Bloggin' Bored - but learning along the way

Day #4 of 30 days and I am officially bored of the sound of my own 'voice' (typing? words?).

I did start finishing a post ...

(I have loads of 'started but not finished' posts - a bit like scrapbook pages really... you know the ones, where you only have a few bits left to do but start another page anyway).

... and then realised I didn't have the faintest idea where it was going or how I wanted it to finish. 
 

Funnily enough this is rather like my scapbooking again.

So there we are - Day #4 and I have already realised that I need to 'go back to school' ...

(and I'm not on about the fact that half term is over and work starts again on Monday :( )

... and use those writing structures that I never got taught because I had a very trendy and progressive English teacher. 

We had fun lessons but discovering we didn't know how to properly construct a letter 3 weeks before our O-Levels (doesn't that age me!) tells you all you need to know. 

Thankfully I had done a typing course so had an advantage here.  But talk about conjunctives(?) and I think of nasty eye diseases!

So now I need to research how to construct a 'story'.  I'm thinking it might be a little like a lesson plan, with an opening 'starter' to set the scene, the middle that contains the real information, and the 'plenary' at the end to sum up and check you have been listening.

 

Two of the blogs I find easiest to read (choosing my words carefully here to avoid offending people) have to be Julie's and Sian's.  I enjoy reading all of them though!

When I sit and think why it is because they are both excellent wordsmiths.  And, unlike me, they construct well told stories that are interesting and amusing.  They don't seem to lose track half way through and wonder what it was they were originally talking about. 

I need to PLAN my posts, just like I would plan a journey.  There may still be the odd diversion along the way, but if I'm heading for Devon I really don't want to end up in Fife.

Any tips, advice or heckles will be warmly welcomed

and as always a big thank you for reading and an even bigger thank you if you take the time to comment,

Louise x

Lasting Memories Challenge Layout - Day 3 of the 30 days challenge.

We have just collected two tired boys on their return from Geneva.  Well I say we my OH had to collect them at 8am, just a little earlier than the expected 3 to 4pm arrival time! 

More on that later.  Today I am sharing a layout made for a challenge over on the Lasting Memories blog. 

Hot drinks and stencilling.

The photo I scrapped is from March 2011 and was from my sons' (they are twins so the son's is plural - no idea the correct grammatical form for that one!) birthday 'party'.  

You can just about see them all clutching a hot chocolate (in polystyrene cups - yak).

 

I used a fab Heidi Swapp stencil for the green hearts, stars and circles on the background (only it was a bit damp so the shapes have gone 'splodgy' - *which I quite like anyway*).   Because the photos are so old I couldn't journal about the day - but it was interesting to look back and see how things have changed in the years since.

I felt the layout lacked a little 'zing' so I got busy with faux enamel dots (Nuvo crystal drops). 

Top Tip - don't put them on the edge of a paper layer - it doesn't make a smooth circle.

I adapted a quirky kit sketch for what will probably be my last layout I manage this week.  Although I do have a guest designer spot to do so perhaps not ...


Thanks for visiting

Louise x

Sorry - which was left?

Day #2 of my '30 days of blogging challenge' and already I feel stumped for a topic.  I do have a few draft posts but it felt rather like shoe-horning one in to tick a box.  However I was watching the local news and an article came on about new research into dyspraxia in children.  Which fitted nicely with the post I had already drafted.

I was commenting on a friends post the other day, part of the comment mentioned my inability to tell left from right. 

The post was about a ball of wool that had been wound the wrong direction - how much do I like to go off at a tangent - must be the maths teacher part of me!



Anyway it made me dwell on my lifelong inability to be co-ordinated and my growing conviction that I possibly have dyspraxia - or perhaps I am just clumsy and awkward.  And being typically British I would be far too embarrassed to ever seek further advice.

As a child my parents said I could fall over a blade of grass.  And I had a permanent bruise on my forehead where I hit the same step each time I fell down the stairs.  I also had the amazing ability to overturn a rather chunky 3 wheeled bike!

Unfortunately not the trike in question - that rusted into dust - but it was just like this.

 

 

I have always walked into things - tables, door frames, people and can not judge distances in any way shape or form *other than if I drive and use the milometer*. 

I have been know to clip the odd wing mirror when I have misjudged the width of my car compared to the space available to squeeze through (thankfully I have a car where the wing mirror just flips inwards in this situation so I haven't left a trail of damaged cars in my wake).

