And The Fun Begins Again ...

Well it's happened again, I bought an album to make my middle Grandson's baby album a few years ago.
I got it from that well known auction site and when it arrived I had a quick look but didn't completely unpack the box.
I thought it was about time to start on Reece's book, so I got it out of the cupboard, unpacked the box and was horrified to find that the book was almost completely faded except for the corners which were still bright yellow. I think it may have been in a shop window for a while before I bought it.

The leather effect ribbon was crooked and peeling off - another disaster was close to happening. I searched for several days online for another album, the trouble was that Reece is not a pale blue boy, he's an in your face as bright as possible boy. He had chosen his papers for the book (K&CO Hopscotch for Boys)

I found a stunning album in the USA but they do not ship to the UK, so I had an idea !!!

I took all the embellishments off of the book.

I covered the front and back with a large sheet of thin craft foam to hide the bumps after I had sanded the rough sticky tape off and took a trip to Hobbycraft, I had a little chat with the lady serving me and mentioned that every time Reece comes with me he goes home with a bump or cut, from either falling over stuff in the aisles or walking into display units, our local shop is not very child friendly. Eventually I managed to get her to move the fabric over just a few inches so that I knew I would have enough to play with without having to buy another metre of fabric.

So over the past two days I have cut, hemmed and stuck the fabric to the covers and spine and this is how it looks now.

Front and Back Cover

Inside of Front and Back Cover

I love it and I hope Reece will too.

Thank you for stopping by and any comments you wish to make.

Oh My Word - it's finally finished!!!

Well today after nearly 3 and a half years I finally finished my eldest Grandson's first album.
When I started I had a plain album designed to be decorated by me, but I didn't like the way it opened, the front cover creased every time the cover was opened.
So I looked for a new one - months passed whilst I looked everywhere. During this time I also decided I didn't like the colours I had originally chosen so I bought new papers, reprinted the photos and started again.

Still looking for an album to put it in I went away for the weekend with my lovely OH, we stopped off at the Clark's Village there was a dinky little craft shop there and lo and behold in box marked water damaged items was the album I had been searching for - the damage? a tiny dent in the bottom of the front and back cover just under the ric-rac braiding, so small you can barely see it!
I was over the moon, got it home and then it hit me I hated the way my pages looked with the new album. My problem was that for my son's book (H's Daddy) I had used Making Memories Sam range and I loved it to bits, so after weeks scouring ebay I found 2 large and 1 small packs of the Making Memories Ethan range, having ordered it I spend days looking for the postie.
This past week I have, with help now from H who is now 10 , he designed one double LO himself, been able to finish it.

The only problem is the other two now want their first books started too!!!
I wonder how long they'll take???

Special thanks go to Kathleen_Mc for her help in setting up my slideshows, you can visit her fab blogs here  http://craftbloggers.blogspot.co.uk/ and here http://craftbloggers.blogspot.co.uk/
Thank you for looking and any comments you leave

The Bad Blogger Returns

Well it certainly has been a long time since I last visited my poor unloved blog.
I did say I would try to blog more but somehow life has got in the way.
I have been taking part in a handmade tag-swap with some of my lovely Docrafts buddies and was stuck for ideas on how to store the ones I made and received.
Then at 3am this morning it hit me, when we did the ATC swap I bought a plastic ATC holder and decorated, there's possibly a post about it on here somewhere.
So today when we went shopping I bought a Craft Tonic 24 compartment sticker holder the kind you nornally would store peel-offs in.
I got my lovely OH to chop some off of the top because it was too long and then I decorated it.
I think it looks really pretty and my tags are somewhere safe.
I have added a few pics of the tags I have made and received so far.
Thank you for stopping by and any comments you wish to make.

Thursday was a GREAT day

I had such a lovely day on Thursday, I went back to work on Monday after almost 8 weeks off due to Labyrinthitis and Vertigo.

When I got in on Thursday I was presented with a lovely bouquet of flowers from the staff to say 'welcome back' - they smell as lovely as they look.

A huge Thank You to everyone for my flowers.

After struggling in through the door I found that my 'goodie bag' swap organised by the lovely Suzie on Docrafts had arrived.

My partner in crime Karen had threatened something PINK and FLUFFY!

It took me ages to get into the bag and then ages to go through everything, as you can see from the pictures I was very lucky to receive such a gift.

