Balamory and the piper.

How good am I ? Posting three times in three days! That is definitely a record, I think.

Despite our Janet (we do such a lot of nattering!) coming round this afternoon I have managed to start scrapping some of our holiday photos ( in between doing commissioned work as well) and it was great fun to do this bright and cheerful double layout about our trip to Balamory!




We had a lovely day on the Isle of Mull. The hot and sunny weather and the whole cheerful atmosphere of the place made it joy to visit. The place is actually a town called Tobermory but the many children running round laughing and shouting would just not have believed you. They were quick and eager to pick out the houses of their favourite characters from the BBC tv program. Unfortunately as some of the houses were up a VERY steep hill there was no way my beta blockers would let me get up there to take all the photos I wanted but we had plenty to see anyhow.

Under the large photograph on the layout is a pocket tag which holds a map of 'Balamory' and my journalling about the visit.

Our drive down to Oban on the Wednesday was made even better by the still sunny weather and with the windows open it was easy to hear the first strains of the pipes. We both wondered who could be playing them out in the middle of no where. As we went round a bend we saw this lone piper with Loch Garry in the background along with some stunning scenery.

It was too good a photo opportunity to miss! He was very friendly and just continued playing while I got the best shot possible. On the layout I stayed with the colours in his kilt... red, black and blue. I also managed to find a few plaid buttons which finished it all off perfectly. The tag under the photograph holds my journalling.

So all in all a scrappy nattery day........perfect.

See, I said I would be back soon!

I thought I had better post again or July is going to pass by completely as a very quiet month from me!

A couple of things you may be interested in...firstly I am no longer going to be taking classes at Craft Range at Burnley. I am quite happy about this as a few of the classes have been cancelled this year due to lack of support. I'm not sure why this is because we have also had some cracking classes as well. There were a couple of times that I had turned down retreat work or demos because I was booked at Craft Range and then the class was called off. It's a bit disappointing as well as being no good from a money aspect. I think the shop attracts more cardmakers than scrapbookers as we were going to do a Thursday scrapbooking class once a month as well and that never came off either.

They did open a shop in Barden Mill recently but that just didn't take off at all so the staff have now transfered to the main shop so they will obviously want to pay their own staff rather than an outsider, which you can well understand. Claire mentioned on the phone that 'she didn't want to fall out with me about it' which I found a bit odd. I don't know if she thought I only ever did classes at Craft Range and would be upset about it!

Anyway they are all lovely people and I wish them all the best in the future. I hope they manage to ride out the down turn in crafting which seems to be starting to hit at the moment. There are so many shops closing at the moment and I know of a few more who are heading the same way.

Secondly once I have sorted out my stock levels in the shop I will be having a massive clearance sale but until then I am listing lots of things on ebay at silly prices so make sure you grab yourselves a bargain! Check out woody530_0 and watch for more and more items to be added!

Back soon!

Now then where did July go?

So much for my good intentions in July! What with crops and classes and holidays it just flew past!

Helen and I took the shop up to the Leeds Paper Doll's weekend retreat in Cumbria and I have to say we had a really fun time and the ladies were great! They managed to bag some amazing bargains from the shop and I also showed them how to make a cute mini book in the afternoon class. Thanks ladies for a lovely day...oh and I mustn't forget those scrummy yummy cakes. How could I forget them? Amazing!

Whilst doing other classes and projects this month I have at least managed to find a bit of time for my own scrapping. I thought you would like to see my latest mini book. This is one for the boys...my stars! I decided to go with the black and white theme and had great fun with these Rusty Pickle papers. They are so versatile.





There are lots of different flaps and tags with hidden photos and messages throughout the book.



One of the things I really like about these papers is that they are so easy to add colour to. So if I get bored with the black & white theme I can just sit down with my pens and have a 'colouring in' evening. Then I would have a totally different looking mini book.

If you fancy having a go at one of these I have a few kits available with most of what you would need to complete one. These include chipboard covers, 6 12 x 12 papers, 2 12 x 12 Bazzill sheets, 2 large black card tags, 1 large black card arrow, 2 small white tags. Price: £8.50 inc postage & packing.

You can bind it with either book rings, ribbon or even a Bind-it-all. This is one of those projects that you really enjoy adding your own bits to. I love the chunkiness of it.I only have a few left from my class as they sold so well that I doubt they will hang about long so just add a comment with your email addy and I will send you a paypal invoice.

That's all for now but I will be back soon...I promise!

Yes, I hang my head in shame!

I know, I know, it's been ages since I posted but June just seems to have run away with me. There seems to have been so much to do I've hardly had time to scrap never mind post on here. Anyway my big sis has emailed me and said to get up to date so I suppose I had better do as I'm told!

So what's been happening in June? Well, Helen and I went to Scrap-a-ganza as you know. We had a really fun time and as I said before I picked up some great ideas. The problem is I haven't had time to put them into practice yet! But I am hoping to find a bit of time soon.

John and I went down to his cousin Bill's 50th birthday in Gloucester at the beginning of the month. It was wonderful to meet up with the Howgego side of the family again. It seems ages since we were together but we had great fun catching up on all the gossip. We stayed at pub right next to the village green and the view was just so 'English'. I just had to get some photos and scrap it.


It wasn't just the scene it was the whole atmosphere and everything. The sun was beating down, despite a few clouds, children and parents were attending a school fete at the other end of the village and it was all so peaceful apart from the sound of ball hitting willow. Amazing! On the layout the large photo in the centre opens up for my usual hidden photos and journaling!

Last weekend we went up to Wasdale in the Lakes for a couple of days camping to try out the new addition. I have to admit it stood up very well to the elements. Although we had some really hot weather we also had some heavy, heavy rain and very gusty winds. But the SunnCamp 600 took it all in it's stride and we were kept nicely warm and dry. Even John had to admit that it was a good idea to get the bigger size as it gave up plenty of room to sit about when we had to stay inside.
The site we stayed at was first class and I can really recommend it. The showers and toilets were spotlessly clean all the time...I don't know how they managed it....and the pitches were plenty big enough and fairly level! There were two local hostelries within crawling distance which made it just perfect for John and as usual we were not alone for long as other campers joined us and we spent a good few hours exchanging camping stories. That's what I love about camping. Campers are a very friendly bunch as a rule.

On the Monday we had a trip to Hardknot Pass to visit the ruins of a Roman Encampment. You know John and his love of all things old and falling to bits. (Please, please no comments about his wife!) I hate that blessed mountain with a passion and it always seems to be me who is driving! Luckily the encampment is only about half way up so the terror was not as drawn out as usual!

Further down the road is the Eskdale to Ravenglass railway. We decided to have a ride down to the coast, on one of their little steam trains, and have some lunch. As we were going down we met up with 'Thomas' going the other way. Well maybe not him exactly but ten years ago our Thomas would have been over the moon and would have taken some convincing that it was not the real thing. We were so pleased that on our return journey it was this all time favourite who was pulling the coaches. I just had to record that event!


Well time to go I think! I will sign off now as my arm is giving me some jip. I was back at the Doctors on Friday and have now got another lot of painkillers. :( I can see this injection getting nearer and nearer but I think I will give acupuncture a try first!

I promise I will be back later this week to update you further.

Happy scrapping.
XXX