Scrap Club - Four Pages in One Day!

... must be a record (for Lizzie!)

Sunday was Scrap Club day.  As my title says, I managed 4 pages, which is pretty good going for me.  I tend to be slow and dreamy when scrapping, so it's not often that I manage more than 3 pages. 

I had a couple of details to finish, so I did that this afternoon, while the Gas engineer was overhauling the heating!

I used an adaptation of Shimelle's "Stash Diving" technique.  For Christmas I received a rather lovely and very thick pad of scrap papers, from my lovely Niece.  It is called "Lost and Found" by My Minds Eye.  There are a number of colourways and lots of designs, all co-ordinating beautifully.

I chose papers from three "sets", to go with a number of photos I wanted to scrap.  Then I cut pieces/strips of the papers and arranged them to make good backgrounds for my pages, using extras to mount the photos and create some embellishments. 

I have ended up with two single and one double layout; and I'm really pleased with them!  While I won't use this technique every time, it's certainly a handy starting point for creating some good pages with co-ordinating papers.

Here they are:

"Location Location Location"

The two photos are of our very favourite place, Wells-Next-the-Sea, in Norfolk.  As the journalling says, we'd love to live there, if funds and logistics would allow it.  We can't so we have to settle for frequent holiday visits. 

For those who are not familiar with "Kirsty and Phil", the title is borrowed from a popular British tv programme, where two property finders help people to locate their perfect homes. 

I cut little hearts from some scraps of the patterned papers, then used one of my small lino stamps, to make two prints, which I cut with a scalloped punch.  One was printed with a soft turquoise ink, the other with a much brighter shade, so I layered them, with the bright one raised on foam sticky-pads.

* * *

"Play Your Happy Music"

James loves his guitar - possibly more than he loves Sherlock!  He plays it every day and composes his own music.  His tunes are always "happy" and I love to hear him play.  It makes me smile! 

Recently I had a "proud mummy moment", when he played in a local fund-raising concert, at the church in a nearby village.  His friend, A,  got the concert started and his mum helped to organise it.  They did a fantastic job, arranging for the local middle school to bring their choir to sing and for local amateur and professional musicians to play for us.  A and another friend, M, have a band together; James joined them, with his guitar, as they sang / played two very nice songs.  James also had his own "spot", playing "Romance" by John Brunning, plus a tune he had composed himself, which he called "Spanish Armada" - it really sounds very Spanish and is a good, stirring piece, which he plays very well.  The concert raised a good bit of money - over £700 - which was split between the church fund and a charity nominated by A & his family.  We were all very proud of our boys!

The photo on this layout isn't from the concert, but it is James practicing.  We weren't allowed to take photos during the concert, however I know that A's mum did take one of James - I must ask her for a copy of it!

* * *

"Oh for a Book - and a Shady Nook"

Little E. loves to read her story books.  Keri-Anne took these wonderful photos of her reading and drawing. I think they are so lovely and just had to make a layout with them.  It ended up being a double-page layout, as I didn't want to separate them. 

I chose the large letters to emphasise the "Oh" and "Book", as I wanted to have a good "stand-out" title, but obviously couldn't make all words equally large.  This worked really well, with the two "speech marks" and the little pink letters for the rest of the quote.  I wrote the name and dates in grey pen, underneath the quote.  I used my new heart border punch to make some little trims for the title boxes, then cut larger hearts and some butterflies, to embellish little corners of the photos etc.  The cut-out hearts from the edging punch made great "confetti" to decorate the journalling box.  I haven't written any journalling - I think I will ask Keri-Anne to help me with that.

The photo isn't very good - in fact, none of the photos are good, as the light was very poor this afternoon.  You'll just have to believe that these pages look much nicer "in real life"!

* * *

My other Project this weekend, was to have another go at tidying and organising my Studio.  I didn't get it all done - there is still a lot to do - but I made some progress:

I put the folding table under the window.  It had been cluttering up the middle of the room, in the way of the white desk and shelves.  Now the room feels enormous! 

