Misting - gettin' messy feels awesome

Oh mess...

Splattered pink hands

White finger tips

**>Irridescent<** oak table

I've missed you.

I miss the satisfaction of a memory preserved.
I miss the buzz of trying a new technique - and lovin' it!
I miss pouring out the saved contents of my mind, snippets of inspiration.

I miss scrapbooking instead of procrastinating and hiding behind half-loved attempts at cardmaking.

2011 Amazing - best year of my life
2012 Time to repeat 2011, but damn well record it!

>> Confession Over <<

Oh yeah.. made this:

For this:
http://www.ukscrappers.co.uk/boards/forumdisplay.php?f=456

Photographs distorted..
Papers warped (too wet!)
Photographs not added yet..

still..
Hope you like >.<

Stash: Incoming! Plus a badly shot baby card

It's been so long since i've been here at this familiar place.  The place where I have lovingly uploaded so much of my life and my creations.

A place where I connect with those who 'get me' and share in what I do.

I've taken time out to refresh my batteries.  It was so long since i'd last crafted, I mean REALLY crafted and dug in to something amazing for me.  Something that excited me and made me want to upload right that instant.

But then I did create something.. oh and boy, it was one of the best creations I ever set eyes on:

 

Gabe, aged 9 months, nannas house.

*Oh, hai!*

So i've been focusing all of my love and  attention on family, on kids, on enjoying moments i'll never get back again - and 2011 was amazing! I feel complete, I feel positive and I feel happy.  Trully happy.

I'm getting more free time now, so I knocked up a quick card for the 52 card challenge over on UKS, run by the very talented Nat of Kool Kitty Musings.

My sister is expecting so I thought it'd be nice to knock up a little something although I really dislike the end result:

Well, it's a start isn't it? I've completed a challenge, used up old stash.  It feels great!  Shame about the crappo picture thanks to winter nights!

Lastly.. on the mention of stash...

Thank you Sarahs Cards and Jackies Fabrics for your awesome bargains!

Well.. you can't use it up without replenishing 10 fold!? Stash diet?? Pfft! They're for the weak!

The day I could finally breathe again..

Ok. So you probably think I mean that quite literally.. babies really do squash your lungs (kidneys, bladder etc etc!) but putting on my serious face now.. it is such a relief to say our baby is here.. we made it.. and everything is perfect.  Oh so perfect. 

We didn't know the sex, we only had a girls name chosen.  After I failed two pregnancies (yes, failed because even now it's the only way to describe that hole inside of me) in three long years of heartache.. we couldn't care what our baby was.. just that we made it.

Our beautiful son Gabriel Lee Marshall was born at 11.47am on March 17th (8 days late) weighing a tiny 6lb 9oz. The smallest of our children but by far the most painful, quickest labour lasting exactly 5 hours.

 And I think he likes it here.. here's our boy at 5 days old..

It's good to have him home, we're smitten..Marshall family complete :)

And now you know where i've been!!

Update on life.. and a card!

It's monday 14th March.. and i'm still stuck here! 5 days overdue.. and to be honest, I'm absolutely relieved. 

This past week has been hell for me.. Lee broke his ankle and selfishly left me a single parent ;) I never knew how serious breaking an ankle was.. and now my husband is finally home after a week with a lovely metal plate, screws and some pins.. plastered up to his knees! We have to inject him every day for the next 6 weeks with anti-coagulants (see that medical term there.. 10 seasons of CSI paid off) but it's good to have him back.

I should have took and posted a picture of my ginormous belly (because you so want to see that!!) but my washing machine has died, so i'm resorting to wearing an old hoody today and it's very attractive.

Anyway.. on with the card.. because we all just scroll past this boring stuff to get to the pics anyway, right?

This card features some of the gorgeous Birdsong Filigree paper from Papermania, ancient ribbon that i'll always love from Chatterbox and more luscious American Crafts Letterbox papers... you can get so many looks from that one range.. I love it!

I hope you're having a more peaceful week than me ;)

Card Using 5 Year Old Fibres!

So we're going all out on this card..

Handmade Mulberry paper in a bright and garish colour - CHECK!
Fibres that have been hanging about for half a decade - CHECK!

(hang on.. I'm sick of typing check now..)

Well.. here it is, I used some old stash (very old) and some new releases from DoCrafts that are great quality but not my cup of tea..

