Create & Grow

This is amazing!!

2011-08-19T16:07:00.000+01:00

Some of you know that our son Jeff is deaf. He was diagnosed just before he was three. He was tested regularly and his hearing was deteriorating fast. Luckily it just came to a stop and he was left with a moderate to severe sensorineural bilateral hearing loss. By 3 he was wearing 2 hearing aids and learning to speak.

For some babies and children they don't have any hearing, they are profoundly deaf, they can't hear anything at all. There is hope for these children, it is called a cochlear implant and with lots of learning and input it will allow them to hear and learn to speak. It is absolutely amazing. Get a tissue and watch this 2 minute video.

Isn't that incredible?

The Carel Du Toit Centre is in South Africa, where they teach these children who have been lucky enough to have cochlear implants, which is where my friend's son went.

I learnt about cochlear implants from my friend Sue, her son Hughan has a cochlear implant. They arrived from South Africa about the same time we arrived from Portsmouth and our boys both ended up in the same class. It is wonderful to see how well Hughan has done since I have known him, he is now working full time, I can ring and speak to him on the phone, which is just great.

Sue is publishing Hughan's Diary from the first days onwards, they had videos and pictures of his learning. You can find Hughan's Diary here. She hopes it will help other parents with children with cochlear implants, to help them work with their children and give encouragement and hope to the parents.

In South Africa there is no National Health Service so each operation has to be paid for. I think she said it cost £50,000 for the operation, £45,000 is provided via the university hospital and £5,000 by parents. It is a very expensive business. If you wish to make a donation you can through www.hughansdiary.com.

After 2 years studying Countryside Management, he changed tack and has just finished his degree in Architectural Technology and the Environment at Plymouth Uni with a 2:1. He is now back home and job hunting.

I felt quite moved by this little video and just wanted to pass it on.

2011-08-18T08:45:00.000+01:00

My mother has been crafting. She liked a couple of patterns in my magazines.

This one is a bunny decorated and blanket stitched round the edges. Look at that cute pink, pom, pom tail. I think this one was destined for a friend's new granddaughter to hang in the baby's bedroom.

The hanging heart was from July Crafts Beautiful magazine. I think it is gorgeous, it looks so appealing and would look lovely hanging in my one day decorated as a beach hut cloakroom. My Mum is an inspiration as she gets things done.

Just thought I would pass this offer on to you, offered by Jaycotts. Patterns are so expensive now that any help is very welcome.

The whole thing

2011-08-16T14:53:00.000+01:00

Here is the full image of the card I put together for Thornbury Craft Club. I found the template on Splitcoast Stampers.

Sneak Peak for Card Class

2011-05-11T09:03:00.000+01:00

I am demonstrating making a tri-shutter card for Thornbury Craft Club on Thur 12th May. They very kindly invited me along. I have been a couple of times and they cover all sorts of crafts throughout the year.

I have got all the kits together, I hope there won't be more than 30 people, otherwise I will be stuck. I have some spares in case bits get lost or damaged as they work. I just need to refine the instruction sheet, which they can take home with their finished card, to make similar cards.

Here is a sneak peak of the card I am demonstrating.

Do you think they will like it?

CHICKS

2011-04-05T16:19:00.000+01:00

"CHICKS (Country Holidays for Inner City Kids) is a children's charity that aims to provide life enhancing respite breaks to as many disadvantaged children as possible at one of our retreats in Devon or Cornwall."

I came across CHICKS in a sewing magazine. They have a kite as part of their logo so I was instantly drawn to find out more. I loved what they were doing for children who may be living in poverty, children that are being neglected or abused, who have lost parents and those children who are full time young carers.

Something they do for the children is to gather together a bag of memories for them to take home as reminders of their holidays. The advert was asking for people to sponsor a bag maker to provide a memory bag. So I got my friends and family to sponsor me £10 (the cost to cover contents) and made the required bag with their logo on. I used calico and hand embroidered the logo with their bright, primary colours.

One of the CHICKS retreats is based in Brentor, near Tavistock, a coincidence as Brentor was somewhere my husband has fond family holiday memories himself. We have also been to visit Brentor and the old church on the top of the hill. The other is based in Tywardreath, near Par in Cornwall.

The photos on the website show them having a really special time, the website also describes some of the home lives these children cope with. I want to help CHICKS further than just making a bag, I wonder what I can do next?

You can help by donating. This is on their website: To donate £5 now text CHICKS to 70777. (Texts cost £5 + your standard network rate).

Or you can become a CHICKS Memory Maker, see the Memory Maker page. Their website is www.chicks.org.uk.

Vintage Jumble Sale

2011-03-22T16:11:00.000Z

Saturday 5th March, Vintage Jumble Sale, Rangeworthy, S Glos.

This is where my DH and I went to have a browse and see if I could find any bits and pieces for sewing.

This is what I bought.

A mixed bag of fabrics, including, gingham, patchwork fabrics, flowers etc.

This whole pile was in 1 mixed bag that cost £8.

It even had some vintage strawberry fabric.

I have plans, I fancy having a go at sewing pictures using little scraps of printed fabrics. I also bought a box of buttons too. A girl can never have too many buttons.

The same people that ran the Jumble Sale run a Vintage and Handmade Fair in Chipping Sodbury. The next one is on 9th April. Unfortunately I can't go but for a very good reason, I will be running a children's sewing party for a soon to be 10yr old and her friends.

Here you can find some lovely photos from the Jumble Sale on The Washerwomen blog.

Cuttlebug Sandwich Recipes

2011-03-12T16:32:00.000Z

I have a Cuttlebug, which is a little manual die cutting machine. I have several makes of die I can use in my Cuttlebug and I decided it was time to see what these dies could cut and to record the sandwich required for a clean cut. A sandwich in this case is the layering of plates, shims, dies and material to be cut, not one made from bread and butter!

I tested:

Paper

Bazzil cardstock

Felt

Cotton material

Shrink plastic

Grunge paper

I used combinations of different plates, A, B or C, a piece of thickish card, ordinary printer paper with a die and the material being tested. The paper might be in 1, 2, 3 or 4 thicknesses. The figure in brackets is the suggested number of runs through the Cuttlebug. The first plate down is first in the list.

Quickutz Die

Sandwiches for Quickutz die

Paper - A, C, die, paper, B

Bazzil - A, C, die, bazzil, B

Felt - A, C, die, felt, B

Cotton - A, C, card, die, cotton, 2 paper, B

Shrink plastic - A, C, die, plastic, B (4x)

Grunge paper - A, 2 paper, C, die, grunge, B (4x)

Cuttlebug Die

Sandwiches for Cuttlebug die

Paper - A, B, die, paper, B

Bazzil - A, B, die, bazzil, B

Felt - A, B, die, felt, B

Cotton - A, B, card, die, cotton, B paper on cotton may protect B

Shrink plastic - A, B, die, plastic, B

Grunge paper - A, B, die, grunge, B

Marianne Die

Sandwiches for Marianne die

Paper - A, C, die, paper, B

Bazzil - A, C, die, bazzil, B (2x)

Felt - A, C, die, felt, B Thin bits are fragile

Cotton - A, C, card, die, cotton, 4 paper, B (2/3x) May need a snip

Shrink plastic - A, C, die, plastic, 4 paper, B (4x) Tricky to get out, needed a snip

Grunge paper - A, C, die, grunge, B

Spellbinders Die

Sandwiches for Spellbinders die

Paper - A, C, die, paper, B

Bazzil - A, C, die, bazzil, B

Felt - A, C, die, felt, 2 paper, B

Cotton - A, C, card, die, cotton, 2 paper, B (2x)

Shrink plastic - A, C, die, plastic, B

Grunge paper - A, C, die, grunge, B (2/3x)

BIGZ Die

Sandwiches for BIGZ die

Paper - B, die, paper, B

Bazzil - B, die, bazzil, B

Felt - B, die, felt, B

Cotton - B, die, cotton, B (2x) May need 2 paper on cotton

Shrink plastic - B, die, plastic, B

Grunge paper - B, die, grunge, B

These were the setting that worked for my particular Cuttlebug, be aware that other Cuttlebugs may be different and require slight alterations to the sandwich. I don't know about sandwich but it is definitely time for cake.

Adult Sewing Classes

2011-01-29T19:15:00.001Z

That's two official Sewing Machine Basic classes I have done now. I think they went very well and it is great to see the ladies confidence increase and think about going off on their own to make all types of goodies. Maybe they will come back for some further lessons too. Here are a couple of pictures.

In the beginners class they learn how to use the sewing machine and then practise what they have learnt by making a Tote bag with bow and a matching zipped pouch. Carol said she was amazed at how much she learnt in such a short space of time.

Berni chose a sophisticated brown with soft coloured spot, Basic Grey by Moda fabric with contrastic flowers for the bow.

10 Reasons to Love Sewing

2011-01-07T22:12:00.001Z

I saw this on the All About You website.

10 Reasons to Love Sewing by Olivia Gordon

It's soothing
It feeds our magpie instinct
It's creative
It's practical
It teaches patience
It's a time-honoured craft
Our gifts are second to none
There's always more to learn
It's about domesticity not drudgery
It requires brainpower

Click on Reasons to Love Sewing above and it takes you to the article which has some lovely narratives about each one.

I liked number 6, "It's a time-honoured craft".

"For most of us, sewing reminds us of cosy afternoons with Mum, Grandma, or another woman from a previous generation who first taught us how to chain stitch or use a sewing machine. In an age when schools no longer teach much sewing, it's such an honour and a pleasure to keep the skills of past generations alive, and pass them down to our children."

I say "exactly". Especially seeing as I am teaching 8 year olds to sew and now offer sewing classes for their Mum's or Grandma's in fact to anyone so they can feel the excitement of creating something themselves. Which is what I love seeing when I teach.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T22:58:00.000Z

What a lovely evening we had at Tortworth Court Hotel last night. Seeing in the New Year with music, dancing, champagne and lots of noise.

Today, 1.1.11, my birthday, was a quiet day. Listening to new cds, opening presents, reading the paper, eating birthday fairy cakes, then a lovely array of party food with Poinsettia Cocktails to round off the day.

