How exciting!!! (and weekly update)

Hi ladies, how exciting! I got a mention on the UKS homepage for my advent calendar swap :) Really made me smile when I saw that (a friend sent me a text - I had missed it completely).

This week has been quiet on the blog front but a great week for me. I've been back at work for half days which has been brilliant. I now remember why I love my job so much. :-) And I am exhausted but I feel so much happier now.

Now it's the weekend and the school christmas fair is over and done with I am looking forward to catching up with everyone's blogs. See you all soon x

Cropfest

I've just got back from Cropfest and had a fab weekend. Not only did I get some L/Os done, We had a great time with crackers and party hats!
One of the great things about scrapping weekends is the inspiration! Here is a photo of our gallery which by the end of the weekend covered the entire wall you can see behind us in the above photo.

And of course, you get to play with everyone else's toys: just look at this! (And this was a weekend when we didn't bring much with us!

I haven't yet taken photos of my layouts but will do so tomorrow and upload.

Cropfest!

I'm so excited! It's nearly another Cropfest weekend! Cropfest is a scrapping weekend my friends and I do 2 or 3 times a year. It's like a retreat but done our own way and doesn't break the bank. We usually book a Guide hall and spend the weekend scrapping, chatting, swapping advent calendars and generally having a girly weekend!

I have my photos printed... I have a packing list.... I have hmm, probably not enough time to get all the packing done tomorrow! Oh well, that's normal.

But a whole weekend of craft and scrapping - what more could you want? I won't be blogging over the weekend but will post some layouts early next week! Watch this space.

Winter's here!

I went for a walk yesterday and was surprised at how wintery the weather has become. I wraped up warm with layers, hat, scarf and gloves thinking that I was over dressed but wow, did I need them! It was only 2.30 but the wind was bitter and the sun began to set at 3.20! Where did autumn go? I'm sure it was only yesterday the leaves began to turn. The countdownt to Christmas begins!

Advent calendar

I have been working on my advent swap recently. This year I have decided to present it as a hanging book that can be converted into an advent album when finished. These are work in progress pics, but you get the idea! I've decided not to buy anything specific but am using up scraps and bits of alphabets to make it - how eco!

Still here

I'm still signed off work. And although I am feeling better what with physio and everything.... I can't help but feel like my life is still on hold - there's something missing. I am trying to be positive and look for little things that I can do (and I'm getting there) but I still feel a bit trapped.

The good thing is... since I've been off I hve been blogging and reading other scrapper's blogs. And I have enjoyed that and it's somehow comforting to know there are people out there who are interested in what you post and who you can be inspired by. So thank you ladies for being there.

It's not mess - it's creativity!

I often look at my scrapping desk when I've been working on a layout and think 'what a mess I've made!' But in reality, I don't think it actually is a mess. Have you ever been to a crop where there are maybe 10 scrappers all with their stash (lots and lots of stash usually). I walked into a room once at a crop and thought to myself what a state the room was in! But then I lookied more carefully and realised that what is a mess to one person is a creative start for a project or inspiration for someone else. Do you remember that advert for Persil with the children covered in mud or paint? Well ladies, that's us. Creative all the way! Worry about the actual mess later and enjoy the scrapping!

(don't you just love ribbons!)

Pop Art Scrapping

Have you ever tried changing your photos before scrapping them? I'm not a fan of digital scrapping, don't get me wrong, I like the results - but it's just not for me. I like the actual cutting and sticking and 3D of this wonderful craft!

But I was doing a project with my class a while ago now and produced these images for use in a pop art lesson based on Andy Warhol. You can get a free download of Pop Art programs online. The one I used was Pop Art Studio 2.3. This is just one of the settings you can choose from (there are about 9) and it's so easy to do, literally a click! Have a go. I will post a photo of mini canvas that I made using these images soon!

Saying thank you

I don't think you can over estimate the power of thanking the people who make the difference to you in life. It's so easy to take people for granted! Here is a card I made to send out.

New layouts

A couple of layouts I made a while ago but these are 2 of my favourites! The first was documenting a day in London and the second a favourite holiday spot.

Encyclopedia of ordinary life

It's taken me a little longer than I said but here are the photos of my Encyclopedia of Ordinary life. It's a project from CKU that was run in 2005 and there were lots of posts on UKS about it (which I've tried to find but no longer seem to exist).

The thing that appealed to me about this album was the fact that it was a simple template that built into an album that would be an actual record of me at the time, or in my case over the 2 years that it took me to complete.

The original class called for computerised journalling but I feel that hand-written is more personal so I adapted the album to suit me. Here are a few photos of the fnished album.

If anyone would like the class, I have a PDF file of the original but can't work out how to upload that to my blog, if anyone knows how, please do let me know.

