New Lay outs for Better Scrapbooking

Hi guys, a quick share of the LO's I have done for the better scrapbooking monthly scrap pack kits.The kit this month wasn't my usual cup of tea but I had lots of fun working with the papers, and I am really happy with the LO's :)

Just be you

Bo Bunny back to backs: Serenade dragonfly

  Serenade promenade

Serenade Trellis

Green card stock

Tissue paper from an old sewing pattern

Teensy type alpha stickers

Black ribbon

Watered down black paint

Grid stamp

 Smile silly boy

Bo Bunny back to backs: Serenade dragonfl y

  Serenade promenade

 Serenade Trellis

Orange card stock

Tissue paper from a old sewing patteren

Teensy type alpha stickers

Black ribbon

White paint

 I can't C U , U can't C me

Bo Bunny back to backs: Serenade dragonfl y

  Serenade promenade

    Serenade Trellis

 Serenade sunrise

Green card stock

Teensy type alpha stickers

Flower

Thanks for looking :)

Lay out....What the...

Hi guys, another quick LO post.

I was sorting some photos to get printed the other day and came across these photos, now bit of back story …I didn’t take these photos, nor do I know who took them, or when. But at some point my daughter has gotten into some of my stickers and one of the boys has taken some photos of it..lol It really is amazing what you find when you go wondering around your hard drive!!

Products Used

Jillibean soup blossom soup fresh cilantro

Road show Dainty print

Plain paper bag

Washi type

Ribbon

Buttons

Printables

Glimmer mist

Black ink

Thickers

Thanks for looking

Picnic with fairy bread, Layout

Hi guys quick post today, just sharing my scrapbook layout,  Picnic with fairy bread. Photos are of my little girl, she just loved the fairy bread best part was they were cut in the shape of dinos!!

Still going for the layering trend in this LO

Products

papers, 3 bugs in a rug, One fine day collection.

tissue paper from a sewing pattern

alphas, American craft, Thickers

random buttons

doily

random ribbon

Video of the process

Remember to follow me on Youtube and see the LOs as they are posted

Thanks for looking :)

More Mixed Media

Hi all, I have been busy, busy, busy making lots more mixed media canvases !! and I now have a Facebook page called Jens Gems where I am making all my one of a kind mixed media art to sell come and check it out and like my page. I also make little boxes and other stuff to order as well. Once I get over 100 likesim going to doing a little giveaway!!

freedom

Little elephants

Home is where you are.

No Net update

Well last Thursday I went net free, this was meant to go all day till 7 pm but I caved and at 2:30 I did turn the lappy on. BUT this was not a failure, no no no not in the least.

By 9 am I had all my house work done!! All that was needed to do was hang out the washing, then I sat down at my corner and went to work, I got two scrapbook Layouts completed and a Mixed media canvas started. All before lunch!!!

Then I wondered around the house looking for things to do!!  

So I have made myself a new rule, I don’t have to go all day with no computer and TV, But defiantly during the week no laptop before lunch time!!!

The scrap room/corner makeover

So I decided to make a new scrap desk video, as some of you will know a we while ago I moved all my stuff out into the little shed we have outside, and I did love it for a while, but I got very lonely out there and I felt I could only head off out there when all the kids were asleep and my husband was home. Which isn’t as often as I would like at nights (shift work) and then when he was home I would feel rather guilty for heading on out to the shed….Plus in winter it was cold out there!!! So more often or not I would head on out to the shed with great intentions of making all this lovely stuff but alas it didn’t happen. Most of the time I would head on out there with a bottle of wine, a good move and sit there and get nice and toasted, then when the movie was finished I would go back inside and have nothing to show for myself but puffy eyes the sad movie had caused (The Note Book is way up on the movies that make me cry list)

So a couple of months ago  while I was sitting there with my wine, puffy eyes and a good ole sob fest movie  with nothing on my desk, I said stuff this, I am freezing, I am lonely I’m going to move back inside!!

We have all seen the YouTube vids of these wonderful scrap rooms, I covet these rooms but I have neither the space or the money to fill up a big wonderful room so instead when I moved out of the shed a lot of my stuff did not move with me L it was hard at first, but Now I only buy what I need and quite frankly I don’t need to much, I don’t have 100 different colored inks or glimmer mists etc., I don’t own a cuttlebug or big shot, I don’t have 100 stamps, I only buy what I think I will use a lot of. So far this is working wonders. Although I wouldn’t mind more punches…Now they would be handy, but I’ll be stuffed if I’m paying close to $40 for one border punch …ill make do without.

