Happy Heart

For some reason I completely missed Dream Girls challenge #40 :( Played along with #41 though & created this LO. On of the prompts was to have a family theme and although my photo is of me on my own, my journaling is about my parents. I've often admired ribbons tied in a bow on the LOs of others but this is the first time I've tried it.

Couple of LOs to share

Had a lot of work on this week but manged to find time to fit in these two challenges. The first is for Scrapping the Music. I hadn't heard the song Smile before but the lyrics "You're better than the best" fit my mum perfectly. I adapted the little Cosmo Cricket "You are special" card to make my title.

My second LO is for this weeks catalyst at Creative Therapy, someone you wish you got along better with. I often wish I didn't set such high standards for myself, I don't expect the same from others. If I was a bit easier on myself I'd be a lot happier. Creative titling needed here as I didn't have enough letter stickers for the word 'better'. I did have some rub-ons in a similar font though so I used them along with cut-off info strips from Nutmeg & Earth Love papers to make little tiles in colours that matched my LO and used pop-dots to raise them up from the page.

Guess How Much I Love You?

As part of Studio Calico's current challenge, this LO was inspired by the children's book, Guess how much I love you? I loved that story when I was younger. My mum's answer was always the same as the one in the book, "I love you to the moon & back" I had to be creative with the lettering as I only had one S left, so I used the negative as a template to cut an S out of the bird sticker. The colours in Cosmo Cricket's Nutmeg collection are incredibly similar to those used in the book so it was perfect for this LO.

It's my Birthday!

And it's been a good day so far. My parent's completely spoiled me with gifts this year. They are doing all they can to make this Birthday special after last year spent in hospital. I'm now the proud owner of a Pink Slice! They got me the beautiful storage unit & 2 cards to go with it also so I am incredibly lucky. Going to have fun with that later today. Looks lovely on my desk, I've been admiring the Making Memories carousel too which matches, to help keep my desk tidy. I've entered the competition on their blog to win one, the winner is announced tomorrow so my fingers are crossed for a belated Birthday gift.

Got lots of other lovely gifts from my friends & family too. They know me well, I love these cute owl pegs & bird stamps. Nothing planned for tonight, will just enjoy spending time at home with my parents. The church service was lovely last night and on Saturday we are going to see a pantomime so still got that to look forward to.

I feel very fortunate to be where I am today. It's been a long 18 months, but things are looking up now. I've still got a way to go health wise and there's a lot of work to be done for my course and university, but I'm feeling confident I can succeed if I put in the work required. I'm enjoying doing all the Christmassy things that I didn't get to last year. Once my Christmas Journal is finished I'm sure it will be a really happy album to look back on.

Productive few days

Managed to get my UCAS form partially done on Sunday & my personal statement written yesterday. Spent today doing a past paper, wrote 17 sheets but feel I've gained a lot from it. Now I can enjoy a day of crafting tomorrow guilt free & then it's my Birthday on Thursday. I still feel like a kid when it's my Birthday! Had a really bad one in hospital last year though so hoping to make this one super special. Just discovered that I was lucky enough to win a copy of Elizabeth Kartchner's new book, 52 More Scrapbooking Challenges. I love her style, always turn to her LOs along with Maggie Holmes first in CK so really excited to have won! Going to a Christmas service at church tomorrow evening so got that to look forward to also :)

Self Confessed Creative Procrastinator

I definitely need this diary for Christmas, maybe it will help me keep on task next year!

I should be writing my personal statement for my university application at the moment but hundreds of other things have gotten in the way. I have filled in the rest of the application form though, so at least I've had a semi-productive day.

Spent some time being creative on Friday & I was inspired by the sketch at the Sarah's Cards blog to make this LO. I flipped the sketch to suit my photo better. Love the Earth Love & Nutmeg collections from Cosmo Cricket right now and they work perfectly with each other. Think that dandelion paper is my favourite, I'm already on my second sheet & can see myself needing some more.

Getting in the festive spirit

Feeling all Christmassy now after making & writing all my cards yesterday. All the music channels have got the Christmas hits on too so that's what we're watching just now. Still waiting for my favourites to come on though, Davis Bowie & Bing Crosby or Kate Winslet. Also excited about my Birthday which is on Thursday. Don't think I'll be doing much to celebrate on the actual day but hopefully we'll be able to do something special next weekend.

These are my card designs, I made between 2-4 of each style. Still need to make an extra special card for my parents though.