And...Action!

Andy Warhol said that everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. Several years ago, on a visit to Disneyland Paris, we attended a live stunt show called Moteurs Action.
 Shortly after the start of the show, the presenter asked for several volunteers who thought they could drive a stunt car. My son, Sam, put up his hand and was chosen. She then picked a few others as "extras" to help with the show and off they all went together backstage. Sam ended up literally starring on the big screens and even got to drive one of the stunt cars...by remote control! It was a great experience and was a highlight of the holiday. I finally got to scrapbook the photos and thought I'd share with you all.
I journalled on the arrows as they follow the story.

In the first pic (left top) and just below, Sam is being "interviewed"!

I chose this grungy red paper as it reminded me         
of the old buildings'  walls                                         
on the set with all the paint flaking off.


I used a bought die cut filmstrip to highlight smaller photos. The car, motorcycle and journal tag where all cut from the Cricut Going Places cartridge. I used chalk pens to grunge up the regular cardstock to mimic the background paper.

and I hid the journaling in a little card cut from the same cartridge. ...et voila! This cart is great for all things travel or transport related.

My most used Cricut cartridge

This cartridge has helped me out so many times when I've had to do a scripture board or bullitin board at church. Everyday Paper dolls is great for using to decorate classrooms, and with so many different themed outfits to choose from, you are sure to find something at least similar to what you need. I have the Cricut Expression, which means I can cut small or really large sizes, (1/4 inch to 23 & 1/4 inches).

I usually cut the dolls around 5-6 inches 
high like on this board...

unlike a ready bought die cut, you can adjust
the clothing, hair and skin colour to just how you
like. I even drew freckles on one of the kids.
When we displayed it in the classroom several of the children commented how one character looked liked Josh (one of the boys in the class!)

I love this cartridge and know I'm going to be using it over and over again.

One time I made a whole load of memory books as Christmas gifts for friends, (sorry, no picture!) and put a little paper doll mini me on the front representing each recipient. It was such fun to see their reactions when they opened their gifts and even better when they recognised themselves and each other!

This guy  was cut at 12 inches high, I dressed him  
in regular clothing but also I cut his armour in
mirri card. Everything was laminated so we could
easily dress him in his armour whilst teaching
about the full armour of God.

 Everything is seperate and removable, sword, helmet, breastplate, shield etc.


You can check out the earlier post showing the bulliton board for this year's Primary theme.


P.S
I'm already working on my samples for The Papertrail Co. and will post them as soon as poss.

I'm so excited

I'm so excited to share this news with you all. I have been invited to be a guest designer with The Papertrail Company. I have known Jayne, the owner, for years. Infact, she is the girl that sort of got me into scrapbooking - a long story - but I give her the credit.

So I'll be doing the odd designs here and there for the down load site, which I'm very excited about as I get to draw!!! Also, I get to create samples which will hopefully inspire people how to use her products. This will be such a blast as her designs are awsome, and I can't wait to get started.

Ofcourse, I'll post on here everything that I get to make so you'll get to see them first.

Here is a link to The Papertrail Company, check it out and don't forget to mention that I told you to go - LOL.

http://www.thepapertrailco.co.uk/

Gonna be a Bear

Ok, supposedly, Sunday is a day of rest and spiritual rejuvenation. All the men folk in our house are ill, man flu is in the air and ofcourse, the sore throat, headache and jippy tummy I have isn't as serious nor do I get to lay on the sofa under a duvet!  So, you can bet I am feeling the sentiment of this week's Sunday inspirational. Here's hoping for an illness free week to all. And by the way, I would definately be a bear!

 

Whahoo

Yay, I was awarded this "Beautiful Blogger" this week by Debbie of http://debbiebakk.blogspot.com/  I'm guessing it's because my blog was considered beautiful rather than me but I'm very happy either way! Thanks again, it is much appreciated.

So there are a couple of points to be followed when receiving such an award. I'll start with thanking my parents for the way in which they raised me, my husband for all ..., oh, hang on - wrong acceptance speech!





