Paper Obsession

A winter's morning

My journey to work this morning was glorious.. the fields were dusted with frost which sparkled in the early morning sunshine. It was the sort of morning that gives me a little tingle of anticipation.. what would I find around the next corner (more on this shortly..)?

I couldn't resist taking a few photos when I arrived - I'm so lucky to work for CavityTech Systems, based in an old farm building in Arlington village, East Sussex. Since starting there in September, I've been able to witness the changing of the seasons, from late Summer, through a beautiful Autumn, to the first frosts of Winter.

So here are a few photos capturing the scene at about 7.45 this morning..

I work in there! :)

 

On a less picturesque note.. what I did find 'around the next corner' was a little red flat-bed truck, abandoned in a ditch. Evidently the driver hadn't accounted for the slippery conditions and had taken the bend in rather a hurry. A salutary reminder to keep my own wits about me and my eyes on the road? Definitely.

 

A Kitchen Makeover.. and a Scrapbook Page

I discovered Sarah's Modern Country Style blog when researching 'country style' for a commission I was asked to do for Scrapbook Magazine. I'm glad I did.. her blog is gorgeous... craft projects, home decor, even fashion.. and it's always great fun to read!

I thought I'd share the story of our home-made kitchen makeover as part of Sarah's Paint, Please Link Party. Since we moved into our Eastbourne home just over a year ago. Despite a whiff of neglect and a hastily applied slick of Magnolia paint, we could see the house had the potential to be something far more beautiful!

So here was the kitchen just before we moved in, plastic wood cladding, mould and all..

And just after the damp-proofing works created chaos..

Our initial plan was to rip out everything from this kitchen and start from scratch. My dream? Country farmhouse kitchen - real wood units painted a creamy white - wooden butchers' block workshops - flagstones on the floor... all somewhat beyond our budget! And once all the boring-but-essential repairs were complete, we realised our budget was not much more than zero.

Back to the drawing board.. and I found I was secretly pleased.. and relieved.. that we weren't going to trash those painted wooden cupboards that had been there for decades. Under the tatty lino we found some half-decent floorboards.. and an area of quarry tiles where we imagined there used to be a fireplace.

So instead of tearing everything out and replacing with cheap copies of what we really wanted, we set about making do with what we had.. building new wooden cupboards where they were needed..

sanding and varnishing those floorboards..

begging and borrowing lengths of worktop.. painting those original cupboards (Celadon by Homebase - Santuary range).. retiling the splashbacks..

I say 'we'.. it was of course my dear hubby Gareth who did most of the work..

I merely project-managed and provided artistic input.. ;o)

For a while, we had the walls painted white.. but I knew it wasn't right - the white tiles were disappearing into the background. Not good at all! I had a notion that a slightly dusty shade of pink would be just perfect. So off we went to Homebase with a die-cut butterfly in Stampin' Up!'s Blushing Bride for inspiration.. and we returned with a tin of Mademoiselle by Crown.

Wow, did it look PINK going on those walls!! But once it was dry, I knew it was a good decision.. and even Gareth has admitted (secretly) he likes it.

[Damn that mobile phone charging on the worktop..]

[Love my sink here so I can look out at the garden instead of a blank wall!]

[The fridge is now where the sink used to be.]

[The cupboard that Gareth built, along with a nice bit of worktop to fill in the gap and sit the microwave on. I LOVE my wooden painted cupboards!]

So that's about it.. a mixture of country cottage and 1950s diner? Oh, and finally.. a couple of sneaky peeks of the scrapbook layout I made documenting our kitchen makeover..

 

[It's not published yet.. will be in issue 58 of Scrapbook Magazine..]

Thanks so much for visiting..

[... and if scrapbooking and papercrafts are your thing, you might like to pop over to my sister website Stamping Obsession.. that's where most of my crafty projects end up these days!]

 

Best wishes,

Sarah xx

How a bit of ribbon made me happy

Guess what.. I completed a project! Not one of the ones that has a pressing deadline attached, that would be sensible! But I'm pleased with myself anyway (and really will try to get organised with other projects this weekend).

So you remember that gorgeous gingham East of India ribbon from Wednesday's post? Well I got very sticky fingers this morning and trimmed the bedside lamps with it. I think it's a marked improvement on boring beige (as long as the ribbon stays attached.. time will tell).