PE was a nightmare.  I could never understand how other people knew exactly where a thrown ball would end up.  Nobody passed to me in netball or hockey, there was no point because if they did I couldn't catch or hit the ball.  I still can't.  My instinctive reaction is to duck or move out the way instead.


And it was assumed that my atrocious handwriting was because my hand couldn't keep up with the thoughts in my head.  However even now, when I am writing a letter or journaling on a layout, my head will be sending an instruction of how each word should look but my hand obviously speaks a different language and often produces something quite different to what I wanted. 

Usually what appears are words that have letters of different sizes in them, words that sometimes have the letters squashed together and sometimes has them spread apart.  And that are always wonky. 

I can't draw things in proportion to each other because I don't understand how to.  This is why I love scrapbooking.  It has allowed me to be creative and crafty without the need to be able to draw.

I took Spanish in the third year (modern day Y9) just to avoid having to do more technology lessons.  But I did have to do one subject so I chose needlework.  I was making a dress but managed to cut through one part of the pattern and fabric, whilst cutting out another piece.  And I had absolutely no idea how to put them together - and yet I CAN do jigsaws (apart from those dreadful ones that are just of loads of baked beans or some such repetitive item).

My mum finished the dress for me.  From a young age she has sewn, knitted and crocheted* her own clothes.  She can't understand why I struggle to sew a button on.  I WANT the stitches to be neat, small and even but somehow they never are.

*On another tangent crochet and clothes in the same sentence reminds me of the time I was nearly a bridesmaid for my Uncle.  A family fall out put paid to that but was a mercy, because the bridesmaid dress was a yellow crocheted number - eek!!!

And then there is the left and right thing - how do people instinctively know which is which?  Once I've thought about it I can remember for a short while, but generally I have to wave the corresponding hand and say 'that way' or see which hand makes an 'L' shape.

 

 

This has caused us to miss vital junctions and resulted in many a U-turn when my husband has left it too late ask me which way to turn. 

 

After knowing me for 25+ years you would have thought that he wouldn't STILL be expecting me to answer that one correctly at short notice.

 

And in my head I have to work clockwise round from North to work out East and West.

 

Does this ring a bell with anyone?  Or is it another case of Julie's dream (continues in the comments section too) where I'm going to be the only person to 'fess up' - or worse perhaps I AM on my own with this!  So dyspraxia or downright clumsy?

 

Leave a comment and cheer me up

 

Louise x



30 Day Blogging Challenge

I have seen quite a few blogging friends taking part in the '30 day blogging challenge'.  I didn't feel as though I had the time to take part.  Job, family, housework all fill the hours. 


I don't think this is exclusive to teaching, but I end up needing to do extra work in the evenings, and there is always some job that needs to be done - be it marking, planning or admin.  Any time left after this is precious and I didn't want to commit to anything else.  But this post by Sandie made me rethink. 

There are some blogs I follow that are very well written and perhaps that is because their authors have worked hard at it, they may be gifted at writing or they may have read books and been on courses.  I would like to improve my blog, and maybe discover - or confirm - my blogging niche.  

I feel uncomfortable taking to much 'me' time.  Lots of crafters seem to have been on retreats and weekends away over the last couple of months.  Finance aside, personally I would feel like I was 'abandoning' my family for a weekend.  Not that I consider that is what these other wives and mothers are doing.  Perhaps an analyst would say I just enjoy feeling guilty.

However I AM going to be 'selfish' and take the time to do this challenge.  Because when I do take me time I am happier, more relaxed and a nicer person to know.  Although the stress of blogging for 30 days on the trot may cancel out these benefits!

The only way I can grow as a blogger is to practice and work on it, rather than make it something I do in that 5 spare minutes that I have right now (metaphorically 'now' rather than actually 'now').

I would also like to find some other blogs to follow.  I know that this was Julie's aim in her '300 comments' challenge.  But I think that is a more difficult and MUCH MORE time consuming challenge to take part in.

And the blogs promoted on Bloglovin are too impersonal.  They are more like articles written by a journalist.  They may be popular but I just don't connect with them.  It might be because I grew up without all this technology, I struggle with most social media platforms.  Whatever the reason for that is, I'm not wanting to read a blog to be sold a product.  For me it is about the person.

I was going to start on Sunday and do the month of November, but have decided to strike whilst the iron is hot (so to speak) and start right now.

Wish me luck

Louise x

Catching up with sketches

Like most good scrapbookers, I take far too many photos and don't have enough time to scrap them all.  I have developed a liking for using sketches and this has helped me be quite productive over the last few days.

This page uses a fabulous sketch from Studio Challenges.

Which I rotated 90 degrees anticlockwise, as I had portrait photos.

