Another layout + Alice

Today I was reading Cathy's blog and the layout she had made for Aidan's 15th birthday blog post really caught my eye. The fact that she also gave a free digital template for the layout was a huge bonus and I wanted to use it straight away. My layout is a complete scraplift because I loved the way Cathy's looked.  

I had been wanting to put down my feelings about being involved during Claire's pregnancy and this layout gave me the chance to do just that. In all honesty, I think this is probably the most journalling I've put on any of my scrapbook layouts! I have so many more photos I want to scrap so I can see hybrid layouts could well be the way for me to go as they make things so much quicker.

These photos were taken last night after Craig got home from work. As I was going up stairs Alice kept smiling at me, so I got my camera for a couple of photos.

 This one was taken when she spotted her Mummy coming down the stairs :)

 Group photo - you can tell Craig loves it when I get my camera out ;o)

When Alice was first put in this bouncy chair she looked so little - not so much these days!
Her fingers tend to be in her mouth all the time at the moment and we think we can feel a little tooth cutting it's way through the top gum.

Who could resist this cute little face? :o)

xx

Post and Spring Flowers

Today I received my Team Teal wristband to wear in honour of Deb's Mum, Marti, who has cancer.  I am proud to have been chosen as one of the people who have received the band and will be wearing it daily. Marti, I hope you know we are all thinking of you and keeping you in our prayers as you fight your battle against cancer. xx

I received my copy of Ideal Home magazine in the post earlier this week and this little notebook came as a free gift - how cute is that!  I've been using it today as I start jotting down ideas for a project I'm thinking of doing. More about that in another post, one day. ;o)   Let's just say Etsy may be involved at some stage!

 We've had some lovely weather over the last few days and while the sun was out our tulips started to open. I had just brought in the washing one evening when I saw them again and decided to take a few photos. These two are my favourites.

I have been told by Emily that she expects a mention on my blog today as, at school, they had their inter-form netball tournament and Emily's form/class came 2nd out of 9 classes - well done Yr 9PHZ!

Now I need to go and feed the animals (I'm half an hour late!) and make a start on dinner.
Oh! Remember that clean desk I showed you the other day? Hmm, not so clean any more :o(  I wish I was more organised/tidier ;o)

xx

Well, ...

I did warn you that something like this may happen when I cleared my desk a bit ;o)

This weekend I've had the chance to do a bit of scrapbooking.  I decided I wanted to do layouts for Alice's album the traditional way - ie. with photos and paper :o) .  I certainly have enough photos of Alice but rather than trying to choose which ones to use, I've gone for starting at the beginning with her birth day.

The little owl on here was made using a Tando Creative chipboard owl which I then traced round on card and cut out by hand. I then punched circles for the eyes and cut out a triangular beak. It certainly makes me smile when I look at the layout!

The second page had been going to be a stand alone page but once I started playing around with it, it made sense to make this a double layout instead.

Now to decide on the next photos to use!
xx

PS. Although you wouldn't believe it from these photos, the pink of the journalling boxes is the same colour as the pink in the gingham paper!

Finally ....

Finally ... finished Alice's cot quilt. This has been on the go for a little while but it was finally finished yesterday afternoon.

 Front

 Back (red gingham)

Close up of some of the materials 

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Finally ... means I've been able to put away my sewing machine which has left my desk fairly tidy

It's been a long time since you could actually see desk!  Who knows, perhaps one day soon there could even be some scrapbook pages made here!

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Finally ... getting round to posting some photos from last week!

 Jon made the most of the lovely weather when he was home last weekend. The grass was cut and we were able to sit outside until late afternoon.

 Jon's sister Deb, and her husband Dave, came round on Saturday afternoon with their puppy Beth. Emily was quite happy to look after Beth and I think Beth was quite happy sitting on Emily's lap.

 Cloud wasn't 100% sure what to make of another dog in the house but we reassured her that we weren't replacing her.

Great Aunty Debbie got to have cuddles with Alice.

 This particular afternoon Alice spent some time sitting on Mummy's lap chewing Mummy's finger

We're trying to encourage her with her sitting ;o)

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Finally ... starting on my log cabin quilt. 

I've been wanting to make one for some time and last week went round to see a friend who showed me how to sew them so that you quilt and back the squares as you go and then join the squares together at the end. I'm hand sewing this quilt and using all the scraps of material I have in my stash. Although it all looks a total mismatch at the moment, it doesn't seem to matter once the quilt is complete and sewn together.  I like the idea of hand sewing it as it then becomes portable - I can sit at the kitchen table to sew, or in the lounge watching TV or even in bed in the evening if I want to. I'm not sure how long it's going to take me but I'm looking forward the challenge.

And finally ... I think that's it for this post. No special plans for this weekend so hopefully I'll get some sewing or scrapbooking done. Check back soon to see if I make anything ;o)
xx