In between times I managed to put a scrap of a website together as I am offering a Learn to Sew class as a prize on MyThornbury website. So much more to do.

It was a lovely day, thank you to all my family and friends for all their wishes, presents and cards.

Sew Somerset

2010-08-06T20:06:00.000+01:00

Look what I found whilst doing some serious 'work' on the computer today. I need this magazine, SewSomerset. Fortunately for me I have found someone who will sell it to me here in the UK, which means I don't have to buy a plane ticket to Canada. Who are my saviours? Rainbow Silks and they have a gorgeous website full of all sorts of things I could do so much with.

August 1st Quote

2010-08-01T12:54:00.000+01:00

My quote for August is:

"And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."
Anais Nin

Here is a little about Anais Nin.
Anais was born in Neuilly, just outside Paris. She spent her childhood in various parts of Europe until, when she was eleven, her father, Spanish composer Joaquin Nin, abandoned his family. In the same year, her French-Danish mother, Rosa Culmell, took Anais and her two sons to New York. On the boat that brought Anais away from Europe and from her father she began to write her journals. In 1923 she married Hugo Guiler, who had studied literature and economics and had acquired a good position in an international bank, allowing them to live comfortably.

The couple moved to Paris in 1924. There they lived in various appartments, among them a beautiful house in Louveciennes, but Anais also often had a studio for herself and lived in a houseboat on the Seine for a while. In Paris she and Hugo supported various avant-garde artists, among them Henry Miller with whom Anais started an affair and exchanged hundreds of letters. The book A literary passion includes a great number of the letters these two artists exchanged over the years and provide an interesting documentary of their struggle for recognition as writers as well as their relationship.
Anais moved back to New York just before the outbreak of World War II. After a turbulent time in New York she divided her life between New York and Los Angeles, between Hugo and Rupert, a much younger lover and friend. From being a cult figure of the early feminist movement, Anais later rose to international prominence with her writing. She is best known for her diaries but also produced a number of novels and a prose poem in surrealistic style as well as wonderful erotic short stories, published posthumously. Characterized by the use of powerful and, at times, disquieting imagery, her work reveals great sensitivity and perception.

In 1973 she received an honorary doctorate from Philadelphia College of Art. She was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1974.

Basic Grey laptop bag

2010-07-22T18:19:00.000+01:00

What a grey and damp summers day. I haven't been outside the front door today!

What I have been doing though is sewing. I got out some fabrics I bought at PaperArts several weeks ago, they are Basic Grey patterned fabrics by Moda and are delightful. I used the basic pattern idea from a book called Sew Darn Cute by Jenny Ryan.

I couldn't decide which of the several different fabrics to use so I devized a way to use 4 of them. I liked the idea of the blue spotted fabric as a sort of facing detail, I added a pink pocket on the front which is the same fabric as the lining and flap. I used the brown flowers as the main colour and a different paisley brown fabric for the handles.

I used my i-top to make a matching badge to go on the flap. First time I had used the large adapter, think next time I will read the instructions.

A card

2010-07-20T17:18:00.002+01:00

I made a card, hurray.

I used my new Wall Decor and More Cricut cartridge to cut out the guitar, I then outlined it in black sparkly gel pen. I used Coordinations cardstock and sanded and sewed it. The Birthday Wishes were drawn using pen in my Cricut using my other new Cricut cartridge, Lyrical Letters.

This is for my soon to be 16yr old nephew who plays the guitar. Thought he might appreciate it especially if I put some money inside.

Extended Schools Celebration

2010-06-24T17:10:00.003+01:00

Today I displayed my wares for Learn to Sew with Create & Grow. I was at the South Gloucestershire Extended Schools Celebration.

"From drama to dance and playing football to playing the piano, this event highlights the importance of a rich extra curricular programme for all children and young people.

England Ladies’ Rugby Captain, Catherine Spencer, will be a keynote speaker at the event where she will indicate the importance of out of school activities and clubs to the confidence, self esteem and motivation of young people throughout their school years, and to the need to ensure that all parents and children can access appropriate support services to enable young people to maximise their potential."

Presentations were given by School workers and pupils. Olveston School did a brilliant action popular song they had learnt after school. We saw videos of what the children get up to with Playpods full of fun stuff. There was a Market Place where teachers/governors could see what was on offer from outside of education, which is where I came in.

I had examples of sewing that children could do at the Learn to Sew after school clubs I will be running from September. I chatted to several interested people and have various follow ups to do.

I was blown away by the extent of what Extended School is all about, which was lovely to see how much extra to the core, or 3Rs there is. So much is learnt outside of the school day in play and fun activities it is still part of the children's vital learning.

Fingers crossed the new Government sees fit to keep it going. I think it would be something that would be hard to drop and would continue even if the Government change things in that quarter.

Modscraps Challenge

2010-06-23T20:14:00.004+01:00

Modscraps scrapbooking shop has a monthly sketch challenge. Giselle submitted the challenge sketch.Here is my version, a very close scraplift of Giselle's original. The LO is titled "It's all about the socks, Mismatched". The photo has 2 pairs of socks, A is wearing one pair and Max is wearing the other, he has a pair on his back paws too! We put socks on his paws to stop his claws making ratatat noises on the wooden floor of the holiday house we were staying in. The socks were given to A for a Christmas present and they are Little Miss Matched socks. Aren't they adorable?

Sewing for kids

2010-06-22T22:41:00.004+01:00

I have just made up some samples for the After School Learn to Sew Club I hope to run.

Here is a pin cushion pal, a happy frog. He is from Level One, where the children learn to cut out fabric from patterns and to do running stitch.

The felt cushion helps them to learn blanket stitch, a bit of design and button sewing.

Level 2 moves the children on to a sewing machine. First they learn how to use it then they practise sewing straight lines and curved lines on fabric. They can then chose to make the heart below.

Level 3 teaches them how to do casings to make a drawstring bag, there are other items to make in each level, 6 levels in total, each taking 6 weeks/sessions.

I am taking them to an Extended Schools Celebration event so the teachers and governors can see what I do and hopefully think that a Learning to Sew After School Club would be good.

Gone veggie

2010-05-28T21:20:00.003+01:00

We have gone for the Riverford weekly delivery of veggies and fruit. I love it all. The aubergine was delicious grilled on the BBQ and we had a few bananas over so I made a banana and walnut loaf from Delia. That is going down very well.

They also supply meat packages too, I fancy the BBQ one in preparation for the summer.

Tulips on the mantelpiece.

2010-05-26T22:30:00.002+01:00

How effective are a few single tulips in individual vases. Even more so with the mirror behind doubling the effect. These were the flowers I put around the room when I ran my last Beyond Chocolate Workshop. The room looked lovely and the Tesco tulips played the staring roll.

They lasted ages too. The vases were borrowed from a friend and were from Ikea.

I must do it again, just for me.

And by the by, what a weird word is mantelpiece?

It's hilly round here.

2010-05-24T20:39:00.005+01:00

A fantastic walk in the hills around Uley in Gloucestershire last week. The weather was glorious, just warm enough and not too hot. Shorts and t-shirts day? It could be, it was so still. I donned suncream on the arms.

This was a walk my friend had suggested some time ago and one I didn't feel confident to agree to then. I knew Uley and the hills around! Having been on several walks now I felt confident that I could do it, just needed to go at my own pace. Determination wins through and three hours later we are enjoying a pint of soda water and lime and a bite to eat. The pub is highly recommended, The Old Crown.

We chatted a lot along the flatter parts of the route, taking a break here and there to enjoy the views and the glorious day, we could even here skylarks. The bluebells were a poetic picture, in the woodland and surprisingly to me all over one of the hills. I thought they only grew in woodland or shady areas.

We were remembering those childhood pastimes of the country side; collecting and pressing wildflowers, pinging grass heads as far as you could, telling the time with dandelion clocks making daisy chains, chanting "he loves me, he loves me not" as you pulled the petals off a daisy, tell whether your friend liked butter or not by holding up a buttercup under their chin.

A blissful day and a chuffed me for climbing those hills. Who knows where that first taste of the Cotswold way will lead.

It's a take over

2010-05-17T19:01:00.003+01:00

Well not in the permanent sense of taking over a company. I have picked up the reins for 6 months though, running Boaties Frypan in Europe. See www.boatiesfrypan.com.

Boaties frypans were invented in New Zealand for those square stoves you find in boats, caravans, camping etc. They are a much better fit than your regular round ones.

And they are such fun to cook with, square pancakes, square omlettes, loads of sausages or bacon can line up side by side. They can even go in the oven, so you could cook chocolate brownies.

It is very easy to wipe clean, can be stored on its side and even better, there are now lids to go with it, less splattering and you can cook your dinner in the oven with the lid. My son has one in Uni, thinks its great, so they can be used anywhere.

Today was my first day and it required a bit of trouble shooting, getting the brain cells working over time. Hope things will settle into normal orders, invoices, accounts and e-mails. Ps, I get paid too.

It's time to say goodbye

2010-05-16T21:49:00.003+01:00

I remember very well, my 18th birthday. My mother gave me a wonderful party, with all my friends. My 18th birthday present was a sewing machine, with sewing basket. It was a fantastic present. I had made things from an early age, cutting a hole in a small circle of fabric was a cape (people wore those back in the 70s) for my Cindy dolls (I wasn't a Barbie girl), I sewed a little sewing bag for my mother, it still survives. I went on to sew my gingham apron in the first year at senior school, I didn't do very well at sewing at school, too slow! Then with my own sewing machine I made my own clothes, light summer dresses, a blouse, a skirt maybe, then later on, loads of children's clothes for little A and J, curtains, cushions, gifts galore. I have progressed from my first sewing machine now, it lasted me 20+yrs.

The sewing basket lasted longer. I had no need to upgrade my sewing basket till recently. It had been overloaded, squidged, awkward to store and much loved.

Now it is time to move on and it has gone to a charity sale, I hope someone loves it like I did. My latest sewing box is not pretty, I can't imagine it being loved but it will be easier to store my, increasing in size, sewing kit, being rectangular, storing those useful rectangular Ferero Rocher boxes.

