Happy Post Part 2

I can admit it now, I had a little accident with my Nikon camera a few weeks ago and dropped it, I damaged the dial on it!!! Dh said he would get another damaged one off of E-bay and fix it from that, but while he was surfing he came across this one, and for the price I would of paid for another damaged Nikon he got this new Sony A200 instead!!!!! I loved my Nikon, but this camera is fantastic I have only played with it a little and feel more comfortable with it than I did with the Nikon.


Here are some of the shots that I took today!


No editing done on the above photo this is the colour of the flower.


TFL
xxxx

Happy Post Part 1

Whoo hooo, I got my gift from Kels today, wow, it was sooo fantastic, lots of scrummy lovely things to play with!!!

Sorry this is the only photo that came out, I was so excited with taking the stash out of the box, that I didn't realise that most of my shots were blurry!!!! And I have all the stash put away, cause when it arrived I was actually in the middle of sorting out my stash area!!!! So sorry no I am not taking it all out again to take a photo of it!!!

Just take my word I was gobsmacked with what was in the box!!!

So a huge thank you goes to Kels for giving it to me!!!!! Check out her album HERE

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A Venture Experience .......

NEVER TO BE REPEATED!!!

Quote from an earlier post in March:-

"On Saturday we went on a photo shoot. I hate having my photo taken, but I must say the photographer really put me at ease and I actually quite enjoyed it ...... the part where the girls got their photos taken on their own and individually LOL. Unfortunately we will only be getting the "free" framed 7x5 photo that comes with the package as the prices start from around £300 for a couple of 4x4 inch photos in a frame!!! Dh is going back to pick out the photo, cause it will break my heart to see all the fantastic photos I know he has taken!!! Seriously thinking of booking a proper photographer and getting him to do the same kind of shots, and then I could justify spending £300 on a full set of photos!!! - Unquote

Tonight we went to see the results even though I wasn't going to go, I decided to tag along and keep my mouth shut!! We were lead into a room with couches and a big screen and music playing to show us our photos. We were shown about 20 photos and to be honest I actually found it hard to pick 4 photos that I liked.

The shots were of sides of heads, bleached out faces, eyes closed, squashed noses (group photo), over coloured hair, the list goes on.

There were two shots of Chloe (two moody shots) that I liked and two of Aimee (she wore her Princess Belle dress and looked adorable, and one of her lying on the floor looking up at the photographer as she was explaining her Puppies In My Pocket toys, except for the hair colouring which was orange and really bleached out face) there was one of me and the girls which I kinda liked and there was one of Steve and the girls.

We wanted a family shot so we picked the best of what they showed us!!!! The lady said oh so you like traditional shots were no one is moving, I replied No I like photos were you can see all of the faces, I am sorry but I don't want to hang a photo of a back of a head or half a face or where it looks like the person is falling down the side of the photo (KWIM). I would of loved for some of the shots to have shown all the faces so you could actually see who was in the photo!!! If that is traditional than yes that's what I like. Like come on why would you pay all that money and not even see who is in the shot "Oh yeah that's the back of Chloe's head, liked the way her hair looked in that shot" I could understand if it was a part of 3 shots. What am I on about? One of the photos was of Chloe and Aimee, Aimee was posed beautifully smiling beautifully and Chloe was giving her a kiss on the cheek, except all you could see was the back of Chloe's head. If this was part of 3, one of Aimee kissing Chloe, the two of them looking at the camera and then one of Chloe kissing Aimee I could understand, but never would we of been able to afford to buy a series of those shots anyway!!!

Oh we didn't get the hard sell, lol, she could see we were not impressed so she didn't even try!

I am sorry if you have had the Venture Experience and love those kind of shots, this is my blog and this is my opinion.

Is it because I take so many photos myself and I am very critical of them, only choosing the ones that show off the people in them to their best and discarding the rest (backs of heads, over exposure, etc) I have always loved cameras and photos (the ones without me in them), I was always the one growing up in our family who kept photos in albums and when got old enough got to use the camera and take the photos (cameras weren't as common then and getting them developed cost a lot of money), I don't know, but the photos we looked at today would be ones that I if I took would not be happy with them..... I still say photos that you can recognise the people in them are my kind of photos!

