Spring has sprung...journal page

Spring may have sprung...but what happened to the Summer..?  Huh?  Did i blink and miss it!!! 

Personally, spring is my favourite time of year, i love that its bright and everything is bursting into life...its the most affirming time of year for me...everywhere you look there is something to make to me feel hopeful and happy.  I love that my garden fills with birds and leaves start bursting out...not to mention the huge clematis flowers that are the first thing to bloom in our yard, so it seemed a fitting thing to document in my journal.

I'm still working on trying every style and medium going in my journalling to see what suits me best, but this combination of Neocolour II's and lots of doodling is certainly my favourite at the moment.  Of course it would have all worked better if i'd used the right kind of paper so it didn't warp with all the water i added...but i don't really mind that in my journal...i'm just playing...there is no need for perfection here...that only makes me nervous!  And speaking of perfection...i really need to work on drawing birds!! lol

bubbly scrumptious update...

today i've posted an ideal Easter gift idea for anyone who might be dieting...or anyone who keeps chickens :)

do pop over and see it...here!

thanks!

Happy St. Valentine's Day...

...hope you're all being totally spoiled today...and do pop along to the bubbly scrumptious blog to see the Valentine's card i made for my darling hubby...the link is here.

love, alix

whatever makes you happy...

...who can resist a theme like that??? this is the challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp and Show blog this week...check out all the deets here. My entry certainly fulfils this brief:

things that make me happy include:

handmade gifts *tick*, items that are both pretty and purposeful *tick*, using up those odd scraps of ribbon *tick*...

...stamps by Tim *tick*, painty backgrounds *tick*, glitter and bling *tick*...and flowers *tick*...

...a finished item that gets an "oooooooooh" when i show it to someone {usually whoever happens to pass by at the wrong moment!!} *tick*

so there you have it...my entry for the whatever makes me happy challenge...and a happy me!

ruth's bird~day easel card...

first you see him flat...

then you see him standing up and displaying his proud message...


i haven't made one of these easel type cards before...but i'll definitely be making more...they are so much fun and so impressive to look at :0)

happy belated bird~day ruth!!!
xxxx

i'm also entering this card in the Bee Crafty new challenge blog...check it out here!

Happy Anniversary...

...to us! *Team Waterhouse* has officially been *united* since the 19th July, 2008...which makes today our 2nd Wedding Anniversary! In honour of this momentous occasion...I've made his Nibs a picture to go on the wall:

...the text is a little *in~joke* referring to his Nibs' fondness of remarking what *tiny little hearts* small birds must have...it is not a reference to his heart...which i have to say...is...**huuuge**
i've stamped the text and covered it in Glossy accents so its nice and shiny...and if you look really closely you can see a row of tiny little {gold} hearts along the bottom of the birdcage :0)
the birdcage and bird, i'm sure you'll recognise as Sir Tim's Sizzix die...the birdcage has been embossed in gold then again in my own powder that is a mix of black, bronze and Walnut distress powders...which gives a lovely textured, grungy look that i adore...like it? the bird has been glittered to within an inch of his lovely life...and given an eye...i don't like these faceless creatures that keep popping up everywhere! lol

the canvas is coloured using distress inks...and is much greener irl...i've been playing with my camera's settings...and have clearly not put them back quite right, yet!

of course...you can't let an anniversary go past without taking the opportunity to make a card...and this one...he loves :0)


...its a swirl of swirly stamps in various colours of distress ink, watermark and gold embossing ink...with various layers of embossing powder, mica powder and a few gems for fun...

the centre of the design is embossed in verdigris powder which gives a lovely rusty old look to the text and the chipboard frame is triple~thick embossed in clear and then stamped into while warm with the gold ink on the swirl stamp...its super chunky and super shiny...so i like it!
the motif at the top is a flattened bottle top with chipboard heart {embossed in red tinsel then clear powder} and sunk into a bed of Sepia Glossy Accents...

so there you have it...how to craft for an Anniversary...now all i need to do is pop off and enjoy it!

dreams do come true...and a big question..?

i am so, so, so happy that my Mum, my little sister and her cute hubby are all moving to be near us really soon...so i just had to scrap my excitement! i totally feel that this will be a good thing for us all and i want them to come...NOW!!! ;0)

its another page using scraps and left overs, the base cardstock is left over from a DT kit i got as part of Trinkets, Trash & Treasure...does anyone even remember them now? gosh that feels like a long time ago! i've stamped the sub~title and raised it on foam to allow it to stand out a little which is a touch i really like...subtle for me, eh? lol

the dreams title was made from white chip letters swiped with blue chalk ink and then stippled with a navy chalk ink to create a denim look...really pleased with the way that turned out!

and now for the question:

what do you do when you make a spelling or journalling error? as you can see i've mis~spelled a word and crossed it out...and missed a word out completely in the paragraph at the bottom...so what would you do here?

