Happy New Year!

2009 is almost over. It's been a huge decade. This time 10 years ago I was only 13 years old. So much has happened since then.

I finished school, walking away with really good A levels in Art, Textiles & Maths (weird choice I know). Went to uni for half a term before realising it just wasn't for me.

I visited many places across Europe that I have fallen in love with. Lived in Edinburgh for over a year.

New family members were born, was reunited with other family. Lost other family members and we still miss them very much.

Started crafting which has been a huge influence on my life in the last 10 years.

I started my own business in the last year.

So many other things have happened. Too many to begin to even list here. But the biggest thing to have happened in the last decade... just over 5 years ago...

I fell in love!

I found the most amazing guy who has been there for me. We got engaged, bought our first home and are planning our future together. I gained a whole new second family.

At the age of 23, the noughties has been about growing up and finding where I'm supposed to be in life.

I can't wait to see what 2010 and the next decade brings.

For now I wish you all a Happy New Year. Enjoy bringing in 2010 and I will see you all next year!


Sydney fireworks 2009 courtesy of The Telegraph.

Where has December gone?

If someone could answer me that question I would really appreciate it. In fact where has 2009 gone? It seems that every year older I get the shorter the years. I'm only 23 for goodness sake! I'll be 30 before I know it!

Well back to the present...

Our second challenge at ECP: The Challenges is now online. I'm so happy that people like our new challenge blog. All the DT put in so much effort with their challenges and we have lots of great ones lined up for 2010.



My project for the second challenge was inspired by the Recycle, Recycle, Recycle project at Easy Craft Projects. I had wanted to give my young cousins something handmade for Christmas and these 'cookies to bake' jars seemed great. I used the Christmas tags from The Cutting Cafe. I've not actually got round to filling the jars with ingredients yet - like I said I just don't know where this month has gone.

There's also lots of great projects up from the new DT members at Easy Craft Projects. Some great last minute crafting ideas. We've also got some special projects to inspire you for the new year.

This weekend has been spent running round getting things ready for Christmas. Hampers are beginning to take shape, some presents are wrapped, all cards are posted and I've even managed to find some time for baking! Mince pies, minted chocolate and cinnamon biscuits. They needed a little more cinnamon but they are still yummy : )



If you're in the UK (or many other places in the world) you will have noticed all that white stuff outside. It's been snowing on and off all week here but today the sky was full of it. It's melting already but I managed to get some photos first.



I've also taken some photos of our Christmas decorations. I've made alot of them myself this year - little button wreaths and paper birdhouses for the tree, lots of lights and my handmade candles from Altered Chic. It makes a nice change to put the effort into making the house look all pretty. That is going to be one of my New Year's resolutions.











I've also had my hair cut this week - quite a bit shorter than it was. It's only shoulder length but I do like it so much better now.



Ok, so this post was a little long and photo heavy - maybe another New Year's resolution should be to post more often. But then I say that every year and it's not happened yet : )

Lisa x

Our first challenge!

The first challenge is now online at ECP: The Challenges! I'm so excited. We've been planning this for ages and now it's all go!

This is the LO I put together for the first challenge....


It is being sponsored by The Cutting Cafe. The challenge is great and you should certainly go over there and check out the rest of the DT's creations.

I've been crafting all week for ECP, Altered Chic and Christmas. I've always wanted to decorate our tree in handmade decorations and this year we're actually doing it! I've made little paper birdhouses (there's a project by Lauren for them over at ECP), cross-stitching little hearts, making mini button wreaths, and I'll be making a cinnamon stick and gingham string to wrap round the tree this evening. Hopefully the tree will be up and decorated this weekend so I'll be able to post some pictures.

Busy, busy, busy... off to Derby with Altered Chic next Friday and there's still so much to do!

Lisa x

I've been playing...

I'm always getting bored of things and I've decided my blog needs a bit of a makeover. It's quicker than redecorating the house afterall (and cheaper) hehe.

We did rearrange the living room the other way around - it looks so much better now. The dark wall isn't so overpowering. I will take some photos this week.

Back on subject...my blog. I wanted something to show my vintage and shabby chic style. I've found this background which I'm happy with for now. I also found the gorgeous Twitter title over there on the right. They are both from the Shabby Blogs. I do need a new header image now though. I can't decide what to put together yet.

I do have to tell you about the blog candy over on ECP: The Challenges. Do you want to win this.....?



If so, go over and get following the blog and add the blinkie to your own blogs.

I'm at Bakewell the next couple of days with Altered Chic. I'm hoping that some people will brave the weather to come see us all. I thank you in advance if you do!