It's how long?

2010-05-15T20:48:00.003+01:00

Yes, incredibly, as time flies, it is 25 years long and still going strong.

We were married 25 years ago, under the cherry blossom, in Cornwall. A delightful day. So our anniversary was well worth celebrating and we are asking all our friends and family to join us in celebrating with us in June. It will be a big family party, J's 21st, R's 50th and our 25th wedding anniversary.

Gorgeous Spring Day at Blaize

2010-04-08T17:20:00.003+01:00

I met up with a friend for a walk round Blaize Castle Estate yesterday. See the blue sky, it was gorgeous, the birds were singing loud and clear among the branches all around us. I had never been here before and I shall definitely be going again, no parking charges, no entry charges and a lovely cafe at Kings Weston House on our walk.

Our first stop was Blaze Hamlet. A cluster of individual cottages surrounding a green, gated from the outside world, very Hansel and Gretal or Snow White like.

Here is Blaze Castle, more of a folly to Blaze House down on the flat.

I didn't take my camera but on a day like this my iphone produced lovely shots.

Latest Creation

2010-04-07T21:04:00.003+01:00

A little bit of sewing using my new Moda fabrics and a delightful piece of ribbon. I enjoyed making this, I think there could be more in the pipeline.

Easter Break

2010-04-06T22:15:00.004+01:00

We had a few days away staying in my parents house while they were in France. J was collected from Uni and off we went to Dartmouth via Kingsbridge. The sky was blue, no, really, it was.

Tide was out too. J was smiling away as we walked up the high street and I didn't know why then noticed a young lady waving to him on the bus. He can't go anywhere without being spotted!

What can you do when it is freezing cold, torrential rain threatens at any minute and you are on holiday in Devon for Easter? Well, we decided to do the Kingswear to Paignton Steam Train. Have a wander round Paignton and a bit of lunch and returning home in time for tea.

Rain, it did, but luckily we managed to avoid getting too wet with waterproofs and umbrellas.

I had great difficulty taking a photo of these extremely fragrant hyacinths as the wind was blowing a gale and I couldn't keep the iphone camera still.

So despite the freezing cold, gale and heavy showers, we did manage to walk along the sea front. A hot chocolate at one stop and soup at another kept us warm.

We managed to fit in a visit to J's favourite restaurant, Kendricks in Dartmouth, was it going to be Ribs or Steak, Chocolate Brownies or Sticky Toffee Pudding? In the end it was, Ribs, a whole rack and Sticky Toffee Pudding, he did share with his Mum.

Back home to Bristol in time for Dr Who.

A surge in sewing

2010-03-31T21:37:00.003+01:00

I had an idea using my Cuttlebug to cut butterflies and hearts out of fabric. Here are the results.

I think they are sweet. Little brooches 2"-3" in size, using blanket stitch, beads, flower sequins, wire and little Papermania buttons.

Next on my sewing projects list is to make pretty notebook covers using some of the fabric I bought at the Country Living Fair. That is if I haven't found curtain fabric to make my lounge curtains with.

Country Living Fair

2010-03-28T19:36:00.004+01:00

I met up with daughter at the Country Living Spring Fair at the Business Design Centre in London.

All sorts of fabby things to persuse, get home decor ideas, gift ideas, decorating ideas, sewing ideas.

This was our lunch, it was delicious, I might remember this idea for my Beyond Chocolate Workshops.

A little sitting down time could be had in the lecture area, we listened to a talk on Country Living Styling, how to put fabrics together and how a little of something is all you need for a look. It was interesting how styles had changed through the years. Now we want light rooms, with reflective light to cheer up our wintry days. Some bright fabrics and big baskets for storage were shown. A (daughter) asked about how you got into the business of home styling and was recommended to find a position to work up from rather than training in college first.

I went to a Jan Constantine sewing class, it was lovely to see her work in real life, she was such a gently, cheery person. We had a free kit, although I was sitting in my chair 20 mins before the class started, places were limited. I chatted to the lady next to me while we waited. Then Jan showed us how to put a lovely wool felt lavender heart together. I just needed to do the outside edges to get it finished at home.

I bought son's 21st birthday present at the show, but can't tell you what it is in case he reads this blog. I bought some Moda Fabric fat quarters to drool over from Beyond Fabrics, a sweet little wire chicken complete with bum fluff made by Hollie Wright see www.holliewright.co.uk. I loved the idea from The Wine Guest, it is called "Define the Wine" a guess the wine dinner party or charity or friends game. Enjoyed talking to the lady from Wellingham Herb Garden, which is very near to the In-laws, nr Lewes, East Sussex, she had some delightfully perfumed soaps and we will definitely visit their walled garden when we go.

Bernina Club

2010-03-24T20:24:00.003Z

This is where I was today, at the Bernina club at West End Sewing Centre in Cheltenham. It was the first time I have been able to make it, the snow put payed to my winter plans to get there.

I met some lovely new people and the teachers were knowledgeable and chatted about anything we wanted. I watched as we were shown how to put in an invisible zip, it was a very neat job but gave me another sewing machine foot to add to my wish list.

We looked at various fabric pattern techniques, I liked this one a sort of crossed box pleat.

This one had a neat placketed button finish to the back. Inspiration to go home with.

Next meeting on 24th April, also many classes I could go to too.

Sneak Peak

2010-03-23T15:38:00.003Z

What again, two posts in two days? Yes that's right.

So what is the sneak peak of?

It is a sneak peak of a card I have planned for the Card Making Workshop I am teaching at in April.

There are three teacher each with their own style, Giselle, see her blog here , Lynne, her blog is here and me. Ellie will be there with her shop Modscraps.

CREATIVE CARD MAKING WORKSHOP

SATURDAY APRIL 24TH 2010

10am - 6pm

Olveston School

There will be a total of 15 cards taught throughout the day by 3 experienced craft teachers, each with individual styles. Just bring your cardmaking tools.

For more information e-mail mandy@createandgrow.co.uk

£25 per person

I better do as I say

2010-03-22T17:45:00.004Z

i.e Just Do It.

It was pointed out to me that I hadn't posted since the post titled "Just Do It". So instead of doing as I was doing, I had better do as I say and post again and again and again. So starting with today.

Earlier this month a friend and I went for a lovely walk around my local area of Tytherington and Buckover. This took in two pubs and at the first one, The White Horse, we sat outside in the sunshine looking over the River Severn drinking our soft drinks. We had lunch at the second one, The Swan in Tytherington. These snowdrops were in their prime and begged to have a photo taken.

See, I did just do it, the walk and the Blog post.

Just Do It

2010-01-24T19:52:00.004Z

How about that for a maxim. "Just do it".

This is the wording we found on the inside waist band on a pair of exercise trousers, when we were out shopping. I just had to capture it in a photo. My daughter held them up so I could capture the phrase on my iphone.

This saying is a good one to take on board. How much better to "Just do it", than faffing around thinking about doing it. There is no point trying to do it. Where does trying get you? Not very far. You either do something or you don't do something.

Food for thought.

More Designs

2010-01-20T20:18:00.002Z

Three more layouts, I did the majority of each layout at PaperArts and just finished them off today.

This is a double 12" x 12" layout done on kraft card. "mil" stands for "mother-in-law".

This one of the chickens in the snow is to do with repeating in design. I have repeated butterflies, photos, spotty paper, green scalloped paper on an asymmetrical.

This one is using colours brown, blue, yellow and orange a "Real World Colour" combination seen on floor tiles.

I think week 4 starts tomorrow and I have the rest of week 3 layouts planned and ready to take to the Charity Crop in Feb. I can prep week 4s to take too, as it is a very long crop.

Pub lunch

2010-01-18T22:08:00.003Z

Had a lovely walk down to the village pub, yesterday, for lunch. It is 1 mile to The Swan so not too far. It was great to get out in the fresh air, what with being in all over Christmas then the snows, there hasn't been much chance so we took it quick.

I had lamb shank, it was deliciously tender, Rob had Roast beef with two Yorkshire puddings followed by Bailey's creme brulee. It was a good job we had a walk home to give our lunch a chance to go down.

This photo shows what a gorgeous winters day it was, luckily I had my iphone on me, good enough for emergency photos. It is pretty good taking outdoor pictures but indoor ones aren't so good.

Design Your Life

2010-01-17T21:42:00.003Z

I managed to complete some scrapbooking layouts at Paperarts on Friday. Our evening crop was cancelled the week before because of snow, luckily this time, the snow had virtually all melted and we could meet up with friends again.

I am working on the Cathy Zielski Big Picture Scrapbooking class called Design Your Life all about design in scrapbooking. These photos were taken on my iphone, indoors at 3.30pm on a January afternoon. They could be better so I am going to take some more photos with my other camera maybe tomorrow.

A sale

2010-01-16T21:30:00.004Z

I made a sale yesterday, the first sale of my hens eggs. That felt really good, so thank you to my stars Tilda, Scarlet and I am not sure which other one is laying.

This is Scarlet's first egg, laid beautifully in the nesting box, good girl Scarlet.

Tilda is the grey one and lays the pale eggs, she is an Old Cotswold Legbar. Haven't a clue whose bum fluff is whose from this angle. Anyway the dark ones are called Burford Browns and lay the dark brown eggs. Delicious.

The latest hen to lay is laying them in the hen house on the sawdust where they sleep at night! She doesn't seem to want to listen to me when I say there is a very comfortable nesting box she could use.

Creating the New Year

2010-01-04T09:56:00.003Z

From GTD Newsletter.

What would you like to be your biggest triumph in 2010?

My biggest triumph would be to run Beyond Chocolate workshops.

What advice would you like to give yourself in 2010?

Get on with it. Put the main priorities first, ie family, BC, C&G, moving my body, housework is to be fitted in around my main activities.

What is the major effort you are planning to improve your financial results in 2010?

The major effort to improve my financial results would be to get workshops up and running.

What would you be most happy about completing in 2010?

I would be most happy completing the set up of my business C&G and bringing happiness to others.

What major indulgence are you willing to experience in 2010?

Looking after my chickens and selling their eggs.