Thank You again Karen xxx

And then finally as I was settling down for the evening there was a knock at the door and the delivery man had my prize from the May Docrafts Draw, the box was filled with yummy stash to use, 2 decoupage sets that make at least 8 cards, 2 large A4 cards and extras to make smaller ones, 2 packs of papers, 2 stamps, 4 embossing folders and several packets of stickers and letters.

So as you can see Thursday was a GREAT day! - I'd like every day to be like this one.

Thanks for stopping by and any comments you wish to make

My Perfect Present Layout

Today I did some crafting yipppppeeeeeeeeeee - well I say today it was during the wee small hours after waking up in lots of pain and feeling really sick and dizzy.

I took my painkillers, curled up on the sofa and watched some drivel at around 2:00am. Then I had the urge to do some crafting so I grabbed it with both hands and almost 'ran' to my desk to start.

I cut the navy and red card to make my version of the French flag and then decorated it with my tickets and other pictures, some I took on the night and some scanned from my Programme.

Last October my lovely family bought me tickets to go and see the 25th anniversary concert of Les Miserables - one of my favourite things to listen/sing along to.

The photographs show the backdrop and the audience, or lack of it, 5 minutes before it started.Within seconds of taking the picture the arena was full to bursting point.

The writing on the back was a description of my weekend away and how I felt before, during and after the show. It goes onto 2 pages but the second page is more personal so I have kept that hidden.

When I came downstairs this morning I still liked the layout and found that it didn't look too crooked, I was shocked by the price of the tickets, and, although I have had them stashed away in a drawer, last night was the first time I had actually looked at them. When I saw the price I wanted to yell at them for spending that much money, but I had such a lovely time that I'm so glad they did.

Thanks for stopping by and any comments you wish to make   

OH Boy!

 Hello again from me the BAD blogger

I have Labyrinthitis - an inner ear thing which is making me so very dizzy at the moment.

I have managed to stay awake for 2 hours in a row now, which is a miracle today and to sit upright for 30 minutes - boy this is such a relief as I'm fed up of lying down all the time.

I have managed to spend money on stash since I have been home thanks to the lovely Sue-Bubbles  www.sue-bubbles.blogspot.com for the information in the past year on how to stash buy whilst under the influence of

A) medication, 

B) deprived of sleep (not me today!), or

C) just because you can still ebay when lying down - a laptop helps in this case, a desktop pc is far too heavy to have on your lap :) :)

My purchases include:

Button stew -  bag of mixed buttons

Lots of lovely ribbons

Some new flower dies from CuddlyBuddly

There are loads of other things I've looked at but OH keeps taking his wallet to work :( but I have PayPal he he he 

Time for another lie down and some more painkillers, anti-sickness tabs and a handful of vitamins

Thank you for stopping by and any comments you wish to make

A Giggle For The Weekend

I'm sorry to say I can't claim this as my own but I did 'steal' it from SusieJ

http://scrapbooksusie.blogspot.com/ and it's so funny I had to share....so many thanks to whoever originally posted it!

After Mr. and Mrs. Fenton retired, Mrs. Fenton insisted her husband accompany her on her trips to Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, Mr. Fenton was like most men; he found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunately, Mrs. Fenton was like most women; she loved to browse.

One day Mrs. Fenton received the following letter from her local Wal-Mart :

Dear Mrs. Fenton,

Over the past six months, your husband has been causing quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and may be forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against Mr. Fenton are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.

1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's carts when they weren't looking.

2 . July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.

3. July 7: Made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women's restroom.

4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official sounding voice, "Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right way."

5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&Ms on layaway.

6. September 14: Moved a "CAUTION - WET FLOOR" sign to a carpeted area.

7. September 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told other shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department.

8. September 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, "Why can't you people just leave me alone?"

9. October 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.

10. November 10: While carelessly handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.

11. December 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the " Mission Impossible" theme.

12. December 6: In the auto department, he practiced his "Madonna look" by using different sizes of funnels.

13. December 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled "PICK ME! PICK ME!"

14. December 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed "OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!"

And last, but not least ..

15. December 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, "Hey! There's no toilet paper in here!"

Regards,

Wal-Mart

Patti Barber, Office Supervisor In Accounting Unit, Behavioral Health Services 

Thanks for stopping by and any comments you wish to make