Lisa x

ECP: The Challenges DT

The completed design team has been announced over at the Easy Craft Projects Challenge blog. Why not go take a look!

Also, pop by tomorrow for a special giveaway to launch our fab new challenge blog!

Lisa x

November...

I can't believe we're in November already! It doesn't seem two minutes since the summer.

Everything is as mad as usual here - craft fairs to get ready for, work to do, website to run... the usual.

We've just booked in for a Christmas shopping event in Derby - raising money for the Alzheimer's Society. It's not an event we've done before so I'm hoping it will be a success. You can take a look at my products at Altered Chic.



I actually managed to fit in some crafting today! Here's a little sneaky peek. You'll be able to see the full project soon on Easy Craft Projects.

Speaking of Easy Craft Projects, the deadline for the challenge blog DT call is on the 15th. Get your application in ASAP to be in with a chance.

Lisa x

ECP: The Challenges DT Call!

If you checked out my last post you will already know all about ECP: The Challenges. We're starting our own challenge blog - sketches, colour combos, projects challenges and so much more! We'll be holding challenges every fortnight and we're looking for people to join us.

Whether you're a card maker, a scrapbooker, jewellery maker, textile artist, altered artist or any other form of crafter, go take a look at all the details over on the blog.

Lisa x

Check this out!

Click on the button below for more info!



Lisa x

My Pencil Lines Debut!

I'm really excited right now... I was asked to put a LO together to help celebrate the 3rd birthday at Pencil Lines! I feel so honored to be joining such a talented group of ladies for the weekend!

I chose to put my LO together using sketch #49. After looking through lots of their sketches this one hit me. I loved the patchwork style of the background and I knew it would work well with the range of papers I wanted to use.

You can find the sketch for my LO over at Pencil Lines where you can also join in their free online crop and blog hop this weekend. There is alot of inspirational work going on and you can win some goodies by joining in so what are you waiting for?

Lisa x

Online crop and blog hopping...

It's all going on over at Pencil Lines this weekend. Anna is kick starting the celebrations at 8pm.

Here is a little sneak for the LO I did for their online crop. It's going to be lots of fun so go check it out.



In other news... Easy Craft Projects are still looking for new designers to join the DT. Interested? Go check that out too! There's also some great Halloween projects going live the next few days.

Lisa x

Pencil Lines...

It's the 3 year anniversary of Pencil Lines this weekend! They're holding an online crop so go over and check out all the details.



You may even see a little something of mine...

Lisa x

DT Call at Easy Craft Projects

We're looking for new designers at Easy Craft Projects.

Exciting news at Easy Craft Projects - we are looking for more talented crafters to join our team.

There is no need for previous DT experience, just a passion for what you create - we will choose people based on your crafting ability. Whether you are a papercrafter, love working with textiles or enjoying getting messy with paints, we would love to see your application.

We are also accepting international applicants - so it doesn’t matter where in the world you are located.

As a member of the DT, you will be asked to:

• Provide 1 project a month (due on the 1st day of each month).
• Promote Easy Craft Projects on your personal blog and in online communities you belong to (as allowed by their terms and conditions.

You will be signing up for 6 months, after that the Design Team will be re-evaluated.

In return, you will receive:

• A gift voucher to an online crafting shop every 3 months for your work.
• An online bio on the Design Team page of Easy Craft Projects.
• Links to your own blog on the design team page of ECP.
• A specially designed banner with your name and blog url at the top of each of your projects.
• From time to time our sponsors also send our design team craft products to put together projects.

We get almost 3000 hits a month here at Easy Craft Projects (increasing each month) and your name and blog/website link will be well publicised with your projects.

TO APPLY:

Send an email to info@easycraftprojects.net including:

• Your full name and location.
• A brief bio about yourself - what you do for a living, your family, your hobbies, how long you’ve been crafting etc.
• A list of crafts you feel confident to produce projects about.
• Photos of 3 different projects.
• A list of online communities you are part of.
• Any other design teams you are on (if applicable).
• Link to your own blog, website, online gallery.

The deadline for applications is midnight on Saturday 31st October. Everyone who applies will be notified by email and an announcement will be made on Easy Craft Projects soon after.

If you have any questions, please email us at info@easycraftprojects.net.

Why not give it a try?

Lisa x

A new do...

Well this week is looking much better. Ok, so the bathroom is still missing a few tiles but I'm not letting it get to me. I managed to find time to get my hair done this morning. And I even remembered to get my camera out to take a few pics when I got home. What do you think?





I'm determined to use my camera alot more often. I just usually have so much to remember that I always forget it.

