I have moved....

Yes after months of deliberating I have finally made the jump! So that I can display my layouts etc properly and not using that awful slideshow thingy I now have a typedpad blog!
You can find me here.... be warned, it's a work in progress whilst I grapple with the newness of typepad :-)

See you there x

Blah.......

too much to say and not enough time to type it all out! Missing in action for ages as I secretly think that someone is stealing whole weeks from my life!!! Cannot believe that we are into April already, the year is whizzing by.
Soooo.... what's new?
Shop is now closed! I really had to decide what direction to head in this year as I was juggling too many balls in the air and something was about to come crashing down on my head big style!!! Closing the shop was the best solution... anyone who has an online store knows just how much time it takes to run and time was something that I did not have much of!
So now am concentrating on my nursing and design work. The upside of all this is that I get some free time to play and am not totally stressed out of my brains all of the time hahahaha!
Not sure about the new look blog... may have to change it again! But not now... have too much to do and starting work in a hour or so! It needs a revamp... have put it on my list of things to do which is now about 3 miles long!!!!
So since I last blogged what has happened?
Work.... lots of it!
Got me a fabby new camera (canon 400D) loves it!
Ended the Morpeth crop (long and not so pretty story!)
Met up with an old friend from my schools days at the Seaton Sluice crop totally by chance (don't you love it when that happens?).... Clare came to the crop with her Mam and friend and I seriously couldn't believe it was the same Clare from my school days :-)
Love life is interesting!
Classes all done for the Scrapajack retreat (which will be here before I know it!)

Have just got back from visiting Anita in Holland! I had the best time and am home feeling very refreshed. Anita and Ries made me feel sooo welcome and am seriously looking forward to a return visit!!! Obviously I took my new camera with me and picked up some instruction and also a lens wish list hahaha!



The visit was a mix of sightseeing and relaxing! We took a canal trip in Amsterdam so I could get a feel of it all.... not the best for taking photos as the boat was covered in and I hang out of a tiny window... Anita has some pics of my bum sticking up in the air as I did so hahaha!


We were soo lucky with the weather as the sun shone brightly for most of the trip! Amsterdam was great... very busy and a great atmosphere. Loved sitting out in the terrace cafes watching the world go by and catching up on all the gossip of course!
I had packed in my case a new gin (we love gin!) that came highly recommended... so if you like a good gin and tonic get yourself some of this...

Possibly one of the nicest drinks I've had in a long, long time! Serve in a tall glass with tonic water, ice and a thick slice of cucumber..... heavenly!!!!
And on that note I need to dash off to work.... back with more Holland photos soon

Maria x

New look!

So I jazzed it all up a bit! Loving this blog in a box marlarkey by Zoe Pearn... who just happens to be one of my fav all time paper designers ever! Have you seen the new stuff she's done for My Mind's Eye this year???? Bloom is my favvo thing to come out of CHA this year... I love's it and can't wait to start carving it all up and creating some delish lil projects with it!
Anyhoos.... I know I've been a VERY bad blogger again :-( .... my life has been a bit crazy for the past few months and blogging has had to go on the back burner for a bit til I got myself sorted. Back to nursing... WOW... loving it! Didn't think I would... but I totally am! So got myself a temp contract with a lovely nursing home just 10 mins down the road. To be honest I was only back a couple of weeks and it felt like I had never been away!
Christmas seemed to pass in a bit of a haze.... and then it was new year... poorly with a tummy bug... and well now we're over half way through February! Where does the time go?????
I haven't managed a huge amount of scrapping.... just the odd project or 2! But looking forward to having some scrapping time over the next week or so.
Here's my UK Scrappers cyber crop class... was really nervous about putting this together but it seemed to be well received... phew!

The journalling tag slips neatly in the pocket and becomes part of the layout!
Ok so enough blabbering for one post... I'll be back very soon with more layouts and stuff about stitches!
Til then
Maria x

I love saturday mornings!

