culling and scrapping

I've made a start on culling things in my craft rooms. Boy this is going to take a long while, I have 8 shelves in my computer room and it took all day and 4 large charity sacks to clear just one shelf.





All of this is cross stitch and related things, chiefly books, that John and I collected when we were both stitching pictures. Then I started doing cards mainly with Pergamano (parchment craft)and left John to do the cross stitch. I just couldn't bring myself to dispose of them when John died and they came with me here, placed on the top shelf and forgotten about. Gone now, keeping just a few, one cross stitch and one or two others. I will keep the fabric may come in handy.



I've also been scrapping of course. I still have lots of photos from my Florida holiday to scrap, this one is Rufus doing what he most enjoyed, playing with a water cannon, this time at Legoland



I've also done the weekly challenge on UKScrappers to scrap something food related, use circles and or yellow as it is full moon this week. Finally to use lots of scraps



the only trouble with this page is that the theme doesn't fit any of my albums so not sure where to put it.

Today I am pleased and grateful for making a start on the craft rooms, something I've been putting off and putting off and really dreading, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Sketch Friday

Good morning Blog friends, I going to try something new on my blog and do a sketch every Friday I'll try and make a page with it myself each week and maybe a card (I really need to build up a stock of cards as I haven't done any for so long)

This week's sketch is a very simple one that you can dress up with lots of layers if you like or keep it very simple if that is your style





Card Sketch




the idea of doing a card from stash left after the layout is completed is taken from Double Take which also comes out each Friday.

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I have two other pages to share this first one was done for the weekly challenge on UKScrappers
we had a sketch to inspire us
to scrap someone/something/some place that we love
to use Red or hearts or both

Having done a page of Mittens I thought that it was now Rudi's turn my beautiful 15 year old cat.



This one was done for another challenge on UKScrappers 'Have I got Scraps for you'
clustered embellishments
using rubber stamps and
those embellishments that are 'too special to use'


I found the photo in an album belonging to my DMIL it was taken in my back garden sometime in the 1980s. The embellishment that was 'too special' is the label that holds the title, I cut it on Robo using a dingbat font Roses then placed a piece of shimmery paper behind

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Today I am grateful for a warm bungalow to come home to
for managing to get the card stock I wanted without having to buy a whole pack
for my Robo which is giving me such fun.

Saturday walkabout Sunday Layabout

It's Saturday and I'm being treated to a trip around Bristol to see the sights. It's a misty morning which usually bodes well for a bright day.

The journey along the open road and motorways is still very misty and I begin to think I may not get good photos but then it suddenly clear and I mean suddenly The sky is clear and bright

River Avon and an old Roman harbour, more a mud flat now but I like these photos, the mud must be rich in food for there are a lot of seagulls

Clifton suspension bridge, I've often seen it from the car but this is the first time I have photographed it or walked over it.

I have to take the bridge structure from a different angle

This post is rather photo heavy, I have plenty more but I just want to share this last one today

Sunday after church and after I have my lunch I relaxed with my computer on one side of me and some stash on the other I scrapped, not the photos from yesterday but these ones of Mittens and the little box

I am grateful for a good weekend, friends who took me to Bristol, had patience while I took photos
and for a relaxing Sunday scrapping time.

A little shopping

I have been feeling a little low recently, not really knowing why except I want to have a holiday but frightened of going on my own. Today I went into town visited the Range first and spent some money on stash



then into town and found a new shoe shop and as I was thinking only the other day that I need to get out of my boots soon and so I went in and found a pair so comfortable that I just had to have them.



It's amazing what a bit of sunshine and retail therapy can do. I also went into a travel shop and picked up a Sherrings catalogue, you never know I may find it in me to book a holiday after all.

I have my own little lolcat just couldn't resist this photo of Mittens


Today I am grateful for sunshine and shopping spree

Look Up/Look Down

I've been interested in what blogging friends have been doing with the look up/look down prompt so decided I would do one with the photo I took out of the bedroom window this morning



My black cats have dry food but they tend to crunch them and leave the crumbs so every now and then I put them out for the wild life, this usually happens at night but today I put it out this morning and the magpie arrived and it was great to see him pondering if it was safe to land before swooping down on the food. I also had a blackbird enjoying the food.

I did the weekly challenge today another page for my Florida Holiday album. When we visited Legoland the bit I loved the best was the miniature buildings in Miniland. I had so many photos of it as both Neil & I took photos and although I made a double page and used 8 photographs there are still more that I haven't used.

Challenge criteria was to use a Shakespeare quotation, green & Pearls, I struggle with the Bard as I don't understand his writing but realised that all the world would fit Miniland





Today I am grateful for a warm home and not having to go out in the cold

Promised Page & Mother knows best

I said on Sunday that I would show the page I made the quotation for, but I had a really rubbish day yesterday and didn't feel like I wanted to blog at all. I was sitting in the ash heap feeling sorry for myself because I have no one to go on holiday with.
Today I will pick myself up and do something useful instead.

