Hello....!

I feel like I have been deserting my poor little blog! Just thought I'd do a quick post to keep it warm!! LOL! For those of you who have been wondering, Lily has chronic gastritis and we are working to find a solution without putting her on steroids as she is still so young and it can cause muscle wastage after long periods of time taking it! She is taking some antibiotics which are also for humans which might help her in the long term and so far so good, but we'll see - it's only been a week!

In other news, my Mum turned 60 at the weekend and my Mum and Dad celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary, so we had some family time, which was lovely!

I have been back at work for a month now and I am totally frazzled - hopefully things will start to calm down over the coming weeks - I have a new kit this weekend which I hope you will love - check back on Friday! Also, there is a new Scrap That Idea montly newsletter coming - check the STI blog for details of that tomorrow. For now, bye bye!!

Giveaway winner!!

I almost totally forgot about my giveaway!! But, I have a winner - there were 56 comments and random.org gave me number 5 which is.....

Congrats to you - please drop me an email at vicki@scrapthatidea.com and I will pass your details to CSN who will send your gift vouchers! TTFN.

I'm seeing stars!

Not literally!! LOL! My CT member Sara Wise has 3 boys (and another baby coming any day now) and wanted a kit that featured stars but was definitely one for the boys! I hope she's happy with what I made - I had great fun making it and love how it turned out. You can buy "Stars" here, but first take at look at it....

This is what Sara made herself with her kit and I think it is fabulous - really showcases the kit perfectly!

Take a look at the other CT layouts I got from my fab team - they are all amazing and great inspiration for you I hope!

So, what about a freebie? Check out this cluster frame which you can download by clicking here. Remember to leave some love. Be back soon! TTFN.

School Rules and freebie

Hey everyone - I am going camping in the rain today (HELP), so this is just a quick post to let you know about my latest kit - School Rules. Perfect for scrapping those back to school photos that most people have. It's the first time I have ever done a school themed kit, so I hope you like it - you can get it in store for just $3 here. This is what it looks like.....

And these are some layouts by my creative team. First up is Dawn....

And this is from Gina.

This layout is from Kim B.

And these two are from Laramie.

Thank you so much ladies - you rock!!

OK, so for a freebie! I have a cluster frame for you to coordinate with the full kit. If you like it, please consider buying the kit - you won't regret it :) Click here to download the cluster frame - don't forget to leave some love!!.

Giveaway time!!

OK, this is exciting - I was approached by CSN Stores asking if I'd like to give one of my blog readers the chance to win £60 (or $60 if you're in the US as they have a US site) in gift vouchers to use in one of their online stores! Woohoo - always thinking of you, of course I said yes!!

From ceiling lights to modern furniture to bakeware there are so many exciting products over their 6 UK stores (and US stores). I was browsing through and found a couple of funky things that I wouldn't mind snapping up for myself or as gifts! First up - take a look at this super cute kids baking set. Imagine the scrapping photo opportunities with these!!

And this cake stand is to die for - I don't even bake as you know but I have to tell you, I could be converted!

Finally, I found this cuuuuuute storage ottomon - I am loving the orange/purple colour mix - what do you think?

I know you are dying to know how you can win the £60/$60, aren't you? Well, all you have to do is leave a comment here to tell me you'd like to win and I'll pick a winner at random on Thursday next week (19th August). Good luck!!

Pretty as a Peacock plus freebie template!

Today sees the third of my CT appreciation kits - we had Friendship for Kim, Bad to the Bone for Laramie (you need to collect the alpha asap because it will be expired tomorrow) and now we have Peacock for Gina. Gina gave me a photo of a peacock as the inspiration and I have to tell you, I was worried! Worried because I tend to use a mix of colours in my kits and the colours are all so similar in this kit. However, once I got working on it, I really surprised myself - and I fell in love with the colour tones - it's definitely something I am going to try again in the future. So this is what the kit looks like....

And these two stunning layouts are what Gina made with the kit - of course, she used her peacock for one of them!!

And here's what the rest of my CT made with it - all beautiful layouts that each give inspiration to anyone who buys the kit.

If you love the kit as much as I do, you can buy it here for just $3. If you do pick it up, be sure to link me up to your layouts so that I can see how it's used!

So, now for the freebie - I also created a layout using this kit and I made it into a template just for you. Check out the layout first......

{sorry link expired}. Remember to leave some love and link me up to what you made with it! TTFN.

It's the weekend!

It's the first weekend since I've been back at work and I think I needed it! It was very busy this week, but I think I coped pretty well!! LOL! I wanted to give you an update on Lily.... She had her x-rays and scan and despite having an empty stomach (no food since 5pm the evening before) her stomach was FULL of gasses. So, that seems to be the reason she is not holding her food down easily (and has constant wind LOL)! Anyway, she is booked in to have an endoscopy on Tuesday at the vet hospital. She has to stay all day again - I really won't be popular with her will I?

