Bathroom makeover!

I am so happy that my Blogger typeface has returned to 'normal'. I have missed blogging for a while since it was so frustrating that every time I created a post, it wouldn't include photos. Let's hope it remains this way now.

Welcome to my new followers. Thank you for joining us and I hope you like what you see.

For the past 6 months, I have been busy... dieting and losing over 1 stone - or for the benefit of my American friends - 18 pounds. That is good for me! LOL. I am a chocoholic and have had to curb my temptation, which I am pleased to say has been successful.

I have been decorating - my bedroom and 1st floor bathroom and having a general cleanup, as well as making a mini album for my sister's birthday (which I posted previously).  Phew! Maybe having such  rainy  weather this year has made it possible to get things done. If the sun is out, so am I and I do like to catch some rays in the garden - or at the local beach.

So here is my 1st floor bathroom makeover...

Before...it was more of a beach/seaside theme.

Without changing the bathroom suite - which would have cost a fortune in this size room, I basically painted the walls and ceiling white and added some colour!

After - still keeping the grey, I added black and white with a zing of yellow. It kind of gives it a 'buzz'! *Ü* What do you think?

 I transformed/recycled the big photo frame - painted the border gloss black, used some yellow card for the backing - and black card for the photo frame. I LOVE this photo of 2 of my grandchildren Eden and Ethan. It is a few years old but it makes me smile every time I walk into the room. *Ü*

So there it is. In another post I will blog my bedroom makeover...if only I didn't have so much hassle with editing the photos! I have an old editing programme which came with my pc and since I had my last camera, the programme can't handle the bigger pixels!

Have a nice day peeps.

Family Tree mini album!

It was my sister Carol's 70th birthday on Monday and I have spent many years researching my/her family history.  This past year, I was blessed to have Tricia help me. She found more information in 3 weeks than I did in 30 years!! Carol and I have the same mother but different fathers. She is the eldest child from my mum's first marriage. It was a very emotional day both for her and myself as I had also managed to contact a cousin of hers (that Tricia found for me), and it just so happened that she was holidaying this past week in Hampshire where my sister lives! She called in to surprise Carol and they had sooo much in common and so much to talk about.

I bought a blank 'FAMILY' word album to begin and then I used several collections of papers - Bo Bunny - Timeless, DCWV - Tattered Time and Simple Stories - Generations - again I had help locating some of these papers from sb buddies in USA. I made the front and back covers and all of the pockets to hold certificates and generation sheets from black cardstock.

Some Tim Holtz sprocket gears, game spinners and clock face. The charms are significant to Carol. The little birdcage is when her dad bred budgerigars and German Roller canaries.

A word strip that I cut from one of the 12x12 sheets unfolds...

An old photo of Carol's father I got from one of my cousins...the flap lifts to reveal his details...

The same for our mum...

I made a pocket to hold 3 journalling blocks for Carol to write on...

Thank you to Susan who came to my rescue with 2 keys that I had trouble finding. I made a folded pocket from a sheet of 12x12 black cardstock. The band has a magnet to hold it together and I used my new punch that I won in a recent blog hop at Cal's. *Ü*

It unfolds with areas to write her own thoughts. This is a photo of her paternal grandparents that Tricia found on the internet! Amazing.

Another pocket...with a pull out photo card of our brother Ken (who died 17 years ago). I forgot to take a pic!

More areas to write her thoughts.

The second key from Susan. 42 is the number of the house where Carol lived in Fulham, London as a child and it is also the year that she was born.

 The flap opens to reveal photos of Carol as a baby.

She was a secretary for The Football Association many years ago and then secretary to Fulham Football  Club after that - hence the typewriter.

 The flap lifts to reveal photos of her dad.

Inside back cover.

 I added gusseted pockets that I made from black cardstock to house a 4 generation chart.

...and birth, marriage and death certificate.

 ...and family information that Tricia had managed to find on Carol's paternal side.

 ...and maternal side.

Phew! It has been my biggest project to date and has taken me soo long to put together. I wish I had been able to video the album, it would have saved a LOT of posting of photos. LOL. It was fun to make and I learned about each family member and I now feel that I know them a little better than them just being a name in a book!

Happy crafting,