There's a new project up over at Easy Craft Projects. Karen has been creating a necklace using seashells. I really must try this project - I have lots of shells we collected in Devon. I'd love a new bracelet made using some.

Also, don't forget we're looking for new writers over at Craft Journal. If you enjoy crafting then go take a look.

Lisa x

An amazingly bad week!

At this point if anything else goes wrong I am seriously considering selling up and going back to rented accomodation!

This week just started bad and got worse and worse.

Monday morning and I got a text to say we'd got a powercut. No - the waste pipe on the dishwasher had got loose and wet all the back of the machine - including all the electrics.

John checked the shower - the fuse switch had gone black. The electric had burnt out the switch, melting the plastic and insulation of the cable behind! We're so lucky that it we found it and that it hadn't started a fire!

We then had to spend the next few days with now shower - do you know how awkward it is to wash hair over the sink with a plastic cup when you have a bad back?! lol

We also had no dishwasher. The house was already upside down from my craft room being moved around.

Thanksfully, the dishwasher dried out and worked - only for the same b***** thing to happen again! Thankfully this morning it had dried out AGAIN and is working.

The shower is now back working - after 8 hours of work, needing to replace not only the electrics but the water pipe as well, and tiles now needing to be put back onto the wall.

My craft room is still upside down - that was supposed to be what we'd be sorting today.

So much other stuff has gone this week too that I've lost track. I'm hoping that tomorrow morning, the start of a new week, will bring us some better luck.

On another note - we're looking for new writers for Craft Journal if anyone is interested...go over and take a look.

Lisa x

A Little ATC

My first online class starts at Easy Craft Projects tonight. Join the forum and you will get free access to this and all the future classes!



Lisa x

I keep meaning to update you my blog...

I've been back from Devon since Wednesday and I kept putting off updating my blog until I had my pictures to show you. I still haven't had time to edit any, or even upload some to the PC so that part will have to wait. I though I really should post something.

Our holiday in Devon and Somerset was....well....in a word...WET! lol

It was wet when we got there and it just kept raining. The campsite was lovely with a river down next 2 one row of campers and the mill stream down the other next to another row of campers. The Mill had been converted into a home for the owners but it was still in working condition.

On Sunday they opened up their home so we could have a look. Inside the living room were the massive round millstones rotating in the middle of their lounge! As the campsite was in Exmoor, the amenities were limited as they cannot build anything new. It was so lovely and peaceful though.

That was whilst it wasn't flooding! The said river and stream (3 feets from our tent) rose 3 feet to the very edge of the bank. A few more inches and we would have been packing up to come home again! Thankfully the water dropped overnight and we could finish our holiday.

We got to see some lovely little towns - Porlock, Lynmouth, Watchet, Taunton and so much more. We visited a honey farm, cider farm and Cheddar Gorge. Went on the West Somerset Steam Railway and even got to visit a gorgeous little shop - Butterflies & Roses (see the link on the right).

We travelled quite a bit but there was so much we wanted to do. It's so far away from us normally that we wanted to pack everything in.

I will get my photos sorted and upload some soon.

I did find about a zillion little villages that I wanted to move to and open up my own little shabby chic store. (I'll keep dreaming hehe.)

Back to normality...

Easy Craft Projects has 2 brand new projects - Basic Jewellery Techniques & Notelets. Go check them out. Also, don't forget about our brand new forum and also that my first class goes live on Friday!

We've also lost a few of our writers at Craft Journal so keep your eyes peeled because we will be looking for some more soon!

I'm still busy with everything Altered Chic. I will be getting the blog up and running shortly. Candles added to our online shop. The new Christmas ranges revealed and so much more.

Lisa x

A whole new Easy Craft Projects!!!

After lots of bloody hard work the site finally went live last night!

I'm happy with the new look and hope that others are too.

The new forum is also online so go sign up. Once you do go post in the intro section because you can win this...



There's a whole load of goodies there - blank journal, PPs, paper flowers, loads of vintage items, buttons, tags and much more.

You can also download our exclusive storage project once you're a member too!

We're off camping on Monday morning so I'm not sure when I'll be blogging again. I do have some internet connection so I may keep you updated : )

And don't forget to be looking at the new items at Altered Chic. Postage will be delayed until after we return but they are worth the wait!

Lisa x

More catching up...

I really must start blogging more often. I have so much to share that it may take a while.

My first craft fair was a success. We've been busy working on more stock, new products, the website and so much more. As of today, many of our products are available to buy online - www.alteredchic.co.uk. Here are a few pics of some of the things for sale...

