Scrapology - V is for Vine.

This month over at Scrapology our challenge is V is for Vine. Here is my DT contribution for our May Challenge.

We lifted this layout below for the challenge and it was created by a lady called Liberty Chance, please do pop along to her blog and pay her a visit.

Thank you Liberty for allowing us to lift your lovely work.

Here is the sketch that we worked from :)

Lynn found an excellent online video tutorial by the mega talented and super lovely Gabrielle Pollaco on how to create handmade vines. Sometimes we don't want to use, or cannot simply afford to use the shop bought vines and so this was a fab chance to make them ourselves, I shall definately have a go at this technique again!

For my page, I used papers from the Websters Pages 'Hollywood Vogue' range. I used 2 identical sheets ( Stardom) and the journal stickers are from the new range by Crate Paper called 'Emma's Shoppe'. I used a wide strip of the reverse side of the second sheet to lay across the layout behind the photo. before sticking it down I gently inked along the edges and then popped a fine black mat behind the photo. I then misted the background with 2 different Cosmic Shimmer Mists and cut out and layered up some peices of the paper taken from the bottom of the 2nd sheet. The peacock tail was then peppered with Stickles to highlight the feathers.

I ordered some peacock feathers from ebay and wired them up, adding some leaves, chiffon roses and a glittered butterfly. I then finished it off with crystals.

The page itself is all about Lauren's long term fear of peacocks, such a shame as they are such beautiful birds....but there is no convincing her that they are anything less than pure evil!

We would love to see you join in with this months challenge.....you have plenty of time still.

Warmest wishes Anita..xxx

Flipping heck! Not again!!!

Remember a few weeks ago I posted that Lauren had dislocated her thumb whilst in goal at footie? Well guess what? She only went and did it again today! Except she wasn't in goal this time.....some little rat on the other team took her out with with a 2 footed tackle....but not before she managed to kick the ball....STRAIGHT into the goal!!! That's my girl! :D




I do think footie is bad for your health though Lauren!!!!
Love ya Hun( even though you closely resemble Pob in this photo he!he!he!..xxxx

Happy 40th to the best Little Sister ever!

Yep, she has hit the biiiiiig 40! So, wishing you the happiest and most special of birthdays Donna and hoping it was a fabsulous day ( I know the evening was ;) LOL!)

This is the card I made for her, I have used the CC Designs Swiss Pixie Cupcake Birgitta , coloured with Promarkers and finished with various blossoms, stamped sentiment using an SU stamp ( thank you Zoe xx) AC Thickers, die cut shapes and some free papers from a mag...oh yes and a sprinkling of Stickles!

See, she really IS a wonderful little Sister....always has been.

She was lovely even way back then.......even with a wonky fringe he!he!he!

So, on Sunday night she had a big party so we could all share in the celebrations. It was really lovely to see so many of our rellies and her friends all in one place, but such a shame that our parents couldn't join us due to illness ( maybe we should do it all again next week? What do ya think??)

He is me and my lovely gang ( Sharon, recognise the shirt? ;) )

Donna and my Hubby....well part of him!

Donna and my lovely Brother-In-Law and Neice and Nephews ( before the alcohol lol)

Hope you had the most wonderful day Hun, you so totally deserve it ((((hugs))))

P.Y.O. and a little sneak peek.

This is a layout of my eldest Nephew, Oliver. We all went to our local PYO Farm on our annual Strawberry Picking day out....(you know the kind,one for the punnet, one for our mouth....just for quality control purposes obviously).......and it was Olivers first time at properly picking them for himself and he really enjoyed it! And I have to say the strawbs at Sharnfold Farm ARE delicious!

I used some papers from an old Pink Paislee collection ( I think its Spring Fling) and also some PP alpha Stickers. The blossoms are Prima and the stickers are Crate Paper Emma's Shoppe

The red edged star is cut from some Scenic Route paper and I added the little gingham bow and strawb charm to finish it off. The gold swirls that are scattered here and there are made using some Pebeo Gold Outliner( I used to use this for outlining work on glass and ceramics)

I will leave you with a little sneak peek of something coming soon.....I hope you might like to come back in a few days to see the rest of it :)

Warmest Wishes

Anita..xxxx

Cheeky Chicks and Cute Kids!

