Monday 28 April 2014

Afternoon Tea





 
On Easter Monday, I went for Afternoon tea with my family. We got to share one of these cake stands between two of us, and they were yummy! I was the only one who didn't have tea (I'm not a fan) so I had hot chocolate instead...with cream and marshmallows. The little cakes were so cute, but look at the size of the strawberry in comparison to the rest of them! It was enormous!
 
It was also nice to take time out of my busy revision schedule to spend that time with my family. Admittedly, most of the conversation revolved around the cake, but it is always nice to spend time with the people you are closest to. And bank holidays are definitely the time for that.
 
With another bank holiday coming up (for Britain, at least) what are you planning to do?


Saturday 26 April 2014

Oh Deer!

I made a promise last year to not buy any more Christmas stuff... but I caved. I fell head over heels in love with this tartan and knitted collection, and I just had to buy it! Also, they came in one of those Hobbycraft grab-bag things, so it was all co-ordinated  and matching, and half the price!
 

 
Here I layered two die-cuts, adding some holly leaves to one corner to spruce it up. I used an A5 corner-rounded card blank and the simplicity adds to the charm.
Also, how lovely are these stick on pearls?! I adore them! They just add a bit of luxury to any project, in my opinion.
 
Linking up with another Winter Wonderland challenge, this week called 'No Sentiment'.


Thursday 24 April 2014

How to Scrapbook without a Scrapbook

Odd title, yeah?
Well here's the thing. I recently got into scrapbooking, but I am not one for buying new items for my stash...I swore off doing so last October. So, when I found my new crafty pastime, I held a bit of a dilemma. And here is my solution.
 
Who says you have to use big 12x12 albums? Who says everything has to be branded? So here it is. Not a Project Life, or a SMASH or anything in sight. This is how I do it.
 
I have two scrapbooks.
 
 
My weekly scrapbook I have already spoken about here.
This has basically turned into a weekly journal, with a lot of patterned paper, and I like the regularity of it.
 
But this is my favourite:
 

 
This is a Paperchase Ringbinder that once held my Maths notes, but it was far too pretty for that purpose. It takes A4 plastic wallets, which fit perfectly, A4 pieces of paper, and white A4 Card is cheap!

 
See! A4 pages are just as pretty!!! I can add embellishments, and fit photos and everything that a scrapbook page needs, in a smaller space, and it still works.


 
However, if a square format would still be preferable, that is possible too. 8x8 pages can be incorporated by merely trimming a plastic wallet down to size. My paper trimmer did it easily. Just measure, line up, and roll.
I hope this gives some people inspiration of how to go about scrapbooking even on a tight budget. Also, with the Hunger Games page, perhaps it could serve as an inspiration to document events that don't have photos.
 
Let me know how you go about saving memories below!


Sunday 20 April 2014

Star Tr-EGG-s!!!

I figured that I must attempt to be festive (can the word festive apply outside of Christmas?).... Seasonal then. Yes, Seasonal, and embrace the culture that basically involves decorating eggs for Easter.
 
I only used a marker pen, so, nothing fancy, but I had fun relating them to Star Trek... See for yourself! We have:
 
 
Commander Sp-egg-ck
 
 
Commander Chakot-egg
 
 
And my personal favourite:
Lieutenant Geordi L'oeuF-orge
 
Ah... bad jokes! I could go on for ages!
D-egg-a Troi, Jean-Luc P-egg-ard, Kathr-egg Janeway, Tuv-egg, Ch-egg-ov...
Data is difficult, I grant thee that.....
But if you really want an easy way out, make everyone a L'oeuf-tenant!
 
Oh dear...
Anyway, I hope you are all having a lovely day!

Saturday 19 April 2014

Easter Christmas-ness

I know, it's not quite right... but I'm not really an Easter person.
 
But I am a Christmas Person!
 
 
Yes. A Christmas Card in April.

 
In my defence, I have been hoarding this chipboard image for a long time (nearly 5 years I think!) and when the Winter Wonderland Challenge Blog posted the challenge o include a Robin, I really wanted to join in!
However I soon realised why I hadn't used the chipboard already - it's so small, but incredibly busy and intricately detailed, meaning that pretty much anything added to embellish it overpowered the delicacy of it.
So I tried to keep it simple.
I used a small card base, with rounded corners and positioned it off-centre. I then picked out the three main colours of the image and found matching buttons, and curved them to follow the circle.
It's very clean and simple, and not overpowering. Exactly what I was aiming for.
 


Friday 18 April 2014

Shoes and Shirts and Bumblebees!

Warning: Picture heavy
 
I have a bad/good habit when it comes to shopping, in that I won't spend money during term time, but will then buy a lot in the space of a week's holiday.

As evidenced here.
 
I've had difficulties recently with transitioning from Winter to Spring, and so these new pieces are here to help me (I can't hide in jumpers all year round...). Also, my mama helped pay!
 
So today I thought I'd share what I bought recently. Let me know which one is your favourite!
 
 
A pair of navy and tan wedges from Sainsbury's, £18

 
Red pumps from Matalan, £8

 
Black and White patterned Ballerina Flats from New Look, £9.99



Mint Gingham Shirt from Matalan, £8


 
Floral Boxy Shirt from New Look, £17.99


 
Dotty Shirt from the Edinburgh Woollen Mill, £20
 
 
Bumblebee earrings from Dorothy Perkins, £5

Wednesday 16 April 2014

Hiatus

'Allo.
 
Well now... That happened.
Nearly two months...Impressive.
Sorry.
I blame coursework. And Exams.
AND DISRAELI!!!!
I am not studying Victorian politics ever again.
On the plus side though, I am feeling happy, I have a balance, I'm doing well in school, and I sleep at night.
So don't look at me like that.
 
Having got out of the habit of blogging, I feel I might need to switch this up a bit. I'm not sure this is really going to be a crafty website anymore. If that bothers me, I may switch to another account, something more generic... There are a lot of things going on in my head at the moment.... I could import posts from here to the new one, but I feel that this domain isn't working for me.
 
I don't know. I need to think and talk it through with someone...
 
 
This blog is feeling lost in the mist at the moment.