Handmade Soaps:


Fabric Bunting:


Wooden Letters:


We'll be back at Bakewell on the 18th/19th July. You can also see my other craft fair dates on the website.

Scrap in Style Live was a couple of weeks ago and as I obviously wasn't able to fly out to the US I took part in the online challenges.

The first challnge I took part in was the shopping challenge. I chose scalloped border, circles, 3 ribbons & the bingo card. Here is what I created...



Marit put on a decades challenge. I chose Eighties Lifestyle. This is the LO I came up with.



John has been a big fan of The Young Ones for ages and when Marit told us to style our LO on anarchy and punk then I knew exactly what to do. I had loads of fun steping out of my comfort zone to create this.

I didn't win any of the challenges but I had so much fun doing them and Marit even give me this award...


I'm going to pass this award onto some lovely ladies...

Steph
Deanne
& Sharon

I've also been working really hard on the new Easy Craft Projects design. The new desigh team has been chosen - Katie & Norma have joined me, Deanne & Karen. I'm looking forwards to working with these talented ladies. All our design team rocks and they are going to be creating some fab new projects so watch this space!

Still got plenty more work to do though so I should get on...

Lisa x

Buzzing around like a buzy Bee...

That's me at the moment. My first craft fair is tomorrow! I still have so much unfinished but I needed to take 5 minutes out and catch everyone up on what is going on around here.

I'm feeling much better now - still being careful with what I eat. Lost a few pounds though so every cloud of food poisoning has a silver lining lol.

Our server seems to be working ok now - finger's crossed. It was one of those heart dropping moments when everything went offline and I thought I was going to have several weeks of putting it all back together. Thankfully they were able to restore it all.

The Easy Craft Projects DT call is still going on - get your applications sent to me at info@easycraftprojects.net. You can find out more about the DT call here.

I'll also be working on the launch of the new ECP website after the weekend is over. My time management needs to get much better lol.

So if you're in the UK and are going to be anywhere near Bakewell tomorrow. Pop along to the craft fair through the gardens and come see me!

Lisa x

ECP & CRAFT JOURNAL

For any of you who are trying to access Craft Journal or Easy Craft Projects, I have to appologise as we are suffering huge technical diffiuclties at the moment. Our server company has has all it's servers crashed and we are still waiting on the result of ours. I will keep you posted on progress. We are doing everything we can to get Easy Craft Projects & Craft Journal back online asap.

Anyone who has submitted a DT application and has not received a confimation from me, please leave a comment here and I will get back to you as all our emails are down and we wont have received your application.

All this on top of food poisoning and rushing around getting things ready for my first craft fair this weekend - oh what a week!

Lisa x

Easy Craft Projects

Everyone loves a DT Call so here's one:

Exciting news at Easy Craft Projects, with all the new changes coming soon - a new design, our new online classes & a brand new forum - we are looking to extend our design team.

We are looking for talented crafters to join our team. There is no need for previous DT experience, just a passion for what you create - we will choose based on your crafting ability. Whether you are a papercrafter, love working with textiles or enjoying getting messy with paints, we would love to see your application.

We are also accepting international applicants - so it doesn’t matter where in the world you are located.

As a member of the DT, you will be asked to:

• Provide 1 project a month (due on the 1st day of each month).
• Contribute reguarly to the forum, posting at least 10 times a week.
• Promote Easy Craft Projects on your personal blog and in online communities you belong to (as allowed by their terms and conditions.

You will be signing up for 6 months, after that the Design Team will be re-evaluated.

In return, you will receive:

• A gift voucher to an online crafting shop for each month’s work.
• An online bio on the Design Team page of Easy Craft Projects.
• Links to your own blog on the design team page of ECP.
• A specially designed banner with your name and blog url at the top of each of your projects.
• From time to time our sponsors also send our design team craft products to put together projects.

We get well over 2000 hits a month here at Easy Craft Projects (increasing each month) and your name and blog/website link will be well publicised with your projects.

As being part of our Design Team, you may also get the oppurtunity to become one of our online class instructors. This will include even more benefits for you.

TO APPLY:

Send an email to info@easycraftprojects.net including:

• Your full name and location.
• A brief bio about yourself - what you do for a living, your family, your hobbies, how long you’ve been crafting etc.
• A list of crafts you feel confident to produce projects about.
• Photos of 3 different projects.
• A list of online communities you are part of.
• Any other design teams you are on (if applicable).
• Link to your own blog, website, online gallery.

The deadline for applications is midnight on Sunday 28th June. Those accepted into the design team will be notified by email and an announcement will be made on Easy Craft Projects soon after.

If you have any questions, please email us at info@easycraftprojects.net.

