It's my birthday!!

A Big Thank You to each and every one who has wished me Happy Birthday today.... you don't know how much it means to me to know that you are all thinking of me today.

and look... I even got a special wish from Google:

I made my "famous" lemon meringue pie for the folks at work... and my bosses all loved it so much they said I could take the rest of the day off.  How nice is that!  BUT, silly old me decided to stay and work as I haven't been at work much in the past week.  At least it is quiet here... something I really need.

So now on to the rest of my day... piano lesson then tea with a good friend and hopefully supper out tonight.

Nuts About Sketches - Week 240

Just a quick post about this week's sketch reveal at Nuts About Sketches.

This layout is about my birthday treat two years ago... we went to watch The Nutcracker ballet at The State Theatre.... a great way to spend a special day.

Here is the sketch for this week.

Remember to check out the blog post for lots more amazing inspiration.

Scrapbook Challenges - Sketch 321

Every week I am always delighted to see the new sketches for Scrapbook Challenges... Chanell makes such lovely sketches that they are really a pleasure to scrap.  This is my layout for today:

Note: the layout actually has a black border all round but it doesn't show too well in the scan.

You can see a lot more inspiration in the forum.

Nuts About Sketches - Week 239

It's mid November.... boy oh boy!  Exams start this week for Aaron and I'm busy at work that I am a bit distracted.  In amongst all this I am planning birthday lunch for me and party for Aaron for next week too... busy busy.

BUT don't forget scrapping too... hehe.  I spent Saturday doing one layout after another... and got quite a few done... but can't show you anymore than today's Nuts About Sketches page.

The sketch for this page is really really fun and adaptable.

Check out the blog to see even more great layouts done by the team.

Scrapbook Challenges - Sketch 320

I loved seeing this latest sketch from Scrapbook Challenges.. it's got multi-photos... just my way of scrapping.

I took some chipboard letters for my title which I inked and then heat embossed with dark brown powder.

Check out the forum to see lots more great inspiration.

Nuts About Sketches - Week 238

The week's are coming round thick and fast... yikes November is here... only two months left of this year.

Today's Nuts About Sketches sketch is cute but was a bit of a challenge to me to get the papers just so..... I push and pulled and swopped and then dithered.... eventually it all came together!

The sketch has lots of potential....

Check out the blog to see even more variations.

Recycling for scrapping

Over the years I have kept and horded various items with the idea that "one day" I might use them on a page.... well look at that the day finally arrived!  The November Recipe at Paper Mixing Bowl called for a recycled/found object.... so I dug around in my stash and found some lids off the coffee can that I had been keeping.  Now what to do with them?

First up I thought of punching flowers, but that didn't really go with the theme of my page, so in the end I found a chipboard frame in my stash and decided to alter it... here is how.

 I took the lid and cut it into strips just a bit wider than the frame... then wrapped them around each side.  As the strips weren't quite long enough to go from end to end, I then cute small bits which I added to the corners.

For extra effect I also wrapped some wire around the frame in places...

The finished frame stuck down.

The tab top of the lid also got added as a sort of "tag" under the top photos....

 I twirled a few smaller strips to make "ribbon" liks tendrils... and curled some wire around toothpicks to match too.

And there you have it... a finished layout using up a bit of tinfoil ....which by the way was the subject of this page too!

Scrapbook Challenges - Sketch 319

Ok so it's Friday and not Monday and I'm a few days late with this week's layout from Scrapbook Challenges... that's what happens when you don't have photos on hand and no laptop!  So yesterday I managed to print some pics and scrap the page.

I kept it fairly simple... just did lots of fussy cutting of the photos of the three dinosaurs... and even used "leather look" paper for the title.  I also hauled out my dymo machine to do the labelling.

This is the sketch it was based on

Once again the Sketch Crew did an amazing job with this sketch... you can see more in the forum.

Paper Mixing Bowl - Design Team Call

There is a new design team call over at the Paper Mixing Bowl.... head over there and apply.... deadline is 11 November 2012.

I've thoroughly enjoyed my term so far... and have decided to stay on for next term too.... so why not take the plunge and come and join in the fun.

Paper Mixing Bowl - November Recipe

Can you believe that it is November already?  Wow!  It's the month of Aaron's and my birthdays... so we are busy planning and thinking about presents, parties, etc... never mind that there are exams too for him!!!

Other family happening... we got our piano back yesterday.... it went in at the beginning of October for a complete overhaul... got new felt, some new keys and I think strings plus a good polishing and tuning.  Aaron was so happy to have it back that he practiced last night before bed and again this morning. After his wobble last week of wanting to give up piano, he seems back on track.  It seems that he hits a stumble every time he has a difficult piece to learn.  This morning he played the piece with hardly a stumble... and definitely a smile!

With today being the first of the month, here is my layout for the new recipe at the Paper Mixing Bowl.

I had lots of fun (and dithering!) with this page.  I knew what I wanted to do but not exactly how to do it... and the end result wasn't quite what I wanted, but hey.... it's done.

I will be posting a tutorial in the next day or so on how I made my stencil and the frame for this page.

This is the recipe that we had to follow:

I went with the neutral colours... but did black & white instead of the brown.  Then I also recycled a coffee can lid to make my frame... made my own stencil and did misting and stamping on my background.  My "fibre" elements were done with wire.  I even stamped my title.

There are some amazing layouts to see on the blog this month, so head over there and check them out.