Yay!

Happy sunny monday!

Just a quick post to say a MASSIVE thank you to Laura who has announced on her blog that I have won a free place to join this class of Shimelle's in the coming week! happy smiles! I am so excited because I saw the class and thought that is just the thing for me! I am however a poor student so decided much as I would have loved to do it, I would have to give it a miss! I saw Laura's giveaway and thought..lets take a chance! clearly paid off! he he! Cannot wait cos it co-incides with my summer holiday! scrappy time here I come. What a lovely end of exam treat!

Hope you all had a fab weekend!

Loves xxxx

the significance of one photo

Shimelle posted this the other day and it has inspired me to share a very recent photo that I love..

I have known this girl for a week.

We couldn't be more different but also so similar.

She lives in a country recovering from war, I live in a country of peace.

She had never left her home town, I have been boarding away from home for 6 years.

She is a muslim and I am a christian.

She speaks arabic and I speak English... ksadhahsdjhashdjashdjashdjashdjahdjhaskasjdhkasjhdjsahdjash heello how are you I

Yet, she has taught me so much in a week. She has the most beautiful personality and such a sense of humour. She has taught me a few arabic words and shown me how to write it as well. I have helped her out in her (already very good) english. She has cooked her national dish for me and I have shown her what a boiled potato is! She has come to all my lessons with me and I have taught her how to use a film camera. I love you yms s-di ashd aslkdj aksdjaksdhjkh jadh ads;lkd lokjd ajsd sjdakdsjd jhsa jdhajshdjsa

This is my friend Rasha, who has come to stay at our school with a few of her classmates from Lebanon. It has been amazing hearing about her experiences and getting to know her. She is truly a very brave young lady and it has taken her such courage to be away from her family and travel to England. sakjdkjsajdkasjdksajkdjsakjdklasjdkajs jdaksdj akjd jalskdjaksjd jdalskdjk asjdksadj jdalksdj alksj

This picture is a reminder to me of my new friend, of the mild fear she lives in each day and ultimatley that fact that whatever happens she is still just a teenager just like me.

ajsakdklasjdklsajdkjas djalskdjksajdskajd ajslkdjsakjd jdlaskdjksadjskjdal jdskldjskjd jalskdjkalsjd

Thanks for stopping by!

Loves xxxxx

A little bit stuck..

So... this is me today...

Pondering over the little things of life.

This is my dilemma. I want to sell some of the things I make.

Two reasons really. I want to expand my craft and have been told by readers like Lizzie that I should sell some of my things like prints.

and...uni is just round the corner so I am saving bit by bit but would like a little pocket money to spend on craft supplies.

There we have it really. The dilemma comes as to how I should sell handmade items. Etsy, seems good however for a 17 year old ever so slightly complicated. It also relies on me being there for my customers every day, which I can't be cos of school.

There is a similar UK site called Folksy which again looks really great and very similar to Etsy. The same problem occurs though, I can't be there all the time.

What I want and perhaps it is a pipe dream, is somewhere web based where I can sell my handmade products as and when it suits me. I also don't really like having to pay to list my products because that could be quite expensive for someone like me who is just starting out.

My dream would be to sell stuff via my blog, however I have no idea how the payment would work except through paypal which again insists on taking a commission of what I get from sales. ( I am loath to do this cos that would mean I would have to push the prices up and I really want what I sell to be at a good value for what it is worth.)

So.....anyone out there who has a bright idea, I would love love love your help cos I have so many ideas of what I want to make and sell but just can't put it into action.

Sorry for the little winge! It's a lovely sunny day so I will come back later with hopefully a bigger smile! Thanks for stopping by.

Loves xxxxxxxx

Etsy help needed.

Hi all.The other day one of my lovely readers (sorry can't remember who!) eeep! Said that I should sell stuff on Etsy. I thought to myself, what a fab plan, I mean who doesn't like some extra cash?! Well..after reading the website I have found out a lot but would love some advice from sellers and buyers of the site.

To the sellers:

It says on the site that you have to pay a charge to list the product and then etsy take a proportion of the profit. Is it profitable? As in by the time you have listed it several times and

then sold it do you make much of a profit?

On average how many times do you have to keep re listing a product?

How do you make people aware of what you sell cos there is so much stuff on there?

Do you charge for postage?

Say you were selling photos, would you print due to demand or stock up?

How many items do you list in your shop?

How quickly do you have to post items to buyers. Do they expect next day service?