You can also check out a sneaky peek of the new look ECP here.

Lisa x

Photo Heavy...

I've finally got round to photographing the layouts I made for and at the Indigo Mill retreat at the end of April. I had so much fun putting those LOs together and trying a few new things.

We've been majorly busy the last couple of weeks. I've been busy putting things together for my craft fair in June, John has been helping me as well as doing all the web work he has to do.

I've also been working more on the new Easy Craft Projects design and features - we're getting closer to making everything live...

So on with all these pictures.

This file page was made for a birthday gift for one of the ladies at the retreat.


The Hideout

Laura & Alex

Love Conquers All

Messy Crafter - this was the layout I made at Steph's messy class.

I'll be posting more photos soon - some of my messy craft room.

Lisa x

A busy weekend

Just a little update on what I have been up to.

Yesterday I was at Indigo Mill's spring retreat. It was a great day set at Granary Courts. Steph put on some great classes and we had plenty of time to scrap, chat and relax. I actually put together 4 LOs yesterday! This makes my current total for 2009 up to 7 LOs now. I know I am so bad and should be scrapping more. I really did get into it yesterday though and have so many ideas after taking Steph's messy class. I'm going to dig out all my paints & inks and start playing a bit more.

I will photograph my LOs and post them on here soon(ish). You know what I'm like with posting updates so they'll be here eventually hehe.

Today was spent in the garden seeing as it was such a nice day. We've dug up the area that we are gravelling to just need to order big bag of peagravel and get it down. It makes the garden look so much better. I am in agony now after all that digging but hopefully a good night's rest will help. I'll never learn lol.

Oh, and my first craft fair is booked....

Saturday 13th & Sunday 14th June at Bakewell. I will be holding a stall for all my handmade gifts. I wont have my soaps that weekend though - they will be on my brand new online shop when I finish getting it built though. Don't worry I'll fill you all in lots on my craft fair appearences & my online store over the next few months lol.

And if you want something to inspire your crafting - there is a new project up from Karen on Easy Craft Projects and another from Deanne will be online shortly.

And also, as you know how infreqently I update my blog - you can follow my day to day going on over at Twitter - see my updates and a link to follow me over on the right >>>

Lisa x

Plans...

...are all falling into focus.

It has been my dream for so long now to have my own business doing what I love. What do I love - well making things of course!

This week, many decisions have been made, plans have been put into action and I can now tell you that I will be finally getting underway on this master plan of mine to take over the world with my handmade gifts! Well not so much take over the world but at least be semi successful.

I am doing this all properly too - lots of planning, costing and everything. I will be starting out at local craft fairs and opening an online shop.

Hopefully over the next few weeks I'll be able to start posting some sneak preview pictures of products.

Easter was spent looking for inspirations and supplies.

I am really excited about my new venture. Like I said, this is something I've wanted to do for a long time - it is my dream. This is what I want to do when I grow up hehe. So fingers crossed.

Lisa x

Busy Bee...

Yep that's me! I've been busy working on various web design projects - including the new Easy Craft Projects site. I'm loving the new design - it reminds me of a sweet shop. Hopefully we're going to be working on it quite a bit this weekend and getting closer to being able to make some of it live!

Ok, enough teasing now because I know you all want to see what I'm talking about hehe.

I have 6 days off now! Yay! I have so much planned. Though my main rule for the next 4 days is to make time for me - do the things I want to do and not worry about work, websites or anything else. I'll be around to do various bits & pieces but I'm just not going to get stressed if I don't want to do something or I don't finish something.

I have been crafting a little recently- - putting together a new storage system for my clear stamps. It's not finished yet but when it is I'll photograph it.

I've also got some top secret missons to complete this week for the Indigo Mill retreat at the end of the month. I can't wait - I know it's going to be a great day. Steph has put so much work into organising it all, she's a true star!

Right now, I am off to start this relaxing thing - open my Easter Egg (shhh...I know it's a bit early) and cuddle up on the sofa & watch some TV.

Lisa x

Need your help...

I've already mentioned about the inspiration posts I want to start at Craft Journal. Well I need your help to do them. I've not had much internet time this week and just haven't had the time to go blog hopping so please link me up your galleries or projects so that I can find some great inspirations to share fast.

I'm hoping to make this a weekly thing so the more projects the merrier, and it can be any type of crafting.

Thanks!

Lisa x

Guess where I'm going...

next month? I've been able to get a day pass at Indigo Mill's retreat!

