Me on Monday

Hello to you all.  Well it is a very typical British Bank Holiday here - absolutely tipping it down.  So I am joining in with Sian here.

It's been a quiet weekend here, although Friday was much busier, it involved scraping mildewed paper from the bathroom walls (which I may have mention in Me on Monday last week), followed by weed-killing before being topped off with a very l~o~n~g visit to the opticians. 

The bathroom needs attention because certain teenage boys do not seem to understand the idea of *opening the window*. 
 
They refuse to have it open even an eeny, weeny, teeny bit because that then causes the bathroom door to open a small amount.  
(I have to explain that it is a folding door - there not being enough clearance inside the bathroom for a 'proper' door.)

We did have the option of making the door open outwards but I am sure one teenage boy would have managed at some point to open it into another teenage boy - they need no excuse to fall out.

So , you ask, what is the difficulty with *opening the window after the shower* - what indeed? But in typical teenage style it doesn't get opened (nor do the towels get picked up off the floor, or dirty clothes get put for washing ..... *sigh*.)  They are, at least, very clean teenage boys - or should be given the amount of time they spend in the shower.  This of course, along with the closed window, causes lots of steam and then lots of condensation on the walls and ceiling.  Most of the wall is tiled - but the top 12 inches or so is painted, and it is very speckled grey black, rather than the lovely white it was originally. 


So last year *turns slightly pink* I purchased some bathroom paint to remedy the situation.  That time I got as far as scrubbing the mildew, which over the next many few months returned and increased.  This time I have removed some of the paper (since it was lifting away from the wall), scrubbed the ceiling again AND sealed it with watered down pva glue. 

I also got lots of bits of wallpaper and plaster in my hair and down my top (I hope there was none left when I got the opticians!)  The dribbles of PVA, that dripped down, resulted in me looking like I had some nasty skin complaint.  I spotted most of it before I left the house and had to do some surreptitious rubbing once out in public.  Which probably added to the skin disease impression now I think of it!

Before we all ventured out to get our eyes checked *you'll be pleased to know that we all have them* I tried doing some weed-killing.  I say tried because for the third day running it rained about 30 minutes later   >:(

The younger-by-one-minute son 'bagged' first slot at the opticians and the older-by-one minute went next.  They both headed straight home afterwards.  To prevent moans of boredom I whizzed the girl around a few shops (her favoured pastime).  I went last which, when you bare in mind I then have to choose and be fitted for new specs, is probably NOT the best order to do it. 

Hubbie had time to go and buy some cakes (egg custard for me) and then nip to Tesco with the girl - I didn't bother telling him she wanted to go and buy a bra, why spoil the fun? 

Saturday involved the usual food shop, a trip to collect some clothes I had ordered (in the sale of course)

mine were in a slightly larger size LOL!

 











and to return some others (also in a sale).  It also involved realising we had missed an episode of casualty last Sunday (how had DD and I managed that?) so catching up on that and then watching the first of this weekends episodes.

Sunday was rather wet here and I spent the morning painting those parts of the bathroom ceiling and wall that I could reach.  I shall explain here that we have a long 'open' shower unit and I wasn't either tall enough or confident enough to reach across from the ladder to paint all parts of the ceiling :(

You can see that I need to do some filling and then apply a second coat of paint

 

Today I shall try standing on an old step stool in the shower cubicle to see if I can reach the missing bit, otherwise my darling Husband will find he has another job(!) and then it all needs a second coat.  Which will hopefully not take the best part of a year to achieve.

Hope you are having a much nicer Bank Holiday Monday weather-wise and also a relaxing or exciting day,

Louise x

This may be the last time, well for a few weeks anyway

Before you get over excited I'm not talking about my blogging, just in sharing layouts.  

Several weeks ago I seemed to be running low on photos to scrap.  Well done me, or so I thought.... I just found loads of photos I had put in divided protectors waiting to be scrapped.

But as I had forgotten their existence I did a trawl through my digital photos to chose some for printing.  I also decided to get some older photos printed out and as like to use 2 or 3 on a layout I edited 2 onto a 6 x 4 photo.

I have been using the fab sketches over on ScrapMuch? this month - I hope I get the chance to use them next month too.  I loved the clean lines of the sketch and chose 2 of the very old photos to use.

I had to jiggle the placement of the journaling due to my title taking up the original space, other than that I kept very much to the sketch.

These are photos from 2006 and I just can't believe how little my 3 used to be!  At the time the boys seemed so grown up.  I used a mishmash of papers - the chevron background was from a 6x6 pad, I hid the join between papers with the embellishment cluster!  I used my Jen Hadfield Pebbles die set to cut the polaroid frame, chevron arrows and hearts, and stamped then cut out the 'heart' this arrow.  I even sprayed the paper with mist (as in the sketch) despite not having a good track record with this :)

I have had to photograph the page in poor light so it doesn't look its best but I am trying to hit the entry deadline!

Thanks for taking the time to visit me.

Louise x

What is it with this triangles thing?

