Sunday 31st August

Well yesterday it felt like summer was over - not surprising since it's been such a cold August.  At least it wasn't a very wet one, and we had lovely weather during our week on the Gower.

But today there are beautiful blue skies here - perfect drying weather.  The lawn desperately needs cutting but my DH has been busy ironing all the kids uniform, he drives me mad at times but I do know I am very lucky to have such a wonderful man.

We [royal 'we' there, since my sister and mum paid] hired a canal boat yesterday and enjoyed a leisurely chug [just what word do you use to describe a boat journey?] along the River Trent from Gunthorpe to Farndon.  It was so relaxing and pleasant, if a little chilly when the sun went in and the wind started gusting!  Heading back it got much warmer so we finished the day on a positive.  I saw at least 4 kingfishers darting along, just above the river.  I kept trying to point them out to my sister [who hasn't seen one before] but couldn't get the word 'kingfisher' out of my mouth in my excitement at seeing them.  I resorted to telling her that if I pointed and made a strange squeaking noise I had seen one - so of course no more were seen. 









We also saw a huge bull in a field with cows - he found one of them quite attractive which resulted in me having to cover my daughter's eyes! 

I ticked 'a horn' of my scavenger hunt list to when I spotted these other cows

#11. A horn.

and grabbed this very poor photo on the journey home.

#1. A sign welcoming people to your home town - not that it's exactly saying welcome but it's the best on offer - sums Hucknall up quite well really.

If buzzard or heron had been on the list I would have been quids in - it got quite boring seeing them in the end.  I'm lying - I adore seeing buzzards swooping and soaring on thermals.

 

 

Crickey, this is a picture heavy post - I think I quite like it that way though, so must try to do more of it in the future,

 

Louise x

Last minute...

....entering of a challenge over at Lasting Memories.

 

 

The layout was inspired by the colours in this photo, they are so summery and bright



It's a mix of mainly old (I don't often use much red and orange) and some new stash (washi, brads, flowers, chipboard).  I had some photos that I wanted to rescrap and the colours of this challenge fitted them well.

Louise x

It would be so wonderful

to be organised.   However, I have discovered a new activity to  avoid the ironing  organise my scrapping. 

I don't scrap chronologically but I do store in yearly albums.  I admire people who have separate albums for each child/person - and sometimes different albums for different themes eg school, hobbies and so on.  I have all on finding the right year's album to bung the LO in. 




I am a person who regularly purchases notebooks, planners etc. with the intention of being so much more organised from now on and managing to be so for only a few weeks [mainly because I mislay said notebook or just don't remember to use it or look in it].  How I wish I had a fairy godmother who could bestow the gift of 'organised' upon me.  Perhaps then I would know where I had put that important letter ...... or my new credit card ...... or my house keys. 


See? I am that disorganised I have completely wondered off from the point I was going to make.  At least I can look back at the top and remind myself - I won't bore you with how often I get half way through a sentence and then forget where I was going 'cos I've thought of something else meantime.  Oops doing it again.  My organising [and definitely not ironing avoiding] activity is to photograph ALL my LO's and put them in folders [on the laptop, not physical ones] with the album year on.

I know it's neither ground breaking, nor earth shattering, but it works for me.  That way when I want to check which LO's need journaling or a title or some other finishing touch it is much easier to check.  Now this rather embarrassingly reveals the fact that I don't always/often [delete as required] totally finish a LO.

I blame it on having too many photos to scrap, definitely not on being really a bit lazy.  Sometimes it's because an appropriate title just won't spring to mind. 

I was surprised HOW MANY layouts I had done but mainly it was by the fact that I could remember the ones I dislike much more than the ones that are good.  I also want to redo so many of them but wonder whether it would be better to leave them as they show my journey as a scrapbooker,

Louise x

It's nearly over...

Hi there, it's saying something the woman behind the card shop counter looks at you pityingly and asks 'how much longer until they go back?'.  This was because my 14 year old [younger-by-one-minute] son was - as usual - tormenting his 11 year old sister.  I used to relish the holidays and be so sad when they had to go back to school and I couldn't spend all day with them.  Now I'm lucky if I get more than a grunt from the boys as they sit hunched over electronic devices.  Either that or they go out hiking in the local woods [which I suspect may involve building dens and making camp fires].  Not that they go out together mind.  Mine are not the closest of twins - but perhaps it's a teenage thing.  It certainly seems to have happened once they got to secondary school and were put in different year halves.  We have 2 secondary schools nearby and they chose that one because 'all their friends' were going to it.  By the end of Y7 only one of those boys remained a friend and the rest were all new ones!