What would you most like to change about yourself in 2010?

I would most like to change the way I spend my time, so not so much sitting on my back side doing not a lot, but actually getting on with BC and C&G and creating and moving my body.

What are you looking forward to learning in 2010?

Happiness Psychology.

What do you think your biggest risk will be in 2010?

My biggest risk is my business, C&G and BC, as I might fail. I think that is almost preventing me from even starting.

What about your work, are you most committed to changing and improving in 2010?

Approaching work in a confident manner, be structured and know where I am going with it.

What is one as yet undeveloped talent you are willing to explore in 2010?

My ability to move, to learn to run.

What brings you the most joy and how are you going to do or have more of that in 2010?

Being creative by doing more C&G and evening personal creativity and going to crops with friends.

Who or what, other than yourself, are you most committed to loving and serving in 2010?

My family and Beyond Chocolate.

What one word would you like to have as your theme in 2010?

"Action", my phrase is “Up, up and away”

1st December

2009-12-01T22:23:00.002Z

I am well prepared this year. With my daughter's help we have made Christmas cake, Christmas pudding, mincemeat for mince pies, some rustic decorations, hearts, stars and birds.

The Cranberry Studded Mincemeat was a recipe by Nigella Lawson in her Christmas book. Very easy to make and no suet required. It made 2 jars so I will be able to make plenty of little star topped mince pies.

All who were at home at the time of making the Christmas cake gave it a stir and made a wish, a traditional thing to do. We stirred and made a wish for our son who is away at Uni.

The preparations continue.

Good things on U-handbag Blog

2009-11-16T19:33:00.002Z

I read Lisa's blog called U-Handbag. She does wonders with bag making and sells all the bits you need too. At the moment she has a great Giveaway.

The giveaway includes Cath Kidston's new book, and 2 half yards of fabric from Lisa's shop.

Go over to her blog to add your comment to be in a chance to win. What is so wonderful about this giveaway is that you are asked to link to your favourite craft tutorial. So if you go and read the comments there is a wealth of fantastic links for all things craft.

In short bursts

2009-11-12T12:27:00.003Z

Shimelle's prompt was about finding a pattern, perhaps something to do on a regular basis. My first thought was that I didn't want to tie myself down to something regular but then Sharyn posted an idea, on the forum, that she found on Ali Edward's Blog and I liked the sound of doing something like this from time to time. So here it is. I have since found out this came from The Simple Woman's Daybook, you can find here.

Outside my window...I see into the conservatory where the string of fairy lights is reflecting in all the glass.

I am thinking...about getting ready to visit my parents and seeing my son in Dartmouth.

I am thankful for...the wonderful company of my daughter, the gas fire warming my toes, my helpful, smiling hubby and knowing I will get better after a rotten cold.

From the kitchen...homemade spaghetti bolognese, with a sprinking of parmesan and some shared warm bread.

I am wearing...pink top, no surprise there, black comfy trousers and black cardigan done up with a kilt pin.

I am creating...tags, a la Tim Holtz style, with embossing and inking and bits of sparkle.

I am going...to be better tomorrow.

I am reading...magazines at the moment, Beads & Beyond, Craft Stamper and Country Living.

I am hoping...my daughter will settle in to her new job.

I am hearing...the sound of our clock chiming 10pm.

Around the house...i see lots to do, bare plaster that needs painting, that goes for ceilings too, a kitchen floor that could look a little cleaner and a pile of freshly laundered clothes ready to put away.

One of my favourite things...taking time out to talk to my hens.

A few plans for the rest of the week...dodging raindrops in dartmouth, a hug from my son, dinner at Kendrick's, making fabric decorations with my daughter.

A picture to share...

Autumn colours, Westonbirt, 2009.

A Little Fun

2009-11-11T11:16:00.002Z

Shimelle's blog prompt no. 8 was about taking time for something fun. I am all for a little fun. Something to lighten the spirits a little, something to exercise those smiling muscles.

I was looking for something fun on YouTube about chickens because I know that my chickens can make me laugh. I love the way they dash for cover at the slightest thing, a real case for Chicken Licken, The Sky is Falling In. I found a couple of chicken ones but I also found one on birds that I have seen before but I would like to show. I think their little faces are lovely and it is a little of a moral type video too, but non the worse for that. Especially as today we remember those who have suffered so much in war and conflict.

I hope this brings a smile. It is fun.

My aim is to Move

2009-11-10T17:27:00.002Z

One of the Principles with Beyond Chocolate is Move. I have decided to take up walking in a more energetic way, with an aim to start running. The book I bought to guide me in my aim is "Running and Walking for Women over 40" by Kathrine Switzer. It gives you all sorts of tips on healthy, clothing and various programmes to get you on your way.

My daughter and I started on the walking programme last week. So far we are keeping up and we are determined to get out there in any weather necessary to do our 3 times a week. Sunday it was 6 degrees C, I found it a little hard going with the breathing as I had a cold, but we did it. And we are enjoying it, even doing the cool down exercises.

My aim is to keep up with the book and to end up jogging, which sounds amazing to me, but I know we will do it. Think I will need a sports bra when the jogging starts!

Fun weekend

2009-11-08T22:08:00.003Z

Friday night saw us at friends for a fireworks party. Loads of children having such fun. A very warming punch to keep the cold at bay as we stood outside watching fireworks; which were magnificent, the bangs echoed across the valley, the Catherine Wheel went on and on, varying colour and speeds, it received a huge round of applause. Delicious food. No, not 'delicious food' but absolutely amazing, fantastic, delicious food. Hot Chilli, pasta salad, potato curry to die for (recipe please), chunky bread, cheeses, pate, dips.

Saturday was Mod Scraps Crop day and the same friend's birthday. Hurray. She bought such a huge chocolate cake for everyone to share, it was so light and moist and went very well with a coffee.

I was very productive at the crop today, having planned in advance. I worked on my "Life Tunes" Album from the Big Picture Scrapbooking class, "A Life Well Crafted". Ellie of Mod Scraps called the raffle numbers and my number came up, so now I have a Bazzill Jewel template, that I already have several ideas for.

It was great spending crafting time with my friends. It was a lovely weekend

A few firework photos

2009-11-06T13:30:00.002Z

Guy Fawkes night at the Chantry in Thornbury. I found the fireworks quite mesmerizing, they just kept flashing their fantastic lights.

Fantastic Fireworks.

5 Things I would like right now.

2009-11-04T17:44:00.002Z

This is day 3 of Shimelle's Blogging class about listing some favourites. A way to bring your inspiration to others and guide them to things you like. I have been thinking about Christmas the last couple of days. Notice I only said thinking, I haven't actually been doing anything about it yet. And some of my thoughts have been what I might like as gifts, so here are 5 things I would like for gifts.

1. Cake stand 2. ipod dock
3. iphone earphones that fit

These are the Apple In-Ear headphones with remote and mic. The ones that come with the iphone are really hard and too big, they hurt my ears.

4. Nigel Slater's book "Appetite"

5. Lovely hand cream in a pump dispenser

Blogging for Scrapbookers

2009-11-03T13:28:00.002Z

I have embarked on Shimelle's Blogging for Scrapbookers class.

I would love to get this blog and my Beyond Chocolate Blog going in a more regular manner. I think this will help me both with the technical side and the content. A quick blog workflow with photos is what I am looking for and ideas for what to blog about and how to capture those ideas for future blogging.

I have created a layout saying why I will be blogging. The journalling reads "I look out onto the world and see my days in colour and words. Events, happenings, thoughts, feelings, family and friends. A quick blog post, when things are fresh in my mind is an easy way to capture memories and thoughts. My blog will be a quick form of scrapbooking, memories held safe until being created in full colour, texture and prettiness, which is Scrapbooking.

The layout title was to be "Blogging". But you can see how many Gs there are in the word "blogging", 3, not many sticky letter sheets have 3 Gs. So I borrowed Shimelle's idea and called it "blogged". That is, after all, what I have now done.

I will be back tomorrow.

Cup cake day

2009-08-27T20:07:00.004+01:00

I bought these delightful cupcake cases from Asda, 99p for 12 ages ago. I though it was about time I used them.

Vanilla flavour buttercream to top and coloured balls or chocolate sprinkles to decorate. They are going down well.

And then dinner tonight was a delicious layered Mexican salad. A recipe my Mum gave me. I dry fried the mince in Taco seasoning, and added Taco chips on top. Other layers were, lettuce, spring onion, tomato, peppers, creme fraiche, grated Leicester cheese.

Broadband

2009-07-28T08:27:00.003+01:00

This morning the news included an item about Broadband speeds. "Broadband users are not getting the speeds they are paying for, according to the largest survey of its kind ever undertaken by telecoms regulator Ofcom."

Here is the article on the BBC website, BBC News.

I am frustrated by our Broadband speeds, especially when trying to work. So much work is done on-line, for instance, web design, blogging, Google everything, getting photos printed, BBC iplayer. I have spoken to BT, our broadband and phone provider and they have checked the line etc and apparently we are a long way from the exchange, which I believe is in Thornbury 3.5 miles away.

So today I had a look on the BT site, this is what I found.

So it appears that actually I am not able to receive a broadband service, no wonder I am frustrated at the speeds. And I am paying this, see below, for the service I am supposedly unable to receive.Add VAT and that comes to about £45. Do I look into Dial-up, costs and speeds, will that help? Well I would except I got my username and password wrong, 3 times, so now I can't access my account to find out. And BT are supposedly putting money in to a super broadband that will give 20MB or even 40MB. I would think all my Christmasses had come at once if we got 4MB!!

Rant over. :-)

Day 12: Storyboards

2009-07-25T22:09:00.003+01:00

These photos were taken by Jeff. We had been to Kendrick's, a great restaurant in Dartmouth. The food there is lovely and there is something for everyone. You can see we were all prepared for the rain.

Jessica showed us how to put this storyboard together. I might try something similar for a mini book for the new Tarling baby.

Day 11: Selective/Spot Recolouring

2009-07-25T22:03:00.002+01:00

This is such an effective Photoshop lesson, it has so many uses. I did one before with a red post box highlighted on a very snowy day. Here is today's take on the lesson.

