Kew Gardens

Last week my sister, hubby and I visited Kew Gardens for the day.  I've planned lots of days out his summer so that I make good use of my days off and don't just end up spending my free time doing the laundry and hoovering!

We got the train Kew Gardens and didn't realise until it was too late that the weather had taken a turn for the worst and we had no rain coats! Whoops!

There's 3 large greenhouses, all with different climates.  They included, the tropics, the desert and temperate environments.

There were lots of sunny intervals during the day so we managed to enjoy most of the outside features too.

The Roman Arches

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The Japanese pagoda

A replica of a real Japanese Gate

The Rose Gardens

I created a mini album using loo rolls and inserted tags inside each one.  It only took a couple of hours and I really enjoyed making it.

I used my new 'Love Elsie' stamps from the 'Forrest' range which were perfect for this book :)

Th album is a mixture of journalling, photos, maps of the gardens, tickets and embellishments.  A helpful hint if you're thinking of doing an album like this: 3" x 2" photos are the perfect size (although photos on the tag inserts may need a bit of trimming). Hope you like it!

New stash and mini album...

I got some more stash to add to my collection...most of it is Love Elsie (so predicatable!). There's also a Maya Road chipboard mini book which I may use to do a Royal Wedding album.

Another idea for a mini book (which my best scrappy friend told me about- thanks Kara) is using a toilet roll tube, squashing it flat and inserting tags inside for journalling, so cool.

Here's the video:

I made another mini book recently of our birthday trip to St. David's bay in Wales.  Our birthdays are only two days apart so we usually go away for a little trip together to celebrate :)

This is a picture of my hubby changing the wheel on our car and the story goes like this:

we're driving along the M4 at 70mph

Abby:   " Baby the car feels like it's shaking alot."

Hubby: " Oh, don't worry it's just cos it's old and we're going fast."

Abby:   "But it feels like its wobbling, much more than on the journey out here!"

Hubby: "Are you sure?"

Abby:   "Yeah I really think we should pull over and check what's wrong!"

So we pull over and I drive the car around the forecourt of the petrol station a couple of times....

Hubby: "Yeah actually that back wheel looks very wobbly!"

Abby:   "Let's look at it....."

Turns out the tyre rubber had split and the metal wire(s) was sticking out! The tyre was now twisting on the rim (hence the wobbling!). So, out comes the car jack, spare tyre and Hayes manual....15 mins later we're wobble-free down the M4!

Last but not least, as promised, here are some photos of our chickens in their little palace:

 

 What is that strange creature in the run??

home improvements...

I'm currently working on a mini book all about growing a little vegetable patch and getting two new chickens for our back garden. The vegetable patch was going to be in one section of our front garden so we cleared out all the rubble and weeds in preparation.  My hubby then came up with the idea that a bike shed would be a much better use of the space!

So I needed to think of a new plan for my veggies.  After some re-arranging of plants in the back garden and getting a couple of patio tubs, I now have the same amount of space :)  We also wanted to make use of the dead space at the bottom of our back garden so decided to build a chicken hutch/run.  My dad worked really hard at building a super duper hutch complete with ladder, perches, two egg laying boxes and an easy open side for cleaning them out.  My dad and hubby then built a fully enclosed run around the hutch.

Photos to follow with the completed run and our two new chickens...'Will and Kate' enjoying their new home.

Also completed a layout of our trip to the Ideal Home Show at Earls Court in London.  We went with a couple of mates and had a great day out.  There was SO much to see that we barely got round it all but loved looking at all the goodies and clever little gadgets and sampling some yummy food :)

That's about it, will leave you with a pic of a wooden love word that i customised with my favourite October Afternoon paper. Its sitting proudly on one of my scrapbook shelves :)

Love my 'Love Elsie' stash!