I have to say that the current fashion (fad?) for all things triangle has passed me by.  I just don't get it, but **whispers** I didn't get the moustache thing either.   And me a Maths teacher - I should be loving those geometric shapes, LOL!

 

So this sketch challenge over on Sketches in Thyme really was a challenge. 

I did consider replacing all the triangles with flowers or circles (now there is a shape I can appreciate) but decided moving out of my comfort zone would probably be beneficial... as would moving off the sofa occasionally as I will never lose weight sat on my bum :)

Well in for a penny in for a pound so I water colour painted with mists too - no matter how many times I have tried using them through stencils I either forget to mask around the edge or smear it (or both if I am on really fine form).  This I actually managed to do without too much stress **whispers again** in fact I quite enjoyed it!  This is what I did.

Now the paper does buckle - which stresses me slightly.  And why does uneven paper look messy for me when it looks arty for other people - what am I missing?  Some of the triangles are raised up on foam dots, you can't really tell this from the photo - and I wish I had made the green a bit lower so it came below the photo - although the torn paper in the sketch sits in the same position.  I also had to shrink the size of the triangles as my pics were much smaller than the sketch

The pics are from a day out at Rufford Abbey.  There is a ford that seems to attract 'youngsters who want to get soaked by cars splashing as they drive through'.  I don't mind as long as they don't whinge about being cold and wet afterwards.  The eldest by 1 minute son decided he would rather stay dry (which seems a very sensible decision to me).  However it was plenty warm enough that the other two dried out on the walk back to the car.

Thanks for visiting - have a good day,

Louise x

Everyday Moments

I am getting in a last few frantic days scrapping, before the lesson planning and marking starts again.

I am joining in with this sketch challenge over on ScrapMuch? - I do like their sketches!  As you will see I have rotated it 90 degrees to fit my photos.  I am also linking it to the challenge over on Sassy Scrappers too.

I am trying to be more arty/creative - hence the watercolour painting with mist spray. I even tried it around the edges of the papers (rather than inking them) - the jury is still out on this I think I may have watered the mist down too much.

 

 

The extra embellishment (paper clip arrow - don't cha just love Ikea?) links to the journaling.
 Forgive the dodgy picks - I have been relegated to the old laptop with no real photo-editing capability :(

 

 

 Why am I always short of ONE letter for my title?  I did try a 'z' on it's side...  but it didn't really work, the brown 'N' wasn't too dissimilar to the matt gold in the spotted paper.  If anyone has a spare letter 'N' in this Thickers set do let me know !!! :D

A few more stickers, enamel dots, some washi (MME same as spotted paper) and a bit of stamping finished the page.

I do love an enamel dot (although I find them hideously expensive - particularly here in the UK)

Anyway, as always I am really pleased that you popped by and if you say hello and leave a comment I would be on cloud nine,

Louise x

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/12787501/?claim=nybnue99vgp">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Scrap Much? sketch

Two weeks into September and I shall have forgotten that time to scrapbook ever existed, especially as I decided to accept the post of Progress and Achievement Leader for Year 11.  So I am scrapping as much as I can now, whilst I have the time.
I want to challenge myself, and this sketch did that -

it probably isn't a layout I would naturally use, especially as the most suitable photo's were of my younger-by-a-minute DS.

I am really pleased with the result. These were photos snapped last year during our May half term holiday at Little Haven. My DS (the younger by 1 minute one) had discovered a very interesting cave that he was desperate to go swimming in - until he found out how cold the water was!

 

I used up more of some sale papers I bought a year ago. I started subscribing to the fantastic Quirky Kits at about the same time and, other than buying white or cream cardstock, am not buying patterned paper until my stash is cleared.  Well... apart from the odd 6 x 6 paper pad and 2 huge paper stacks from TK Maxx (one of which was for using in an album for my parents' Golden Wedding). 

This LO used my now 'trade mark' white cardstock background, a super ancient cut apart journaling card by Simple Stories (actually from a girl's range but it matched), some MME paper, 3 Crate Paper slide frames,

washi tape and an arrow paper clip from Ikea.

 

I have very minimal storage space and it would fill only a few drawers of most scrap rooms I have seen 'on the net' but this means I know most of what I do have AND it isn't too hard to drag it out and use it.  My aim is to get through a chunk of it before the end of August.  I have had a week away so am desperate to get back to the scrap corner and stash bust some more,

thanks for visiting

Louise x

PS when I uploaded the photo I thought it looked bare so the ink splats are an extra addition

A reminder of why I scrapbook .....

 I

I was reminded just why scrapbooking is important (to me at least) when I came across some old photos of my daughter that were waiting to be scrapped. 

 

There she was, a few years ago, happily joining in at the skate park her brothers had pestered to go to :)  A year before she would have had to be taken to the play park as she wouldn't have even thought of trying to scooter or skate.

We no longer visit the skate parks - it is airsoft for the boys and shops for her.  Having said that DD did buy a bright turquoise mini skate board whilst on holiday this year.  She is also wanting a replacement trampoline as ours (whilst 12ft across) is too low to the ground for a larger teenager.