It's hard to see, but there is now an extra shelf at the bottom of the unit.  I had a big stack of paper on the bottom shelf, which was too difficult to get into.  Whenever I needed something, I had to lift out all the paper, so I could get at what I wanted; I had cleared the second shelf from the bottom (the one that's visible, without much on it now) and put half the paper storage on that.  However, the shelf has a big space above it, which wasn't being used.  We have added an "in-between" shelf, so my paper can all be stored on two shelves, but I now have the tall space back, to use for boxes etc.  Still need to sort it out, but I'll get there soon! 

I did tidy my desk and table, but the mess crept back onto them very speedily - especially when I got lots of stuff out, to get ready for Scrap Club!

* * *

The other thing I did on Saturday afternoon:

"Midsummer", by Mariann Johansen-Ellis - a lino reduction print.

I've had this print, which I bought from Mariann, since June 2010. 

It had been languishing in a folder, shamefully neglected, along with all my other prints. 

I finally got it framed up and mounted on the wall, above my white desk (spot the reflections)!  

And I was fed-up with having all the lovely art prints I'd collected, sitting in a folder, waiting for me to save up for frames and mounts.  So, I cut some pieces of white and black card, then mounted them with invisible photo-corners (so I didn't damage them).  Then I attached them all to the wall behind my desk.  I think they look fabulous!

On the left are three wonderful photographs, by my very talented niece, Keri-Anne Pink. 

There are prints here by four artists. 

Top left: Three Cat Lino Prints, Lori Dean-Dyment; Below: "Dandelions", Nina Moscrip (was Clough); 

Bottom Left and also the other bird prints along the bottom row: Amanda Colville;

Top of the middle section - the deep blue owl print - "Night Flight", Celia Hart. 

To the right, next to my poster: "Old Books" reduction lino print, Jennifer Bass; 

details of two prints by John W. Golden. 

The other four prints?  Well, they are my own work and I thought I really should put them up on my own wall!  They are "Reflection" - a three-colour lino reduction print; "Spanish Lemons" - a four-colour lino reduction; the central one, below the clock, is a drypoint etching, "Lace Birds", which I did on my printmaking course at Knuston.  At the top right is a collograph print, which I also did at Knuston; it's not fabulous, but it's not awful either and I like it, so there it is!!

And that is my new Art Wall, that I have been threatening to make for about two years!

So, I think I achieved something this weekend.  Quite pleased with myself!

The Story behind the Socks!

Hello All!

This should have been posted last night, but it was dark and I couldn't get a decent photo of the layout - pink does not photograph well in artificial light!

I made it at Scrap Club yesterday. It was partly for a Challenge on Shimelle's blog, for (Inter)National Scrapbooking Day, but also because I have wanted to scrap this photo since the end of March, when it was taken.

This layout is really about the reason for the photo, rather than the photo's content.  The picture shows 11 of the Sock Creatures created by my lovely group of girls, on 26th March, when I taught a day-long workshop on creating Sock Creatures. 

However, the story-behind-the-photo is more than that.  For a start, this was my First workshop. It was the first time I have planned and taught a class of this kind to children.  I've taught adults before, as part of my job; I also helped in school for 5 years, while DS was younger, assisting with general maths, English etc, hearing and supporting the children's reading, helping in the "Design & Technology" lessons - anything from sewing to building models with pieces of wood etc, etc...  But this was my first children's workshop, thought up, planned and executed entirely by myself!  I feel rather proud of that - so this page is partly to document that fact.

The other half of the story, though, is about the students.  They were a great bunch of girls, ranging in age from 9 to 14.  Their skills varied enormously, with a couple of the older girls being pretty accomplished needle-workers, whereas two or three of the others struggled - one girl in particular.  However, with one exception, all the children took home at least one completed Creature, with several having a part-completed one, to take home and finish.  The "exception" did struggle a lot; her sewing ability was very limited and she had problems with planning and visualising the process of creating her creature.  She made a fairly major mistake, which I helped her to work round and rectify.  She had to unpick and re-stitch (I helped a bit with that too).  However, I was so impressed by her determination and effort - she may have struggled, but she persevered.  I sent her home with several pieces of model, drawings to help her attach head, limbs etc and sufficient bits & pieces to make it look nice.  She said her parents would be able to help her - I so hope they did! 