It's when I grab a little time for me, chill out, put some music on, slap on a face mask (believe me I need it this morning) and do a little blog updating!!!!
The past couple of weeks have passed in whirl of activity and it's been great fun!
Got a fair bit of scrapping done and lots of teaching which is cool cos I love it!
Samm set the challenge on the shop blog a couple of weeks ago to scrap your favourite song/band/album... well at the moment I just can't stop singing Bubbly by Colbie Caillat! Love this tune... along with a fair few others... loving my music just now!

I used Happy Place papers by Sassafras... these are my favvo papers at the moment and have carved up sheets and sheets of the stuff!!! Lots of layouts in progress... none finished.. ho hum!

Last weekend we had the very first all day workshop thingy! It was fab! I thoroughly enjoyed the whole day and I think all the ladies did too! I taught 3 classes so it was pretty full on... 2 layouts and a mini book. We had heaps of yummy food thanks to Gillian, her Mum Pat and Margaret... so a HUGE thank you to them!

This was the first class (excuse the rotten pic... there is no light at the mo and everything looks pants!).... using the delicious Daisy Bucket In The Meadow papers! So so easy to work with and a gorgeous texture! There's a little hidden mini book to hold all our hopes for the coming year.


Next up was a bright and cheerful quick layout class using MME Just Dreamy 2 Dazzling papers.... they really are a Dream to work with....well they would be... everything that MME produces is totally gorgeous!


And finally the mini book class using the yummy Crate Lemon Grass!!! I've made my book for times when my mojo just disappears out of the window... it's full of sketches, inspiration blogs that kind of thing!
I do have some spare class kits available and will upload them to the shop tomorrow :-)

So onto this weekends blog challenge... it was mine and an evil one at that!!! No patterned paper allowed!!!! I love my papers so this one really was a challenge!
Gillian took this photo last weekend of the moody sea at Seaton Sluice and it was SCREAMING to be scrapped! I used Collage Press stamps, prima crystal swirls, some lace and chipboard letters... very simple but I think it works well!
Also found this layout when hunting through my pics.... I did this a while back at one of the crops when I actually found a wee bit of time to get some scrapping done!


I used one of my old Studio Calico kits that are actually new as I just don't have the time to play these days....
Well that's all my news for this morning!!!
I start working as a nurse again next week and am really looking forward to it! It will be strange after so long so hoping that it will go well!
Lots of other exciting stuff happening too... just gotta find those extra hours in the day!
Til next time
Maria x

For Jakkii! ;-)

Ok, Ok, Ok! I know that I'm a crappy blogger! There just doesn't seem enough hours in the day at the mo to fit everything in! I will try harder... promise!
Ok so what's been happening in Maria's world since the last post? Heaps and heaps!
Aside from the usual crop classes and mag work I have had the bestest time ever teaching at the fabulous Scrapajack retreat down in Bromsgrove! Jakkii and Debbie sure can organise a mean retreat! Oh they just happen to be the nicest people that you could ever ever meet! I loves them!!!
Bookings for the Stratford Retreat in May are happening now! Sooo... if you fancy a fabulous few days away from it all with heaps and heaps of scrapping and laughing thrown in go visit here and book up... you will not be disappointed :-)
So onto the stories! Well the journey down to Bromsgrove was a complete nightmare! Managed to get stuck in the biggest traffic jam. There had a been a terrible accident on the M1 which closed the motorway totally. I set off at 11.30am and eventually arrived at the hotel at 8.30pm!!! Car overheated and I was a complete wreck LOL! But... I arrived safely which is more than can be said of the poor people killed in the crash so thank god for that! Motorways terrify me!
We all had a pre-retreat challenge... to make a badge that wasn't a badge and I came up with this lil baby!


A pinny!!! Don't worry Deb and Jak... yours will be made soon ;-). There were some amazing creations... but unfortunately I didn't take any pics! Yup the camera sat on the table the whole retreat without being used once!

