This is my entry for this weeks Lots to Do Challenge which is "The Scenic Route"

Ive been meaning to do this layout for ages. Its a picture of my Dad in his younger day when he was a member of the local Cycling Club.
My Mam and Dad met through the club as they were both members.

Ive managed to incorporate some pieces of maps , places where the club used to ride too, and some actual dried flowers from my dads garden , which I had actually pressed before he died and didnt get to use them.

Im sure many of their rides were on some "Scenic Route " or another and I imagine he would be quite chuffed to be included in the challenge.

Thanks for stopping by my blog, and I hope you all have a nice weekend.

Blog Candy Giveaway - Dont Miss Out

Over at the Scrapbook Garden Blog they are giving away this fab blog candy.

Here it is .... the Blog Candy up for grabs until the end of August. To be in a with a chance of getting your hands on this delightful trio of The Crafter's Workshop 6x6 Template (Mini Mums), Petaloo Crinkled Rose Layers (Mauve) and Ranger Distress Ink Pad (Victorian Velvet) - just register as a follower of this blog. Closing date is 31st August 2010. Draw will take place on 1st September.

Remember, if you become a follower and have a blog, all you have to do is post about the Blog Candy Giveaway on your blog and link it back to The Scrapbook Garden, then leave me a comment letting them know that you have done this in the comments box. You will then have 2 chances in the draw. They will allocate everyone who participates with a number and use a random number selector to find a winner!

Its as easy as that .......
Good Luck Everyone

Lots to Do - Shapes

Just a quick atc for this weeks challenge at Lots to do, which is shapes.

Ive got a mega busy weekend and Im not sure how Im going to fit everything in , so apologies that its a small entry.

I used the Deck of Cards stencil and used the Tim Holts vintage inks and added the diamond shapes to the atc. next I added a card shape , printed image of a keyboard which is shaped and finally the pointer.......

Thank you for stopping by my blog , and hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Lots to do - Stitches

This is my entry for this weeks challenge at Lots to do which is Stitches.

I am not really that good at sewing, it drives me to distraction and I get very frustrated with it. So you can imagine I was uncertain as to how I was going to be able to submit something this week. My first thought was that I would need to make something and draw on broken lines to represent stitches.

However at 5am this morning I had an idea......

Remembering that my Mam had made me some small samplers of embroidery for me to use in my Vintage albums.

So this is my first piece using the samplers. I hope it fits the bill as I myself did not do the actual sewing.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

My daughter Hannah

Today was the preview of a small Art Exhibition in Monkseaton near Whitley Bay.

It was a collection of work from the year 11 GCSE students at the school that my daughter attended.

Hannah was lucky to have her self portrait included in the Exhibition.
Hannah gets her inspiration from Michael Hussar, and loves his work. This self portrait is an ICT Manipulation , then sketched onto canvas and then painted in acrylics.

There was some fab work there and it was great to see such a brilliant collection of artwork from young people. Im very proud of her and heres hoping she continues to do well with her Art when she starts college in September.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Lots to do People and or Places

These are my entries for this weeks Lots to do which is People and or Places.

The first one is a memory of our visit to the Northcote Horse sanctuary , where you get a horse for a day , to groom and spend time with . These people do an amazing job, looking after these old and retired horses. We were given this huge Shire horse and my daughter was in her element taking it for a walk. We had an amazing day.

The 2nd Scrapbook page is of me when I was a baby, in my pram on the sea front at Roker. I still have that little teddy bear somewhere lol.


Thank you for stopping by my blog.

Lots to do - Hats or Crowns

This is my entry for Lots to do this week which is Hats or Crowns.

It was in my mind to do something Vintage but time has been against me , so I apologise my 'hat' is a party hat on this card for my friends little boy Theo who will be 1 yr old on friday.
I may still get my other idea done in time in which case I will add it then , thanks for stopping by .

Lots to do - ARCHITECTURE

Sorry Im very late this week but this is my entry for this weeks Lots to do - ARCHITECTURE

Ive actually made this as a trade for a friend so Im afraid im killing 2 birds with one stone. Behind my closed doors you will find the Moulin Rouge , and my piece of Architecture is the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Thanks for stopping by my blog , hope you are all enjoying the beautiful weather.