So, I was proud of me, but also of my students.  One young lady found a striped sock and turned it into a fabulous bumble bee; another made a cute monster, with a bow on its ear; there were several rabbits - all starting with the same design, but all so different and all so cute!

It was just a wonderful day and I really wanted to record it. 

I'm going to print this Post out and stick it to the back of the page, as I didn't have room to journal all this on the front - the journalling just says "My first Workshop Day, teaching 9-14 year-olds to make Sock Creatures. It was a great success and the 11 students completed 13 creatures betwen them, with two or three more taken home, to be completed there.  We had Fun!"  - that's all true, but I want to record the whole story for ever!

A Sunday of Scrapping

Our Scrap Club met yesterday, for the regular monthly crop.  I hadn't managed to go to the last two, so hadn't seen the other ladies since before Christmas.  It was so nice to "be back" and see familiar, friendly faces (oh and the biscuits weren't bad either!).

I manged two pages yesterday - a big achievement for me, considering the mess things have been in recently.  It was really very nice to be away from the chaos and just relax!

A memento of my lovely surprise on Friday!

This seemed like an appropriate title, seeing as that is where the parcel came from and also the sweets are "totally USA", since you can't easily buy them here!

I used the photos I took while I was admiring my newly-opened parcel; the tags Deb made for the little parcels were so nice that I added these to the page, along with bows made from some of the ribbon she used. 

I used a few Valentines Day rubber stamps, with pink, red and brown inks, to give the page a bit more interest; I had a great bit of scrapbook paper about friends, so a piece of this, with some nice red art paper, made a good mat for the photos. I left a pocket behind the red paper, then added a little bit of ribbon to the lovely note-card that Deb had put in with my parcel.  I can keep the card and some journalling in this little pocket.  Such a nice way to remember a special present from such a special person!

A page about how J. got his black eye!

I thought the heading just about summed up the Lesson that he learned...

I used some brown felt letters for the word "Cuddles" - quite appropriate I think! The background paper was a great piece of shaped kraft paper I've had for ages; I used some matching kraft embellishments, along with some cute stickers and some arrows to draw attention to the "main attraction", since it's not so obvious at first!

A bit of Catching Up

Hello again, all Blog Friends – old and new!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything… I was busy telling you all about our family trip to London – still some of the story left to tell; I’ll post (the final) Part Three very soon. 

Before I carry on with that though, a bit of “housekeeping” and a little catching up on my last two or three hectic weeks… 

* * *

It’s been a very busy couple of weeks, since we got back from our London trip.  J. has been back at school for two weeks now.  D. has been at home, “in between contracts” and has been busy with various projects of his own.

I’ve been doing the usual juggling of household chores (housework, what’s that? I’ve no time for housework!!); trying to make sure the house isn’t too grubby for good health; that we all have clean clothes, towels and bed linen; that the pets are fed and watered, with clean homes/beds…  Then I’ve been taking my mum to her usual assortment of appointments – mainly nurse and dr. visits – helping her with a few jobs, keeping an eye on her. … and trying to make books – lots of them!
 
And, of course, there was the small diversion of a Blog Party to go to last weekend…

* * *

Blog Hop Prize Draw

Firstly, I forgot to put a Draw Date on my blog hop post.  I will make the draw for the Five prizes on Sunday evening, some time around 8pm (GMT).  I hope that will give anyone who’d like to join in, the time to read the post and leave their entry on the Comments.

* * *

Then there’s this:

Ships Photo Album

9”x6” Photo album - Front view

Back view

Binding view

This was a commission order, that I received from a friend on Tuesday morning.  She rather urgently wanted an album, in blue, with a ship design, that she could put photos in and give to someone as a present.

After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, discussing her requirements, I came up with this lovely ultramarine blue paper for the hinged edge and inside the covers, and the fabby travel design paper on the covers.  I also used the travel paper as guards/spacers round each pair of pages.  It added a bit of colour and interest to the bound edge of the book.

I spent a while trying to decide whether to make a Coptic stitched binding, or a Japanese-style stab-stitch, with hinged cover.  I decided that neither would allow room for expansion, which would be needed if photos were being put into the album.  It was to have between 20 and 40 pages, which is quite a lot for a photo album (a paper one anyway).

