document 2011

I'm taking a small break from pretty paper party to show you a project I've been working on since the beginning of the year.  The first thing you'll notice is that I am waaaaay behind!


Last year, Shimelle Laine launched a project called Document 2010 with UKScrappers, an online scrapbooking community.  The basic idea was to create an album documenting the big and little things that happen over the course of a year.  At the time, I thought I didn't have time to produce a set of layouts every month so I didn't join in.  And I spent an entire year becoming more and more jealous of all the beautiful projects I saw appearing, such as this one from Laura and this from Jen.


So when 2011 rolled around, I decided to make the time.  The basic set up is to take lots of photos (which I do anyway) and collect little bits and pieces from happenings throughout the month (which I also do anyway, I just didn't have anything to do with them until now!).  Then each month in the album follows the same format;

• An envelope page for storing all those bits and bobs;
• 12 mini-pages in divided page protectors, documenting all the things we've been up to;
• A focus page, highlighting something important from the month.

I've just finished April so I figure this is a good time to do a summary post.  For the most part, I've tried to stay within a paper range to make my life easier, though I do pull embellishments and things from the rest of my stash too.  Incidentally, I have the photos, the bits & bobs and the events for the rest of the months to date.  All I need to do is find the time to document them!

January - A Walk In The Park, Echo Park.  A weekend away in Wales, lots of new things for Isaac (teeth, carseat & shoes), eating out with friends and mummy & baby groups.  Focus: new year's resolutions.

February - Joyride, Cosmo Cricket.  A lot of lasts (last mummies & babies, eating out with Cathy and Kat, days at work for Andy), revising for exams, starting the Marriage Course at church, visitng my parents, a new niece (Amelie May), more teeth.  Focus: my birthday.

March - Girl Friday, Cosmo Cricket.  Full-time daddying, back to work, visiting Calke Abbey with my parents, passing MRCPCH 1b, learning new skills (climbing the stairs), my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary, a positive pregnancy test and the loss of my father-in-law.  Focus: the highs and lows we've had through the month.

April - Earth Love, Cosmo Cricket.  Easter (eating chocolate, messily!), eating outside in the sunshine, learning to stand, my first mother's day, 2 lovely weddings, visiting my parents and the return of morning sickness!  Focus: a sunny weekend with friends, including a BBQ.

I've just realised that this is a bit of a Cosmo love-in!  These are quite old ranges with lots of scraps that I wanted to use up.  I might have to find another manufacturer for May though!

pretty paper party prompts #2 & #3

I'm blogging a bit out of order cos I don't have pictures for the first prompt and I sort of combined prompts 2 and 3.


Prompt 3 was a scary one.  Take 10-12 sheets of patterned paper, pick a few that you want to use the whole sheet as a background then cut the rest into boxes.  No plan, no photos chosen, just cut them into different sized and shaped boxes.  Then put them onto background paper or cardstock.  Then choose the photos.  Ummm.... pretty sure that usually works the other way around!  It's a speedy way of scrapping that uses up some of that stash and is particularly handy to scrap photos without much story to tell.  So it wins for me on both counts.


So here is my selection of paper.  I chose 2 sheets of paper from the same range that I liked but never knew what to do with before and then picked co-ordinating papers to match the colour scheme of blue, purple, green and dark brown.  I couldn't find enough whole sheets in my random sheets bags so I used some different-sized scraps as well.  I think I ended up with 12-15 different patterns and 3 sheets of co-ordinating cardstock in the end.

Then I picked 3 sheets for background and cut the rest up into shapes.  I needed to find a few more sheets of cardstock because I ended up with the start of 10 layouts!  And here they are:

And then I picked some photos - I limited myself to December 2010 and January 2011, I really do have an overwhelming number of prints to scrap!

So far I've finished 8 of these layouts.  The 2 that are left are photos I love but need a bit more journalling so I need a bit more time for them.

I love love love these!

pretty paper party

So I signed up to a new scrapbooking class.  Nothing new there, I have about half a dozen registrations (all with Shimelle as it happens) that I've never completed, but will do one day, honest!!  The thing I love about Shimelle's classes is that, while the class prompts are sent out over a specified time, you have everlasting access to the forum and materials even once the class has technically ended.  So maybe I actually will end up finishing those classes one day.... Maybe not, but a girl can dream!


This particular class looks at the huge stash of patterned paper that most scrapbookers (and I am no exception) own and says "how are you going to use that investment of time and money to make something beautiful that you love?"  Perfect for me, especially since my mother commented about my hoarding tendencies when they last visited.  I didn't try to explain that every single little bit of stash was necessary and would get used eventually because.... frankly it isn't true!  Like most people I've made distinctly dodgy purchasing decisions in the past and I too am guilty of the number one scrapbooking crime....

