Project Wednesday ~La De Dah Finale

Project Wednesday again, huh? This week I thought I'd go through my final pages of my La De Dah Smashbook, can you believe it? I'm sort of surprised it took this long actually, I'd really not realised how many pages I'd had to do to complete this book XD
Let's jump straight back in then with this two-page spread:

These were about my spanish holidays I took around September/October. (Last year was a really good year for holidays...) both Face's family and my Dad wanted us to go with them, so we went twice! First we went to Mallorca, on the left. It was a good holiday we spent not doing too much, just checking out the town we were in really. I still managed to collect a bit of stuff for this page though. The right hand page was the Ibiza/Eivissa page, where we did practically the opposite with a lot of touring around the island in a hire car. I even went swimming in the sea! On the right hand page is a bracelet I bought to wear for a while, but it quickly wore down to copper and turned my wrist green...so now it lives in here XD

This page was done towards the end of the year about all the places we'd been on daytrips that I didn't really have enough stuff for to make a whole page X3 I used my instax camera quite a bit on these trips and so I lined them up overlapping slightly, but they lift so you can see the pic under it too x3 The trip to Gloucester was really cool actually, I did have quite a bit from that trip so it was a bit of challenge to get it all on the one side XD

This page was completely an odds and ends page. Right at the end, as I was so close to finishing the smashbook I had so many random bits of paper hanging out in the pages waiting to find a home. I didn't really know what to put on this last page anyway so I did a 'true' smashbook on it and just smashed it all in! It has everything from pictures I drew, cut out or took to a DVLA notice that I don't own my old car anymore XD

The finale is a little boring- the very last page and back cover I didn't do anything to, though in retrospect I'm not sure why not. The pocket is full of other pictures I couldn't find a proper home for, to maps and stuff that were just too big to fit in.

And so that was my 2014 La De Dah Smashbook. I hope you enjoyed taking a more detailed look at the pages as much as I enjoyed creating them. I guess I'm going to have to look into a more detailed view of another book now. Which would you like to see more of? My Thai holiday smashbook, This is Not a Book by Keri Smith, or something else? Let me know x3



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Project Wednesday ~Smashbook Video

Well, you all knew it was coming...the video to my Thai Smashbook travel journal XD The eagle-eyed of you may've noticed that this has been up nearly 3 weeks now! I can't believe myself that it's taken me this long to post it up here.
I don't really have a lot to say about it that I haven't already written in the previous completion post, or whiffled about in the video itself. I thought I would talk through this video to sort of explain my processes and and where certain things came from...but I sort of went off on a tangent throughout to explain more about the holiday itself, oops! If you have any questions feel free to leave them here or in the comments on youtube, I'll reply either way ^^
So this is probably the last you'll be seeing of this smashbook in quite some time, aren't you glad I'll stop going on about it now?



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Project Wednesday ~Thai Travel Smashbook

Here it is guys, I finally finished my Thai Smashbook from my holiday to Phuket in 2013! Wow, this thing has been a while in the making, mostly due to my own procrastination (of course) but I'm so pleased it's all done with now! I thought I'd show you through a few pages in lieu of the video I'll make when I get back from Download.

I actully tried to prep this book a bit before I left on the holiday as I was intending to fill it in day-by-day as per a pinterest pin I'd seen that made it sound all so simple. Yeah. I forgot I'm just not that great at being out the loop, particularly when I'm on holiday! I don't want to shut myself away and play with paper and stress about writing when I know my family are enjoying themselves exploring a new place! So saying, I did manage it for a few days- I stuck in the 'Beware of Airship Pirates' printable before I left then stuck in the relevant flight stuff in the airport and plane. Yep, I took this thing in my hand luggage!

