Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate

Come on who doesn't love chocolate? as I thought not many people put there hands up. Last Tuesday I took some photos of the shop window display in Thorntons, all set for Valentines day of course, and I was pretty certain that I would be doing a layout of these photos this month. The weekly challenge on UKScrappers for this week was the perfect vehicle.
We were challenged to use a song title with 'love' in it, to have the colour red in the page somewhere and to have hearts of course.
I googled for song titles and this one seemed to fit the bill 'Love is a sweet thing' so with the photos the title and an idea beginning to take shape in my mind I played around on the computer.

The final layout design has made me crave chocolate so much I just had to have some, not good for my figure but hey ho chocolate is something I just can't resist.

Today I am thankful for Chocolate ... Chocolate ... Chocolate

I am sure there are other things as well but CHOCOLATE has overcome me.

Childhood experience & A country lass

Today I took my little grandson to church, I want him to feel at ease there so that when it is time for him to go to bible school he will feel completely comfortable and it will be the most natural thing for him.
My own experience was so different. I was suddenly taken to Sunday School by someone I hardly knew, Mummy didn't come and I was so scared, I remember screaming as I left the house I could not have been more than 3 or 4. My parents didn't go ever yet both myself and my brother were sent. I rather enjoyed it for a while but then I had a teacher who frightened me and after that I refused to go for a long while.

So many memories seem to be flooding back to me, triggered by such small things sometimes. I want to learn from these experiences so that I can help my grandchildren to be overcomers.

OK a bit morbid, sorry, but I needed to write it down somewhere.

On a much better and brighter note I have been scraplifting again and have done a lovely page of my daughter. She is a outdoor girl and loves to walk, both her and her husband are now encouraging their son to enjoy this pastime too. Although you can't see where she is in these photos you can see that it is outdoors in the countryside.


Today I am thankful for the chance to take my grandson to church
to have a loving family around me
to have a Father God who loves me so much that he never lets me go.

The wonders of nature

I knew that I would be doing a layout of the Little Egret I saw the other day, and here it is.

The fact that I was able to get so many photographs of him was indeed a small miracle and really did delight my heart.

Here is something else that thrilled me this beautiful sky was crying out to be photographed and scrapped so, not to disappoint it here is my latest page.

I have written a poem to go with it, the first 4 lines of which are on the layout

The sky like polished bronze
Fiery red and liquid gold
Silhouetting the leafless trees
Giving lie to the bitter cold
Filling my eyes with its beauty
My soul with wondrous praise
Drenching my heart with its glory
Giving awe to chilled winter days

Today I am so thankful:-

that my creative mojo is back, because last night I was so tired I just couldn't do anything worthwhile 

that God has given me eyes to see and a heart to appreciate the wonder of nature

and that I can grab the moment and freeze it in my camera for all times.

52 in 10 prompt 5 - Family

I am really enjoying this project although at times I struggle to know what to do I always seem to find something in the end.
I would love to be able to get words from my family to put behind this digital layout, but as yet not tried.


Today as it is Thursday we had the sale in the church as usual we had lots of people in and of course the opportunity to speak to several of them.

Today I am thankful for friends who care
for dinner already prepared (I did it yesterday so only had to heat it up)
for more photo of my Little grandson
and for hearing my young friend sing beautifully, and bringing tears to my eyes.

Fur babies

I haven't done a layout of my cats for some time so to borrow an expression from Dolly here is one of my fur babies.
This layout was done for the weekly challenge on UKScrappers. We had to use pink some bling or a crown and old stash.
Even though it is digi I used some bits from old freebies that I had collected over the years and of course never used as I prefer to make my own. but in this layout the only thing that is my own is the butterfly and the photos of course.
The title is done using the font of the week which is Orial. When I downloaded this font there was an email address to let the creator know and he emailed back to say how honoured he was to be font of the week on UKScrappers.


I couldn't do a page for Sammy without doing one for my boy Rudi



I have been looking after my 5 month old grandson this afternoon and now I am so thankful that I can give him back. he has been a bit of a grizzly baby today and hard work. Still it is nice to have him and to be able to give his parents a bit of a break.

My Love and the Little Egret

February already and lots of new challenges to do.