Here are a few more photos from the Scavenger Hunt.  I still have a few to find but since the challenge doesn't finish until 23rd September there is hope for me yet.

#4.  A group of tourists - well no-one lives on the beach so they must be!

#10. A photo bomb - also from the beach, I was so busy focusing on capturing my DS's that I genuinely didn't spot the young girl so clearly in the shot!

And finally [for today anyway]
#14. A parade.  Ok so I am really stretching it with this one, but I am going with this being a Parade of Surfers. 
Sod's law that I didn't think to get my camera out and take a photo as they all walked down the path to the beach, which did look much more like a parade.

 

 

Still, this is the first year I have taken part so I am still learning [hey it's an excuse and I am sticking to it!!!]

 

One day on the beach my Mum commented - 'what is she doing wearing that brown skirt with a blue checked top?'  [luckily it wasn't that loud that said woman heard her].

 

Well it turned out that the long flared skirt [with an elasticated waist] was actually a cover-up that the lady used to discretely change into her swimming costume.  It so reminded me of the special towel my Nana always took to the beach.  It was sewn up into a tube with a draw-string contraption at the top.  The idea was to be able to get into and out off your swimming stuff on a busy beach - it took some skill.  Particularly if you hadn't dried yourself thoroughly first!  And if no-one stood nearby to offer a hand it also involved falling sideways with no hands free to break your fall.  Oh those were the days :)

 

Louise x

Scrap Much Challenges

With the last little bit of time on my hands before the new term starts I have been blog hopping.  Partly to give me ideas for my own blog but also to inspire my crafting. 

I have just spotted this challenge using colours that I adore



aren't they a fab summer sorbet combination? 

Well I just had to have a go, and here is what I came up with.

About 8 months ago I was sorting my albums into proper order [cross referencing with photos on my laptop - what a faff!] and realised that I had barely any layouts done for 2009.  So I am now trying to scrap photos from the last year AND add to my 2009 album.

The floral MME paper has all 4 colours in it, I misted a doily in red and alpha's in aqua/blue and red.  I've also thrown yellow and grey into the mix as neutral/grounding colours.  Don't know if you can read the journaling but it explain how my DD decided to put on every item from my pyjama drawer.  She found it soooo funny, especially when she fell over and couldn't stand back up!

I was also inspired by this sketch



and knew just the photos I wanted to use

I had to move the right hand cluster below the photo so that I could fit the title in and shifted the photos over to fit in a journaling card.  These challenges are helping me get my photos scrapped but I'm not getting much ironing or cleaning done [not that I ever really need an excuse to avoid them]

Thanks for looking

Louise x

Paper Secrets Aug 15th Challenge

I spotted this sketch challenge over at Paper Secrets and decided to have a go. 

 I had to change things a bit as my central photo was smaller than the other two.  Mine also didn't look right with pp totally across the bottom, so I changed the photo mats a little to compensate.  I also reversed the position of the embellishment clusters as my title was too large for them to work the other way.

 

 

Here is what I used

C - Cardstock background
A - Aqua patterned paper banners, Alpha stickers
M - My Minds Eye (Papers, Journal Card and Brad)
P - Punched flowers

Thanks for looking,

Louise x

Merly Impressions Challenge

The current challenge over at Merly Impressions is to make a layout which features journaling to tell the story behind the photo.

You can find the challenge here and there is time to enter, the closing date is 2nd September.  I try to journal on my pages, and usually feel they aren't quite finished if I don't.

This is my entry for the challenge, as the journaling says it is a rare photo of me and my daughter together, from the days when she was more willing to pose for the camera.  I so love this photo that I can see me scrapping it more than once!

