MOJO GONE AWOL

I've had the day to myself - finished THE DREADED WEEKLY SHOP by 10.15, watched a DVD loaned by one of The Girls (Fireproof - a double Kleenex weepy - I'm such a light weight!) - purely as a distraction technique to avoid doing:

• dusting


• ironing (groan!)


• bathrooms (no joke in this house I can tell you, I have Toilet Duck delivered by tanker load)


• mowing (too windy anyway)

Then I've tried to settle to some serious scrapping to get through some of my works in progress - but I'm getting nowhere.

Here's a pic of my "Things that make me go Aaargh!" layout inspired by Ann Caldwell's Seeing Red (Scrapbook Inspirations, January 2009 pg. 73) which I started AGES ago. There will eventually be a sister layout "Things that make me go Oooh!" - I'm thinking stash, cupcakes, sparkly things...

And here is today's progress...

Can you spot the difference?

As I said MOJO gone AWOL. Oh POOBAH!

TODAY WE ARE MOSTLY DOING LAUNDRY

You know it's going to be a day of domestic drudgery when the first words you hear are "Mum - I've got no boxers!!" pause, slam "or socks!!!!!"

"OK, hang on a minute" rummage, rummage in the ironing basket, "In-coming - top of the stairs" (well nearly the top, I do, after all, have every right to throw like a girl!)

I knew we must be close to the no knickers threshold by the amount of boxers in the ironing basket on Sunday (Mother's Day - NO WAY am I ironing on Mother's Day - I'm sure it must be AGAINST THE LAW)

Why is she even contemplating ironing boxers? you wonder - OCD I reply!

Mind you, further investigation of my own knicker drawer reveals that I'm down to either the enormous period pants (you know the type girls, the ones you pray to god you don't get run over by a bus whilst you're wearing them) the Bridget Jones stylie "gripper knickers" or the red lacy thongs with the ill advised diamante heart on the back - how many times have I wished the lingerie fairy would visit in the night, wave her magic underwires and convert my gruesome assortment to Victoria's Secret or Janet Reger... aah me...

And of course it's raining - so that'll be 40+ pairs of pants and 80+ socks draped over the radiators turning the house into a sauna - t'rrific! AND today's the 25th so it's my take-a-photo-for-my-"one-day-a-month"-(working title)-mini-book day. Lovely - scrapping a photo of knickers - super - I can hardly wait! Mind you - if I carefully remove the aforementioned diamante heart it could make a sweet embellishment hmmmm... off to investigate the stash potential of my undies... actually that sounds a bit weird - but you know what I mean!

LIKE IT? - SHE LOVED IT!

I'm pleased to report that The BGF loved her book and has told me that I'll never get it back as she's going to keep it forever, she's even going to take it to Spain in the summer to show her Mum - so I think she's happy with it! One of the other Girls, who was there for birthday cake and coffee, said that if someone had gone to all that trouble for her she would've been sobbing by the time she'd finished looking at it. I'm with her on that - I come over all emotional if anyone makes me something beautiful - actually since I've had the kids I come over all emotional at the drop of a hat.

It has been A BIG DAY in the Moonshine household. Moonshine Minor got married today - "Hang on a minute" I hear you say, "I'm sure somewhere on this blog she said he was only nine, quick, call Child Protection!" Yes he is nine but yes he did get "married" today. As part of their school R.E. studies the Year 5 children staged a mock wedding ceremony at the local church and M- had his name pulled out of the hat of boys volunteering to be the Groom (strange coincidence as the same thing happened to his big bro three years ago!). He wasn't very impressed with his bride-to-be as she was picked from the other class "I hardly know her, I'm NOT marrying a stranger!" A good rule to live by there son!

All reports suggest that the wedding went well, the Groom's "mother"maintained her decorum throughout the ceremony - something I'm hoping to live up to when/if the time really comes. (I don't hold out much hope as I'm usually blubbering in to my Kleenex at weddings on the telly.)

