19 years ago today.......

.....this is what we were up to :).....( nice car eh? Its EXACTLY the same age as me.....but has better bodywork!!!)


Gosh we look so young.....well Dale does anyway! Welllllllll.....he was only 19 when we got married .....whispers * I was 23!*
Since that day we have been lucky enough to have been joined by these 2 little beauties.....and we became complete!

So....to celebrate today I made us both a picnic.....and because it was raining I laid it out in the lounge....for a little indoor picnic!

But luckily just before I went to collect Dale on his dinner break, it actually stopped raining.....so I popped the food all into a basket and off we went.

We went along to our local Common pond, dried off one of the benches and enjoyed our picnic :)
I needed some photos for a layout I wanted to do for our anniversary.....so clicked away ( you should see the ones I had to delete!!!!! Or maybe not LOL!)

And then I tried to set my camera on self timer.......first time it was on 2 seconds.....and there was a picture of my backside!!!!! Not pretty I can tell you LOL!!! then I found the 10 sec setting and got this :)

Some people never find their other half in life.....I was very lucky.....not only is he my other half, he is also my Soulmate....... Happy Anniversary Sweetheart.....and Thank you....for everything that has been....and everything still to come.....I love you..xxxxxx

B is for Bunting! September Card Challenge over at Scrapology.

For our latest Card Challenge over at Scrapology we have been putting out the flags with Craftwork Cards

Sue from CWC has set the challenge and wants us to make cards with BUNTING on them.
Here is my offering for the DT this month.

I have used CWC Papers and Die cut toppers from the Christmas Warren Very Merry Collection

I also used some paper string ( butchers Twine), some flat backed crystals and some German Glass Glitter on my card.

why not pop over to Scrapology and see what the rest of the DT have created and hopefully you will decide to join in with the challenge....you have until 15th Oct to create and upload....good luck :)

warmest wishes Anita..xxx

What a wicked weekend!!

I have just spent this weekend with a wonderful group of ladies and friends at this year's fabulous Seaside Retreat held by our lovely friend Jill, of Cardinal Colours
The weekend was cram packed full, with some fabulous classes and super Make and Takes, some fun challenges ( which saw some brilliant entries!) and a few games of bingo which caused many a giggle and some groans at the same time ;).
We had some cracking layouts taught by S-J, Lynn and Linda, Angie and I taught one too,
Angie also taught some amazing mini albums, which were a real labour of love and were very technical, but soooo worth the effort and time put in, she is a fantastically clever teacher!
We were also lucky enough to have Zoe ( Sprout Worshipper) join us again this year and she taught some beautiful card classes using gorgeous Stampin Up products....as did Lynn and Linda with their Craftworkcards products and Promarker and stamp sets( please check out their blogs over the next few days to see their beautiful classes)
Zoe, Perdita,Lynn, Linda and myself also held some Make and Take classes which included Owl keyrings, felt brooches, stockings and purses, christmas baubles, paint fusion Poppies and decorative beaded pins.

Whilst there I taught a couple of classes....one of which was this large canvas.

The canvas itself is 40cms x 40cms, so nice and big! We worked with the beautiful 'Timepiece' papers from BoBunny , they really are a gorgeous collection and perfectly suit heritage photos or, as you can see, you can also use them for more modern ones ( although our daughters think of these as heritage ones LOL)

The canvas itself was painted with an antique gold acrylic paint and then we ripped, inked, scrunched, cut, sprayed and threaded until it was finished.

Here are a few close ups :)
The flowers were made using 7 layers of paper that were taken from an old book and cut with a scalloped edge circle Spellbinder die.


The watch chain was made using copper coloured wire and lots of little bronze/copper coloured bugle beads.
It was really lovely meeting all the ladies over the weekend.....some of them I have met before and know really well and others were new to scrapping or retreats and it was a pleasure to meet them too.
If any of you readers out there were at the retreat and took part in my class, i hope you enjoyed it :) Thank you for joining us all at the Retreat, we hoped you all enjoyed it.
Thank you Jill for another brilliant weekend, I REALLY hope you get chance for a little *you* time at some point in the next few days..xx
Warmest wishes Anita...xxxx

Hi! Ho! Hi! Ho! It's off to the retreat we go!

Yes folks.... only one sleep until Jill's big seaside retreat in Eastbourne. We are all busy preparing (especially Jill and Richard) and really looking forward to seeing those of you who are attending on Friday for a weekend full of fun, scrapbooking, cardmaking, classes, make and takes, good food and generally having a great time with old friends and those we have yet to make.
We are staying and creating in the York House Hotel, right on the sea front.

Here are a few sneak peeks (if any of the designers want more added please send me the jpg's)

See those of you who are attending very soon.

Best wishes Lynn, Linda, Jill, Anita xxx

Happy Birthday Zoe!!!!

Send HUUUUUUGEEE Happy birthday wishes to my lovely friend Zoe



Hope you have had a super day, lots of cupcakes and been totally spoilt!
See you at the weekend for chocolate covered sprouts and other delicious delights ;)
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Off she went!.....and a little something for Zoe!

Oh my goodness....it was Chloe's first day at Secondary School today **gulp!**, she looked soooo grown up in her blazer, tie etc ( I nearly shed a tear!!!). Well, she came home having had a super day and very much looking forward to tomorrow thank goodness ( although she WAS tired lol). So now all I need to do is try and find her photo from her 1st day at school at Primary and see if I can make a layout :)
I hope anyone else out there with 'big school newbies' have had the same positive response :)


And here is something that was made especially for a lovely friend who sadly wasn't feeling too great at the weekend and couldn't come to crop with us.
It's Zoe's birthday later this month so I made her a choccywoccyfudgywudgybirthdaycakey as a surprise, complete with bunting and celebratory Sprout :D, sadly she wasn't there to have some :( and she was sorely missed.
Linda also made some absolutely scrumptious Lemon Surprise Cupcakes and OMG they were to die for!! Really sorry you missed those too Zoe.

( this little fella kinda looks like he is ready to do some mud-wrestling!!)

Hmmmmm, guess I shall just HAVE to make another one for next time eh ;)

Scrapology September Challenge - E is for Embossed.

Over on Scrapology this month our challenge is E is for Embossed and we had to use either dry or wet embossing. We have lifted a gorgeous layout by Kelly Goree ( see the layout and sketch lower down in this post).

Here is my layout for the DT, I have used a sheet of Bazill embossed cardstock from Cardinal Colours.
The papers are Victoria Garden by Echo Park and I also used some Spotty Black and White AC Thickers for the title and finished around the 3'D flowers with some Stickles.

The layout is of my youngest with her year 6 teacher at Primary School. It was taken on the last day at the School Leavers Dance. She looked so lovely bless her in her satin dress and wearing her wrist corsage that her big sister made for her.....
She starts Secondary School tomorrow :(.....where does the time go eh?

Here are a few close ups of my layout.



This is the original beautiful layout by Kelly Goree that we chose to lift.....her work is wonderful and she has been one of my favourite scrappers since I began scrapping a few years ago.

And here is the sketch we used, drawn by our very own Lynn


We would love to see you join in with us this month for this challenge, why not pop along to Scrapology and see what other creations our DT have made.... and then you have until midnight on the 5th Oct to create and get uploaded.
Once again we have been lucky enough to have a super prize donated by our lovely friend Jill, of Cardinal Colours...thank you so much Jill.xx