Scrapping Sista - a process in creation

Batch Clan hit Abu Dabi

2010-07-05T22:39:00.007+03:00

Brad had been in AB. D for nearly a week and invited us down to join him. We went to watch the Lord of the Dance - Michael Flatley Dance Company. The weather was beautiful, the dance amazing and the real red wine and Corona beers certainly made it a perfect weekend. Oh and the Tiffany jewellery my lovely DH bought me will put a smile on my face for the next month. The girls of course just loved swimming in the pool . My little Maya looking not so little - wow where do the years go!!?

Sienna and Sean's B'day Party

2010-07-05T21:37:00.008+03:00

It's been far too long since I added to this. Reports, exams and end of term paperwork has kept me away from this for a while. Here are some pics from the Pool party we held at school for S & S. The highlight of the party apart from the ability to jump into a cool pool when the temperature has been up to the 50 degree celcius mark was the yummy cakes from JUJU's

Look how gorgeous they are, they werev tasty too!! A good Mum would probably decorate them herself but sometimes my multitasking skills can only stretch so far.

Sienna and Sean have been best friends and best enemies for ever both had a fab time though

First Tooth!

2010-04-23T18:24:00.002+03:00

On the way to school on Wednesday, Sienna's tooth fell out! Between tears, consoling, encouragement and finally giggles she realised that she was actually onto a winner! Daddy returned that evening and got in touch with the tooth fairy; whose visit not only guaranteed that she stayed in her bed that night she also left her a beautiful certificate. She is the first in her class to lose a tooth so is enjoying her own celebrity right now!

I am still full of cold so have not managed any scrapbooking this week - truth is I was barely coping with teaching my class. Have posted above the Last page I made using my Studio Calico kit.

Head full of cold

2010-04-20T20:55:00.006+03:00

Batch Clan at TGI's KUWAIT

Barely able to type this but have taken that many cold/flu drugs I am rattling to day. Finished my 2 week Easter Holiday and in true Byng style woke up on Sunday morning ( 1st day back at school) with a killer cold. 9 members of our teaching staff are stuck in UK due to the Volcanic Ash cloud so no chance of me phonig in sick!

Did have a good family weekend doing our usual BRUNCH thing - basically an excuse for Naomi not to cook or do dishes a tradition now and one that I will be encouraging the family to

maintain! The interiors in the new TGI's was very cool that have some fab wall collages. Talking of walls on the way back home we stopped off at a bank and I saw some

graffiti that I couldn't resist taking a photo of Sienna with it. Just been on to Tracie Hudson's blog and she is giving away a fab RAK this month including the very inspiring Pencil Sketches book.

Pencil Lines Sketch

2010-04-15T21:57:00.003+03:00

This week's Pencil Lines Sketch I used some Websters Pages and came up with this Family LO, which I have framed and is now pride of place on my Tibetan Blanket Chest in our lounge. These papers are hard to work with at first but when you start cutting them the possibilites with the papers are endless!!

Recently read FEB Martha Stewart LIving magazine they had this cute idea to make printed roses out of rolled up cardboard I gave it a go and came up with these two LOS above.

New Los to share!

2010-04-15T21:22:00.005+03:00

Found a fab article in Feb edition of Martha Stewart's Living Magazine which used Rolled up cardboard to print and decorate paper and Valentine Cards had a go my self and came up with these two Los.

Badgetastic!

2010-04-13T18:24:00.004+03:00

So having read a British Interior Design magazine - LIVING etc at Christmas I have had it in my mind to make a picture for my scrap area using badges. American Crafts do fab -self adhesive badges that make them really easy to use. My little creation took less than 20 mins - to the trained eye the heart is off centre and I did toy with printing out a heart, blowing up to A3 size then sketching it onto the canvas but for those that know me they'll know that

SLAP, BANG, WALLOP

is the way I like to go!! I am going to take it to a Framing Company to prolong it's longeviy but I am really happy with it - the kids loved it too!

2010-04-10T20:23:00.005+03:00

Maya and Michael catching some cuddles- Maya adores Michael .

The photos above were from our Friday Brunch at the Movenpick with the Pearsons. Brad had flown back from Abu Dhabi so it was a great opportunity to chill together.

