Here are a few birthday cards I have made using the bee stamp from Indigo Blu and the papers are Simple Stories, Simple Vintage Lemon Twist. I have sent a card to Nikki for her birthday but I forgot to take a photo.

I had to create a layout for Trevor and Tricias Wedding in July, I kept it simple and used the invitation and the flowers from Dave's buttonhole. I stamped solid hearts on the background and added some light glitter although its difficult to see, and also I cut out a wave and added it to the bottom of the page.

This next layout documents Emmas 'journey' from wonky teeth to a perfect smile. I have journelled about it on the tags which are tucked behind the photo on the bottom right. the papers are the Morning Dew from Kaisercrafts and the lettering is from Peartree Cutfiles.

These photos were taken in Norfolk the day before Tricia's Wedding. It was glorious if windy. The design is from an online Scrapbook class by Lisa at Loobi's and I used the Mediterranean Dream papers by Scrapboys.

Another month has gone by and I've completed 3 layouts. I am reading a lot more, back to around a book a week so I'm spending less time crafting. This page is about the first time we went out for dinner with friends after the lock down which seemed to go on for ever and ever. We went here for Andys birthday, near Bedford and it was an excellent evening. I used Studio Light papers from Loobis

We had a few days away in the Forest of Dean in June and one of the places we visited was Puzzle Wood. It is so mystical and has been used a lot for filming (Dr Who, The Huntsman, Merlin, Star Wars) and it was really quiet when we went. I used Simple Stories Vintage great escape and the Tim Holtz Garden Green dies from Sizzix although I think I probably bought them from Loobis

This Layout was about our trip to Scratby in Norfolk, we went there for a weekend to Tricia & Trevors Holiday home and it was just perfect weather. They showed us around the area and we had a meal in the Boathouse where they will be getting married. I used the lovely Marina papers and ephemera by Mintay

Here we have the New home card I made for James and Maria, as they have moved into a flat in Leeds. Emma had got me a pad of texture type pages so I used the brick and wood ones, and just messed about until it looked right

This one was for Trevor & Tricia's wedding, there is a lot of glitter on it but the photo hasn't really picked it up

This one was for Emma's birthday. Not sure why I chose a camper, I did have a template in my emails from when I used to subscribe to Crafty Templates many years ago. I had a quick look on Pinterest and there were loads to give me inspiration. Also she does mention every now and again her boyfriend is going to buy a van and do it up so they can go to festivals.

And finally, another of these Coffee cup cards, this time with Thanks a Latte added as its always nice to have a Thankyou card in your stash. Papers are very old Basic Grey. Thats me done for now, I have loads of photos ready and waiting to be scrapped.

Cards

There are a few birthdays coming up and I have made a few more cards, I just dont always remember to take a photo. The Bee one is a stamp from Indigo Blu I cut them out - quite fiddly - and glittered the wings and added glossy accents to the black markings. I also used my hexigan stamp as a background on orange paper and did a few paint splashes. For the coffee one I printed off a template from Pinterest - I've been looking for a die for ages but they seem to be sold out everywhere - and then I used some old Basic Gray papers and some fibres to funky it up.

The weather has improve since my last entry so have been out and about more (well as much as you can in a pandemic) I have now had my second vaccine and now anyone over the age of 18 can have theirs so thats great news. I made this page following another of Loobi Crafts online workshops using the starburst technique. Its actually more complicated than it looks, I assumed it would just be a case of cutting triangles of paper, which it is, but then they are all different lengths and have to be trimmed off once stuck down. The photo isnt the best one of Emma and I, but it goes so well with the papers - an amazing value pad from The Works. The picture was taken in Portugal where we stayed in a friends Villa with Jayne in 2018

This next layout is of our day out to Ascotts House although it was chilly, the sunshine was great for my photos. I have used the same value paper pad and added a shaker pocket with some gorgeous little sequins from Lucys Cards

These pictures were also taken at Ascots House (we didnt go into the House because it wasnt open due to Covid restrictions), there were the last of the daffodils in the gardens and this cut file from Peartree was just right for it.

