New goodies

Since doing Teresa Collins' class earlier in the month I 've really liked the look of the Bind It All - this is what we used to bind the album we made. Since then I have been working on a few little albums/journals and felt that I needed a Bind It All. So I am selling a lot of my old stash that I've not used for a while as well as other stuff and thought this would be a good way to justify my purchase LOL. I couldn't wait though as I found it for such a good price at Craft Superstore so went and ordered it and it arrived today. I also ordered from Papermaze and got some acylic covers to use with the Bind It All plus an American Crafts Slick writer pen - I got a brown one in my last Studio Calico kit which has been great. That order also arrived today, so great service from both companies :)

Yesterday I went on a school trip to Twycross Zoo with Ethan's school. I help in Ethan's class and had 5 children with me - Ethan and 4 of his friends. It was a lovely day and great trip, everybody including teachers and helpers, had a great time. I was very tired after though which wasn't helped by being ill. If I'm honest I probably shouldn't have gone but there was no way I could let Ethan down - he was so excited about me coming to help and has been desperate for me to help on a trip.

I've still not managed any layouts this week, I've just not felt up to it. Hopefully I can get back scrapping soon but I have a lot of sorting over the next week that might get in the way. I'm going to be having my own scraproom which I'm really excited about. Our front room has not been used much, apart from for drying and sorting washing, since the back room has been decorated etc. When we first starting talking about what we could use the room for I wasn't too keen on it being a scrap room - I just didn't want to take up a whole room in the house! We would rather the room be used though so it will become a scrap room and I'll also have a sofa and TV in there so it can be used as a sitting room too. John is off work next week and we are getting the new sofa then hopefully the desk and storage for it. If there is time too I'm going to re paint some of the room too and change the colour. Hopefully this time next week I'll have some photos to share.

What a weekend!

It really has been one of those weekends and very busy. Ethan had his Ju-Jitsu grading on Sunday to gain his orange belt so he had his last lesson on Saturday. It was a good session but there was a lot to remember with all the different moves. His grading on Sunday went well and the move he was most unsure about went well and he PASSED. It's now onto green belt which is quite a jump so he may not take his next grading so quickly. Here is a photo of Ethan once we got back with his new orange belt on:

Saturday morning before leaving for Ju-Jitsu my new Crumpler Ben's Pizza XL Camera bag arrived and I love it. I already have a medium Ben's Pizza which is perfect for just taking my camera and smaller lens out. When I wanted to take my bigger lens and accesories out though I needed a bigger bag and I really liked the look of this one. I thought it was going to be quite big but fortunately it isn't - it's the perfect size. It fits so much in and there is still plenty of room for more.

On Saturday evening I realised the fridge was smelling a bit and after a little investigation it became clear that it had broke, along with the freezer as it's a fridge freezer. We tried to save as much food as possible and take to my Mum and Dad's but there wasn't a lot. The rest went in the bin - what a waste. I was really worrying about Flynn's food as I make it so needs to be kept in the fridge or freezer. I kept his food at my parents and have had to nip out to get it at meal times. We went to order a new fridge freezer yesterday expecting delivery to be the end of this week but thankfully they could deliver the next day - it has just been delivered and it's fab. It's quite a bit bigger than the last one so no more carefully placing the food to fit everything in! So although it was terrible timing we were going to be getting a new one in the near future and I love it. In the future I'd love a big America fridge freezer with ice and water dispenser but that will have to wait till we extend our kitchen!

I have also been ill over the weekend, not sure what it is but have had fever, aches and pains, sore throat, ear ache etc. It doesn't seem to be what Flynn has had and still has but there is obviously something in the air. I just hope I'm better for Wednesday as I've agreed to go on Ethan's school trip which he is super excited about as I'm going.

I had hoped to get some scrapping done over the weekend but with feeling unwell resting has took priority. Hopefully I'll get done this week as there is so much i want to do. I'm also planning on buying a Bind-it-All soon after seeing it in action at the Teresa Collins class I went to. Katy has also got one and is really pleased with hers, so that will be my next purchase :)

This week I'll post some recent photos of the boys, seems ages since I've done a post just on photos of them :)

Allsorts!

