Getting Messy with Paint & Ink!

13:30 Karen 7 Comments

I love all the mixed media pages that are about at the moment but as much as I love them I struggle to get too messy.  Last year, I took a huge leap out of my comfort zone and had a go at a mixed media page - I did enjoy the process and also liked the result.

I thought I would have another go and as I had some white paint and some Glimmer Mists to hand decided to limit myself to these.  If the truth be told, I was tired and didn't want to go hunting through my stash for other potential messy items.

 I started by painting the white paint onto a piece of black card with a 1 inch paintbrush.  I then watered some of the paint down and sprayed this over the unpainted area.  

Once that was dried I used pink and blue glimmer mists - getting quite a lot on my hands! 


This needed to dry before I could continue so I took the opportunity to have a good soak in the bath to remove any evidence of ink on my hands.

 The next day I layered patterned paper, journaling blocks, stickers and chipboard elements onto my page with my photos and the page was finished.

I think I am a controlled mixed media scrapbooker but who knows - this time last year I would have laughed if you had told me I would enjoy messy play so maybe this time next year I will be getting very messy - I do doubt it but you never know!


 Reasons to be cheerful:

 1.  Enjoying messy play.

 2. The opportunity to take a nice hot bath to remove the messy play from my hands.

 3. David hasn't noticed where I dripped Glimmer Mist onto the wooden step by the back door - yet - shhhhhh!

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Still Love You

07:31 Karen 8 Comments

 Quote from Sian's blog.

 "If you don't know the trees, you may be lost in the forest, but if you don't know the stories you may be lost in life." Anon


 Thank you for helping me find my story - Happy Anniversary my dear sweet boy x

Reason to be cheerful:-

 I have shared my life with this man for 30 years and been very happily married for 28.

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Pinspiration

07:30 Karen 3 Comments


With a little idea from Pinterest

 http://craftysahmiam.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/trifold-punched-hearts-card.html

and a little help from my Silhouette I could wish my darling boy Happy Valentines Day.

 

 May your Valentine's Day be all you wish for. 

Reasons to be cheerful:

1.  It's Friday.

2. The weekend is nearly here.

3. Fun and festivities planned for the weekend.

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Giving it a Punch!

06:43 Karen 4 Comments

For the ATDML February DT I was sent some Simple Stories papers and embellishments.  I absolutely love anything from any of the Simple Stories ranges and this month had Say Cheese and The Daily Grind to work with.   


As I do every month, I ‘pinched’ several photos from Gracia’s Facebook page (this is always a constant source of photos) to use at my crop and really liked this one of her with two of her medic friends.  Unfortunately, the title is not quite right as one of the gang is missing, Marta had gone back to Portugal, earlier than planned, as she was unwell. 

I will tell you about poor Marta as it will make you keep an eye out for your loved ones.  On the Friday she felt unwell and went home from Uni.  On the Monday she fainted in a lecture and went home again, by the Wednesday she was in hospital, in intensive care with pneumonia, septicemia from the pneumonia and  on life support with organ failure from the septicemia!  She was in hospital for a week or so and then her mum took her back to Portugal - last Friday Gracia took her back to A&E as she didn't like the look of her and she has a re-occurrence of the pneumonia! 

Back to the page -  I loved that they all decided to go out for tea and cake before they returned to their respective homes for Christmas and that they all wore their Christmas jumpers.  

 

Now, I always take a bucket filled with punches to my crops and nearly always bring them home again unused, this month I was determined that I would use them! I knew I had the large snowflake cut outs and gingerbread men buttons to use on the page but was at a loss as to what else to do.  I then thought – ‘get those punches out’ so I did and made a swag of flowers for the bottom of the photo.  I didn’t feel that the page had come together very well as the large snowflakes seemed at odds with the flowers.  I took it home, still unsure what to do and the next morning as I was putting my punches back in their storage box realised that I had a snowflake one.  I punched out some smaller snowflakes from white paper, dotted them in the flower swag and was very happy with the result as the extra little ‘pops’ of white brought everything together.