The background paper is American Crafts, and the jars were cut from another AC sheet. I inked the heart and swirl die cuts and misted the doilies, I also used part of a PL card and washi tape.  The pink and green flower was cut from mulberry paper and secured with a brad.  I am really pleased with how this page turned out, which isn't always the case for me,

Louise x

Time for Tea 27th August

Hello, do come in and mind the cat who is dashing in between your feet.  No he isn't our cat - that one is the neighbour's, ours is a much smaller ginger and white cat. 


Please ignore the state of the gaming/music/craft room - it just never seems to be tidy. And forgive my older-by-one-minute teenage son who doesn't believe in getting up before 10am if possible and often follows this up by not getting dressed until the afternoon [and on occasion has been know to say at about 3pm that there really is no point in getting dressed, so he stays in his pj's for the remainder of the day].

Come and sit at the dining table whilst I make us a cup of tea.  Do you take milk and sugar? I like my tea weak and milky but if you would like I shall give the teabags another stir and prod before I pour your cup.  I am showing off today and using a teapot - I have to confess that usually the teabag goes straight into the cup.  Infact my DH gets first go of the teabag and then what is left usually makes a perfect cuppa for me :)

 Would you like some cake? My Mum made it - she is a magnificent cook.  I must get the recipe from her as this is a particularly moist and very tasty boiled fruit cake.  It is gorgeous isn't it - she kindly made my Christmas Cake last year  using this recipe. 

 Can I top your cup up?  I am looking forward to starting a new job in just over a weeks time, in fact there will be quite a few new staff starting at the same time so I am hoping to make some new friends.  Who knows, perhaps one of them will scrapbook or craft, that would be wonderful.  Tell me about your work, I love hearing what other people do. 


Did you go anywhere nice over the summer?  We visited the Gower.  It only rained once and we all got a little sunburnt at one time or another.  We loved the beach at Port Eynon - we could walk there in 5 minutes, it took a little longer coming back as it was all uphill.  The younger-by-one-minute son also liked Rhosilli Bay, the surf was perfect for body boarding so we visited there twice.  The weather has turned very autumnal now that we are home and the evenings seem to be getting dark quite early.  However the light is so beautiful in autumn and the leaves changing to red, orange and brown look so wonderful, so there is always something to enjoy in the season. 

 

 My word, look at the time, it really does pass quickly when you are with a friend.  Let me walk you to the door, thank you so much for visiting it has been really lovely to chat to you.  I look forward to seeing you next time, I shall let you know how my new job is going and you can share what has been happening in your life,


Louise x

Sketch-N-Scrap Challenge August

In the last few days I have discovered 6 different sketch challenge sites.  I really liked this sketch

and have interpreted it in my own way, using the banners idea but putting my title down at the bottom instead.  I also only wanted to use 2 photos.  It was the Sketch Number and web addy that inspired my embellishment cluster at the bottom right!

This is a mix of MME papers and a cut apart journaling card sheet.  I punched the strips of paper at the bottom and glittered some DIY thickers for part of the title.  I didn't have enough of the blue letter stickers so had to adjust some others to fit. I went over them all with a sakura white pen and quite like the effect for this page.

I will be back a little later to share a cup of tea with Abbie, over at Creating Paper Dream,

Louise x

Paper Secrets Challenge

I came across this sketch and challenge whilst blog hopping.

 

 

 

 I really liked it so decided to have a go.  This is my take on it.

 

Part of the challenge includes incorporating S W I M into the layout.

S - stickers (Simple Stories) and stamping (also 'skewwhiff' on the  washi tape!)

W - wooden heart, washi tape, words (journalling) and the letter 'w' in the title

I - inking around the paper and die cuts

M - mist (used to colour the ticket die cuts), matting behind the photos and My Minds Eye papers.

The hexagon place mat doesn't go all the way across - in fact the right hand side is made from cutting out the hidden parts on the left hand side.
 

Thanks for looking,

Louise x

Tuesday 26th August

As a teacher I have managed to do a fair amount of scrapbooking over the last few weeks, but once I am back at work will spend a lot of my time marking and lesson planning and very little time crafting.  [I'm not complaining - well not at the moment but no doubt the odd little grumble may escape my lips in a few weeks time :) ]

I am going to save most of those LO's for when I have a little less to blog about but here is one I would like to share today.

