretty :))



And as a little bonus there is a secret package too xx

If you would like to be included in the draw please let me know in the comments below and please pass the word around! Unfortunately I have to restrict the entrants to the UK & Northern Ireland because of the postage costs :( Sorry!

I will make the draw next Tuesday evening to give plenty of time for people to enter. Good luck and thankyou for reading my blog xx

2 x PPP layouts!

 



Hello! I have actually enjoyed the prompts from Shimelles Pretty Paper Party and I have even managed some layouts!! This one is inspired by prompt 4 to use spots & stripes together. Great fun and the ideal background for a fab photo of my niece & great niece :))

This one is from prompt 2 to use patterned background not cardstock! One of my fave photos of my boy :))

Its great to get some inspiration ........ I've even found time to prepare my JYC already!!

TTFN xx

Pretty Paper Party

 

This layout was made following the first prompt from Shimelles new class in which she suggested using strips of paper as a background. This school photo of me was taken c1969 when I was about 7 years old. I had long hair then & my mum would spend time making sure I looked presentable before I was allowed out of the door! I actually remember the pink & orange hair bobbles as I used to be able to snap them apart with my teeth & I can remember the texture & feel of them in my mouth lol ;-)

 

 

Do you have any peculiar memories you want to share?

Stash!!

Okay so I finally got round to updating my blog again!!
We have all enjoyed the last week off together for the half term break (Neil & I decided to book time off work too) and we have been busy visiting Neils daughter in south Wales, trips to the cinema, lunch at my parents and catching up with my niece & her whirlwind daughter!! All very lovely :)

But best of all I have rediscovered my mojo ... hoorah!! Thanks to the very lovely Shimelle and her wonderful inspirational Pretty Paper Party we have been given some great ideas as to how we can best use our stash and some very useful tips too.
Firstly she invited us to share photos of our stash so here we go with mine

scraps or partially used sheets of patterned paper are sorted(ish) by colour
and in magazine holders

                              

cardstock, patterned papers, alphas and embellishments in two
3 drawer units from Asda Home (just about 12 x12)

my desk which is actually a wardrobe door found in one of those wonderful
 'gloryhole' type places where you have to rummage & delve to find treasure!
I think I'm overdue a tidy-up ;-)

So now you know where I work and some idea of what stash I have in there!
I have some layouts and another project to share in future posts ....... and a giveaway to be announced soon! So see you back here soon xx

Pretty Paper Party

WOW!! Thats a big photo isn't it?
But then she does love her cupcakes (and I have no idea how to alter the size of the image!) so its going to stay that way :)
Yes I have signed up for another class from the ever so clever Shimelle .... hopefully I will manage to stick with this one especially as we will be using lots of pretty paper that we all seem to have tucked away somewhere. 
Shimelle promises  "A four week celebration of pasting pretty paper to other pretty papers in an aesthetically pleasing manner." Which sounds just up my street ...... maybe my mojo is listening & will show up at some point! I think I belong to the Scrap Sorter kind of scrapper - I hate waste.

                    

The Scrap Sorter:

An inevitable part of papercrafting is

the partial sheet. The off-cuts, the left-overs, the

scraps. Call them what you will, but it’s rare that there

are no extra pieces of paper on the desk once a project

is finished. Now what to do with all those small pieces?

Scrap Sorters are dedicated to keeping all these small

pieces in case they come in handy for another project.

The most advanced Scrap Sorters have intricate

systems of filing these off-cuts by colour, pattern, size

or manufacturer; other Scrap Sorters tend to place all

these papers in one place without worry of further

organisation. The merit of this philosophy is widely

acknowledged as a strong return on the paper

investment... but it can be overwhelming to find the

scrapheap never stops growing.

Now all I have to do is replace a couple of colour cartridges in my printer & get printing some photos to scrap ;-)

What would you do?

I don't like waste. I am always bringing magazines/brochures home from the shop to save interesting bits & pieces before recycling them. I always ask if I can have any cards/wrap/boxes that have been 'written off'.

I think I have probably listened to my "creative soul" just once too often here though!!!

Theres no way I could let this display unit get thrown out! It served its purpose last year for displaying some hanging angels from the Willow Tree range but this year the owners have decided against using it & so were prepared to bin it. It had to come home with me didn't it?

the display unit without pegs for hanging the angels on
(plus gratuitous shot of my lovely bunting)

the pegs are cute but do I need them?

hey bunting! and butterfly!
AND sunshine spots :))))

So the question is folks ........ what would you do with it?

I have a couple of ideas but mainly I think it would make a great stable for my Nativity figures. It will need some straw or lolly sticks to cover the wording on the roof and its too tall so Neil will have to very carefully cut the sides down. I would then be left with a handful of pegs!!

It would be great to hear what your plans would be :-))

10 on the 10th

Goodness its been a whole month since I posted! I have decided to ditch Facebook again because it is a complete time/concentration eater and I have so many things I would rather be/should be doing ;-)
The 10th of September has crept up on me (due to lack of concentration) and even wishing my Dad happy Birthday yesterday didn't sound any alarms!! Therefore I am totally unprepared for 10 of anything lol. So I will have to give you 10 of my favourite photos from our little holiday in Wales last month - and get myself sorted in time for next month!!

I love doing these :)

Jake delighting in stamping on his Dads sandcastles

some of the beautiful sand dunes at Ynyslas Nature Reserve

lol!!

one of the gorgeous butterflies at the Butterfly House



icecream tastes so much better by the seaside!

The day we went on the Funicular Railway ..... and parked the wrong side of town!

me & my boy :)

I love the sunlight on the waves

the day we went on holiday was also my
 nephews wedding day so we had to dress up first.
Jake insisted on a red bowtie & I think he looks lovely
.......but too grownup!!