A 'before' picture would have been good - but the light was terrible this morning - dingy yuck. So here's the finished article (and this is my Project 365 photo for Friday 7th Jan):

{The glue was still a bit wet on the top ribbon.. it doesn't show through now!}

 
{The bedspread was my absolute fave Christmas pressie from my Mum & Dad - I love it!! It was from Dunelm Mill.}

Next project: a bunting for the boys' room! I've bought the fabric and the twill tape to go on top of each flag (both from eBay) but I fear that's as far as I'll get until my sewing machine is fixed. Here's the fabric anyway (yes.. I appear to have a gingham obsession at the moment):

And finally.. Project 365:

Thursday 6th Jan: Charlie with his work in progress - a paint-your-own-crocodile set we've had for ages (thank you Sharon & Oli!) and have finally put to use.

Here's his finished work:

 
I LOVE IT! He took such care with the colouring (then got a bit bored of the blue).

But wait til you see this... Harry's interpretation of a lion:

It started off well.. orange as it was supposed to be.. then Harry decided it needed a touch of blue.. after all blue is his favourite colour.. and then just a dab more. Harry could never get bored of blue. Fabulous?!!! I LOVE IT just as much as Charlie's!

365 Project: 5 down, 360 to go

Blimey I am hopeless.. my notion of posting a photo a day has already fallen flat on its face. Oh well..

So here's Monday 3rd Jan:

Yep, it's a yucky photo but it had to be taken because it reveals that we're making a start on decorating the lounge! Well.. Gareth has painted the ceiling, to be precise. We start on the walls next weekend - Mellow Mocha all over with Blue Reflection on the chimney breast wall. I have plans for a few sewing/home decor projects this year.. might need to get my sewing machine fixed though.

It's also a reminder that today was the day we took down the Christmas decorations (as evidenced by the empty space to the right of the chimney breast). Hurrah!!! I was just about sick of them to be honest.

Tuesday 4th Jan:

 
It was Charlie and Harry's first day back in school/nursery - Charlie full time - and I needed to drag them to the Post Office afterwards. Charlie threatened to have a meltdown on the way, so I had to resort to bribery by chocolate to get him there without tears. I'm not proud of it.. but it was strictly necessary on this occasion.

Wed 5th Jan:

Yummmmmy East Of India ribbon!! Bought from eBay the other day.. the gingham one is for a little project I have in mind.. I'm going to edge our bedside lamps to make them a bit cosier.. a bit more shabby-chic-looking (shabby chic.. my current obsession.. expect far more on this topic in the near future). I'll keep you posted on how this project turns out. :o)

I've no idea what I'll do with the blue spotty one.. I just have a thing for polka dots at the moment.. and I love that blue, too.It'll go nicely with the blue that's heading for our lounge wall anyway.

All for now!

 

Sarah xxx

Happy New Year!

I hope Christmas was lovely for you and that 2011 has had a promising start. I'm just so glad to see the return of bright blue skies after such a GREY Christmas! Always feel so much more optimistic under blue skies.

Haven't quite managed to tie down and commit to paper all my thoughts, goals, aspirations etc for the New Year.. but one thing I decided today was to try and take part in the 365 Project. A photo a day.. how hard can that be to keep up? LOL... we'll see, shall we?!

OK.. so here's my favourite photo from yesterday, Saturday 1st January 2011:

The boys had found a crab shell amongst the seaweed on the beach. Harry was just pulling off one of its eye-stalks to show Charlie... *sigh* boys will be boys.. Love the concentration on their faces.. wish I'd got down lower to take the photo.

And this from today, Sunday 2nd January:

Harry at Gildredge Park this morning... he's still such a little munchkin... I adore his blue eyes (and envy his long eyelashes!).. I really must scrapbook this photo.

Oooh and here's a bit of news! If you happen to see Creativity magazine this month (you know, the Do-Crafts one), check out page 111... my scrapbook club is featured.. woohoo!

Right.. time for bed.. the dining table is barely visible under all my JYC scrapbooking mess but I think it'll keep til the morning. I hope I might even be able to share a few pages tomorrow!

Everyone loves a hand-made card!

First of all.. thank you SO much for your kind and heart-felt comments on my previous post.. I'm really grateful for your comforting words. I'm still trying to find an extra couple of hours in the day to do as much blog-hopping as I'd like.. so apologies if I haven't yet thanked you personally.. I'll get there.

