As Seen catch up and a Layout

Well I think I am just about catching up with myself after two busy weekends away. I did take photos for my 'As seen' during my days away though I don't seemed to have taken any today.

Friday's just had to be the thunderous hail storm that made so much noise on the conservatory roof, it was not long after we had all arrived and we hadn't started scrapping which was just as well the noise was so bad.



Saturday there was a beautiful rose pink sky at 6 o'clock in the evening a promise of a nice day on Sunday?



Sunday we woke to a heavy mist which made all the spiders webs sparkle with dew



the promise the evening before was fulfilled and we had quite a nice day weather wise and were able to take group photos outside.



the white patches on Lynne & my jumper is where the sunlight had caught them.

Monday saw us beavering away packing all our stash and making the house tidy again. All done and we were ready for the off by just before 10 good going.

My as seen just had to be my wall hanging because I was so pleased with it.



I did another page for my wedding album today to cover the weekly challenge on UKScrappers. The criteria was to do a double layout using a sketch provided, because of the Great British Bake off that had to be the theme of our pages and the rest was made up of washi tape or ribbon and to incorporate numbers. I thought that it would be good to record the fact that our 3 tier wedding cake was made with love, the rich fruit cake being made by John's Mum and the icing and decorations by a friend of my parents. Isn't it nice when things become special because of who has made them.
I did it as a 6x6 double layout for the challenge then mounted that onto a 12x12 white card stitching around the edges and adding a black flourish to 2 of the corners.


for the lack of anything outside I have resorted to one of my cats for my picture for today My adorable boy Rudi


Today I am grateful for a relaxing day even though I don't feel to well

A busy weekend scrapping

A very quick post to let you know I am still around, have been away for the weekend with no WiFi so not able to post. Still trying to catch up with sleep so just posting my pages I completed over the 3 days
I managed 4 layouts and a Mini book also a lovely wall hanging

This first LO is inspired by this one of Sian's

here is my version


The Minibook was a challenge from the previous weekend set by eClaire from UKScrappers
it's a double tri-fold construction, Claire had done hers as a heritage one and I thought it would be such a lovely idea to do mine of my parents



The wall hanging took quite a while to do but I really enjoyed it and am inspired to do more. I've hung it in my lounge (taking down one of my cat pictures so I would like to do the other one to hang along side it.


here are the other three pages






I did take photos each day and will upload my As Seen tomorrow
in the meantime I am grateful to Alli for taking me it is so much easier to travel by car than to travel by train with a heavy load.

Counterfeit Kit for October

I have been trying to sort out my counterfeit kit for October I have chosen the papers but as a lot of my embellishments are packed for another weekend retreat I still have not added them to it. Still I did do a page of 'stickers' here

here are my papers



Here I could do with some inspiration please. Note I have a peacock feather pp, (similar to the one in the kit we are counterfeiting) I've had it some considerable time probably 2 or 3 years. I have never found how on earth to use it so if anyone has any idea I would be so grateful

I forgot to do my As seen yesterday so here it is my 10 bed fellows (mainly cats)


and today's are my 10 wooden cats that sit on my hearth




today I am thankful for being able to hold the sale indoors when the weather is so threatening.
for still taking a tidy sum even though we didn't seem to have many people in.

10 on the 10th

It's the 10th of the month, time to think of 10 things that are special or are quirky
Shimelle started this idea some time ago.
I thought of my feet 10 toes to help me to balance. A friend of mine has just had to have another toe amputated, he is a diabetic and has had several toes affected over the years.
I thought about my digits 8 fingers and 2 thumbs, without which I couldn't touch type.
I have 10 soft toys on my bed that keep me company at night
I have 10 wooden cats that sit on my hearth
Then I thought hard and realised I have 10 wonderful cross stitch pictures that John did (there were many many more but I have given some away and others are stored in the loft I just do not have room to display them all)

The Cyclists, this is my favourite one, so delicate, done with a single thread over very fine count linen


Castle sampler, the hours and hours that went into this one, John had so much patience


John love to do transport themed pictures, we had them all in the hall and going up the stairs



This majestic eagle caught his imagination


then he did a little series of sepia type industrial pictures I seem to only have two of them but I am sure he did more


my final one is this little one again of a bicycle but not so delicate

As seen - In a magazine

Today I had my hair done, I thought it was tomorrow so it's a good job I put the appointment on my phone and get it to buzz me half hour before I'm due to go. It's also good that a friend text me an hour before I needed to go and when I went to check the text I discovered my appointment. I was contemplating going into town.
As usual while I am waiting for the hair colouring to take I read good Homes and Ideal homes, didn't have so many snippets of ideas from them this week but still found this which really amused me and just has to be my As Seen for today.



