On a roll.......

Having finished today's first layout, I thought I'd try and see what I could do with the same papers. They came from a coordinated page kit that I had put together some time (along with about 20 others - must get to those).

For the sketch, I picked a page at random from Ali Edwards' book "Designer's Eye 2", which I recently 'rediscovered' when doing a major tidy-up of my study.

I think the title says it all really. Also, I find it so hard to believe that there are 16 years between the two photos I used today........

Possibly the most special photo ever......

Today's first layout features a very special photo of Mr A and myself. I'm not sure I've told the story if how we met on here before, but we met at Uni in the late 80's and were actually best friends for over 10 years before we actually got together as a couple.

Those were the days when digital cameras / mobile phones were still quite far off in the distance - which goes part of the way to explaining why this is the ONLY photo I have of the two us from that time.

So here we are - dressed up in all our finery for the 1991 Midsummer Ball. This photo triggers so many memories / emotions:

1. It was a great night, enhanced by the fact that we all knew it was the last time we'd all be together in this way

2. Mr. A had just found out he'd missed getting a First class degree by a ludicrously small amount....I would still have to wait another 3 weeks for my results (but at least the exams were over!)

3. I was wearing my first 'designer' outfit - a luscious, strapless dress by Valentino in black velvet with a wide, emerald green satin sash that was tied in a bow. The dress was bought specially for the occasion from an awesome shop in Brighton's Lanes, courtesy of my wonderful Daddy. And if any of you wonder about my dress sense, remember this was the tag-end of the 80s when a lot of fashion faux-pas were made.....

Anyone for Thickers?

If I had to choose my favourite 'bit' of scrapbooking stash, it would have to be letters. You name it: rub-ons, die-cuts, stickers - any kind of alphabet and it has to be mine! And my particular favourite has to be the Thickers ranges from American Crafts. Unfortunately, they are not exactly cheap.....

So, imagine my delight when I found a seller on eBay who was selling off her stash of Thickers - there were all kinds and even though some of them were part-used, at £4 for a set of 8-10 sheets, they were an amazing bargain. I had to fight off some fairly stiff competition, but nothing much was going to stop me!

This morning, I went to the Post Office, and picked up a HUGE box which contained this gorgeous lot of scrummyness:


Yep, 42 sheets of Thickers! Guess who's a happy girl today?

Even better, I've already made use of some of them:

The Weasleys go to Canada

And the 14th pair for 2011 are done - these are going to my colleague Jo, who is having a really rough time at the moment, and spending 3-4 nights a week in a hotel - hopefully these will help bring a little 'home' comfort to her.....

Pattern: Weasley Homestead by Erica Lueder
Yarn: Claudia Handpainted in Maple Leaf (do you get it now? LOL!)

Hallelujah!

No, I haven't come over all religious - but I HAVE finally finished the *insert expletive* Rhombus socks:

Don't get me wrong: I love the colour and the yarn was delightful to work with. But it was such a slog to keep going with these - lots of twisted stitches, cross-over cables and picking up new stitches - just doing 6 rows (or less) was enough to give me a headache. And to cap it all, I'm not actually convinced about the final product....... In fact, I'm thinking of giving them away - but that would require finding some who a) has the same size feet as me and b) would appreciate the amount of work that has gone into them.

So maybe I should just put them in the sock drawer and hope I like them once autumn comes around again?

Sketch of the week

Every Wednesday, Shimelle posts a sketch of the week - a good way of getting the creative juices going - even if the final result turns out quite differently

This was the sketch for this week:



Which Shimelle turned into this:



And here's my take - a full double layout :-)



A few details:



Even Mr. A likes it!

Washi, washi!!!

So, I'm rapidly getting back into the swing of things scrapping-wise. Having browsed lots of different crafty blogs recently, I've noticed that lots of people are getting excited about washi tape - best description I can think of is that it is a kind of Japanese masking tape which comes in lots of pretty colours/designs. Now, because it comes from Japan, it's not exactly cheap.....I also didn't really want to risk buying entire rolls of the stuff, in case I didn't like / couldn't make it work.

So imagine my happiness when I found this fab shop on Etsy - and imagine my even greater happiness and excitement when the postie squeezed this through the letter box today:




And what was inside, I hear you ask?
28 little wooden spools of washi tape - in all the colours of the rainbow :-) So, if you don't hear from me for a while, you know what I'll be doing.........

Knitting update

I finished my 12th pair for 2011 last night - which means I'm still ahead of my target :-) These were great fun to knit - the pattern is Rudy Got Sole by Amy Klimt, using Claudia's Handpainted sock yarn in the John B. colourway. Must get some more of this stuff - I love the rich, saturated colours and it knits up beautifully.


It will be interesting to see how June goes - I'm 'supposed' to start the June socks for the Knit.Sock.Love KAL (I'm substituting Sam for Stricken - can't face all those cables right now.....) and I also want to knit Yarnissima's Gush mystery sock for the Solid Socks group. However, I also have FIVE pairs of socks already on the needles, on which I really must make some progess.....

First up, there is Rhombus from Knit.Sock.Love - these are taking foreeeeevvverrr. I've finished the 1st sock, and the leg on the 2nd - really hope they will be worth all the work, because I'm totally not feeling the love right now...



Then there is the May Mystery sock from the Knitting Goddess group - I'm making these using a skein called Heather Trio (bought way back in 2009 would you believe?). Again, these are going slowly - I've only done the 1st clue on both socks......my brain doesn't seem able to cope with charts at the moment. There is no real deadline for these, so maybe I'll just let them 'rest' for a bit....


I then have a pair of SKA mystery socks that have been hibernating since March (these are the same pattern as the red/brown ones that Mum claimed as her forthcoming Christmas present)


I don't have photos of the fourth (Tresse Socks by Nicole Masson aka Stefanina, using Angels & Elephants sock yarn in the Mevagissey colourway) and fifth (Solid Socks March Mystery socks by Lisa Stichweh using a lovely delphinium blue from Patons) pairs - but that's because I haven't really made enough progress to justify getting the camera out......

UPDATE: I did indeed cast on the Gush socks :-) I couldn't decide between three shades of blue, so Mr A helped me pick this: Knitting Goddess Merino 4ply in Hyacinth:

Aren't they the most gorgeous colour???