I decided to make a traditional tied binding, through two holes in the covers and pages, so set about making the album along those lines.  After a while, I worried that a cord tie would be tricky to use for such a thick book. 

A bit more thinking and I came up with these binding posts, which are used for scrapbook albums.  I had a set of K&Co album binding posts, which were brand new and shiny, so I used those;  even so, I’m not sure there is enough room in the album and I’m going to try and find some extra extension posts (I only have 1 extension and obviously need 2!!), which I’ll send on asap.

I was quite pleased to have this completed in two days (in amongst my various commitments for J. and my mum!).  It went off in the post yesterday, with guaranteed delivery by 1pm today.  I’m waiting to hear if she likes it (I hope!!).  Apart from my reservations about how thick it is and whether the posts are long enough, I am really pleased with this album.  I’d have liked just a little more time though, to spend on planning and binding, as it has a couple of small mistakes, which I wouldn’t have made, if I had been able to take more time over it.  But it isn’t too “imperfect” and overall is quite a nice book!

(smiles broadly )

* * *

Going a bit further back in the calendar…

I did my first ever “Craft Fair” last Saturday.  A local lady organised an Art and Crafts Exhibition in the Village; this was the second year that she has done this.  Last year I saw her advert, but didn’t think I would have enough stock for a stall, so I chickened out…

When we went to see the exhibition, there were people with little teeny card tables, on which they were displaying their work.  Even I could’ve filled one of those, so this year I phoned as soon as I saw the advertisement (before I lost my nerve) and booked a table, to have a Handbound Book stall.
 
I also booked a large table to be used by our Scrapbooking Club, so we could give demonstrations and try to drum up a few more members. 


We were lucky enough to be given 3 notice boards and a small table to display stuff on – some of our work.


Two Scrappers hard at work!

My Stall

I spent the two or three weeks leading up to the sale working flat-out to make books to sell.  The organiser thought I should have plenty of lower priced items, since she thought that people would not have a lot to spend.  So I made quite a few of my pamphlet-style notebooks, to sell in pairs; also a number of sets of covered note-pads (ready-made tablets of note paper, on which I put nice “policeman style” flip over covers). 

I made a couple of bigger books too:-


A large Album/ Sketchbook, covered with lovely collage-style paper.  Japanese-style stab-stitch binding in red linen.  Contains ten hand-torn pages of heavy-weight watercolour/print paper, with folded spacers.  Measures 11^1/4” x 8^1/4”


A Journal or Sketchbook, covered with “Pens” paper, with a navy silk quarter binding. Contains 50 pages of sketch paper.  Measures 8^1/4” x 6^1/4”.

So the Big Day Dawned:


My stall, all set out and ready for Business!

I didn’t actually sell a great deal.  I made £24 of sales, which means I covered my costs, but no  more.  There just were not enough people coming through – and many who did come were not really spending any money, they were just there to look at the crafts on display.

However, I think it was still worthwhile, as now a lot of people locally know that I exist.  Quite a few took my business card away with them and some took my phone number.  A few stopped to chat and seemed interested – maybe I will get some orders from them later.

And, of course, the experience was good for me; planning, making, packing, pricing, presentation of books and the stall, putting together a portfolio album, just getting it all sorted out and experiencing a sale – even if a small one.  I may do it again – perhaps at a slightly bigger venue.  It wasn’t a waste of a day, but useful experience. I am glad I took the plunge and did it!

* * *

That’s a quick summary of the last couple of weeks in “Lizzie Land”.  Lots of other things have happened, but now they’ve gone by, it doesn’t seem a good idea to drag them back up again – nothing of much significance in the Great Scheme of things! 

I will post about London soon – probably tomorrow! 
G’night All…

A Productive Day

Today has been very productive. I have put four new listings in my Etsy shop, of things that I have made:

Green and Orange Flowers and Bunting set.

Pink Flowers and Mini-Bunting set

Paper Flowers in green, white and blue

A6 Butterfly Notebook / Journal with Japanese Stab Binding

I feel really pleased with myself today - it was great to list four items all at once - I haven't done that for ages! 