This was a page a little further in- we'd been getting our exploring on around some of the sights of Phuket. Here we visited Chalong temple- it was so beautiful, and had so many intricate details. We had a great time looking at everything there and getting way too warm from the heat of the Thai sun. We found a good way to cool off though- not far away was a beach so we went swimming! I couldn't believe the Thai sea was so warm, it had no chill at all yet was still so refreshing. And moped-ing back to the hotel in our wet clothes was actually fun too!
The right hand page of this set features lift up photos which have details and more photos stuck underneath, but I kept this page pretty simple :]

Face and I found a club that suited us to a tee while out exploring one night when the others were ready for bed (good old nocturnalism xp) and spent a few hours in there admiring the decor while watching a guy sing some rock and metal covers. It was a good way to spend an evening!
The page itself was really simple, but I actually really liked how it came out. I found the cards on the right in some stuff that my Dad was about to throw away and figured they'd come in useful somewhere, and this page was born x3

One day we decided to go out on a day trip to something you couldn't get to by moped- James Bond Island. Sadly Face couldn't come as he'd managed to sustain some pretty serious sunburn and wasn't feeling up for anything much, so it was just my Dad, sister and little niece. Still a good group! We had a great day being taken on a long boat, in a canoe and finally to see the island where we went into the water and got some pictures taken by a friendly fellow tourist x3
I bought a postcard for this page and there's writing on the back with more details about the trip. I also have some more lifting photos to the right with even more photos and details. I didn't feel that all the actual pages in the smashbook suited the trip sometimes, like this one with a travel van, but I just sorta covered them mostly when I didn't feel they were fitting with the theme XD

After two awesome weeks it was time to go back home. I collected some paper stuff on the way home in Abu Dhabi which is what I used to try and give this page a little more interest than repeating what I'd already written for the outward journey. As ever, I also ganked a menu from the plane :x
Well, that was a pretty quick rundown but I hope you enjoyed it, there will be more featuring soon so pop back to have a look x3



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Sunday Catchup ~Family Time

So it's been a busy week for me! When I look back on it, it feels like so long ago I was doing stuff on Monday, yet the week also seems to have gone pretty fast.

Monday was Face's Mum's birthday and so we got up early and went up town to see what we could find that she may like. (This is always Face's way- terrible! XD) We actually did pretty well considering we went up with practically no ideas. We had a bit of a mooch before going for breakfast, but apparently food was what was required as once we set back onto our task we found a few things that were spot on, nice! Mid afternoon we headed to our workplace, as we'd arranged to have the birthday meal there! It seemed like a really weird idea to me, but Face was confident and we spent the afternoon setting up the table and chatting to co-workers. Even on days off I can't get out of this place! As everyone arrived we showed them to the table and they all seemed pretty impressed and really seemed to enjoy themselves and most importantly, Face's Mum loved it and the presents we'd found! Woop!
Tuesday the weather was still bad so I spent the day indoors playing with pages of my Smashbook, I'm so close to finishing it now! Nearly always a good way for me to find the motivation to carry on XD

By contrast, Wednesday was beautiful, the weather has finally turned which was great as it was Face's birthday! We got up quite early as he decided he wanted McDonalds for breakfast, we made it there with a minute to spare, just about :x We went up to his Mum's after and had a bit of a chat for a while before gathering the family and heading off to spend an afternoon in the arcades at Stourport-on-Severn x3 It's not a particularly big place, but it has plenty of 2p machines and that's all Face needs so if he's happy then I am! It turns out his family are pretty big 2p machine fans too so everyone enjoyed winning tat keyrings XD
Thursday the weather was getting ever better and I took advantage by sitting outside in the sun writing in my diary before I had to go to work. It was so sunny I even had to go get my shorts on as I was overheating in my black trousers! *crosses fingers for it to be similar at Download fest!*

On Friday I had the house to myself but I decided to go out an develop a film I finished on Wednesday from my Konstructor camera. While I waited for that, I nipped to pets at home for some food for the dragons and then home for a while. I'd worn shorts all day but it suddenly got really cold so I was pretty pleased to get into my work uniform for a change! I collected my prints too and they turned out really well, I even had a few shots from Tokyo in the mix! Really made me think I should've taken it around with me more...then I remembered how much other stuff I'd already been taking with me everyday so was pretty pleased that I at least got these shots XD
Yesterday I was by myself again and it turned out to be one of those vegetating days, not good for my productivity at all. I did spend a little more time than usual with my pets though so it wasn't a day totally wasted.