Candid shots are fab sometimes, like when you photograph children walking away from you, or a mum and a dad looking at a newborn baby, or baby feet and hands, or when children's heads are together and they are plotting something or you catch a speacil moment and the subjects don't notice, yes I like these shots I take a lot of them, or wedding shots where the photographer takes a lot of candid shots, but the photographer also takes a lot of traditional shots that are posed and you get the choice of picking what you want. But for me when you want a family group shot and you are only getting the one, yes I would like to see all the faces.

Thanks for reading my rant, as I said I don't like getting my photo taken, but with all the hype I thought it was going to be sooo hard to pick a photo, I was so disappointed with struggling to find one that we liked!!! So it will be back to Hull in 6 to 8 weeks to pick up the photo as everything is "handmade".

xxxx

I have received an award!!!!

The lovely Maya from Mayas Hobbyblogg has given this to me!!!

Thank you Maya you have brightened up my day to day as the weather has turned a little overcast!!!!!

The rules of the award:
1. Only 5 people allowed.
2. 4 have to be dedicated followers of your blog.
3. one has to be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
4. you must link back to whoever gave you the award.


The four people who always leave a comment on my blog are:

Tracey
Melissa
Micayla
Bean-Sidhe

and the new person who has been leaving lovely comments on my blog is

TanishaRenee

Thank you ladies!!! Enjoy
xxxx

Blog Candy!

Bev is giving away this fantastic blog candy

pop on over to her All the things I love blog to be with a chance to win!

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Have you Wordled yet?

Have to click on the image to see it better!

I was blog hopping and found this on Scrapping Away's Blog!!!!

Click HERE to try it!

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Unexpected!

When I looked at by Scrapbook.com inbox, yesterday I had an message saying "something special for you", I was intrigued to see what it was, here is the message:

Hi Helena,

I'd really like to send you a special goodie box from Scrapbook.com! Every time I check the Album 2008 forum - you've taken the time to answer everyones questions politely and with great precision and detail. You have no idea how much time this saves me and how much I appreciate your willingness to help other Scrapbook.com neighbors!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU - with all my heart :)

Please send me your full name and mailing address and I'll get something in the mail to you by Friday!!

XOXO

I can't tell how excited I am. I have found Scrapbook.com such a fantastic neighbourhood, everyone is so welcoming and kind, and make you feel at home straight away. When I was a newbie everyone was so helpful to me, so I just thought PAY IT FORWARD.

I would like to say a huge thanks to Kels for this RAK. I just can't wait to see what it contains as usually when I get a delivery from Scrapbook.com, I have bought was is in the box, lol

Also check out Kels amazing work HERE!!!!

Will keep you updated!!!!

TFL
xxxx

Blog Candy yet again!

Just been posting on my bloglines feed, and have found this blog!!

To celebrate reaching 20,000 visitors, Kristine is giving away this beautiful blog candy!

To be in with a chance, visit her here

Kristines Cards and Photos

Good luck!
xxxx

Beautiful Surprise!

When I got home this beautiful bookmark was waiting for me!!!



I would like to thank LK for sending it to me!!! If you have been on Paper Paradise's or Scrapbook.com's forum, you will see this lady in my signature line:


Scrapbooking is a way of holding onto the memories you love, the memories of who you are and the memories you never want to forget! ~*~Helena~*~ xxxx


LK had made this bookmark for a local craft fair, and because I have added this image to my signature lines, she has given it to me!!!!

This lady is multi talented to take a look at all she does CLICK HERE! Her blog is really worth taking a look at!

Thank you for thinking of me LK, and I will treasure it!!!!

xxxx

Retirment card!

I made this card for Miss Jacomb who is retiring from teaching after 35 years!

Sad Goodbyes!

I am not looking forward to being at school tomorrow!!! During assembly Miss Jacomb will be presented with staff gifts, cards, etc and the whole school will be saying goodbye to her!!! I know I will be shedding a tear or two. Over the last two years I have worked in her class, and have come to know her and respect her both as a teacher and a lovely woman. The school will miss her, the students will miss her and the teachers will miss her!