I have a mild obsession with all things from the 'Love, Elsie' brand and have been building my stash for a long time now.  I love the funky colours, free hand style, doodling and range of themes :)

The collection has everything from chipboard frames, to gel stickers, to rubber charms to albums and idea books....a never ending supply of creative fun!

Whilst browsing the internet recently, I came upon an online shop that was having a Love Elsie sale (50% off!) so bought loads of stuff!! The recipe box (in the top left corner) was my most recent e-bay purchase.  I won it from a lady in Florida for only $5, total bargain and it has tons of ideas in it.  There's over 100 'recipe' cards which each have a layout idea and how to make it :)

Anyway, the brand came out in 2007 and alot of online shops are now permanently out-of-stock so i'll be using my stash sparingly.

I was recently browsing my local pound-land and they've got some great craft supplies in there....

Packets of self adhesive bling, I got 3 packs, this stuff is quite expensive in scrapbook shops.  Also got glue dots which are identical to the expensive ones in craft shops and also got 3 packs of foam adhesive which comes in a roll and pre-cut mini rectangles, so handy :)

So that's all my recent stash purchases, will update with some recent layouts in the next post x x

my new scrapbook space

I only have a small area of our bedroom for my scrapbooking space so I had to use it wisely. I got the desk off e-bay for a bargain £21, it's so great as a scrapbook desk because it's got lots of storage :) Also the table isn't very deep so it doesn't impose much into our room.

I bought the CD racks (the towers at either end of the desk) from Argos and my dad helped me assemble them :)  The shelving unit in the middle was from a furniture charity shop for the bargain price of £6! I painted it the same colour as our bedroom wall so it was all nice and uniform.  My hubby then screwed some battoning onto the back of the unit and screwed it into the wall through the backboard.  I had to hold it up there whilst he screwed it in place and my arms were burning and shaking from the weight of it!

It was really fun orgainsing all my stuff onto it.  It looks so pretty and inspiring with all my stash on display! I made a little banner using a Maya Road chipboard coaster album.  I then lined up all my Cosmo Cricket 12x12 chipboard element pages at the back of the desk.  My most prized possesion at the moment is my Love Elsie recipe box then I won off e-bay from a lady in Florida :)

My little lamp was a cast off from my sister and it co-ordinates perfectly but this area of the room is flooded with light all afternoon which is lovely.  Anyway just wanted to show how much could be done with a small amount of space.  I've been looking at you-tube videos of women in America that have entire rooms devoted to their hobby and have floor to ceiling storage for their thousands of stamps and posh gizzmos and gadgets and machines. Don't know where they find the time to use it all! Not that i'm jealous in any way!

wedding scrapbook...loved making this :)

 This is the front cover. I used a polaroid camera image from Nancy and Betty (so fabulous!) and some delicious fabric paper from the Love Elsie range, can't get enough of her stuff! The title is made up of my new Thickers from Hobbycraft, thought they looked quite Cinderella-ry :)

 My beautiful bridesmaids! I don't think i'm going to ever get bored of the shade of green that their dresses were. The embellishments down the side are a mixture of Jillibean Soup, October Afternoon. Love Elsie and Making Memories.

 This was David's face as he watched me walk down the aisle.  Thankyou Kara for getting some pics of him in this unforgettable moment :)

The Order of Services, a labour of love but these jobs always seem easier when done infront of a good TV programme :)

  Our families...quite a size difference!

It was pretty fun having photos taken after the service, the weather just about held!

Our reception location. It was a complete miracle that we found this place but it was perfect for us :)

 Who doesn't love apple printed paper?!

                                                         
The funkiest cake ever!

                                                   
Some mates from curch :) Was fun making this paper bunting, much less hassle than the real stuff!

This is the back cover.  There is a tiny button on the car and when it is pressed, the whole embellishment lights up and flashes, so tacky but very appealing!

 Hope you liked.  I've done a ton of scrapbooking during my mahussivly extended summer holiday! I fear that when I go back to work it's going to be a bit neglected :(