Thought for the day!

Have a smile on me................

Birds of a feather flock together and crap on your car.

The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat have become really good friends.

If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.

The sole purpose of a child's middle name is so you can tell him when he's really in trouble.

There's always a lot to be thankful for if you take time to look for it. For example I am sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt .

The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.

You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.

Ah, being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.

First you forget names, then you forget faces. Then you forget to pull up your zip. It's worse when you forget to pull it down.

Long ago when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft.
Today, it's called golf .

Lord, keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth...AMEN!

Gold.

Just a quick visit tonight to show you my afternoon's work!I was making this little book for the mystery kit challenge on UKS. I am done and dusted in plenty of time and ready to upload when I realise I am in the Comedy Kings team and not the Musical Melodies! So it is no good! Anyway I enjoyed making it so it can go on here instead!

I used exactly (well less in fact!) what I was allowed to make this little 'purse' which opens out into an accordion book!





I think it's quite a cool little book and for the time it took me I am pleased with how it turned out. It just captures some of the memories of the night!

Back soon.

Busy, busy, busy!

Well, it seems to have been a busy week. I don't know where the time has gone. I am still trying to find a dress for Sarah's wedding and have finally found two possibilities. One is a floaty blue trouser suit which John and William hate but I like. And the other is a skirt and top in purpley pink colours which we all like. I will have to try them on and decide. I have ordered the flowers and button holes so that is another thing crossed off my list. We have sorted Rhianna's dress and Kim has got hers. The lads have been told to get their suits cleaned and Thomas needs some new black shoes. Apart from me then everyone is sorted so I had better get a move on!

I've had a few emails and messages asking for some instructions for a mini book which I have always called a 'T' book. These are cute little books which can be made any size and are great for holding tags or little messages. Here is a sample which still needs to be decorated.



I have tried to search out the instructions but have failed miserably so I have had to make this one up so I can remember what to do!


Cover: Take 1 x sheet of paper / card stock measuring 12" x 3". Score at 4 1/2", 5", 9 1/2" and 10 ". (Figure 3)

Pages: Take 1 x sheet of paper / card stock measuring 8 1/2" x 6". With the right side of the card face down and with the piece of card longest side horizontal score at 2 3/4" and 5 1/2". (Figure 1)

Fold and crease along these score lines to make a long thin flat pocket. Put double sided tape on the small 'tab' section and fold under to close. Score at 4"and 4 1/2 ". (Figure 2)

Make three of these pocket pages and stack together on top of one another. Make two small holes on the middle section as shown on the diagrams and make matching ones on the cover. Thread ribbon through from the inside of the book and tie on the outside. Fold the cover over and use magnets or velcro to close. Cut and decorate your tags. These should measure approx 2 1/2" x 4 1/4". Round the corners to finish.




Some tips: It is usually easier to decorate the pages and especially the cover before putting the book together. Although I used heavy weight paper for this sample it is often better to use a medium / lighter weight paper instead for the pages. A heavy weight card stock is best for the cover. When everything is done and you are putting the 'finished' book together add a small piece of d/s tape between the pages on the spine section and stick them together. This just makes for a more secure finish. Hope that's ok for you all. As you may know I am more of a 'do-er' than a 'put it down on paper' person so please let me know if there is anything I haven't explained clearly!

Tag book.

Loads of people had emails from me with the instructions for the exploding box ...half of you got emails with no instructions attached!....so I had to do those again. If you didn't get the instructions just let me know as there were a couple of people who didn't give me their email addys.

Anyway...tag book. Here we go.

Take a sheet of 12 x 12 card stock or double sided medium weight paper.
Measure down 7" and score across.
Score down the opposite way at 3", 6 " and 9".
Turn the paper to the wrong side and then fold it up along the score line.
Fold also down the other score lines.
Open the whole sheet up again and lay it in front of you with wrong side facing.
Mark out the measurements as in the drawing below.
All dashed lines are score lines...solid line are cut lines.

The shaded area is the bit which is cut off.
Once you have this shape fold in half upwards and crease fold neatly.
Fold over tag sections to form an accordion and crease folds well.
If required you can add some adhesive down the fold lines to keep the tags in separate sections.
Tag size needs to be 5 1/2" x 2 1/2" and these can be cut from any paper or card stock.
Making a chipboard front and back makes it in to a sturdier mini book though this is not always necessary. Sizes for these need to be 6 1/4" x 3 1/4" so they are just slightly bigger.
Ribbon is held in place with double sided tape. Adhere this before you add your back cover if you are having one.
Here's my finished sample. Feel free to give me a shout if you need any help.

How they've grown!

Well I have worked hard today despite this dreadful cold /virus thing still lingering. I have resorted to inhaling eucalyptus vapours under a table cloth as I am not allowed any of the cold medications on sale. The pharmacist went through loads of them in Boots this morning but we have resorted to the good old aromatherapy again!

Anyway back to the scrapping. I've finished this accordion book today which I'm using as one of my class samples next month.

The book was from 'Creative Imagination's' and is about 10" x 6". I used a mixture of papers but mainly Rusty Pickle. The embellishments came from all over...7 Gypsies, Luxe Designs, SEI and most of the chipboard was DCWV along with Making Memories.