So without further ado here is the page

it is about how I wanted so much to see and photograph a cardinal when I went to Florida but this was the only one and the photo isn't brilliant but I did see one and I did photograph it so was worth a page, another one added to my now rather thick holiday of a life time album

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I picked up this little book a few weeks ago at the sale at the church. I thought I may share a few of the gems from time to time

'Do as I say, not as I do. (I remember my father saying that to me)

'Were you born in a barn?' (I'm sure I said that to my children)

'Eat your crusts or your hair won't curl' (I must have left all my crusts then as my hair is dead straight)

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I am grateful that today is another day, a fresh start, a clean plate

A lovely weekend

SATURDAY
I'm all prepared, I've packed more than I need, but as I'm never sure what I'll need I pack plenty.
Where am I off to? A scrapping morning, a crop. It's lovely to be picked up and taken to the venue, a pleasure that I don't have to make my own way there. I really do appreciate that.

Well I haven't any ideas when I start to put things down on the page, I crop my photos, making them narrow, I place them together on a sheet of patterned paper, is this paper right? no. So I try another sheet, ah that's better cut it out and mount the photos. place the photos on the background paper, here I think, yes that looks good but I won't stick it down yet. It needs an edging of white to make it pop. Great, ribbon next now I can stick the photos down. I know what title I want to use, so cut that on Robo, I love that cutting machine especially now that I have downloaded Silhouette Studio. I add braiding and buttons and feel it is nearly finished. I know that it need journalling, but I want to print that this time so it will have to wait till I get home.

Goodness me is that the time, this has taken me so long to do, mind you have have chatted quite a bit which is part of the fun of coming out to scrap.

At home I print off my journalling and add it to the page. Just one more little thing is required, a sporran. Just a tiny one but boy it is so fiddly it is only about an inch in length but worth the effort. Another page completed for my Christmas album



SUNDAY
I'm doing the multimedia in church today so need to leave earlier than usual. It's pouring with rain so grab my umbrella. I meet Ann at the bottom of Broadway and we climb the hill together umbrella to umbrella.
The flowers in church look beautiful I just have to take their photo



After church I make my way home I know that Neil will phone me as we are going out for a meal, so no dinner prepared.
They pick me up at 2 o'clock Rufus is fast asleep, nodded off in the 15 minutes it took for them to get to me.




We drive out to Marlborough to the Castle & Ball a lovely inn to eat in. Meal delicious and beautifully cook.
Neil and Gemma present me with this saying Happy Sunday we saw this and thought of you. I was so chuffed what a lovely gift, it is now hanging on my lounge chimney breast



Rufus sleeps through the whole time so he didn't eat, he woke soon after we left and of course then wanted to go to the toy shop. He really is good and doesn't demand lots of things so he usually ends up with a small gift. One of the surprise toys suffices.

I scrap again this evening as I wanted to do UKScrapper's monthly challenge. The criteria is to take inspiration from one of three quotes, I chose 'Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great.
I only have a tiny photo which wasn't all that brilliant but seemed to me to fit the bill. What is it, well it's too dark to photograph tonight so you will have to wait for my next post but I can share this little bit of it as I made this on the computer.


Today I am grateful for a very nice meal, in pleasant surrounding and good company.

My Week

MONDAY
I should have done some housework, instead I scrapped another page for my Florida holiday.
Even though I was in a magical Disney world while away and all the attraction around were spectacular I still wanted to take photos of plants and wild life. So here is the first page of some of the things I saw, I'm sure at some time or other I'll do another page to go with this one as I still have photos I want to use.



This was done for a challenge on UKScrappers to use a divided page effect.

TUESDAY
I woke to a very watery sun,

but at least it was sunny and so I decided to go into town, then catch the no. 66 bus out to Stratton Park, retail park that is where Hobby craft is situated. Oops I spent money as well as time there and all this fell into my basket.

I get back home and then receive a text to say that my glasses are in Grrrrrrrrrrr why could it not have come half hour earlier? Never mind Friday will have to do.
The weekly challenge on UKscrappers is to do a page of someone special in your life, I chose to do it on my Dad and the pack of paper I bought today were just right for this page



WEDNESDAY
I have a hair appointment, the hairdressers is only 5 mins away from home but it was so cold out I couldn't feel my finger by the time I got there.
Please with the colour this time



THURSDAY
As usual I'm up at the church for the sale, this week it seemed that I was on the go all morning and boy did my body know it by the time we finished.
I came home to find the new home hub on the doorstep so I am now able to go wireless, this is great means I can bring my computer into the lounge with very little trouble, surf and watch tv at the same time. Brilliant.
I was going to do a food shop but I really was too tired so had a snooze in my chair during the afternoon.
Refreshed from that I did a layout in the evening from a photo of John that I found the other day. Do wish that I had recorded where and when at the time, but, before digital most of my photos seemed to be random with no details at all. but I wanted to use this one as I have so few of John that haven't already be scrapped at least once more often 2 or 3 times.



