New shower room

In 2019 we had our bathroom converted to a shower room and I wanted to create a double layout to document the change for our house scrapbook.  We wanted a complete change of colour going for a more modern look especially with the tiles.

The new shower room is actually brighter than it looks in the photos.  It isn't easy taking pics in a small room and the grey wallboard makes it look darker than it is.

It was hard to know how to do these layouts so I kept them simple just adding some washi tape, enamel dots and wooden chevrons and arrows.  The arrows will make sense when the two pages are facing each other in the album.

Grandparents

Scrapbook layouts look so much better in real life as they are not easy to photograph.  This picture was taken at our Wedding.  I don't think anyone would wear a cap to a Wedding now.  I don't know why they are dressed so warmly as we got married in June but no doubt this was my Grandma's smart coat.

I found some embossed Core'dinations in my stash and sanded some of it.  The papers are Tim Holtz.  The embellishments represent some of my early memories of my grandparents as it says on the tag.

For sale page has been updated with sold items removed and more added.

Not everyone has a boat named after them

Last year I was going to finish one of my scrapbooks and started well and then didn.t do any layouts for months. Si I looked through my scrapbooks and found two are complete and the rest all need finishing.  I have started well and over the last couple of days have done 4 layouts so will see if I can continue the good work.

This is me aged 5.  Can you imagine a child having bows in her hair like that nowadays.  My Dad was into model boats and maned this one after me.  I used various papers, MFT stitched ricrac die and a Spellbinders star die. 

 I found the little doily in a pack I bought in America along with some vintage tickets from Craftwork Cards bought at a show.  The kraft words are Tim Holtz.  The paper bow is from Hobbycraft and flowers from America. Looking at ideas on Pinterest I realised that pages don't always need a title so this one doesn't have one.

 

Cocoa beach and village

the

This is a pocket layout for the Florida scrapbook and terribly hard to photograph because everything is in plastic pockets.  Hopefully though you get the idea.  I used Craft Label Finding Paradise papers and toppers. The sentiment at the top left hand corner says lovely times.  I used my Brother label printer to print Cocoa Village. The Ron John sticker said Orlando so I covered that using Dovecraft mini alphabet tiles.  The photo to the left of it is inside Ron John's shop and the photo of us two outside the shop.  Pocket layouts are a good way of using a few photos together but not easy to photograph.

 

Bon Voyage

I had a good afternoon in the craftroom yesterday and have several blog posts scheduled. I had two cards half made so they got finished and I made this layout and a pocket layout for the non theme park Florida scrapbook. That is the one which I hoped to finish last year, oh dear.

This is the final page of the scrapbook but there are several still to complete. I couldn't wait to use the new Bon Voyage papers from Craft Label and used both the 12x12 and 6x6 papers.  I tried using the suitcase paper as the main paper but it looked too busy. Once again I started with a layout from Pinterest but then went my own way.

One of the designs in the pack are large flight label and these were useful to cut into for the various tabs. I found the suitcase, let's go and bon voyage stickers in my scrapbook stash along with the rub on Journey. I haven't used a rub on for years and was nervous if it didn't rub on properly as that used to be a problem. However with some hard rubbing it worked perfectly.  I added a small wooden plane coloured with vintage phot DI and used a clearly besotted notebook border die.

Colourful Fort Myers

 

As promised I am back with a scrapbook layout using the new Finding Paradise range from Craft Label. The photos were taken at Fort Myers, Florida. I thought this range suited these colourful photos. As we were there during the Winter as the title says the morning are cool but the days are very warm. The photo of me was taken early one morning. I loved the colourful houses leading down to the beach.

Everything I used is from the Finding Paradise range with the exception of the title which was made using Dovecraft mini letter tiles. The bright colours match the layout so well. The title is straight as I used a ruler. It must be the photo which is a bit wonky. It isn't easy getting a good photo of a 12x12 layout.

On our way

I am doing well with my posts this month. I just need to get some Christmas cards made but I had an order for 14 cards so with that and the LOTV samples I have been kept busy.

WE always stop at Lifton farm shop and cafe on the way to the cottage in Cornwall. It is just the right distance between our overnight stop at a Premier Inn and the cottage. Graham couldn't resist getting into the milk float for a photo.

I saw a layout on Pinterest which just used kraft and white although my layout is very different to that one.

I used one of my fave old 12 x 12 pads, Tim Holtz vintage shabby.  I found the wooden cherries which I bought years ago at a show. I used Spellbinder heart and star dies, La La Land banner die, Tim Holtz notelet dies and added some wooden lettering, hearts and stars.