I've wanted to go on a scrapbooking retreat for like, well since I began scrapbooking, but I haven't been able to afford them and they're normally way too far for me to go. When I found out about Steph's retreats last year I was so jealous as they are only an hours drive away from me but I couldn't afford the place. Now she has introduced a day passes to her retreats so I am one happy bunny!

I've also got the Indigo Mill crop to look forwards to on the 28th March.

I've been creating some artwork for my craft room wall. This is the first piece I did. I also put together a piece on 'Little Wing' - the Hendrix song, covered by Clapton. You can read my article on framing your artwork at Craft Journal.



I still have a stack more frames to put some artwork in and I want to alter my notice board and create a new inspiration place in my room. I also have a load of books and John's uni work to organise onto some new shelves and an existing bookcase. So I'm going to be pretty busy on my days off tomorrow and wednesday.

Speaking of inspirations - I am going to introduce a feature on Craft Journal where I will post my favourite craft projects once a week so if you would like to leave me some links to follow in your comments, maybe you will be one of the ones I choose.

Oh, and you can also follow what I am doing on twitter. You can find it in the right column >>>

Lisa x

Brighten up your day!

Just when I was about to write this week off as one of those awful ones, I saw this...

The lovely Gretchen has chosen my View LO for the Catwalk over at SIS! I've been a member for almost a year and had never been chosen. This is not suprising really with the number of LOs that are uploaded every week. But out of all of them, this week mine was chosen. It's really given me another boost in my creativity - I feel that I can actually create something now.

This couldn't have come at a better time. We've had to call the Dr out to my Dad again today. He's just no better. This has been going on for about a year now. He's hardly out of bed some weeks. The doctors just don't know what to do. They've been to our house more times than some family members have this last 12 months. They just keep passing him backwards and forwards between the GP and the hospital and neither of them have a clue. It just makes me so angry - it's like they've given up trying to find out what's wrong sometimes. Well I've given up on the NHS!

Well he's been given a higher dosage of tablets today so we'll see if these have any effect - I'm seriously doubting it though.

OK, rant over. You can probably see now why I really needed cheering up today lol. Thanks Gretchen and SISTV!

Lisa x

Do you...

...have those days when you just can't seem to wake up? Today is definetly one of those days.

I just don't seem to be able to get going. I keep making so many mistakes today. It started this morning when I forgot the parking ticket - which means I have to pay for parking today. It's only £3 but it's still pointless when I have a parking ticket in the car which John has at work.

I also have Rainbows this evening so I really do need to wake up. They are doing some crafts tonight so hopefully they'll be pretty quiet lol.

My crafting lul seems to be on the up though. I've had hardly any inspiration recently - I've only created two layouts since before Christmas. I don't know if it's just because I've been so tired or what but things seem to be on the up. I've been creating, I have plans for more creating and I'm looking forwards to getting home so I can get started again. Now I just have to find that book I bought so I can finally get round to altering it lol.

Lisa x

Making plans...

...for the last few weeks I've been thinking alot about what my future holds for me. For those of you who don't know, we are merging our haberdashery and craft shop into one premises which means I will no longer be manager. My job is safe - I will be doing alot of other things around the shop including running all the online stuff. It's just made me think about what I actually want to do with my life.

I took a look at the local college to see what they were offering. I love the idea of getting back into doing something creative but with money how it is, I can't afford to cut my hours down at work which rules pretty much all the arty type courses out. I have been looking into graphic design though and after a bit of research I have found many people who have self-taught graphic design. I've not had much chance to look at it in great detail yet but it is certainly something that I'm interested in. If anyone has any information that they think may be helpful then let me know.

As well as all this future thinking, I have been up to quite a bit in the present. Sunday was spent mostly in the garden again. We're taking advantage of the dry weather and set about de-weeding and planting new plants. Now this patch of garden was completely covered in weeds and after a couple of hours it now looks like this...



We're having some 6 foot trees delivered in a couple of weeks to create a 'screen' to try and make the patio area more private. Now we just have to hope for a nice summer so we can actually enjoy all our hard work.

Craft Journal has been relaunched with a brand new look to go with our brand new writing team. The ladies are doing an excellent job in bringing some inspiration to us all so go check it out.

I've finally did some scrapping! This is only my second page of the year. I know I am shocked too! I jut haven't had the chance or the inspiration but I finally used the gorgeous Indigo Mill After Eight papers and a montage of photos of our view when it was snowing to produce this...



I've also created this little pocket sized address book for Easy Craft Projects. I've used the Kaboodle Doodles Morris Dance paper kit. You can see how I made it here.


I think that's about all I've been doing. I have the day off today so I'm going to get my SIS swap done, finish off a few other little things, do some housework and then hopefully cuddle up with John tonight to watch a film. Good times.