These photos are old ones from the days when my son's had a bunk bed.  In fact they are from January 2008!  And are done using the March/April 2015 Quirky Lite kit 'Nifty'.

Here are some (terrible*) close-ups.  I used a vellum piece for the title 'Going Here' and hand wrote the sub-title.  Unfortunately because of the arrow I didn't feel the title worked on the other side (i don't mind reading the text downwards but not upwards).

 

 

 
 
 
















*I WAS in the bathroom with all the lights on and trying to use the zoom so that there were no shadows - perhaps tomorrow will be sunnier!

Here's the journaling in close up - because I am nosey and like to read other people's journaling so I ought to share too.

I adapted this lovely sketch from ScrapMuch? 



to create the layout below

A different page for me as usually they involve photos of my family - I need to do more scenery layouts.

My final inspiration was from this sketch by Sketch-n-Scrap

These photos are from my parent's Golden Wedding celebration earlier this year.

Apologies for the 'flash flare' but it has been a dismal day so I ended up using the flash to try and capture the real colours. 

If we get a brighter day I will try to

a) take another photograph and
b) remember to upload it here!
 

Here are some close ups of the details

This was also done using the Nifty kit.  The only addition was white cardstock, glue, photos and navy Nuvo crystal drops.

Thanks for visiting

Louise x

Me on Monday .... the buying and packing weekend.

A big wave and hello to Sian and all the other Me on Monday crew. 

It was a blink and you missed it weekend, a going out to buy kit list items on Saturday weekend, and then going out to buy the forgotten toothbrush and some new T-shirts on Sunday weekend, and a waiting in the cold for a late coach weekend that finished with a sleepover Sunday night 

Saturday saw me wake up uber early as usual (5am this time).  I pottered around on line and it was 8am before I knew it.  I did a little scrapbooking, finishing a challenge LO I will post later this week.  Eventually we nipped out to buy toiletries, sweets and socks for the boys school trip to Geneva.   That done we got home to realise we hadn't bought any milk or a toothbrush - plenty of time tomorrow for that.

We watched the Rugby - RSA v All Blacks.  It was a wonderful game and both sides played so well it was a  disappointment that one had to lose!  The weather was just so British too.

I swapped internet providers a few months ago but still have my mobile phone through TalkTalk , so there was a LOT of time spent online - most of it trying to register with Noddle, so that I can keep an eye on my finances.  Only Noddle don't seem to want to send me a confirmation email.  No matter how many times I have tried nothing has come through.  I have tried THREE different email addresses with no success (spam boxes are empty too).  Very frustrating.

Sunday morning I got 3/4 of the way through another sketch challenge layout.  Then I spent the rest of the day counting and rolling underwear, jeans, tee shirts and various other items.  No it isn't a strange new hobby, but rather beginning the packing for the Geneva trip. 

When the older-by-one-minute son informed me that 4 of the t-shirts in his wardrobe didn't really fit I took a deep breath and counted to 10.

I can't tell you just how many times I have asked them to let me know if they need new socks/ pants/ tops/ jeans etc. but it is more than a few.  A few hours before they leave on a school trip is not the time I need telling of such a fact.

Since I was having to go out for the milk and toothbrush (forgotten yesterday), tee shirts were added to the list.  Only it has to be plain white tee shirts.  No mottos, no emblems, no patterns, pockets or buttons.  Not many places sell them.  His luck was in - Tesco had some school PE tee shirts in his size - they will have to do. 

I did remember all their clothes, my hairdryer (not sure what I will do but their need apparently was greater!), travel plugs (not euro ones - Switzerland is different), toiletries, inhalers, etc.  What I forgot was to take photos of it all for this post!

Boots, coats, fleeces, a small pillow, water and a packed lunch (tea) were added to the pile and all taken to school.  We were told 3.45pm with the coach expected to leave at 4pm.  We got there early (3.25pm) because parking is tight.  There were half a dozen cars there already.  Then we were informed the coach was running 20-30 minutes late.  We stood in the cold for nearly an hour.  It took about 5 minutes to get the students and all their luggage aboard the coach and at 4.25pm off the set.

And here is a pic of the fab crumble my OH cooked us.

It is half term here so we are taking the youngest one, plus a friend, to Drayton Manor for the day.  So I will be spending a day queueing, being spun around, turned upside down, and hopefully having a lot of fun.

Thanks for popping by and I hope your weekend was good,

Louise x

Stick it Down

The Stick It Down sketch challenges are some of my favourites.  And this fabulous  DLO was perfect for some photos from my parents golden wedding celebrations. 