Front:

Inside:

I like the way the gorgeous new 'Birdsong' filagree paper, Die Cut Butterlies and fibres sort of work together to create a soft and natural looking card.  There's lashings of American Crafts paper hidden under there too!

I think I often neglect the insides of cards.. and why, when I have so many offcuts and papers that are not my first choice but would look so pretty inside the card?

Maybe you could look through your old, unloved stash and give a few items a new life.. your eyelets are looking at you with puppy dog eyes as I type..



My Predictions For 2011

Around 2 years ago, when I actually scrapped (little dig at myself there), I began to find my comfort and style within modern vintage and lashings of Prima for good measure.  I remember cockily predicting, 'vintage is going to be the next big thing.. everyone will be doing it' and as 6 months rolled past - I noticed the trend slowly creeping into shops and across pages as distressing was no longer left to the altered dare devils.  Then it exploded - Prima must have been the only company (well.. and Apple) to do such a good trade in the economic crisis!

I just get a sort of 'feeling' for these sorts of things..

So without further adieu, here is my feeling for the future..

Old Skool scrapping is back!  People are going to revert and enjoy going back to the days when you couldn't buy the huge selection we have now.. and do it themselves! DIY is THE word. 

- Magpie finds (salvaging buttons from old clothing, labels etc)
- Using 'Old Skool' Stash - Zips and fibres will definitely be making a return!
- Rebelling against the expensive ready made embellishments.. creating our own unique flowers for example!
- Old Skool techniques.. ones we cringed at - cutting people out from photographs - the works!

As for styles?

I predict that
- We will see a rise in art techniques, more melting pots, glimmer mists and painted textures
- People are going to revert back to using photographs 'just as they are' instead of photoshopped, lifeless images that are contrasted to within an inch of reality.
- No longer will we stare at pages full of embellishment but no journalling - journalling is coming back BIG!
- The other side of scrapbooking are going big on bright, contrasted clean colours.  Black and white shots, layouts as beautiful as a rainbow.

We're still all about the shabby chic too! We're talking amazing combinations:

- Peach, silver, lilac and cream - the vintage, soft and beautiful pages full of intricate detailings, handcutting and added extras.
- Red, teal, buttermilk and black - Shabby and retro, loads of inspiration from old advertisements and books

So, these are just my silly predictions!

Let's see how the next year rolls out.. either way, i'm really excited to delve into a brand new world of scrapbooking and find who I am again.  I miss that creative outlet.

Making flowers - making babies!

Well, it's been a long time since I ventured back to my beloved blog. Loads of people have asked about me, which is totally sweet - so thank you!

I've missed crafting, i've missed my creative outlet.. but boy have I been tired.  When you create every day for 5 years and 2 kids..you hit a wall at some point.. and I didn't just hit mine, I crashed full speed. 

Scrapbookings getting a lonely place now.. it's 'untrendy'  but i'm still here and I never let go.  I never will!

I'm easing back in gently.. creating and looking at the world through a creatively hungry passion to find inspiration again.  I will be back!

Why have I been tired? Because we finally got our miracle, I was finally blessed after so much heart ache:

IGNORE the silly face.. kinda hard to concentrate when taking a pic in the mirror =/ This is me at 32 weeks pregnant.. I haven't just been eating loads of pies!  I'm 34 weeks + 5 days today, and i'm so full of happiness and sheer love.

So.. easing back in gently.. I've had a go at making a flower from ribbons.. and I hate it!  It was only my first go but it took ages and the end result sucked.  Still, I used it to make a tag.. waste not, want not hey!

If we can't make mistakes/awful craft nightmares... then how do we ever learn and better ourselves?

It's a rather extravagant tag - hehe!!

CSN Stores £25 giveaway for my readers :) Super Quick Giveaway!

CSN Stores have very kindly offered another £25 gift voucher to give away to one lucky reader, How cool is that?! If you've never heard of them, then hop on over and check out any one of their 6 stores, they sell everything and i'm in love with their bedroom furniture!



Fancy winning a £25 voucher just for stopping by? Leave a comment at the end of this post telling me what you would love to spend it on from CSN Stores and i'll choose a winner at random :) Simple, right?
You have just 24 hours!

Good luck!



Competition closes Midnight November12th