This is a little leather flower shape with a small black and white Doodlebug embellishment adhered on to it to give a bit more depth and texture. The letter is DCWV chipboard outlined with black dots.

Each of the photos is mounted with foam pads and there are tags behind each one with a bit of journalling about that time in their live. I just love my hidden journalling!

It always surprises me that so many different makes and styles of embellishments can go together very easily and sit so comfortably with one another. Here there is 7 Gypsies, Luxe, Making Memories and TLC.

I loved doing this as it was great to see the boys growing up before my very eyes. I can't believe how worried we were when they first came home after 5 weeks in NICU. Doesn't time fly?

Happy scrapping.

Exploding / peekaboo box.

I've had various people ask me about these and as I am doing a class in a couple of weeks I thought I would post the info on here. I can't begin to think how many times I have made these little boxes or how many classes I have done. They are an all time classic and are suitable for so many different occasions. The one I have here is a mixture of both a peek-a-boo box and an exploding box. Many people, when making the exploding box cut out the four corners of the largest square. I have to say I always leave mine on as I feel it gives a much sturdier and cleaner finish to the box. This is where the overlap between the two sorts of boxes occurs.



This is a peek-a-boo book with a little mini book in the middle. It is perfect for adding numerous photos and the mini book can be used for journalling as well. This can be made with just two sheets of card stock.

For an exploding box you just need to remove the mini book and add two inner layers which are each slightly smaller than the previous one. These need to be adhered using the centre squares. This gives you the option for many more photographs and embellishments.

To give the box a special 'twist' just use a brad rather than adhesive to fix all the layers together. You can then fan all the layers out to give a stunning arrangement.

And finally.....the box completed and closed. You would never guess the secrets it holds just from the looking at the outside!

If you would like instructions for this box just leave a comment and include your email addy. I will then send a copy off to you. Comments on this blog are moderated so email addys will not be displayed.

It feels like summer is just around the corner!

I don't know about where you are but this little corner of Lancashire has had some gorgeous weather today. Lovely sunshine and a bit of heat in there as well. Such a difference to the snow showers we had at weekend! I'm not feeling 100% today though as I have had a really sore through for the past few days and today it seems to be turning into something a lot more snifflier and coughier, if that makes sense.

Well blow me down but I've done another couple of layouts of the boys. I think I have found my mojo again, thank goodness. It seems ages since I scrapped just for me so I am having a really productive (and fun) time!

This is a quick one of the boys in the sack race. I wanted to use up some of my leftovers from a previous layout and found this the easiest way to do it. Just add a bit of ribbon and hey! a whole new layout. The journalling goes up and down the sides.........just for a change.

Here is Tom running through the hoops. He could do this really well as he was such a tiny thing! Again just a bit of Bazzill and some left over paper and there you go. I think sometimes people play about too much with layouts. I must admit to being quite a plain scrapper and really don't like anything too fussy. Sometimes the photo seems to get lost when there is too much going on and really, the photo is what it is all about in the end, isn't it?

Anyway I'm off to take some more tablets and watch John Edward. I so love that man! I have read all his books and think he is truly amazing! Anyway....bye for now!

And now it's April!

The year is fairly flying by and I am not going to apologise again for being such a bad blogger. You know what I am like...there's always something else to do!

I have actually done some scrapping for myself this morning. We have some photos of the boys on the wall going up stairs and when I was dusting yesterday I noticed they were beginning to discolour slightly due to the sun streaming through the landing window. So like a good scrapper I have taken them down and scanned them. Anyway I set to this morning and have managed to scrap two of them.

This is Thomas and his watch. If my memory serves me right it was a Thomas Tank one and it was his favourite 'thing' of the time. He always had to wear it and heaven help us if it got misplaced. He used to always be asking 'What does it say?' 'When past is it?' It was one of those 'sent to try me' things! I wouldn't mind but it was about another 4 years before he learnt to tell the time and now he never even wears a watch!

'William' and 'Athlete'...not two words that you automatically think of together! This was taken at their first Sports Day. He must have felt like he was on another planet. I can imagine him thinking..' Am I really expected to do those things?' It's only as he has got older we realise that any form of sport or physical activity would never be looked on as normal by William!

Papers for both the layouts were from my Scrap Room monthly kit. I still sub to this and love it all. I just don't seem to get as much time for my own scrapping so the kits are building up. I refuse to cancel it though. I shall just drown under a mountain of paper, cardstock and embellishments!

Don't forget Scrap-a-ganza is in the offing again. Helen and I are off to Holland in June for a very tiring weekend of cutting, sticking, chatting and drinking! (Your turn to bring the bacardi, Helen!) Heidi is also organising a Mini Scrap-a-ganza in Stratford the weekend after for folks who don't fancy the flight or just haven't the time. It will be an amazing event as there are some really inspirational and creative teachers going plus with there not being as many people there it will be a lot more personal. Places are going fast now that the site is back up and running after it crashed last week. What a nightmare that was. It really gave the wrong impression to people who hadn't been before. Us oldies all knew it would be fine in the end but it's hard to convince others of that. Anyway I'm looking forwards to a great weekend and if you want to join us or fancy the Stratford one just check out all the info here.

Well I think I will go and baste the beef and then do a bit more scrapping. Bye for now!