We now have the weekly torture of swimming lessons to get through and I've already been told "I'm far to tired to go swimming - I did get married today you know!" AND it's pay week - half an hour (if I'm lucky) of standing in line to be told he hasn't moved up a group AGAIN (4 times now) - and anyway WHICH NUTTER invented butterfly - and WHO is EVER going to use that RIDICULOUS stroke to get themselves out of difficulty? Oh my God - I'm starting to rant - I think I'd better go and have A LIE DOWN...

FINISHED!

Sorry I've not Blogged for ages - it's been A BAD WEEK - not feeling too good, migraines & generally feeling below par - I can hear you thinking "Huh - hangover after the BIG NIGHT OUT more like" but I promise it isn't. (I only had a G & T - more T than G this time, a glass of Champers, and two small glasses of white wine) I didn't even wobble on my sparkly party heels let alone have that glazed expression Mr M has come to know and ridicule!

Any road up the good news is that I've finished THE BOOK - just as well as it's The BGF's birthday on Monday. Here are pics of the cover and the finished project bound and embellished. Needless to say I'm REALLY pleased with it.

So what do you reckon - think she'll like it? I think there are about 40 VERY ENJOYABLE hours work in this project so I'll have to tell her that when she gets fed up of it hanging around I'll have it back. I think I'd cry if it ended up in the recycle-a-tron.

So it's back to everyday scrapping now, I've got five layouts on the go, the problem is I've enjoyed working in small scale so much I'm a bit daunted by 12 x 12! I'm working on the March challenge layout for Butterfly Crafts (Favourite book), must pull my finger out and make some progress on it - so far all I have is a photo! (Mind you that's better than the other four layouts which are all well on towards completion but have no photos at all) I think I'm doing this all wrong...


Got to go as it's Catch Up Thursday with my friend D, our weekly tea and gossip forum. Bye for now...

Oh yes - just in case you wanted to know...

Supplies

Mini Book PaperMania
Cardstock Core'Dinations
Patterned Paper Trimcraft Smirk Collection
Lettering Funky foam die cut with Sizzix Sidekick and Sizzix Slobbery Kiss Dies
Paper flowers Prima (Crazy Daisy, Lily & Halley; Heavenly, Green)
Silk Flowers WH Smith
Felt Flowers American Crafts - Greenhouse
Plastic Flowers American Crafts - Greenhouse
Stamps Trimcraft Smirk Collection; October Afternoon - Home Sweet Home; tiny flower - PaperMania Spring clear stamps
Ink Whispers; Ink it up; PrettyColor
Embossing Powder Ranger
Pens Whispers; Sharpies
Chalks Dovecraft
Acrylic Paint Royal & Langnickel
Brads Dovecraft
Eyelets Dovecraft; PaperMania
Ribbon Trimcraft Smirk Collection; HobbyCraft; Wilkos; Anita's and from stash
Felt Ribbon PaperMania
Tassels, beads From stash
DesireWire DMC
PaperFrills Cut with CraftRobo
Chipboard Tags Trimcraft Smirk Collection; WH Smith
Chipboard Arrows American Crafts - Playhouse
Brads Dovecraft
Eyelets Dovecraft; PaperMania (set with Crop-a-Dile II Big Bite)
Bling PaperMania
Buttons Dress it up
Wooden Heart HobbyCraft
Metal Tag, cardstock bow PaperMania

BIG NIGHT OUT

I'm getting this in early as I have much to do today. It's Mr M's Annual Black Tie Dinner tonight so I'm off to the salon this morning to get a new 'do. Don't know what I'm going to have done so I'll spend a frustrating 1/4 hour looking through the pattern books, only to end up with a different take on my current bob. Of course I've been growing it for about 3 years now (why do fringes grow so fast and the rest not at all (Life's Great Mysteries #43)) so I could pull my usual stunt and go back to short short... but maybe not this time.