Well yesterday saw Easter Monday trundle through and we always, ALWAYS have an egg and chick hunt at my parents house for the kidlets. Several of these fluffy little yellow critters were to be found scattered around the back and front garden along with eggs, easter figures and little baskets.

Heck, we even had a 'Stunt Chick'! We hired him in special....he was going 'cheap' ;)

Just a few of the pics of the kids. I think Lauren had the right idea and just take the WHOLE cake stand......forget hunting round for some puny little eggs or chicks....straight into the hard stuff for her!

Oliver had eagle eyes and good climbing skills!
Joshy was quite content to play with his basket full of goodies he found along the way....not realising there would be some yummy goodies at the end for him.
He did however need a heloping hand for one of the lambs that was hanging in the tree!
I was really pleased to see this pretty little butterfly in the back garden, I *think* its a Common Blue. I remember as kids we used to see these everywhere....and the tawny brown ones, Peacocks, Red Admirals and lots of Cabbage Whites. But in recent years I can't recall seeing hardly, if any, of the Common Blues.
Here they are at the end of the hunt, counting their finds and hoping for a biiiiiig egg!
I hope you had a lovely Easter too?

Warmest wishes Anita..xxxx

Chocolate Nests and Layouts!

Happy Easter Everyone!

I hope you are having a really lovely day today, it's certainly another corker isn't it!

I made some Devils Food Cake choccy nests and took some to our picnic with friends the other day...and we have finished the rest today ;), they were rather yummy.
This morning we went to a huuuuuuuge boot sale. i got a lovely skirt, brand new with the tags still on for Lauren....for the pricely sum of £1!!!!!! I bought 4 rolls of pretty wallpaper for......wait for it.........£1 for all of them!!!!!!! And I bought 2 punnets of strawbs, a bag of grapes and 3 mangoes for....yep....£1!!!!!!! So a lovely fresh fruit bowl will be on the menu later.



I had forgotten that I hadn't posted a couple of my layouts that I made at our Blossoms retreat last month. This first one was made using a paper from Websters pages and is really simple and basic, but i really like it. It shows Chloe picking Blueberries, Loganberries and Strawberries in my Aunt and Uncle's lovely garden in Devon where we were lucky enough to spend a weeks holiday last year.
Here is the other page....another basic one. I used some of the lush papers from Echo Park collection, which i purchased at Cardinal Colours, along with the cardstock. The yellow letters are AC Thickers and the larger doily of the 2 was made by cutting a circle then clipping round the edge with a MS punch, the small doily was made with a MS punch and I also used a MS punch to create the yellow strips down both sides. The photo is of our 2 girlies and their cousins when they were ready to go to my youngest nephews Christening last year....check out that car!!!

Right, thats me done I think, just off to nibble some chocolate.....enjoy the rest of the Easter Weekend everyone

Warmest wishes

Anita..xxx

Seaside Shenanigans

Ooops, just catching up on a few pics. We asked Chloe to pick something that she would really like to do for the day....and she REALLY wanted to go to Hastings seafront....so thats what we did!
Chloe is MAAAAD about the arcades and couldn't wait to get out of the shops, along the seafront and into the fun! She had great fun on 'Splat the Meerkat' and managed to get quite a high score!
Then she changed up a couple of pounds into 2p's and spent a looooooooong time on this machine in particular

but it was all worthwhile because she managed to win a fair few of the little prickly critters!

We went for a lovely stroll down through Old Town area and in a little open area we found these wonderful creations.

The detail on them was incredible and they looked stunning in the sunshine.

It always makes me feel sad though when we drive past what is left of the pier. We have many happy memories of trips out on there over the years and now that it has been almost totally destroyed by fire think it will be a few years again probably before it is rebuilt and re- opened.

Hope you are having a lovely Easter Weekend so far.....and that the Easter Bunny visits you with some lovliness tommorrow..xxx