This is my retreat class! It seemed to go down ok... well no-one walked out which is always a good sign LOL! The classes were all amazing! I had the pleasure of taking Rachel Millington's and Tracie Hudson's fabulous classes and thoroughly enjoyed them. Just wish I had managed to squeeze in the others....
I met the most amazing people over the few days... it was really good to put faces to avatars LOL! I shared a room with the lovely Sue (owner of the delicious Crafty Stash) and also spent a small fortune buying illicit stash... hehehe... came home with lots of gorgeous goodies!
I can honestly say that I have not laughed so much for bloody ages! My face is still hurting... so thank you everyone for making me feel sooo welcome! And speshal thanks to Sarah for sending me a zillion crochet links... hopefully the willy warmer disaster will be a thing of the past!!! Gonna make a start on a hat just as soon as I can get my hands on some more wool :-)
I had a great journey home with no mishaps (or so I had thought) and spent yesterday catching up on sleep!
All was well until I went to use my business bank card today... and it wasn't there! It would seem that when I had stopped at the services on the way home some "kind person" broke into my car and nicked them! Only realised today and thankfully nothing is missing from the account...phew! Its just a pain as it takes 10 bloody days for a new card... grrrrr!
So to the two ladies who stole the cards.... yup I know who you are! If I ever see you again (I remember what you looked like!) I will gouge your eyes out with my pokey tool and make an altered art project with them... be warned ;-)
And onto to lighter things.... :-)
It was my go for the blog class and this is what I came up with...... using up your scraps!

This is a pic of my lil sis circa 1975! She was not amused that I had scrapped this pic but hey ho.... hehehe! And I made a card from scraps too...

Keep checking the blog each weekend for more challenges and classes!
Right and with that long post out the way I'm off to finish this wine!!!!
Til next time..
Maria x

Been busy creating heaps and heaps of stuff! Love it when my mojo returns and I just can't get the ideas down on paper quick enough!!!! My classes for the rest of the year are almost all done and its a big relief! Just a few blog challenges to do layouts for and I'm almost organised!
I can't believe that the Scrapajack retreat is nearly here! Next week!!! I'm so looking forward to it but a bit nervous at the same time!


This was my layout for last weekends blog challenge.... me about 7 years old... check out the collar!!!!! I have scrapped the same school photo of my sis for this weekends class.... she'll kill me... hehehe! So tune in saturday morning for a class on using up your scraps :-)
Today I've been playing with some of the new Crate paper.... I love it! Scrapped for the very first time a photo of my Mam... which was much tougher than I expected and spent about an hour in floods of tears! Its for this weekends crop class so will pop a pic up on sunday!
Right I'm off to chop into more Crate... Lemon Grass this time... delicious!
Maria x

Busy, busy, busy....

but it's all good stuff! Had a busy couple weeks with a new crop and magazine work and classes to sort for a one day workshop! Feels like my feet haven't touched the ground for ages. Had Mark up to stay for a fun few days and my head is still trying to recover from all the wine that was consumed.... the man is a bad influence!!!!

This is my layout for the SSC blog challenge.... posted by Rachael, it's a fab one! All about edges... rolled ones, distressed ones, scalloped ones... you get the picture! Karen got me this little Russian doll for my birthday (amongst other gorgeous goodies!) and I love her.
This weekend is Morpeth crop and I'm teaching a UTEE class! It's ages since I played with the stuff and had huge fun putting together a layout for this. Managed to warp my cutting mat again so thats 3 I've now ruined!!! MUST remember to take mat off desk when using the heat gun! Here's a little peek of the layout...

We're using some of the gorgeous new papers from MME... glittery and varnished and totally delicious! No prizes for guessing that the layout is about me with journalling like that!!!
Right on that note... instead of dreaming I need to finish a magazine article that need's to be in the post tomorrow.... better get my skates on!
Til next time
Maria x