Two Weekends in One

I had such a lovely weekend and thought I'd share a bit of what I'd done.

Om Saturday I woke up really early and got all of the boring housework, ironing and shopping out of the way, then it was time to scrap.  I decided to take part in the weekly challenge over on UKScrappers.  The challenge was to scrap an animal, use lots of embellishments, a concentrated area and the colour blue.....that's when the trouble started!  I had a blue glimmer mist explode over me and I looked like a Smurf:

Yes they stayed like that for SEVEN hours, I finished scrapping and cut the grass and still they were blue!  I was pleased with the finished layout though:

Our friend's puppy, Daisy, wearing one of Maddie's jackets :)  All so long ago because Daisy is about 9 now but this really was a photo I'd wanted to scrap for ages.

After a busy, busy day I jumped in the shower (washing my hair finally got rid of the blue on my hands) and headed down to Paul's.  He was working until 2 in the morning so I left home at 10 and didn't rush getting down there, I love driving at night anyway.

On Sunday I had a lovely day out with Paul and got some lovely presents (which I forgot to photo) then he took me to lunch.  I love, love, love this picture of him:

I can't tell if he looks so happy because he's with me or if it's because his starter had just arrived:

So a really great, fun packed weekend but boy am I tired now.

I hope you had a good weekend too.
Jo xx

The Sun is Back

After days of rain it has been beautiful and sunny here today so I got a chance to wander around the garden after work.  Although I was glad of the rain because my veggies really needed it.  The grass that has gone from brown and dying, which I was sad about, to lush and green, which makes me very happy.  The fact that it's now over a foot high is not that great, I don't know how I'll get the mower through it.......maybe I should hire some sheep!  Which, incidentally, is what the vicar did at the local parish church when funds wouldn't run to a gardener!

I had a lovely, lazy day on Sunday (after I'd done all of the housework and ironing) and I managed to do a layout based on last week's Shimelle's sketch:

 Maddie's first school picture when she joined nursery.  I loved the jumper she was wearing, in fact I loved it so much that I used to force it over her head, with much protesting from her, because it looked snug and cosy and it was a great colour.......the things us mums do!

I managed to use lots of scraps and bits and pieces that I'd had lying around for ages.

This week is turning into a busy one for me, a crop on Thursday and down to see Paul at the weekend, can't wait.

I hope your week is going well
Jo xx

Scrapping and Showers

After a very busy week I have had such a lovely weekend.

Yesterday I went to a baby shower where there was lots of cake:

And everyone decorated a onesie:

Mine was the little carrot on the left hand side.

They all looked so cute, as did the amazing pom pom bunting you can just about see in the picture above.

I also had time to do some scrapping and actually managed to take part in the House Challenge over at UKScrappers:

We had a sketch to work with and had to add jewels; I tried to get the bling to look a bit like splashes.

Maddie being a lady of leisure, in the pool before the teenage years hit and she would only go out in jeans and sweatshirts - no matter what the weather!

She's still beautiful though:

And that will serve her right for not smiling when I try to take her picture.

I hope you have had a great weekend.

Thanks for stopping by.
Jo xx

A Totally New Experience

To cut a very long story short, I have been having a reflux problem for the past 3 months and today was D-Day!  I had to have a camera put into my stomach to find out what the problem was, nothing was found so back to the drawing board...but....they gave me the photos of my insides!  I never dreamt they would and now everyone is wanting to have a look, don't worry I won't share them on here and they won't ever turn up on a layout, but how amazing :)

I'd taken today off of work for the procedure and, as it was first thing this morning, I've had all afternoon to scrap.  I decided to do Shimelle's sketch this week because I have done one for ages, here's the result:

Maddie being a bridesmaid for the third time back in 2001 for my brother.  The flowers were overwatered which made them heavy and her ribbon broke so she had to carry them in her arms, hence the miserable look on her face!

And it gave me the chance to do a bit of stash busting as I used an old Sarah's Cards kit, so old I can't remember which month it is!

I have tomorrow off of work too and I'm looking forward to being a lady of leisure.

I hope your week has started well.
Jo xx

What Would I Do Without Her?

