33 weeks and counting...

Some recent bump pics, flowers from my Year 11s, a delicious carvery and the new frozen yogurt and strawberry and mint juice at Wagamamas.

Saturday scrapping: Layouts inspired by Jennifer Grace Creates

Didn't you all just love Jennifer Grace's Onwards and Upwards blog hop last weekend?

One of her challenges was to go up, and up, and up. There was a few options and I went with the one to use a photo inspired with the idea of flight - I immeadiately thought of some photos from a trip to London earlier this year to visit my sister. We went to a food show and as we left we noticed that we were at the launch pad for the Emirates cable cars across the Thames.
I used American Crafts and other travel ranges and layered 'up' as was one of the other prompts in this challenge.

I also used the Dear Lizzie Range to create the layout below of our Mother's Day celebrations. I keep meaning to post the recipe for the honey cake pictured below top - it was so yummy and I was so impressed that I could create an actual layer cake as opposed to cupcakes. This layout was also created with the 'up' prompt in mind and I used the chevron paper to use arrows on the page. 

Lastly the above layout of our mother's day meal. I used the 'to be inspired' prompt of using triangles to create direction on a page. I used Studio Calico wood veneers and Amy Tangerine stamps to decorate this layout and some other American Crafts papers to layer it up. I have a thickers and lettering shortage at the moment and so created the title using leftovers from several sheets.
These prompts all worked well with the way that I like to scrap and I am pleased with them.

Future dad: Note to Self Layout

I created the basis for this layout a few weeks ago and felt it was a bit bland. I liked the yellows and pinks and the layering, but it was lacking something and so I left it for a while. Then last week on NSD some of Shimelle's and Studio Calico's challenges gave me some ideas for how to jazz it up.
Firstly on Studio Calico they challenged us to use buttons on a layout and that gave me the idea to embellish the speech bubbles patterned paper. I stuck them on with modge podge and felt that this gave the layout some of the much needed dimension, as you can see....

 Shimelle's scrapbooking challenge to use spray inks caught my eye and helped me to fill some of the white spaces - I also painted little hearts with the wand on my spray ink.

So now I was feeling a lot happier about design - what about the title and journalling. Initially it was going to be a 'holiday' layout about our trip to Tintagel Castle in Cornwall - but then I realised that there is another story to tell.
So inspired by Shimelle's prompt to scrapbook a milestone and to journal in a letter form the idea of the 'future dad' title was born and the journalling round the edge of the page is all about my husband's fears and excitement over becoming a dad in July.

So thanks everyone for the inspiration and for helping me to complete this layout!

Bumper Scrapping Saturday...

So I have been finishing off, photographing and editing some layouts that I started a while ago but got a new lease of life with National Scrapbooking Day last week and the challenges up on Shimelle's blog and also at Two Peas. Then this weekend I have been treated to lots of exciting tutorials and challenges over at Jennifer Grace Creates. So in order to meet all the deadlines of the challenges and to be in with a chance of winning more stash (having just flogged loads of old stuff at a car boot sale) I have to go against Julie Kirk's advice and do a bumper post.

1) Challenge 1: Shimelle challenged us to make the most of our tools and scrappy investmentsas did the Two Peas girls with the Tool School by Jen. I got the Making Memories Slice for Christmas years ago and used it for a while and then it got consigned to its box and never used again. 

So I unearthed it and used it to cut out the words 'fun' and 'enjoy' on this layout. I inked the edges of the words to make sure that they popped out of the page. The papers are from a 6 by 6 Studio Calico pad and also some the American Crafts 'Dear Lizzie' range. I also used my Martha Stewart star punch. Below is a closer look...

Challenge 2: Shimelle also challenged us to create a layout using our favourite paper line. It seems that we are both American Crafts fans and so I used some of the Dear Lizzie range to create this layout about our trip to the Farmer's Market in LA. I created a cluster using some of the die cuts and the thickers from this range too.

 
Challenge 3: Shimelle challenged us to use smaller photos and Jennifer Grace challenged us to use a big bold black title with lighter colours.
This photo of us at the hand ball at the Olympics last summer was taken on my phone as he doesn't like to get the 'big' camera out in public and finds a quick mobile picture doesn't draw quite so much attention! I cropped it so that I could fit the journalling and another little picture of the hand ball stadium behind it. This polka dot paper is really old, but it seemed to work well with the orange washi tape and ledger paper. I also added some smash washi tape to ensure that I had the date etc on the layout. I think the bright colours reflect the energy of the game and of the whole event.

Phew - I wish I could say that that was it (well actually its better to have too much to share than too little, surely?) but I still have some messy misting and paint layouts to share. I will save it for another post though. I will also be sharing some more 'bump' layouts - its really massive now and  have less than nine weeks left till D-Day!

NSD with Shimelle and Two Peas and a lot of pink...

I was so excited last Saturday to be woken up with a Facebook status linking Shimelle's first challenge of the day - scrapping with pink. I recently had the gruelling task of clearing out my scrap room to turn it into a nursery and it helped me to rediscover some older supplies and put together some of my own kits. I made up a pack of pink fabric, cardstock and ribbon scraps but then wondered what pictures to use?
I don't really wear pink. I don't have any 'girl's night out' pics to scrap. I don't know if we're having a baby girl. Then I remembered a random snap my mom had sent me from her wear pink to work for Breast Cancer day - she is posing with her favourite postie! She is quite a flirt and always loves 'chatting up' the postmen.