The house challenge on UKScrappers this month is, as you can guess, Love. It doesn't have to be just romantic love, though that is my choice.
Yesterday I did a layout using the colour combination for this week on Color Combo Galore but hadn't posted it on UKS, this was the perfect layout for the challenge if I added some journalling, and after all journalling is what makes an ordinary page, a memory, isn't it?


this is a scraplift of one from March's Scrapbook Trends by Delaina Burns and I made all the elements and patterned papers myself on Serif Page Plus. You will probably see them in a freebie before too long

No matter how bad a night I have and how yuk I feel when I first get up somehow something always seems to happen to lift the day
Walking along the back lane this afternoon I saw what appeared to be a very small white heron fly over my head and land in the little stream that runs along the side of the lane. Luckily he seemed quite happy with me there and I managed to photograph him for quite some minutes.
He/she was not much bigger than a crow, so I wanted to find out more. The RSPB on the web site was not much help so I phoned them and spoke to a very helpful lady who told me it was almost certainly a Little Egret and she was interested in the fact that they seemed now to be moving up country. Apparently they have been seen in Devon and Cornwall for some years.



So today I am thankful for always carrying my camera
for this bird that didn't mind his photo taken
and the Memory of a good loving husband

Rufus and the telephone

My son has an extension to his hand, it has been there for a good many years, now his son is expecting to have his own extension and at 5 months that is a little bit young don't you think.


Yesterday I went into town specifically to get Scrapbook Trends as it should have been in the shop on Thursday, but it wasn't there. As Smiths is the only place now that I can get it as Borders is no longer in Swindon I felt rather frustrated. This morning I phoned Smiths to see if it had arrived and yes it was in, so into town again. After purchasing it I debated with myself whether to go into Costas and have a coffee and something to eat, or go straight to Asda and have a coffee in Starbucks, decided Costa was the better option.
Isn't it great when a botheration turns into a lovely surprise. I had finished my coffee, read my magazine and was about to go when I saw some young friends so stopped for a chat and then Neil Gemma and Rufus arrive so I had a lovely afternoon. Have now done my shopping in Asda and home again

Today I thank the Lord for changing a botheration to a blessing
for a Magazine with lots of ideas in
and the fact that I always have my camera with me so got some lovely photos

My Grandson No. 2 and a freebie Digi scrapbook kit

I know that it is Friday and not Thursday but I thought you may like to have another freebie Digi Kit. Baby of Mine

This one I put together from papers I created today for a layout of my 4 month old grandson Rufus. As I was rather pleased with the elements of this kit I thought I would share some of them.
Here is the layout that I am rather chuffed with using a far from ideal photo but still, once I had cropped it I was pleased with. It's great that even naff photos can be cropped for little bits that are perfect for a project.
Well enough waffling here is the layout


Today I am so thankful for the mobile phone and my camera
For the fact that my daughter in law knew where to find me although I didn't know she was in town and that she left Rufus with me for a while.
Neil my son arrived some 20 mins later and took lots of photos

Costa's Coffee House

A trip into town always has to include a drink in a coffee shop somewhere. We have several quite nice places to go, but I discovered recently that Costa's do Gingerbread Latte all year round. So it looks as though Costa has won my vote.
The ambiance of the one in the centre of town is cosy and stylish they do a good range of cakes and what is more they have a newspaper rack so even if I don't have anything to read I can always borrow one of their papers.



Today I am thankful for friendly staff and easy chair and a magazine to read

Memory jerker

Isn't it great how something from your past is suddenly brought to the forefront of your memory.
I was reading Dolly blog and today she has put up a layout of her husband and friends playing on the wii, the look of participation and concentration reminded me of my husband.
Years ago before any interaction tv games we used to watch the wrestling on TV and I found as much pleasure in watching him interact and wrestle along with the guys, as I did in watching the wrestling itself. When John became aware that I was looking at him and not the television he would try and stop but really found it almost impossible as he got drawn into the wrestling ring each time. I do wish I had a physical photo of the look on his face and not just a mental picture, it would make such a good layout.

I am so thankful that we can have a store of memories that can be sparked by simple things seen or heard or smelt even

Challenges challenges

I love scrapping challenges and today I have completed two but I just don't seem to be able to get out of the Digi vein and do a page with paper and glue and touchy feeling thing. Still I am pleased with what I have done.

this first one is for the 52 in 10 Challenge that Dolly has set. I am loving this challenge for although it is another book of me it is for my special year. This week the prompt was Music, to scrap the music we enjoy. Oh dear I'm not a music lover. what a perfect title then for my layout


This second one was for the Weekly challenge on UKScrappers. the criteria being to use a photo/photos of something that isn't a person. to use a sketch of our own choosing, I used a pencilline one. to add bling (sparkly) and ribbon and finally to do some journalling.



I am rather chuffed with this one as I created all the pattered papers and the butterflies and ribbon from the photo itself using the blurred out background

The first verse of the poem I did as I was walking along the back lane to Asda, thanks largely to the little dictaphone I treated myself to this month.