 

Enys Gardens

I was in the mood for scrapbooking Friday afternoon so made 2 layouts for our Cornwall scrapbook.  I get stuck for the design sometimes so have been pinning a lot of layouts for inspiration on Pinterest, They often come out different to the inspiration but I find them a useful starting point. The purple papers are from a lovely set I bought in The Works.  I used a Marianne die for the pretty circle.  The heading was made with American Thickers and an alphabet from Michaels in the US.

Our host at the cottage told us we should visit Enys Gardens and we were so glad we did. We have never seen so many bluebells. It is hard to capture in a photograph but I did my best.

On the farm

I managed to make another scrapbook layout for my Cornwall scrapbook. The photos were taken at the farm where we rented the holiday cottage. The gorgeous wisteria is outside the farmhouse and the calves were just a few weeks old and so sweet.  I used papers, ribbon and a wooden butterfly from the new Craft Label Butterfly Kisses collection. The letters are also new from Dovecraft called mini printed letter tiles. Hop over to their website as they have some great bargains and postage is free over £15.

 

Staying safe on holiday

I just had to record a page for the Cornwall scrapbook about the Covid precautions. We were so lucky to be able to go to Cornwall in October even though it wasn't the same.  Luckily there are so many wide beaches that staying away from people was easy. We avoided all the smaller places we would normally visit as social distancing in somewhere like St Ives with its narrow streets would have been much harder.

The papers are HOTP and the pumpkins and swirls are from an old pack I bought in America many years ago. I printed the 2020 using my Brother handheld printer. 

The weekend has rolled around again. The days go surprisingly quickly considering we are so limited on where we can go. Enjoy your weekend.

 

Starting the Cornwall scrapbook

Last year I planned to finish one of our Florida scrapbooks but that never happened. This year I decided to start a Cornwall scrapbook. I had the photos printed and as we should be going again in June to celebrate our Golden Wedding thought I would make a start. 

This is the first page and shows the place we have stayed for the last three years. It was recommended by a friend on Facebook who has been going four times a year for many years. We are so glad we discovered it as it is the best holiday cottage we have ever stayed in. The owners are so friendly, everything is spotless, the rooms are huge and the bed is very comfortable. 

It is like a home from home. They have just fitted a new kitchen into the one we stay in and that looks lovely.  We have stayed in the same cottage in 2018 and 2020 but in 2019 we stayed in the one upstairs. this was just as lovely but had huge stone stairs up to it which we weren't so keen on climbing at the end of the day. So this year we are back in the downstairs one. They have been converted from cow barns so have really thick walls. 

I used various papers, added some chipboard flowers and circles, a suitcase sticker and made some bunting using a MFT die.  I have another page to share tomorrow.

Christmas masks

Those of you who know my love of snowmen won't be surprised by my choice of Christmas masks. I thought they would make a fun scrapbook page. I used products from Craft Label, almost Christmas papers, foil chunky alphabet and pieces from the Winter Sparkle decoupage pad.  

We certainly won't forget 2020. It was so nice to get out a little more this week. On Wednesday we went out for breakfast and yesterday we both had hot stone massages which were lovely. Prima Rosa opened yesterday, the vintage tearooms/gift shop where I normally sell some of my cards and gifts. Unfortunately they have all had to be removed for the time being to maintain social distancing but they will be back in there when things are back to normal. We are going there for a light lunch today.  We originally planned to go with friends, who like us don't see hardly anyone else. Of course being in tier two we can only go on our own.

As I won't be doing any craft fairs early next year I really must do more scrapbooking this Winter.  It is no good printing photos and sorting them into a scrapbook if I don't get the layouts made. So that's my plan, let's see if it works out.

Rusting away

Yes it's another scrapbook page. When we saw this old rusty truck in Key West Graham got out his hankie and pretended to be cleaning it which made for a fun picture. Key West is beautiful and we had a lovely few days there one year before heading back to Orlando. We used to get the trolley outside our hotel into town, stopping off at various points and hopping on another one. There was a Cuban coffee stall near this truck and Graham had the strongest coffee I have ever seen. He loved it but you couldn't drink many of those.

I wanted to go for a grungy look to go with the car so sanded bits of the Core'dinations card. I found a few suitable stamps and stickers. he grungy postcard is an old LOTV stamp which was just right for a bit of journalling.

Changing weather

Yes I finally did some more scrapbooking. There can be a real  contrast in the weather in Winter in Florida as you can see. I am so glad we had some great holidays there as we won't be going any more. These photos were both taken a few years ago. The bottom one was from a particularly cold spell we had for a couple of days. Graham was videoing in Busch Gardens as we rode round on the train and his hands were so cold her had to stop filming. They had covered all the tender plants and even put some of them into the toilets to keep them warm.