Here is a layout I did earlier in the week with June's Studio Calico kit. The photos were taken on a trip to Wollaton Park to try out my new camera. I was really pleased with some of the photos and it was great fun - although I did get some funny looks LOL. There were quite a few photos I wasn't pleased with but I think I learnt a lot from that, I suppose the saying learn by your mistakes is true!

I did this below using the Scroll Frame Sheer Keychain by Maya Road that I got in May's Studio Calico kit. When it arrived I didn't have a clue what I was going to do with it but last week I had the perfect idea. I did this for John for Father's Day, it has photos of both Ethan and Flynn in and I've just used a few little embellishments. The photos aren't very good but you get the idea.

Then totally off the subject of scrapping is this photo below. It's a long story but the shortened version is this is my Dad (at the font) and his sisters. He only grew up with one of his sisters and believed the other was a cousin (they are half brother/sister). They met for the first time last week since finding out the truth. I have yet to meet my new Auntie but hopefully that will happen later in the year when she visits again. There are so many more photos like this but not of them together, it's been so lovely seeing them as we haven't really got an photos from when my Dad was young.

New mobile phone

I have been due an upgrade for quite a while (probably a year) but I really liked my old phone as it is so slim - as you can see below.



I have struggled to find another phone I like as much which is why I haven't upgraded sooner. Recently though some of the keys have been sticking a little when sending texts so I knew it was time to sort a new phone.

I phoned Orange to see if they had any deals on - they were offering a free Nano but I wasn't keen on the phones with this deal. So I went into town yesterday and managed to get one of the phones I liked with cash - a better deal. This is my new phone:


Samsung Soul U900 in PINK

I'm having lots of fun with it but it's going to take a lot of getting used to and I do miss the size of my other - can't have it all though!!!

Teresa Collins

Last Thursday 5th June I went to Teresa Collins' class Live Life in Chepstow (run by The Chepstow Pink Scrappers). It was my birthday present that Katy got for me and we were staying over night too. I drove down to Katy's to pick her up then we travelled down together. We ended up having to have dinner at the services as we didn't have enough time to go anywhere else. We then went over to where the class was being held, it was a lovely room and they'd gone to a lot of effort with chocolates and cakes on the tables.

The class was fantastic and Teresa's Journal It line is really nice - the class kit had so much to it and I was able to add extra pages so I could include a few more photos. Teresa was so easy going and was happy to sign our books (something I saw someone else ask her to do) and have her photo taken with us. She also had so much to say to us and talked about her love of journaling - it really makes you think. I got A LOT out of the class.

THANK YOU KATY

I just need to add a few photos and some journaling then my book will be complete and I'm itching to do another now. here is my front cover and a sneak of the inside, once it's done I'll photograph the rest.



Here is a photograph of Katy, Teresa and me. I also have photos of me with Teresa and I'm going to add one of those to the back inside cover of the book where Teresa has signed it.

On the way home the following day we went to Paperarts as it was only a 30 minute drive away and not too much of a detour. It was a fab shop with so much stash, I could have done with the whole day there! The staff were so helpful and friendly and I just wish we'd had longer than the 30 minutes we had - next time!

Here are a couple of recent layouts, both using my Studio Calico kit. I'm really pleased with how they came out.

Great weekend

The weather has been so lovely the past few days, hopefully it will continue through the weekend so we can be out in the garden.

Yesterday we spent the day at Silverstone with friends for the Renault World Series. We had a fantastic day and there was so much to do there. We had a walk around, took a picnic with us and watched some of the races, which Ethan loved. It also gave me a chance to play with my camera and use the bigger lens I have for it. Here are a few photos from the day:

I'll post again with some new photos of Flynn, layouts and my fun/busy week last week.

Bad blogger

I let time pass by again, it just seems to have been a very busy month.