And today although it's been nice out, because of my inactivity yesterday I made myself stay inside and spend more time on my Smashbook! I was so close to finishing it too but just ran out of time before having to go to work...so that's what I'm off to do now! It'll be nice to have something completed before Download...then I suppose I'll have to get onto another travel journal XD
Have you had a busy week? Or like me, another busy week next week? I can't wait for my next two days of work to pass me by!



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Sunday Catch Up

I thought this week I had actually do a weekly catch-up, since that is supposed to be what Sundays are for around here XD I keep finding excuses to skive off and write about something else, when I've got every other day of the week for that ;p

So, last Monday I had some time to myself and set about with my Thai smashbook, I keep saying I'm really close to finishing, and I am! But the problem is I'm a massive procrastinator and keep putting it off to do other things. This works with pretty much all my crafts...applications...life. Ahem yeah. I'm pretty good at it! Anyway, I completed the page before this one then got onto this page, which I didn't get time to complete before I went to work. Tuesday was supposed to be a normal shift but I ended up doing a night shift too when a porter rang in sick, I intended to get loads of things done in the extra time I was going to be awake (during my breaks anyway ;p) and actually managed to do a couple too. Not bad for a 16 hour shift. I'll get to write a little more about that later though, as I want to make more of a post about it.
So Wednesday I ended up sleeping a lot, and when I did wake up I went out with Dad plant hunting XD There were a few spots in the front garden that needed a filling. I've not really been in the garden much since Dad came back, part of me feels like I've turned the garden over to him now but a major part of it is that I just haven't had the want as the weather is not very nice recently. I know it's 'wrong' but I really am a fair weather gardener :x

When I got to work I was pretty tired from the night before, but I got help to set up and then got to spend an hour or so watching an advert being made for our hotel! Our staff were the actors which is kind of strange, but not too unexpected when I think about it (cheaper to use staff XD) and everyone got overly embarrassed but seemed to be proud of their work once it was all over. I can't wait to watch the ad on our website when it's released! I got out of doing being in front of the camera because my I don't suit the company standards, even though they apparently value individuality as one of their core principles. If it didn't get me out of something I didn't want to do I'd probably be more annoyed about it XD

Thursday was my long awaited day off- after 8 days on I was more than ready for a day to do what I wanted x3 I'd had a ton of invites from friends of stuff to do and I ended up going over to Wolverhampton to visit a friend who works in a college over there. She also takes a photography course and runs a blog about her start up business, Lachaise Photography. She'd arranged for us to go check out the college darkroom and develop a film! We went for a wander up town first, looking for one thing but coming away with another as ever ;p
When we went up to the college I learnt about the different chemicals and the general process it requires to develop a film into black and white manually. Although I could imagine it would be a pain if this was the only way to develop a film, as someone who is so used to the digital age there is definitely something super cool about 'making pictures' x3 We didn't get time to print any onto paper, but we did check out the results of what we'd done with the help of some bright lights and a free negative reversal app xD It kind of made my appreciate the effort that goes into film developing and why it's so pricey in an age where it's not really needed anymore, even if it is mostly done by machine anyway.

Friday it was back to work, so after a couple of hours at home where I still felt like I was catching up on the sleep I missed out on on Tuesday, I went in to a fairly quiet shift. Face was busy all day though, making a wedding cake for his Mum's Wedding blessing the day after. I took a few progress pictures in case his Mum wanted them, as that's the kind of over infomation share I enjoy about big events XD He's never made a big iced cake before, so this brought a whole bunch of all new challenges, but he had big ideas and was determined to carry them off, and I think he really managed to pull it off...