On to a more cheery subject.. hand-made Christmas cards! Sometimes, when time is running short.. as it always is.. I wonder why (oh why) do I insist on making all my Christmas cards?!! But then, when I receive one that's been hand-made with love and care, I remember it is worth the extra effort! Knowing how much I appreciate a hand-made card, it's nice to think that others enjoy the ones I make for them, too.

This one's from Pat, my Stampin' Up! 'mummy' and friend from Bromley. Love the striking colour scheme.. want that Dec 25th stamp! (and I had to laugh at your message inside the card.. ;o))

This next one's from Linda, a kind-hearted lady and friend who attends my card-making and scrapbooking classes.. she also makes the most wonderful chocolate brownies! The stamp was from Time to Sow and the ribbon from Stampin' Up! Love how she stamped on the ribbon and used the green hand-made paper for the background.

This one is from Jacky - as if you couldn't tell! I mean WOW!!!! The layers, the detail, I LOVE the delicate colour scheme and the beautiful colouring of the stamp.. breathtaking! Thank you so much for this card, Jacky - it's so amazing to savour and touch all of its little details.

 

In fact, I was so inspired by Jacky's card, I 'borrowed' elements of its design in a card I made for both my Mums & Dads..

This one was for Mum & Dad Piggott. The deer stamp is 'Dasher' by Stampin' Up! and the colours are Pear Pizazz, Blushing Bride, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White. The one for my parents was the same but I alternated the pink and green colour scheme.. and forgot to take a photo of it.. but you get the idea.

I think I'll do a separate post to document my boys' Christmas creations.. let's just say it'll take til next Christmas to get the glitter out of the carpet..

Happy Christmas Eve Eve!!!

 

A sad day

We had some sad news this evening.. Poppy got hit by a car just outside our house and died pretty much instantly.

We had a knock on the door at about 6.30pm, I was bathing the boys. A man was at the door and asked, 'Do you have a cat?'

'Yes,' I replied, and as he was describing her I could see her on the grass verge behind him. I ran down the steps to see if it was our Poppy but I already knew it was her. The man was so sorry.. he had cats and a dog himself. Poppy had run out in front of him and the bumper of the car hit her. She was muddy but didn't look 'damaged'.. in fact I couldn't tell at first if she was dead or maybe still alive. But she was dead.. for which I'm thankful in a way.. I think it must been pretty quick. If she'd been injured and in pain I don't think I could have taken that.

I put her in a box, brought her in, then told the boys. They took it quite well.. Harry kept going back to the box to look at her and kept asking why she had died. Charlie matter-of-factly said we'd need to go to the pet shop for another one.. though later he decided he would prefer a dog. I don't think either of them understand what's happened to be honest. This is going to be a harsh lesson in life and death.. Poppy won't be 'alright' tomorrow. 

At first it didn't really hit me, either.. but putting the boys to bed tonight was hard. Poppy would always appear in the boys' room at bedtime, settle down on Charlie's bed and hope we wouldn't take her downstairs. There are so many things we are going to miss about her. She was a total nutcase, had a saggy belly and always pestered us for food.. I mean constantly.. but she was also patient and tolerant of the boys, good company on a lonely evening and a member of our family.

She'll be buried at the back of the garden in the 'jungle', where all the poppies grow in the summer. Seems appropriate.. she loved lying around there hunting slow-worms.

 

Let it snow...

Yes.. we have snow! Here in Eastbourne!!

It started yesterday morning, just as I was beginning to explain the workings of my Christmas Planner project to the ladies at Scrapbook Club. We carried on regardless, while I kept a wary eye on the state of the road and gave updates on how it was settling.

Here they are, hard at work..

[If you'd like to see what we made, do pop on over to my Seaside Stampers blog for all the details!]

Thankfully, they all finished the project and the snow stopped long enough to enable them to get home again afterwards.

In the afternoon it was play time..

 

We've had some more snow this morning so there'll be more fun and games in the white stuff later, no doubt.

Have fun!

Oooops... where did the last month go?

Yep, it's been a busy one. I thought I might be away from here for a week or so.. but a whole month?!! I'm afraid 'Learn Something New' fell by the wayside too.. and I SO intended to finish the book this time!

I'll try to explain - briefly - what I've been up to..

Thurs 23rd Sept - my second ever Stampin' Up! home workshop - I spent ALL DAY getting anxious, fretting about my Make & Take etc etc.. All pointless fretting! It was a great evening, the ladies who attended were all really lovely - they enjoyed the workshop, spent some money(!) and one of them booked on to my next card-making class.