Tah Dah... I've finished all the pages for the book and just have the covers to do now, so here are the last pages:

This page is made up from a single sheet of patterned paper which already had two photo frame circles printed on - the larger one made the perfect journaling spot for the quote, whilst the smaller provided a frame for the layered up flower (American Crafts Greenhouse felt and plastic flowers, Prima Crazy Daisy and a flower brad) The bow is a PaperMania embellishment which I think was a freebie on the DoCrafts Creativity mag.

I love the doodling round the scallops on this layout. One of the great things about working in this mini format (rather than the 12 x 12 I usually work in) is that you can use tiny scraps of paper to good effect - the tiny cupcake would have been lost in a large format but adds to the whole in smaller scale.

This is the last page (literally) and I think it's my favourite.

I love the calm muted colours and again the use of the tiny blue heart scraps as tags. My only regret is that I forgot to heat emboss the stamp so it doesn't stand out as much as the previous ones - but I think I can convince myself that it works with the muted tones.

Moonshine Minor has just reminded me that I needed to be on my way by 9.00 so I'm off. (It's NOTHING to do with the fact that he wants to go on Club Penguin of course. Love you little man!)

PULLING THE HEADS OFF DAISIES

Whilst spending some quality me time with the latest Scrapbook Inspirations I came across a letter from Theresa Burton in which she told readers about her brilliant money saving idea for cheap fabric flowers. She buys bunches of artificial flowers from shops like Wilkos or Poundland and then pulls them apart and separates out the layers of petals.

Well I couldn't wait to give it a go. I spent a very happy, and weirdly therapeutic, hour pulling the heads off daisies, chrysanthemums, gerberas (my personal favourites) and even a delphinium to liberate the gorgeous petals from their tragic and tacky stems and thus release their inner crafting beauty. My stash of fabric lovelies has increased a gazillion fold and I'm looking forward to doing some altering, layering and generally floral fabulousness soon. (Watch this space... well not THIS space obviously, some other, future, space... )

In the mean time enjoy my flowery beauties...

We are lucky to have a shop here in town which amongst other things has a wide, WIDE range of artificial flowers. (The BGF and I cheerfully refer to it as "The Shed Loads of S*!~e" Shop") and their gerberas come apart a treat, lots of lovely, multi sized, frilly layers. Dunelm Mill is also a good place to look, and if you pick and choose carefully you can get lots of blooms per stem (delphiniums, sweet peas). The real beauty of this is that you can get big blooms at a fraction of the cost of say Bazzills Blooms. So thanks a bunch (groan) for the great tip Theresa!

Mr M - WHAT A STAR!

Just remembered this and thought I'd share it with you... Spent a stolen morning with Mr M on Monday - no kids, no cares -FAB! I asked him what he wanted for his birthday - he (of course) didn't have any brilliant suggestions so I jokingly said "Would you like some craft stuff?" and HE said "Yeah if you like"! How cool is that?

Question is - do I take him up on it (I've got my eye on a crop-a-dile or even a badge maker (mucho money - have you seen the price of those things!)) or do we reckon he will be deeply upset if he doesn't get the desperation CD/socks/maybe-a-nice-tie the poor old thing has had for the last forever? Oh boy - what DO you get for the man who doesn't think he wants anything?

Maybe some October Afternoon stamps...?

MORE FRIENDSHIP PAGES

So long since I've been on - but so much crafting done! Been working flat out on the Friendship Book and have a few more pages to show you...

I love the more muted colours in these two layouts and I'm especially pleased with the heat embossing on the stamp - it has really added some dimension to the image.


(Just thought you'd like to know that I am now sitting in cloud of blue as I have actually uploaded the above picture four times and am getting really fed up with the crappy formatting tools on this blog!!!!! Oh for an undo button! Aaaaaargh)

By cutting up the various papers in the stack I've been able to do lots of mixing and matching to find complementary papers that work with each of my colour themed pages. I had originally planned that all the pages would be v. girlie and v. pink, but soon realised that by carefully choosing different co-ordinating parts of the designs and using my favourite paper piecing technique, I could achieve a more varied and interesting look.

I'm really enjoying layering up the embellishments and mixing up the various brands to achieve a detailed look.