This is what I created (*it has gone a bit wonky in the editing process*).  I used papers from last years (!) Nov/Dec Quirky Kit Lite along with some gold acrylic paint through a stencil.

Some close up shots of the details ...

 

 

  

And both pages a little closer too.


We enjoyed a lovely afternoon, evening and morning after at Langar Hall in Nottinghamshire.  My children got to spend time with their cousins.  They don't get to meet up as often as we would like but they do get on fabulously.

We took a very pleasant stroll, around the grounds, the next morning.  Had elevenses and then took our leave and headed home.

Thanks for visiting

Louise x

My Space to scrap - not a room or expedit in sight

This started life as the first part of a post that wandered off by itself into another post altogether.  So I have tried to split it into two and will be refining then posting the second part some time soon.  (Half term is next week so I should get chance then!)

Now can I just say that if you have a scrap room please don't be offended by this post - that is not my intention.  And if you are of a nervous disposition you may want to look away.  Not that there is anything to look away from but it just seemed to flow from the previous sentence.

This is a post for all those who don't have a dedicated expedit-lined sanctuary to create in.  It is for those who make do with a corner of a room, or have to drag the stash out and put it back again 'cos you scrap in the lounge/dining room/bedroom/kitchen*.  It is a post to (hopefully) share that there are loads of us out there, creating in corners, and to unite us together.

*I haven't included bathroom so apologies if that is where I would find you with your scissors and glue.

Please don't get me wrong.  I don't dislike people who DO have craft rooms, you are all lovely and wonderful, it's just that no-one ever seems to blog about their NON-CRAFT ROOM SPACE, so I am redressing the balance now!

And I guess if I  did have a spare room I might craft there instead ;)

This post was inspired by something I saw on Facebook (no not a cat video or a funny sign).  More boringly it was several posts asking how people organised their stash/paper.

We had an extension several years ago (this is relevant I promise) to provide more bedroom space.  We decided to NOT give each child their own room - sharing never did us any harm  *although my sister and I did resort to have a dividing line down the centre of the room at one point*. 

We are best friends, as well as sisters, now so the damage wasn't lasting.  

We chose to make the smallest room into a second bathroom instead, and it has been well worth it.  (Goodness don't teenagers spend a long time in the shower?)

The extension did mean that we gained an extra reception room downstairs.  This rapidly became a multi-use room, it hosted the x-box, pc's, piano and a variety of furniture (that stored my best china and all the other 'stuff' that doesn't have it's own home). 

And I got one little corner, one little spot to keep my crafting goodies and albums.  The overspill went under the stairs.

The overspill has gone, along with a good chunk of papers, punches, dies and embellishments that rarely/never got used.  This is what remains. (This sort of continues in the second part of the post which I am hoping to finish next week).

The large paper bags are from Quirky Kits.  The striped bag contains said kits, the pink one has my cardstock in (almost exclusively white) and the yellow all the oddments, offcuts and a few sheets left from my pre-kit days that I WILL use.  It also houses an impulse TKMAXX buy of a HUGE stack of My Minds Eye papers.


The larger green boxes house some alphabet dies, a couple of extended strips, the plates for the bigshot and my mists/paints/stencils. 

The two smaller green boxes hide washi tape, twine, stamps, thickers and xyron runner. 

                                                 

 

The bright yellow box has PL cards in it.  In the cream tin are my glues, sticky dots etc.  The blue tin contains ALL my ink pads, 
 

 

Yep that is them - 4 x jenni bowlin, 1 distress pad (for inking edges) 6 x momento and 3 x versa colour - actually I think two are on my dining room table but you get the idea ;)

The silver and black tin contains chipboard alphabets and some gems/dots.  And the greeny-grey box at the back has my embellishments (die-cuts, stickers, wooden veneers and Nuvo drops). 

 

In the bottom of the basket is a box with my punches and another box with some 6 x 6 pads in.  Finally in the green and brown tin are the rest of my dies.
 

That is it. 

 

All my 'stash'. 

 

The more I had, the less I used.

 

I still like to get it out and spread it all over the dining room table - but at least it doesn't take too long to put it away again.

 

 

So be loud, be proud and be honest about where YOU scrap if it isn't in one of those specially built log cabins in the garden or in a beautiful white walled room with central heating and purpose built cupboards (*not jealous at all*).

 

And if you do share, I may show you what that corner normally looks like when I haven't tidied it and half most of it is spread around my dining room chairs and table :)

 

 

Louise x





Me on Monday... The weekend of two halves

Monday again - where does the weekend go?  Waving to Sian over at From High in the Sky, who kindly started this adventure for us all.