To the buyers:

Would you be interested in buying prints of photographs?

What items do you tend to look out for on etsy? As in what sells well in your eyes?

How much would you pay for a 8x10 print?

Would you be interested in tutorial kits that come with instructions and all the paper etc you need?

Sorry, a lot of questions there are definitely they don't all need to be answered but would appreciate any help or general tips. I can't start an etsy site till I'm 18 but I'll be 18 in September so hopefully over the summer I can get all the things I want to sell together! he he! so excited.

Thanks for stopping by and reading too many questions!

Loves xxxxxxxx

One beautiful summers day

Yesterday was a good day.

The sun shone,

I went for a cycle ride and..

I took a lot of pictures which always makes me happy!

Here are just a few... Also..exams are all over so I am wandering around the house wandering what to do with myself lol! Mind you better start on that reading list preparing for interviews at uni. My teacher has told me if I am seriously considering oxbridge i need to do at least 100 hours of reading in the summer! eeeeek...best start today then! Lol! What have you all done this lovely weekend?

Loves xxxxx

cascading photos

Hi

Special day in our house as the littlest one is now 14 and now not so little! Ah, he looks so grown up! Anyway, I thought I would do a quick tutorial on how to make a cascading photo card or wall hanging. It's very very easy and looks really effective. Also if you have little people I guess this would be a simple activity with a really nice result..

The finished hanging should look something like this: (sorry for the bad photos!)1. Choose a selection of pictures. For a bigger choice of paper when you get round to making it, print the pictures in black and white, then you don't have to worry about clashing. I like my art to be symmetrical (personal preference!) so I chose the same number of portrait and landscape photos, but all landscape or all portrait would work just as well and in different sizes!

2. Matt the photos on cardstock. I used quite a big matt on each one. I kept to just two colours for continuity but again you can adapt this to suit you. You could even used patterned paper if your photos weren't too busy.

3. As my hanging has a lot of busy photos I kept embellishments fairly minimal, just using some chipboard frames and patterned paper, alphabets and some handmade grungy circles. (Just layer up different sized circles and sand the edges before gluing together!) Again cos I like it to be symmetrical I alternated between the paper embellishment and the chipboard!

4. Line your pictures up in the order you want them to hang, top to bottom. Get a whole punch or eyelet setter and punch two holes in the bottom of the first picture on either side. Place the next picture underneath and with a pen lightly mark the position of the holes so you know where to punch on the top of the second picture.

5. Get some pretty ribbon and thread it through the pictures, taping at the back. Continue punching and threading till you get to the end of the hanging. As you can see from mine, I adjusted where the holes where cos of some of the bulkier embellishments.

6. Finally Cut out squares of cardstock the same size as the matts and stick them on the back of the hanging to cover up the tape. I wrote a message on this as well!

7. Fold the hanging up concertina style (it should do this easily cos of the ribbon) and then when you give it to someone they hold the top picture and the rest should cascade down!

Hope you've all had a lovely day, back to skl tomorrow! hey ho! Thanks for stopping by!

Loves xxxxxxx

A serious lack of scrappy time going on here!

Happy rather rainy yucky grey tuesday. in June????! JUNE! would you believe! I came back from school after a rather nice week of sun so packed lets say optimistically! So far I have had to borrow my brothers jumper and my mums cardigans. eeep!

The thing I figured was that I can layer clothes if I am inside and ultimately we're now in June right? therefore I feel justfied to wear shorts round the house, even if that is with a jumper on! Lol!

So besides my fashion disasters I am suffering from a serious lack of scrapbook time! Comes with having only one exam before half term. I now have several big exams next week ahhhhhh and a driving theory test to revise for!

So, as we have no scrap stuff to show I thought i would share a few fav songs at the moment...

1. The writer by Ellie Goulding. Beautiful song!

2.Eden by Phil Wickham. one he is THE most beautiful man, and secondly the lyrics to this song are amazing! Also listen to Cannons by him.

3. Hey Soul Sister by Train. It's just such a happy song to work to!

4) It's only life by Kate voegele. Also hallejuah by the same artist. So, music in the little world of Abi! Would really appreciate prayers for tomorrow cos I have my theory test and am rather worried I will fail! Thank you Oh and as a side, you know when you are a scrapper when your mum comes home brandishing a collection of paint chips she has successfully taken from a DIY shop under the pretence that she is painting her walls! Gotta love her! Thanks mummy! Thanks for stopping by Loves xxxxxx