Also Aimee has spent the last 2 in a half years in the Foundation Stage at Great Coates, but tomorrow will be her last day at Great Coates. Aimee will be starting in St Joesph's Primary School in September and she will have to travel by bus!!!! Again I will be shedding a tear or two especially when she gets on the bus for the first time, she still be only four, her 5Th birthday won't be for a few weeks later.

I have asked Aimee how she feels about going to a whole new school, with new teachers, children and building! She says she is excited, and that she will make new friends and can't wait to travel on the bus. I am so happy that she is so confident and takes everything in her stride, she doesn't worry, or dwell on things.

Here is the card that Aimee and I made for her teacher.

The picture of the painted flower, is one that Aimee did at school, I scanned it in and re sized it and printed it out. Aimee then wanted to draw happy children around the card, I was cringing but after all it is her card that she will be giving to Mrs Wright.

Aimee wrote the inside of the card herself, this is how far she has come since September and is learning all the time, sometimes it is hard to keep up with her!!!!!

I used some black paper and my white sakura pen to make a chalkboard effect. I used a gold brad to look like a thumbtack holding up the sign. Then just some ribbon and a brad.


Here is the gift that Aimee is giving her teacher, cute huh????

This is what it looks like after I got my hands on it, lol

I wanted the mini-mini layout to be very simple as there wasn't alot of space! I used some lilac cardstock, some prima mini flowers, some pearl stickers, ribbon, ink and white cardstock.

TFL
xxxx

Candy Heart????

Your Candy Heart Says "First Kiss"

You're a true romantic who brings an innocent hope to each new relationship. You see the good in every person you date, and you relish each step of falling in love. Your ideal Valentine's Day date: a romantic dinner your sweetie cooks for you Your flirting style: friendly and sweet What turns you off: cynics who don't believe in romance Why you're hot: you always keep the romance alive

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?

Say What????

You Are a Chimera

You are very outgoing and well connected to many people. Incredibly devoted to your family and friends, you find purpose in nurturing others. You are rarely alone, and you do best in the company of others. You are incredibly expressive, and people are sometimes overwhelmed by your strong emotions.

What Mythological Creature Are You?

and some more Blog Candy!

OOh look at these Magnolia stamps!! Aren't they scrummy?



Would you like to own some??? Well hop on over to Ila's inspirational blog - Artfully Ila - to be in with a chance to win them.

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Aimee receiving her award!

Sorry about the photos, had a feeling they wouldn't be great .... school hall lighting blah!!!!!! At least she will have some reminders!!!!

The Merit reads:

Aimee Philips

18.7.07 (that should be 08, I shall be altering that on the original one, lol)

Aimee has been a pleasure to teach. She has a mature attitude and is eager to learn and particularly enjoys joining in with Big Cat Phonic sessions each morning. She enthusiastically reads and writes simple sentences. Aimee always practises her letter names and sounds at home. Her perseverance and positive attitude towards her learning is a pleasure to observe. Well done Aimee.

TFL
xxxx

Little Shop Of Horrors! part 2 ....

Okay so I rushed this, but the photos weren't great anyways! And I hadn't time to take a better photo of the layout.
Over on the PageMaps Blog there was a sketch challenge that had to be in today!!!


I used Paper Paradise's June's Scrap Kit that Tracey Jackson put together, take a look at the layouts that she created HERE!

I used the green cardstock, matted some brown PP, which I cut in half before gluing down, as I wanted to make a pocket to put the shows programme into!
Then I cut a strip of the green paper, I stuck this to the left half of the brown PP and raised it all up on 3D Foam Tape and matted the photos on to that.

I glued down the photos and using green embroidery thread hand stitched a line across the top., Next I punched 10 circles from the leafy PP (the extra circle is for the pull on the programme.

