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.