For Deb and Marti

Deb is my friend.........I met her in Blogland.......at Paper Turtle.......where she posts the cutest projects ever.......and blogs about her life and family an ocean away in Arizona.........one member of her family is her mum, Marti........who always leaves wonderful comments on Deb's blog.

 Recently Marti has been diagnosed with cancer........and Deb asked her blog friends to support Marti by being part of Team Teal.......and wearing the teal wristband that denotes the type of cancer she has......the wristband speaks of hope, faith , courage and strength........I was honoured to do this for her.

 Today is Marti's birthday.......so I am sending her HAPPY BIRTHDAY wishes...... along with the hope that she will have many more birthdays to celebrate.

Royal Wedding Dispute

The Royal Wedding caused an interesting dispute at OH's place of employment.
On WEDNESDAY morning the management announced that as Friday was a PUBLIC holiday and not a BANK holiday.......normal rates of pay would be in effect for those drivers who chose to work.
On WEDNESDAY afternoon the drivers announced that as it was a PUBLIC holiday they were entitled to be paid their normal rate whether they worked or not......so why would they choose to work for the same pay as they would get for staying at home.
On THURSDAY the management announced that BANK holiday rates would be paid for those drivers who chose to work Friday.
Dispute over.

My Day in Photos

 

See more days here

Easter Scrapped!!!

Well.....sort of.......I don't often get photos scrapped so fast.......but loved some of the photos of Little A taken at yesterday's BBQ........and had an old kit in just the right colours........so after enjoying the sun in the garden for a few hours.......apparently it won't be with us much longer.......I set to work creating these pages [and a little bit of mail art that can't be shared yet as well!].

They are going to be a double page layout.......so only put some journaling on one page.

I'm posting the pictures extra large as Shimelle suggested in class.......but still  not convinced that they're not too big. What do you think?



Annual Easter Tea Extravaganza

Every Easter we have a traditional British 'high' tea......sandwiches, scones, fruit bread, biscuits and cakes of all descriptions......it's usually the only day of the year we do this......there's about 15 of us for tea......and we all love it......but not this year!!!!!
As the world's weather goes crazy.......and we seem to have migrated to the tropics......hundreds are flying abroad for Easter........but it's hotter here than Cairo.......we touched 80 degrees F today.......it's pretty rare we reach that even in August.......SIL and me decided 2 days in the kitchen baking was not our idea of fun in the sun.
Sooooo.........welcome to our Easter BBQ.

a variety of meat and fish

family and a few close friends

Little A investigating it all

Laughing at her daddy

DD1 was the birthday girl

Little A with her other grandmother 

and her daddy

there was still an Easter cake

which DD2 pinched the sheep from!!!

Happy Easter to you all.

Tres Chic......

Is the name of the new range by Craftwork Cards.......French inspired.......or should I say.......Paris inspired.
When we visited Paris many, many years ago.......we climbed to the top of the Eiffel Tower......no mean feat......and the most amazing views........but just as well we did it then.......because I certainly wouldn't do it now.....it makes me dizzy just thinking about that sort of height these days!!!

 I love the greys and blacks and pinks together......and the slightly vintage feel to it......and it makes a change to have no stamped image at all on one of my cards.



Why do you blog?

3 years ago I took Shimelle's 'Journal Your Christmas' class......lots of  the other students had blogs........and as Shimelle doesn't have a gallery........their blogs were the easiest way to see and comment on their pages......so I set up my own.....with no plan for it in mind at all.....it just had my journal pages with a brief comment.

 I then continued putting my pages and cards on the blog.......it seemed a good way to document them......and keep track of them.....I discovered challenge blogs.....which I love.....and were great for expanding my cardmaking and scrapbooking skills.

But it wasn't until  'Blogging for Scrapbookers' class that I began to do any more than that.......I found I really enjoyed the blogs that combined craft, chat and a bit of personal life.......so nowdays I hope my blog has a bit of variety to it.......and I blog for lots of different reasons.........including the friendships that have been made through blogging.

I know more people 'visit' here than actually comment......so it would be great if today you could say "hello".....and maybe comment on.......do you prefer a variety.....or do you prefer just art and craft? 

And I'd like to say a  big thank you to all who left such wonderful coments on my last post......they meant a great  deal.