Day 10: Project Start to Finish

2009-07-20T18:41:00.002+01:00

This was a fun quickie, bringing in all we have done so far.
Clipping Mask
Textures
Burning
Text

Chicken Poem

2009-07-16T22:47:00.002+01:00

I just spotted this in the Omlet newsletter. It is a poem written by Justine Teeling and is so true, they are fascinating.

So, You Want Chickens?

I’m cultivating cobwebs
Collecting lint and dust
Only doing housework
When I absolutely must

You see I have a reason
For this abundance of refuse
It’s not a very valid one
Just some fowl excuse

There are chickens in my garden
I got them just to lay
Now I find I’m captivated
Watching them all day!!!!

So, fair warning if you’re pondering

And trying to bribe the spouse
You may find yourself on telly
On ‘How Clean is Your House?”!

www.omlet.co.uk is where you can find all things chicken especially the Omlet Eglu, perfect for chickens in the garden. I love the Eglu but decided to go for a wooden hen house instead, it was more suitable for what I wanted.

Day 9: Edge Burn

2009-07-14T12:46:00.004+01:00

This technique used a levels adjustment layer which was painted through to bring more light to the faces in this photo.

This was the same but in black and white.

I think it is quite subtle in these photos but when I compare it to the original there is a difference and obviously can be made different by experimenting.

Day 8: Text

2009-07-13T15:50:00.003+01:00

I didn't miss a day, it was just that it wasn't a practical.

Adding text, a simple effective piece of info. I like the creased paper effect.

This is fun to do while I recuperate on the sofa. It is two weeks long so still more to do, but they don't take long so should manage to keep up.

Day 6: TTV & Mega-Challenge

2009-07-13T14:46:00.003+01:00

I know, 2 in one day, there may even be another later. Just catching up.

TTV = Through the Viewfinder.

Note the darkened edges and corners, similar to how old photos used to turn out. Just added a frame flourish to highlight the sepia/aged primulas.

Day5 - Textures

2009-07-13T13:38:00.004+01:00

Textures are a fun way to add depth to your photo, using layers with soft light, multiple or hard light. Experimenting gives all sorts of interesting variations, I chose to use the given examples and here is what I came up with.

This is a plaster hand Jeff produced for an art class piece.

I do find it strange that most of the time photo manipulation is to reduce lines and blemishes to get a pure picture and then here we are adding them!

Day 4: Clipping Masks

2009-07-09T16:07:00.003+01:00

"A clipping mask is basically a shape - any shape - that you can "clip" your photo onto, to cause your photo to conform itself to that shape. Want a heart-shaped photo? You can clip a rectangular photo onto a heart shape, and boom! Heart. I like to call clipping masks "cropping without cropping", because in addition to conforming itself to a particular shape, you don't actually CUT your photo at all - the edges that aren't inside the mask are simply hidden, or masked out. So you can still move your photo within the shape itself. Pretty mind-blowing, right? Yeah. :) "

Here is my version. Photo taken in June on holiday in Cumbria, this is Derwentwater.

Day 3 - Frame + Brush + Hand-tint

2009-07-09T15:50:00.002+01:00

This was exploring what adjustment layers do, and sample the Soft Light blending mode as you add in a vintage tint and some hand-tinted effects with brushes.

So a subtle washed out sepia tone, a little pink to the cheeks and stars, in her hair and coming out of the drinks can. This actually was the day Abbie's 'A' level results came out and the moment in which she heard she had her place at University.

Photo Editing: Frame-Ups & Special Effects - Day 2 - Brushes

2009-07-09T10:52:00.003+01:00

I love brushes, they are so versatile, not only can you paint or draw, but brushes can be swirls, special effects or words and there are so many uses for all the varieties of brushes. A quick search on the internet will produce loads and many free ones.

Here is my class pic.

Jeff flying a kite on cliffs by Dartmouth.

Photo Editing: Frame-ups and Special Effects

2009-07-07T17:50:00.004+01:00

I am working on Jessica Spraque's free photo editing class on-line. It is about Frames and Special effects. Here is her website. http://www.jessicasprague.com/

I am working in Photoshop CS3 and was pleased to have learnt something from the first class. Which was how to resize a frame once it had been moved to the photo. I thought I needed to do it before moving it to the photo. Chuffed

And my version using frames and word art from House of 3:

Summer Birthday

2009-07-02T12:09:00.003+01:00

Rob's birthday today, hip, hip, hooray! This is how Rob's birthday should be, on one of the hottest days of the year, Pimms on the terrace, lots of strawberries, peace and quiet.

Just us two, so we had Scallops and Chorizo on a bed of salad, thanks to Nigella Lawson, followed by this yummy fresh cream and strawberry cake, with drizzled chocolate over the top. That was Abbie's request and that Daddy should have a birthday cake. :-)

Chook preparations have started

2009-05-22T19:29:00.004+01:00

Well more than just started. I have read up, researched, been on the course (www.legbarsofbroadway.co.uk), ordered my chicken house and run and 4 young chooks.

Today we picked up the large van required to collect the chicken house.

And embark on a trip to Ardley in Oxfordshire. We plan to make it a lovely little trip out, taking our time, collecting the run/house and finding somewhere pleasant for lunch.

Tasty

2009-05-21T21:37:00.003+01:00

I thought dinner looked rather tasty tonight, here is a pic.

Haddock on a bed of gently sauted red onion, tomato, pak choi, garlic and seasoning. Sprigs of rosemary dotted around and a grating of cheese on top made a delicious fish dish, served with new potatoes and green beans.

We took Max out for an evening walk before the sun went down, just gently as I had a stupid headache. It was lovely to be out in the fresh air and we discussed more walking and cycling ideas. Here's goodbye to winter.

Happiness is.......

2009-03-14T22:08:00.001Z

..... my new purchase from the garden centre.

Change

2009-03-05T19:02:00.002Z

Well the weather for a start. It has turned a little chilly again here, not that it was that warm the other day. I wrapped up well to take the dog for a run in the woods, it was lovely to be out.

Change, this is a slow one, the gradual forward movement in to earning my own money. I have put a date in the calendar for my first Beyond Chocolate Workshop, Saturday 10th June. Very exciting and a little bit scary.

I finished a Layout today, forgot to take a pic though.

Tomorrow I get a day at Paper Arts, as long as we don't get snow here, which is what happened last month and it was cancelled. Will have to upload some of what I do tomorrow.

My baby steps for March from "A Life Well Crafted" online class at Big Picture Scrapbooking, is to make lots of little general cards to send randomly to family to bring a smile to their home. :-)

St David's Day

2009-03-01T22:43:00.004Z

We have had such a Spring like day today, for 1st March, St David's day, gorgeous. I have dried (almost) 3 loads of washing on the line. I took a photo of the daffodils I bought from Tesco as ours aren't up yet. But the crocus and snowdrops are like jewels at the bottom of the garden. As we sat in the conservatory I thought I could burst open with Spring joy, just like daffodils do! We took Max out for a lovely walk too.

Here's to the coming of Spring.

Card Making workshop

2009-02-28T22:23:00.002Z

Today was a lovely, fun day. I was giving part of the workshop today, making cards using fabric in different ways. Hils started the day of with 5 stunning cards all required compulsory inky fingers. Then Giselle did hers which were supposed to be ink free, but there was one optional use of ink to edge some flowers, I think my favourite was the card using black and pink on it. We had 25 wonderful ladies who each took home 15 beautiful cards to send to friends and family.

Ellie bought the Modscraps shop, but unfortunately I had left my handbag at home so I could only stroke the pretty papers. Ellie also provided raffle prizes, lovely too, thanks Ellie. And Jayne who couldn't come because her daughter went into labour had donated 2 fiskars prizes.

There was a pre-class challenge to make a card for a male. And there were loads of stunning cards, fishing tent, garden shed, decorated fish, car cards, all were very ingenious and I wondered why I was giving the class!

And it looks like we may well be doing another for Christmas, October, November time, so a few months to think about designs for that.

Photos will come later, as I didn't have my camera because it was in my handbag at home, I borrowed Hils's and she will pass photos on to me later.

I have taken some liquid floor polish from Hils, to have a go at one of her cards, that was gorgeous. Off to bed with my achey legs now.

Get Things Done

2009-02-27T19:59:00.002Z

'Get Things Done' by David Allen, was the first book I picked to study. I am now over halfway through. I am very good and looking into ways I can work more efficiently, organize things, declutter, improve life etc. I think by doing that I won't actually have to do these things because I am still trying to find the best way. Am I being cynical about my own motives? Don't answer.

This time I haven't only just read the book, I have cleared the in-tray, the filling tray, the files and have a 2ft pile of paper to burn and have collected all projects (anything that has more than two actions to do to complete them) actions, dates, etc that I can possibly think of.

I liked the bit to enable me to be "maximally efficient and relaxed".
This suits my new way of life away from the corporate world and setting up new businesses.

Now to identify the next actions required on my projects. I have actually done quite alot of actions, many of the 'less than 2 mins' actions too. So time to get a coffee and get going.

Books galore

2009-02-26T20:28:00.002Z

I went on a book heist from Amazon this week.

A real mix of books that I had been gathering in my wish list.

Maybe I will give a review as I read through them.

Happy Weekend

2009-02-25T19:44:00.004Z

We had a lovely weekend revisiting a favourite Hotel in the Cotwolds, The Dormy House Hotel.

On the way we visited Nature in Art at Wallsworth Hall, where the photos from Wildlife Photographer of the Year were on display. An amazing array of nature.

Lunch was at The Abbey Refectory in Tewkesbury.

Then on to the hotel where we shared a delicious cream tea in front of a very warming fire. The day was brilliant filled with blue skies and the first hints of warmth that will be spring. Dinner at the Hotel was so tasty and I love coconut sorbet, must investigate recipes. Breakfast for me was boiled egg and fresh coffee. I love the way their meals aren't too huge or overwhelming.

On the Sunday we visited Evesham Country Park and the miniature steam railway, it was a little cooler but a cup of tea and a toasted teacake warmed us up. I found some cheerful things, a pair of Moshulu colourful house slippers and big bright colourful buttons.