So Saturday was Face's Mum and Step Dad's wedding blessing. They have been married 8 years now and with this and that going on in their lives, felt it was time! Face and I started early with last-minute preparations, even though the blessing wasn't until the late afternoon. After running here and there all morning we went round to his Mum's place and got all dressed up- trust me, it's not often you'll get me into a dress! Face's sister did my hair, and did an awesome job with it. The shame of not being very feminine-ly minded is that I don't get much chance to see my hair looking cool XD I really liked these curls!
Anyway, the blessing itself was beautiful, barely a dry eye in the house as the vows were being said, everyone feels for this lovely couple! Then we went on to spend the evening at the reception, eating, drinking and chatting to everyone. Although I'm not social I can enjoy the feeling of being around those who are and just absorb the atmosphere :]
Today has been less eventful as I just wasn't feeling it. I tried doing this and that but nothing was striking me so I ended up wasting my time before I went to work, which was crazy dead. So a little cleaning was in order and after a small productivity stint I felt better XD
So that was my week! How was yours? Did you wear your maybe-once-a-year dress? ;p
Catch you soon,



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Project Wednesday ~Thai Smash Page

This week has been so busy! But the other day I managed to sit down with my Thai smashbook and get on with a couple of pages. I've actually done a bunch of pages after the other week when I said I would do this as my next concentrated project, but I don't want to start getting into detail on these pages when I'm still going page-by-page on my LaDeDah journal :] But I remembered I said I'd show you my progress on this book and I haven't really done that so far, so that's what I thought I'd do today.
So, the first picture there is showing what I've started with- a table full of washi tape, adhesives and other odds and ends! I always find it best to scatter these things around myself before I work as I don't like getting up to get extras when I'm trying to concentrate. I've also got my phone nearby usually, just for a little music so I'm not working in silence. I was in the mood for the Steven Universe soundtrack! x] Youtube can be terribly distracting though so if I find I'm starting to watch it I'll just switch over to the music folder and play that on low instead.

So, first thing to do with all that gathered staff is to try and figure out what looks good! I shuffled the photos around, placing them and replacing them and as you can see after a couple of shuffles I added in some extras to see what they were bringing to the page and its layout. By the third photo I basically knew where it was going and although I liked a couple of the other arrangements too, similar ones were on pages beforehand and I don't like the repetitiveness so soon. But that's okay! Just pushes me to attempt to be more creative ;p

Once everything is placed about where I want it I take a photo on my phone, this is because I very often layer stuff over other things and as I'm gluing things down it all gets misplaced and my memory isn't good enough to remember where I wanted it all to begin with...so this is an easy solution anyway ;p So my phone is off to the side as I start to put double sided sticky tape on the backs of everything, starting with things that are 'lowest' on the page. I prefer double sided tape as it is solid once it goes on- but it isn't very forgiving if you accidentally place a corner on the page while sorting out it's place!

There was a bit of a last minute change here as I refound a stirrer from a drink in one of the photos, and it was obviously more important to be placed on the page than the little sentiment I'd found to be there! So the sentiment got placed further down the page, as I still felt it was pretty appropriate xp Once everything was glued into place I added a few things on to try and bring the page to life a little- touchings of washi tape and a clip xp I do like decorating the pages with these things but I don't want them to take over the point of the page.

So this is the finished article- took about 45 minutes total (mostly cause I'm slow) and I think it's not turned out too badly x3 Do you use a smashbook? Are you methodical like me or do you not mind 'smashing it in' as the tagline suggests?



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Project Wednesday ~La De Dah Smashbook

Another month, another look in at the La De Dah Smashbook! We'll jump straight in, shall we? This page was for a concert we went to, and the dossing around Birmingham we did beforehand XD We went to see Patent Pending and discovered an awesome new band too warming up the crowd were People on Vacation, fronted by the lead singer from Bowling for Soup! It was a brilliant show, and a good day all round actually ^^

This page was about some home ideas for when I eventually move out. I'm pretty comfortable where I am at the moment, but as I'm getting older (like, way too old to live with my parents!) I realise that soon I'm going to have to make the leap. And to prep myself I like to gather these little ideas for what I could do with my home. I've mostly got these little bits from magazines, and I guess they'll be pretty outdated by the time I actually come to use them!