So to sum up the things that I am thankful for today
the beauty I see around me
my computer and ability to create on it
and my little dictaphone

Where has my inspiration gone.

Oh dear I have been so lacking in inspiration that I haven't been able to create anything since last Wednesday, so to kick start my creativity again I have done a scraplift. I rather liked this layout of Crafty Kacy's on UKScrappers.

So here is my version




This quote from God word the bible really got me thinking
'Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus' 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I am so thankful to the group of ladies that meet once a month in our church. We are called Footsteps and every time we meet I seem to find new inspiration from God to continue in my Christian walk.

Browsing the shops

I felt so restless this morning that in the end I decided to go into town and mooch around the shops. Guess what I spent money, well it was a bargain a skirt for half price can't be bad now can it.

 It's a little shorter than I usually wear but I quite like it with boots on. I did try a top as well but wasn't so keen on me as off, but this pink top that I am wearing today goes well with the skirt so can save the pennies for another time.

Here is my layout for today, part of my 70th year celebrations

Today I am thankful that I can afford to spend a little bit on myself occasionally without feeling guilty. I am also thankful that the snow didn't settle for long because it wasn't pretty snow this time.

Change your Hairdresser

Change your hairdresser, my advice as a grandmother to my 17 year old self
I found this photo of me taken circa 1958 with my hair in a very tight perm. Oh dear how I hated that perm when it was first done, it needed several washes and quite a few weeks for it to settle down to anything like acceptable. I was such a timid person and afraid of offending the hairdresser so couldn't tell her how much I loathed that style, she was of the old school and didn't know how to style for my generation and I desperately wanted to change and go elsewhere, what a dilemma.

This week's prompt for Dolly's 52in10 challenge was to scrap some advice that you would love to give your younger self. I was really struggling with that as I know that any advice I gave would have probably been accepted and worked on and then the person I am today would not be the same. When I found this photo I knew it was the perfect answer to my quandary. So here is the layout.

I found this quote and thought it very appropriate



I am thankful for the ability that God has given me to be creative, artistic; whether with paper and pen or here on the computer I can take a blank canvas and fill it with my designs my thoughts my own creations

On a roll

Well the creative juices have certainly been flowing lately and I have been churning out digital layout after digital layout. I really need to get back to doing them with paper and glue but somehow the thrill of starting with a perfectly blank canvas and creating everything for start to finish has such an appeal for me at the moment.
I do like something to get my imagination working though and so sketches and seeing other peoples work often gets me going.
This layout has been done from a sketch on Twisted Sketches, this week sketch 32 was to add stamping but I added a further twist to the sketch by putting the photos where they had indicated embellishments and making the area for the photos, patterned paper. Really quite pleased with the result. This is another one using the many photos I have of my eldest grandson Daniel, these photos being taken by my son-in-law.

On Top of the world & Sweet Dreams

Do I feel on top of the world, well the title wasn't really meant for me it is a layout I have just done.

Inspired by Iris's layout on Pencil Line sketch 169

None the less I do feel good. I managed to tidy up a bit yesterday and although I have still more to do, which I will try and get some of it done on Monday, today I have scrapped and am pleased with the outcome

Just done this layout which has taken no time at all compared with the previous one. This was a colour combo challenge and I used the colour swatch to make the title



Today I am thankful for inspiration

Snuggly Warm

I have done a layout using the photos I took of Rufus all snuggly warm in his snowsuit and hat. We were on the bus going into town and the rhythm of the bus sent him to sleep.




Today has been warmer and the snow is turning to water the icy condition are disappearing and life is getting back to normal.

Freebie Kit Wedding Day

It's Thursday so here is a freebie kit. Hope you like it and please if you download it leave me a comment and if you use it please credit me with the creation of the kit. Thank you. Hope you enjoy it

You can download the kit here

52 in 10 Looking Forward

Thanks to Dolly we are doing a year long project on ourselves I know I have done something similar before but as this is my 70th year I just knew I wanted to do this one. Last week we looked back over the last decade you will find that layout here. This week we are encouraged to look forward to what this year may hold our hopes and desires. As I never make new year resolutions, I doubt I would be able to keep them if I did, I have gone for things that I hope will be wonderful events such as the birth of my third grandson in March and the celebration of my birthday at the end of the year.



Dolly has a lovely quote for today one I want to share with those of you who read my blog.




What am I thankful for today, well I had a lovely afternoon with my grandson, I took him into town on the bus and he was as good as gold for me. When I had some lunch I feed him too. I managed to get some bits and pieces I wanted in town and it was good to get out in the fresh air.