In other news, hubby went out with the boys last night and he now has a major hangover! He is being a typical man about it and is grumpy and won't get out of bed! I am giving him another couple of hours and then he just better get up and start enjoying the weekend or I am going to be annoyed!! LOL!

I released a new kit this weekend called Peacock - I'll tell you more later, but you can pick it up here if you're interested :). Also, there's a new challenge on the forum today - come and join us if you're not already registered - there are prizes for everyone via a points system, so you won't want to miss it!! OK, that's all for now - back soon. TTFN.

Fairytale Summer and freebie

That's the name of the August store collab at Scrap That Idea. I love doing collabs - when they come together, they are so versatile and always massive! So, check out what it looks like in full...

And check out what my CT members did with it - gorgeous layouts all round!

The kit is just $4 in store and you can pick it up here. If you like it - here's a QP just using my part of the collab for you to play with - click here to download and remember to leave a comment to let me know what you think! TTFN.

No work for three months...

Did you ever wonder what you would do if you didn't have to work? Well, that was my reality for my three month paid sabbatical and I have to tell you, it was amazing. Just to be able to do what I want, when I want was a novelty to me. I have worked since I left school at 18 and that is 20 years ago this year. However, my time is up and on Monday, I went back to work. I have to tell you, I was fearing the worst with the pile of work that would be left for me and I wasn't wrong, but I don't feel too bad about it yet. I still feel quite relaxed which is a miracle in itself considering how busy I've been.

A few things have come out of my sabbatical. Firstly, I have really renewed my love of reading and I have been through quite a few books including the 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' trilogy which I absolutely LOVED and highly recommend to anyone who hasn't read them. I also read 'The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner' - part of the Twilight series. I have to say, I wasn't overly impressed with it, but was nice to have another book to read that mentioned my favourite vampire!! I've also been reading the Roy Grace series of books by Peter James - I am on the third book right now - 'Not Dead Enough' and am really enjoying them. I also read a book called 'The Passage' by Justin Cronin. I have to tell you - this is one of the best books I have read in a long time. It is about vampires, but not from their point of view, it's from the human point of view. I have to tell you if you only like cuddly, loveable, gorgeous vampires, don't read it, but if you love a good book - it's a must-read!

Secondly, I am developing a love for photography. I got myself my first DSLR camera and have been having lessons from my friend Nikki. The photos she takes are absolutely AMAZING and if I just pick up a fraction of her talent, I will be overjoyed! Watch out over the coming weeks and months and I will show you some of the photos I take so that you can see how I am progressing in between lessons. I won't see Nikki again until 14th August, so I have some time to practice!

Also, I have gotten our house completely together. All the renovation work is done and so I've been able to buy some new things that give that finished, homely look. Oh, and hubby made me a box for the end of the bed to act as a seat and storage for bedding - it's fantastic - he's such a clever one!

Hubby hasn't been bored either - he has decided to try sea kayaking. He has borrowed a kayak from my boss and is going to the beach to try it out at the weekend - another photo opportunity for me and a swimming opportunity for Lily! Speaking of Lily, she has been throwing up a lot recently and we are having it investigated. She had some bloods taken, but nothing showed up, so next up is an ultrasound and x-ray to see if there is any blockage that is causing her bad digestion. Luckily she is insured or else, I would be sweating with the cost right now!! LOL! Wish us luck - the ultrasound is tomorrow :)

OK, so that's the news for today. I will be back soon to post more photos, to show you my new release kit for Friday and give you a new freebie kit starting this weekend. Until then..... TTFN.

Bad to the Bone alpha

Sorry this is late, but I have been so busy recently - mostly spending my last week of sabbatical enjoying myself with friends, but that's the whole point of a sabbatical in my opinion!! :) I started back at work today and there was a LOT of work waiting for me. However, I still feel stress free - ask me again in a week!! LOL!

So today, you can download the alpha for Bad to the Bone (the elements are no longer available). Click here {sorry link expired} to download and don't forget to leave a comment and let me know what you have thought of the kit and what you've been scrapping with it. Oh, and check out my previous couple of posts and let me know what you think of my photos - I am learning how to use my new camera in manual mode :) TTFN.

Photography again

Thank you so much to my fabulous friend Nikki, I have been learning how to use my camera in manual a little bit. I just wanted to show you my favourite photo of the weekend - taken in black and white straight from camera. Usually, I would have done it in colour and desaturated it, but this works much better I think! The tree is just so characterful and was just begging to be photographed!

Oh, and I am going back to work tomorrow after my 3 month sabbatical - BLEGH!!! I'd rather be sitting on the bench under the old tree!! That's all for today - back soon! TTFN.