Lots to do - quotes

These are my entry for this weeks Lots to Do which is Quotes.

A Scrapbook page of my Mams brother Tom when he was in the Merchant Navy , and a little atc with one of my favourites quotes on it.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Lots to do - Mail Art

This is my entry for this weeks Lots to do , which is Mail Art.


After having first hand experience of mail going missing these days when I saw this short story I couldnt help but chuckle to myself.

My Great Grandfather, and then Grandfather, and then my Mother used to run our local Post Office I thought I would make up this mini book for my Mum.

I managed to find some images to go with the text and it turned out ok.

The text reads:


The Missing Five Pound Note


George worked for the Post Office and his job was to process all the mail that had illegible addresses. One day just before Christmas, a letter landed on his desk simply addressed in shaky handwriting: 'To God'. With no other clue on the envelope, George opened the letter and read:
Dear God,
I am a 93 year old widow living on the State pension. Yesterday someone stole my purse. It had £100 in it, which was all the money I had in the world and no pension due until after Christmas. Next week is Christmas and I had invited two of my friends over for Christmas lunch. Without that money, I have nothing to buy food with. I have no family to turn to, and you are my only hope. God; can you please help me?

George was really touched, and being kind hearted, he put a copy of the letter up on the staff notice board at the main sorting office where he worked. The letter touched the other postmen and they all dug into their pockets and had a whip round. Between them they raised £95.
Using an officially franked Post Office envelope, they sent the cash on to the old lady, and for the rest of the day, all the workers felt a warm glow thinking of the nice thing they had done.
Christmas came and went. A few days later, another letter simply addressed to 'God' landed in the Sorting Office. Many of the postmen gathered around while George opened the letter. It read,


Dear God,

How can I ever thank you enough for what you did for me? Because of your generosity, I was able to provide a lovely luncheon for my friends. We had a very nice day, and I told my friends of your wonderful gift - in fact we haven't gotten over it and even Father John, our parish priest, is beside himself with joy. By the way, there was £5 missing. I think it must have been those thieving fellows at the Post Office.
George could not help musing on Oscar Wilde's quote: 'A good deed never goes unpunished'



Anyway my Mum got a laugh out of it and its now coffee table conversation in her house.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Lots to do - the last 3 weeks !!

Apologies that Im posting 3 lots of challenges for Lots to Do in one go.
This scrapbook page shows my use of a grungeboard flourish. The photo on the page is that of my Aunt Amalia Augusta Kell ( nee Douglas) who at one time used to perform on stage.




This card shows my rubber stamping collage, peacock themed for last weeks challenge.





And the final two pages are for the Friends challenge the week before that.
Apologies for not posting them at the correct time, Life just got in the way once again, oh what I would give for a boring life !!

Thank you for stopping by my blog , hope everyone has a fab weekend, Im just about to start work until midnight ..........hehehe

Lots to Do - Faces

Thes atcs are my entry for this week Lots to do challenge which is faces.

Two I have inked with distress inks and rubber stamped, the other two i have used papers and printed images. But all show a face.

Thank you for stopping by my blog

Lots to do - Leaves & Trees

This is my entry this week for the Lots to Do Challenge which is leaves
I have made a very simple anniversary card for my friend but it does have some leaves on the bottom corners.
They are Bazzill Basics paper leaves and they are really good quality I love working with them. They come in a variety of sizes in the one packet.




Next is a page from my daughters memory album , picture of her and her late father having fun. On here I used skeleton leaves which i find a nightmare to attach, they do adhere with glue dots but through time they stick to the plastic pages of the album so if anyone can give me any tips I would be grateful.





This next one is from my Disney album and its to represent the beanstalk that grows through the buildings in Fantasyland in Disneyland Paris. I know the leaves I have used are not beanstalk leaves but I think they make a pretty good alternative.



Lastly I have used the same leaves which are cut using a cuttlebug set of dies. The come 4 in a pack and I have used them on many projects.

Im sorry I have no trees to include in this post , but Thanks for stopping by my blog. Have a nice weekend.