a} start again with a fresh piece of cardstock and be more careful,

or,

b} embrace it as part of the process and a sure sign that i made this page!

i'd love to hear your opinions on this...am i right to leave it as is?

is there anyone still out there..?

hi gang...apologies for the long and unexplained absence...boy did i miss you ;0) not to mention my lovely craftroom...but the good news is i'm back...and totally fired up to get crafting and scrapping again :0)

for the curious amongst you, you might like to know that life has been a little bit hard on me and mine for the last year really and i was totally in need of some time with my Mum to get a little bit looked after...a little bit indulged...and thoroughly put things back into perspective! nobody does that like a mum, right? :0)

****THANKS MUM...I LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH...YOU ARE SIMPLY THE BEST****
{in fact you are so awesome, i know you won't mind me sharing this terrible picture of us both!! lol}

nothing restores the soul like a week at home...but being as mum is moving in a couple of weeks time to live really near me {hallelujah!}...this will have been my last trip to the bungalow we shared...and i will really miss it...i love what she's done to the house...but at the moment...i think the garden is just as beautiful as she is :0) just look at that lavendar border!

and who would not want to sit by that secret pond and contemplate the World around them?she made that wall/bench you know...you see...she is talented in so many ways...shame she can't take it with her really!!

and to top off a perfectly restorative break...we had a lovely day at the seaside too...with an ice~cream of course...because its rude not too at the beach, right? ;0)

so...enough of my waffle about my lovely break...huge thanks to all my family...especially Meg who did all the driving...and on to some crafting! i'm starting a class with Shimelle today...so i'll be back to share all the details about that asap!!

happy day all around...and thanks as always for dropping by! xx

spring is in the air...

...actually its still snowy here...but i'm feeling in need of spring...so i decided to finally make the garden book i've been thinking about since the beginning of time!

I've used a linen bound 6x6 ring binder and covered most of the front with a sheet of yummy Basic Grey paper from the Periphery collection. I've stamped my title in vintage sepia Versafine using 2 of my all~time favourite alphabets...the little letters are MoBe *Beatnik* and the larger ones are Leave Memories *Passport*...i turn to both of these again and again...they just seem to go with everything...and i especialy love that the passport one is slightly distressed!

i've then simply edged the paper with two lengths of yummy ribbon/trim that my teamie Suzy sent me as a RAK...so *thankyou Suzy*...isn't that tiny pom~pom trim gorgeous!!

the insides of the covers are also a BG paper from the Recess collection...and i totally adore this paper...so i've been saving it to use on something i'll get to see regularly! the trims are folded around from the front and trimmed at the bottom...

as you will no doubt have noticed, i've not decorated the pages yet...these will be one side for each month of the year with a list of plants that need attention that month...and so as i don't forget what i'm supposed to do {as if ;) } i've cropadiled a hole in the plant tags and added them in by the appropriate season...

and there you have it...the back of the book is covered in the same papers...but with different trims as i wanted the back to be flatter...not to mention that i've now run out of the pom~poms!! lol

i really like making something that is useful as well as beautiful {to me}...and i hope you enjoyed stopping by to see what i've been up too :0)

happy today...and see you soon,

alixx

what the world needs now...is love, sweet love

well it is nearly Valentines' day...and the challenge on UKS this week required the use of lyrics from a love song {they are there at the bottom across the trunk of the tree}, a splash of red and some heart shaped embellishments *tick, tick, tick* so that is 30 more tasty points for the slave driving team leader ;0) *hope you're happy with my efforts sue!!* xxx

love this paper, its Fancy Pants...as so many of my favourites are...and i've added almost every type and style of embellishment...i have never been a less is more kind of girl...but you should have seen Rosie's face watching me stick all those mismatched items down the right hand side...i thought she might pass out at one point...but she didn't say a word...not like her at all lol *love you, hon...xxx*

i've used a tim holtz metal flower to which i added a turquoise pearl gem, and one of his book plates which i've added mini letter stickers to, a birdie rubon by Glitz design {although i had to cut his legs off, poor thing cos they were realllllllly long!!}, i've also layered more Fancy Pants pp {the heart on the green background}, and over that a love sticker...to which i've added a turquoise gem, the chip sticker with the butterfly i added a body in pink gems...to the yummy tree sticker i added more turquoise gems...and to the title i added more pink ones! gone slightly gem~tastic actually on this one...almost all the flowers on the paper have gems in the middle...and i picked all the beads off the felt border and replaced them with gems too!!

hope you're having a sparkly day too xxx

Warning: this post contains a scary teenage photo!!