I bought the diecut at the bottom in a lovely little scrapbook shop in Lakeland and it went perfectly with my layout.  The stitched sun and clouds were made using MFT dies. The sweater is from Hobbycraft bought a few years ago and the mittens were from a Christmas set bought in Florida.

Floating in Lakeland, Florida

This is the second of the layouts I made on Monday. I have no idea what these floating figures were all about but they were all in the trees in the park.  Lakeland is a lovely quaint old town with some lovely cafes and shops. There is also a lovely lake to take a nice walk around and on the outskirts of the town is Violettes which is a wonderful craft shop. It has so many little rooms filled with so many craft materials with everything you need for cardmaking and scrapbooking. I wish it was near me instead of just Hobbycraft and The Range.  I have never been in a craft shop like they have in America.

I used Echo Park Summer Days papers, the balloon is from another set and I coloured some wooden balloons with Nuvo glittermarkers. 

Today's excitement is going to the farm shop for some fruit and vegetables. We have been so lucky managing to get click and collect orders at Morrison's.  We mostly shop at Tesco in normal times but they haven't had any slots available for either collection or delivery.  It is so much safer than going into the supermarkets as you only see one person who loads the shopping into your boot whilst we stand back. Some people say supermarkets are ok but I have also read stories from all over the country of people ignoring social distancing so whilst we can click and collect we will until life returns to some kind of normal.

Stay cheerful, stay home, stay safe x

Cheers

Scrapbook pages always look so much better in real life as they are not easy to photograph. I have made a couple more layouts for one of our Florida scrapbooks. These pics were taken in Clearwater, Florida on a hot day in February. We stopped for a light lunch and they had an offer on Bud light if you bought two. I just fancied one that day but am not a beer drinker and in fact haven't had another in the three years since these pics were taken. 

I used a variety of papers and stickers, using both the MFT pierced banner and jumbo stitched banner dies. I bought a pack of letters from B&M a while ago and started doing the title only to discover that the letters only go up to P as the second sheet in the pack are numbers which is a bit odd so used some American thickers with them.  I rather like using a mix of lettering and a good way of making sure as many letters as possible get used in a pack.

Full steam ahead

Well isn't this weather amazing. We drove out to a local farm shop yesterday as we needed some fresh items. It was nice and quiet there and they let very few people in the shop at any time, sanitising your hands before you go in which was very good. The only trouble with being in the car with so little traffic on such a gorgeous day as that it would have been lovely to able to just keep going and drive to the coast for a long walk on the beach. We shall enjoy hat all the more when it is possible again. Instead of course we came home.

I really felt like making a scrapbook page and here it is. I must get more pages done and get cracking on some Christmas cards too. The page goes alongside another which I did ages ago entitled Railroad which also features a photo and tickets of the steam train at Mount Dora, a quaint old town in Florida. So the two pages read Steam Railroad.  The main papers are Kaisercraft, I added some banners from scrap paper, some lasercut wheels, washi tape and clouds and arrows from an Echo Park sheet.

Must do some housework this morning and then go for a walk after lunch. Then will see what I fancy doing for the rest of the afternoon.

Winter weather in Florida

Well I planned a crafting morning yesterday then had a text from a friend to say could she pop in for a cuppa. We haven't seen her since before Christmas as she has been away working or on holiday so my crafting morning turned into just enough time to make this scrapbook page. I did do some cross stitching whilst we were chatting though. Then in the afternoon we went for massages and I had a facial then returned home to finish a jigsaw before cooking dinner.

We always went to Florida in the Winter as neither of us like hot weather. The normal daytime temperature is usually low 20's there which suits us fine. The first pic was taken one morning outside our hotel. First thing in the morning is often a little cool. The second pic was taken in he car when we had a rainy morning so we went to one of the malls. I don't know why we were laughing but it made. for a fun photo.

The hardest part of scrapbooking is choosing the papers and embellishments but this one came together quickly. Everything came from an Echo Park Winter pack I bought over there.  I will try to get a card made this morning before line dance class and food shopping.

Disney hotel

One of the things we loved to do was explore the Disney hotels. They are all so different, each with a theme. We travelled to this one by boat from Disney Springs. We enjoy the boat trip and loved to look round the hotel and then we sat having a drink enjoying the view in the top photo. 

I used products from the new Dovecraft paper posies range for this layout. I also used American thickers alphabet stickers, Sizzix shadow script die, Bo Bunny just visiting sentiment and some wooden hearts.

Florida airboat ride

I was rather apprehensive about this trip but Graham really wanted to do it so we settled for the half hour trip. I don't like fast boats but this skimmed over the water and reeds and it was a really good trip. We saw a lot of different birds and a few alligators. It is very noisy, hence the ear defenders. I used various papers, MFT sun and jumbo banner dies and some wooden arrows.