And the best thing of all is the mess…I used to let my room get into some shocking states pics below, I had so much stuff out there (Well still do) and I would never put anything away …Ever !!!

It's so messy I cant even open the door

But now with the desk back in the lounge and without all stuff around I have found keeping tidy so much easier, now don’t get me wrong I can get my little corner in some right states, but now instead of it taking me 3 days to clean up after about an hour at the most is as good as new!!

Gah I can't stand my voice

Thanks for looking :)

No NET or TV for day

So I have decided I tend to spend way, way too much time on the computer during the day. I go from Facebook to YouTube to blogs to MSN and back again. I can sit for hours if you let me and next minute its lunch time and I have done nothing with my morning, so this Thursday I and going to have a net and TV free day…I don’t really watch a lot of TV in the daytime anyway, but it’s always on just there and sometimes something will catch my eye, normally as I turn my chair away from the computer getting ready to get up and do something.

What do I hope to achieve with this??…Honestly I’m not sure, I expect my house will be clean and tidy no doubt, I may even get some crafting done , but I think more than anything I want to make myself more aware of how much time I sit on my bum and do almost nothing. Might I add that said bum is getting bigger and bigger!

I am obviously aware of it otherwise I wouldn’t be doing the net free thing, but I think I am tricking myself at the same time. I am saying naughty things to myself trying to make excesses to make myself feel better…Oh come on its not that much, you still get most of the house work in (of course only what really has to be done) the washing is still done at the end of the day (not folded thou), what does it matter if I spend a little time online???

It matters because at the end of the day when my kids get home from school I am still just wanting to sit in front of the pc. I get grumpy when heaven forbid one of the kids wants me to make them a sandwich or something. It’s selfish and I never wanted to be that person.  I don’t want to fight with my almost 13yr son about computer time and get angry cos he won’t hurry up and get off it when I tell him too, just so I can see if anything new has happened on FB. I don’t want to get angry when I walk into the room and see my husband is reading the news and think “man he has stolen my lappy again”. Please no judging!!

 The internet is a privilege not a right!!!

So this Thursday I am net free from first thing in the morning till 7 pm  I would do it Wednesday but I’m out most of that day anyway and I think that is kinda cheating when I’m not going to be home to really take stock of things. For this to work it has to be a day when I’m home!!

But if anything happens around the world, like big important stuff someone please text me…LOL

Oh and I do have a update for my spring cleaning but that will have to wait a couple more days, never know i may have more to show after my no net day!

The art journal

Like the mixed media I have also found the world of art journaling, I don’t do this much, honestly I don’t have much time for it. But when I do I just love it I am still learning a lot as I go, like what paints go well with each other, where to use crayons when not too. But it’s awesome just to try new things!!! And really get your hands dirty!! I haven’t done much journaling in these pages yet, I have done a couple and I won’t show them, they are very personal pages.  When I have just let the pen flow and got everything out, I like doing this every now and then.

 Side note here, water based crayons do work well with mod podge

This week from Pinterest #3

This week I have gone for the mixed Media arts again, I just love this stuff, its so messy it’s a ton of fun!!! Anyway I had a old painting around that was just sitting there doing nothing it was never going to be hung the way it was so I thought I may as well go ahead and paint over it !!!

My go at it

Where flowers bloom, so does hope

The original pin

Source: christytomlinson.typepad.com via Jennie on Pinterest

Note these are a bit different where as in the original she has used a 6x12 inch canvas and mine is well …not that I think its about 21 x17 So with a bigger work space comes a lot more space to fill so is not as busy at the original one but I love it just the same!!! 

Thanks for looking

Spring clean update

So I said I would be back with a update in two days and here I am, are you shocked…I know I am.

Let me start this off just buy saying yes I did get Annabel’s room done yay us.

And secondly this clean up thing has started to spill over into other places already…how long this will last is beyond me but the day after I posted  this post here the next morning I had 2 loads of washing out and some beds made by 9 am unheard of  in this house! I would have had more washing out but I ran out of pegs!!

Anyway back to Annabel’s room I have cleaned walls, windows, sorted all the draws, cleaned out the toy box, I have done it all and man it looks good!!! And best news of all doing all of this only took about an hour, I was in the zone!!

It is so nice to walk in there and not have clothes and toys everywhere!!

Also Miss Bel and I have had a nice little chat about her dragging out all her clothes and changing at night when she is meant to be in bed going to sleep!