I had a bunch of pictures knocking about my desk for this page about my tattoos :] I'm not much into super deep meanings for tattoos, more for the look of them, so this was really more about why I chose what I did and where I had it done. That Libertines flag has seriously been on my desk for over 3 years! It finally has a use, thank god for smashbooking!

These two pages are completely unrelated, the one on the left is about the staff party I went to in January, it was one of the last pages I did actually. They had this cool photobooth there and we spend some time mucking about in it XD It as a good laugh. Under each photo is a little scrap on what we got up to and the food that Face made for the party.
On the right is a page about a cross-stitch I did for my Mum. My Dad was going to visit so I asked him to take this with his as a present. It took me a long time to do as the first proper cross-stitch I've ever done so I was pretty proud of it. And I couldn't bear to throw away the pattern paper once i was done, so it was fairly obvious where it was going to end up ;p

This page was one of the very first I did- starting with all the things I already had planned for the year then I added onto it it at the bottom once I had other things booked! At the end of the year I'd gathered all these things that wouldn't go on other pages so I smashed them all together here to make a sort of collage of my year x3

This is one of the only things I did this year that got two whole spreads to itself! I am always excited about Download Festival and this year was one of the best! The weather was perfect and we just had a really great time x3 We always make a bit of a holiday of it, so the first couple of pages are about what we did Wednesday & Thursday and the others are about the festival. Only a month before we do it all again! I can't wait x3

I'll leave it at this page I think- this one I did early spring when I was pretty excited about what I was going to do in the garden x3 Again a whole bunch of magazine clippings were incorporated as ideas and I also put in a few plant tags of stuff I'd already bought to put in. I got the 'favourite things' envelope from Hobbycraft and it seems to fit in pretty well on this page, it holds in place surprisingly well too!
Hope you liked yet another detailed look into this scrapbook! Do you have a smashbook? I'd love to see it!



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Project Wednesday #5 ~La De Dah Smashbook

The weather has been really lovely this week so far, except for Monday, my first day off this week. I took that as an opportunity to get very invested in one of my Smashbooks, so while smashbooks are in mind, for today I thought it was time to come back around to my La-de-Dah book, and show a few more pages from it :]
So, this first set of pages is kinda just one page but I put in an extra page using the front cover of a magazine, then covered the back with pics from inside :] I went to see the Libertines in Hyde Park, London, and I was so excited! They are my favourite band easily and to see them back together again was just overwhelming. This page is a mix of stuff I collected from the BST festival, magazines and even a patch I had lying around x3

This next set of pages is one of my favourites in the whole book! I did a 100 Happy Days challenge with my sister, and and once I was done I got all these tiny pics printed out and spend ages cutting them to size to do this page! The page wasn't big enough for all the pictures though so I put in another 'expansion' page to fit even more pics in. I actually wanted to be able to lift the pics with a washi hinge originally but I couldn't think of a way to do that that wouldn't make the page look messy. So there isn't much writing on this one, just a keep it simple page :]

When I was at work one day I came up with this super awesome idea for a business and spent the next two days or so finalising all the details XD Once I knew exactly how it would all work and what would be included I thought I would make it a page in my smashbook XD I'm not one for making my own businesses so it'll never go further than this page, but it was fun to think about it x3 The right hand page is more of a daydream wish for when I move out.

This is a simple page for my birthday. This page started out being the page after the christmas page but after adding an expansion pack it made it's way more towards the middle of the book! I really think I could've done more with this page, but I didn't seem to have enough little things to stick in to liven it up.

I'll leave you with this one for now. In January our town hosts the first big tattoo convention of the year, Tattoo Freeze. I'd been before but not for a couple of years so I thought it was time to check it out again! I ended up getting a tattoo too, the sparrow in the corner (which by September I had re-worked to look a lot better ;x) but I had a good day and collected a bunch of stuff that needed sticking somewhere ;p
I really enjoy smashbooking, but as with most of the crafts I choose to do, I am not quick at it. These pages all took me quite a while to put together and although some came out better than others I'm pleased with it overall. Give it a few more weeks and maybe I'll put some more up from this La-De-Dah smashbook :]