How lucky am I?

The answer is 'very'. For ages now I have wanted to have a go with Pan pastels without having to go to the expense of buying them so when I saw a class giving that very opportunity at LB Crafts I immediately signed up for it. Even better was that it was the day after another very tempting class. So off we went. When I say 'we' I do of course mean my partner in crime Michele and I.

I won't go into the fiasco concerning the B&B that we booked but didn't stay at even tho' we wish we had-enough said.

The 2 classes we did were great and I will eventually finish the one I feel needs a bit more adding to it due to my colour choice but for now here are the Pan pastel tags I did. I loved using the pastels and the effect they give but was not particularly happy with what I did with them. Anyone who knows me will know that the one on the left as you look is my favourite. Here they are anyway.

several hours later

I think I must be a glutton for punishment or else I just love pressure. I signed up for yet another swap over on UKS. Somehow it had slipped through my net and I didn't see it until a couple of days ago. The submit by date was far too soon so Kitty Crafts kindly moved the date for me and signed me up. The brief is to make 10 tag sized rectangles, leaving the left side clear for binding or book rings,and 2 covers which Kitty will then collate and make into a book. so here is my offering:

It is totally inspired by Paula whose creations are gorgeous, very feminine and ephemeral. Hope the recipients like it.

I need to go and pack for tomorrow's crop. This is another pressure because needing to clear my desk I just put everything into a laundry basket. Should be fun sorting that out-NOT!

opals in october

Here is my tag for the monthly tag swap over on UKS. This month sees us having to take inspiration from opals, girls and music. Unfortunately as I am not David Bailey, or even remotely related to him, the colours are not true. In reality the tag is very pale and I misted them with a marshmallow glimmer mist which gives a gorgeous opalesque sheen over the colours. I'm actually quite pleased with it because the colours are, for once, just what I envisaged (and nowhere near as bright as they appear on here).

food shopping

Yes it's that time of the week again when I really should go food shopping but the weather is so bad that I just don't want to step outside. I think I'll wait until the rain stops. In the meantime I've finished these layouts all from Craftystash kits. they are great-they contain everything you need to complete the two layouts that they suggest.

Now some people would not even look at the suggestions and some people would look but do their own thing which is normally what I would do-look and change to make them my own but with a bit of help. However, as I have already mentioned, my mojo has gone awol so I lifted down to the last detail even to the photo orientation which is normally the first thing I change.

On the plus side, I have used both kits- a definite advantage for my ever growing paper mountain.

Right I'd better go and see if it is still raining out there

Good morning!

Hmmm, think I'd better leave this collection alone for a while now. I'm at serious risk of overload. There are plenty more gorgeous collections out there.

A rarity

I'm not sure whether the rarity is that I have posted twice today or that I had to have the whole of the Bonjour collection and so you can expect to see more bonjour layouts. all I can say is thank goodness I have several photos of different places in France. Not quite sure of the title yet but when it comes tome I will be putting it on the tag.

Not quite sure why the colours are not true but they look really dull on here. IRL the colours are really pastel and lovely.

Bonjour again!

The Kaisercraft blog is a mine of inspiration and that's where I go when I want to scrap but lack mojo or initiative. Lacking both at the moment but desperate to use the beautiful Bonjour collection that's where I headed to produced this:

I daresay that as I am still feeling lacking in mojo I will head off there again.

Bonjour!

When a girl loves Paris and all things French as much as this girl does what is she to do when Chrissy at Merly Impressions gets the Kaisercraft Bonjour collection in? Answers on a piece of scrap paper to the bank manager please.

When said girl gets a rare day with absolutely no jobs and no work what is she to do?

Put the answers to the two questions above and produce this:

Now on with the next one.

Thank you Rachael

Having finally acquired some much coveted Webster's Pages papers and spotting the second of the two layouts below on Rachael's blog (which I confess I stalk regularly) I managed to sit and produced two layouts last night. After lifting Rachael's layout, (my version is nothing like as beautiful as Rachael's but heh, it'll do), I used the rest of the paper to do another one. The photos are of Sir Christopher Wren's house in Hampton, near Hampton Court Palace in London.

Now that my two boys are a bit older I have fewer and fewer photos of people to scrap but love to take pictures of famous people's homes or unusual architecture. I'm not particularly great at photography but as the pictures are only for me they do.

A recent visit

The latest visit to The Bean and Brush produced this cup and saucer along with the tea plate. Not sure I would want to eat or drink from such a vibrant coloured trio but I certainly had great fun making them and the bonus was that they have turned out just as I expected them to. What to do next time?!

present for someone

Every month my partner in crime and I go to our local (ish) crop where we undertake a particular project. The latest one was this box,which uses Kaisercraft products. (Several of our projects involve a Beyond the Page item from the Merly shop). I have put bling along the front have also lined the drawers with some faux suede as I want this to be used as a jewellery box. Just have to convince hubby that I need some jewellery to put in it now. Could take a while that one!! Maybe I'll just have to find a lady I know with a birthday coming up in January who I think may just like it.

Thanks Chrissy for letting put this on here and for the inspiration.