We all enjoyed our food Sienna was especially delighted as she managed to consume 2 bowls of icecream!!

This weekend has been the normal jam packed Batcheller weeklend. I finished working on the Lo below - inspired by Sienna's rockstar tendencies - she is all diva, make up, outfits and heels - her singing is a little less desired though.

I made the LO using lots of old Hambly overlays that I had. The flowers were made by puching out 3 circles, inking them and cutting out the petals, then I fixed each one with a brad.

Still one more week of Easter Vacation left and a new stash arrived from TwoPeas. My marking is still going to have to wait! Tut Tut!!

Sisterly Love or Not?

2010-04-05T20:46:00.003+03:00

Sienna and Maya can be the best of friends but there are so many days when I find myself breaking up arguements between them! I found the title of this LO in an old story book first printed in 1974 so some of the ideals are a bit outdated nevertheless it made me smile! I don'y expect my girls to get along all the time but as along as they realise that after the fight they still have each other!

To create the LO I followed this weeks Pencil Line Sketch by Elizabeth Kartchner. I included in the Lo an extract of the text and a picture which reminded me of my two!

Sisterly LOv

2010-04-05T20:45:00.001+03:00

Fun with Prima

2010-03-26T21:33:00.005+03:00

After a mad, mad week at school - sports days and Bugsy production I decided for some scrapbook time out time! I used this months Prima Sketch and some photos from our last US Summer Trip to Maine.

I got carried away with the circle theme as you can see but I have had the heidi swapp chipboard circles for years - seems that it is good to hold on to your stash!

Displacement activity

2010-03-24T18:07:00.003+03:00

One of the reasons I love Scrapbooking is that it is such a fab distraction to the more important things in life - well the things that involve looking after my family, earning my wage and keeping house! I admit that makes me a bit warped getting my priorites round the wrong way but the truth is the relaxation and pleasure I get from being creative ensures that WHEN I do get round to those other things I can approach them with a bit of gusto.

The Batch Clan are having a good week so far even though we are all swamped with STUFF! I managed to create a page last night using my favourite photo from the summer. I made some of the blooms using a scalloped punch, cut the scallops in to make the petals then used mounting foam for the centre with a smaller scalloped circle.

New Supplies

2010-03-22T20:06:00.003+03:00

While I was away I recieved two big boxes of supplies - so with some of my more recent pics I have had fun playing!

Catching Up

2010-03-22T19:35:00.006+03:00

I have been been a busy bee !! Back in UK for my knee operation which involves a long painful story of which the upshot is, I need a new knee; like I can just pop over to Debenhams and pick myself up one!!! Came back to Kuwait with Mum and Dad courtesy of BA Business Class, very nice !!! While I was a way getting cold and wet in not so sunny Cornwall the rest of the Batch clan went off To Phuket, Thailand for a week of sun!! How jealous was I! The girls survived Daddy Daycare ( and Night Care! ) and more to the point Batch survived them!

The LO opposite was made using some of their surfing shots-well beached whales BLESS! I kept with the beach theme and made it on some cardboard which got distressed ( very theraputic! ) The girls you'll notice got their hair braided Sienna looks like a very mini Bo Derek Ha ha!! I loved the shots Brad took of Sienna in the chair! Talk about lady of leisure!

Valentines Day

2010-02-14T19:17:00.006+03:00

Feb 14th is upon us and with my knee operation looming towards us rapidly I kind of forgot to organize a card for Batch - shame on me!! Rushed home from work - got out the Nikon and fired a few shots off!! Maya was given a gorgeous T-shirt for b'day which I really want to use as inspiration for a LO! I love the funky hearts and bling watch this space and see what I come up with! Any how I did manage to make a card in half an hour and Brad loved it ;-
.....................objective achieved !

The girls argued throughout the photo session showing no love at all!! But managed to catch one decent shot together - ahhh sisters!!!

family pic

2010-02-12T20:12:00.003+03:00

Forgot to add the family photo taken at the Bowling alley not the most flattering but the most recent! I have evil red eye

Maya's Party

2010-02-12T19:48:00.007+03:00

Today was Maya's party at the local bowling alley. She wanted to have some of the boys from her class this year, ohh how times have changed!! There were 22 kids and the best bit was we didn't have to do anything, everything was arranged by the party coordinator!! Needless to say fun was had by all as you can see by some of the photos!