It was my birthday a few weeks a go and I got a DSLR - Canon EOS 400D with 70-300 lens and memory card. I've been wanting one for ages so I was super excited :) I've enjoyed using it and the quality of the photos is amazing - I've only got as far as auto at the moment! I got birthday money too so got a UV filter for one lens and getting one for the other lens this weekend. Also got a camera bag and CD and still deciding what to spend the rest on.

Another great present was what Katy got me - a class with Teresa Collins next month. It looks a fab class and should be a great. We are staying in a hotel that night so will probably go out for dinner too so really looking forward to it.

Ethan is good and enjoying playing on Mario Kart on the Wii (another of my birthday presents). He's also busy at school at the moment with lots of after school activities. Ethan has managed to talk John into putting the trampoline up at the weekend, weather permitting so fingers crossed - I can't wait to have a go LOL

Flynn hasn't been well the past week but seems to be getting better now. He's had a virus and has had high temperature and been very grumpy and off his food. he started solids a few weeks a go and it was going really well untill he became ill. Hopefully we'll get back on track in the next few days as he was really enjoying it. He has enjoyed various fruits and vegetables, porridge, yoghurt and many finger foods and doesn't seemed to have disliked any.

A few photos from the past month:

Photo shoot

I've been wanting to get some photos of Ethan and Flynn to put on the wall now Flynn is a little older. I had some taken last month of Flynn but they were very expensive and although lovely not fantastic plus they were just of Flynn. So I thought I'd have a go myself and went out at the weekend and got a big sheet of white fabric. I used the conservatory with it being so light and had a play around. It was great fun and especially love the one below of Ethan.

Studio Calico kit layouts

I really look forward to getting my Studio Calico kit and I always manage to use most of it in the month and get plenty of layouts done. It was a little later this month due to hold ups with the postal service but finally arrived on Thursday. I managed to get 4 layouts done on friday evening and another last night. Here are a few (a couple are not quite complete but thought I'd post anyway):

I'm really pleased with how this came out and love the colours - Ethan had spent the day with my Mum and sister and they took him on the Nottingham Eye. I put the different colour card behind the cut out flowers, love that paper.

I have had to put the flowers over the other children's faces in this layout. Love this layout, it is very simple and was quick to put together.

I'm going to add some buttons to the bottom right corner, just need to find them! This is all about when Flynn got his first 2 teeth in the same week. The paper worked great and although it was creased it was on the day that i didn't need to use :)

I need to add the journaling to this one - the story behind the bandaged foot! So it will be a very simple layout but I wanted the focus to be on the story rather than any embellishments etc.

Growing up!

Well it's been a while since I last posted so thought I'd better find the time to update. It's been a very busy few weeks with lots of things going on.

Ethan has been busy with Ju-Jitsu and has had some extra lessons over the past few weeks in preperation for his yellow belt grading he had yesterday. He took his red belt back in December and passed (you can pass, pass with credit or pass with honours) which was such a great boost for him. So Ethan was really excited about his grading and had been practising hard, when we arrived it wasn't as busy as last time which was nice. They were in there for about 1 hour 45 minutes and take it in turns to go up and get graded, practising before and after the grading. When they'd finished the parents were allowed in and Ethan was presented with his certificate for passing his yellow belt with CREDIT. We were all so excited and went and got his new yellow belt straight away.

Ethan just before leaving for his grading.

Ethan has also been busy at school as last week was his last week, he is now on Easter holidays. Theyhad a sports week last week at school and went in their sports clothes. They got to try loads of different sports, including, football, cricket, horse riding, cheerleading - the list goes on. He had lots of fun and it finished with an evening at school on Thursday that parents could attend too and find out about various sports clubs etc in the area.

On Friday it was back to school in uniform and the Easter Bonnet Parade in the afternoon. Ethan was very excited that I was bringing Flynn to watch him - that's how it is now, Flynn is the most important person to him LOL. It was great and Ethan looked great in his Easter Bonnet and sung really well.

Now to Flynn, well he has been a busy little boy recently! He is now rolling and there is no stopping him now he knows what to do. He mostly rolls back to front but is doind front to back more and more. He's been so close to rolling for a long time but always had his hands in his mouth which prevented him from getting all the way over! He also got his 3rd tooth and that realy bothered him when it came through on Friday. He seems fine with it now but his hands are staying firmly in his mouth!

