WOYWW - Scrappy Saturday !

After a morning of errands I got to spend a wet Saturday afternoon at my workdesk scrapping !
Much beloved headed out to watch the Swans win at footie and so I could play at my desk guilt free !

I had some of my holiday photos already printed out and so was able to put together pages about our days at Cape Point,  Franschhoek & Kirstenbosch Gardens. It's amazing how long ago the trip seems now but it is nice to be capturing the memories !

I have mentioned before that I always like the look of other crafters Project Life layouts - but never quite "get" doing it myself - however I am determined to persevere - and so here is my Project Life layout from our Easter weekend !

Sunday was a better day weather wise so the garden called & I tried to dig over the bed as it is capped with a hard layer of moss from the wet winter we have had - every time I moved I seemed to be crushing & compacting a squelching soil ! Anyone else having the same trouble ?

The afternoon was a bit more dreary and so I was finally able to the Finnabair style frame I started weeks ago !

Also after our trip to the Ally Pally Stamping Show earlier this month the challenge was to make something from what we bought there - here is my frame I painted & a decoupage dress form from the Fabulous Fashion range of House of Zandra !

Lynda look away now !!
I had "J" on Lynda & my Alphabet ATC challenge this month - so I chose Journey !

And here is a quick update photo of Project Vegtrug - things are growing away nicely so far - and I have all my beans plants potted on & tucked in the Vegtrug using it as a mini greenhouse as we have 3 or 4 more weeks before we can be sure we won't have a late frost !

Have a great week !
Ali

WOYWW - Sunny Easter Memories !

Hi !
We have had a lovely weekend of mostly sunny days for the Easter weekend.
My Sister, Brother In Law and 2 nephews came down to stay with us & we had a hectic fun weekend !

Good Friday was Much Beloved's birthday and we headed to Picton Castle - the grounds there are lovely and we had a brilliant picnic in glorious sunshine !

On Saturday we headed to Heatherton the activity park over in Pembrokeshire - the boys had great fun & we all joined in with the Pirate adventure golf !

Sunday it rained but the menfolk had decreed we were having an at home day as there was essential football to watch on the telly ! So we took the opportunity to introduce my sister to the joys of the Gelli-plate !

Sadly the family had to head back to England yesterday as my sister & the boys are back at school today.
The sun came back out & I was able to spend the day working in the garden.

I tried to squeeze in a little crafting and try out my new Sweet Poppy steel stencils - but I am definitely not doing it right as I am getting the stencil dimension medium seeping under the edges of the design & getting a splodgey effect !

Anyone got any tips of what I am doing wrong - too much paste ?

Pressing too hard, not hard enough ?
Wrong method of dragging the spatula over the stencil ?

So on my desk this week - a bit of a mess !
Photos from the Easter weekend, my steel stencils, the Clarity stencils we used for the Gelli Plate play date - some photos I am still looking to scrap from our holiday - and sadly neglected at the back my Documented Life Journal which I am failing miserably to keep up with !

I found this advert in a catalogue and loved the effect but my first attempt to mimic this on a little set of drawers has a rather lurid minty green colour - back to the drawer-ing board !!













And I wanted to try a colour scheme out of my comfort zone - red !
Here's a project about to start !

Here's just one more "happy picture" from the weekend - I love spring blossom !!

Have a great week !
Ali x

WOYWW - Hoppy Easter !

Well just a quick post tonight.
I am waiting eagerly for tomorrow as my Sister, B.I.L. & 2 nephews are coming for Easter and I am very excited as I only get to see them a couple of times a year !

I just don't know where the days go !
I have so many crafty things I want to to do & never a moment to get to my desk !
All I have managed this week is to throw some bunnies together ! Just a few quick cards for the family !

 I do have a bit of an excuse for not getting much crafting done at the weekend - apart from the fact that Sunday was a gorgeous clear blue day and so I spent most of the day working in the garden !

On Saturday, 6 of us friends from Scrapclub squished into my car & at 6.30 am our little charabanc set off for London and the Big Stamping & scrapbooking Show at Alexander Palace.
We had a good run up from our corner of West Wales & although its nearly 4 hours each way and a long old day, we all had a really fun trip !
It's our favourite of the shows as it focusses on all the paper crafting goodies that we love !

We saw some lovely inspiring samples of stamping & mixed media and many of the various stands were giving demos which were interesting to watch too !
I took some photos to inspire me when I get back to my desk !
Here's a few of them gathered together.

And of course the car was rather heavier on the way home as we had all been tempted by the goodies on sale !

So we now have a fun challenge that we should make something from what we bought and take it along to the next club meeting.

Hope to get to my desk long enough to show you next time !!

Have a lovely Easter !
Ali x

WOYWW - Scraps of Scrapping !

Well I was AWOL again last week - this time off at a conference for work in Cannes.
It may sound a bit glamorous but we flew in saw the airport, a taxi, a hotel for the duration and despite a half hour walk along the sea front one evening & again before breakfast - in the rain - we didn't really see much of France !

Really we could have been at a rainy UK resort like Brighton or Bournemouth !!
Anyway here is a picture to prove I  WAS there !












On Saturday we were out again - off to Cardiff for a tapas lunch at Las Iguanas and then the matinee of Wicked. I didn't really know what the story was or what to expect - but it was great fun - and even with an overdose of Emerald Green we enjoyed ourselves !