I haven't managed to complete a page today but have made a start on one. Still I do have some to share that I did over the weekend


My brother and I in 1957 in our back garden photo taken by our Dad


Rufus at almost 3 photo taken by his great aunt Lyn


Muffin & Mittens sharing a toy, or rather the elastic from a toy.
The title on this layout was from a tutorial by Jemma (Jimjams)

I'll share the rest tomorrow.

Today I am thankful for the timely reminder
for a phone call from my daughter a chance to chat
finding a couple of new fonts that I know that I'll use

Playing catch up

Sorry I've been awol for a few days. Been trying to catch up on sleep mainly as I had very little over the weekend.
I do have some 'As seen' pictures and six layouts to share but I may have to split them over a post or two because this will be very picture heavy otherwise.


Harborne Hall where we stayed a lovely big hall to scrap in and a bedroom each. All meals cooked for us and really tasty and tea coffee & drinking chocolate on tap at all hours day and night. Adding to all that there was a nice bar so we didn't have to bring our own drinks.

Sunday a few of us went for a little walk, most of them were geocaching but I just wanted to take photos



I didn't get to bed till nearly 2 o'clock in the morning both nights and so on Sunday night and Monday I felt extremely lethargic and tired hence no posting. I also didn't venture out on Monday stayed in and finished a page started before I had to pack to come home. Had a sleep in my chair in the afternoon something I haven't done for ages and watched TV in the evening before heading for bed again a little earlier than usual.

This morning I realised I didn't take any photo yesterday but I did have a play with my latest toy a big shot, Thank you Jemma (Jimjams) I will enjoy this I know. So that is my 'As Seen' for Monday


I had a great time with a super bunch of ladies so I'll end this post with a photo of the group


today I am grateful that I didn't have to do much yesterday and now seemed to have caught up on sleep and can prepare for this coming weekend

Green Button Retreat

It's OK I haven't lost the plot, Green Buttons is the name of the house I am in at UKScrapper and 15 of us are here in Birmingham, having a great time scrapping.
I came by train and asked for assisted boarding as my large case was so heavy, Oh what a blessing that was especially when I got to Birmingham New Street, the most oppressive and difficult station to find your way, but I was helped of the train and taken to the taxi rank by a very nice porter.
On the way through the centre of Birmingham I saw this 'monument'.



the driver told me that a Chinese business man had come over here and made millions so wanted to give something back to the city and this is what he gave.

Just a short post today I will share all the layout I do over the weekend, during next week.

Today I am grateful for helpful porters
for friends and camaraderie

Story Telling Sunday

Good Morning Blog Friends it's time to tell tales of our lives or the lives of those around us.
Sian has started the ball rolling as usual and her suggestion is 'Fancy Dress'

My story starts many many years ago and looking at the photo I must be about 7 or 8. There was to be a party for the Sunday School children at the church I attended. It was to be fancy dress, I was very excited.
Mum was a dressmaker and she promised to make me a costume, I didn't want to be a fairy that was too ordinary, lots of girls would be fairies. I was going to be a butterfly. Mum had some grey lining material that would do for the body part and she managed to get some blue organza material for the wings. I loved it and once mum had made a start and I had the first fitting I wanted to keep it on. "It's still not fitted right" mum said but I still wanted to keep it on. Eventually she was happy with it and the wings were stiffened with wire around the edges and lots of sequins attached. a little cap made of the grey lining with wire and sequins for the antenna and I went out into the garden for dad to take my photo.
I was a butterfly, I am a butterfly, I am a butterfly. On the day, all dressed in my beautiful costume, I paraded with the other children. The judge was asking each child what they were. I am a butterfly, not a fairy a butterfly. I kept repeating to myself, well you know what is coming don't you. Yes that's right when the judge asked me what I was I said I'm a fairy. Oh I was so, so disappointed, but too embarrassed to correct my mistake.



