Simple Doodling...

It really is as simple or as complex as you want to make it. I chose a piccie of Emily but entiled the page 'i love you' so it really fits for anyone. I *heart* the love, elsie papers and they do go with the 'doodly' style so I used a little 'betty' paper and cut it into a zig zag-ed block ~ using a pieces of bazzil I had as a guide. I used bazzil bling too and the doodlebug glittery paper. The chipboard hearts are some v.old tlc stuff I had from when I started scrapping (tonight, I ripped open the packet for the first time!) and of course my old faithful zig pen...!

This is how I have arranged my paper and card onto my page. It's simple and leaves some room for doodling but not heaps to make you feel overwhelmed...
Firstly I drew around a huge circle (it was my two littlies drum!) in pencil to give me a circle guide. I then went over in my pen, it wasn't neat at all... don't worry if you're not a perfect artist or super confident with your pen - I find if I don't think about it, it's easier... start thinking about it and my pen is all over the place! The circle then has two other circular lines inside the first being quiet wide with randomly spaced circles inside and the second having closely spaced lines all around the edge. The more randomly placed the circles and lines look, the better...
Here, i've added quiet alot. The lettering which I have drew free hand onto the page but following the edge of the circle. I have added some shading/3d parts on the letters and then filled with the similar style of lines as in the circle. It also detracts any mistakes or 'wobbles' you may have made in your letters! For the 'love' I used the negative chipboard heart and backed with glittery cardstock. The positive part was used overlapping slightly the edge of the photograph and adding wings which I hand drew in the glitter cardstock and overlaying with a lined cardstock (actually an old library card insert)
I have used 3d foam under the wings (one layer under the middle of the wing and two layers under the end tip of the wing) and this was done for both layers...
I know the flash is SUPER bright (it's what you get for not knowing how to alter the shutter speed!) but the chipboard heart negative is backed with the glittery cardstock to coordinate with the wings. See the close up doodled letters (if you don't feel confident to draw them free hand, why not draw around chipboard letters and then add in your own shading/3d doodle afterwards?)
Here, you can see how in the lines of the wings I have added roughly written words (it reads: all you need is love ~ over and over again) and dotted around the heart and the negative heart edges, also the photograph too. Around the patterned paper I have drew fake stitches (really simple - anyone can do this!)
Lastly the overall LO. I have journalled inside the circle but you could leave it blank ~ or if you're feeling brave doodle some more in there. Around the bazzil bling piece I have drew 'x' and 'o' just so it doesn't seem so much of a 'block'.

I am sure I am going to get the watercolour paints out tomorrow and tint all the doodles in blue/red watercolours just so it isn't so stark on the white paper. I am sure that pencils/wax crayons/ pens would work just as well! The name of the game is to experiment and have fun! Doodling on you scrapbook pages isn't about things looking immaculate and perfect. If everyone copied this LO, each one would look SO much different to the next. (and plus i'd be so chuffed!) It, I hope shows you that those girls I know who are scared of their pens ~ to pick them up and have a go! Or why not try doodling with a versa mark pen and then heat embossing what you're done in a fabby shimmery powder?!

And lastly thank you to Ali Edwards for pushing me to share the love of doodling with you all!!! In the week i'll do some more and doodle little piccies too. I have the most fabby little halloween project to share... complete with doodles!

So today...

...I have been feeling inspired. And sad. Today was Lee's fathers funeral. I totally feel for him, Kev went off this morning at 9am to drive over to Surrey which was where his funeral was. He said Lee seemed to hold it all together until afterwards when he was looking at the flowers. I just know how today feels for anyone who has lost a parent. It really is OVER. They really have gone. There is nothing of them anymore. And of course people now start to forget. However, us as children do not. Someone once said to me that it gets easier with time. It doesn't. I won't lie. It NEVER gets easier. We just learn to cope better with the loss. We come to terms with it. But there are days when it feels like such a wrench, the same as the day they actually died.

It makes me think of mum. It makes me wonder if there is something after this life. I am not particularly religious but I have been known to visit a few psychics and clairvoyants. I said the last time that I wouldn't again. I've visited the 'duds', the ones who are fishing for info. But i've also visited a few that were truly amazing. They just looked at you and told you stuff that NO ONE ever knew but you. Your feelings right then. And your whole past. The last one read my tea leaves and made me cry so much, I just knew she would be the last. I had satisfied my curiousity for there must be more... How else would she know such stuff without having someone else tell her, someone who wasn't here? How could she look into my tea cup (rather Harry Potter ~ Madame Trelawny-esque) and tell me stuff no one knew. To tell me I had my mums old diaries and she wanted me to read them; something I had fought with myself over in those weeks. How did she know about the lilies I took for the nurses who cared for mum simply because I love lillies and knew mum hated them and would never of wanted them. How did she know that when I sat with mum that Tuesday night both Jill and I heard things that make my hairs stand on end. No one knew this stuff. No one knew the funny stuff she told me about me and mum too. I know there must be more. I don't know what but I live in hope that she is at peace and no longer in pain.