Finally this is a photo of the 'Community Library' in Woburn. I go walking in Woburn quite often with my Nordic Walking group and had never noticedthis wonderful little book swap in a phone box before. I used the 'Lets Celebrate' papers by Carta Bella and another cut file from Peartree but looking at it - I'm not entirely happy. I think I should have not backed the file with stripey paper as its too much but never mind, its done now. And I have another cut file exactly the same as I'm reading so much lately I will probably use it on another layout soon.

A month since my last post, but I have been busy making cards and scrapbook pages, although as the weather is getting better and lock down is now easing, I'm getting out more. My walking group is back so thats at least twice a week. Anyway, this layout of Mum and Dads wedding has been scraplifted from a design by Lyn M Cooper in the Papermaze Blog here I bougght their January kit as I knew I could use it for wintry pages and I love the colours. Its very 3d so I have put it in a shadow box and hung it on the wall in my craft room. I love the photo because when you zoom in and look carefully you can see my Grandad peering round the door at them. They look great and so utterly happy. Miss them both.

My next page is of my 50th Birthday party using the Echo Park Remember the Magic papers. Although they were designed specifically for Disney pages (which I will be making up soonish) I think they work well with my party theme. I have also used a cut file from Peartree. The black and white cake was made by Nikki and the top layer is actually a Thomas Sabo jewellery box which was a lovely gift and so creative. It was an evening to remember - the best bit were my 'singing waiters'.

Next up is this page I did of my trip to Seville with Emma and 2 of my friends. This was late September 2019 and it was hot hot hot - just how I like it. This was from an online Scrapbook Class from Loobi Crafts and I used a very old Basic Grey paper pad to make up the triangles in the geometric heart. I struggled not to overdo this one as I have a problem with white space, but its on trend at the moment. I made do with just inking around the edge of the page and then I made myself step away.

Here is another from a Scrapbook workshop showing the waterfall technique. this is when you can have a number of small photos, which I have on the right of the page, all you do is pull the tag at the bottom and the photos flip up so you can see them all. Difficult to explain. I used the Echo Park remember the Magic again because I thought the fireworks background was just the right amount of 'over the top' for an Elton John concert. We were so lucky to see him because the following year he announced his farewell tour. I used a chevron left over from an earlier class, not sure if it works but its done now. The set was fantastic and I may do another page as I have many other pictures of this night.

Last page for now - this photo is me in a Park in Bruges where we went for my birthday in 2017.The tulips are so colourful it really was gorgeous. I have used the very bright Better Times papers by Mintay and the chipboard letters are from years ago maybe K and Co if they still exist. Oh yes and this is the first time I have ever done any stitching on a layout - I had to watch a you tube tutorial, I didnt realise I had to split my thread otherwise it would come out too thick.

Finally I painted a bunch of stones to put in the garden for decoration. They were much smaller than I wanted - I had to order online from Baker Ross as we were still in lockdown and all non essential shops were closed. I used acrylics and varnished them a couple of times so I hope they can withstand the weather. It was much more fiddly than I expected but I'm happy with the bright colours

Lurve

Well this scrapbook page came about after an evening class online at Loobis.I used a big heart as a mask and stamped a few words and images over it. I should have done more it would have looked more effective but never mind. The inked hearts all have glossy accents on them but it doesnt really show up. The photo was taken directly after Dave proposed on a Mexican beach, it was really romantic. After I said yes we naturally headed straight for the bar.

And this is from another scrapbook class - I used a circle punch and folded them inwards to create this effect, and the photo is from 2020 Devon. I have journalled on the back of the page.

Cards for all Occasions

I really love this Tim Holtz wildflower die set and it doesn't need an awful lot of effort to make it look good. I just cut it in black card and stuck it on some nice background paper so I now have a few cards in the bag for last minute. I also did a few notelets, some of which I sent to Ruth, Kate, James & Jean when I sent Beckys letterbox bakes as a little cheer up gift.