I then used some vines from the leafy PP and hand cut out around it, and glued down the side and across the top, as it was looking very bare and boring! (which I lifted from Tracey's Cheeky Monkey Layout, Thanks Hon)

From some of the left over green photo matt paper I wrote the first verse of Little Shop of Horrors!

For my title I used an actual ticket from the show. I also manged to get another ticket, which is glued on to the back page of the programme. I stapled the verse and the ticket onto the layout.

I used a flower from the kit and added a brad and some Pearl stickers.

All edges are inked with black.

Stash List

• 1 sheet of green Bazzill cardstock
• 1 sheet of EK Success Inspirables Range double sided patterned paper - Life Circles (I used the brown side)
• 1 sheet of EK Success Inspirables Range double sided patterned paper - Beauty Stripes (I used the green side)
• 1 sheet of EK Success Inspirables Range double sided patterned paper - Life vines (I used the leafy side, lol)
• 1 Bazzill Wings Bloom
• 1 Papermania Pearl Brad
• Some Crystal Stickers Pearls for the petals of the flower
• White Sakura Glaze pen
• Glue pen
• Color Box Cat's Eye - Lava Black
• Green embroidery thread

TFL
xxxx

Little Shop Of Horrors!

Do ya remember it, I certainly do!!!! Chloe's school put on a production of this yesterday night and tonight. I went to tonights production and I really enjoyed it, the kids put on a fantastic show!

Loads of credit has to go to their music teacher, as they have put all this together in 12 weeks!!!!

Chloe didn't have a big part (none of the year 7's did the main cast was made of the higher years) she played one of the homeless people outside the shop!

Here are some shots that I manged to get, I so hate trying to get photos in this type of light! Oh to be a professional photographer with the £1,000's worth of gear!!!! LOL









And now I can't stop singing ....

Little shop,
Little shoppa horrors.
Little shop,
Little shoppa terror.
Call a cop.
Little shoppa horrors.
No, oh, oh, no-oh! .....

TFL
xxxx

Some more blog candy!!!

And this lady, Marlene, is giving it away to celebrate the start of the summer school holidays!

This beautiful unmounted stamp is up for grabs!
also a whole bunch of hanglar images!

Go to this blog for a chance to win! a 'Lil bit of Me..


xxxx

Another Proud Mum moment!!

Aimee received a school merit today!!!! Children get this award every term. Their teacher will pick 2 children from the class, who they think deserves this award!!!!

Luckily I knew this was happening but I didn't tell Aimee, she didn't even question when her photo was taken for the award! The look on her face was priceless when her name was called, it was a "Who Me?" sort of look!

The children receive the award from a special guest that the school invites in, the last award assembly I was at, the special guest was the last head teacher!!!! The special guest this term was Miss Jacomb is retiring after 35 years of teaching this summer.

Miss Jacomb is also the teacher who has helped me thorough my studies and was so wonderful in letting me take over her class for observations and tasks the course needed me to do!! Aimee receiving the award from Miss Jacomb was a little more special for me!

The head teacher read out what Aimee's teacher wrote about her, and the proud look on Aimee's face as she was talking was just fantastic!!!! I am so glad that I didn't tell her as the surprise was worth it!!!!

But d'oh I left my camera at school today, and won't be able to get it back until Monday, so I don't know how my pictures have turned out!!!!!!

I am so proud of you Aimee, love mum xxxx

Blog Candy!!!!

I was blog hopping and was on Maya's Blog, where she left a list of blogs offering blog candy, so I have copied her and created the list too!!! I have also added a few more!!!!

There are a lot of blogs giving away free gifts this month!!!! Most of them are because they have hit a certain amount visitors on their blogs, and if you look at their blogs you can see why!!!! So much talent and fabulous work on this blogs, they are so worth a look!! Only trouble is I won't be getting crafting done, LOL!!!!

Steph - It`s all about me 16th july

Fran made 17th july

Tip Top 18th july

Linda-Linanna 18th july

Shary - The other side of me 18th july

Paperbabe 19th july

Maria`s cards 19th july

Pretty Pressings 19th july

Deb - Country lovin cardmaker 19th july

Andrea Brownjohn`s Magnolia candy 20th july

Emma - Elf creations and Poppicraft sponsoring Emma`s blog candy 25th july

Love scrapping 28th july

ScrapMetal 30th july

Heather`s Creations 1st august

Creative and Stamping 19th July




Have fun visiting these amazing blogs!

xxxx

Proud Mummy Moment!

