Merry

Christmas!

Cheeky Little Monkey

A quick page share!

(Layout created for sketch challenge at Sarah's Cards blog)

These pictures are from when Benjamin was 6 weeks old. 4 weeks on and we are getting plenty of these gorgeous gummy grins which just make my heart flutter. He's becoming a lot more vocal now, and is getting very close to laughing I think - little coos often accompany those smiles!

I have been making my Christmas album (not fully up to date, but this one will definately get finished!) but just have not had the time (or the daylight) to photograph and uplaod pictures. Maybe I'll do one massive share when it's finished!

I hope all your Christmas preparations are going well - 2 sleeps til Santa!!!

First baby boy page!

It was so nice to take a little bit of time to do some scrapping after about 8 weeks of not doing any! This page came together over the course of a couple of days - not something that usually happens, I usually like to sit down and finish a layout once I've started but obviously that's not practical anymore so I'm going to have to adapt my scrapping style!

I used lots of the gorgeous new Pebbles Inc New Arrival range along with plenty of other bits & pieces, and I'm really pleased with how it's turned out. There are so many things I want to write about and document, but until I can figure out a way to get those feelings and events down on paper in a way that does them justice it's simple journalling all the way!

Craftiness

Hold the press, I've actually got some photos printed out and some lovely new baby boy stash (Pebbles - new arrival boy). It's the first time I've scrapped in the last 6 weeks & it feels good! I was a bit nervous at starting to scrap pictures of Benjamin, but I figure I can always scrap the same photo twice if it all goes wrong haha! I have the journalling all ready, written a couple of weeks ago thanks to Shimelle's True Stories prompts. I also have fab new iPhone app sketches2scrapbook for inspiration in case i get stuck!
So watch out for a layout soon!




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Time flies by...

I know it's a little while since Halloween, but I wanted to show you these cute cute pics of my little boy all dressed up in his pumpkin suit!

I can't believe how big my little baby is getting already! He's almost 6 weeks now, and the days are just flying by. Some days I look at him and think how tiny he is, still so fragile. But other times I see a real little boy, full of character and love. He's smiling lots now, which is just amazing (he's got such a cheeky grin!), and he's starting to show interest in toys and lights - he's fascinated by mirrors and shiny things!

A little reminiscing about being pregnant - it seems like a long long time ago that I was this size! He's grown a bit since he was born, but I'm still totally amazed that he fitted in there! I made this page for a sketch challenge over at Sarah's Cards, but I wanted to share it here too. The journalling, a letter to 'baby' was written about 2 weeks before he was born.

The new arrival!

Announcing the arrival of Benjamin!







A little delayed in updating - I've been totally wrapped up in my new mummy bubble & busy cuddling my son! Yup, it's a boy!
Benjamin was born 12 days late on 10/10/10 at 10:27pm - I forgive his lack of timekeeping since it means he has the coolest birthday ever! He weighed in at an impressive 9lb 14oz and has the cutest little chubby cheeks u have ever seen.







We are so totally in love & completely over the moon to be a little family of 3. We are all doing well.







Posting from my phone since I haven't really been bothered to sit at the computer yet, but I have a whole load of photos to share already - he'll be 2 weeks old tomorrow & already the time is flying by!

No news

Quick update:
No news is, well, no news in this case!
I'm still here, still pregnant and now overdue.

Fancy a sketch?

The new sketch challenge is up over at Sarah's Cards - you could win a £10 e-voucher so get creating! More deets over on the blog, but here is the sketch (designed this month by Rachel Ward) and my take on it using gorgeous MME papers and one of my favourite wedding photos.



Documenting July 2010

I'm not really 'keeping up' with this project, but I am loving how the album is coming along, so I don't mind that I've only just finished July's pages!

I'm especially enjoying looking back at my bump photos over the weeks - I felt huge at this stage, but my it's grown a lot more since then!!

So, July's pages using the Cosmo 'Delovely' range.

DIY photoshoot

I've been nagging M to let me get some proper bump photos for ages, and finally at the weekend we got round to it so just thought I'd share a couple of my favourites.

Baby's Room!

So it's nearly time for baby to join us, and we've just finished the nursery (well except for curtains!). I'm so pleased with how it's turned out. We don't know if we are having a girl or a boy, so we wanted something neutral, something calming and something airy.

We went from this oppressing yellow (and on the ceiling too - why??)....

...to this pale green with fresh white woodwork and a lovely new carpet. I can't believe how much lighter and fresher the room feels!

That tall chest of drawers was a cheap plain pine unit brought years ago from good old Argos. I primed & painted it in cream and then added funky handles in cream/green dots &stripes - so much better! The bookcase was inherited with the house - we actually have 2 of them. I think we need to get more books though - so far we only have The Hungry Caterpiller!
Oh, please also excuse the old kitchen chair in the corner - we have a lovely nursing chair which will go there,  but it's currently my sitting room chair until baby arrives!

We spent a weekend building the wardrobe, long chest of drawers and the cot. I saw we, what I really mean is M built them whilst I directed and passed screws lol! The wardrobe is actually huge, and the 5 little sleepsuits in there look a bit pathetic! I'm sure it'll fill up soon enough though.

 I made these little birdies one afternoon when I was bored (totally love having a fabric shop 6 doors down!). Hoping to fill the room with plenty of little details over the coming months.

Ah muslins, so practical and yet so pretty all rolled up in a basket!