I also had a go at colouring the flowers with inks after watching a process video, and obviously having to purchase quite a few of the distress inks pads from Loobi Crafts . The one with congratulations is for Deb & Mark on their retirement.

The new home card was made by fussy cutting the houses from scrapbook paper (I did a layout using this method a while ago). It was to be for Jane but she's not moving now.

For Valentines Day I used some very old papers to make Daves card. Its very much in my old style from years ago with a little heart charm hanging from a wire and the fibres added.

Finally, Dave got me a subscription to Card Making & Papercraft Magazine for Christmas and these cards are made from the freebies supplied. You get much more than you used to. I'm not thrilled with the herbs card - not really sure when I'll be using it again and but the cherry blossom die and stamp are really lovely, I got my old Copic markers out and they are still great - plenty of juice in them, and luckily i had a couple of pinks. I looked to see if they had come down in price but um, no - in fact they are eye wateringly expensive. Anyway, I thought this one would do for Tricias birthday as she goes for these colours. I've not made a great job of photographing it -I have added glitter to the flowers and its all very pretty, also the pink paper is glittered.

Just to say, I dont like the green background on my blog but I'm unsure how to change it without losing my banner picture of the beach - St Lucia last February we were so lucky to get that one in before the world went mad. I will have a look at other peoples blogs and see. At the moment this Blog is just for myself I am not expecting any traffic here but I just want to record my crafty makes somewhere online. Maybe later on I'll be able to devote more time to it and join in challenges and stuff like I used to 10 years ago. I also started reading again over lockdown. I mean reading quite a bit like 4 books a month which is a lot for me. I belong to a couple of online book groups - the Radio 2 club and also the Clare Mackintosh one both on FB. I spend ages reading reviews and looking on Goodreads and at the moment I'm reading The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley about lonliness, but it is a lovely book so far as the characters learn to reach out and find fulfillment. The other thing I do is Nordic Walking - in 'normal times' I walk with a local group on Monday and Friday mornings so what with working Tuesday-Thursday I dont have so much time to craft as I'd like. Just justifying to myself why I still have about a million photos to scrap and the pile gets higher.

These 2 pages record the short break I had in Barcelona. I flew by myself from Luton - bit of an experience with a rowdy stag group on board swigging lagers at 9.30am and I also had a whole cup of coffee tipped over me by the passenger next to me. Still, my fault for wearing white jeans I suppose. I stayed with Moira at her friends appartment, luckily I had the address because my phone stopped working as soon as we landed. However I did have a wonderful time and I will never forget the Gaudi House and the open top bus route and strolling down Les Rambles. The papers are from a meditranean set I got from here and I did some journalling under the picture with all the cocktails. The tiny square are all scuffed at the edges - it took a while but I like the effect.

This layout is pretty simple and not the most exciting, but I wanted to document the lockdown so that we will remember how it was in years to come. I look back and it wasnt so bad at first. We did have fabulous weather for most of the summer so going out for a walk, having a few people round to the garden (when it was allowed) and just staying home was not too bad at all. From about November onwards it got more difficult and I'll be doing more layouts on that theme at some point. I have made a couple of photo books too so we dont forget. The cutfile is from Peartree cutfiles and I used my Selphy to print the small photos.

This photo of James was taken when he was about 8 or 9 - he did Karate for a year or so at Guildford Spectrum. It makes me laugh when I look at the wall behind him - we were so into decorating with bright colours and I knew I could find the perfect papers to match from Echo Park Pirate collection I think. The Chevrons were made from one of Lisas online scrapbook workshops which I do every Tuesday evening and has helped to save my sanity during lockdown.

This scrapbook page records our trip to the Royal Albert Hall to see a brilliant concert including Land of Hope and Glory and many other rousing tunes. The previous year we had been on a trip behind the scenes and learned about the history of the RAH, and while we were walking round, we heard the Orchestra rehearsing for a concert. Soon after that we booked this performance and we weren't dissapointed. We had front row seats in one of the balconies and it was all perfect. I made a pocket so I could keep the leaflet, and found some bright papers as the photos came out so dark