And for Lee. I truly am thinking of him. It will be hard but i'm sure he will be ok. He has wonderful friends around him who all love and care for him. xxx

And now for inspiration~ I got Ali E's zine today. Wow. It inspires me. This one talks about teaching people what you know. Sharing our creativity... so I think on Sunday I will do a post about my doodles. It's gonna be simple and easy to make. All you'll need is a piece of bazzill/plain cardstock, a great pen that you love (any colour and any make, as long as you love it!) and a photo of someone special whom you love ~ your hubbie or other half/kids/pets/sister/mum... anyone. It's gonna be a little project of about 6x6 inches so only have a 2x4 inch piccie...! The point is gonna be to have fun. So come and play!!!

And this girlie http://www.scrapinstyletv.com/profile_3414.html is the absolute best today. Check out her newly uploaded 'this is me' journal quote page. Cool. Hoping my album is half as good as hers.

Check this out.

This is my inspo today... JenniferP on scrapinstyle. http://www.scrapinstyletv.com/profile_5868.html her gallery is to die for. And her writing. WOW. I wanna be able to write like that. How super, super creative is she???
And LoveLifePaper too http://www.scrapinstyletv.com/profile_646.html she is fabby too.

It's gotten me thinking along with Mole's musings on UKS. When we see all this fabulous creativity... does it make us feel that we would never come up to this standard, so we need not try to? Or does it make you wanna raise your game? It makes me wanna be able to put those beautiful pages together to make MY scrapbook. To document MY life. No matter if anyone thinks it isn't as super fabby as I do (sounds very boasting, sorry ~ it's not meant to be) but it's my life, my pictures and as long as I love it... what does it matter. No one else could do the pictures justice (well, maybe another family member) because I hold the memory, the time it was taken, the feelings it evokes and how I love it so much. Could anyone else do all of that for YOUR photographs, for your feelings and memories?

And I am starting THIS : http://thisismejournal.blogspot.com/ with avengance. It's SOOO super cool!

A date for your diary...

...this class will be running in Basildon at Pandoras papercrafts on the 6th of October 12 noon til 2:30pm... although if you want to do more scrapping too or need more time on your crazy cube then you're more than welcome to crop and shop! It's great seeing you ladies working your creativity! The class costs £15 and all you will need to bring is your photos.

It takes 10 2x2 inch photos and 2 2x4inch photos. I have used faces although I feel that holiday snaps would probably look better (you're not chopping anyone in half then!) There will be acetate overlays to use though so you can actually see your cutting lines before you start to cut you photographs up. I also would suggest using copies/home print outs rather than originals ~ just in case!

Also this Friday and Saturday the shop has space downstairs in the shopping centre, so pop along and see what we're all making and getting up to!

Creativity and heaps of it!

Not ALL my usual stuff but here goes. I have been creating LOTS and here it is:


An old photo. A very weird old photo. And not my usual style but It kinda means alot to me. I know the pic isn't great. I struggle with time and light! But the its all there.


It's not finished, I have too be in the mood to doodle. I really do. And it has the habit of making me feel v.sleepy because it's so relaxing but here is an old piccie of me when I was 18, very worse for wear... very, very drunk. I wanted to try the scalloped paper as the main sheet, if you get me. I either scrap in mini book/12x12 size and although it's kinda 12x12 I wanted to break out of my comfort zone alittle. Although I love simple scrapping. One colour and a pen! It's truly 'me' this one.
I don't know about this. I kinda think it's lacking. But hey-ho...

This is the only piccie I have of my father's family altogther like this. In fact I only have about three piccies of my father altogether. I'm not sad about it. Not about my father anyhow. I just feel weird about it all. The picture IS supposed to mean something, right??? But it just doesn't. It is like looking in at myself and not actually seeing anything. I think thats why the LO doesn't work too well.
'THE' most favourite of girls I have ever nannied for was Louise (the big one!) Pheobe (next to her) and Hannah (in the rear view mirror of the car) were Louise's half sisters on her Dad's side (pretty cute too!) It's not finished yet but the whole bam pop ponies/unicorns just 'go' with her too. She loved her horses. And the kitsch stars just do it too...

I'm annoyed about this one. I love it. It's me. It's that kinda Shelly Brewer style that I tried hard to use. BUT something leaked on my piccie that wasn't acid free and now I need to re-print the pic cause at his mouth there is some hole thingie going on. hmmphf!