Tomorrow I will be going Paper Shopping, to find the perfect paper for a commission book. A lady has asked me to make a Wedding Guest Book for her son's wedding. I'd normally use a good quality medium/heavy weight paper; however she has said that she'd maybe like to stick tags in it, written on by the guests, so I think the pages really need to be stiffer - perhaps a good, smoothish cardstock instead.  I am off to see what I can find (wish me luck)!  

The butterfly book above was a bit of a "practice piece" actually, as the customer has asked for her book to be bound in a Japanese style too. I need to get some things straight in my mind, regarding measurements, methods, stitching patterns - oh, lots of stuff... so I'm making books.  However, I did buy some lovely papers while I was away in Cheltenham. This butterfly paper was one of those, but there are some more too...

It makes me happy to be creating again. I seem to have had a creative lull over the last few months - perhaps because of the crazy building project last spring and summer... then all that decorating, organising, furniture building, tidying, organising (again), decorating (again), laying floors, shelf fitting, furniture building (again), shelf fitting (again)... you get the idea!

Also, it wasn't a great winter for my mum and her health, so I was very busy with her... I do hope she will have a few months of good health - she could do with a nice, warm summer (but not too warm!) and some stress-free, healthy days, to set her up for next winter! (and so could I !!).

I want to get on with making lots of stuff now - books, more books, scrap layouts, scrap supplies and embellishments, soft toys... On Sunday our Scrapbook Club is meeting for our monthly Crop, so I should get a whole day's scrapping! I am looking forward to it.

"Watch this space", as they say!  

Sunny Side Up!

No, not eggs! Me! Yesterday I wrote a long and rambly post, full of moans about how exhausted and depressed I was.... In fact, it was so miserable that I woke at 3am, had a change of heart, switched on my laptop and moved that post back to "Drafts"!

Thank you to Amy, Rinda and Sian, who all read it before then and wrote me some very kind and supportive comments. I really appreciated your encouragement!

Today I have felt a lot more positive. I had a reasonable nights' sleep, for the first time in a few days - that always helps.  I think the sunshine and blue skies have had a bit of an effect too.  Also, I made the decision, for myself, that my mum would need help for a few more days, so I should arrange my day so I could go over and make her some lunch today. 

I went over there mid-morning, stopping by the post office on the way, to post Sian's giveaway prize (yay!).  Sian, it should arrive tomorrow or Friday.  Deb, yours will be on its way, just as soon as I can set aside a good hour of free time, to make a proper job of the ribbon fastening - please bear with me?

So, Mum looked a fair bit better today.  She said she felt a lot better, though still very tired and feeling wobbly (hardly surprising, as she hasn't had a proper meal for 3 weeks!).  A chap comes round on a Wednesday, selling fish from his van.  It's always very fresh and really nice, so she bought a piece of salmon.  I cut off a small piece from this and she had it poached, with a little potato.  She felt okay after this and asked for some ice-cream!  By the time I came home in the afternoon, she was feeling alright, with a bit of colour in her face, watching her tv programme and planning an afternoon nap.  I think she is on the mend this time and hope the report back to the Dr. on Friday will be that she's nearly better (at last!). 

I already felt more positive anyway, but seeing her on the road to recovery has really helped. I will henceforth stop whingeing and get on with it!

* * *

So, I removed my post from yesterday.  I had posted some photos I'm rather proud of , which I'll post here again. 

Friday 12th March

I spent a very nice afternoon, visiting my niece and her lovely new baby girl.

Here is Alexie with her daddy.

Super-cute yawn!

She's really lovely and my niece seems to be settling down to being a new mum.  She has her elder sister to support her too, which I'm sure will be a great help.  She also has her boyfriend and his parents, whose house they all live in. DC is still at college, working for his degree. 

The baby was a bit of a "whoops", but they were very pleased, once they got over the shock!  DC's parents have been wonderful and treat C. as if she is part of the family.  She was staying there already anyway, but obviously a new baby on the way changes many things. 

They have supported their son and his girlfriend and been unfailingly kind and helpful.  The spare bedroom was turned over to them for a nursery and everything has been done to help them give their little girl a good start. 

Our family are so grateful to them for their goodness.  Obviously this is their grand-daughter too (their first also), but not all parents are so supportive to their grown-up son who has managed to "get the cart before the horse"!  They have gone the extra mile for their son and I'm sure it will make a huge difference to everyone involved (us too).  C. is a lovely girl and I don't forsee any problems with her behaviour. Hopefully the baby will be fairly easy to manage and all will go smoothly.  In a year or two, I hope we'll see the three of them settling into their own little home together.

