Cousins, conkers and layouts!

Good evening :). i hope you are having a lovely weekend so far? We have been out shoe shopping for both of the girls today, they both needed new school shoes........already!!! Gosh, we have only just gone back to schhol it seems and they have both worn through their shoes....kids eh!!!!
Anyway, I have a couple of layouts to share.
The first one is using some older Scenic Route papers( yummy!) a little bit of Basic Grey, lots of brads, some AC thickers, a blossom, buttons and a butterfly cut and embossed with my sidekick. I punched some holes and threaded raffia around the edge of the layout and drybrushed cream acrylic paint all around the edge of the layout.

A couple of close ups to show the layers and all the brads and bits and bobs.

This layout uses papers from My Little Shoebox and is all about a 2 storey house we bought for Lauren when she was small and it lives at the end of our garden( I just love the little bay window!)

A little close up....love that cheeky grin lauren!!

A couple of weekends ago I took Lauren, Chloe and 2 of their cousins out for a couple or so hours. We went to a couple of playgrounds and the pond. At the first playground there were some Horse Chestnut trees and the kids all went round cracking open the conker shells and built up a little stash pile.

Oliver was fascinated by the teeny, tiny, little brown conker case that was growing out the top of the other one.



Proud of their haul of conkers ( even though some were still on the creamy side so not really ready yet.)



Just *TYRED* of hanging around......( yeah...I know...pitiful joke lol)


Ooooh yummy mini muffins! Can you spot who didn't get one....he!he!he! ( no children were hurt or intentioanlly upset in the making of this blog post!)


Right, just off to get ready to go and see the town fireworks and procession....enjoy your evening whatever you are up to.
Warmest wishes Anita..xxxxx

Yummy Candy! And it could be yours!

Will you just check out this delicious selection of christmas goodies.....and they could be winging their way to you...yes YOU!

All you need to do is pop over to the Scrapology blog, become a follower and leave a comment.....The winner will be drawn out of a 'hat' and announced on next Friday evening - 22nd October. If you have a blog, please add a link to this blog candy and this month's challenge.

......and this gorgeous selection could be yours.

Obviously we really hope you visit us again and that you feel the urge/inspiration to join in the monthly challenges....they are well worth a look and there is the added bonus that there is a super prize on offer for the challenge winner. so........what are you waiting for....come on over :)

warmest wishes Anita..xxx

All About Me......

Evening all :)

I had totally forgotten to blog this layout that I made at Cardinal Colours Retreat last month, it was a fantastic class by Lovely Laura and I soooo enjoyed being able to take part in it ( thanks Jill.xx)
Laura's style is wonderful and she is a great teacher, she is full of enthusiasm and I have to say it rubs off on people. She encouraged us...nay...instructed us to use up as much of the embellies as possible ( which I found hard I have to confess, I try to stretch my stash as far as it can go normally lol)I believe I am right in saying her motto was 'Use it or lose it'.....I think I need to do that more often


We used some delicious Sassafrass papers from the Indie girl range and matching embellies, really lovely to work with. I also added some bling and some big clear buttons that I backed with some of the left over scraps.

I pinched some of the petals to give them a 3d effect

The photo was taken by Chloe in August 2006, just after I had my 2nd tattoo done. I really don't like having my photot taken and feel much more comfortable being behind the lens....however, if you place a camera in the hands of a child, it makes you feel more comfortable being the subject for some reason. I really like the photo too (thanks Chloe for managing to capture me without my 6 chins lol)

I really do love this page, I just need to get my butt in gear and do the journalling on it....now THAT is something I have a real problem with....journalling.

Pumpkin Posse

Today we have been to our local Pick Your Own. Sharnfold farm is not far away from us and each year we trundle down there to visit the pumpkin patch and take our annual photos. This year the harvest hasn;t been quite as good, but there were still quite a few to see luckily. Normally there is a huuuuuge great big display of the various pumpkins, squashes and gourds

at the entrance to the shop and grounds.....today there was a nice display, but not as many as usual by this time.

Even though a lot of the pumpkins have already been harvested there were still plenty out in the field and the kids have great fun running round the patch and checking them all out. I wasn't quite so brave as I had sandals on and was scared incase there were any snakes, lizards or other nasty things about.....not to mention prickley trailers, nettles and sludgey mud....yuk!

These two little herberts make quite a double act don't they!

Nooooo Josh! You are supposed to eat the lovely soft squishy part of the pumpkin....NOT the prickly leaves eeeeewwwwwwwww! Bless him...anyone would think his Mummy doesn't feed him!

My very lovely ( not to mention very talented) kid sister....complete with her gorgeous brood.

