Summer and Bank Holiday Crafting...

Hello!  We had some more lovely summer weather. I am glad to say that these hot days fell on the weekend. This meant Matt and I could dust off the BBQ and enjoy some late night star gazing sitting outside in the garden.

Unfortunately our Bank holiday plans did not quite work out due to Matt's work commitments, but it ended up as quite a nice weekend of crafting for me! It kicked off with a day spent with the Benfleet Scrappers where we were treated with two classes.  A beautiful Canvas LO designed by Jackie Da Silva who runs Benfleet Scrappers.

We then made this lovely Mini Book with Emma 

I have never been very keen on Mini Books, but the bug definitely bit me. I love miniature elements, book rings and tiny pearls etc.  It all works so wonderfully together in a mini book that I am not quite sure why I have never fallen for the charm of the Mini before...?

I then spent the afternoon on Bank Holiday Monday making cards with my leftover paper scraps from both classes. 

I got this stitched "hello" idea from the gorgeous Amy Tan.  Mine does not look as good though, but I will be practising! ;)  I also love these tiny words stamps by Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday. They work for everything from Project life to cards!

Louie had an operation, but he is recovering well.  He is back to running around causing havoc where ever he goes... Love him to bits! :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Cindy x

ScrapaGoGo Monthly Kit - July

It is normally a happy event when my monthly Kit arrives from ScrapaGoGo, but it is extra lovely when you open the box and just can't wait to make a start.  This is my first LO from the Kit.

Even though this photo was taken on Christmas Day a few years ago, I did not want to make it a Christmas themed page.  The family photo is what is important in this story as Matt and I really do not get to visit my family in South Africa enough.  Family pictures are very special to me and it is always amusing to see how much we have changed since the last time we were fortunate enough to have one taken. The group in the photo has also gotten bigger over the last few years which is nice.

For this LO I did use some extra bits (the pink baker's twine, Tim Holtz tiny attacher, a die cut from Authentique, rhinestones and Liquid pearls)

Thanks for reading,

Cindy x

SMASH

What a week and few days it has been.  I have been absolutely glued to our telly making sure I do not miss any of the Olympic Games! I have been crying, laughing and cheering for most of the time.  Due to having dual citizenship with Britain and South Africa I have two countries to cheer on. No shortish of events there!

I have been busy crafting in between though so not a complete couch potato yet!

Since first hearing about smash books I just loved them. I bought several books (yes several, as it is very hard to choose just the one, believe me). 

 

 Notebooks are a big weakness of mine and probably the reason why these books interest me at first. I have been looking at them and paging through them, but not really got as far as smashing until this week.

I have been admiring the smashbooks of the lovely Jennifer Evans for ages and found my inspiration to make a start from her books.  I love how full and vibrant they are.  Once you start it gets very addictive though!

 

I am forever cutting out pictures from magazines and collecting little nothings that is too pretty to throw away.  Next to our sofa you will very often find a small stack of cuttings of things I like, things I would like to do in the house or things I would like to buy.

  

I think the smashbook and I are going to become very good friends....

Thanks for stopping by today!

Cindy x

Merly Impressions Challenge

I stumbled upon the Merly Inpressions layout challenge earlier in the week and thought it was a great challenge!  As a scrapbooker I get asked a lot as to what scrapbooking is, but not often WHY do you scrapbook.  So when I saw the challenge was to create a page about "why I scrapbook" I realised that I do not have an incredibly heartwarming story as to why this is my passion and hobby. I scrapbook for the obvious reasons of documenting our life and telling/preserving our story of course, but the reason I scrapbook is simple. It makes me happy and I love it! I like the fact it is a hobby I share with my mum.  I love getting lost in my pretty paper, bling and other yummy stash.

This is the LO I created. 

 I wanted it to be bright and fun.  I know that not a lot of people are crazy about neon, but I love Heidi Swapp's neon washi tape. It is a recent addition to my stash and I hope to use a lot more of this....

Products I used:

Die cuts from Authentique, My Minds Eye, Miss Caroline, My little Shoebox (mini alphabet stickers)

Heidi Swapp - neon washi tape, Studio Calico abroad paper. Some scrap paper I found in my scrappies box.

Thank you for reading and have a lovely weekend!

Cindy x

ANFSCD

I took part in Shimelle's "and now for something completely different" inspiration challenge on UK Scrappers this month and this is my LO.

I am really happy with the way this came together considering the idea was to use all your scraps.  I was a bit worried when I started taking scrap paper from my box, but as soon as I added the journalling and put the last finishing touches to it I was pretty happy with the result.

Tonight is a big night here in the UK.  Less than two hours to go before the start of the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games! Will you be watching?

Thanks for stopping by,
Cindy x