Lisa x

See what happens...

...when you don't throw anything out. My Mum was sorting through her office and found a stack of what she thought were blank CDs. Turned out that when she checked she found an old CD of mine. It was full of all the photos I took whilst I was in Greece in 2005.

What happened in 2006 was that my laptop croaked and I lost all my old photos - everything from before we moved to Edinburgh. Which meant all my holiday photos, school leaving photos, prom photos - everything. I managed to get a few back with help from some friends & those which I had already scrapped but these I thought were lost completely.

I thought I'd share a few of them with you...






That last one was taken by the awesome barman at a cocktail bar. He was new, and was having as much trying to make all these cocktails as we were drinking them. Well almost, there was this one that John ordered that was just foul! I wouldn't have asked my worst enemy to drink that lol.

Back to the present - I have been playing with my new phone. My contract was up and I decided that as my old phone was scratched and tatty that I should get a new one as I was still paying the contract. I chose the new INQ1 social network phone. It has Facebook, Messenger and all sorts of things built into it. I'm just waiting for the 4th March now when my new free tarriff upgrade changes so that I wont be charged for using them.

Thought if anyone else has this phone and knows how to change the SMS settings so that it automatically writes with capital letters at the beginning of each sentence I would be greatful as it really bugs me to write in all lower case.

Rainbows last night - they must be settling in because they are getting louder lol. The first couple of weeks none of them would hardly speak a word unless asked to. Some are still finding it hard to gain the courage but some of the girls are loving it now - telling us about their week off and what they've been up to. They were decorating shoe boxes last night to use as mini time capsule type things - the idea being they put in some of the favourite things and then open the box again once they finish Rainbows and see what's changed.

Monday nights also mean 24! Yay Jack Bauer saving the day again! I don't think I can wait till next weeks episode... I'm not going to spoil it though in case anyone hasn't watched it yet.

Don't forget I'm introducing the new writers on Craft Journal this week so go check that out too.

Lisa x

All we need is love...

..tah dah dah tah dah. I love this time of year - Valentine's. I have to admit that I am one of those soppy women who love a good rom-com chick flick, and I do believe that although some things in them may well be extremely cheesy - I want them to happen to me too!

My absolute favourite chick flick is 'Love Actually' and one of my favourite scenes is at the beginning in the church when all the band jumps up and starts playing to the suprise of the bride and groom. That was a kind of long explanation of the title of the post but hey, I'm in a lovey dovey mood this week lol.

Having Valentine's Day at the weekend was great. Both John and Me were at home so we got to spend the whole day together. We cooked a delicious Indian meal and settled down to watch a film.

We've been doing that much more recently - making the time to be able to settle down and watch a film or something and it's been great. We spent way too many months taking on too much work and hardly being able to spend any quality time together. We have definetly got to keep this new 'us'.

Saturday was also the beginning of my 9 days off work. The last time I spent a week of work was last summer and I am so glad for some me time. I've been having real trouble with my back again so hopefully being able to rest this week will fix that too.



I have been able to catch up a little on some things that I needed to do. I was sent some awesome crafting books a couple of weeks ago to review and I have finally finished them. It's taken so long because I wanted to actually attempt a project from each book to see exactly how easy they are to follow. So today I made this shopping bag from Irresistible Bags. It's actually designed as a bag to fetch in your fresh vegetable from the garden - we're actually going to attempt to grow some this year so it'll come in handy.

I'm still working on the new design for Easy Craft Projects - it's going to take a lot of work but hopefully it's all going to be worth it.

The new writing team has been chosen at Craft Journal too and I'll be announcing it later this evening.

Lisa x

And so it continues...

...snowing at least.

Our road has been iced up since last Monday and it seems no closer to getting back to normal. As I write this, the snow has just turned to sleet. I think we've only had 2 days where snow hasn't fallen in the last 8 days!

This is the UK! It doesn't snow here. Or, when it does, it only lasts for about an hour, doesn't settle anyway and within a day you'd forgotten all about it.

What is with the world at the moment? We're having the worst snowfall in 18 years and record low temperatures. And over the other side of the world, they haven't had rain in weeks and are suffering terrible bush fires. Are we stuck in a version of 'The Day After Tomorrow'?

Well here are a few photos I took last Thursday - it snowed 4 inches (my sister actually got the ruler out) in two hours. These photos are from my parents front window.




Due to the extreme weather, things have just been so strange the last week. We just didn't know when we'd be at work, what we'd be doing or anything.

