Summer 2012 CHA Releases; Being Thrifty & Selective

Lots of new releases from CHA have started to hit stores and I am loving some of them more than I should.  I really do have an overload of supplies and I don't think I will ever scrap at least half of what I have.  Yet as new CHA I buy up loads.  This year like a lot of people the purse strings are getting tight.  I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't do the social scene like a lot of other people and alot of other things that so many families do; my kids do not have all the latest gadgets and to ensure they are grounded they never will and then there is the fact that it is only me. 

Well, summing that all up money is limited and like a lot of families purses are being tightened.  This year this is my NEED list:

MME Sweetest Thing - Tangerine, Honey, Bluebell and Lavender*

MME Indie Chic - Citroen, Ginger, Nutmeg* and Saffron*

ECHO PARK Everyday Eclectic

ECHO PARK - For The Record 2 Documented

ECHO PARK - For The Record 2 Tailored

October Afternoon - Woodland Park

Bella Blvd - Birthday Book (Liam's Papers)*

Bella Blvd - Birthday Girl (Freya's Paper)*

Bella Blvd - Thankful

* just the ones with asterisks to buy now and I really think that will be it for this CHA releases.

There are a few other ranges that I have seen but to be honest they are just not jumping out at me.  I blame it on the fact I have so much paper and I really am thinking about costs.  Paper sat on a shelf doing nothing really is of no help to anybody.  It looks pretty but I will never use all of it.

What are you needing from these releases and are you at the point when you know this hobby has taken over your life and you can not buy any more supplies?

As every post needs a photo, here's some of the 1.200 photos I need to go through from our 3 weeks in Wales this Summer.



Thanks for looking.

Pass The Page Blog Hop

Last year Julie put out a plea for people to join in a pass the page game.  The idea being that Julie would make a lo then send it on to the fisrt person who would make their interpretation.  Then the second person would make a LO based on the first person's and so on.  

Julie designed and made a LO and then passed it on to me as first participant.  This is the page I received:

After I had picked myself up off the floor and realised my comfort zone had just just got up, walked off and ended up in outer space I then went in to panic mode!  No patterned paper, paint, mists, words can't express how not me this is!

Anyway, I finally gave in to the panic and made this page:

I placed the photos and just could not do it with no paper and just paint there.  I just had to add a little paper and some hessian.  I then proceeded to cover the hessian and paper but felt comfortable with that.  Strange I know but knowing there was paper there made things so much better!

Although it really is not me I have enjoyed pushing myself to try something new and have gained a little bit of courage to step outside of my comfort zone.  

Thank you for arranging this Julie and I hope the other ladies enjoyed taking part as much as I have and I can't wait to see all the finished LO's.

If you would like to see the finished LO's too, pop on over to Lea or if you have come straight here the first stop is Julie.


Don't forget to have a look at Deb's blog where there are details of a giveaway.

Here is the full list of participants:

Julie: http://jsquaredscrapspot.wordpress.com/

Candace:  wannabescrapbookaddict.blogspot.com      <---  You Are Here

Lea:  finallyscrappin.blogspot.com 

Helen (Hosted by Lizzie below)

Lizzie:  http://lizziemade.blogspot.com 

Sian:  http://fromhighinthesky.blogspot.com 

Clair:  http://obstinatepursuit.blogspot.com 

Helen:  http://craftimperfect.blogspot.com 

Alison:  http://alisonslife-in-the-slow-lane.blogspot.com 

Ginger:  http://gingerslifeofspice.blogspot.com 

Jemma:  http://www.Just-Jimjams.blogspot.com 

Lisa-Jane:  http://comeinsidemycrazyhead.blogspot.com 

Deb Clark:  http://debisjoy.blogspot.com 

Alexa:  http://simplyalexa.typepad.com 

The 10 Minute LO

I found this site from Jo's blog where there was a LO that could be completed in 10 minutes.  And yes it can.  It took me 15 minutes to do mine and that included getting the stash, choosing photos and then taking a picture of the finished LO.  If only it was that simple every time!  You can find the 10 minute LO here.

This is mine,  a picture taken at Hitler's Eagles Nest in Southern Germany over looking the German and Austrian Alps.  This picture really does not do the views justice at all.