That was Friday. 

Saturday 13th March

I spent the day at our Scrap Club crop. 

We had a great day together, getting on with our various projects, chatting and enjoying the lovely sunny weather outside the big windows at our new venue.  We used to meet at the scout hut in the next village, but this time we had the meeting room, attached to my local village hall.  It was a good size for our group, as we're still fairly small.  We hope to have some new members at the next meeting though.  We've booked this room for 3 more sessions at the start of May, June & July.  If we outgrow the room we have various other options within the village, so I hope it will continue to meet here at least once a month.  We may manage some weekday evenings too - the last one was quite successful, so I think we'll try it again soon.

If you live near to Bedford (UK!!), you may like to join us.  You would be made very welcome.  Our next planned meeting is Sunday 2nd of May (April got too complicated, with school holidays, Easter etc!).  After that we meet Sunday 6th June and Saturday 3rd July.  Give me a yell if you might make it and I'll be pleased to give you more information.

* * *

I also had a lovely card and present from J. for Mother's Day.  We visited my mum, with her present - a "squirrel-proof" bird seed feeder!  She was supposed to come over for lunch, but was still feeling pretty rotten, so we went to see her instead and had our roast lunch at dinner time (it was very nice - roast chicken with all the yummy trimmings).  We've promised her a lovely lunch another time, once she is well enough to come here and enjoy it.

* * *

Anyway, I must go now and do my evening jobs etc. Also need an early night, to keep this more positive mood ticking along.  Nothing like being over-tired to make me grumpy and miserable!

Have a good evening everyone.  I'm so lucky to have all my Blog-land friends!

The Pink, or the Brown? Did you win?

Okay, so it's not just "after 8 o'clock"... it's really almost 9:30.  In my defence, it's been a busy couple of weeks... and J. had trampoline club this evening. etc, etc.. In short, Sorry I'm a bit late!

So, the results of my little Mini Book(s) Giveaway!

Let me just go off to Random.org, to get a random number for Prize One, the Pink Mini Album/Sketchbook/Journal ....

There were 13 comments left for this little book. So....

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1

Max: 13

Result: 2

 

 

Number 2!  Which iiiissss.... (one of those long pauses, like they do on tv - doesn't it drive you mad?)

 

Deb - of Paper Turtle. Yay!

 

Deb said I should choose the ribbon and closure myself.  So I will! It'll be a nice surprise for her and I might post a picture after she's received it.

 

So, Deb, please let me know where I should mail your little book. I'll try to get the closure fixed up over the weekend and to put it in the post on Monday.  But I will let you know as soon as it is on its way.  I hope you'll be pleased with it.

And Book number Two, the tiny little mini-book, by BadBooks.

 

By the way, I recommend checking out her Etsy shop just now... there are lots of lovely things there. I especially like the little notebooks with diamonds, or flowers on the cover. Very sweet. There's also a similar tiny book to the one in this giveaway and another couple of books covered with the same Liberty print from this mini-book's lining. Lots to see... go and look! (just so you know, I don't get paid for this plug! I just like her stuff.)

So, after the long pause.... another scoot off to the Random Number Generator (don't tell Horsey!)

There were 12 comments for this book -

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1

Max: 12

Result: 4


Unbelievable... I must have been psychic or something...

Comment Number 4 is Sian of From High in the Sky!  She wins the teeny tiny notebook. Yay!

She really hadn't better tell Horsey how I chose her as the winner - he would not approve! However, I don't have a "Horsey" to help me, so Random.org has to do.

Sian, please let me know where to send your little prize. I will post it to you on Monday, so you should have it very soon.

So, there you are. The Two Winners are chosen... the rest must just accept my condolences and have a go at the next giveaway (of course there'll be a "next giveaway" - I love giving presents!).  Not sure when, or what the prize will be, but I'm sure I'll come up with something in a few weeks' time.

* * *

Got a very busy weekend planned.  Tomorrow is the meeting of our Scrap Club.  Luckily I don't have far to go - it's just round the corner! 