Next I am moving on to the dining room, this is the first room you walk into at our house, we don’t have a nice entry for our house once you’re in it you’re right in the thick if it

*The list Clean up declutter the shelf’s by the door

* declutter the fireplace mantle

* Sort out the mess I call a table

* Clean windows, walls, and the door frames

*Find a new home for Vinnie’s medicine (having it sitting on the floor just isn’t a good look)

 Watch this space!! This Old school desk wont be blue for long!!

And FYI those boxes are Vinnie's medicine.

 The table top, better known as the dumping ground.

above the fire.

Shelf by the door.

This last pic is what it looks like from our door.

And that’s all for now, but I’m sure as I go ill find more stuff to do. I’ll be back in a few days with a progress report.

thanks for looking :)

Spring has sprung

Spring has sprung here in NZ and so with it the flowers….

But there is a down side to spring and this is the dreaded spring clean. Now I know there are no rules that say you have to have a huge clean up in spring in fact I know many ppl who have no use for this term at all but sadly I am not one of these people.

I am a messy person by nature. I can’t even open a tin of paint without getting covered in the stuff. At a young age I can remember my mother yelling at me to clean my room over and over and over again, so I did what any good kid does, I shoved everything I could into the wardrobe, under the bed and into draws in till it passed muster!! But sadly as an adult nothing much has changed. I didn’t grow up and suddenly become clean, tidy and organized. My house is a constant mess of papers, clothes, kid’s stuff etc. and over winter I just get so lazy. But it’s is just so easy to turn your back on it all, sit in the corner creating something snazzy for the wall or a scrapbooking Layout and all the while hoping the cleaning fairy has come a done all the work for you, but it just never happens and before long the kids are home from school the husband is home from wok saying.

Husband “So, what have you done all day??”

Me “Well, …I…ummm Have made this really cute scrapbooking Layout and finished my book.”

Husband   rolls eyes looking a bit disappointed.

That’s not really what he wants to hear…lol and it’s not just inside either. The outside of our house is a shocking mess. I won’t let the kids have friends over cos I am so scared they will disappear in our yard never to be found again!!!

I have done more than a couple of posts in the past about getting organized and staying that way and some of what I did has stuck!! The bathroom shelf as an example, is still mostly clean and tidy, the TV cabinet stays good most of the time….the book shelves not so much.

But like I said it is no longer winter and my utter laziness just can’t go on, its time I got off my backside roll up my sleeves and get some work done…I am starting in my daughters room this week. I swear this kid is a messy one …Like mother like daughter. I have made a list of things that need to be done.

*Clean out dawns

*Get rid of clothes that don’t fit (I mean really get rid of them, as soon as you have a bag, get it gone!! Otherwise it will sit on the deck till the kids find it and go hey, I wanted that. Or the dog thinks hmm, this could make a nice bed rip the bag and make a huge mess , then the kids go hey I wanted that, and so the clothes end up back inside the house in the bottom of the washing basket)

*clean out toy box,

*clean dolls house

*clean walls, doors and windows

*clean under bed

And that’s all I have so far. I am sure as I go I will find more to add to the list. But for now I am going to show you some pics of her room as it stands right this minute.

Now after seeing these pics I would like you to bear in mind that this room was tidy 2 days ago!!

Any way I will be back in 2 days with a progress report for Miss Bel’s room and a new list of what’s going to come next!!

Now I am posting these pics not for those of you that are just born organized people, but for people like me who just can’t get on top of these things, and are starting to lose hope. So you can see you are not the only one. I know there will be people out there that will look down there nose at this a little bit but these pics aren’t for you guys, This is just a honest account of my house on a daily basis and how I hope to change my habits and to try and make myself more accountable. For any of you out there who are trying and need someone to talk to please send me an email, my address is in my Facebook badge on the right hand side of this page. Or drop me a comment about what you are doing this spring. Do you have a blog I can go visit and see your progress??

Layout, What are you dreaming

Hi guys, another Lo for you! I have tried to do something a bit different for me this time I have tried the layering thing everyone seems to be into at the moment, I’m not sure I have pulled it off but oh well I had fun trying!! 

Also I'm not sure what is wrong with my camera!! its all a bit fuzzy....So can't wait to get my new one!!! wont be long now!

I honestly don’t really know what I have used in this…a lot of the stickers and stuff I have used are old and have been in my stash a while.

Tags, crafters choice

Some of the stickers, note to self element stickers

Stamp, Kaise craft  Fine & sunny

Alphas, thickers and random alpha I found

Some of the bits, Three bugs in a rug , One find day caboodle kit

thanks for looking :)