Not using a piece of paper or an item in my stash because I love it and it's too pretty and this project isn't special enough and it doesn't exactly fit the colour scheme and I'm not sure how to make it work and.... and.... and....

So I need some help using up all that stuff and documenting the things that I want to remember and reminisce about with my children and grandchildren in years to come.  Because the other thing I have bucketloads of is photos.  Now I'm a mother, I seem to have an excuse for having a camera permanently attached to my hand and I have piles of beautiful, exciting or cute photos that I want to display for others (or just me) to see.

So that's the manifesto.  Thanks for reading.

BTW, I'm slightly behind in blogging - this class started 2 weeks ago - but you can still sign up, just click the picture at the top of this post!!

It's been a busy 6 months....

...so I've neglected to keep you up-to-date on a lot of things.  Month-by-month round-up?  Why, what an excellent idea!

March 2011

• I passed MRCPCH part 1b, on the 4th attempt, to great sighs of relief.
• We found out we were expecting our second child.
• My father-in-law, David, died of mesothelioma.  Despite a gradual deterioration over the last few months, in the end, it was quick and he died at home with his wife.  We celebrated his life 10 days later with a fantastically well-attended memorial - an indication of how loved and valued he was in his community.
• We celebrated my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary in Plymouth.
• I returned to work full-time and Andy gave up his job to be a full-time Dad.

April 2011

• We celebrated the weddings of Helen & Anthony and Nat & Ollie.
• Sarah & James came to stay and we had a BBQ with friends.  Pretty much the best of the weather for the summer!

May 2011

• We got our first glimpse of the new baby - all good so far!
• We celebrated first birthdays with our Mummies and Babies.
• Isaac turned 1 year and we had his first birthday party.  I even baked and iced the cake!
• We visited Mum & Dad for Isaac's actual birthday.

June 2011

• Isaac learned to walk; as with most things, he took his time about it having been walking with support since March.
• We celebrated more first birthdays with more parties!
• We had our second, more detailed scan and discovered we're going to have a little girl.  Here's hoping she's smaller than her brother!

July 2011

• We celebrated Sophie & Steve's wedding at Sandhurst Military Academy; our first day out without Isaac, who we left with my parents.

August 2011

• I attended Laura's hen-do in London; a good excuse to stay with Mum & Dad.
• More midwife appointments and a diabetes test (just in case that was the reason Isaac was such a big baby).

September 2011

• We celebrated Andy's eldest brother and his wife's 25th wedding anniversary - the first big family celebration since we lost David.
• I sat the MRPCH part 2 written exam in London (it's never-ending!).
• I started my maternity leave.

October 2011

• Ben & Laura got married on a beautfiul day and jetted off to Hawaii for their honeymoon!
• Andy got a new job working in Coventry; it's a six-month temporary contract initially but may well continue beyond that.
• We bought a second car to allow for commuting.
• We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary with a family trip to Twycross Zoo & a M&S 'takeaway' for two.

All of which takes us up to date.  I've got 4 weeks left til my due-date and I'm already bored of day-time tv so hopefully the next update won't be so long coming!

Post-exam chillout zone

I'm cruising at the moment - having been studying every spare minute since Christmas, the exam is over and I have some spare time on my hands.  I also have a list a yard long of things to do around the house so I won't be short of things to do.

Isaac's growing and changing so quickly these days.  I'm trying to capture everyday and remember the little things that get forgotten so quickly.  I was looking back at baby photos yesterday and I can't really remember the time before he could sit up, let alone those first few weeks when he slept most of the time.

 Highlights of our life recently (from the top): are

• Twinkling Stars - a parent and child group based at Holy Trinity Church, Leicester.  We're meeting lots of new friends and having a lovely couple of hours playing and chatting each week.  They make good coffee too!
• Mummy and Baby Group took a little break over Christmas but we're back meeting up again, despite one of the mummies going back to work.  Not sure how we're going to mange as the rest of us go back over the next month.  Hopefully we'll still manage to meet up.  It's great seeing all the babies growing and being able to chat, drink coffee and eat loads of cake!

• Isaac now has 4 teeth.  He sprouted his first the day before he turned 7 months and the last 2 came together in the last week of January.  That's 4 teeth in 4 weeks!  And he's been so good about them - lots of chewing but otherwise you wouldn't know he's teething.

• As he learns to crawl more and has discovered doorways, Isaac is gradually exploring the house.  And he's found the cat food...
• And the best thing yet?  For the last week he's slept through most nights!  From 8pm til 6.30am, we've slept through or only gotten up once for a quick feed.  Bliss!!

This is one of my favourite photos ever!  We did an underwater photo shoot through our swimming teacher back in December.  The photographer was fantastic - he does out of the water shoots too.  Check out his website here.  He got 4 shots of Isaac in the end, 2 of which are amazing and we ordered a 7x5 of this one.  I love the bubbles coming out of his mouth!