Reasons to be cheerful:

 1. Marta is on the mend.

 2. My girl is home for the weekend.

 3. It's almost (well very nearly almost) the weekend.

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New Year New You - January

06:44 Karen 7 Comments

You may recall that in October, I taught a class at the ATDML retreat called New Year New You - where we made a mini album with the intention of recording something new that we have done each month.

Well, the time has come to fess up, to show and tell what you have done in January over on the ATDML blog! 

I decided that I really must try to do something about my weight but more importantly about my lack of exercise so I purchased some wet weather gear (what a good job I did with the rain we have been having), some new wellies, a headband with internal speakers so I could plug in my iPod and started taking Kiera out for a walk before work most days - usually leaving the house at 6:15am.  I love seeing it getting lighter a little earlier each week and listening to the birds beginning to sing. 


On the occasional days I take Kiera to work with me I walk her at lunch time. I track my walks on my phone with an App called Endomondo and used a screen shot for my photo this month. Over a month I have managed to knock 30 seconds per mile off my time and I am hoping that I can get it down to under 14 minute miles. 

Not a very exciting entry this month but one worth noting.  

So what have you all been up to? You don't have to have taken the class to join in you could just do a quick blog post and link it to the ATDML Blog.

Reasons to be cheerful:

1.  The hope that I might look good in a dress for Tom and Sam's wedding in May.

2. My girl is home next weekend.

3. An absolutely fabulous day spent with friends - I haven't laughed so much for ages.


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20 20 20

07:26 Karen 9 Comments

On Tuesday, I had a doctors appointment at 10:20 - which I had forgotten about until I had left the house at 8am and driven half way to work (30 minutes) so had to turn around and go back home. Once home I had an hour and 20 minutes to kill so stripped the bed and put the washing on. What to do next? - a little blog hopping of course! 

The first blog I looked at was Louise's and she had been indulging in a little 20 20 scrapbooking.  I had seen this in JOT magazine and on Sians blog.  I was inspired .  We went to Disneyland Paris before I scrapbooked and I have never scrapped any of the photos from there but I was sent some 'Say Cheese' to design with this month and though I should get some of the photos scrapped.  

At the crop on Saturday, I had 1/2 hour to spare at the end when I didn't want to start a new page so spent 10 minutes laying some washi tape down on black card - another Pinterest idea. I used this for the base of my page so I set a 20 minute timer on my phone and during the first 20 minutes I chose and laid out all the elements. 

Over the next 20 minutes I stuck them down and added some journaling and finished the title and cut a little camera to pop dot over the printed one.

 

For the last 20 minutes - all that was left was to outline the title in white and cut out some more elements, shuffle them around and decide not to use them.

 
Apologies for the rubbish photos
 - too dark in the morning and too dark in the evening to get a decent photo.

If you take into consideration the time I took to lay down the wahsi tape this page did only take an hour to make - what a result! It just goes to show that David isn't correct when he says I waste time on the internet - it was very productive on Tuesday.

 Reasons to be cheerful:

 1.  Talented blog writers (thank you Louise)

 2.  Extra time in the morning.

 3. A new and quick way to scrapbook (thank you Sian)



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Absent Friends

10:57 Karen 5 Comments


 Last year, my best bud moved to Scotland as her husband's job had relocated, not near to us Scotland but the farthest away Scotland that was possible - a 12 hour drive away Scotland :0(

 I miss our Thursday evening scrapping sessions.  I miss popping round for a cup of tea and a giggle - see this post.  I miss knowing that she is just around the corner if I fancy a chat or a moan or just a bit of company.

 This layout sums it up.


 Reason to be cheerful:

 1.  Eileen is back this week and we are reinstating Crafty Thursday for one night only, or until she is back again for another visit.

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