This was taken a couple of weeks ago!

He is also making a lot more noise and is also babbling, laughing and squeals in excitement. He loves being on the floor surrounded by his toys, musical of course! He's also enjoying his sit play gym more and more especially now he can stand in it and stop himself from slumping forward.

I took this photo last night, we were just playing with the camera - I think they look so alike in this photo

Me and Flynn

I have only a handful of photos of me and Flynn so a few nights ago got John to take a couple of photos. The problem is I'm always behind the camera but really need John to take more so there are more photos of me and me with Ethan and Flynn. Otherwise there are going to be scrapbooks with photos of John in and not me. Here is one of the best photos:



I have managed to almost complete a couple of layouts tonight with this months Studio Calico kit. I just need to journal on them then I can upload - just one as the other has a friends child in.

Bumbo

At the weekend we went out and got Flynn a Bumbo seat which he loves. He really enjoys being in it especially when Ethan is playing on the floor next to him. He loves to be around Ethan and watch him. It'll be great for him to sit in and play with his toys and when he's a little older to sit and have snacks in.

The cow in the second picture is one of Flynn's special toys and he is just starting to really take notice of it. Ethan had a very similar toy as a baby but it was a monkey and it went everywhere with him. The cow is a great little toy but you do find yourself singing along to the songs and talking it does - don't you love Vtech :)

I'm off to get Flynn weighed later as it's ages since I last got him weighed. I'm looking forward to seeing how much he weighs but he seems to be growing well.

A&E

This morning I ended up at A&E with Ethan. He jumped yesterday and hurt his foot and wasn't putting any weight on it. So after no improvement this morning it was off to the local hospital. I thought he would need an x-ray so was pointless waiting to see the GP tomorrow although I didn't think he'd broken anything. He did need an x-ray which Ethan thought was great and loved it when the doctor showed him the x-rays of his foot - he wanted a picture to bring home! They are all computerised now so the doctor was zooming in and out on different parts of the foot - technology! Anyway nothing was broken but he needed a support bandage putting on and this has helped no end with his walking. I think he'll be back to normal in a few days. Here is a photo:

Poor Ethan has been full of cold too and it's particularly bad during the night. In the day time it has not bothered him as much just the odd sneeze and cough etc.

I managed to do a layout tonight of Ethan on Bonfire Night last year. I will upload tomorrow along with another layout I did last week.

So tired

I've been up early this morning fetching my brother and his girlfriend from the airport after a holiday in New York. Whilst they were there they got engaged and Laura has come back with a very nice engagment ring :) They've had a lovely time and spent LOTS of money but how can you not in New York. Roll on next April when we go to New York again.

I picked them up from Birmingham Airport and how things have changed since I was last there. You can't drive in front of the arrivals and departures now to drop off and pick up so the car park outside there is now a rapid drop off zone (used to be short stay). That doesn't mean it's free though - £1 for 20 minutes and £3 for EVERY 15 minutes after that. I couldn't decide where to park - rapid drop off, multi story or long stay. In the end I decided on long stay and this worked out great. Although it was a little way from the terminal there was a bus that took less than a minute which dropped and picked up right outside - and the best thing it was free to park in there for up to 1 hour and so easy to use. I think it must be a first getting free parking at an airport though!!!

I've not managed to scrap all week even though I've had things out ready to do. One thing I've been wanting to do for a while is a mini 2008 calendar Katy got me for Christmas. I have been thinking for a while what I wanted to do with it and now have a few ideas so want to get on and do it but time has just not allowed - may be later today. I did some layouts at the weekend though so will try and get them uploaded at some point, just need to photograph them. I've had both my Creating Keepsakes and Simple Scrapbooks magazines this week too so have lots of reading!

Here are a couple of photos of Flynn I took yesterday and one of Ethan taken last week whilst he was out with my sister and Mum - just so this post looks a bit more colourful and a little less like an essay!

I had a play around in Photoshop with the second - I really need to get to grips with that and make the most of it.