Ah... go see the house full of colour blog! Go see it now! Her doodled buttons are amazing and so is her Esty store. How I would love to go and do one of her classes!!! Go see her now: http://acolorfulhouse.typepad.com/ she is amazing. Her blog is AMAZING! And this LO is dedicated to her FAB stuff.

I have been trying to scrap old piccies - prior to my digital camera and this is one that caught my eye. I think it was taken when I was about 17. Going through my older friends stage. I think ALL girls have them. Well, this was taken at a party at 'pedro's' ~ no idea why we called him this as his real name is Simon Richards. I used to keep a diary then. Filled with teenage angst and boys. Hmmm. I still have them now and think about actually scrapping the whole writing. Maybe typing them onto my laptop somewhere, so they are 'safe' and will last but you know I think I would spend the whole time laughing tooooo much.
Emily is hooked on Nanny McPhee. Every afternoon when Ben goes to sleep she HAS to have it on. I could quiet easily be an understudy to ANY of the characters as I have now seen it probably about 50 times. Surprisingly though, it still makes me laugh. And not only am I subjected to the dvd day in and day out but I also have to 'play' nanny mc phee. Luckily though I am always Evangeline and not the crusty, old trout Aunt Adelaide.
I love Mitch Albom. his books are seriously about real life. The sort of lives you and I lead. His books are soul touching and i'd recommend them to everyone. First off I read 'Tuesdays with Morrie' and that lead me to 'Five people you meet in heaven' and I loved it. I loved them both and I know he has other books, I just haven't gotten round to buying them. Kev got me 'For one more day' which is his newest book. I know it's gonna make me cry. I just know. They always do. Some how he writes about death but not in a morbid way. The way that kinda makes you reflect on your life and count your blessings. I know that this book I have to read, last night inspired this LO. The piccie is crazy. We are wearing wigs. We are being goofy. I had turned 21 on that exact day the piccie was taken. And you know, sometimes I miss my mum more than ever. It's hard to express it on paper. It just is. No matter how much love and goodness I put in to a LO with her in or about her it never is good enough. I guess I wanna say to everyone out there, make the most of the times you have left with loved ones. It is always TOO short, no matter how long they live.

And we are getting rid of this yucky doodie soon. The poor girl is going to be devastated.

Slack

I am slack. I did go up to my sisters on Saturday morning with Emily and left Ben with Kev. It's the first time i'd actually left either of them over night apart from when I had Ben. But I knew for my sanity and stuff that I needed to. And Emily had the best time.
My sisters kids were SO excited too. The first thing any of them said was 'you're having a sleepover in my mummy's bed!' and the girls all giggled. I did however forget my camera in the rush to get out of the door on Saturday but have some piccies on my moby - unsure how to put them on here tho!
Ben was absolutely fine with Kev. Emily was fine, apart from being awake from 1:30am until 3:30am and then my sisters girls waking us at 6:45am with a cup of tea. Sweet but I had far too little sleep!
We left at about 10:30am and i got in to my boy, who had missed me. He spent nearly the whole day clinging to me... just incase I left again. So I did no scrapping at the weekend.

I have a LO planned. Emily has been brought a Spanish fan from her cousins holiday... this morning she saw it and wailed... ' mummmmmmmmmmmmieeeeee I WANT my flan!!' No matter how many times I have told her it's a 'FAN' she still is calling it a flan. Oh well. It is making me laugh.

This is my inspo atm!

I don't know how to add videos to my post but you know atm i'm addicted to youtube. I am loving this today. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6EQAOmJrbw It is my FAVE-est song atm. I am revisiting my youth. This is the exact kinda thing I loved. It makes me wanna get my hair cut short, have some wild coloured streaks added and go crazy.

So much to post...

This is gonna be a long one.

Firstly on Tuesday, this gorgeous girl turned 3...! She has had presents since the 7th (Ben's birthday) up until now. I think she qualifies for the guiness book of records ~ the longest birthday celebrated...

She had a VERY good day and over the past few weeks has been totally spoilt with gifts and money and treats. She absolutely adores her curious george cuddly and has taken him to bed EVERY night. The first night she woke up four times to tell me about him, I couldn't be cross - she's too cute.

We made a carrot cake. Emily found out how much she loved cake mix and cried when we had to bake it. She didn't however like the actual cooked cake but has poked and scooped up the butter icing everyday. The day we made it, we nearly had a sugar meltdown with the amount of icing she ate.


Then we had Wednesday ~ did you know it was 'national speak like a pirate day'??? Yes, no joke! ~ (piccie isn't too cool as the flash was TOO bright on her face) and I have no idea where the eye patch has gone too either)

And I have been creating. I just need to take pictures of everything and upload them...