If anyone lives near enough to Bedford, to want to bother with the journey, we will be meeting here about once or twice a month, on a Saturday or Sunday, ( or maybe a weekday evening too).  We meet from 10am to 4pm.  The group is small, but perfectly formed (as they say!) and is growing now anyway.  It costs £10 for the day, which I think is great value. 

If you fancy coming along, give me a yell... (if you want to come tomorrow, it'll need to be a yell very soon!). We next meet on Sunday 2nd May, then Sunday 6th June (no April - Easter holidays and stuff got in the way).

Anyway, that's where I'm going tomorrow.  Still haven't decided which project(s) to take with me.  I'm pretty tired out just now and don't feel that awake this evening. I know I'll have a good time tomorrow, but packing my stuff seems like a huge effort tonight.  I think I will just have to do it in the morning.  At least if I forget something this time (like my cutting mat!), I can walk home and get it.

* * *

Sunday, of course, is Mothering Sunday in the UK.  We had planned a lovely roast chicken lunch, at home here, with my mother invited too.  However, she is still feeling pretty rotten and it looks as if she won't be fit enough.  I've promised her a lovely lunch once she feels better and I think we'll go and visit her for a while, then eat our roast chicken at evening-dinner time instead. 

I got her a nice present. It's a bird feeder for the garden; but it has a wire cage round it, to stop the squirrel from stealing all the birdseed.  He's been coming into the garden all winter and eating the birds' food. My mother is not pleased about it - she says he's eaten all of it. I think she's exaggerating and shouldn't begrudge a hungry squirrel his little share of the bird food, but she disagrees. 

So, hopefully this will restore peace and order in Mother's garden! At least, now Spring is just about here, the squirrel will be able to find alternative food sources.

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Whatever you're all doing this weekend (I know, Amy and co, it's already Breakfast time on Saturday with you!).. have a great weekend!

Deb and Sian, don't forget to e-mail me your addresses.  My e-mail address is Lizziemade@aol.com

Creative Circle Blog Party!

Welcome All! 

This is the final post of today's Creative Circle Blog Party! I hope you have had fun so far and will enjoy my little Tutorial today.  There's a giveaway for you too - all you have to do is leave me a comment, answering the questions at the end of the post. 

As you may have gathered, if you have not been part of it yourself, the posters at the Blog Party have all been following a course given by the amazing  Shimelle, "Blogging for Scrapbookers", which ended yesterday.  This party is by way of celebration for the fab time we've had doing the course, and the interesting folks we have met along the way.

(If you did not reach this Post via the previous Party Host and would like to join in, go to Rinda's Blog HERE to start the Circle, or find your place again if you are "lost".)

I started my blog as part of this course, so I have never written a Tutorial Post before.  Please bear with me if it isn't quite right, but I'll do my best.   I hope the photos I have posted to illustrate the tutorial will be clear enough for you. 

Create A Circle Mini-Book

This little mini-book can be used for scrapping your Christmas memories. You could use any decorative papers, for any occasion, or even make it with plain or lined paper and use it as a note-book or journal for some special event!  Plain art paper would create an attractive and unusual photo album for a relative's Christmas gift.  You could cut square or oval shaped pages - even different shapes, to make the book personal to you.  The principles are exactly the same and it's very straightforward to do. 


You Will Need:

• Two 3.5"/9cm circles of thick card, chipboard or thin wood (eg. ply or hardboard), for book covers, with a hole near edge
• Sheets of thin card
• Several sheets of your chosen paper or cardstock for pages
• Paper for Front and Back Covers
• Paper for Inside Covers
• A Book Ring or D-Ring, big enough to hold pages and allow them to be turned.
• Glue - strong pva, spray adhesive, strong glue-stick
• 3.5"/8.5cm circle punch or die-cutter (I used a Huge-size punch from Woodware); or large scissors, compasses/ruler and card for page template
• Small hole punch or mini-drill
• Ribbon(s) to decorate
• Inks for edging (optional)
• Paint for covers / edging (optional) 

Step 1

If you are making your covers yourself, do this first. 


















I used ready-cut chipboard circles, which came as a chipboard mini-album (mine was by "Kars", but there are many makes available from good scrapbooking suppliers). 

