Smash Book

At the crop I was at on Thursday I said I was going to make a Smash Book because who wants to wait until they go on sale in the UK at the end of July!  I said that I would have it ready to show everyone at the next crop, which isn't for another couple of weeks, I actually got my act in gear and made it yesterday.

At the moment the cover is plain and I'm not sure how I want to decorate it.

I've divided it into five sections.

And I just raided all of my old stash to find some papers that would probably never end up on a layout.

Most of the papers are so old they weren't double sided so there are lots of white pages in my book to write on.

I also made some pockets.

And I just know the one shown above will be used for recipe ideas.

I've put a few envelopes in for things I may want to add to layouts rather than stick in my little book.  Once I had all my pages in the order I wanted them, including some plain white paper and some artist paper, I got my Bind It All out and job done :)

And there you have it, my Smash Book all ready to go.  I really love it, it was fun and cheap to make.  I had a real trip down memory lane looking through all of my old papers, some of them bought when I first started scrapping about 8 years ago!

I'm going to spend the day scrapping and watching films now, I love lazy Sundays!

Have a great day
Jo xx

Happy Friday

At last it is the weekend and I am feeling so much better.  Yesterday I had the surprise of my life when one of my oldest friends, Steph, called me.  I haven't seen her for 3 years because I live south of London and she lives in North Yorkshire.  When I answered the phone she asked me if I was at work, I told her I was and she said "well I'm in the Pizza Express below your offices so get your backside down here now"!  We had a great evening catching up and reminiscing and it felt like we'd never been apart.

I managed a very simple layout while I was feeling unwell and I thought I'd share it.  I used one of the Gotta Craft crop kits, amazing value!

Maddie when she got her new glasses and her new Harry Potter pyjamas (a few years ago now!).  I wanted to keep it simple and almost hid the title:

This weekend I am having a Wii fit night with friends, yes I've been using it for the last 6 weeks and am proud to say I've now lost 1st 6lbs (20lbs).  I'm also going to make myself a Smash Book.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a fabby weekend
Jo xx

The Elfin Tree

A few years ago I took Maddie for a little tour around London.  Being only 20 minutes away it's something we do often but, on this occasion, rather than just wander round we had a plan.  We were going to look at The Elfin Tree.  The Elfin Tree is over 900 years old, it's a tree stump that originally came from Richmond Park and was decorated with carvings by Ivor Innes.  In 1966 Spike Milligan led a campaign to have it restored and it is not situated in Kensington Gardens and is a Grade II listed structure, well worth a visit:

I wanted to include lots of photos so I made the layout quite simple.

The carvings really are amazing but it's hard to take pictures because it's surrounded by a cage.

I am still feeling a bit poorly but I'm getting plenty of rest at the moment, which I'm finding quite hard because I'm normally always on the go!

Hope your week has started well.
Jo x

Bad Blogger Again

I haven't been around much blogging or blog reading because I've been unwell.  I've come to the conclusion that I'm run down and need a rest, chance would be a fine thing :)

I have been doing some crafting though and I have a couple of layouts from last week to show.  The first one is of my very own little "cake addict" Maddie.  She was just over a year old, we were at my nephew's birthday party and I think she managed to cover herself in more chocolate cake than she actually ate!

I think these papers go well with the hat she was wearing.  I remember buying the hat at a market in France and she wore it every day until it finally fell to pieces, she was so upset when that happened.

These alpha stickers were the inspiration for the layout, I HAD to use them because I think they're so cute.

The second layout is a picture of Maddie at one of the many picnics we had at the Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park:

October Afternoon papers again, I really love this range.

I haven't got that many good picnic photos because most of our picnics brought on a downpour and we normally had to run for cover!

In other news Bertha the boiler has broken and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will be fixed soon, at least I don't need the heating at the moment.  I've also planted my veggies and, a week later, the seedlings are starting to show their heads :)

Happy weekend to you.
Jo xx

A Fishy Tale

Today Paul tried something for the first time and absolutely loved it.  He wouldn't be upset if I told you he has manky feet, it's true, they are awful and they cause him a lot of pain so today he tried something to help them out a bit.

We went to Tickled Toes and he had a fish pedicure:

He said it did tickle at first:

But once he'd got used to it then it just felt like hundreds of tiny bubbles touching his feet:

There was nothing less than a feeding frenzy when he put his feet in and I honestly thought the fish would get so full that they'd end up looking like puffer fish!  The result is beautiful feet and him keep telling me my floor is too hard on his lovely soft toes!

His verdict is - go for it if you get the chance.

I apologise if you don't like feet, I'm going to have a go next time but I think my feet are quite beautiful anyway :)

Have a good weekend

Jo xx



What's In a Name?

I've been absent from blog world for a week because I've not been well but now I'm back with some layouts to share with you.  I went to a crop on Saturday and managed one layout in the whole day!  Sunday was a horse of a different colour and I managed another three layouts, all thanks to my bargain, £1 table from the car boot sale!  It's the perfect height for me to scrap at when I'm sitting on the sofa and it's big enough for my trimmer and a 12 x 12 layout.

There is a story behind this layout, it's how Maddie got her name.  Maddie isn't the name on her birth certificate but it's one that's stuck all thanks to my dad.  When she was little he used to call her Little Madam, then he shortened it to Mads and then lengthened it to Maddie.  My dad passed away 3 years ago but I still remember how he used to say it to her, the tone of his voice and the love that was there because it was his pet name for her:

I love this picture of the two of them, taken a couple of years after dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.  Although it was tough for everyone at the end, Maddie was lucky enough at the start of his illness to spend the summer holidays in my parent's garden with a grandad who would play any game she wanted, would take her in the pool and had all the time in the world for her.

More important than the time you spend together is the memories you create when you are together.  Even until the very last moment dad knew he was loved, it's never too late to tell someone those three little words so put that on your list of things to do today.

Off now to scrap some more, hope you enjoy your evening.

Jo xx

May's Here

This year is going so quickly and I can't believe we're in May already!  Before we know it we'll be counting down to Christmas again! :)

I had a lovely weekend down with Paul where I did a little bit of craft shopping, a visit to the market and a trip round a couple of boot sales.  I did get a bargain coffee table for £1 and some grow bags which I need to get ready for the garden.  While we were at one of the boot sales I saw this and couldn't resist taking a picture:

I'm thinking they should have put the sign on the over side of the fence :)

I also had a bit of time to do some scrapping and here's a layout I did using one of my favourite photos of Maddie, taken about 9 years ago:

We were on holiday at Chesil Beach in a time when Maddie was always happy to have her photo taken.

I use October Afternoon papers, my favourite range, and one of the Sarah's Cards kits.

And I thought the sentiment on the tag was perfect.

I intend to spend the rest of the day relaxing and catching up with my blog reading before getting ready to go back to work tomorrow.  I also need to give Alfie lots of cuddles because he cracked one of his claws this morning....ouch.

I hope you're having fun in the sun.

Jo xx