Portraits

Today I woke not sure if I wanted to venture out into the cold. I felt that I would be better off going to church and worshipping with my friends but trudging up the hill in this snow? I hummed and harred got showered and dressed still not sure and then I got a phone call from my son asking me if I would like to take my grandson to church Well of course I would I have been longing to do so.
You know the Lord always get me going one way or the other and I am so glad I did make it up the hill. Rufus was so good, smiling for all who would come and talk to him and even went to sleep during the preaching so that I could listen and take it in. He woke the moment the speaker finished and again was cooed over.

This afternoon I have been scrapping again. I had downloaded a lot of my daughter and son-in-law's photos when I was with them in December and hadn't looked at them until now I found a lovely photo of them both and of course lots of my No.1 grandson Daniel.
Still trying to find which one of him to scrap next but I did one each of Helen and Andy

Basil the Snowman

On Thursday's we have a sale at the church to support our friend Jeremiah. He has adopted street orphans in Kenya where he lives. I don't suppose the boys have ever seen snow so we decided to build a snowman and take some photos to show them.

Snow Delight

Oh how I love the snow, well I do for taking photos and for scrapping them, but it does become a nuisance after a few days.

I should have gone into town to get my eyes tested today, just a routine check up so not too worried so I phoned them to say I would like to cancel the appointment. I am not the only one who has done that either the receptionist said that she had received many a call changing appointments until the weather was better for travelling.

So here I am still in my PJs and dressing gown, digi scrapping again. Oh what fun I have had creating all my own elements for each page I do, so much more creative than if I did paper and glue pages as I get to create from a blank canvas.

Here is my winter walk creation, I am pleased with it hope you like it too.



I have been reading Dolly's blog and I love how she puts a 'what I am thankful for' each day so I thought I would like to do the same.

Today I am thankful for good neighbours. Tony went around the street to all the folk who may have difficulty getting around and said that they were going shopping and did we need anything. How kind of him.

Snow so no school

What happens when it snow and the schools are closed, the playgrounds end up as the only place that has pristine snow at mid day

Freebie Kit

It's Thursday so here is another freebie kit for you to download and use as long as you credit me with the creation of it.It is called Snowy Days here is what the kit looks like hope you enjoy it and I would love to hear from you if you do download it.

here is an LO I did using part of the kit but I have altered colours slightly.

Snow Garden Layout

I just couldn't wait to scrap some of the photos I took today so here is a quick simple LO

It is a simple one but quick!!!!! it has taken me ages to get this right first of all I created the background patterned paper which took a time to get right. then I couldn't decided how to arrange the photos or whether it needed a mat for them. Got there in the end.
For anyone who may be interested the font is Plymouth Rock

What a white white world

Wow I woke to lots of snow, so grabbing my camera and dressing up warm I go out into the lane.

How different everything looks when there is a snow covering everywhere. Even the main road looks like a fairy tale somehow

I love this photo of a fence, probably wouldn't look much without the snow on it

this is one of my favourite shots taken at the start of my walk

Winter Wonderland

I have had fun with this layout, again I have made a strip from a little bit of the photo giving it a frosty edge
the fir trees and the snowy hill are a copy of something I saw in one of the magazines rather like the effect, looks like padded material.

Textures of Winter

I took lots of photos of the icy conditions on New Year's day and have put them together in a collage of types



the borders are made up of bits of the photos.
the bottom set of photos is close ups of the top set.

52 in 10 week 1

For the first week of Dolly's challenge we are encouraged to look back over the last decade with lots of hand written journalling so it had to be a paper and glue one
I found 5 photos spanning the decade that summarise my life during that time taken in 2000, 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2009



Journalling in my own hand writing was not easy to get in all I wanted to say so I had to shorten it a bit but think it covers all the important bits. Oh how our lives change in that time. Makes me wonder what or where I will be in 10 years from now. I don't think I want to know really as by then I will be in my 80th year, that is if I am still here.

52 in 10 Intro page

I have done a digital layout for the introduction page of Dolly's 52 in 10 challenge. I do hope that I will be able to do a mix of digital and paper layouts through this very special year but for now I am contented to create my masterpieces on the computer.

New Year's Walk 1st January 2010

Goodness me where did 2009 go to so fast. It doesn't seem a year ago that it had only just began.
I am going to try and take photos everyday, I don't do too badly at that but there are days that I just don't manage any.
Today being bright though cold was the perfect start to photo walking through this year.
I took lots of photos and will be doing layouts of some of them but until I do here are three of the best photos.