Chloe came home to day with a plaque and a certificate to say that she had reached a 1,000 credits! The children collect credits by handing in homework on time, neatness, politeness, behaviour, attitude, uniforms, etc These credits also mean that the children who receive the required amount of credits can go on days out, eg on Friday they are going to Pleasure Island for the day! There was only 6 in the entire year to receive the certificate and plaque.


Well done Chloe, very proud of you, Mum xxxx

Great News!

Dh's mum is home from hospital!!

She came home yesterday afternoon Georgia time, so it was around 10:00 pm our time!!!

All you have to do now June is take it easy for 6 weeks, so that means Craig does all the housework, cooking, gardening, etc, while you sit back with your feet up!!!

Love ya loads June
xxxx

Pretty Girls

On the Paper Paradise Forum, Tracey set a challenge using this month's Paper Paradise Kit!!
Check out Tracey's blog for more ideas on how to use the kit! She managed to create 4 pages from it!

I loved the way that Tracey had cut out flowers from the pp in the kit and couldn't wait to get started!!! I read the rules of the challenge and Tracey set it so we couldn't lift her page, oh noooo!!! I have never worked with such bold patterns before! We also couldn't add anything to the kit!!!!

I remembered a sketch challenge on CIS (Crafting In Style) CISter's Stylish Sketches Blog, so I decided to use that sketch!

This is what I came up with!

First of all I have used 12 photos in my layout and I promise this will be the last time that I use these photos, it has to be, or I will never get any other photos scrapped! LOL

I inked all the edges with black ink!
I used the salmon Bazzill for my background paper! I used one sheet of pp, I traced around a Bazzill 12x12 scalloped sheet of cardstock.
I used the creamy coloured Bazzill, I traced around a woodware chipboard scalloped boarder to get this shape. I then stamped some flourishes to create a background as it was too plain! All cardstock and papers have been inked with black ink.
The title was glued down and traced around with a black marker to make the title stand out!! And no I didn't get extra letters in my kit, the second T was made by cutting the bottom of the J off and the second R was made by cutting the bottom of a B off!!!
On the flourishes all I done was inked them!
As there wasn't enough brads in the kit to put into the middle of every flower, I used a circle hole punch and punched out the centers for the flowers out of the scrap pieces of paper and cardstock! I layered some of the flowers and stuck some of them straight on to the layout.
For the journaling strip, I gutted the back of the cardstock. I then printed what I wanted off on some ordinary copier paper, then cut the salmon cardstock to size, used masking tape and stuck it over the printed words, ran it through the printer again! I then cut the card stock more closely to the words and inked the edges. I used 3D foam pads to add some dimension to the page.

Hope my extras are allowed

Stash Used

• Bazzill Cardstock - Salmon
• Paper Adventures - Primavera Flower Fancy
• Bazzill Carstock - Cream
  
• Letters - Cuttlebug - Funky Chick
• 2 Large pink brads
• 6 Small green brads
  
• 2 Woodware chipboard flourishes
• Assorted Prima Flowers

EXTRAS

• Inkadinkado Clear Stamps - Floral Flourishes
• Black Marker pen
• Color Box - Cats Eye - Lava Black
• 3D Foam Pads
• Circle Punch
  

TFL
xxxx

Medal Test

Chloe and Aimee had their dance medal tests today!!!!

I must say these two were brilliant, no nerves or fear, just went straight in!!! Aimee went first her cousin Georgia was in the same group, they went in in fours!

Chloe came next she found out two weeks ago that her teacher was moving her up to a higher level so she can get a higher qualification! I think if I had that thrown at me I would be in bits!!! But she was so calm. I didn't get to see them dance as it was closed! We will find out in a few weeks if Aimee gets her Rosette and Chloe her medal!

So proud of you two, love mum xxxx

At home before we went!



