Favourite photos at TPV

Welcome to another of our challenges at TPV to celebrate our 1st Birthday.

So far, our first challenge on Wednesday was to use stamps on your project. Any form of stamps, we'd like to see you using them. This challenge is sponsored by the brilliant 'My Favorite Things', with the random winner being given a $25 voucher to the store. See here for more details.

Our fun blog hop is running until Monday, so please do head over to TPV here and start the hop. You'll see all of the DT's work and may also pick up some blog candy along the way :) 

Our second challenge began yesterday, and this time we are asking you 'Who is our favourite paper crafts company?' We are inviting you to use your favourite company to create a paper project and link it to TPV, to be in with the chance of winning a lovely prize. Seeing as they are your favourite company, we'd like 70% + of your project to be made with there products. See here for more details and what the tempting prize is for this challenge.

Spotlighted entries for all challenges will be revealed on Monday, then all challenges will close at Tuesday noon EST (5pm GMT). Winners will be announced later that Tuesday. The blog hop closes on Monday, with winners of blog candy being revealed on the Tuesday, so do pop back to see :)

Now, today, we bring you the third challenge.

Today we want to see your favourite photos.

You all have those photos that you just love, maybe because they are technically perfect, because they hold a precious memory, or are of someone you love. Whatever the reason, we want to see your favourite photo displayed pride of place on a paper project.

Here is my LO, including my favourite photo :)

Yes, I've noticed I've spent truly wrong!!! I can't believe it, the letters are now stuck fast and cannot be removed without ruining it!! What do I do? Any ideas?

This photo is of my brother. I took this photo and am very proud of it. Not only do I love it because his eyes (how gorgeous they are, I'm so jealous of his eyes!!) are in sharp focus, but also because he looks so much like him. I know that probably sounds weird, but sometimes you just capture a candid shot that shows someone as you see them, they are truly them in the photo. This is one of those, he looks so relaxed and in his own world, I love it.

I have used a lot of stitching and doodling on this LO, plus tried to keep the colours masculine. I have hand cut the scallops.

Here are a few close ups

I hope you like it.

I can't wait to see your favourite photos. Make your paper project, link it up to TPV here and you may be in with a chance of winning this prize :)

Echo Park: Apothecary Emporium

So, I shall see you and your work over there. 

Remember, you can also hop along on the blog hop, show us what you can do with stamps and use your favourite company to help us celebrate our birthday :)

Bye for now :)

Masculine Page

Hi Everyone,

Today I have a page I'm incredibly pleased to show you. I'm so proud of this page, I don't do many masculine pages, but thoroughly enjoyed making this one and am very proud of the result.

This is the first page I've done where I've taken the photo one day and scrapped it the next. I took this photo Saturday evening when we were at Nan's and James was being amazingly obliging for photos. He normally shoves me away as soon as I approach him with a camera, I suppose that's normal for a lad his age. I've wanted a photo of his beautiful eyes for a long time, and finally I've got one.

I hope you like the page too. When I showed it to James, he read the title, smiled at me and said "Thank You". Ahhh :)

Nan loved her Birthday card and cake, she thought it was a bought one at first when I took it out of it's box :D

That's it from me at the moment, I'll be back later this week with my Word-A-Week challenge photo(s).

Hannah :)

Lots to catch up on!!

Wow, it's been quite a while since my last post and I have a lot to write about, so be prepared for quite a long post. :)

I'll start with the things you'll be most interested in, crafting.
I came second in the photography self portrait vote!! I was very pleased with that, it meant a lot and was a brilliant photography confidence boost. Here is the lovely prize that arrived through the door a couple of days ago.

I've seen this in Paperchase a couple of times and thought it was so cute, so it was lovely to receive it as a surprise in the post.

So today I have scrapbooked my self portrait, and I really love the final page.

Here are a couple of close ups

It's been great to scrapbook again, it's been quite a while since I've had time to scrapbook. It's also the first page I've ever done with a Christmas theme to it, thanks to my 12 days of Christmas course.