I didn't win a prize, I wonder if I would have done if I had told them I am a butterfly

Nice finds

Today being Thursday it was the sale at the church this morning. I didn't take my trolley or go on my bike I was not going to bring anything home that I couldn't get in a small plastic carrier. I started well. I only picked up some ribbon (can't miss that opportunity now can I?) Oh and some one gave me a soft toy tiger/pussy cat, would have been churlish to have refused and he is cute.


Then as I was unpacking a box of bits that someone had just donated I found a book with no covers and was about to consign it to the bin when I noticed it was Shakespeare plays illustrated very tattered falling to pieces and the pages brown spotted but Oh I just had to have it.

Some birthday candles was the next must have, be perfect for Rufus's next birthday
And finally as I was packing the last of the bit before getting ready to go home I saw what my Daughter in Law had asked me to look out for, a couple of little mats. So much for not bringing much home. Still I did manage to get them all into one small carrier bag.

My As seen for today just has to be one of the illustrations from the book in fact the title page, I really couldn't resist it because of the spelling



today I am thankful for my finds the sunshine we had today and the excitement of having something really nice to look forward to this weekend and next weekend too

Let the Adventure begin

I made a quick visit to ASDA today, the weather has been pretty dire so took the bus there and back. That was this morning, since then I have been trying to make sure I don't forget anything important for the Scrapping retreat, so have packed my cases, yes cases one large and one small, more than once but I think I have finally got everything I can possible get into them. It's a good job I've booked assisted boarding on the trains because these cases are HEAVY



the only thing that isn't craft related is my pants, pjs, a spare top just in case and my wash kit.

My computer will go in it's rucksack along with the choccies and anything else that I can cram in that I think I may need. lol

Of course after I had pack for the 2nd or 3rd time I decided to do a layout so some things had to come out again hence the further packing afterwards. May all have to be altered if I decided to do a page tomorrow but tomorrow is another day and can bring its own delights and problems.

Here is the first page for my Florida album, the photos were not all that brilliant but I did want to record the journey, airport and flight.



today I am grateful for the anticipation of a great weekend

Design

I went into town today, I needed one particular piece of pattern paper and some spray glue, I came home with 5 sheets of patterned paper the glue, two rolls of glue dots and from my favourite haberdashery shop buttons, ribbon and trim. Still I enjoyed the spending and the looking at all the designs and of course choosing what I would buy.
As I was waiting for the bus I saw again the posters that are on Debenham's wall just opposite. I really took in what has become a familiar site, never having really thought about it before.



As fellow bloggers and scrapbookers that is so true design is at the heart of everything we do. Whether it is in our pages our writing or what we wear, design is everywhere we look and in everything we do. Even if it is just making the home tidy and pleasing to the eye design is there.

I do have a page to share, it is one I started yesterday and finished this morning.
It is for the monthly challenge on UKScrappers and using this sketch by Nuts about Sketches

today I am thankful for being able to get around. I saw several people in town today who where having so much trouble with mobility and it made me realise again how blessed I am that I have my health and strength even if I get tired sometimes

Counterfeit Kit challenge October home made stickers

I've been fiddling with bits and bobs today. Making up my October counterfeit Kit and creating labels as I don't have many. I found that I had some HP brochure paper and that has made the labels look like stickers so if I put some wide double sided tape on they will be almost as good as sticker.



I've also found some photos of my dear husband that I haven't scrapped yet goodness I had forgotten these. The quality is very poor so I've changed them to black & white, which has helped a bit. Still they are worth putting on a layout I just hope I can remember enough to give the story behind them. I have made a start but not got very far yet but here are the altered photos







these were taken in the late 1970s or early 1980s

my As seen for today just has to be Mittens this time curled up in one of the cases I am trying to sort out for the retreat everything is going to be covered with cat hairs. If there is a bag around anywhere they want to use it for a bed.



today I am grateful for a good nights sleep last night
for finding these photo and being able to manipulate them so I can use them.