Now what can I do with these buttons?

St Valentine's Day card

2009-02-13T22:28:00.004Z

Tomorrow is St Valentine's Day. I hope you all have your own Valentine.

I remember and probably still have the first Valentine card from my darling husband. Here is the one I have made for him for tomorrow.

I used the Wild Card cartridge on my Cricut Expression. Glittered the 'Be my Valentine' with a pen and used Doodlebug glitter on a white prima flower. The envelope was cut with the Cricut too.

Winter Snow

2009-02-06T21:52:00.003Z

We have had more snow than I can remember seeing before. We have had 3 loads of snow, Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday night and half of Friday. Rob has spent time travelling, having to go the long way round to work. Today it wasn't even worth trying to get out of our little area. I couldn't go to a crop to meet up with friends to do scrapbooking, which was quite sad. I haven't been out of the house all week and was looking forward to some friendly chatter.

Today was interesting, first there was Rob deciding whether or not to go to work, he stayed home, then the boiler tripped, but Rob soon rectified that problem. Snow was blocking the air vent to the boiler. Then the power went off, apparently there were overhead cables down, 3hrs later that came back on. Luckily we had the gas fire and a gas hob to make tea.

We did have fun in the garden, playing football with Max, throwing snowballs, mainly at Max, he liked to try and catch them. We made a snowman and I made a snow angel, my very first.

I have to admit that I was actually on my knees when the photo of the snowman was taken, just to make it look like a really tall snowman!

Slipping Through my Fingers

2009-01-26T17:08:00.004Z

Abigail and I had a lovely trip into Cabots Circus today. Lunch was at the Gourmet Burger Kitchen and it was delicious. We browsed round Harvey Nichols and drooled a little in the Apple store, clothes were tried on and experiences shared.

It occurred to me yesterday that Abbie is leaving home tomorrow. She is returning to Oxford where she has lived for the best part of 4 years, when she wasn't in Cheltenham or Canada. Now this isn't an unusual occurrence. But what is unusual is that when she finishes at University in the summer, she is likely to find somewhere to live around Oxford, she will come to visit us but won't be staying like this time. She is moving on and "Slipping through my fingers". It is lovely to watch and hear about the life and goings on of this lovely young women.

So although she is not just off to school as in the song below, the sentiments are the same for me. I have always felt excited about my children going off in their lives, I love to see them growing and developing and forging their own way in life, from that first moment leaving them at playschool, through to starting school, going off to 6th form boarding school then to University. That excitement in my children's lives has always over ridden anything I might have felt in the negative. I haven't felt the 'empty nest syndrome' that I have heard about, perhaps until now. I don't think I will have time for 'empty nest syndrome' but it will be intersting to see how I feel about this situation as the year goes on. I am always in touch with them when they are away, modern communication is so easy and video chats are common place, they are often in my living room, or texting when I am out. I am sure this will continue and as we all go about our lives in this latest chapter, we will be in touch, sharing our excitements and dissapointments over a cup of tea whether via electronics or through regular visits. Life is good.

Schoolbag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile
I watch her go with a surge of that well-known sadness
And I have to sit down for a while
The feeling that I'm losing her forever
And without really entering her world
I'm glad whenever I can share her laughter
That funny little girl

Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see what's in her mind
Each time I think I'm close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time

Sleep in our eyes, her and me at the breakfast table
Barely awake, I let precious time go by
Then when she's gone there's that odd melancholy feeling
And a sense of guilt I can't deny
What happened to the wonderful adventures
The places I had planned for us to go
(slipping through my fingers all the time)
Well, some of that we did but most we didn't
And why I just don't know

Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see what's in her mind
Each time I think I'm close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time

Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture
And save it from the funny tricks of time
Slipping through my fingers...

Slipping through my fingers all the time

Schoolbag in hand she leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile...

I first heard this in Mama Mia the film, it brought tears to my eyes and to the eyes of my friends, it is just so pertinent in the lives of Mums.

Owning hens

2009-01-22T21:11:00.003Z

I am looking into having hens in the garden, again. Not that I have had hens in the garden before but that I am thinking about it again as I do most years.

I have long had a desire to gave hens laying eggs for me to collect. I am not sure what the attraction is.

Is it the thought of fresh eggs daily?
Is it fulfilling a primal urge to hunt down our own food?
Is it because they will follow me round the garden?
Is it a need to love and care for any animal?
Is it a token to a dormant dream of self sufficiency?
Is it because of those gorgeous coloured eglus by omlet?
Is it because my mother will hate them?
Is it the addition of their droppings to the compost?
Is it their ability to eat all the slugs?

I just feel that this year may be the year of the hen. Let's hope bird flue doesn't rear it's ugly head too much.

I'm here and back into January

2009-01-18T21:55:00.002Z

So much going on but I am feeling back on track after the Christmas Holidays, which were brilliant.

Just got back from a Beyond Chocolate training session in London.

And have uploaded photos of my layouts for my Journal Your Christmas Album, from a class run by Shimelle Lane.

Journal Your Christmas

Wrapping in comfort

2008-12-14T22:31:00.003Z

Wrapping presents that is.

Rob and I always wrap the presents whilst sitting on the floor, surrounded by sticky tape, ribbon, tags, wrapping paper and presents. Usually we have some lovely music on. But it is really killing on the knees.

This year, the presents were already on the table, we didn't need to hide any presents as there was no one here to hide them from. So we just grabbed the wrapping paper and sellotape and sat at the table to wrap presents. So much more comfortable, why hadn't we done that before?

Christmassy Activities

2008-12-06T22:46:00.004Z

We have ordered the turkey and an uncooked gamon, we can collect just before Christmas from Tortworth Estate Farm Shop.

We went to the Thornbury Christmas Market, which was brilliant. There were Carol Singers, loads of local produce, Christmas greenery, local crafts, hot food, sunshine and people. It was such a lovely atmosphere. Rob and I had mulled wine and a mince pie leaning against the wall of Christ the King Hall, in the sunshine. We bumped into a few friends passing the time of day, chatted and caught up. It was very enjoyable. Hope they do it again next year.

Just tried to capture a little of the atmosphere with that amazing blue sky with my mobile phone camera. It is a little reminder.

Christmas Journal

2008-12-02T14:38:00.003Z

I have completed all 56 pages in Katie and James's wedding album. I am amazed. I am relieved because it means Mum can take it back to Devon with her on Thur. I still have a few things to do with it, like the intro page and the end page and a pocket for ephemera and a mini book for them to write their own notes in. So when I have done that I will photo some of it and post on here.

Having done that I felt I could Journal my Christmas, here are pages for the 1st and 2nd December. I decided to go for 6" x 12" portrait shape and think I will buy an album to put them in.

The 1st December explains why I am doing the journal and what I hope to get from it, hence titled 'Intentions'.

The 2nd December is about weather, I included a photo from my kitchen window this morning and a couple of snowy pics from the past. I journal about a Christmas when we had snow on Christmas Day and for a few days following. We had hired a cottage nr Reeth in the Yorkshire Dales. The owners had left us a sledge. So we went sledging with our mittens on, had fun (the sort of scary kind of fun) getting the car up snowy and icy hills, involving me sitting on the bonnet! It was an unbeatable holiday.

1st December

2008-12-01T23:59:00.003Z

I found an advent candle today, it took some hunting down but I decided this is how we would count down this year. Although I think it will take some burning to keep up with the days.

It gives a lovely warm, festive glow to the lounge.

Journal Your Christmas

2008-11-28T14:29:00.005Z

I have decided to have a go at Journalling My Christmas. I enjoy Christmas and all the festivities, the more of them the merrier. I like the pre-planning and preparations, the cake making, menu planning, present buying, decorating and the crafting. Although I don't make enough time to do the crafting I would like to do. I like to leave preparations for Christmas till December, it makes it feel more festive but actually I might allow myself to start some preparations in November, perhaps Christmas cards, decorations and gifts that I can make.

Now my children are grown up, Christmas is different than when they were young. We used to have Christmas concerts or plays to attend, Father Christmas visits, advent calenders which could have chocolate but had to have a nativity theme as I believe we celebrate Christmas for the birth of Jesus, their excitement could be over the top.

Now they will return from University for a grown up Christmas. This will be different to when they were children, so now I am keen to find traditions that we can enjoy as adults. I think journalling a 'grown ups' Christmas will be valuable in creating a family celebration time, I can record thoughts and ideas for how to celebrate and then have a record of our time together. We will be able to look back at how we celebrated Christmas in future years, to remind us what we love to do at this time of year.

Shimelle's class Journal Your Christmas starts on 1st December and goes through to 6th January, which is 12th night when all the decorations need to be down. Daily prompts are sent in e-mails and the day can be captured in photos, scrapbook pages, journalling, in blogs, scrapbooks or photo albums. Here is the link: Journal Your Christmas

Mini Break in Dartmouth

2008-11-27T18:19:00.006Z

I have had an enjoyable couple of days in Dartmouth. Found some lovely gifts for Christmas. It was bitterly cold, but we were well wrapped up and braved the winds to have coffee and patisserie in Saveurs, which was a little bit of heaven, well France actually, the only thing that to improve it would be to change from serving coffee in those mugs to something a little more delicate and pretty.

We had lunch in a newly opened deli/cafe, the food was tasty and we were supporting the new business. I can't remember the name of it but it was nearer the sea front than Saveurs but on the same road.

Another light meal, (on another day I hasten to add) at Alf Resco. I love the atmosphere here, you can sit outside or half outside, under cover or in the warm, wooden interior.

I had smoked salmon and scrambled egg on toast and Mum had cinnamon toast with bacon, delicious.

Then on the last day we visited Ashburton, delightful gift shops, full of things that you do want to buy and take home. Several more gifts to add to the Christmas collection. I could have bought many more things. These were shops where I could say to Rob "go in there and chose me a present" because I would like anything in there.

The ooing and aahing had built up an appetite, off to find somewhere to eat. We chose Moorish, on West Street, an inviting cafe with red and blue washed walls, mosaic and art photography. A few well chosen tapas and a glass of red wine warmed through our fingers and toes.

