holiday preparation

we go on our family jolly in a few days and I have neither packed or dieted (sucessfully). last year we went to scarborough in the caravan and had a great time. these layouts were done last year but it gets me in the mood for my holiday snaps and post jolly scrapfrenzy. BTW how gorgeous are scarboroughs beach huts ??

my name is emma and i am an alcoholic

Alchohol ink that is !!!! went on a day course and discovered a new addiction/expense. i have always liked altering but this is fab fun and with a melt pot too i can spend ages creating and experimenting, in fact i need a white coat and will rename our office " the craft lab".

better late than never

hello anybody out there. apologies to anyone who noticed my absence. i'm sorry i have no good excuse for blog neglect just a distinct lack of enthusiasm for computers. my kids have discovered the laptop and get themselves around t'interthweb quite nicely now. it is quite annoying and as i write i can see chocolate spread on the screen, not a good look on a lappy.

Our family christmas was just lovely and i would do it all again tomorrow ( if i had a bit a spare cash) and january has been ok too. Richard has started working shifts again which has thrown the children a little and led to some interesting nonsleepy nights for me. for example the dreams from little man about toilet roll up his nose and the girl child getting ready for school at 4am. superduper . i can only remember with horror how bad it is when you do this for weeks and months on end.

i managed to escape the family on sunday to go to exhall for a crop and to be fair i did more chatting than sticking but it was great nevertheless to see everyone and get hugs too. this is a photo of my layout as i have no piccies of me laughing and hugging.

jingle bells, batman smells, robin flew away

here are some Chrismas decs which i made using the december kit from indigo mill. for once i have no bad words about basic grey papers they are divine and the colours are a bit different to the trad christmas colours. the wreath is a coat hanger bent into a circle and then strips of paper stapled on. you can then ribbon, button and glitter as much as you like. the garland is just some handcut stockings attached with brads onto some fabric. 3 sheets of 12x12 made the wreath and a 3 yard garland. it took 1 hour from start to tidied and the kids got stuck in too. no excuses, get festive.

hello stranger

well , it's not that i haven't been crafting more that i have neglected my blogging a bit ( well- alot) but it's my go to be playing/designing with indigo mills' lovely kit. this has given me the necessary kick to sort myself out. Thanks Steph x . in fact i was so badly organised that i have had to go and buy a new SD card and batteries for my digital camera which i had abandoned in favour of some 35mm lovin' . i have digital camera induced tourettes so it's not a good thing to have out on family occaisions. So for anyone who is interested here are a few of my done deals to look at and ..........................a sneak peek of what is in the lovely kit.

on the mend

I am feeling a bit more lively now. Have made a huge mess in the craft room and my friend gave me a bag of lavender to mess around with, perhaps this has had a soothing effect too . I have also been down to my newly opened village craft shop to show the lovely Frances how to hand felt.

Check out these blooms on the front of these mini books. Now i am not normally a bloom fan but these flowers are so lovely i am inspired to 'do vintage' so watch this space. These flowers are the real deal and have been dried out in a fancy machine after being lovingly sown and tended by my friend Sheila who now has lots of lovely blooms for us paper junkies to have. Also signed up to twitter today - just got to figure out how it works now !

no mojo

help ! i am mojoless. i have been M.I.A from blogland for a bit now and for anyone who's even remotely interested here's why. I have had nothing on my craft table for 2 weeks. What's worse is that I have no real passion for cutting and sticking right now. nothing fabric, altered, felty or photographic has happened for me in ages. I am beginning to wonder why i my craft libido is going off. could it be i have overfaced myself volunteering for stuff at school and other places ? Maybe it could be that my little man is acting like a looney at school and that i am a little stressed ? It could be lots of stuff, however, the fact remains i am bored with not feeling creative. yesterday i made christmas cards, i made 50 cards in one hour. That should give some clue of how lacklustre i feel. Call a craft doctor, I need help.

woolly pretties.

I have used most of my monster mash kit from indigo mill except for the robot paper which i am looking forward to using. However i have missed my feltmaking, so i have made various felty woolly goodies today. The photo shows the ones which i most like - especially the cuff which i am really pleased with. I have made some felt embellies which might be on a layout or two in the future. thanks for looking.x

words from a brave man

i emptied the hoover last night as it was full of lego and rice crispies. I emptied it into a box from one of bekahs' birthday presents that was waiting to be put into the bin. When Richard saw it he said .....wait for it ........ " barbie must have taken up scrapbooking, she's let the housework go a bit. " oops, fair comment ?