Seriously, I have to pass it on to 15 other fabulous bloggers who are:


Tim Holtz
http://www.timholtz.typepad.com/   
Karen Burniston
http://www.karenburniston.typepad.com/
all the team at
http://paperfrolic.blogspot.com/
Dardi
http://dtsartblog.blogspot.com/
Leah
http://mystampnscrapspot.blogspot.com/
Enfys
http://going-buggy.blogspot.com/
Regina Easter
http://reginaeaster.blogspot.com/
Lorraine
http://cardcreationsbylorraine.blogspot.com/
Donna
http://donnamundinger-popsicletoes.blogspot.com/
Barb
http://snowmanlover.blogspot.com/
Teresa Collins
http://teresacollins.typepad.com/
Tom Arber
http://www.tomarber.co.uk/blog/
 Cindy
http://crazy4crafting.blogspot.com/

And I also have to tell you 7 things about me that you might not know. So here goes;
1)I drink herbal tea - my favourites are ginger or peppermint
2)I've visited 16 countries on 4 different continents
3)I sponsor 4 kids in Kenya
4) I used to be a radio and TV presenter
5) I love Sci Fi and action films
6) My appendix was removed as an emergancy op when I was 40yrs old
7)I have picnicked on an abandoned airstrip in Canada and also on Mt Sinai

So there you have it. Whilst I'm here, you might like to see this card I made as a thankyou for my friend who helped babysit my foster babies.

Our Primary's Bulletin board

I have the best job at our church. I am responsible for all the kids aged between 18months and 12yrs old. Each year the church decides a theme that we all work within and as this year's theme is "I know my saviour lives" I knew just what to depict for our bulliton board in the corridor.

I wanted to show how the Saviour         
loves the children and they love him.
Each flower has the monthly theme
in it's centre.

moving house card

Wow, what a week so far... meetings, tons of paper work, cars to MOT and tax,. travel to visit  an elderly mum and the realisation you have to do 2 seperate birthday parties for small children soon, (1 in a week and the other 3 weeks later!!!) Oh my stars, I am definately feeling the stress. I so appreciate the help I get from my family and my buddies at church.
Here is a card I made a couple of weeks ago for my friend when she finally got to move into a long awaited house.

I used a brown corrugated card, I love the chunky texture they have.

The scalloped edges were created using the  Cricut Accent Essentials cart

and the house is from the Heritage cartridge.

I inked around the house using Tim Holtz Distress ink, (loving the
blending tool!)

sorry for such a blurry photo but you get the idea.

I stamped with a brown ink onto plain white card using a clear stamp the "congratulations" after cutting the flower from Accent Essentials and used the negative cutouts from an early cut out - always think if you can use your tiniest scraps before you throw them!

I think it turned out ok

I

I hope you like it.

What's hot !

A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to go to the paper craft industry trade show at the NEC and take a sneak peak at some of the fabulous new stuff for this year. No matter what brand or medium ( stamps/dies/paper/embellishments), every where you turned you would be seeing the birds, especially owls!And, boy, are they cute - this year's must have!

clear acrylic stamps

 Another hot trend is for cute little Japanese geisha girls and Russian dolls (the fatter, the better!)

There are some wonderful ranges of die cut paper and cardstock in all colours and shapes.

This is an amazing line of very detailed dies available only
from Once Upon a Stamp http://www.onceuponastamp.co.uk/index.php
They are very similar in style to Quickcutz dies  but so much detail is included. They are not going to be cheap but I loved them.

Just look at some of the projects they had done with them!

This is new from Sizzix, The Eclips! It can't be denied that they obviously took some inspiration from the Cricut Expression.

They are so alike in many ways but Keven Corcoran, the guy who has designed and developed this really has taken it to another level.

It operates with it's own hand held device, just like a play station pad, and effectively is like having a Cricut with a built in Gypsy. The peripherals (mats/ cartridges/ baldes etc) are going to retail cheaper than Cricut too. One exciting feature is that instead of having to use Cricut markers to draw with, you will be able to ANY pen! How cool is that? Right now it is still a prototype but is due for release this summer.

Another cool feature is the red laser light function that allows you to test run and see clearly where the blade will cut and so you can adjust your blade position and really save paper.

Sizzix have really worked hard to keep ahead of   all the markets and the new(ish) product that
absolutely had me enthralled was the Sizzix
Bigz popup dies. I mean it, as we walked
around the show I kept  saying,"Wow, I
love those popup dies!" They have been
designed by Karen Burniston. here is a link
to some youtube videos and to her website. She was great, and her
work was out of this world!

It was ingenious how Karen used the same die and transformed it into other creations. She often used the original die cut in clear acrylic and used it as a frame to hold another piece. She also combined her dies with Tim Holtz dies as seen on the popup birdcage.

The onlydown side for me is they are too big for my Cuttlebug!
However, I was told some exciting Cuttlebug news, but if I told you I would have to kill you, (or maybe they would kill me!?!) Anyway, I can't wait for it!  Sssshhhh!

The popup house also makes a doghouse,

gingerbread house or a bird house!

 

How cute is this? And best of all, everything folds completely flat and can fit into a regular sized card.

Here is the snowman die transformed into
Jack Skelington. This caused me to give a great
 big "Ooooh aaaw!"