Then one more shop to visit, The Fish Deli. Please open a branch in Thornbury. And then back home.

That's better

2008-11-20T22:10:00.004Z

I felt the need for a saunter. My mind has been a little busy with all the different things going on and it needed to be lined up and put in order to relieve the jumbled thoughts. Max was asking for a walk, and I decided we would go for a drive then a walk along the canal I had found on a map.

It was lovely and peaceful, shimmering water, chug chug of an engine of a boat going through the lock gates, sounds of birds and a beautiful setting sun with views of the river.

The village is called Purton not far from Sharpness, as I walked the sun lowered, filling the sky with pink marshmallow, turning to red and orange. On the way home I stopped to take the redder skies and then the view from the motorway bridge.

I came home much calmer in my thoughts, made an apple and cranberry crumble, had an enjoyable restful evening, and look forward to starting the day tomorrow.

Today's revealings

2008-11-18T22:10:00.002Z

I was called in today to complete a lengthy questionnaire by my EMDR therapist.

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing. I think that it works something like this. Horizontal eye movement ( my eyes had to follow the movement of the therapists fingers) activates both hemispheres of the brain and when recall of trauma in stages happens at the same time, then the brain seems to process the trauma, reducing or eliminating the effects from that trauma.

I was a patient as part of an NHS study into the effectiveness of EMDR, a couple of years ago. We worked on two major traumas from my life with very good results. Today was follow up research to see how well the EMDR had worked in the long term. I can tell you, that for me, on a scale of 0-10 I have 0 effects from these traumas, except maybe a 1 for one of them on the odd occasion. The therapist said that it had been an amazing result from all but 1 of the patients treated and the results had been maintained over a number of years.

So today was weird, because the questionnaire was the same as one I had filled in at the beginning and end of my treatment and I could see how far I had come or even how bad I was then. I am just so thankful to be beyond those days. I have learnt much about myself from my experiences and feel stronger and better equipped to deal with my daily life.

There is plenty on the internet about EMDR and this was one site I found that was fairly understandable if you wanted to read more, EMDR site.

Sunday Chatter

2008-11-16T22:48:00.003Z

Well I am chuffed. Chuffed because I rode a bicycle round our block. That is two miles of very bumpy country lane. Ok I did push a little. But I feel so good having done it and maybe I shall doit again. See my other blog Beyond Chocolate for more of the story.

Quantum of Solace. You might have heard of it. The latest James Bond film with Daniel Craig as Bond. Rob and I went to see it at the cinema this afternoon. (Tip: seems like a quiet time to go). I kept up with the story but it probably helped that I read a synopsis before I went. Loads of action, sunshine, a bit bloodthirsty, no actually, alot bloodthirsty. So as a James Bond film goes, it was ok. Daniel Craig doesn't do it for me. But I felt it was let down by the lack of gadgets. I think I must be a traditional Bond girl!

Dinner courtesy of Nigella tonight. Lamb chops with chilli and black olives.
I served it with mashed leek and potatos, buttered carrots and a few brussel sprouts. I think it was delicious, even if I say so myself.

Actually that looks garish, think next time I will take photo when served on plates.

I have really started

2008-11-14T23:06:00.002Z

I have started my bridesmaids wedding album. It has a sea theme, which carries over from their wedding day. I have used my Cricut and cut a border from StoryBook that I thought looked a little like seaweed. I then put it through the Cuttlebug to emboss it with swirls (like waves) and then sprayed it with Glimmer mist for a abit of a sheen. I used the Cuttlebug to cut out sand dollars and shells to place amongst the seaweed. It was dark by the time I got to this point hence the flash.

For this page I cut a strip of Bazzill with a scallop cutter, embossed it and sprayed with Glimmer Mist as on first page. I used the Cuttlebug to cut out photo corners. Stamped swirls and words with a multi coloured Brilliance ink pad.

Just before finishing for the night I added some Ranger Stickles, glitter glue to the fronds on the stamp.
I shall take photos tomorrow when there is more light and I have actually done this in the album. These were mock up pages to practise on as the album has fixed pages, so no mistakes allowed!

Daily dose of happenings

2008-11-13T21:52:00.002Z

An outing, with friends, involving 100s of craft shops, buying, coffee and loads of goodies to take home to play with. Sounds like a good day out to the Hobbycrafts Exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham. It was too. I have new glues, Tim Holtz scissors, pretty papers by Inspire Me, a couple of round stamps, one for Birthday one for Summer. I also bought a set of Cuttlebug round shapes for embossing, to put the stamps inside. I just need to create with them now.

Here is something else I have been playing with when I was actively 'not' doing the wedding album I should be working on.

Stories in Hand, an on-line class by Jessica Sprague. She provides pages to download to enable you to set up your own inspiration book with loads of journaling ideas and sheets for jotting down stories you would like to write up sometime. Next I shall make the jotter I can carry around with me to add stories or notes as I go along. I will upload piccies soon. Then I learn more about how to get the stories down.

Tomorrow is Friday, (just affirming that fact for myself) and I will be working on the wedding album. I had help from friends today as we tossed ideas around and feel inspired to carry on. So later tomorrow I will upload photos of some of the work.

Text message from my son: "I just saw Santa abseil down Drakes Circus" . I just thought this was so funny, really random. My son is 19 and Drakes Circus is a Shopping Centre in Plymouth, just to put some context on the text.

It's a Beautiful Day

2008-11-11T18:34:00.004Z

It was lovely watching the birds eating the berries, listening to the ferns blowing in the breeze. Taking in the huge expanse of blue sky and a few scudding clouds just to keep me grounded.

"It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
It's a beautiful day"
Lyrics by U2

I was born .....

2008-11-10T20:56:00.006Z

........ here, in this village over 40 yrs ago. It was fun wandering round Google maps for places I have lived. I was born in a bungalow called The Firs, in Lower Road, Barnacle, nr Coventry, not sure which one though. It doesn't look a very big village now, perhaps not much has changed since I was born there.

From a search on the internet, I now know that it was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. Then it was known as Bernhangre.
I think I see a theme emerging for a new scrapbook page.

Guy Fawkes

2008-11-09T16:12:00.008Z

I have had a couple of days in London for Chocolate Fairy training with Beyond Chocolate. See link at side of my blog for more information. It was great to meet up with all the girls again, everyone was able to be there including Liz and Sarah, fairies that are already trained, they were a wonderful inspiration. Unfortunately Sophie couldn't make it, so thanks go to Audrey who had to be on the ball for 2 whole days on her own.

I have been to 2 fireworks displays this week.

The first at the Chantry in Thornbury, where Rob dons a yellow jacket and keeps an eye that all is going safely. We had a clear, dryish night so all went well with some lovely fireworks and a hot dog. I had a friend turn up so had a good natter between explosions!

The second at Ruth's. Ruth put on an amazing spread, absolutely delicious I couldn't chose just one thing, I had a little of everything, very tasty. I had meant to take a photo, never mind. Nigel and his dad put on a really jazzy fireworks display, a good mix of bangs, whistles, oohs and aaahs. Great company, good chance to catch up socially with friends. Think I might have been discussing a New Years Party!

I didn't have much luck with the firework photos this year, forgot all I learnt from last year. Also I didn't set up my camera or think about it before going outside to watch. "PPPPP" as Rob would say.

Plenty of fun was had by the party people, grown-ups and youngsters alike.

If you see this Abbie, I hope you have some enjoyment from seeing my very poor fireworks photos, knowing you wouldn't have Guy Fawkes night in Canada.

Here is a photo I found earlier, tripod obviously required. Not my photo.

Sewing gifts

2008-11-05T22:31:00.002Z

I have finished sewing some cute little needle cases with poppered closings and some matching buttons storage.Here they are with another couple of bags I made last week.

The one below has had sewn embroidery of a button angel.

I have sewn buttons onto this one which has sewing themed fabric as its base.

I machine embroidered and pattern on this one and sewed on a couple of buttons to the pretty flowery bag.

Bristol Shopping Today

2008-11-03T22:27:00.003Z

Today was our first visit to Cabot Circus, Bristol's new shopping centre.

We turned off too early to enter the car park and went round the houses before finding it again. Car park £5 for between 2 and 4 hrs, it was bright and fresh. Cabot Circus was a bit of a maze and we were very pleased to find someone handing out maps but there were maps up on columns all round. I wish I had had a little preview as to what to expect before I got there. Here it is . There was plenty of room to wander around, it was cold as it has jazzy glass roof covering in areas but still open. It was half term and buying lunch was rather a trial as all the restaurants were very busy.

My son was impressed by the architecture and I learnt why RSJs have verticle bits of metal on them, from my son who is studying architectural technology. He was also impressed because Bristol now has an official Apple store.

We didn't buy anything, I will enjoy going back for a slower look round with a more female's eye view. I still like Park Street.

Tonights recipe

2008-11-01T19:40:00.004Z

The menu for this evening:
Roast Duck Breast with orange sauce
Mashed potato and celariac
Welsh buttered carrots
Courgette
Peas
This delicious meal was in aid of the student son returning from Uni for the first time in 6 weeks. The request came for lots of meat and cheese. He did mention fillet steak and realized he was probably overdoing it and corrected himself to beef. No beef but I think the duck was good compensation along with the venison he had last night. Rob thinks it is great being fed like a king and I think it is great being kept beautifully warm. That is because Rob had the heating up so the student could study in warmth in his bedroom. Fine by me.

Why the guilt of affluence?

2008-10-30T16:04:00.003Z

I am not a writer by any means, my thoughts tend to just roam around my mind and I am only partly aware of their meaning. But I have had this guilt of affluence bought to the fore and not for the first time and thought that if I tried to write down some feelings about it I might understand myself more.

I feel guilty for having so much, a big house, new car, lovely family, healthy body, great friends, I eat well, can read and write and have my own craft room. I am thankful for these things, I do not take them for granted, I know I am lucky. Would I enjoy them more if I didn't feel guilty about them? Is feeling guilty for the abundance in life a part of how you are 'supposed' to feel in this affluent part of the world? Do I feel guilty because I know there are so many with so little, a case perhaps of the starving Africans? Is it because Biblical teachings lean towards giving up your riches?