I love the bright colours of the bowling balls, can't wait to do a LO of some of these. I did manage to do a Valentine LO last night. I found an oldish photo of Brad scanned it and turned it to B&W so that I could lots of bright colours in the LO. I had some Elsie F cardstock which I sanded to the white core. Then using an EK folk heart punch I punched loads of hearts from scraos and a paper dollie. I was pleased with the end result.

Double Digits

2010-02-07T19:59:00.004+03:00

Maya hit double digits today!!! Not sure if her turning 10 or me turning 40 this summer makes me feel worse - but I do feel older today! As the tradition now on the 7th Feb, no cake was eaten instead Banoffee Pie was made and consumed ( Maya's Fav - and far easier to make too! )

Finished my LO from the weekend - it was inspired by the ever creative and wonderful Lizzy Kartchner
I love her use of pretty colours and retro touches. I made the flowers for the page using circles of PP and punched hearts which I then inked and secured in place with a brad - dead simple but pretty!

Beach Weather

2010-02-06T22:03:00.009+03:00

AS I mentioned before Spring is in the air - Brad and Sienna cleaned out loads of toys today. I came back from my Ballet Classes to see bags of toys & clothes ready to be passed on! I did have to rescue a few things first, including my teddy bear!!! The very nerve!!!

Here are some photos of a beach trip yesterday Maya is barely dressed but it was freezing! Love these photos too, have made a page of some of this but have to wait for some decent light to photograph it as my scanner died a death!

this and that

2010-02-05T20:09:00.009+03:00

I have had a fairly easy going week manage to get creating but really hanging on for some new products I ordered off a http://www.acherryontop.com/ to arrive. It's been nearly two years since I last bought new stuff to play with and I need some inspiration. My scrap supplies right now almost feel as outdated as the huge bag of clothes I have just removed from my wardrobe! The good thing with chucking stuff out is that you make room for new stuff to fill it's place. Spring is definetly in the air here in Kuwait, the gardens in our neighbourhood are now blooming.

I love this time of year out here, the weather is gorgeous there is a bit of a nip in the air but my kids are happily running around in shorts and vests. Sienna had some fun doing some photos with me, she can't sit still and will pull the craziest of faces! We did manage a couple of cute shots though I love the photo with her wings!

Maya turns 10 in a couple days. She was the inspiration behind my scrapping this week, every year I try to do a fav things LO so that we can mark the changes of the years. Maya's list hasn't changed much since last year but she did include her christmas pressie, i-podtouch, as well as her clarinet . Her party is being held at the bowling alley next weekend, she

decided to have boys at her paty this year - ohh how things have changed! Guess I just have to face facts she's hit double digits she is gonna want a whole lot more besides in the years to come -Hoping I will be prepared!

Sienna's stage debut

2010-01-30T06:15:00.002+03:00

This week saw little Sienna up on stage, bathed in light performing her role as 'stroppy girl' wonderfully!!! The Reception classes at TES were doing their rendition of Happy Hat Land - a show that has not hit The West End or Broadway buy I'm confident it will!!!

Sienna was so cute her confidence and enthusiasm were amazing, she is so different from her sister who at that age could barely play a triangle on the stage let alone deliver some lines and dance so inhibit free infront of strangers. WEll done Sienna we were so proud of you.

The New year

2010-01-23T22:40:00.004+03:00

The Batch Clan did New Year together this year! This was the first time we took the kids out with us for the New Year and what a blast we had!! I was amazed that Sienna had the energy to keep going but keep going she did. I have not written any new year resoloutions

but I have managed to give up the 10 can a day diet coke addiction. I have started the Pig to Twig diet and i have started creating again but lets watch this space and see what happens with all that. So using the piccie above I created a LO last week with some yummy BG paper still in it's wrapper from over a year ago - the shame!!! My word for the year should be

CHANGE

A year on !!

2010-01-23T22:09:00.003+03:00

Hard to believe that time marches on and you end up leaving thimgs by the way side. Well i have found my way again and started creating and making time to create more importantly. I have been cutting up stuff again and although I now love shutterfly and have seen the benefits of quick fix digi books the paper process can not be beaten for kicks. This page was finished last night, Sienna has grown up a little!! I have found myself using up my old products I have stashed for past year and itching for some new stuff.