Before they went in!



Chloe didn't want to pose for these photos, as I was the only mum taking photos, I told her "You'll thank me later" lol

TFL
xxxx

Free Gifts

I just followed a link from another blog and got on a beautiful blog!!! Wow her stamped images are fantastic!!! and as she has reached 10,000 views on her blog she is giving away 140 free stamped images in the most beautiful altered bag I have seen to date!!!

Hop on over and be in the running to receive these fab gifts!!! Mayas Hobbyblogg

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Princess Aimee

I had great hopes for this layout, but the colours of the dress made my head spin when I was picking out papers for it! They were either too rich and heavy, or just looked gaudy!!! So in the end I went with this fairy paper! I wanted to create a dreamy, floaty and wishful page, not too serious page, I think it is!This Princess Belle dress is Aimee's favourite, she got it in 2006 and I think it has been worn to over 20 different parties, discos and fancy dresses!!! Any time an invite comes for a dress up party, it's "Mummy I am going to wear my Belle dress" at least I can say we got our monies worth out of it, and hasn't been worn just once or twice and then discarded for the next new one!!! Aimee has about 4 dresses in her collection, she prefers things that she can actually play with and use her imagination more, which I must admit I do prefer!!!

Anyways, I have used a whole packet of Basic Grey White Heart Swish rub-ons, once I started I couldn't stop, lol!!!

I have also gave my new Prima Journaling Stamps a try, I have used the circle journaling tag, and the swirls off of the corner stamps around the edge of the photo.

I have to say thanks to my good friend Tracey for helping me out (Ya KWIM hon, thanks so much, worked perfect).

I also went a little Stickles mad, (What's new, lol). On the original paper, the swirls going across the page, the clouds were all that were glittered!!! But I stickled the Fairy dress, shoes, crown, wings and wand!!! The row of flowers along the bottom didn't escape either!!!! Probably enter it into a bling challenge!

I used my trusty white Sakura Glaze pen to write the journaling! It reads "Aimee this Princess Belle dress is your favourite. Anytime you go to a dress up party this is the one you want to wear".

Stash List

• Carol Wilson Fine Arts - SCP144A
• Primal Journaling Stamps
• Basic Grey - Wholy Cow White Heart Swish Rub-ons
• Basic Grey - Wholy Cow White General Words Rub-on
• Stickles - Crystal
• Sakura Glaze White Pen
• Woodware Chipboard Heart
• Cuttlebug - Funky Chick Lettering
• Dew Drop Versa Magic Chalk Ink - Cloud Magic
  

TFL
xxxx

Everything went okay!

Just heard that DH's mum is in recovery and everything went fine!!!! After all the hassle with the Insurance Company not wanting to pay (typical), Dh helped sort it out from this end, and waiting to hear that she was after the operation, it was great to get the phone call that she will be in recovery for about an hour, and that she could be home within a few days!!!!!

Love ya loads June, and so glad to hear that you are okay, and when you go on your trip I WANT LOTS OF PHOTOS THAT ALSO MEANS THAT YOU AND CRAIG ARE IN THEM TOO!!!!

Thanks to anyone who read my post and had her in their thoughts. xxxx

Smiling Happy Children

For the past few weeks my LSS (Paper Paradise) was accepting donations of stash from customers and crafting people in the community!!! Why??? because my SIL is involved with the local library after schools craft club!!! And she asked if Sue and Tracey (owners of LSS) would ask their customers if they could donate any stash that they don't need to the Out of School club, as the lady (Debbie) who runs it doesn't receive any funding and very few materials for the children to work with!

On Wednesday Sue and Tracey delivered 20 boxes full of stash to the library the local paper was there, and the children's and Debbie's faces just said it all!!!

Even though my two girls have only being going for a couple of weeks they love it and can't wait for Tuesdays to come around!

The local community has been fantastic at collecting stash for the children to work with!! Sue and Tracey are going to keep a box in their storeroom and keep accepting stash for them and deliver it up to the library every time it fills up, so hopefully the children will always have something to use!!!



TFL
xxxx