If you are cutting the book pages by hand, the cover can be used as a template.

Punch or cut 8 or 10 circles from thin or medium card.

These circles will support your paper or cardstock pages.

Choose a weight of card that will allow the pages to be stiffish, but not too thick. This will depend on your choice of covering paper/cardstock.

Step 2

Punch twice as many circles from your choice of paper or cardstock.

These circles are your pages. 

You may like to punch part-circles, as shown in the second picture and use them to make patchwork style pages.  This is a good way to get the most out of your sheets of paper, as you can use up edge-pieces or parts that will not allow a whole circle to be punched. The effect can be very attractive too.

Step 3

Cover each side of every card circle with paper, as shown.  As you can see, I used some whole circles and some pieces, to make a varied set of pages.

As you do this, try to plan ahead, so that you have paired each page with the one that will be facing it and the one on the other side. This will help your book to "flow" nicely and look professional.


Step 4







Choose matching or contrasting paper and cut a front and back for each of the book covers.  The pictures above show some ideas.

I chose to have one side plain and one patterned for each cover. 

I then put the patterned-side out for the front cover, with the inside plain; and patterned inside for the back cover, with the plain side outwards - to make the inside of the back cover match the other pages. 

It's your choice how you do this!

 Step 5

Use a contrasting or toning colour of ink to colour the edges of the cover boards. You could also use acrylic paint, chalk (and fixative!), brush-pen or even coloured pencils.

Also ink round the edge of the hole for the book-ring. You don't need to ink right into the hole, as this will not be seen once the book is assembled.

Remember to allow plenty of time for your ink or paint to dry, as it can smudge all over the pages.

If you want to, you can also ink the edge of each page to match or contrast with the cover.


Step 6

Using the cover as a template, draw inside the book-ring hole, to show its position.

Use a punch to make holes in the papers for the front and back covers.

Stick the papers on either side of the cover boards, matching the holes carefully.

A variation on Steps 5 & 6 would be to decorate the book covers with acrylic paint, inks, fabric or collage.


Step 7




















For each page of the album, use the cover as a template and mark the place to punch a hole for the book ring. 

Take care to mark the hole in the correct place on each page (in my case the top left edge).  

Check both sides of each page before you mark it and always mark the front side of the page, so you don't end up with holes the wrong way.

Punch each hole in the place you have marked.

Step 8

Arrange pages in order from back to front, with the covers in the correct place. 

Open out the book ring and slide each page into place, starting with the back cover and working forwards.




















Close the book ring to fasten the book together.

Step 9

Lastly, cut pieces of matching ribbons to approx 6 ins / 15cm.  Tie these round the book ring in whatever pattern you like, to decorate your finished book.

Pat yourself on the back, for a job well done!

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Thanks for reading my mini-book tutorial.  I hope you have found it useful and will be inspired to make your own Christmas Mini Album.  Perhaps you may like to come back again from time to time.  I hope to post other tutorials, ideas and recipes, along with my general waffle and scrapping news.  You'll be welcome any time!

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Creative Circle Blog Party Giveaway!

If you would like a chance to win the Mini Book shown in the tutorial, please do the following:

1) Leave me a Comment

2) Answer this question in your comment -  during your journey through our Blog Circle, what were the subjects of these items? 

1. Jacky's Card
2. Gemma's Photography
3. Sian's Scrapbook Page

3) Remember to leave me a way to contact you, in case you win!

I will collect all Comments left by 12pm CA time / 8pm GMT Monday 24th November.  The winner will be selected randomly from all who have got the questions right!

Good Luck! 

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Finally, a big Thank You to Rinda, who organised our Creative Circle Blog Party! I hope you have enjoyed it. Why not return to her blog and leave your comments - Rinda's Blog.

And don't forget to enter Rinda's Giveaway on her blog too.

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A Note for any Local Visitors - Scrapbooking Club News

If you live close to Bedford, you may like to know that the Bromham Scrapbooking Club meet regularly, at the Scout Hut. We are a newish group, small and friendly and we welcome new members. You don't need to be an "expert" or even "experienced" at scrapping. Drop me a note in the Comments (with a contact link!) and I'll give you some more details and dates for our next meetings.

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