Well it was a weekend of busy and calm, lots of people and just us, visitors at short notice and visitors cancelling, lots of energy and feeling tired, but always one of being good.

Saturday involved the usual waking up at 5.30am - how come 6.15am is so difficult Monday to Friday but Saturday finds me awake WELL before this time?  It allowed some me time before a drive to Chesterfield, which is where my hairdresser has moved to.  It's about 20 miles away but is such a beautiful town that I am more than happy to drive there. 

*Notice that my hair is back to its typical colour.  It doesn't matter what colour I have it done, by the next cut it is back to a reddish brown.  Happily the blonde bits stay blonde!*

My daughter loves Chesterfield more than I do - I think that might be because it has a huge Primark, a H&M, Claire's, Wilko's, Savers and more.  Needless to say whilst I was having my haircut she was visiting most of these places!

In celebration of pollinators, outside 'The Crooked Spire' church.

And here is the said crooked spire.

Not long before we left my Mum phoned to say that as my sister was planning on popping by our house (news to me!) she and my dad would also be coming around, and could I pick up some cakes from M&S.  I got a Walnut and Coffee cake (OH's favourite), a gooey Chocolate Cake, a tea-time selection (2 each of Bakewell tart, Blackcurrant Sundae and Apple Pie) and a pack of 4 Egg Custards. They were yummy and between 9 of us we ate them all!

It won't be news that the girl child bought a T-Shirt, slipper socks and a couple of school pens.  I then had to buy her some pyjamas, tights, touch screen gloves and a pair of (cheap occasional wear) boots!

The slipper socks

On the way home I popped into the TKMaxx in Chesterfield (which involved going all the way around one traffic island in order to be on the correct side of a dual carriageway to get in and doing the same afterwards in order to get back to the other side for heading home).  It was worth it - I got two sets of PL cards from We R Memory Keepers and a 6x6 Pebbles paper pad - all for under £10.

My closest TKMaxx is in Giltbrook (near the Ikea) - it never has any decent craft items *sigh*, hence being prepared to drive round in circles on Saturday.

I had planned on calling to see my Mum on the way home but she is getting 'cabin fever' following her hip replacement. I think she was desperate for an excuse to get out and go somewhere.  She isn't allowed to sit in a car for too long but luckily we are only 30 minutes away.  It was lovely to have my family around ... and as the clock ticked towards evening we decided to order the obligatory Chinese Takeaway, which was also lovely. 

Sunday was much quieter, we had to do the usual weekend shop for food and sundries.  My OH teaches music in a couple of local primary schools so we always end up hearing cries of 'Mister Hallett' as we shop!  Mister Hallett then spent some time ironing whilst I sat 'pretending' to work but as I was feeling tired, and a little like a cold was hunting me down, in truth I really was not doing anything much. 

My MIL and her partner were supposed to be visiting, but road works are affecting their bus services so they postponed their visit for a week.  Since I was feeling so tired this was maybe a blessing in disguise.

We sadly watched Wales (on Saturday), Ireland and then (cruellest of all in terms of refereeing decisions) Scotland exit the Rugby world cup.   I did eventually sort out what I would be doing with my classes today and put some finishing touches to a LO, but since it was quite dark I will need to photograph it some other time, in better light.

Is it just me or do the evenings seem to have got dark all of a sudden?

I hope you had a fun weekend, thanks for stopping by to find out about mine,

Louise x

Nipper means ... colour and sketch challenges

I got a bit of time to scrap this weekend.  So I had a browse through my pinterest board of October scrapbook LO challenges.  Two caught my eye straight away.

The first was this colour challenge from ScrapMuch?  The colours are so rich and warm but I decided NOT to go for an autumn page but took inspiration from the cat instead.

 

The second challenge was this sketch on My Scraps and More.  I had to rotate the sketch because my photos were portrait rather than landscape.  Other than that I kept quite close to it.

So this is the result.  

 

I used patterned paper with sooty black spots and pale grey 'paint' effects, used dark calico mist spotted onto the page and several different brown papers which matched to the two shades in the challenge.  The darker letter stickers are more grey in real life but I have taken the second photo in poor light!

I replaced the large circle element with a sticker (on which I wrote a few lines of one of my favourite poems!) and added green 'enamel dots' (using Nuvo Crystal Drops) to add a splash of colour.  I replaced the stitching with the black and white chevron style strip of paper.

Thanks for looking

Louise x