Alphanumeric Blog Hop



Welcome to my post for Mel's 'Alphanumeric Blog Hop'..........I was originally going to withdraw from this hop.......and this is a short post..........and not cute and cuddly..........and probably not really appropriate for a blog hop.........but the number Mel had unwittingly given me really 'spoke' to me this week...............so I hope you will bear with me........but please feel free to skip this post entirely and continue on your journey to Scrapworthy Lives.

The 4 of us met 30 years ago.........when we were all very young......D + G moved from the North East to the South coast......when D started his job at the company OH worked for. 

The 4 of us quickly became close friends......and have been the closest of  friends ever since.

The 4 of us have shared together the thrills and spills of life.........the laughs and the tears......the highs and the lows........and had a great deal of fun along the way.

The 4 of us have always been there for each other.......supporting each other through life's journey.
The 4 of us still had many plans and dreams for the future together........including a holiday already booked for later this year.
But now there is just unutterable sadness.........and the knowledge that life will never be the same again.........because last weekend our friend D passed away........suddenly and unexpectedly......gone in the blink of an eye.
Rest in peace, dear friend.........you will be forever in our hearts.

Some short term goals.....maybe??

I'm good at making long term goals.......but not so good at achieving them.......I have a 'there's always tomorrow' attitude........I know I tend to work to deadlines.....if I've a month to do something.....you can bet I'll be completing it the night before!!!

So with the Easter holidays beginning today........yay........and 3 weeks with only one holiday course.......and a few hours office admin to do............p'raps some short term goals might be good!!

1. Total clear and re-sort of craft area.....as you can see.....there's so much on the front of the shelves......I can hardly get to the boxes!

2.  We have an area of the garden finally cleared of weeds........I need to plan it out,to start planting and dig up, divide and plant bits from other areas of the garden into it.......not to mention finishing planting all my seeds.....this may, of course, require some visits to garden centres and nurseries.



3. Finish watching all the wonderful She Art videos......while the classroom is still open.......and before Christy's next class begins!!

4. Give the conservatory it's Spring makeover.........it's barely used in winter.......and becomes a bit of a dumping ground.

Let's see how well I get on with these!!!!!





Tilda feeling blue....

It's so long since my poor Tildas have seen the light of day that I think they were feeling a little blue.......well, this very old one is certainly blue today......despite her escape from the box!!!!!!

Lots of old stash used on this one.......old stamp........old K & Co papers........old fabric flowers.......old brads......in fact the only things that are remotely newish.......are the blue gems.

And some challenges........a lovely sketch at Sketch Saturday...........'old neglected stamps' for Pollycraft......'spots and dots' for One Stop Craft Challenge......'flowers' for Crazy Challenge and Crafty Pad

Today........

It is hot.......like....... t shirts and shorts hot.......I'm not wearing shorts......on Tuesday I still needed a jacket.....how would I know that by today I should have got my shorts down from in the roof??!! And ....sadly....I wouldn't look like this in them either!!

I used my brand new....best ever Mothers Day present........a potting table

 and planted my sweet pea seeds in their little toilet roll holders.........and my sunflower seeds......a garden needs sunflowers

I met my DDs in town for lunch......it's rare we all have the same day off work.......we ate at Cafe des Artes......a delightful cafe/restaurant/art gallery  which is a Social Enterprise with the aim of  providing people with autism an opportunity to undertake work-based learning and to showcase and sell their art work.....and the food is delicious.

   

 I bought 4 Body Shop shower gels for £6.......they normally cost this much  each.......which is why I hardly ever buy them....even though I love them.The question now is......do I put them in the bathroom and share......or tuck them away 'just for me'??????

Today has been a lovely day........I hope yours has too.



One Year Ago......

I blogged a layout about the close relationship of my son and his late grandmother.....you can read more about it here

So I thought today I'd blog another layout of him.........a very simple 'baby' page.....it's the first page in the album I'm making for him.......I haven't been making the pages chronologically.......though they are going in the album chronologically..........and if I was making this page today.......I'd do it differently.....and I'd definately cut and stick everything straight!!!!! But I don't believe in changing older pages.......even when I'm not so keen on them now.......they're all part of  my 'scrapping' development.

Do you agree....or do you go back and 'update' pages?

You may notice he hardly fitted in the plastic 'cot' they used to put babies in!!

So you may like to look more closely at the weight and length written on his birth card.......and, yes, they are accurate!!!