FRIDAY
I like being wireless, nice to sit up in bed this morning with a cuppa and my computer on. I have a little bed table which is ideal for it. What a lovely way to start the day, especially as when I looked out of the window the sky was a very pretty pink. So I grabbed my camera and went into the garden


Into town to collect my glasses. Thought I would pop down to see Neil but he wasn't in the office, on the way back up the road he called me, he was in one of the bars having a coffee with Gill (Gemma's Mum) so I joined them. Then on to the opticians, but my glasses are still not right and I was so disappointed. They seemed to be even worse than at first. Still they are going to have another go at getting something that I can work with.
Eventually got the food shopping done

I have one more page to share, this one was done for the texture challenge
I used Modelling paste spread over a stencil


another long post, think I will have to try and go back to posting every day.

Today I am grateful for Wifi
for a beautiful sky
for fun and challenges in my scrapping

Story telling Sunday

It's the first Sunday in the month, that means it's story telling time, hosted by Sian from High in the Sky (now don't you think that's a lovely title, like Jo from Little Women who used to write her stories in the attic)

I digress the theme for this year is 'Pick your Precious' and as I said last month I have already done an album of my little treasures so I'm over half way there for this each month.

February is the month for love with Valentines day in the middle of it, so I wanted to do a story about love, but not a husband/wife love, a daughter/mother love.

Now my daughter is not a sentimental person so when I received this little box from her it made me cry, for it showed me just how much she loves me.




The wording on the card written as a poem

This is a very special gift

That you can only see

The reason it's so special

It's just for you and me

Whenever you are lonely,

Or even feeling blue,

You only have to hold this gift

And know I'll think of you

You can never unwrap it

Please leave the ribbon tied

Just hold it close to your heart

It's fill with love inside. 

 

Thank you Sian for continuing to host this blog hop I really do enjoy it. 

If you have enjoyed reading about my treasures why not pop over to Sian's place and read some more stories

My life in numbers - January

Thought I would try this again see how far I get.

I bought one new camera it has a 33x zoom lens 18.2 mega pixels taken 359 photos on it discarded 69 of those as rubbish and a lot more ought to go.
I did 14 layouts and one minibook
had two eye test, the second one because I just couldn't get on with the new glasses, still waiting for the revised ones to come back.
Sorted 20 drawers and taken 4 or was it 5 big charity bags of stuff to the sale
 We had 4 inches of snow fall in one day here in Swindon 

 Built one snowgranny and one Snowcat

Drunk one glass of Whisky (truly only one glass or it may have been two cos I may have had one New Year's eve) :D

Today I am grateful for a bright sunny day even though it was cold 
discovering new things I can do on Robo now I have Silhouette Studio
Eating out which saved me cooking this evening

Catch up again

I'm sorry to have been AWOL for so long, I know I said I wouldn't post every day but this has been over a week. Mind you not much has happened in that time so a quick resume if I can remember what I've done

Monday 21st
Opticians to get my eyes retested as my new glasses were impossible for computer work and reading in comfort.
Still snow around and on the way down the hill I just had to make a snow cat sitting on the wall, not brilliant but fun. Snow is beginning to melt and icicles are forming



Tuesday 22nd
An Aww moment with the cats Mittens cuddled up with Doris my door stop and Muffin in her favourite place the radiator cat hammock




Wednesday 23rd
I've found another photo of John I must scrap sometime soon, also one of me but I'll not share that one yet
This one of John will need a little bit of further adjusting on the computer.




Friday 25th
Fun night in Green Button house on UKScrappers, we started off with a speed scrap, just a set of instructions given every 10 minutes great fun to see how each one is interpreted very similar but not exactly the same. This is mine



earlier in the day I had been watching a video of someone scrapping and rather like one of her ideas The 6x6 square cut into rays so of course I had to do a page using that.



We also had two more challenges but I didn't get round to doing them till much later.

Tuesday 29th
The weekly challenge on UKScrappers this week called for A holiday/festival theme that was also food related, and lots of journalling. This gave me an opportunity to scrap this terrible photo of me on Christmas day.


this design was inspired by one in Scrap 365


Wednesday 30th

A bargain and a crop

I had been experimenting with gesso to try and get some texture from stencils, one of the challenges from the fun night, but my gesso was too thin I needed modelling paste and I knew that The Works had some for only £1.99 I got that and also a 12x12 album which was on offer at £4.99 a bargain indeed.



Crop night and I managed to complete a page and also to finish another that had been hanging around for inspiration.
This first one is the sketch challenge from the fun night. The swirls are made from the papery bark of a birch tree mounted on chipboard, so pleased with how that worked and the skeletal leaves were a perfect accompaniment.



This one is the page that had me stumped and all it really needed was journalling



and the journalling for those who like to see it all


Thursday 31st
Last night at crop I had a demonstration of what Silhouette Studio is like with Robo and wow I just had to download it.
I have been trying to do this using the Robo's own programme and failing miserably so I am chuffed to bit that Silhouette works with the cutter I have.

My final page for January is this one

Title was cut on Robo using Silhouette (that word I think I have now learnt to spell :D)all joined up and done so easily (was always a fiddle before)

That's me for January, a good month with lots to be thankful for, it's had its ups and downs but I feel sure more ups than downs
see you on Sunday for Story Telling Sunday hosted by Sian from High in the Sky

Goodness me I said in the beginning of this post that it would be a quick resume Ha Ha not so quick after all.