Popup cake die with Tim Holtz sign post...and this
all folds flat!



We are  going to have so much fun with all the wonderful new products that are either on the shelves now, or will be by the late summer!


At the very end of the day, I bumped onto an old friend,...actually she is really the girl who first got me introduced to scrapbooking, and it was great to catch up with her again. Jayne Bentley, from Colour my World had such a cute line of stencils. http://www.colourmyworld.co.uk/

She also has a fantastic download site, The Papertrail Company. http://www.thepapertrailco.co.uk/  for papers, toppers, cards, tags, mini books. Watch both there and this space as there are some fabulous products coming this spring.

The whole thing was a blast!

The cracked pot

 Happy Mothers' day to everyone, hope you all had a lovely relaxing day, (well, we can all dream) Actually, I was greeted in bed with a herbal tea and a huge bar of Cadbury's fruit and nut! After church, my 3 sons made us all a great 3 course dinner of tiger prawn cocktail, sam's famous chilli (it should be!) and banoffe pie. Thanks boys!

Here is a lovely tale to bring hope to all us who may be a little cracked!?!

The Cracked Pot

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck.One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.  But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream.  'I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.'

The old woman smiled, 'Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?'  'That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.'  For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table.  Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.'
Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. 

You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.

Thanks sew much

Yey, I have another new laptop (no thanks to PCWorld!) and am finally able to hit the blog world again.

Last week was a busy card making week for me and here's one of the cards I made. I wanted to say "thanks" to the friend who came with me to the trade show "Stitches" and this seemed appropriate!

 "Sew much thanks...."








I used the Heritage Cricut cartridge for the sewing machine and inked the edge of the shape. The scalloped edge was from Accent Essentials

The Cab Ride

 Don't we all live life in too much of a rush, I know I do. I'm constantly racing from one experience to the next, and someties it can be hard to catch your breath. It can be so easy to spend our time planning for tomorrow that we forget today. I hope this Sunday inspirational helps us all remember to live "in the moment". Have a good week. 

I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes I walked to the door and knocked.. 'Just a minute', answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940's movie.

By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years.All the furniture was covered in dust sheets.

There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters.In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

'Would you carry my bag out to the car?' she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.  She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness. 'It's nothing', I told her. 'I just try to treat my passengers  the way I would want my mother treated'.

 'Oh, you're such a good boy', she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, 'Could you drive through downtown?'  'It's not the shortest way,' I answered quickly.  'Oh, I don't mind,' she said.. 'I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice'.  I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. 'I don't have any family left,' she continued in a soft voice. 'The doctor says I don't have very long.' I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.  'What route would you like me to take?' I asked.  

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where  she had once worked as an elevator operator.   We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.  

Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.  As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, 'I'm tired. Let's go now'.

We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.  Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her. 

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.'How much do I owe you?' she asked, reaching into her purse.  'Nothing,' I said.  'You have to make a living,' she answered.  'There are other passengers,' I responded.   Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.  'You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,' she said.  'Thank you.'

I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light.. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life..  

I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?    

In a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.. We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.    

PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID OR WHAT YOU SAID  ~BUT~ THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.  

Laptop Heaven

I don't even believe it, except for the fact that this is typical of my life! So 2 weeks ago I splurged and bought myself a gorgeous new laptop, red on the outside, white on the inside (that's all that really matters, right?), dual core thingy, Photoshope Eliments and Windows 7 included and I loved it. Well, it would seem that I wore it out. So, Wednesday evening when I came to post on the blog...nothing - zilche - not even a funny noise. So eventually, (around midnight) I decide to call the tech guys ( I'm suddenly glad I got suckered in to paying for the "whatever happens" cover). He talks me confidently through the diagnostic test but soon, even he admits defeat.

It would appear that my lovely laptop has gone to PC heaven and is no more for this world, after 2 weeks? - you gotta be kidding me. So now I am back to the OLD house computer - this baby is so past it we had to wipe everything and now she doesn't even have Word installed. So, until my new arrival comes, (better be soon!) I can't do nice things on the blog as I'd like, but when it comes, I promise I'll be right on it.

Let's hope PC World make me a happy bunny very soon. Heyho!

Zooballoo new baby card

I love this Cricut cartridge for new baby cards. The animals are so cute for a nursery theme and the cart has an alphabet and co-ordinating animals. The card measures around 3 inches high and can be as long or short as the name needs to be. I use my Cuttlebug to emboss the "skin" and use a mini bulldog clip to close the card. Afterwards the parents can choose to frame the card and hang it in the baby's nursery.

sorry some of the pictures are a little blurry, I actually had to take photos of photos! I made this card a while ago, hope you like it.