The last 2 LO's I shown you have all been made using Sarah's Cards November 2010 kit (11 month old kit!!!!!) and I have now made 4 LO's and 2 cards and there is plenty left.  If you don't subscribe to a monthly kit I really can recommend Sarah's Cards and as a subscriber you get 10% off all other purchases from the shop plus a very generous loyalty scheme.  The kits are always really thought out and you get a DT booklet with around 8 to 10 examples plus a selection of cards and sketches.  Well worth the £19.95 especially when there is no minimum subscription period.

Also do go over and visit Jo as she does some lovely LO's and is a fantastic photographer as well.

Julie's Pass The Page Challenge

A few weeks back Julie posted on her blog asking if anyone would like to join in a game of pass the page.  A very simple idea, Julie creates a LO and sends it to the first person on the list who scraplift's it and then photos of their page is sent to the next person on the list.  Each of us has a week to complete our pages.

Last Sunday I was sent Julie's page.  Being the first I was a little nervous and when I opened the email, after I had got back up from the floor I realised my comfort zone had got up, walked away and was now sitting in outer space.  Julie's page is lovely but is so not me.

I had originally planned on doing the page Wednesday night, but chickened out!  Time was running out and had to be with Julie today so at 6am this morning I bit the bullet and sat down and made my page.

Sadly at this stage I can't show you what I have made but when the blog hop is up I hope you can all come back and take a look.  But I can show you this LO when I also made this morning:

I even made some little flags and embellishments:

Hope you all have a great Sunday and I'm off now to tackle cake baking, Sunday lunch and housework.  Do you think anyone would notice if I played with paper and glue for a bit longer?

*Edited - As much as this was out of my comfort zone, I really enjoyed this challenge and do love the page I created.  I am walking away from this challenge with the knowledge that I can go out of my comfort zone and make a page I like.  

Thank you Julie for giving me that huge push that I needed.

Party Food Practice

In October we are having a wedding celebration for UK friends and family who didn't come to the wedding in Lithuania.  Well you just have to have a practice run of yummy party food don't you?

This is the white chocolate and strawberry cheesecake:

and the ever popular layer cake:

Really tasty but to be honest I think I need a little bit more practice before the party, especially the cheesecake ;0)

Look I have scrapped this month

It has been a long time since I scrapped, well, the first Saturday in June to be precise.  This was the last time I went to the Bromsgrove Crop.  I sadly missed July and August as I had Deimante's Hen Weekend and then was away on our summer hols.

As I said in an earlier wedding post I made an instax photo guest book and today I managed to get some photos.  This is the cover:

and a few pages from inside:

A quite simple design of a pp pocket with flower, punched butterflies and co-ordinated embellishments.  Inside the pocket was a tag with twine for everyone's message to be written on.

I have found 3 LO's that I completed at June's crop that I have yet to show and will be back later in the week.  I also scrapped on Sunday, only 1 LO but was just what I needed to get my scrap fix in order.

Hope everyone in the UK has enjoyed their bank holiday Monday.  As per usual the weather was not great but do us Brits expect anything different?

Bruges

From Bavaria we drove to Bruges where we stayed overnight in Dusseldorf.  We had a lovely suite in a stunning modern hotel where the kids entertained themselves, whilst I did all the packing lol:

We then set off for Bruges:

After spending 89 Euros on chocolate we got on this.....

.....and sadly headed home.

Bravaria

After 2 weeks of City breaks one after the other it was lovely to finally reach Bavaria where we stayed in a ski resort in the foothills of the German alps.

The clouds cleared and off up the alps we went.  We decided to visit the Eagles Nest which was Hilter's secret hideaway on the top of the mountains.  We drove up a real step hill and at a couple of points I swear I thought we were going to go backwards as the road was that steep.

We parked the car and waited to board the bus up to the top.  From here it is a single track road and buses run up and down the mountain.  At this point the roads are narrow and very close to a steep drop:

At the top we got off the coach and took in the views, which as this point were a little cloudy.

We walked down the 400ft marble lined tunnel into the mountain to the original brass lift which takes you over 400ft up to the top where the building still stands today.  

At this point you are 6,017 ft above sea level with views like this:

After a nice alpine rest we set off for Düsseldorf.