(The BGF will love this page as pink and orange are one of her favourite colour combos - doesn't do it for me - but I can have lots of fun teasing her about it!)

When I bind the pages together the two facing pages will use the same colour scheme. You can see here the two "yellow" pages and a "green" page which will go with the rock chick page previously posted. I'm working on the facing page for the good egg quote above and hope to have it finished tonight. (Mr M is working away for the next two days, and as long as I don't get roped in to a movie night with the boys, I should be able to get all the pages completed).



I have also been seriously sidetracked by something I'll tell you about next time... great fun and a real money saver too.

INSOMNIA

A sleepless night - possible cause too much G and not enough T - who knows. Since I'm awake I thought I'd post a picky of the next page for the BGF's book.

Great page for a wannabe rock chick!

Going back to bed now...

SMIRK-TASTIC

I'm currently working on a friendship minibook for the BGF - it's her birthday on 23rd March so I need to get my skates on.

Having been completely smitten by Trimcraft's new SMIRK range of papers, ribbons and embellishments I had to add them to my stash. (I walked away the first time thinking "I have boys - what can I possibly do with them", second time I weakened and treated myself to the 6x6 paper stack and some glitter tags, oh and some ribbon...) I still didn't know what I'd do with them but had vague ideas about cards - and then inspiration struck. The BGF is a sucker for girlie stuff and, despite not being a scrapper, had cooed over the range with me - so what better than to have the pleasure of making a friendship quote minibook rather than a card.

I surfed the web for ages looking for funny quotes - we don't do mushy much - and found a couple of handy websites: Indian Child and Friendship Quotes. I selected a dozen to work with and am in the process of designing the layouts.

I'm using a PaperMania chipboard scalloped circle minibook as the base and am having great fun raiding my stash for ribbon, embellishments and cardstock to co-ordinate with/complement the range.

Here are the first two pages...

The photos don't really do the finished pages justice as the colours are far more vibrant in real life (or maybe it's the angle of the laptop screen?), anyway I hope you like them.

Update on Mission: Grandpa George - Status: Failed. Pyjamas too small (no larger sizes in shop - and Grandpa George didn't have skulls on his jammies from what I can remember) so Moonshine Minor went as Rude Ralph from Horrid Henry instead. Just as well really as his class had a visit to the local library today and he would've looked a right lemon walking through town in his PJs and dressing gown!

CUT TO THE CHASE

So here it is (at last you say) the first photo. This is my second ever layout and as the title suggests is me aged three - see I told you I was cute once - I think I had another 2 years and then it all went pear shaped (probably literally).

This layout is scraplifted from Sandie Vincent's Garden Girl (Scrapbook Inspirations, Issue 42, July 2008. pg 49). The orientation has been changed to suit my photo, a scanned and re-sized copy of the original, which is kept safe in a vellum envelope tucked away behind the journaling - you can see the rik-rak pull tab poking out on the left. Obviously the colours have been chosen to complement those on my dress but apart from that and a few less embellishments (I'm still not comfortable with shouts) it is pretty much like the original.

I'm really chuffed with this layout. I thoroughly enjoyed putting it together, learning new skills and trying out new techniques. Scraplifting someone else's design is a great way to start if you're a novice and provides loads of inspiration as you become more experienced but haven't got the confidence or creativity to design your own layout.

Supplies

Cardstock PaperMania (River Deep Collection) and from stash
Patterned Paper PaperMania Colossal Pack
Lettering Funky foam die cut with Sizzix Sidekick and Cuttlekids Princess Dies
Flowers Prima (Crazy Daisy, Kayla) and hand punched
Punches Medium flower & petals - X-Cut; small flower - Partners
Metal Tag PaperMania
Stamps Flower - Partners; Bracket - Punctuation by Kelly Panacci for Sandylion; Journaling block - Memo by Kelly Panacci for Sandylion; @ - Studio G
Ink Ink it up
Pens Whispers
Brads, Rik Rak From stash
Bling Lakeland

I think paper piecing is probably my favourite technique for building up layers and adding interest and with so many yummy papers to choose from how can it not be good?