That stripey sleepsuit is my favourite so far - it rocks!

So I think that's probably baby overload for today!
I'm getting on well with my Document 2010 pages so should be able to share July in the next couple of days.

Still here

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth! 

I'm still here, still pregnant and still scrapping - I can't show you much of what I've been doing yet, but I'm hoping to catch up on my Document 2010 pages this week. This pic of me was 3 weeks ago now at 34 weeks - I love my bump but I'm ready to meet baby now! Still, only another few weeks to go.

In the meantime, here's a page that I did for the Sarah's Cards August kit - totally different from my usual in that I challenged myself not to use any patterned paper and I ended up using barely any colour either just good old kraft!  

It's a hard life

Yup, being a kitty is apparently exhausting! Mungo has developed an ability to sleep anywhere, especially loving cardboard boxes! Super cute!



















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It's that time again!

Yup, it's CHA time again and that means lots of lovely sneak peeks of what is to come!

A few of my favourites so far...

These pretty butterflies from Prima.

A second Dear Lizzy range from American Crafts called 'Enchanted'.

These fab flower embellishments from American Crafts' new 'City Park' line.

The third line from Echo Park - Life is Good.

Documenting June

I knwo I said I was doing this weeks ago, but then my printer ran out of ink & I had to wait for replacements to be delivered before I could print off the mini pictures, and then life just sort of got in the way! Anyway, here are my finished pages for Document 2010 - June.

First up, the main page (non baby themed) features some gorgeous views from a trip to Devon to see family. I love this part of the country, and although it always takes a long time to get there, it's worth the journey! I'm actually going back again this month!

Now for my second main page - the baby themed page. This month it's all about seeing baby moving around by my tummy shaking & wriggling - it's hilarious! I call it the belly disco.

Finally, two lots of mini pages featuring (amoungst other things) a taste of wonderland, some pregnancy updates, pretty flowers, delicious cream teas and a cute kitten!

I used Echo Park 'Sweet Summertime' papers for all of June's pages, along with some Elle's studio tags, and the almost obligatory Thickers & My Little Shoebox tiny alpha!

Prettiness

I love flowers in general, but in particular I love my orchid! It's so beautiful at the moment & it makes me smile whenever I walk past it. My mum is the queen of orchids - she has a whole windowsill full of them, and they are usually in full bloom too. She bought me this mini one a while ago, and I don't think she was expecting much from it (or me!) but it has definately exceeded expectations.

I took this set of pictures for Shimelle's class, and I love how they turned out! The butterfly one was pure fluke - he just fluttered into the frame without me realising and I only had the chance to take one picture - amazingly his wings are spread open, what luck! Can't wait to scrap some of these, and I might even get one blown up on canvas for my scrap room.

Love your pictures, love your pages

Shimelle's latest class started yesterday - it's all about taking photos you adore, and making fab pages with them! The perfect combination!

To start - a little bit of spontaneous photography to capture whatever is going on right now. Off I waddled with my camera (lets not pretend I can walk any faster than a waddle right now!) to the garden. Daisy was very kindly sitting in the perfect position just waiting for her photo shoot! A few snaps later and here we go - my spontaneous photo!

What do I love about this photo? Well, obviously it's got Daisy in it, and she's adorable! She's looking right at me, and looks very calm (that doesn't happen too often!). I love the purple haze of the lavender behind her, and the fact that it wasn't bright sunlight so no harsh shadows. I love the rustic effect of the wall - a straight line, but actually not so straight! The only thing I'm not so keen on is the bottle green wall - not painted by us I might add!

Kitchen makeover!

Our kitchen has a lot of open shelving, which makes storing practical yet ugly items a bit of a mission! A while ago I bought a whole load of these cute kilner jars from Ikea, and we keep everything in them - flour, sugar, pasta, rice etc etc. They look much prettier than packets, but that look was being totally ruined by the very practical sticky labels I'd attached to stop myself trying to make sauce with self-raising flour, or pouring caster sugar over my breakfast!

I've been saying I'll sort this out for ages & ages, and never actually managed to get around to it (typical me!) so yesterday I spent an hour pretty-ing up the jars finally. It took hardly any time at all - they are very simple, but how much better they look!

Ingredients:

1 length of ribbon

1 kraft tag

1 sheet Bazzill swiss dots

1 length Dymo tape, black

You will also need a Dymo labeller, a heart punch, and a Cuttlebug + die or scallop circle punch

Method:

1. Take the kraft tag and punch a heart in the corner

2. Punch/die cut a scallop circle and attach to the side of the tag

3. Add Dymo labelling to the tag

4. Tie ribbon around the jar and attach the tag

5. Admire new pretty kitchen jars (and check out my new dotty tablecloth - £6.99/m at Dunhelm Mill, bargain!)

Lazy Summer Days

It's been a beautiful few days weather wise & I've been making the most of it by relaxing in the garden!
With a little help from mum the garden is looking stunning - the roses are particularly thriving.





Today I've been scrapping though - making a start on my Document 2010 June pages so will be able to show those soon :) I'm using the new Echo Park papers that I picked up from Sarah's Cards a couple of weeks ago - their second line is now available & it's just as fab!


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Sarah's Cards July Kit

Ooh it's such a lovely kit this month, so fun & vibrant!

The main paper range is Pebbles Inc 'Treehouse' - I love working with their papers, they are such a lovely quality.

Here are my layouts for the DT this month...