The weather here was dreadful all weekend & especially lashing down all day on Sunday - so after swimming it was finally time to squeeze in some scrapping !

So I started on our South African holiday - where could I possibly start other than those totally adorable, cute Penguins !

And my lovely crafty visit with Bella - the tag is a gift she gave me - and the fuchsia pink theme is in her honour - being the cool pink lady she is !!

Just a couple of snaps from the garden this week - my project this summer is my new Vegtrug.
I sowed seeds 10 days ago and I love seeing the miracle of a new plant springing from that speck of seed !


And I also love seeing Spring struggling to make itself known in the quagmire that is my rain soaked garden beds ! Here are some tulips I planted last year - valiantly blooming despite a bed where they would be better off with flippers than roots !!

Have a great crafty week ! Ali xx

WOYWW - From South Africa with Love!

Well, I have been away from my trusty craft desk for a couple of weeks enjoying a fabulous holiday in the stunningly beautiful Western Cape Province of South Africa !!

We had a wonderful time and saw some of the beautiful sights - and had a lovely Sunday craft session with Bella in her amazing craft room !

Here are some of the amazing views we enjoyed !

Here is the view of Table Mountain and the city of Cape Town from Robben Island.
On our visit to Robben Island we were privileged to have a 121 tour with a former prisoner at the gaol who gave us a moving insight into his life there & took us to see Nelson Mandela's cell and the lime quarry where the prisoners laboured each day.

Ironically for such a famous prison island, it has some beautiful parts including the coastline & the views across to the mainland are stunning as you can see.

Equally when we ventured up to the top of Table Mountain on the cable car the views over the city were amazing too ! 

It was like being perched on top of the world - at the bottom of the world ! 

Next stop Antarctica !

Being a garden lover, I couldn't miss the opportunity to visit the world famous Botanical Gardens at Kirstenbosch - they call it "the most beautiful garden in Africa" and having visited I would say you would be hard pushed to disagree ! 

And a major highlight of our trip was visiting the Penguin colony which lives on Boulder's Beach on the Cape Peninsula - we were amazed to see them so close up and to find out they live in burrows in the sand ! 

They were so very cute !! 

Another great part of the holiday was meeting up with Bella once more - we all had lunch on the V&A Waterfront where we were staying - which has a great fun vibe whatever time of day to visit ! 

 Then Bella invited us back to her house for the men-folk to watch football on the telly whilst we had some brilliant fun in Bella's amazing craft room !

Here's Bella working on the Finnabair canvass we made together ...

  Sadly our time was all too short - and now we are tying to work out if we can set up some Skype along crafty sessions !!

Bella gave me some wonderful gifts - here they are on my workdesk back in Wales ready & waiting for me to work on the next project !

And finally here are some South African stencils I hope to use when I get round to scrapbooking our trip - I just have to work out which of the 1,056 photos we took will make it to the scrap layouts !!

Have a great crafty week !!  Ali xx

WOYWW - Packing !

A familiar tale of not much action on the desk this week !
This time it was due to a stinking cold which put me in a slump on the sofa all weekend !

So I only fiddled around with a couple of things ..

This week's Documented Life was to create a collage with recycled bits & bobs - I had these fish off Weird Fish clothing & these adverts from around my hometown were on the back of a menu.
My maiden name was a type of fish so hence the sentiment !
I think this looks thrown together & I am not really happy with it at all !
They say it is about the process not the finished page but it doesn't do it for me !

I have made a couple of ATC's - one to take to Cape Town & give to Bella when we go at the end of the week - only 3 sleeps to go !! Beyond excited now !!

And as well as our cases packed, here is my bag ready for Scrapclub tomorrow night - the boxes are to see if the girls fancy altering or decorating one each next month as a class project !
And the Bind It All will be on loan to Lynda whilst I am away !


Well hopefully will be joining in from the opposite end of the world by next week !
Love Ali x

WOYWW - Too busy but planning !!

Well not much actual crafty action on the trusty desk this week !

Much Beloved & I were in London this past weekend - my colleagues had given me a gift voucher for a meal out in London for my birthday last year & we finally got round to using the voucher - and made a trip of it !

We enjoyed our meal during the day and the weather was kind, so much so that in the evening we were able to walk from our hotel down to Tower Bridge.
We loved seeing the Bridge & the Tower of London all lit up with the lights of the modern City behind them !

So sadly having been away there wan't much crafting going on this weekend !

On my desk are a few goodies from the 20% off everything in store offer in Hobbycraft !

The stamps were a real bargain - virtually half price & then with a further 20% off them !
Well you can never have enough Alphabet stamps can you !
The seeds are packets that have come free with gardening magazines ... poppies & veggies !

And on the planning ahead front, I do like to make Easter cards - so have been lured by a few bunnies as you can see !!

Last week our Scrapclub went out for our Christmas meal - yes I know its February - but last year we didn't get our meal out until May - so we thought we were doing really rather well this year !!
We all had a fun evening chatting & catching up and it is lovely to have a group of girls to share crafting with - we all like differing aspects of paper-crafting but everyone encourages the others in what ever we choose to do.  Our next club outing will be to Ally Pally Stamping & Scrapbooking Show in April - so pennies need to be saved in the piggy bank for that !!

Have a fun crafty week
Ali xx