Anyway I can't stay here all day blogging - I'm on a mission to find some blue and white striped pyjamas for Moonshine Minor to wear for school tomorrow (World Book Day). He wants to go as Grandpa George from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory so hey-ho it's off to the shops I go. Life's hard but I mustn't weaken!

THE MOONSHINES et al

I thought it might help if I introduced the Moonshine Mob and other dis-interested parties who may feature at some point (obviously names have been changed to protect the innocent / cool / grumpy / embarrassed).

I am Maisie, 41, 5' 6" or 165cm (for the metrically enlightened), once cute but gone badly downhill. Married to...

Mr Moonshine 46, nearly 47 (cripes what am I going to get him for his birthday?). Very Important Person. Works too hard, plays too little, worries too much and loves us all deeply. Self confessed Grumpy Old Man and my Best Friend.

Moonshine Major (M+), male, 12, v. funny, v. cool, v. sporty, v. adventurous, loves: playing rugby, hates: homework.

Moonshine Minor (M-), male, 9, also v. funny (but more off the wall), v. cute & squishy, v. kind, v. good at maths, loves: Wii family ski & snowboard, hates: sprouts.

Other family members: Lucy Goosey - Last Action Guinea Pig.

I've been worrying about putting photos of my layouts on the web as I know that Mr Moonshine and the boys will not be happy about having their photos up for the world and his wife to see, but it will be a right borin' old blog if it's just me waffling on, so... I've decided that the easiest way is to obscure their names and faces in the pics. I just hope this doesn't make the pictures too freaky!

Significant others who may be mentioned:

• Mum - everything I wish I was
• Dad - technical advisor on anything from gardening to Photoshop
• Big Sis - aka Speedystitcher - held entirely responsible for all of this!
• The BGF (Best Girl Friend) permanently dieting, coffee swigging shopaholic, really quite, quite mad
• The Girls - collective noun for fun bunch of female friends readily available for coffee, curry vino and vintage nights in or out

So now you've met the Moonshines. Next time I promise I'll get down to the real business!

WHERE TO BEGIN...

Help! I can't believe I've been talked in to this. My life is far too boring to Blog, no one will be interested in me or my scrapbooking, my family WILL NOT want their names/photos on the web, I don't have a clue what I'm doing... and now that I've run out of excuses I don't really know where to begin...



So I shall start at the beginning...

Once upon a time (too) many years ago there was a girl who was given a box of paper offcuts to draw on by her Grandma. The girl looked at the paper, at the different sizes, and colours, and shapes and she found that the paper was GOOD. Although it took many years to draw on all the pieces of paper (really bad drawings) those pieces of paper were lovingly stacked and re-stacked, sorted and re-sorted over and over again. A life long love of all things papery was born.

Years passed. School and college followed. The love of paper moved on to patterned writing paper, printed notebooks, coloured A4, and still the girl found that paper was GOOD.

Then came THE JOB. In information. Surrounded by paper (no interweb yet!) and easy access to THE STATIONERY CUPBOARD - Mmmm! Whilst doing THE JOB the girl met and married Mr. Moonshine, and, as night follows day along came Moonshines Major and Minor. And THE JOB was no more.

The WILDERNESS YEARS followed, no time, no money, no inclination (too busy/happy raising the tiny Moonshines - bless 'em). 2002 brought THE RETURN TO WORK. Plenty of money, absolutely no time and no will to live - followed in 2004 by THE RESIGNATION and long slow return to sanity, peace and harmony.

Then in May 2008 the girl (Ha! who am I kidding, I'm past 40! - but I'll run with it for the sake of the narrative...) - the girl bought, on impulse, a copy of PaperCraft Inspirations with the intention of trying some card making; an article on scrapping your wedding plans and an ad for Scrapbook Inspirations and the girl was HOOKED.

And the rest will be the Moonshine Family History...