I've been being quite crafty recently,I've made all of my Christmas cards and thanks to discovering Helen's blog, I've been inspired to make all of my friends Christmas presents.

Here is the gift for the girls, a make-up emergency kit.

And for some of my friends that aren't into make-up

Now for the boys, something to target their sweet tooth, a jar of sweets (it was great fun doing these, I was very proud of the result).

This is the design I had for this year's Christmas cards, an idea based around some felt tree decorations I found in Paperchase which made the perfect topper.

This Christmas I have been inspired to make decorations for around the home after looking at some amazing Christmas magazines. This weekend Mum and I have been decorating the house and seeing which decorations we could make that would look good where. So far, this is the garland we have made to go across our fire.

We have another in the production line for another room. I'm really having a handmade Christmas this year!!! :D

The 12 days of Christmas course has finished now, we have been left to go it alone over Christmas and see what we come up with.
Here is my work from the last few days of the course.

 I've never tried to photograph candles before, but this was great fun and I love the result.

This task was to differ the focus between the foreground and background, and I like these two comparison shots.

These photos were taken to capture the reflection in the mirror, something I would never have thought of doing without the course.

And these were such fun to do, light trail photos, I shall definitely be trying these again.

I really enjoyed the course, it was brilliant and I'm very pleased I managed to get a place. I would advise that if CJ runs the course again next year you join it, it was brill. :)

So, onto family stuff and home life.

Like many around the country, we have finally had our share of snow. We were out for a dog walk yesterday when it began to come down and we luckily got home before the snow became thick on the roads. Rolo absolutely loves the snow, and it's deep enough so he has to jump everywhere. Here's a quick photo Mum took of him earlier after his walk.

Aside from the snow, two weekends ago we had a very special weekend. It was my Grannies 80th birthday, which is special in itself, but what made it even better was that we had a massive family gathering. Over mine and James' lifetime, we have only been as a whole family once before, 5 years ago at my Aunt and Uncle's wedding. One of my Aunt''s and Uncle's live in Australia with two of our cousin's, so as you can imagine it is quite rare that we all get together. So my grannies 80th was an amazing weekend, all 7 of us cousins together for the second time in our lives. As you can imagine, it was an occasion well worth capturing on camera, and here are some of my favourite photos from the weekend.

We had a big family meal, with extended family and Grannie's close friends at this amazing manor house (I mean AMAZING, a wedding photographer's dream!!). This staircase was so grand, and as the day fell very conveniently with a group shot for my 12 days of Christmas course, I had to use it in our group shot. I love this photo, it's sooo special, not only because it's all 7 of us cousins, but because everyone, including James, is actually looking at the camera!!!

One of my cousins is a keen photographer and has a lovely DSLR camera, so I cannot wait to see how his photo's turned out.

A special event called for a special outfit, and it was great to get my Prom dress back out of the wardrobe, and especially nice to have the chance to pose for the camera in such a grand location!!! :D

And finally, a photo which was just the icing on the cake for a fab weekend, a glorious photo of me and James (doesn't he look all grown up and smart!)  :)

Sorry that's been such a busy post with thousands of photo's, now I'm on my Christmas hols I should be able to find time to blog, although I have a lot of revision to do ready for AS modules in January!!

Hopefully the snow wont cause too many problems this week for us, and please al of you be safe in the snow. If you are reading this Louise or Richard, I hope your journey across the country isn't too hectic and you make it to Shrewsbury for Christmas day, xx.

Bye for now,

Hannah :)

Hello all

Hello,

I have been pretty quiet recently as I have just gone back to school and begun my sixth form studies. They are going well so far, I have been enjoying my lessons and coping with workload. I have persuaded the school to allow me to take Psychology as a 5th AS level, they were reluctant so have allowed it on a trial basis, I can then continue with it if I manage the workload and am not compromising on the other subjects. I have so far loved my psychology lessons, I knew I would, and want to continue, although it's probably a little too early to say if I shall cope with the high levels of work.