New Year's Eve

2008-12-31T23:21:00.002+03:00

Dec 31st

Sitting on the computer with my cat watching me type. Too shattered, too boring, too old!!! ha ha to go party! Family all jet legged and asleep it seems to have the opposite effect on me. So haven't written on here in a while and need to update about to make the usual boring resoloutions all of which i will fail at by wk 3 of JAN

SO - Blog and scrap more reguarly make time to create
Find patience wiTh my children and those that I care for
Shift that arse yep weight and my sedate approach to things.
KEEP off the FAGS
GET organised - use note books and phone to remember deadlines and stuff!!! Clean out
and throw out !!!

Enough I think ! Achiveable well we will see!!

January 18th

2008-01-18T12:10:00.000+03:00

Weekend!!

Ok I'm a teacher and I know to many it seems like we have permanent holidays but I am so glad it's the weekend!! We have had a great week busy but great!! Why great ? WELL Sienna has only had 1 or 2 hissy fits as opposed to the normal 8 - 10. My Drs appt showed some signs of improvement on my leg / wound. Brad had a DR appt and all his general check up tests came back clear. So all is well in the Batch household - for now ( hee hee )

I have had a fairly productive week scrapping and have managed to keep on top of the 365 which really is prooving to be a challenge. Have also started doing the Elsie 52wk challenge at UKS - glutton for punishement I think!

Want to share some of my creations - Last weekend I finished a 6x6 book for my friend's mum the fab camel photo was taken at our BBq in the desert.

The Photo of Maya on the Harley was taken 2 summers ago in MT . Used loads of ribbon to back the photo then embossed the large flower. I used Hambly circles to fit with the circle theme of the page

The family portrait

2008-01-12T07:20:00.000+03:00

So i am still doing the 365 challenge. Have impressed myself at keeping on task working fulltime and doing this is a challenge . Yesterday's prompt was to include a few more family members . My girls were bribed and changed and then spent then next 40 mins laghing and jumping on the bed. Sienna would not sit still eventually I got a shot that was ok ( see it on my 365 blog ). Looking over the pics this morning I realised there were some classic shots . Have shared them here but believe me some were priceless!!

For the UKS site I completed a lo - using a sketch, stitching, somethingnew, 3pps, and a doodle

Pics of Sienna were from last week - loved the colours in the pics

Jan 6th

2008-01-06T22:00:00.000+03:00

Back to work today - a bit of a shock to the system but made all the more sweeter with news that the Islamic New Year will be on Thursday so we have an extended weekend - woo hoo!

My 365 blog thing had become a bit of an obsession - have got to scrap the last few days in to my G Journal.

This weekend was major clean up in the Batch house Brad rearranged the entire kitchen and I the sitting room - obviously that spring cleaning nonsesnse has some ring of truth in it. Sienna's reaction to the spring clean was, " Mummy wow we have a new place !!! " cute!!

The girls had their last blast in the park before school took some fab shots of Sienna bolting around like a nutter.

Came home tonight to see her totally wrapped in a book in Maya's room I snapped awat with the camera and she varely noticed me - wish she could be as chilled as that a little more often!!

Uploded some pics from tonight and park and a shocking photo of me which I used in my 365 project - clink on link opposite MY365.

ENFYS FLOWER

2008-01-04T02:06:00.000+03:00

My fellow teamie on UKS is one of those super talented all rounders!!! I admire the hell out of her because what she can do with a needle would make a brain surgeon pale in significance. I was v. grateful for my recent Crimbo present from which was a pair of Daisy earings - however I couldn't let them go to waste on me so they got scrapped tonight ( well one of them did )

Check out her web by clicking on the link opposite. Rainbow Designs

Day 3

2008-01-03T20:28:00.000+03:00

I am posting my 365 pics in a separate 365 blog - see links under 365 ( my 365 )

I'll post todays here then after that I'll just keep them on the other blog and leave this for my other scrapping and rambling stuff.

Took the kids to Green Island today a man made island made into a park in Kuwait the kids had a great time I got some fab photos of Sienna zooming around will try and scrap one later.

