Something not quite right....

...And so it got to Wednesday before I managed a day off in half term, something went slightly wrong there, although on possibly the most romantic day of the year, Valentines day in case you were wondering, I took the official photographs for a very good friend's wedding and got to ride in a limo too!!!

I can`t post any of the photographs yet though because even the Bride and Groom haven`t seen them, I have a mammoth 400 photographs to crop, edit and play around with before I decide on which ones to present to them...yep really 400!!!

So we had the best day, the rain held off, the Bride and Bridesmaids looked beautiful, the page boys were incredibly handsome, the speeches went well and the very delicious Lancashire hot pot supper went down a storm...twice ;-)...yes I went back for seconds.

And so today I thought it about time I spent the day with the kids and we went to a friends for lunch and had just a total chill out day, before we went though Ella took this photo of Mia and I,
it`s so lovely to have an up to date one...



So after my chill out day I realised I have a Jewellery class in Chorley on Saturday that I hadn`t prepared for so had to plan and design that, and had a mountain of paperwork to plough through and then had to prepare for a promotional day I am doing for the college tomorrow...no rest for the wicked!!!

Did find these photographs on my point and shoot when I uploaded today's pictures, they are from the Demo I did in Preston last week and are made using the new creatables which are just downright lush...





Off for a crafty smoke and quite possible another early night...being awake at 5am this morning did not go down too well!!!

Scrapbook Magic...

...Thats the feeling I get when one of the kids looks at one of my layout or flicks through an album and smiles or makes a comment...pure magic!!!

That`s the reason I scrapbook, well that and Basic Grey :-), to be able to preserve memories and not just of special occassions but of normal everyday moments, that walk in the park or the fact that now my 15 year old son is taller than me he is now able to give me a piggy back, not momentous moments but those I wouldn`t ever want to forget.

I was working in a care home this morning where some of the residents suffer with various forms of memory loss and dementia, I had one of my scrapbooks with me of me and my kids, and was showing it to them, the joy it bought to their faces was just incredible, whether it tapped into memories they had forgotton or moments they remembered I don`t know but just to see the light shining in their eyes as they smiled...that was magic.

Scrapbooking is good....

And on that note here are two layouts I completed Sunday...

This is the first 12x12 layout I have done for a while and I really like it...



and an 8x8 layout in my favourite colour scheme...needs something else though...



Will have to re-think that one tomorrow...

And using the leftovers from the above layout I created this which is currently sitting on top of my microwave in the kitchen...



And now I am seriously considering hitting the quilt, even though its only 7.30pm my little peeps are struggling.

Vintage...

...No I am not talking about wine...

I spent the day working for the college today at a Vintage Fair in Warrington Market, for those who don`t know Warrington Market is an indoor market and open daily and historians have discovered that the market has been around for approximately 750 years, luckily its pretty up to date now, apart from the vintage pretties that were displayed today...there were handcrafted goods and beautiful little items that i remembered my Nan owning when i was a little girl, if I had known how vintage her dressing table set would be now I would have carefully had it wrapped in tissue paper, I remember sitting for hours brushing my hair with the brush and holding the mirror up to check my "auburn" shine...anyway I was promoting the college courses that we have starting at the beginning of march and I had a really good day and even met Laurel and Hardy...obviously not the real ones but some pretty good lookalikes, I love how diverse my job can be.

I also chatted with some of the stall holders...set out a bit like a craft fair...obviously being crafty I like to chat to fellow artisans and there were some very talented individuals displaying their beautiful little pieces, I particularly fell in love with Vintage Twee...beautiful shabby chic stall directly opposite our stand which meant lots of lovely eye candy...go check out her beautiful site here

Been having a bit of a play with my sexy Swarovskis and fabulous findings...and this is what I have been creating...

Acrylic leaves and flowers, crystals and Swarovski...



With matching necklace...



Turquoise...my favourite colour in the whole world...Pearls, Fire Polished Crystals and Swarovski...



And a bit of fun...bought these little birdcages at the Gmex last week and added one to a ribbon and cord necklace with some Pearls, Charms, Acrylic flowers and leaves and Swarovski...



Just realised that is quite a lot of jewellery I have created lately...hmm maybe I need a day of scrapbooking tomorrow...yes that sounds like a plan, especially as I don`t have to do any lesson planning, I am off most of half term...Woo hoo...lie ins planned!!!

Off now to plan some layouts and sip some wine!!!

All You Need is Love....

