Tuesday 31 January 2012

What a Lovely day

At the begining of the year I vowed to Rusume my life & do what makes me happy .

So today I planned a scrappy day with my friend Jackie.


Firstly she surprised me with these beautiful flowers.


Secondly we didn't scrap at all! but what we did do was chat, drink tea, laugh & chat some more.
It was so great to catch up . We plan to repeat this regularly :)

Sheena x

Monday 30 January 2012

First Monthly Make...

 I had great plans in my head
 of what fab projects 
I was going to make for this months make
 but with the house move
 & all the unpacking 
I've had limited time to be honest.

I had planned to widen my cookery skills
now we have a shiny new kitchen
by trying at least one new recipe
a month,
so for January i would combine the two projects.

I decided to make shortbread.
Why I've not made it before is beyond me!
I followed a recipe by Lorraine Pascale
which was very easy to do ,
with a little help :)





 It proved to be so tasty that it lasted less than 24hours!
So I will certainly be making it again.


Sunday 29 January 2012

I'm in love...

...with my Essentially GoGo February kit xxx

So much so that it inspired me to scrap photos
of my Husband & I.
Sometimes in our busy lives with family,
children, the house & a business to run
we forget we are a couple too.
So we have been having the odd "date night",
a meal or a trip to the cinema together for some just us time.
These photos were taken on one such night
on an iphone using the Hipstamic app,
which explains the colour.

The classic orange & blue colour combo was just perfect for these.

I love the stamped doily
& to make good use of it all
I took the stamped birdie out the centre
& gave him a patchwork makeover.
The hybrid heart wreath
was just perfect to surround my
stamped love birds image.

The bespoke card designed by our Sam
co ordinated perfectly
& grew a pair of hybrid heart wings :)

All finished with Crate letter stickers

mounted on a hybrid journalling spot & a couple of heart pins.


thanks for looking x

Thursday 26 January 2012

Fancy a new kit ?

ScrapaGoGo
brings you a new kit


A unique mix of cardstock,
patterned papers plus
loads of embellishments
all for £14.99!


These kits have been specially put together with the
same thought, care & attention to detail
that
are famous for.

Go on, order one today x

Wednesday 25 January 2012

With a Twist...

there are weekly sketches
to keep you inspired
& here is my take
of sketch 136 with a twist- fabric.


This Lo
is all about our love of travel
including our recent trip
to Florida.

Patterned papers- Studio Calico
alpha- Making Memories
plane punch - EK success
selection of stickers
fabric flower- Making Memories
stamp- Jenni Bowlin
many thanks for looking.

Sunday 22 January 2012

Lucky Winner...

I was thrilled last week to discover
I had won a Plundered Pages Pack
on Julie Kirk's blog,
just like the ones she sells on Etsy.

Julie has gone to great lengths
to tailor this pack to my own tastes & interests
making it both personal & unique.


It even has her trademark Zebra on it :)


I'm really looking forward
to using these pages in my future layouts.
Thanks Julie x

Sheena x

Friday 20 January 2012

Spreading the word...

To make the occasion of moving back home
we had these amazing cards
designed by

They are now winging their way
around the globe
sharing our wonderful news
with family & friends.

Do check out SJ's blog,
her stamps & digital images
are superb.

Monday 16 January 2012

We are BACK!!!!

We are so thrilled to announce that after 2 years & 2 days we are finally back in our home :) It has been a very emotional weekend for us all, even though our house has been rebuilt in a totally different style it still has the essence of our old home & we are already starting to feel settled.


There is still lots to do both inside & out but now we have all the time in the world. heres a few peeks inside...


this will be my craft room.


The kichen.


The new carpet. As we get unpacked I'll share more pics. Last night we shared a moment to celebrate Happy New House x


I'd like to thank all our family & friends for all the love & support they gave us during this eventful journey. love Sheena xxx

Thursday 12 January 2012

Two years on ...

TWO Years
where on earth has that gone ?!

I can tell you where I was on
& how I was feeling...

but our journey back
towards living in our own home again
is very nearly over.

So today I remember
what I've learnt from our experience.

- There are worse things in life than this.
- I am much stronger than I thought.
- I have the most amazing resilient kids ever.
- Trauma tests a marriage but ours is still strong.
- We love & value having my parents live close.
- True friends know when to help & when to listen
& I have some fabulous friends :)
- Enjoy today as you don't know what tomorrow brings.
- Do more of what makes you happy.
- Home is people not a place.
- Those things you thought you couldn't live without,
well you can!
- Stress has turned my hair grey!
- Never believe a builders time schedule!!

Love you guys
xxx

Wednesday 11 January 2012

With a new Twist...

it's my teams turn to create with the sketch
& twist - NEW.

I had loads of fun
using photos from our recent trip
to Universal Studios, Florida.


Papers- Basic Grey- aged & confused.
Stickers- Echo Park
Large Alphas - Heidi Swapp
Memorabilia


If you need a little inspiration
pop over to Twisted Sketches
to kick start your mojo :)

Tuesday 10 January 2012

10 on the 10th ...holiday

Here are my top 10
photo highlights of our trip to Florida
at New Year.

1. Seeing Hogwarts
at Islands of Adventure, Universal,
for the first time.


2. Watching Matthew have a wand choose him
in the Olivanders experience
brought tears to my eyes.


3. Enjoying local transport from the hotel
to Universal Studios Parks.


4. Enjoying Christmas decorations in the sunshine.


5. The delight of a hole in one!!


6. Blue skies & palm trees...
need I say more.


7. Seeing Father Christmas
in the Macy's Holiday Parade.


8. Being verbally insulted by the Grinch had us
laughing till we cried!

9. Being very brave
& experiencing Manta
at Sea World.


10. Being photographed in an inflatable snow globe
at Sea World was loads of fun.

10 things on the 10th
is organised by Shimelle
so please pop over to see others
10 things.

Sunday 8 January 2012

One Little Word...

Following an idea started by Ali Edwards,
for the past few years
I've always picked a word at the start of each year,
to help guide me & help me
stay focused for the coming year ahead.

This year is no exception.

RESUME

1. to take up or go on with again after interruption; continue.
2. to take or occupy again
3. to take or assume use or practise of again
4. to take back.

This is my word.

I totally feel like our lives
since our house fire 2 years ago
have been on hold
with all our time, attention, strength & energy
going in to the complex minefield of sorting our insurance
& supervising the builders.
Even though this process is not quite over yet
I want to shake free of it,
and RESUME my life.

I want to RESUME...

living our lives in our own home
having more quality time with my kids
having lunch dates with my husband
seeing more of my friends
clearing our lock up of the last singed reminders
doing what I enjoy
exercising more
having piano lessons
doing all sorts of crafts.
learning that relaxing is not a waste of time!

Thank you for your patience
if you have read this far!!

I hope to look back at this often to remind myself
of the direction I want to take.

Sheena xxx

Friday 6 January 2012

Happy Mail...

I came back from my holiday
to a lovely e mail.

To tell me a Lo
I made recently was being featured on
Basic Grey's blog
as a December Flickr friend.

As you can imagine I'm thrilled.


Wednesday 4 January 2012

Great Week Away

Just a quick post to explain my absence this past week. We went to Florida & were there for New Year only returning today. We concentrated our time on the Universal Parks plus some compulsory shopping. I'll come back with more details & pics later in the week.


Sx

Sunday 1 January 2012

Happy New Year

Here's to a happy & healthy 2012 to all my family and friends.


I'm hoping it's a great one for my family, with new beginnings, we know there may be a few challenges along the way but with the love & support of each other we can achieve & conquer all thats put in our path.

Love
Sheena x