We have been friends for about 36 years and I really don't know what I would do without her.  She's always there for me, always bailing me out, always a shoulder to cry on and always understanding.  Our birthdays are exactly a week apart, with me being the youngest!  We go to bingo every week together, chat on the phone nearly every day and, when she moved 3000 miles away from me to America our friendship just got even stronger, I'm glad she's home now though.  So, I thought it was about time she appeared on a layout:

Sarah, the most generous person I know.  She's always got time for everyone, she'll help anyone and I can't say how glad I am that she is in my life. We have the same sense of humour, like the same TV programmes and the same books.  She won't mollycoddle, she'll tell it like it is and she's the best kick up the pants you could ask for if you're feeling down.

She really is my BFF and I love her.

I hope you're all having a super weekend, mine has been great.  It started with free cocktails last night and then I had an all day crop today, can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

Relaxing Evenings

Since my very hectic weekend I've had a couple of relaxing evenings and it's been great.  Yesterday it rained all day but it was great, we've hardly had any rain since March so it made a refreshing change.  It was also lovely to come home from work, close the door and curl up on the sofa with Alfie watching TV.

I thought I'd show you a quick layout I did the other day.  My style of actually scrapping has changed this year.  I find a photo, select some papers and embellishments and then stick it all down.  I've stopped looking at papers and thinking that I might find a better photo to go with it and saving it, after all the layouts and papers stay in my albums so it's not like I'll never see them again!

I love this picture of Maddie taken on the EuroTunnel in 1995, just after her first birthday.  It's been literally gathering dust for ages and I knew it would drive me mad if I didn't get it scrapped soon!

I used Echo Park - For the Record papers that came in the Sarah's Cards April kit and just threw a few other bits and pieces on.

All day at work I've been dreaming about the 6 layouts I want to do tonight, the magazines I bought today that I want to read and some knitting I want to get done, now that I'm home I'm too tired to do anything!  Work just gets in the way of all of the fun stuff :)

I hope you have a great evening
Jo xx

A Very Busy Weekend

Wow this weekend has been so busy, but so much fun.  I had the day off work on Friday so headed down to Paul's to spend some time with him.  Traffic, accidents and roadwork meant that the trip took over 3 hours instead of just under two and then when I got there I found out his work schedule had changed and he had to be up at 5:00 the next morning!  Not to worry, I am go with the flow kind of gal and as he was taking a coach load of passengers to London I said I'd drive home and meet him there.

I met him at Embankment at lunchtime and the weather was glorious.  We had a quick coffee and a wander around Covent Garden, Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square before heading back to Embankment and boarding a stationary boat for a late lunch.

 With amazing views:

After lunch we headed over to South Bank to have a look at the beach hut display.

Found this fantastic old camera:

And an amazing ice-cream van:

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this for Maddie, because she hates birds :)

I really had such a great day.

This morning was housework day, which is incredibly boring so I found a bit of time to make these:

I told Maddie the other day that I was going to look for a recipe for peanut butter cookies, I couldn't believe my luck when my friend Fiona posted a recipe for them on her blog! They are so easy to make and very, very tasty.

Finally I managed the Weekly Challenge over on UKScrappers.  We had to use punches, a 4x6 photo and a bit of history:

After being the only girl amongst lots of male cousins Maddie was so excited when Elsie came along.

I used plenty of my borders punches.

And made some flowers.

Well done if you got to the end of this epic post.

Hope you've had a great weekend.
Jo xx

My Weekend....

.....starts today! Yes that's right, no work for me tomorrow and I'm so excited :) I'm going down to the seaside to spend some time with Paul and maybe have a paddle.

I recently joined a sketch challenge group on UKScrappers and have now completed my first layout from the May sketch.

The sketch is from PageMaps and here is my interpretation of it:

The papers are Lily Bee's This and That from Gotta Craft's May kit and it's all about the lovely room Maddie had when we went on holiday a few years ago.  It was Easter and we'd gone to spend a few days on Sandbanks in Dorset, the weather was surprisingly hot and we all managed to dip our toes in the sea.  Maddie's room was gorgeous, out of one window she could see the Sandbanks peninsular, out of the other she could see Bournemouth, hence the title:

 I'll be back that way tomorrow and I can't wait, it feels like I haven't seen the sea for such a long time.

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you all have a great weekend.
Jo xx