The cure for a hangover...?

Apart from a 'hair of the dog' perhaps the best cure for a hangover is looking over the photos from the crazy twilight themed party from last night!

And so it started with Caitlin opening her pressie - a new white laptop named Trina!

Every girl needs a new dress for their party!

Back from the cinema and the first chance we got to see the cake!

Mum you did us proud... you're best cake to date by far!

Everyone wore black, red and white... Harvey's Dad even colour co-ordinated his socks...

Me and Bethan, Caitlin's best friend... your help has been invaluable - thank-you xxx

Sing song on the mini-bus coach on the way to the restaurant...

I slept on the way home!

One of many photos... Harvey and his angels xxx

Still early in the night!

Sisters... ahh!

Behind bars... the restaurant in Ironbridge is the old police station and we were in the cells!

Twilight themed table dressing...

The only way I could focus... close one eye!

Cousins behind bars...

Friends behind bars...

Apparently this was our romantic behind bars photo - I thought it looked more like Caitlin's checking to see if I still have a pulse!

I went straight to bed, but drinking games ensued till 4.30am!

The rules were told to me this morning and I didn't understand them sober!

Poor Cakey - they kept making it land on her!

And another casualty...

Art, who fell asleep on the floor, got face painted and woke up still in his clothes!

Glad to discover no-one was sick! Yippee!!!

Off to bed, X Factor and I'm a Celebrity then SLEEP xxx

GoGo Classes

Can't believe a week has already flown by since the ScrapaGoGo getaway... and we had a blast as usual!

The delegates participate in 7 classes.... for each class they can choose from three, so in total 21 classes are designed and taught! Image trying to sort out that little lot! Janice and Lorraine are dab hands at it now and so it runs like clockwork...

I taught four classes, the first one was on Friday evening and was called Anatomy Antics...

We used a selection of papers to create the layout and skeleton, and along with the cute little bone charm and antique medical bookplate paper, each delegate created a layout with a biological feel.

My next class was on Saturday afternoon, so I had time for both a lie-in and some scrapping! I raided the shop (or what was left of it!) to create a layout using some stunning Prima papers and embellishments.

The Key to Success focused on stamping key charms into texture paste to leave an impression. An amount of patience was necessary but the end results were stunning...

The third and fourth classes were my personal favourites...

My Fair Lady was the last class on Saturday night. Each delegate got a cute little hat stamp and embossed onto acetate using embossing powders.

This class used such pretty papers from Pink Paislee and I had such a sweet photo of Nina to use, taken at Ironbridge Gorge museum in the dressing up room!

My last class on Sunday morning was called Waxed Lyrical

The delegates got wax-tastic and anything and everything got waxed using wax beads - they give a vintage feel to layouts and create stunning backgrounds which look like expensive papers but simply use cardstock.

I love this technique and will be definitely using it on future layouts, maybe as soon as next weekend!

I've been playing...

With the October ScrapaGoGo kit and it's stunning!

Perfect for the cold and darker nights, it brings warmth with its rich vibrant colours...

Having fallen head over heels for the Amy Tan herringbone patterned paper (well you would, wouldn't you?) I simply had no choice but to use it for the background of this layout!

An impromptu walk in January, where we dressed up (Nina's stipulation, not mine!) and took with us a giant bubble blowing wand, made for some great wintery images.

Opting for my favourite occupation - cutting the most intricate of paper elements was combined with my latest fad -  hand written calligraphy to form an artistic element rather than simply journalling. I'm much happier with this than writing on a finished layout, only to decide I had 'spoilt' it and wishing I could turn back time....

Off to have a play with photoshop, suddenly learnt loads of things last night on it and I need to practise, aka remember if I know what I'm doing!

And another Chinese Whispers round...

Life just passes you by...

Not only am I facing another Sunday night of back to work tomorrow, X Factor on TV etc. etc. but because I'm blogging a Chinese Whispers layout, that means that another month has passed me by!

This layout has been ongoing for about a week and in true scrapbooker style, when you get something new you have to use it syndrome, I too was inflicted by a serious case of it this week.

You see, I had commented on my lovely friend Jackie's recent layout - she has a cameo which she puts to excellent use and I had commented about a herringbone die-cut that she has used, hoping that the next time I see her (this weekend coming to be precise!) she may have been able to cut me one and she could give it to me then!

But no, a pizza box arrived at my house and it's contents were gorgeous - along with a stunning handmade card, I had an assortment of die-cut backgrounds and die-cuts too! How lucky am I to have such a beautiful friend!

So, I couldn't just do mediocre layout, I had to dedicate time and love back into this layout and I couldn't be more pleased with the result (although my bank balance may not when I finally succumb to one myself!)

I decided to be subtle with the title and focused on the fact that I'm in my last year of my thirties!

Cutting and ensuring there was no duplication of the patterned pieces of paper was a labor of love indeed, but oh so worth it!

Thanks a million Jackie xxx

Look what I'm gonna be playing with today...!

In the week I received my lovely October ScrapaGoGo kit.

Along with a couple of personal favourite papers, including a truly delicious herringbone paper by Amy Tan, the embellishments are so cute... dinky owls and pretty leaves to name but a few!

And what better day to be creative than on this sunny October morning.

So without further ado, I'm off to play!

PS... a little birdie told me that there might just be a couple of kits available if anyone wants to get their hands on it!

Introducing Bertie!

I have been toying with changing my car for some time and although there's been nothing wrong with it, in a week I'd have had my mercedes for 6 years!

For a long time I've had my eye on a Fiat 500 - going from large to small you might ask... well, I love the retro look and styling of these gorgeous little cars... plus I calculated for about £30 extra a month I could have a brand new car, taking into account fuel, insurance and tax.

Last Saturday I decided to bite the bullet and visit T J Vickers in Shrewsbury - what a lovely and helpful company! After a call from Harvey to say don't go and buy one then and there, I was extremely tempted to do just that - the girls were egging me on to but I resisted and after a brief discussion, I was back at the garage signing on the dotted line!

I've been and picked up my new little car earlier today which I've named Bertie...

Just waiting now to sort out my reg plate with DVLA - the whole process ought to be made much easier than it is currently!

Not normally one for interiors, I fell in love with the cream and chocolate seats as much as I did the cars' bailey's cream colour!

So cute don't you think!

I did ask the guy at the garage if they sold the eyelashes to wind Harvey up - it worked a treat!

This year is whizzing by...

and we're well into September...

Summer is over, if we are lucky there may be a few sunny days yet to come and the kids are back at school.

So what better way to spend a bit of scrapping time than with the gorgeous September kit from ScrapaGoGo.

Reminiscent of school days past, with quirky little elements such as a pen nib, old fashioned seal and speech bubble stamp, it a perfect remedy as those darker nights eek in!

My first layout features a photo taken back in May by the lovely Anna Bowkis - I opted for a boudoir session with her and was so pleased with the images.

I'd had a pot of UTEE powder in my stash for some time and decided to get it out and have a play stamping into the melted powder. I don't own a melting pot so it took some time to melt enough to be able to make a full stamped speech bubble!

Having been inspired by some calligraphy I recently saw, I decided to be brave and journal using a combination of capitals and scripty style handwriting. I was extremely pleased with the results and hence they appeared on my second layout too!

The cute little envelope was made freehand, although I did make it on a piece of scrap paper first - perfect for housing the old fashioned seal that came with the kit.