I found this...

... on Sara Berry's blog (SoML~ www.story-kits.com crazy, cool chick!) http://www.amazon.com/Lomographic-Cameras-940-Lomography-Fisheye/dp/B0007ZGXO0/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/002-1651372-3503201?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1189659235&sr=8-2 go see... it's fabby. And yes I still can't work out how to link stuff in that cool short way...

A bit of fun...

I got this from Anna Bowkis's blog - she is a scrapping fave of mine!!! (and I totally understand the loss feelings she has going on atm... good luck with your run!!!) her blog is here http://scrappingtonight.blogspot.com/)

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) Mogsy Fiesta
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Baileys maryland
3. YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)P Bro
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)Khaki cat
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)Marie Leicester
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)Bro Pa
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put "The") Purple the coca cola
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) Geofrey Hubert
9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy) Jean Paul Gaultier Sherbet lemons (weird that one!)
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother's & father's middle names ) Anne ???

I've been playing again...

...i've lost my mojo for scrapping. I really have. I guess with all the working and parties and stuff I haven't had time to go on line and find inspo or have the time to actually create anything. I have had a lot on my mind. I have been taking lots of photographs though and have sat tonight, watching 'the restuarant' on bbc 2 and altered this (with the help of my CK computer tricks book) ... I really like the result. (if you wanna see the original then scroll down)...

Our thoughts...

On Tuesday Kevy had some bad news. Lee (here at Kerry and Ben's wedding... pictured with Michelle who is also having a rough time with her other half Paul on his second lot of radiotherapy and chemotherapy~ we're thinking of you too) dad died. It is just so terrible. His mum passed away when he was a teenager and now his Dad has gone leaving him and an aunt. I just know how that poor boy feels. Lee, hang on in there I know that everyone is there for you when you need them. xxx

IF...

...this boy wasn't in nappies, he'd have a builders bum!

Just for fun...

Giggle. It makes everything so much better.
Love. With love you can do anything. h And with each other, Emily has a partner in crime... and boy, is she teaching him well!!!

I love taking photographs. I went through a phase after I worked at Olan Mills (a family portrait studio) that I hated pictures. Theirs were SO stuffy, it made me loose any get-up-and-go I had for photography. Now, since having the kids and getting my cannon... I have it back. By no means am I any good at it but everyday i'm inspired. Inspired by blogs and others scrapping work. At the mo, I am loving Karen Russell SOOOO much. Her piccies of her kids are SUPER amazing. What I wouldn't do to go to her class in the UK next year.

One door closes and another opens...

...I have had a lot happen lately. We have now finished all of our painting - we just need the new door handles to be fixed and we're good to go. I have had Ben's first birthday and Emily and Ben's party and then a week today Emily will be three! I also have had work...

...yes, work. I no longer work at The Quays in Basildon. Landladies are a funny breed, thats all really that I can say... But then today I had a lady visit us who was looking for a childminder. So on Friday her little girl is starting with us. Emily totally adores her and cried when she left today. I know that they will be good friends.

God must've been smiling down on us this month. Thank you. Today i'm counting my blessings.

Bubble fun...
Bubble fun with one of her fave nephew's Aidan...
Partners in crime ~ Eloise and Holly...

Ben outside on the blanket...
Emily and her cake!
The cutest party bags i've ever seen!

Emily as Sportacus...!
Jessica and the bubble machine!
And my bestest ever sister....!

Yesterday we made this....

...and ate FAR too much of it at tea time! But Emily had so much fun licking the melted chocolate spoon and of course eating the fruits of her labour afterwards...

the licking of the spoon is the 'bestest' bit... according to Emily...!
Simple, no fanciful icing chocolate heaven...
This boy, then poked his finger in the side and then sucked all the chocolate-y crumbs afterwards... YUM!
And this is the boy himself who is ready for bed, all bathed and clean in his new pj's... isn't he bloomin' cute?!!! (p.s. thank you Shelley for saying so!!!)
And these are my new bargain pumps I brought for £4 from primark... how I love some of the stuff in there! And so cheap...
And I brought Emily this cape... it was only 50p, it has a superman 'S' on the back - she is in her loving super hero years atm... and I was told superhero's need apples! And not just any old apples, they HAVE to be green...!

I will add all the birthday party pics from today but i'm pooped right now. I'm watching hells kitchen then i'm off to bed... Nightie, night! xxx

p.s. agreeing wholey with Karen Russell ~ my blog too has become a photo blog (be it not so fabby as hers) I haven't been doing much scrapping lately but WILL be this week... I promise. (and some cool SIMPLE pens on paper stuff too...)