Finished my 365 journal cover last night - that was so fun to do. Used decoupage glue and finish to adda cool waxy effect tothe book. was flicking through Elsie's 52 book last night and was inspired by a LO hence the cover , covered in G's for GNOMES - thankfully g's are an alpha I have plenty of!!!

day2 365

2008-01-02T22:07:00.000+03:00

Here is day 2 for 365 - BLUR

new Los and 365

2008-01-02T21:05:00.000+03:00

I am posting my last couple Los - A coverstion with you - which came from the pencil lines sketch blog - fab blog ladies!!

And A New Face which is my first attempt at Anna Bs - 365 Project

I am working on a journal to keepthe 365 photos - I am going to try and be religious about doing this I don't have enough pages about me so it'll be intersting to reflect upon it later I'm sure.

Avoiding my marking!!

2008-01-02T20:13:00.000+03:00

So I am now on countdown to go back to work. The reality is there are only 4 days left - BOO HOO!! The other painful reality is that under my scrapbooking desk is a pile of marking that really shouldn't be avoided untill next week. I had good intentions to today to tackle 'THE PILE" but WW3 broke out between my kids and I ended up pulling out a craft profect to occupy Maya and keep her mind off the destruction that was being caused in her bedroom by " take no prisoners' Sienna!!!!!!

The project in hand was an American Style Mail Box made from chipboard and ready to alter. It also came with 12 blank cards - we decided that the cards and box could be used as a reminder to Maya when chores need doing or homework finishing or just as a reminder for events. We had a lot of fun decorating it although it was tricky in places . MY sister bought me a K&CO ready scrap back for my b'day which although normally too pretty for me was perfect for this and it came with coordinating this and that - fab no brainer!

So by the end of the afternoon I had marked 0 books, wrote 0 medium term English plans and written 0 Weekly plans for next week - oh well Maya does have a cute mail box ( cards to follow later) and I got to take photos of my dog!!

2008-01-01T19:38:00.000+03:00

Some images from Masoud's & Judith's

Annual NewYear Eve's bash. Cheers - we all had a great time even if our poor heads aren't quite feeling right today!

Batch and I started out at Si & Trish's where I sampled her super strong ( how dare you cut it with anything but an ice cube ) margaritas. The recipe for which would make a winno wince! The firework display was fantastic, Batch and I agreed our highlight was watching a couple of local Kuwaitis run for their new cars to protect them from the mortar

shell type displays. Have to say for a dry country there wasn't a dry lip in the house that night. Keep it flowing guys!! No idea how this will be scrapped as now have a backlog of sesonal photos to do - loved the firework pics though may focus on those.

Untill the next round of parties this bird is going to be tking it easier - reality bites on Sunday though back to work AHHHH!

Hangover Cure......of sorts?!!?

2008-01-01T18:46:00.000+03:00

Sienna today was up at the crack of!! Batch managed to fall downstairs to get her the usual morning pint of milk but for love or money are kid was NOT going back to bed. Very incosiderate bearing in mind the hour we went to bed last night ( this morning !! ) She was in hyper mood most of the morning feeling ' a situation' arising I bribed her with cutting and sticking. Bless her, she was so good. She chose the scraps she wanted to use and I drew out a border for her to keep with in , then pritt stick in hand off she went. Not having the energy to much else myself I snapped away on my NIKON D80 and a new page was born.

Mummy had to give the odd bit of guidance but bar the journaling and title ( which she coloured ) the page was her own.

An hour later she was in the bathroom minxing away with the bubble bath and shampoo collection making a concotion but I did have respite for an hour!

Desert BBQ

2007-12-31T15:54:00.000+03:00

The weather in Kuwait is just beautiful this time of year- sunny blue skies with a bit of a nip in the air - it lasts for only a couple of months before we get back into the 30s and 40s when it is unbearable to go out. To get out and off our Christmas Sofas a group of us went out into the desert up onto Muttla Ridge . We had a fab day. The boys played baseball with the kids, we all had a go on the quad bike and we stuffed ourselves again.

We pitched up close to a camel farm so we were delighted to see the camels move down into the desert half way through our day there.