So, without scrapbooking those memories would have been 'lost' - although they are a little hazy since the photo's are so old!

Anyway I used a lovely sketch from Sketches in Thyme, I have found that my pages come together so much more quickly if I use a sketch (even though my LO's don't follow them slavishly.) 

Here is my take, using the photos of my daughter at the skate park.

 

Papers and stickers are Echo Park.  I don't care for triangles of paper at the corner of a LO so I used a swoosh of Jenni Bowlin paint instead (and mirrored this under the title to tie the parts together). 

 

I also used circle stickers in place of flair ('cos I don't own any). I prefer to use either a diagonal placement OR to have 3 embellishment groups.  I went for the latter in this case and added an extra grouping at the side of the photos, which I had straightened due to them being much larger than in the sketch.

 

 

Bakers twine in a circle and my journaling finished the page off.

 

Have a super day (or evening depending on what time it is with you)

 

Louise x

Another Layout, challenge and more using of my Quirky Kits...



I love my Quirky Kit.  This page was made using some of the Carrot Cake Muffin Lite kit, along with Crate Paper and American Crafts papers.

 

 

The layout is based on a fabulous sketch from 'Sketches in Thyme'.  It is one of their 4 August challenge sketches - and well worth a visit!  I layered some papers behind the photos as I don't have much luck with using mists, paints and stamping :)

I made the flower using smoothed out raffia ribbon from the kit, and topped them with prima flowers (also from the kit!).

 

 

 

The cloud die cuts are one of the fantastic 'unique to the kit' embellishments that Leo adds most times.  It is fab to get bits that only a few other people have.  I would never have chosen the pinky-orange elements  in the kit, but love how the colour works with aqua and have used it on LOADS of layouts.

The photo is from a walk around a local beauty spot and the new trail we discovered that follows a disused railway line.  It was a beautiful early spring day - sometimes it feels that we only get decent weather during March and April.  After a wet winter we take every opportunity to get out and go for a walk.

Thank you for visiting,

Louise x

Oh how they grow...

This layout was inspired by a sketch on the Lasting Memories blog.  It is a photo we have recreated many times over the years - although in the last few years we haven't visited Rufford Abbey quite so often.

 

 

I replaced the title with journaling and used ink and paint through a stencil rather than a second piece of paper.  The wings are represented by the butterflies.  The pink strip along the bottom is actually straight - it is my wonderful lack of photography skills that makes it look curved! 

I definitely need to use ink and paints more on pages.

 



 

 

The journaling tells how these 3 used to struggle and have to stand on tip-toes (or be boosted by Dad) to reach over the statue - now they are having to stoop down.  In this pic DD is 11.  She is 12 and a half now and by her 13th birthday will definitely be taller than me.  It has been a long time since I have been the shortest person in the family ... not sure if I am ready for it yet!

Thanks for stopping by - I really appreciate it :)

Louise x

Me on Monday

I am trying to find a few blogging meme's to join in with in the aim to maintain my blogging once back at work.  One I read regularly on several blogs is 'Me on Monday' hosted by the lovely Sian.

I know but I haven't done my hair yet!

So Saturday found me helping pack a car in the welsh rain, driving 220 miles from a rainy but beautiful Overton (on the Gower)...

... to a humid and thundery Hucknall (Notts), listening to the great Mo Farah win the 10,000m race during said journey, 

washing laundry from said holiday on the Gower ... 



There is more than this (and I had already done 3 loads!)


... and a duvet cover from where a naughty cat had slept on it whilst we were away (note to self - remind neighbour to close downstairs doors so cat can't sneak upstairs)...

... then beginning the task of watering and dead heading plants in the garden - which stopped when the heavens opened and I had to scuttle inside with the clean laundry! 

The day was completed with a gorgeous if unhealthy  takeaway from the very excellent New Hong Kong  Chinese.  (We aren't on the tourist map - unless you are a Byron acolyte or madly into stained glass church windows - but if you ever do visit 'mucky 'uckers' then the New H.K. is well worth a visit.)

Sunday involved a huge food shop as we always 'run down' food supplies before going away and so had very little in the fridge or cupboards. 

Yes  my children require a wide choice of cereals - the variety pack ones are holiday remnants (one box is definitely not plenty)

 

This was followed by more watering of the garden (boy was it hot and humid again), more and more washing and pegging out of laundry (and more fetching it in when the inevitable rain began) and BEST OF ALL making a layout. 

 
 

There was also watching of the World Athletics, accompanied by great cheering as Usain Bolt retained the 100m title...

... and cheering on Lewis Hamilton in the Belgian Grand Prix. 

Today will see me fetching uniform from M&S and trying to reintroduce the idea of MORNING to my teenage sons :)  I also need to paint the shower room ceiling with the bathroom paint I bought LAST summer in an attempt to reduce the black mildew that forms because said sons can not open the window to LET THE STEAM OUT!!!!!
(It is far too disgusting to show you a photo of it now - perhaps when I have painted it and it looks lovely I will do that.)

Louise x