Here it is...

My monthly blog post... he he he ;)

So what's been happening in the Stevenson house since the last time I blogged? Well this little man turned 2 *sob*. There's just no way of getting away from the fact that he isn't a baby any more. He had a great birthday, getting lots of really NOISY toys.... seriously, why did I think it was a good idea to buy the noisiest boy in the world a microphone!!! Although to be fair that particular toy lasted less than a week, as he preferred to drag it around rather than use it to sing into. So I took it back, and got some rather lovely, and quiet garden toys in it's place!

Mum and Dad came up for Drew's birthday then took him home with them for a few days. I bet it was really quiet not having him in the house, but I wouldn't know because I was at the Sarah's Cards retreat in Warrington.! I can't believe it has been a year since the first. Another successful retreat.... except for a few hiccups on the hotels part. I was teaching again this year with Jen as my glamorous assistant. We had to decorate our own aprons, and seeing as we are both Twilight fans, that seemed the only way to go! The aprons started off really pretty, with a frill and everything... but that soon got cut off, and after a bit of paint and mist, iron on transfers, machine embroidery, slashing with a craft knife, and the addition of some sparklies, the Team Edward v Team Jacob war began! Obviously Team Edward was the clear winner... who'd want a boyfriend that may look good, but smells like a dawg!!!

This was my class LO. A clear LO with a mini book on it. The class seemed to go down well, and the results were all very different and personalised, which is fab.

It was absolutely fantastic to meet up with the DT again... and a great Saturday night was spent in the bar with Vanessa, Nat and Gems. I'm feeling a trip to Wales in the not too distant future ;)

All in all the weekend went waaaaaaaaaaay too fast, but at least it's only 8 months until the next one in November.... whoop whoop!!! On the Friday night the challenge was to use a sketch to create a LO. This is my interpretation. There were lots of fab entries from the delegates, and it was really hard to choose a winner. You'd think that having a weekend to scrap, with no housey/childreny interruptions, you'd get loads done.... not so! I only got 2 LOs done. But just look at my second LO, isn't it fab! I absolutely love it! It's my new favourite style... lots of layering and lots of randomness. It doesn't have a title, but I don't think it really needs one. The acetate calendar in the background, is part of a mini book from Sarahscards. I really like using it, and have loads of pages left, so expect to see them appearing on a few more LOs in the not so distant future! I also bought a few sets of new stamps at the retreat. My favourite being these and these by My Mind's Eye... (even though I've just spotted these which I also need) but I just couldn't resist this cute lil donkey, and this super cute fawn! Because obviously they will get used ALL the time ;)

Over at the Twisted sketch blog, it was time for Team B's LO. The twist was *frame*. This photo of Oliver and Harry taken at their art exhibition in school was perfect to use. I overlapped a number of frame stamps on white card to create a patterned paper to cover the twist. Both boys like the LO and argued over whose album it was going to go in.... guess I'll have to do another the same! Go check out the fab inspiration from the rest of the DT, and don't forget to add a link to your LO so we can visit and leave a comment. I recently became a Studio Calico kit subscriber.... OMG how did I resist for so long! I've only had 2 kits, but I am seriously in love. Today I finally made myself actually start using the kits!!! I did this LO, in super quick time this afternoon whilst Dink was having a nap and the other two were off doing whatever they were doing! I really, really love the wood grain paper by My Mind's Eye, and the wood grain fabric strip that was included.... and just how cute is that bumble bee stamp!

Right... off to do some more and ignore the hugely big ironing pile... I may just adopt the iron as you go method for this week ;)