SBM

I was delighted to be asked by the Scrapbook Magazine to do an article on journaling a few months ago. And the issue with the article is finally in the shops ... I just picked up my copy in Easons today. I'm really excited as it's my first proper article :) I'm also inside the front cover in the 'Meet the Team' section. Here are a couple of los from the mag ...

look what I got ...

... the week before last I got all my projects back from the scrapbook apprentice competition. It was a nice full box and all the los should practically fill an album! Just in case you didn't know, the winner of the competition was Melanie, so well done to Melanie who did lots of lovely work. I actually found out that I hadn't won back in August but we weren't allowed to say anything until it was officially announced. I was a little bit disappointed at the time (of course it would have been nice to win :) but things have a funny way of working out for the best sometimes as it was just a few days later that I found out I was expecting a baby!


I still can't seem to get my head around doing much scrapping but I did make a start on my Christmas cards. I used BG Eskimo Kisses which is very cute but I don't think I like it as much as Figgy Pudding from a year or two ago!

chopping and changing ...

Not a whole lot of crafting going on here! I still haven't really got back in the flow. I started this lo the other day ... moved things around ... cut things up, but it just wasn't working. So I left it for a while and then came back with a fresh perspective ... made a few more changes, moved some more things around until finally I had a page I was happy with! I live such a complicated life :) The photo is of Dec with Oisin on his first day of first class and it's one of my favourites. Not that I'm biased or anything ... but I have such handsome boys :)

progress ...

at last!! I finally got around to a few crafty projects this week! I did two exploding box albums which I'll probably give as Christmas presents, though only one is completely finished. The green one was done using BG Lemonade and the red using BG June Bug. The photos below don't really do them justice as they look a lot nicer IRL. Oisin thought they were really cool so we made another one for him which he decorated and gave as a present to Daddy :) We had great fun making it and Oisin told me I was a fantastical artist :) He really makes me laugh sometimes!
And I even got a lo done. This one was done with a Studio Calico kit I treated myself to this month. I had to stop my sub quite a while back as I just wasn't getting to use the kits while I was busy with other projects. I really really love those corrugated letters by Jillibean soup.

scrap at singing

I'm so glad X Factor is back! I'm a self confessed addict but isn't everyone?? And oh how I wish I could sing. And I guess I really mean ... sing well :) I love to sing and am always singing along to the radio in the car, with my ipod in the house and while I scrap. But alas it's probably not a very pleasant experience for anyone within earshot! I'm also really enjoying the Apprentice and I'm so glad they decided to do an Irish version.
I just wanted to say thank you too for all the good wishes on my last post. I'm hoping the nausea and tiredness will pass soon so my scrapping mojo will reappear. I'm also looking forward to starting my Christmas craftiness soon and ordered my BG Eskimo Kisses today. (oooohhhhh it's lovely:) So as I still haven't got to do any new los I thought I'd leave you with a couple of pages that I haven't posted here before, that were in some of the recent(ish) DoCrafts magazines.

Excuses, excuses

You may have noticed that there has been a distinct lack of new los (as well as very few blog posts!) from me over the last while (other than a couple of projects I can't share yet), but I have a really, really good excuse ...
see ...!!

coughs and weddings ...

So the first week of September didn't go exactly according to plan! My poor little Ois had a bit of a cough and a cold and missed most of his first week of school. He didn't seem too upset about it but he was getting a bit bored. He was in an arty mood though and wanted to do lots of scrapbooking so I did get a couple of los done for a little something I'm working on.
I was at a wedding on Saturday and it was just a beautiful day. The service was lovely, the bride (my cousin) was beautiful and the weather was glorious. After the church we headed to the Glenview Hotel in Wicklow. At the hotel there was a wonderful little outdoor reception with the most magnificent cupcakes, and a very talented guy playing his guitar and singing. All this with the most amazing view of the Wicklow mountains bathed in sunlight for a backdrop. Later we all enjoyed a gorgeous dinner and it was great to see so many (of our very large) family all together!
Here's a little lo that I did for the stitching challenge for sa.... love that big smile :)

And so ...

... the end is near! The end of the summer holidays that is ... and I can hardly believe it. I still feel like I'm waiting for the summer to begin, for those clouds to disappear and for the sun to become a constant fixture in the sky. But alas, the weather has been pretty rubbish ... but we still managed to get out and about and I think Oisin had a pretty good break. We even made it to the zoo yesterday :)
With Oisin heading back to school next week I'm hoping to get a bit more scrapping (and blogging) done. I got a grand total of two los done over the summer ... this being the second ...


This was Oisin having fun on the kids go karts in Trabolgon in July. I used the lovely bright Lime Rickey papers from BG.
The new issue of the DoCrafts Creativity mag is also out now and we were pretty lucky to have a few pieces in there. I have a page of Christmassy stuff in the Quick Makes section, a lo in the 'Christmas Past' article (I do not love that lo ... though I do like the photo!) and the other lo from the space challenge (and a card) in the scrapbook apprentice section. (The other one was the birdhouse lo on the CLBlog). Here's a glimpse at some of those ...

the wonderful world of ...

IKEA!! That's where I went yesterday and it was fab :) It was my first trip to the Dublin store and I couldn't believe how busy it was! Think I'll wait for a quieter time to visit again though!
I still haven't got around to doing any new los but I am getting lots of reading done! I finished New Moon when we were on holidays in Cork and I have to say that I really liked it ... more than Twilight. I'm not sure why though ... it's totally not my usual kind of book. I'm not a big fan of love stories (or vampires and were-wolves for that matter!) but I got completely engrossed and am now about half way through Eclipse. I also read Michael J. Fox's new book, Always looking Up (while I was waiting for my sister to finish Eclipse :) He has Parkinsons disease but the man is so unbelievably positive, proactive and upbeat it's inspiring.
Thought I'd share a lo that didn't end up getting posted for sa (first lo). This one was for the ribbon challenge. I liked it so much that I ended up buying some more of the Doodlebug paper (and I don't know if I've ever bought any DB before!) and did a similar version (second lo) as a present for my sisters birthday (as that's my niece in the photo). I mounted it on a canvas so she could hang it on the wall.




I also just wanted to say a big thanks to everyone who voted for me in the scrapbook apprentice competition. I'm delighted to have made it to the final :) There will be no more public votes but you can see all the finalists in the September issue of Creativity. Unfortunately my los and cards didn't turn out so great for the mag ... think I'm just way too slow to do work I'd be happy with in a day and a half :( Oh well ... at least I was pretty happy with all my other work in the other rounds. Have a great weekend!!

been busy...

but not with anything crafty!! We spent most of last week in the fabulous Castlemartyr hotel in Cork for a very relaxing and enjoyable holiday. The weather was mostly good ... pretty sunny between the torrential downpours! We got to visit Some of Decs family, spent a day at Trabolgan (where we had a hard time getting Ois away from the kiddies go-karts), went to Ballymaloe for a scone and a hot chocolate (yum), swam in the pool, and got to visit Cork Art Supplies (well that one was just for me :) ... and even got to do a little relaxing.
The lo below is the sum of my craftiness for the last few weeks. I thought of doing it when I heard the Baz Luhrman song, Sunscreen, for the first time in ages on the radio ... and the words really rang true. Obviously, it's an old photo of me!