hi all,

this is the third of my LO's for Scrapdolly's 52 in 10 project...and the most scary so far...the prompt was to look back at an earlier time in your life and, with hindsight, think about the advice you might give your former self...assuming of course that your former self would have listened...which at 16 i most certainly would have not!! lol


i have cut out the flowers from some pp by Making Memories...added a Tim Holtz text stamp and another Tim floral corner stamp to create the subtle foliage along the bottom...the title is a couple of rubons and i've added acrylic flowers and 2 packets of gems to tone the flowers with my colour scheme...the journalling is underneath the photo...which you can lift with a tab of ribbon on the right hand side...but this time it is for my eyes only. ;0)


now, i did warn you about the scary teenager in this post...and i'm afraid to say it is me!!! lol just in case you can't get a good enough laugh from the photo above...here is an enlargement!!
*hides shamefully in a corner until the people have gone away*
;0)
whilst i'm on the subject of teenagers...i thought i'd share this bunting i designed for a 14th Birthday parts...its bluebirds holding a little banner that says *luck and fate* and the stamps are by Bombshell Stamps...love them! i'm thinking of hanging this up in my guestroom for a while so i can enjoy it a little longer!

here is the party invitation i designed to go with the bunting...i think its super cute...and i'm sure i would have loved it at that age...would you??

so there you have it, today's offerings...now i'm off for a nap...and i hope to catch up with style school this afternoon!

happy crafting,

alixx

now this is a first...

...using my newest papers on my latest LO!! these papers just seemed to scream summer party to me...so here is my LO of a family garden party to celebrate my aunt's birthday...hope you like it ;0)

such pretty colours and patterns...the papers are by Stampin Up, the rubon words are by K&Co, the stickers are by Adorn It and Flair Designs, the chipboard buttons i think were jenni bowlin? and the birdy brads are by PaperMania

as you can see i've layered up several of the flowers with assorted white brads in the centres and used lashings of Glossy Accents to give depth to the patterns and to the title...and a healthy dose of bling to give it the party vibe!

when good pages...go bad!!

my attempt at this week's challenge over on UKS...well i had to have a go really being as my new teamies set it! :)
as so often happens...i had a great plan {at least in my head i did}...drew my sketch...and then i cut the heart paper sloping in the wrong direction *bummer*...i decided to carry on...and thought i could rescue the situation by adapting to the slant going the other way...but i just can't! lol i need a slope to go from lower left to upper right...it just doesn't feel right this way round!!

on the plus side...hubby loves it! *men!!!!!* ;) and i do love the photos...so its all a good learning curve, right?

now...have you done yours yet? please do play along...and leave me a link to let me come see what you've made of it...

hugs
:o)

we've got friends coming over for a halloween tea...

thats not them tho...those are the merangue ghosties i've made to have with coffee...

and that's not them either...those are the cute bat sillouettes we cut to decorate the lounge ;)

hope you're having a happy halloween,

treats only for me please!

:)

ps...the eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed that there are now two of my handmade cushions on the sofa! and the green ones are awaiting decoration...any time now!

a little heads up to all the birdie lovers out there...

...the new issue of Craft Stamper is out...and the cover mount is the most gorgeous swirly bird stamp i've seen in ages...you are going to want this one!

I've also got a project in the mag using some of PaperArtsy's gorgeous squiggly ink stamps...and if you like them, there is a deal in the mag on all the stamps i've used! Everyone a winner, huh? :)

make a little birdhouse in your soul...

Spending Sundays at the Farm is a little bit isolating for me...unless I find something to do while everyone else is immersed in the football/rugby and sunday papers...so this weekend I decided to be a good supportive buddy and have a go at Rosie's challenge over on the Art Adventure blog.

I really enjoyed making this little birdhouse~cum~pen pot out of the cardboard sleeve of a biscuit packet...and in my excitement to give it to Rosie I forgot to take a picture *doh!*

Bless her, she's sent me one, so you can see it too. :)

The colours don't seem to show well here, its honestly much prettier irl!! I made it from K&Co Addison papers which are a rich combination of turquoise and blue, and I've spiced it up with doodling, handmade Fimo beads and pink/yellow sequins by Doodlebug. The velvet ribbon around the top of the pot looks really sumptuous irl!! Why did I use the Addison papers? Because they are Rosie's favourite, of course ;) And of course, I thought it might persuade her to pop over here and support my little web~adventure too.!

Hope you like it Rosie xxx

Crafting for boys (again!!)

Here is today's CTYD blog posting.

And as its the OH's Birthday today...I should have some photos to share tomorrow...actually if all goes to plan (which i find it seldom does, but hey ho...) i'll have some more projects from the mini-SAG to share too!

PS Its exactly 1 year today since we got engaged...*awwwww*. Obviously...it was on his Birthday last year!

spring has sprung...

...the grass is riz...i wonder where the birdies is?

well...here they are!!

Rosie gave me these chipboard birds shapes and I had a hoot decorating them with the K&Co. Wild Saffron pp's which I absolutely adore! Thanks Rosie! xx