Winter wonderland for Atdml

Sharing two class layouts using Kaisercraft Winter wonderland papers which I taught at the recent A Trip Down Memory Lane retreat.

Backfilling the snowflake Diecut using the hearts and triangles from one of the other pattern papers from this collection meant very little else was needed on the first page.

Room full of happy delegates following this class which is always a relief when you've designed something you love... You just hope others will, or at least enough to make it their own and love it!

ATDML Retreat Calendar Class with Simple Stories

Off the page creation for one of my retreat classes this last weekend, and I do love creating a calendar at this time of year. Not my idea, the use of these Ikea frames has been around a while but a fun and popular class nevertheless - made I think by the vibrant colours from Simple Stories Bloom papers.

Here are my pages, one for each month and using the black and white photos the colours just pop against the black card.

I'll share my other classes later this week.

Maggie Holmes heart frame

Quick blog from me sharing a layout made this weekend at the atdml retreat. Features a Maggie Holmes wooden heart frame where you can backfill each section with different papers and also layer elements on top.

It features photos from the weekend and the lovely alphabet stencils from the recent Mind The Scrap kit which I love, love, love!

Book Club 43/52 - Mission Recovery book 2

Well my friend wasn't kidding and I really enjoyed last weeks recommended books so progressed this week onto the next one in the series which I am enjoying in equal amounts. Great story line and whilst a little more romance than the first book still doesn't overshadow the main suspense, page turning elements of this read.



Jess Taylor and Derek Daley were in the throes of first love in a small Vermont town when they were kidnapped by a serial killer. They escaped his clutches—but not the trauma of the unsolved crime. With their lives changed forever and their romance cut short, they went their separate ways to exorcise their fears.

Jess is living on the edge as Hollywood’s hottest stuntwoman. It’s no longer terror thrumming through her veins. It’s adrenaline. Derek is a former Navy SEAL spinning his ordeals into heart-pounding bestselling thrillers. But when Jess is called home on a family emergency, she must face the past—and face the man she left behind, who is just as haunted and, like her, still so much in love.

Now, as an old flame reignites, Jess and Derek are taking advantage of second chances and putting their bad memories behind them. But here, in the quiet town of Taylorville, a killer is getting a second chance as well.

Another floral G45 page - yes indeed!!

Sorting out my scrapbooking stuff and putting some kits together for my retreat next week and I end up playing again with left over Graphic 45 papers from the July gallery pages. 

Seeing as I had already fussy cut out all the roses it seemed a shame to throw them away and again with lots of white (ok grey!!) space and some bold black leaves cut on my silhouette this was another more graphic page with a very non-graphic paper range.

Back to my sorting I go, I have papers to pack (and not play with just yet!!)

October Virtual Crop

Seems like we've just taken a hop, skip and a jump since last month and already it's virtual crop time again with ATDML. I was up first from the three classes today with these bold pages.

Class instructions for my three pages can be found HERE.

Again whilst this Crate Paper Cool Kid collection supplied in the class kit looks very specific it can be varied up to suit a wider range of photos.

Plenty of space for lots of journaling on this last page - perfect if you've a bit of a story to tell and I must admit these dinosaur papers were just what I needed!

Book Club 43/52 - Mission Recovery book 1

New Author and new series for me recommended by a friend on Goodreads and she described it lastly as a romance but mainly a captivating suspense book you could see becoming a film.

A former Navy SEAL, Cole Makani Hunter has returned home from a disastrous black ops mission without his best friend, his hearing, or the use of his right arm. So when his ex–commanding officer assigns him to an undercover mission at a rehab centre for vets to discover who leaked sensitive military information to an enemy, he’d rather be anywhere but there. Almost immediately, Cole finds himself at odds with Annie Murray—a peace-loving ecotherapist whose dream is to open an animal sanctuary out of her home. While the two seemingly have nothing in common, their spirited arguments soon fuel a passion for each other.  But just as things begin to heat up between therapist and patient, dangerous complications arise. So does the past—and a shocking revelation that puts Cole and everything he now holds dear in the path of a murderous traitor.

Book Club 42/52 - Morgan Dane Series Book 4

This was an eagerly awaited book 4 in the series I started earlier this year and I had a reminder in my phone for when this one came out and I wasn't disappointed.

Morgan Dane’s new client has blood on her hands—and no recollection of what happened  Haley Powell wakes up covered in blood, with no memory of the night before. When she sees a man lying in the backyard, stabbed to death, she has only one terrified thought: What have I done?

Agreeing to take the case as a favor to her PI friend Lincoln Sharp, Morgan must scale a mountain of damning circumstantial and forensic evidence to prove her client innocent. Haley couldn’t appear more guilty: her bloodstained fingerprints are on the murder weapon, and she has no alibi. But Morgan can’t shake the feeling that this shocked young woman has been framed.

Mixed Media Art Crayons

Following the Vicki Boutin workshop last month I dug out my backgrounds we made in the class along with the products supplied and turned a couple into completed layouts.

I featured the signed tag Vicki made for each delegate plus photos of the day on my first page with the trio of watercolour drips. I added three photos and then stuck with the three colour ways choosing a bird from the embellishment pack from Field Notes for each area and some foliage from the same pack.

Really pleased with my finished page which didn't stray far from the illustrated class page.

Book Club 41/52 - At the Wedding

Free on Kindle Unlimited this was a very lighthearted easy read following a couple of months with my last thriller series. 

Amazon blurb on this book is as below and describes the book perfectly

Livia’s been planning her wedding to Jed for ages. Now, at the venue in beautiful Barcelona, with her dress pressed and the guests all on their way, she’s only left one tiny detail until the last minute: letting the groom know he’s about to get hitched.

But as far as Jed’s concerned, they’ve been bumping along just fine for ten years and even have a baby on the way, so why spoil things with an ‘I do’? Especially when he’d really rather not.

Meanwhile the guests are arriving with plenty of baggage of their own. Fading reality star Liam’s still on the lookout for a plus-one; Rachel’s has refused to come—and dumped her into the bargain; and divorcee Patrick’s date is more of the ‘mid-life crisis’ variety.

But as the ceremony approaches, and with no sign of Jed, there’s only one thing on all of their minds: will there be a bride and groom at the wedding?