I had a night of no homework last night as I had a few free lessons I could complete the work in today. I decided to sit down to a little scrapbooking and this is the result.

I bought the notebook earlier in the year and planned to use it to keep note of my journeys and travels. This is the first page, my trip to Ireland this summer. I have decided to make it slightly creative but not bulky as it needs to lay flat. I hope you like it, it was lovely to do a bit of scrapbooking again.

We went to visit my Aunt and Uncle on Sunday. It was a great day out. A village near their house had a Scarecrow Festival on that day, and it really was a festival. They had music, a funfair, stools and then of course the scarecrows which were all around the village. It was a very creative village, they had some amazing scarecrows. Here are a few of mine and James' favourites.

I liked these, so realistic

James liked all of the recognisable character ones, especially these Toy Story ones.

And then there was Iggle Piggle and Upsy Daisy

And the Gruffalo

I want those wellies!!

This was one of my favourites

The choirboy was so life-like I expected him to move

And then, of course, "compare the meerkat, compare the scarecrow". There were quite a few meerkats around, although I couldn't see how they were really scarecrows. There was also quite a few "Stigs" from Top Gear.

And then finally this one, my favourite of the day and my favourite photo, probably the one I'll scrapbook (if I find the time!)

Following the Scarecrow festival we moved on to another, the Arts Fresco festival in Market Harborough. It was good, we didn't see many acts as we had missed the majority, but nevertheless the procession was good, made even better by the appearance of a certain guy!!!

This guy was "Anil" from The Basil Brush Show (he also has his own program called Ajay's Planet). James often watches CBBC and Basil Brush. I had realised who it was, however James obviously hadn't. Mum then said that she recognised him, and when I turned to James he had obviously just had a light-bulb moment. It was classic, so funny to see. We then spent 45 minutes following him around the procession. James is very forward going and chatty, or at least that his normal side, but on Sunday he was shy and wouldn't approach him, I think he was starstruck. It took him the whole 45 minutes to pluck up the courage to see him. Here is the evidence that he did pluck up the courage and speak to him.

Please don't ask why he looks so miserable, really, he was happy, I think when Mum took this photo something else was more interesting than the camera!! He took the photo into school yesterday to show everyone, he was so proud to have met him. Ahhh bless.    

Ok I think I'd better go. Bye for now.

Hannah :)

My little brother has just got bigger

For quite a while now James hasn't really been my 'little' brother, he's at least a couple of inches taller than me! He's instructed me before to call him my 'big little brother'. Today he really was my big, grown up, little brother, if that makes sense! He started at the upper school today that I am at in the special needs inclusion class. He looked so smart, grown up and ready for the big world.

He loved having to wear a tie as he has been so interested in helping dad get ready for work over the past few years, and it was finally him who needed to wear a tie.
He had a great first day at school, enjoying being back with his friends and in a routine.

We had a great weekend this past weekend. We decided to have a little getaway to the sea for a night, Nan, Mum, James and I. We left on Friday, arriving Friday night at our travel lodge destination, ready to wake and spend a morning at the sea. We used to have a caravan on the Norfolk coast, and I really wish we still did, but on Saturday morning we returned to the site and played on the beach. It was a good nostalgia trip for me as I can remember many days at that beach, playing and exploring. The weather was really lovely, I had my shorts on, which is unusual for me in Norfolk, and the sea was quite warm. Rolo loves the sea, as soon as we get close his nose goes mad and he pulls right the way to the sea. He loves playing with stones, most dogs like sticks or balls, but not Rolo. He finds a stone on the beach and digs it into the sand. Here's Rolo carefully selecting a stone.

James also loves the sea, so we were playing together, building sand castles and running through the water for a good couple of hours.