So thankyou for indulging me & my apologies again for being an absent blogger!
See you soon ....... I'm off to see what everyone else has been blogging xx

10 on the 10th!

This is my first '10 on the 10th' ! The lovely Shimelle has some fab ideas but I never seem to actually get my act together before the deadline lol. I decided to unearth my great great Aunts jewellery box that came to me when my Grandad had to downsize many years ago & he knew as I was the family historian that I would take care of it. Its nothing special ..... well it is to me!
Marion was born in the late 1800s in Manchester. She spent her career as a very much loved girls school headmistress. Sadly her fiance was killed in WW1 as was her brother Norman and she apparently spent many years in a fruitless search for their graves. In her later life she was unfortunately  the victim of burglary & lost many precious things. But this little box managed to remain in her possession until her death in 1972!

GreatGreat Aunt Marions box - battered but well loved!

When opened the box reveals its hidden treasure.
 I have chosen 10 items to show in more detail

Marion was a great traveller & was lucky to go to many exotic places.
This bracelet shows the major towns of Switzerland with the scenes painted onto enamel

Marions beloved brother Norman who was awarded the Military Medal
 for bravery under enemy fire. He died at Ypres in 1917 aged 23.
This mourning necklace also has a picture on the reverse side of her father

This is a handmade beaded choker sadly now falling apart

One of the brooches in the box. I think this is marcasite? It catches the light beautifully

This piece & another similar one confused me at first but I think I've worked out that
these clip on either side of a collar on a blouse or cloak. Purely for decoration.

This is a mourning brooch made of the famous Whitby Jet.
It has been broken over the years but if i have enough money one day I hope to restore it.
This also held the same photos as the necklace above/

The coral necklace & earrings.
I wore this necklace often but it had tightened over the years so we had it restrung
& its much better. Theres no way I could wear the screw on earrings though!

The joker in the pack?
This necklace is made if golden cotton(?) crochet work & golden beads
but seems to have a 1960s feel to it!

Another mourning brooch - poor Marion :(
I've shown the other side of the necklace with the photo of her father
(my great x3 Grandfather) James Wilson b1853

Last but not least is little chap. My favourite I think. I dont know what he is made of or why she had him
in there but he adds a certain whimsy to the collection don't you think?

So thats my 10 on the 10th for August! Do you have a favourite?
Thanks for reading xx

Look what I made!!

WARNING the following photos are complete rubbish. Sorry. lol.

I have had this project in mind for ages & ages ..... and it finally came to fruition! I am lucky to be able to snaffle a few bits & pieces at work that would be thrown away after use ie promotional or seasonal material. I cannot bear waste. Therefore I have a stash of boxes, calendars, wrapping paper, gift bags etc in my craftroom waiting to be re-used/repurposed. Earlier this year I "rescued" the Tatty Ted hearts mobile that was hanging over the Carte Blanche valentine stock as I wanted to try & make a mobile for my 4yr old greatnieces new 'princess' bedroom at her new home.
After much swearing & gnashing of teeth today I finally got to finishing the mobile & Im really pleased with it :))

The large heart is the original valentine one that I covered with some pretty pink flowery paper and the smaller ones I have used the hearts I cut-out of the same Juicy Lucy calendar that was used for the Thankyou Teacher gifts a couple of weeks ago!

Sorry about the dreary photos but I was getting the pics done in a rush :(
I think Ella is going to absolutely love this in her Very Pink Bedroom. I hope so anyway!!

Thanks for looking xx

And the winner is .........

...... Jo Sowerby!! You are going to be in reciept of this fabulous book just as soon as you let me know your postal address :) Send me an email at hethpet@gmail.com.

Congratulations Jo & commiserations to all the others who entered the draw (my 8 year old did the draw for me!) 
xx

ETA visit Jo's blog curlyscrapbooker!! Sorry I didn't make it clear which Jo I meant lol ;-/

Pass The Book!

Ok so it really is time I let this fabulous book go on its way! I do hope the next recipient will be just as happy with this book as I have been to have it in my life. Some of it just wasn't "me" but other parts really spoke to me & revealed an awful lot about how I see myself and the world around me.

Inner Excavations by Liz Lamoreux started its journey around the world with Sian in her blog
From High In The Sky in January of this year and I am the 4th person to own it (albeit briefly). From Sian in Ireland its been to the South Coast of England and then over to the USA for two lucky readers before coming back over the pond to me in Shropshire!

Would you like to be the next reader/borrower? Let me know in the comments section below or send me an email at hethpet@gmail.com & I will add your name to the draw. I hope to make the draw on Wednesday 3rd August so that gives  you 7 days to enter :)

And yes I will post it to anywhere in the world!!

In my garden today......



..... I was idly re-reading parts of "Inner Excavations" before I 'Pass The Book'

on to the next lucky recipient. I decided to do a few quick snapshots of

 my garden in the beautiful sunshine we have today.

This is quite photo-heavy so please bear with me!!

 We have been waiting patiently for this lily plant to flower (its companion has bloomed ages ago!)

The hippo is a friend from long ago when I collected hippos in all shapes & sizes!!

 Fuchsias are so so pretty don't you think?

 This is a favourite corner of the garden and I put this photo

on picnic & used the 'cross process' effect

Also waiting patiently .....actually very impatiently......
for these tomatoes to ripen up!!

Flo having a dust bath!

This will soon be a rockery/desert garden with lots
 of stones & drought loving plants

The sunflower that mysteriously appeared ..... presumably a seed was dropped by a bird!

Flo taking it easy on the trampoline after all that hard work taking a dustbath

Jake rarely uses the trampoline as he has a phobia of spiders

 & other creatures so she is very safe on here!

I hope you enjoyed your tour ..... I did :)