Perhaps it is all these things and more. Perhaps those are reasons enough to for me to feel guilty, to not boast about what I have, to not see disaproving looks in others. Is this why I want to give things away I no longer have a need for because I can afford it and want to help others less fortunate than myself? But perhaps I want to do that just to assuage my guilt.

Should I be looking to find ways to not feel guilty but to be thankful for what I have in life and to just enjoy what I have, share when I can. Or is feeling guilty the price to pay for this affluence of ours and that is how it should be? I shouldn't be looking for ways to handle my guilt, blaming it on my upbringing or those around me or the media getting at me but accept guilt for this as part of my life.

There are more questions than answers here, a topic I think I will return to again. For the moment I would like to think that my guilt can be used in a positive way, to help others, share the abundance I have, abundance of money, health and happiness. I would like it to lift others to help add to their riches if I can. I acknowledge there are those more wealthy than I but I don't think they should feel guilty and neither do I think they should share their riches with me. What I do think is that everybody has riches that they can share in some form or another and that this is what should be shared among us all; riches of laughter, wisdom, happiness, love and so many more. Riches in money is only one aspect of life, there is so much more that is important.

24hr Crop

2008-10-29T21:36:00.005Z

Over £500 was raised on the night. All the money going to St Peters Hospice, Bristol. We had alot of fun, several classes were given and a few kits we could buy too. A huge raffle, where I won a couple of things, that are lovely, a candle, notebook, some pretty papers and a ribbon threader punch. Some lovely food was brought along to revive flagging energies. Thanks to the organizers for a great day/evening/night.

Here are a couple of things I created whilst there. The first two are of the UK holiday we had the other week, I need to add some handwriting to remind us what it was all about. The kit album is K&Co. "Everything you need to create your personalized project".

This is a paper bag book which I made in a class at a ModScraps crop last year and finally got round to using. Perfect for visit to the Cardigan coast with some scrapping friends.

This was a kit I bought at the crop and involved alot of painting of matchboxes. Anyone need any matches? After the aqua colour paint was dry I dabbed some pearly paint over the top. The paper was a gorgeous colour with shiny bits too. Perfect to turn into an advent box, just wrap tiny tags round the brads with the date on.

This is a class layout run by Giselle, it gives a taste of Dartmouth Regatta but does not do justice to Giselle's lovely class.

Now may I introduce you to Little Wol. A friends said she saw this and it made her think of me, not really sure why but I hope it was because of how wise owls are, not that it is a wise, old owl. I think she thought it would make me chuckle too, which it certainly did as it blinks his big eyes at me and turns his head from side to side.

Happiness is........

2008-10-27T22:27:00.003Z

It arrived, my Cricut Expression was delivered this morning at 7.53am. After paying £40 for tax and customs handling.
But it was my prize and when I have sold my baby Cricut I should about break even but have and Expression instead. I have had a little play today to just test out the functions. My baby Cricut is all packed up ready to be sold, which is a little sad as it is such a good, neat, little machine.

Tomorrow I shall put some photos up from the 24 hr crop I went to on Sat. I stayed until 5.30am, so managed 20hrs which I thought was exceptional, except there were still 3 people cropping away when I left. Don't think hubby was too pleased at me getting in at this hour and then down right angry when the dog started howling! Whoops. But I was really pleased I could do it, it was one of those achieving moments, I am not weak, I can do these things.

Frustration is..........

2008-10-24T16:51:00.003+01:00

You know your parcel has been sent from the States, you have the date and the tracking number and then day by day you watch for its progress, hopefully to your front door. I think it must go via Singapore, New Zealand and Iceland but they don't tell you that bit. But when the latest update from your tracking number search says


	Attempted Delivery Abroad, October 24, 2008, 12:16 pm, GREAT BRITAIN
	At Foreign Delivery Unit, October 24, 2008, 1:10 am, GREAT BRITAIN
	Out of Foreign Customs, October 23, 2008, 6:50 am, GREAT BRITAIN
	Into Foreign Customs, October 22, 2008, 3:34 pm, GREAT BRITAIN
	Arrived Abroad, October 22, 2008, 1:22 pm, GREAT BRITAIN
	International Dispatch, October 19, 2008, 3:14 am, ISC SAN FRANCISCO (USPS)
	Electronic Shipping Info Received, October 15, 2008
	Shipment Accepted; October 15, 2008, 4:03 pm, DELTA, UT 84624

Yes, it said attempted delivery! Was this by telepathy because there were no deliveries here today, not a peak, or a note, or a van, anywhere near? "I Know 'Cos I Was There", as Max Boyce said.

And tomorrow I am out all day, not just all day but all night too, helping to raise funds for St Peter's Hospice, nr Bristol.

When it arrives I will show you what I won for my efforts in Scrap Pink event, raising money for a cancer charity in memory of Susan G Komen.

Just found an item on this blog, belladia. It shows an illustration from the book "A Child's Garden of Verses" by Robert Louis Stevenson. This book was an absolute favourite of mine as a child and the illustrations ingrained into my being. I loved many of the verses, some being, The Land of Story Book, From a Railway Carriage and Bed in Summer. The version I saw today had illustration by Brian Wildsmith, I found it here on Amazon.

How bright and cheerful is this illustration.

It made me feel I wanted to do this, I wanted to illustrate these wonderful verses of my childhood for myself. Maybe I could make my own scrapbook version. Hold that thought.

Bath and bubbles by candlelight

2008-10-22T22:26:00.004+01:00

I climbed into the bubbles of my bath, sinking into the warm water and the atmosphere the candle provided. This was so relaxing and calming, I became aware of my mind slowing down from its frantic thoughts, very peaceful.

Just what was needed after my first visit to Macro and the experience of bulk buying. There was so much there, mesmerizing. So I am now stocked up on toilet rolls, soap powder, coffee and many other essentials. If my neighbours read this they are welcome to pop round if they run short.

My find of the day though was not from Macro but W.H.Smiths. A roll of wrapping paper, wait for it........... goldy, silver and glittery, very bling. £3.99 a roll for 2.5m. Because it is only a glittery effect and not glitter I put it through my Cricut to see how it would cut.

As you can see the cut was brilliant, the possibilities are just reeling through my mind (maybe I need another bath already). So if you receive a Christmas card from me this year, you may well find this glorious wrapping paper on it in some form. Click on the photo for a better look.

Eventually

2008-10-21T20:56:00.003+01:00

Eventually, is how I uploaded probably 200 photos to be printed and delivered to my home in 24 hrs, what a palaver, some for a wedding album, some for our last holiday and a few from another wedding and a weekend with girlfriends. I am attending a 24 hr scrapbooking crop on Saturday to raise funds for St Peter's Hospice, Bristol, so needed plenty to be doing, that is if I can stay awake that long, doubtful. I imagine it will be a bit like nursery school when you all put your heads down for a little nap. I will be working on a wedding album for Katie and James, Katie was our bridesmaid 23 years ago.

I have just spent a delightful half hour on ichat with Jeff. It is lovely how we can catch up with our student children wherever they are. He is so chuffed to have found a cheap warm, filling (almost) snack, 7p pot noodles from Sainsbury's! He has asked in that sort of bashful way for a cheese hamper. He now knows why we used to tell him to stop grating so much cheese over everything. Aah, poor students.

I am currently having a conversation on MSN with Abbie, all about budgeting and loans and new laptops and 77% results and how cold it is in Canada all of a sudden. Now it is about dates, when she comes home from Canada and starts back to Uni in Oxford after Christmas and when she finishes altogether. Those 4 years of Uni seem to have flown by. Sometimes Abbie and I use Skype, video chatting, sometimes just typing on MSN. It is great because it is more natural than just being on the phone and you can carry on doing computer type things too.

Home from an away week

2008-10-20T10:57:00.011+01:00

Arriving home, knowing you have your own comforts to await you and the post that might hold such lovely things is quite exciting. And in my post was a RAK (random act of kindness) sent to me by Joan from America for taking part in a cake box (click link to see mine) challenge on HSS.

I thought they were gorgeous and so me. So thank you very much Joan, I look forward to using them.

So back to our UK holiday.
Next stop Ironbridge Gorge, a fascinating journey along the history of this gorge, clay pipes, coalport china, iron mining and smelting, pitch. So much to see, we will need to go back for another visit sometime.

A few more visits in Shropshire, Bridgenorth, Shrewsbury (I am a Cadfael book fan), Ludlow. All pretty with so much history.

This is a part of what once was Shrewsbury Abbey and is now a gorgeous church.

The buildings in Shrewsbury were so historical and there were some lovely shops. This one for instance, which I am sorry I can't remember the name of. It was made up of several different rooms and their associated accessories.

Off to Wales then, we have been to Wales for our holidays for the last few years, we just love the coast line and the wild areas. And as you can see Max is in seven heaven on the beach.

The wild life is great too.
We spotted a pair of dolphins quite far away, a seal, salmon leaping up the river and what I think is a red kite.

We found St Dogmaels this time, so thought we should visit. There is a wonderful tea shop and another abbey in ruin. You can just imagine the monks shivering their way from prayer to activity to prayer again.

And no holiday is complete if it can possibly contain trains, and Rob was lucky to get a ride on an unofficial running train. This was near Carmarthen on our way home.

I decided not to take a photo of my wasp sting which had a swollen, red look of about 4" diameter. I thought you might be pleased about that. It is better now and so is my cold.

A few fun days

2008-10-14T21:35:00.004+01:00

A whirlwind few days, taking in a piece of the Cotswolds and a slice of Shropshire, staying in a couple of lovely hotels, very different from each other but both really good.

Evesham, river Avon.

Broadway, view from the cafe where we sat and had early grey tea in the warmth still there from a beautiful October Day.

Higher up Broadway.

The Dormy House Hotel, wonderful, fully recommend the all-in-one Sunday night, dinner, bed and breakfast, a little luxury.

That was only day one, I will catch up over the next few days.