One poor fella ( camel ) had his legs bound to stop him bolting - obviously a tear away camel which all the kids felt sorry for. The baby camels we saw were particularly cute. I am going to try one of Ali Edwards multi photos sketches to scrap this event as I have a ton of photos and I haven't done a double LO in yonks.

CRimbo photos

2007-12-31T03:45:00.000+03:00

I haven't got these up yet - have managed so far to LO one of the shots but I have a feeling that just like last year's they will take me a year to scrap. The Seasonal spirit is escaping me fast. Not one to say BAH HUMBUG but really we have eaten, drunk ( courtsey of some v. good friends), spent ( i have zero cash ) and enjoyed the season - I need to start thinking about clearing away. The deccies will be down soon - infact sooner rather than later!!!

Loved Christmas mind you and was given some fabby pressies - highlight has to be my 16 drawer ceramic and woooden unit from MUM to put my embellies in ( NICE ONE!!! ) Also loved the ROXY gifts from colleague ALI a girl with fab taste!!!! :)

So for realies out there a couple of shots of Maya and Sienna

Messy with Paint

2007-12-31T00:44:00.001+03:00

Got messy with paints tonight - fab!!! One of the pleasures I get from my hobby is the ability to play. I am not an ORGANISED scrapper. I don't plan from a sketch. I look at my photos, papers or an embellishement and then it starts. Kind of organic scrapping if you like an idea just grows. Take tonight I started with the white paper ( a challenge from scrapbook .com ) I had to leave 75% white. Then I found the photos looked at the colour in my Maya's t-shirt and that was that. The paints? Well I was unwrapping some pottery earlier and had the bubble wrap on the table again the idea just happened - I liked the effect. Also cut off some of the wrap to use in the LO.

The photos are from a trip to Glacier National Park 2 summers ago. We had to hike to get to the snow but it was Sienna's first encounter and she loved it.

Designer jeans Day

2007-12-30T21:32:00.001+03:00

These are some images from an event I organsied at school in November. We held a Designer Jeans day to raise money for the third world nationals who live and work in Kuwait under abysmal conditions. The charity Operation Hope gives warm clothes and blankets and shoes to men who basically live in grotty rooms sharing with up to 20 in one room on little more than a mattress and working in a boiler suit and sandals 20 hrs plus a day, earning a basic salary of less than $60 a month!! Our school raised over $1000. My two girls loved the event and had great fun decorating their jeans in allsorts!!!!
The LO I made last night was a reminder of the event and an opportunity for me to point out to my Maya that she has inherited her Daddy's ( Graphic Designer ) genes.http://www.operationhopekuwait.com/contact%20us.htm

Check out my Slide Show!

2007-12-30T02:11:00.001+03:00

First page

2007-12-30T01:15:00.001+03:00

These are the furst two pages I ever created - some 2 yrs ago - I realised early on that I was an embelisher! Although my pages have "cleaned' up to a certain extent my scrap booking adage has always been - " If I couldn't embellish it would be hellish! "

2007-12-29T19:45:00.000+03:00

One of the reasons I started to scrapbook was my daughters. They deserve some kind of record a heritage if you like.
Both my sisiters were into it ( scrapbooking ) in a major way, I often laughed at them - you see scrapbooking had the same conotations for me as tupperwear parties a middleclass/middleaged bored womans pastime. OK so I was soooo far out with that deduction.
I bought a mag leaving Heathrow on a return trip back to Kuwait 3 summers ago. Loved what I was seeing, realised there was a lot more than the creative memories type scrapping out there, not that there is anything wrong with that BUT it was NEVER me!!! Checked out a few websites realised that credit cards and shopping were involved another bonus for me and sent away for my goodies. OHHHHH it was like Christmas - big boxes loads of sparkly coloured bits, lovely papers, gadgets an opportunity to make a mess and get creative - in a way I hadn't since school there was no looking back!!!!
My DH and I love to travel and are fortunate enough to do so - quite often. My first page ever was HUNGRY BUDDAH my eldest DD feel in love with Buddah on a first trip to Thailand 6 yrs ago she loved how food was brought to the temple for the monks - so consequently she put 2 and 2 together and came up with the phrase of our trip - hungry buddah - the Thai people loved it and loved her which made for an even better holiday for us.
here is my first page