I am starting sixth form on Thursday back at the same school. I'm looking forward to getting back into school and excited to start my subjects which are Double Maths, English Literature and Language combined and Biology. I'm not taking art onto the next level, it was so much work, and even though it was rewarding, it would compromise my other subjects and doesn't offer as many options in my future.
I have been enjoying some retail therapy today, stocking up my sixth form wardrobe with charity shop bargains and some autumn warmth. Charity shops are great places, they have so much stigma amongst children, but you can get some great, brand knew clothes that are great quality. We've spent a lot today, but the money's gone to a good cause and I have enough clothes to last a couple of years. Here's a new hand bag I found in the charity shop, I love it, so retro and colourful, a good inspiration source for pattern and colours.

Bye for now,
Hannah :)

'A' fab day

Hi everyone, this will be quite a big post.

I don't know where the time has gone or why it has been so long since my last post.

I'm sure everyone knows that today was A level results day. I took AS maths early as a GCSE class, and have been to collect my result for it today. I have basically taken an AS level in Statistics and my result ....... an A. I am so pleased with that, I needed a high mark in the 3rd module to receive an A overall and I managed it, getting 91/100. :D I'm a very happy bunny.

Now to some scrapbooking. I have finished my whole Jessica Sprague Up + Running class now, here are the layouts created from lesson 3 and 4.

I have followed this lesson exactly and although the colours wouldn't be my first choice for those photos I quite like the finished piece.

I have changed some elements in this lesson 4 page. I haven't used the title word art provided instead using a Dawn Inskip Alphabet I have purchased. I decided to do my layout about my crafting area.

I learnt so much from the course, it's just a shame I haven't had time since to do any digi scrapping.

Instead I have been doing proper scrapbooking, decorating more pages for my Prom book. I have managed 2 more pages.

(By the way I hope you like my copyright stamp I've created using fabulous brushes I found on this website)

I have done more paper pleating and another flower on this page, I have fallen in love with making my own flowers! The doily on this page is a hand cut paper cut, the technique I learnt in GCSE art. I have drawn my design on the back of my piece of card

and then cut it out with my craft knife to create a sort of doily with my own pattern.

I created my own notes card in Photoshop Elements for this page, and am very pleased with the way it has turned out, it shall be so useful for both digi and hybrid use.

Here is the next page I have managed to complete. I'm very pleased with this page. I wanted to include 3 photos on this page, but didn't want them to be obvious, so I have hidden them in a flap.

I liked the way this ended up, I have used flowers on the page to cover the edges of the photos below to hide them when the flap is closed, they also overlap to hold the flap shut. Once again, more flowers, beads and hand-stitching.

Here's a little close up

That's it for my scrapbooking progress over the last week. Just a little craft shopping to share.I purchased this lovely little set of things from Hobbycraft recently, with the colour scheme of my prom book in mind. I've finally found some crocheted ribbon, so had to buy some!

Also look at this
I have recently discovered this blog 'Life & Times of a 12x12 addict'. Not only does she do some gorgeous layouts but also has a few giveaways. The photo above is of the giveaway that's on offer at the moment, so head over to her blog, if you haven't already, for a chance to win this lovely stash.

I've now just got a few non-scrapping things to share.

Let me introduce you to Mr Giggles...

Mr Giggles is James' new toy monkey. We had a mini holiday to stay at my Uncle and Aunts on Monday and Tuesday, which we enjoyed. We had a good run around in a country park on the Monday, James playing with my Uncle and learning how to kick a rugby ball far. On the Tuesday we went shopping, and James found Mr Giggles. He was in Hawkins Bazaar and after a look around the shop he wouldn't let us exit without Mr Giggles. He loves him so much. You tickle his 'Tickle spot' and he giggles like mad, much to James' amusement. I'm surprised his batteries haven't already run out, our house has been full of giggling since Tuesday.

And finally... My bag is packed and I'm ready to go. Weighing 16kg I'm glad I don't have to wear it for a very long journey!! It is packed out and I am looking forward to camping with the rangers as it shall be a very different experience to our normal camping trips, which are luxurious compared to how this will be!! Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to my first experience on an airplane, slightly anxious, but know that it will be an experience and open up doorways to the rest of the world.

So from me, night night. I'll post next when I'm back next week from my adventure.

Bye, Hannah xx :)