Journalling about her charity fancy dress day and the postman of course!

Embellished with squares of different pink patterned paper and then given some dimension with Studio Calico veneers, bling and buttons.

I have to admit that I'm a little bit in love with this layout and feel that it captures the moment and my mom's fun loving personality perfectly!

______________________________________________________

 The composition was inspired by Wilna's video on twopeas

Steaming towards three years: Anniversary Layout

You may recall last July (I'd be impressed if you do!) we celebrated our three year anniversary in Howarth. A blissful day spent on steam trains, painting pottery and enjoying a delicious lunch.
So inspired by Shimelle's prompt to use 4 by 6 photos I have scrapped the pics this morning of the steam train journey and museum. I always tend to use 4 by 6 photos and I like to use them 'Shimelle style' in a line all and all the same way up. I then like to layer papers and washi tape to create interest around them and I like to add little journalling spots and embellishments to finish the layout off.

A close-up of the pictures:

The title and journalling spots - inlcuding the ticket for the train - which I wasn't entirely convinced went with the colour scheme of the layout, but it seems to go with the lined patterned paper which has green pastel tones in it.

So there you go...

One challenge down and another one to come shortly...

Stars in the Sunshine with Martha Stewart punch...

This layout sums up my mood on this sunny Thursday.

I am happy because:

• I only have ten weeks to go till I have my baby (hopefully!)
• The sun is shining 
• We went to the ice-cream farm for a cone after work
• We just purchased a cot for the nursery
• I only have eight weeks left of work including a bank holiday and a weeks half term holiday
• The end of coursework marking and moderation is almost here (phew!)
• The Great Gatsby film is almost out in England and I am loving the sneaks online!
• I have stocked up on some new stash recently having sold some of my older craft stuff 

How are you feeling today?

Loving instagram

I'm always last to the party. In fact often the party is over by the time i arrive. Metaphorically speaking.
So last weekend we got new his'n'hers android phones and i am excited to have a better camera, faster internet and apps like instagram.
Here are some things i have been snapping and instagramming about...

Sunday night treat by The Belgian

I had to treat myself after a blood test this week!

A sneak peak of a layout I made about Christmas 2012

Bargains picked up at the NCT sale yesterday - don't you just love the little shoes. I was super pleased to get the Next babygrows at £1 each as my friend said they are the best ones as they have pull down sleep mits attached.

So feel free to follow me on melmakes21 and let me know if you're on instagram and I will follow you back!

Maternity Mondays: Bump at 28 weeks

 Finally - after being subjected to hours of slide show reels at my family's house - he has realised the importance of taking pictures and recording things for our future posterity - hurrah! So he even agreed to taking some self timer pics of our new family of three.

As I have entered the third trimester I have found that:

• I can no longer see my toes when I look down!
• It is getting harder to bend down and pick up stray exercise books, glue sticks or discarded worksheets at work
• It is taking a lot more effort to get out of bed or up off the sofa
• I am shorter of breath when climbing stairs or doing too much (like walking up the Chevin to take these pics)
• I somehow have loads of second hand baby clothes from friends, a buy, sell and swap forum on facebook for my local area and charity shops - here's hoping we have enough!
• I am slowly, but surely, getting over my fear of needles - more blood tests due this week.
• The baby is enjoying beating out a dawn chorus for me every morning! 

I have been packing up my hospital bags ready just in case- any advice fellow bloggers? What should I pack?

Trending - triangles...

I must be so forward thinking as triangles seem to be a current scrapbooking trend - but I completed this layout about six month's ago and included the shape. I think I needed some embellishment for the top corner and so just cut out f a few triangles and then anchored them with an Amy Tan stamp.
The layout is about the clam chowder the Belgian sampled on Monterey Bay Pier in California a few summers ago. 

It uses lots of scraps for a border and a photo mat, a bit of washi and an Amy Tan stamp too.

I know some scrappers, like Shimelle, have issues with scrapping a landscape and portrait picture on the same layout and to be honest I generally do stick to one or the other and even take pictures with this in mind - but these were the only two shots I have of our afternoon of treats on the pier.

I further embellished by sticking the lid to something (perhaps glue or the paint itself) into black paint and stamping with it. I also bordered the American Crafts foam thickers to make them pop against the photo.

Eden in bloom...

When I was ill a few weeks back I spent a lot of time with my laptop in bed catching up with scrapping videos on Two Peas in a Bucket and one of the mood to scrap videos by Lizzy particularly inspired me as I liked the composition, the misting and the border effect on her finished layout.

On our recent pre-baby trip to Cornwall we were lucky enough to visit the Eden Project and I particularly loved all the colourful flowers and so we both posed for a picture in front of the blooms which co-ordinated best with our outfits! What a scrapper hey?

I liked the idea of getting messy with paint and stencils and so used a doilie as a mask

 and 

smooshed yellow paint on.

I was hesitant about using purple, yellow and red together but I love it.

I used the rule of three with Amy Tan embellishments to add interest to the page.

I liked the idea of creating washi tape flags to embellish the photo.

Hopefully it doesn't look like too much of a scraplift - I just really loved the original layout and it worked really well with the bits and pieces that I picked out from my stash.
Thanks Lizzy and Two Peas for the inspiration.