Sat 25th Sept - Stampin' Up! Open House Event at Community Wise, Eastbourne - my lovely upline Pat came down from Bromley to help out. Another successful event - we did two Make & Takes, made plenty of great new contacts and had lots of interest in my card-making classes. Hard work but I was exhilerated that we did it!

 

Mon 27th Sept - Beach Belles card-making workshop - I wasn't expecting this to be easy.. and it wasn't! The Beach Belles are a club for retired ladies which meet up in a pub on Pevensey Bay every Monday afternoon. I was asked to prepare for 12 ladies but only seven of them could be persuaded to take part. The rest were disinterested to the point of rudeness..

Sat 2nd Oct - Hailsham crop - So glad I went to this! What fun to spend a day catching up with my lovely crop friends.. and getting a few LSNED pages done too.. and I even won the raffle (again!!).

Fri 8th Oct - Card-making class - we made two cards using the SU! Vintage Vogue stamp set. My Mum & Dad came to stay this weekend and we had a fabulously busy time - and some great sunny weather!

Sat 16th Oct - My first Saturday card-making class - and we made some special Christmas cards using the SU! Delightful Decorations stamp set.

Today and tomorrow - I've been helping the children at Harry's nursery school to make bookmarks this afternoon. What fun! I love seeing the kids just get down to sticking straight away - no agonising over what pieces to use or where to stick things - I could learn a lot from them.. But the best part was seeing their pleasure in showing their mums their feathery, sparkly, stickery creations - and the pride of their mums too!

(Top: Harry's; Bottom: Charlie's)

Oh and another thing on my To-Do List.. catch up with Google Reader, which is currently up to (excuse me while I go check..).. 678 unread items!!!! Oh help..

Thank you Sian - for your comment on my Seaside Stampers blog which prompted me to get back to blogging over here.. and expect a return visit some time soon!

 

Learning Something New.. but Struggling to Keep Up!

It was all going so well.. then, inevitably, a few days' worth of LSNED fell by the wayside. It's been a busy week.. But hey, no stress!

So here are the next three pages I have completed..

Sunday 12th September:

Last Sunday was a glorious early Autumn day.. warm in the sunshine, surprisingly nippy in the shade.. so we were out in the garden looking for seed pods, slow-worms and anything else of interest to small boys. Breaking open a huge dried-out poppy seed-head, we were intrigued to discover a woodlouse inside.. and then several tiny woodlouse babies! Charlie was so fascinated by this discovery he proceeded to demolish every seed head just to see what was living inside (more woodlice families in most of them).

Meanwhile, Harry looked on, apparently deep in thought..

Monday 13th September:

At the age of four, Charlie has a vivid imagination.. but I hadn't realise he could do maths! On Monday he had tied together my two washing baskets and was pretending they were the Dotto road train. He had six teddies inside and was taking them for a ride to the beach. At the 'beach', all the teddies wanted an ice-cream. So I was the ice-cream man and starting squirting pretend Mr Whippy into the cornets. When I'd handed Charlie three invisible ice-creams, I asked him 'OK Charlie, you have three ice-creams and six teddies.. so how many more do you need?' Without missing a beat, he replied 'Three'. 

Impressed, I told him the ice-creams were £1 each.. so how much did he owe me? 'Six pounds', he said. Does this mean he's going to be a mathematical genius..? Ok, probably not, but I was so proud of him!

Tuesday 14th September:

I'll spare you the full view of Harry in his underpants.. and the one of him 'in action'! Although initially very reluctant to ditch the nappies for proper pants, he actually did really well, getting through the day with no accidents! He had another excellent day on the 15th, prompting me to think 'Well, that was easy!'..

The toilet training 'honeymoon' lasted til Thursday afternoon, when he seemed to forget all about the pants/toilet thing.  But Friday was worse - he had a full-on 'accident' at the cafe in Gildredge Park - Not pleasant! Yes.. the toilet training is going to take time.. and more perseverence than I first thought.

Next week is going to be busy.  Charlie starts school on Monday, and I have parents' workshops to attend all week. I have a Stampin' Up! party booked for Thursday evening and an Open House event on Saturday.. followed by a presentation/Make & Take session for the Beach Belles ladies club in Pevensey on the Monday afternoon. EEEEEEK!!!! So much to do.. and I'm beginning to panic!

Wish me luck.. :o)

Sarah x