With Valentines day almost upon us it seemed only appropriate to celebrate by taking part in a challenge set over at the Most Wanted Lifestyle magazine Blog

...The challenge, should I chose to accept it, which I did, was to create a Crafty Valentines Tutorial and I have chosen to construct a little "You make me Shine" gift card with tea light candles combined...The perfect addition to that romantic candlelit meal or relaxing bubble bath. An ideal gift all year round, changing the decoration and embellishments to suit the recipient or occasion, try it for a welcome to your new home gift and add some twine and keys for embellishments in place of the ribbon.

To make the gift card cut a piece of card (I used white) to measure 14 x 23cm and score and fold at 7 and 9.5cm along the long edge, this creates the gift card with a 2.5cm spine to accommodate your tea light candles.

Decorate this with patterned papers, I have inked around the edges of mine and stamped images, I have an Autumn Leaves set that contains the sentiment "you make me Shine" which I thought quite fitting for the candles.

Construct a simple box from co-ordinating card-stock, mine measured 13x16 cm and I scored and folded along the short edge at 2, 6, 8 and 12cm and then along the long edge at 2 and 14cm.

Cut along the scored lines to the folded line to create the top and bottom of your box, cutting an aperture in one of the long panels to insert an acetate window.

Assemble the box and insert your candles, and then stick this to the inside flap of your gift card.

Tie some ribbon into a bow around the length of your card to secure.

I hope all that makes sense and I would love to see what you come up with.

Its a little bit funny but....

...I am such a bad blogger, I know this is the case because I have been told...to my face...so I thought I would sit, feet up on the couch, laptop carefully balanced on lap, coffee at my side and blog in the peace and quiet that is Sunday evening, I love Sunday evenings that full tummy feeling after a Sunday dinner and those last few hours of the weekend stretching ahead, I may even treat myself to a glass of the old grape juice before hitting the quilt early tonight.

I headed over to the Stitch and Creative crafts show at the Gmex in Manchester yesterday for a couple of hours overheating, being battered by shopping trolleys and at one point very nearly knocked out by an unsuspecting elbow...one of those sat on the floor moments, I went to stand up and some poor lady nearly had her arm shot into next week by my head...I saw stars and I am not talking about Stephanie Weightman or Nancy Watt!!!

Anyway I think the show was a little bit of a letdown to be honest, although it was absolutely swarming with people...mainly women...nothing jumped out and screamed buy me buy me...I did see the Grand Calibur machine being demonstrated...oh how strange it was walking round watching other demonstrators instead of being the one demonstrating...So the new die cutting machine that will cut and emboss up to A4...I am not sold on it yet will stick to my Cuttlebug and Cricut for now.

So I did make a few purchases mainly embellishments, pearls, bling, ribbons and flowers, some stamp sets and a scrapbooking kit and some lovely heart shaped doily's to go with this....

I couldn`t resist her...isn`t she cute.

Spent today planning for my upcoming Demo at Inspirations by Cardcraft Plus over in Preston on Tuesday, where I will be demonstrating the Cuttlebug Machine with the gorgeous Nellies Creatables.

Here's a sneak peek of one of my samples....



This layout was on my camera when I uploaded to the PC it is a recent one because its using stash from some of the bargain scrapbook kits I got from TK Maxx...Harry and his "Sea Legs"



And I have been making Jewellery...no surprise there then considering I teach Jewellery making, however I very rarely make Jewellery just for the sake of it, but I have got myself a little granny lap tray stuck a beading mat into it and so all my beady bits, my sexy Swarovski`s and my fabulous findings fit inside it and I can sit on the couch when I have five minutes with it all in one place ready to roll...clever huh...I even have the granny beaded glasses chain for my specs...which I have to wear all the time now for close up work.... booo :-(.

Loving these frosted acrylic flowers and leaves at the moment, I don`t usually do plastic but teamed with some pearls and crystals they look particularly pretty....



and teamed here with Swarovski and some metallic roses...lush...



Okay so hopefully that little lot of waffle has more than made up for the fact that I have been an awful blogger lately...I am blaming working evenings and poor lighting at night so I can`t take decent pictures...that is my excuse...and the overwhelmingly humiliating fact that I have become the biggest Eastenders fan too!!!

You can take the girl out of London but you can`t take London out of the girl...especially when I say: Grass, Glass and Bath...for which my kids constantly take the mick out of me for...so there I said it my secret is out..."My name is Esther and I like Eastenders"

Off now to pour a Glass (said in a southern accent) of grape juice ;-)