 

It's based on a start to finish challenge over on SJ Crafts blog (the challenge has finished but  you may find the starting point as useful as I did).  I haven't added the journaling yet - it was my cousin's wedding so I may get a quote from each of my children for this.

I used my Quirky Kits Lite for the LO, along with some die-cuts bought from that well known auction site.  I have only just started subscribing to the kit but have been very pleased with the two I have had so far.  There are items in there that I would never buy normally, but this has actually inspired me to try new things.  And the Lite kit is [in my opinion] excellent value for money AND affordable at £10 every other month.  Just to reassure you I am just a happy customer only and have no other link to the company.

Yesterday was spent "school shoe shopping" for my 3 kids - except that two of them still measured the same size as last time, so we are sticking with those shoes for now as they are still in good condition.  We just bought the one pair of shoes and then nipped to Trespass for walking boots.  One DS [the older-by-one-minute boy] found a pair he liked but the other DS [the younger-by-one-minute boy] is much pickier but we managed to find a suitable pair online.  He does want them for Saturday,  so if they haven't arrived by then my life will not be worth living.  Grumpy teenage boys, hey?

Louise x

Me on Monday

My intention is to link with meme's on other blogs (hope it isn't that road "lined with good intentions").  The general idea is that this will help keep me blogging regularly.  Sian has suggested the fantastic idea of 'Me on Monday' featuring a photo of oneself and summary of the weekend just gone.  So here goes

My weekend was a car packing, room checking, 230 odd mile drive back from Overton on the Gower to Hucknall, Notts (or at least my DH driving me and my two DS's that distance), unpacking, laundry doing, fish and chip eating - which we didn't do whilst on holiday! - scrapbooking, quirky kit finishing, blog publishing, blackberry picking, plant watering/rescuing, dead-heading one.  

Today it is raining, unlike the absolutely fab weather we enjoyed in Wales (yes you read that correctly) last week.  The cat is bored and no doubt will live up to his name of Jack the Nipper before the end of the day. He has that look on his face.

Monday 25th August

A fortnight ago we visited Alton Towers theme park.  We enjoyed a fantastic day and, despite what the weatherman said, it didn't rain. :)

I got bruised shoulders from The Smiler (and don't think I would bother with the ride again) but thoroughly enjoyed my 4 goes on Nemesis and 3 rides on Air.  I also went on Thirteen and Sonic Spinball.  

More importantly I found #18.  A waterfall.  It may be artificial but it is still a waterfall!  I had to use my (very old) phone camera so the quality is poor.

 



A few days earlier DD had an orthodontist appointment - this netted me
#17. A lamppost.

and #6. An urban street scene

 

 

I intend to use this blog to help me RESTART (!) my project life album so the intention is to post as often as possible as a reminder of what happened in the month - wish me luck, as I'll need it. :)

Photography Scavanger Hunt

I decided to take part in Rinda's Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt.  I was hoping to get a good chunk achieved whilst we were away.  I managed quite few but can you believe that despite being at the seaside I couldn't find #5. A rack of postcards!!!

Here are 3 I did get (there are others but they can wait!)

#3. Birds on a wire.

 

 

#8. A tattoo on a person. ( I had given up on this one when this gentleman kindly wandered in range of my camera - wonder if I can claim this as a photo bomb too, LOL)

 

 

 

#16. A sign in a language other than English.



 

 

Just before we went away I was looking back at some old LO's.  I try to find things to like about them as I have too many photo's I still want to scrapbook.  However there was one I couldn't leave so I removed the photos from the (very cheap and naff) paper they were stuck too and produced not one but two quite different for me LO's.  I don't normally do white space or lots of fancy die-cuts on a page but am really pleased with these two pages.

A first go with modelling paste and 'flowery' die-cuts. The die-cut flower and large swirl I have had for several years, along with the blue flock powder used to cover the thickers.  The frame is also old but was painted to match the LO.  I have entered this on the SJ Crafts blog - this photo (and the LO below) is from my Baptism Day, the day I declared my intention to travel the rest of my life with God and Jesus at my side.



Wondered about adding a title but am happy without one on this page. Again old die cuts and new die cuts mixed, a new PL card but an old(ish) photo of my Baptism Day.

Hope you are enjoying a good summer (or winter) where ever you are,

be back soon

Louise x