Sunday 29 April 2012

For the love of coffee

Is anybody else hating all this rain? It makes a girl want to just snuggle up in front of the fire and not go out. I am definitely getting my moneys worth from my wellies and raincoat. The only upside is that I get to spend time in my craft room, always a plus.

This post is dedicated to my love of coffee & Starbucks, a love that I am now sharing with my DD. For years now I have frequented Starbucks, I guess it started when we lived in New York. Even when I was pregnant and off coffee I would go in there for a donut and a sit down on one of their comfy chairs. We were lucky enough to have a Barnes & Noble bookstore near us that had a Starbucks in store. Books & coffee, my kind of heaven.

I have coffee in the mornings with my breakfast & when I go over to my friend Vicky's it is coffee that we drink. If I am in town I will try & make time so that I can sneak a coffee in.  For years my DD has gone along with this, when we returned to New York for a visit my DD & I got into the habit of going to Starbucks for coffee for Mummy & a donut for Ella. I would grab a take away & take Ella to the park. It has now got to the point that if I take Ella into town she is just as desperate to go to Starbucks as I am.

The layout below show's Ella's favourite coffee, shame that it was only a limited edition. She is even bold enough to go & order what she would like on her own, my little girl is growing up.


The next layout shows a photo of our order together. When my DH has his haircut in town, Ella & I go & get ourselves a magazine each & then go to Starbucks. We sit on the sofa if it is available flicking through our magazines, looking at new fashions & boy bands sipping our coffees. 


The photo doesn't really show that I stamped some swirls around the butterflies and also drew a border around the edge. I still think that it is missing something, but the beauty is that if I think of something I will be add it at a later date.


Well next weekend is going to be a busy one, I am finally getting to go to a crop (hooray!) and we are also attending a family wedding, let's hope that the weather improves. Should be a great opportunity for some photo taking. 

Sunday 22 April 2012

Happy Birthday Ella

This week was my Ella's 8th birthday, and I am still in a little denial about it. From being a little girly girl, she is now showing signs of becoming a big girly girl. This years birthday was all about gymnastics and One Direction, yes my DD loves a boy band.

Again I have done no real scrapbooking but I have done some cake baking. Ella's birthday cake is where I try to pull out all the stops. I had an image in my head and a trip to a shop called Almond Art, helped me with trying to make it.


In my head I saw a cake covered in flowers, with butterflies fluttering over the top. The idea came at Christmas when my Mum & Dad bought me some butterfly cutters for Christmas. Unfortunately for me my butterflies were a little over weight.


The didn't really flutter, as more dive bombed the cake, oh well Ella loved it (which is all that matters) and said that I was very clever (added bonus).


Finally here is the gorgeous birthday girl, she is growing up so fast. I managed to get some shots of her on her birthday so I will have have something to scrap at the next crop, which I am going to hell or high water.


Tuesday 17 April 2012

Back to normal

The Easter holidays have flown by, I guess it helps when they are jam packed. As for crafting my prediction was right, I didn't do any. So as I sit at my worktop looking down at a layout I started before Easter, I can't remember where I was going with it. Oh well let's hope some inspiration returns.

Monday 2 April 2012

The End of March

The last week of March has been glorious this year and I have spent much of it outside. We are sorting out the bottom of our garden, which has involved us deepening the ditch so that we can put in some pipes and then covering with tonnes and tonnes of soil, all of which needed to be shifted by hand. It will be worth all the hard work once it is finished.

This is our garden before we started work.


I also managed to have a day off from working in the garden to go to Cambridge for the day, as I have never been. It is a lovely place and I will definitely be going back. Relaxing by the river was a great way to spend my birthday in the sunshine. This is me and my lovely husband enjoying a boat ride on the River Cam.

 
With all the above going on I surprised myself by managing to complete three layouts. Funnily enough they are all winter themed which feels a little strange with all this gorgeous weather. As always my DD is the feature. I used sketches from My Little Sketch BlookCreative Scrappers and ATDML, all of which are a great source for ideas and sketches.


I have dusted of some of my very many stamps to stamp a boarder on this layout. I had forgotten how much I enjoy stamping, I love how it adds just a little extra to a page.


The layout below is my first attempt of using embossed card, which I sanded a little to bring out the snowflakes. I also used some rub ons from my sale stash.


More stamping on the layout below and the odd rub on, I even managed some bling.


So Easter holidays have started, so not sure how much crafting I will get done. Am hoping that the sunshine sticks around and that it continues to be warm (I am not holding my breath though). Hope the Easter bunny brings you lots of eggs x