My favourite lil pumpkin in the whole patch! ( quite the regal wave he has going on there eh! LOL)

Oliver was so chuffed to find the largest pumpkins in the patch. Doesn't he look proud.


I thought Chloe looked nice and comfy perched between these 2 pumpkins....huge aren't they?

Holly was having fun finding the various different types of pumpkins and squashes( not sure what this one is....anyone know?).....hasn't this young lady got THE most beautiful eyes?

Chloe and Holly both found some ladybirds....unfortunately Holly's one flew away before I had chance to snap her. So this one became the entertainment for a few minutes....

he!he!he! I just LOVE Chloe's little freckles....especially over her nose....bless!

And to finish with, just take a look at this gorgeous, cheeky, handsome little fella....gosh i just want to take him home, snuggle him up and keep him....he is just SUCH a ray of sunshine and I love him to bits! Have you ever seen anyone soooo adorable?

I think I must be the luckiest Aunti....xxxxxxx

D is for die cutting...October Scrapology Challenge

This month over at Scrapology we are very lucky to be able to lift a page of the very talented and VERY lovely Lynn Biermann, you can see her fabulous work on her blog Pretty Paper Swirls
After spending a long time working on this page I really wasn't sure about using it for the challenge, I am not sure why, I couldn't put my finger on it....I think maybe that I thought it was OTT and had too much on it....having said that, anyone who knows my scrapbook pages will know i normally *chuck it all on* lol, so it can't have been that! I am thinking that possibly its more so because I am not really a pastel fan....and also i don't much care for cardstock( not for me to work with anyway), so I guess a pastel layout with a fair amount of cardstock on it probably isn't what I would choose to normally do lol. Anyway, I have to say i have warmed to it a bit more now.

I used my Sister's Cricut Home Accents Cartridge to cut all the lovely snowflake/flowery type shapes ( thanks Donna ;) ) and then layered them up......

....and then I just let loose with an inkpad, lots of crystals, sequins and half pearls and a few buttons.

Why not pop over to Scrapology and have a look at the cracking layouts the girls have done, there is a lovely variety there. And whilst you are there we hope you decide to play along and join in with us....there is a fab prize that you will have a chance to win, very kindly donated by our lovely Jill of Cardinal Colours.....c'mon. you know you want to play..xxxx

Cupcakes...a card AND a sneak peek!

Hello there :), I hope you have had a lovely weekend? I know I have....it started with Lauren's Birthday on Friday....then onto our monthly crop yesterday with a lovely bunch of talented ladies who are also very special friends....and then today I have had a lovely lie in and a generally lazy day( having said that, I have ignored my ironing pile that HAS to be done tonight...you know...the school and work uniforms....that grow overnight!!)
Anyway, I thought I would share some pics with you. This first one is Lauren with one her cupcakes that my lovely and multi-talented Sister made. Lauren had asked if she could have cupcakes instead of a normal birthday cake....all she said was she wanted something bright....and would also love a VW badge maybe if poss.
So, here she is with her very own cupcake....VW badge and all! Nice and shiny silver....and all edible too.


And here are the cakes altogether on their stand. My sister also had rice paper toppers printed with Lauren on them....how cool is that!!! Donna, if you read this, thank you soooo much Hun, you are so flipping lovely (((hugs)))
Because Lauren is a girl after my own heart I just knew she would *need* a cupcake card too LOL, so I set too and made her this easel card...its not perfect so please don't look too close lol, I freehand cut the cupcake and then coloured in a Magnolia with my Promarkers ( I think she is Cowberry Muffin, but could be wrong)
I added a small paper doily, some AC thickers

, crochet mesh netting , Prima blossoms and bling.....and I was really pleased with it...and Lauren likes it too, so that's good!

So, now I have a little sneaky peek to show you.....tomorrow heralds the October Scrapology Challenge

......and its an absolutely gorgeous layout that we had the pleasure of lifting for this month....so pop along, have a looky and hopefully you will want to join in the fun.

Right, I am going to finish my dinner...and then do the ironing :(....catch you soon

Warmest wishes Anita..xxxx

Happy 15th Birthday Lauren!

Where HAS the time gone? It doesn’t seem that long ago that you were small….small and cute! With a happy heart and a soul full of love for other people….well some things don’t change Lauren…but others do. And you my lovely are one of them! We have watched you grow from a pretty, happy, charming little girl….into a confident, compassionate, fun loving and beautiful young woman!

We are so very proud to be your parents Lauren and hope that you know that……

You are truly beautiful Sweetheart, not only on the outside, but on the inside aswell….

don’t ever change!

Wishing You every Happiness on your 15th Birthday Sweetheart..xxxx