Summer not so long ago....

Whilst having a clean up of my lappo I came across some LO's from a wee holiday we had in Brighton one summer not so long ago. I love the colours in this one...
My Millie is not quite 4 years old here - now she is in P4. Time flies....

Look what we made....

My one and probably only hand-made Xmas card!
Yesterday the lovely Louise at Kitty Krafts gave us a quick diecutting and punching demo (great fun - want one!) at her workshop, then set us loose to make one of these! And after a bit of a battle of wits with a Martha Stewart corner punch - duh!!, I took my festive little card home and meddled a bit more with some inking and stickles! However, far from the peaceful bliss of creativity with some nice friendly grown-ups, this is what was waiting to greet me at home....



Play-Doh Oh No!!!!

Looking forward to...

Now that I have cleaned the Coco Pops from the kitchen floor (crunch!) I can get myself sorted out for going to a die-cutting workshop today over at Kitty Krafts! I don't know much about die cutting machines so I'm sure it will be really interesting. I'm hoping it might make my mind up whether to invest in a Cricut or much cheaper, turn the handle type of machine... hmm. Who knows it might make me just want both!
J

You Smell Baaaaaad!!!

Don't ya just hate that musty doggy smell...
Poor Gypsy, she coped quite well with her "hose down" all things considered. I think she resigned herself to her soapy fate quickly, knowing that soon she would no longer be burdened by insulting comments like "eeeew - you smell stinky!!!" and "go away - you smell!" And you know what, I wouldn't like to be told that either but then I don't roll in bad, smelly stuff (honestly!)and I take a shower every day.
Oh dear! Have to end this post quickly - I've just heard what sounds like half a giant box of Coco Pops spill all over the kitchen floor... kids!
Happy Sunday everyone!

Getting my scrapbooking mojo back online!!!

See when I'm needing a bit of a boost in the inspiration dept, I pick up a much loved book called 52 Scrapbooking Ideas by Elsie Flannigan. It's a few years old now but it is packed with brilliant layouts and inspiring ideas by the author and some guest designers that really get the creative juices going again. It's maybe not the kind of style everyone enjoys but I love its spontaneity and freestyle approach to design. The layouts lend themselves to using up lots of those scraps of patterened papers that we crafters can't bare to throw out! So... when I decided I would do some 12x12's for a change this book was my first port of call...
This one is scraplifted from a LO by a lady called Kendra McCracken and it was the use of the little scraps of paper round the photo that really caught my eye.

And this 'cos it's fun!

Whheeeeeeeeeeee!

A quickie!

Hiya!
I've clocked up another year on the age-o-meter since my last post! Thanks to all my family and friends for their love and support over the last year and cheers for all the pressies and cards (none homemade!!!) at the weekend and can I just say... my girls...yes Millie and Sadie I mean you - enough with the trips up to A&E on my birthday!! This is turning into a birthday tradition I could do without! Wee SadieBelle split her chin open the other day but has had it literally glued back together again and is none the worse for it. Bonkers!!
So... anyway - I thought it was about time I did a 12x12 page for a change.
I don't know if it's coincidental but since Scrapbook Inspirations folded, I do hardly any scrapbook pages. This one was a quicky for the Millie album using a pic that must be a coupla years old now but I still really like it. I think she might have a bit of the artist in her - be odd if she didn't cos both me and her dad do it for a living! I'm not sure I'm completely finished with it but I thought I'd stick it on to let you all know I've not been resting on my design laurels, whatever they are! I'm kinda wishing I'd started it on corrugated cardboard so's I could have built up some texture on it for a bit of extra dimension, but hey, I didn't! Next!!
Happy scrapping!!
J :-D

My first commisioned card....

...for a friend of my sisters. I know her a bit - she's a belly dancer, so I thought I could do something a bit more colourful than I would do for someone who was, lets say, not quite so exotic!! LOL. Hope she's not snooping about on here or that will spoil her surprise!
Have a creative, colourful, Sunday everypeeps!
Jak
xxx

Hooray - it's finished!!!

At last I've got it to that stage where I think I can say it's finished, wonky sewing and all, and although I am tempted to keep sticking random things of beauty onto some of the "quieter" pages I am going to restrain myself and wrap it up for sticking in the post. I hope Granpa enjoys it! (not as much as I hope Royal Mail don't bloomin loose it though!!!) For more piccies you can see my stuff on the DoCrafts website - www.docrafts.com where you'll find me if you look for jakamoo in the galleries they have there.
Have a creative weekend everypeeps!!
x

Hello!

Just like to say a big hello to Louise (and her hubby) from my nearest proper craft shop Kitty Krafts - it was lovely to meet you properly in person yesterday and I'm hoping to book a class with you soon. I'm looking forward to those lovely M&S freshly baked muffins when I come, us crafters need sustenance to keep our mojo working (any excuse)! I've only ever been to one scrapbooking class before and it's always nice to meet others who share the same interests so hopefully I'll be seeing you again soon!
Here's a card I made for a colleague at work who has just moved house which kind of sidetracked me from my minibook project which, to be honest, doesn't take much but I don't like to rush things and going by experience from my real job (graphic designer) sometimes it is actually quite useful to put something to one side so you can go back with fresh eyes. Sometimes you see something that didn't occur to you to do before and then sometimes you go back and think yeah, that's fine the way it is! I'm currently trying to work out a cover for it. I've torn and stitched fabric which looked nice but I changed my mind about it and now I'm going with a corrugated painted heart(I think)! Will post some more piccies soon!
Take care Crafty Peeps!
Jak
xxx

I like this one....

I helped the girls make these masks last year and they still have them and still play with them!

On a different topic - Granpas book is going like this... I'm trying not to get too carried away, honestly I am!