Though... we have our brand new dishwasher fitted thanks to John & my Dad. We may actually have clean dishes around our house now! That makes me sound like a right scruff doesn't it? lol. We're not that bad, it's just that we're always so busy. Even when we're at home we have so much other work to do, and by the time we've waited for the water to heat up there just isn't any time to actually wash many pots (or it's stupidly late and we should be in bed).

It's a good job that our gas bills will be cut back lots though seeing as we received our power bill the other day. We thought that it would go down slightly (or at least stay the same) as we'd be paying off 12months of electricity and gas over 6 months - but no - it's gone up another £10. Our bill is huge to say there is only two of us in this household.

Oh well, we all knew it was coming I suppsose - even if we didn't want to think about it.

Here's a photo John shot this afternoon whilst Millie was doing her usual 'I'm king of the world' routine. She does pick her times to go on top of my unit - when my craft room is in moving status & everthing is out all over the place.


What I have ahead of me this week...

Doctor's checkup tomorrow. They'll probably just tell me I'm overweight still and send me on my way so nothing new there. I have 3 more days in work before a whole 9 days off! Yay for me. We've got some cookery type party thing to go to that was delayed from last week because of the snow. Apart from that, there's nothing out of the ordinary...

Just my little busy life as usual.

Lisa x

It's not melting!

It's amazing how much agro some snow can cause in the UK. I'm in Derbyshire and in some places it made travelling nearly impossible on Monday & Tuesday. Today it's a little better with the main roads being clear but all footpaths and less major roads are just frozen over - including ours.

Driving home on Monday wasn't great. I was doing ok until I turned into our road and some little s***s decided to throw snowballs at the van, nearly sending me into other parked cars as the van was skidding on the road. Thankfully I was able to steer the van away and didn't hit anything.

It was almost dark when I got home on Monday so I wasn't able to getmy camera out until Tuesday morning when things were starting to melt. Though they havn't melted much and with more snow on the way tonight possibly - things are not looking up.

These are a few of the pictures I took...





Apart from the snow, not much has been going on. I've had a couple of days off work but I'm not getting much done due to my back playing up again. Hopefully I'll get some scrapbooking done tomorrow and catch up with all the things I should have been doing for the Love Yourself class.

Also, I wanted to tell you all about my search for writers for Craft Journal. If you're interested in writing about your crafting, having an excuse to spend time lookiong at new products and online inspirations... then look no further. You can find out more here.

Lisa x

New Shoes!

I've been looking for some new shoes for work for weeks now. And Thursday, I saw these...

...I'm loving the little white bows. The add just something a little different to a pair of boring black shoes so I love them.

I've also had my first class of the year this week. An Introduction to Scrapbooking. It went ok. Turnout was a bit slow but our customers just aren't big scrapbookers. I think I have got the few that came hooked though lol. My next one is in a couple of weeks - Shaped Cards.

I've also been creating some things a little bit different this week thanks to a couple of books that have come my way. You will be able to find out more about them soon when their reviews go up on Easy Craft Project. But for now, here is a little sneak.,.

I've also got another 3 days off (Tuesday to Thursday) next week so I'm hoping to be able to find some time for scrapping, getting a few pieces done for online and hopefully find time for myself.

I'm also completely hooked on this game after getting a DS for Christmas.

Just off for a curry now hehe.

Lisa x

Some creativity and music...

I've been doing some scrapping - inspired by AW's 'Love Yourself in 2009' class. All the pictures and words are dreams I have for the future.



I would love to live in a little quirky cottage with a little garden - somewhere with lots of history, character and the interior to show it.

Someday I'd like to be my own boss - own a little shabby chic furniture and gift shop - like Buttercup & Roses.

I want to get married. We've been engaged for over 2 years now and it doesn't seem like a wedding is getting any closer. I know that's not either of our faults. We just can't afford it, but someday I hope we can - get the day that we both want.

And at some point in the future - I'd love a family of our own.

Some of those dreams will take lots of years to accomplish but I really hope, I believe that we can make them come true.

I've also been putting together some music tracks to inspire me in my challenge to get healthy and be happy. These are songs that are upbeat and I just love, some are songs with words that really get to me - that I understand. I'm going to add them to my player on the right soon.

Christina Aguilera - The Voice Within
Jason Mraz - I'm Yours
Pink - So What
Noah and the Whale - 5 Years Time
The Ting Tings - Shut Up and Let Me Go
Guru Josh Project - Infinity 2008 (Klass Vocal Edit)
Ida Maria - I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Can't Stop
Christina Aguilera - Fighter
The Verve - Bitterweet Symphony

I've also been creating a couple of cards today for birthday's coming up shortly...



Lisa x