A Wicked day!

Wow! I had an absolutely amazing day on Saturday! My birthday present from my parents was tickets to see 'Wicked' in London. We had an amazing view and the show was just phenomenal. After the show we got a black taxi (such a treat) and went for dinner at a gluten free Italian restaurant! Now these are pretty rare and this meal was fantastic - home made gluten free bread, safe pasta and Tiramisu. Highly recommended! I have added the restaurant link in the Coeliac links section for anyone who is interested.

I have so many photos from the day I want to scrap - watch this space!

Remembrance Sunday

I watched the remembrance ceremony today. It was simple, beautiful and showcased the British tradition we uphold in respect every year. I love the paper poppies we wear each year and remember what they stand for. Thank you to those brave men and women.

Photo from guardian.co.uk

So excited!

I'm so excited! Today I'm going up to London to see 'Wicked' and then out for dinner at a GLUTEN FREE Italian restaurant! You don't get many of those, in fact I've never heard of one of those! I promise to post photos later.

I've also been finishing off an album taken from a CKU class by Cathy Zielske. The Encyclopedia of Ordinary Life. I'm quite pleased with it and will post photos tomorrow for you to see! If you would like the instructions for this project, contact me and I will email them out to you as a PDF file!

Happy weekend :)

Cheered up

I really miss being able to work right now, I'm hoping to be back next week but I'm one of these doing, busy people. But yesterday a colleague came round with these beautiful get well cards from my class. And it made me think just how important the people around us are and how much we miss when suddenly they aren't.

My sister got a promotion last week and I sent her a congratulations card, now normally I wouldn't do this but our parents are abroad and I wanted her to have something to recognise her achievement. The people around us are so important whether we want to believe that or not.

Today we should all try and do something nice for someone close to us that we don't always do. Just think what a difference we could make!

I love autumn

One of the many things I love about autumn is the changing of colour, the trees and the beauty. I've been resting a lot, stuck on the sofa and it is so cheering to see this view from the window:
It looks golden and somehow is like a ray of hope. I wish I could capture the intensity of the light - wouldn't it be lovely to have a little bottle of sunshine you could carry around and get out whenever you need it?

I'm working towards being back at work next Monday (hooray). Watch this space!

New York Marathon

My uncle ran the New York marathon this weekend to raise money for Cancer Research UK. He ran the course in just under 4 and a half hours. I was so proud of him, he has previously run the London marathon to raise money for cancer charities.

These charities are close to my heart after Mum having cancer several years ago. Unfortunatley I wasn't able to go out to support him as it is term time but I was cheering him on from home and you can see that he had a good crowd out there with him to cheer him on.

Congratulation martyn - what an achievement!
Thanks to Charlotte for the below photos:

Gifts

I made these notebooks as an end of year gift for my class this summer. It's traditional to give a little something and it's always hard to find something that is reasonably priced.

I bought some cheapy lined notebooks from Asda that cost me a grand total of £3.60 and the pens were £1 for a pack of 10. I covered the fronts of the books with scraps of cardstock and patterned paper stuck down with double sided tape so it wouldn't come off again in the childrens' hands. I then added letter stickers to spell out their names and embellishments I thought suited that child. These aren't the best photos in the world but should be able to give you a bit more of an idea! Thanks to Emma for the prompt to post these photos!

Been scrapping!

I've been scrapping this weekens with a friend. Had a great time and here are some of the layouts I made!

Been scrapping

It's been a little quiet on my blog since Thursday - I've been staying with a friend and doing a bit of scrapping. WIl post some layouts a bit later on when I'm home, also looking forward to blog hopping later to see what eveyone's been up to!

I don't know what it is...

I don't know what it is about children's books! But I love them, there's something about them that draws me in and makes me want to read some more. As a teacher I have a way of passing on my recommendations and I thought I would do the same here. I hope that you enjoy reading as much as I do and all of these books are available through Amazon or Waterstones.com (I checked!).

So here goes:
Skellig - by David Almond
This really is my all time favourite book. It is about a boy named Michael who has to deal with his emotions, moving house, a poorly little sister and a girl called Mina who doesn't go to school. On top of this, he finds something extraordinary in the garage that turns his life around. This is a pulling of the heartstring book so I would recommend readers of 10+

Journey to the River Sea - by Eva Ibbotson
I love this story, it's sort of a modern day 'Little Princess' tale. Eva Ibbotson is an excellent story teller and I don't want to give away any more except to say read it! And also The Star of Kazan is also a great read, one you will want to read over and over. 9+

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit - by Judith Kerr
A child's story of the war, touching, classic, clever. Well worth the read! 9+

Ballet Shoes - by Noel Streatfield
It doesn't matter that this book is considered by some to be old fashioned. It's still fantastic, full of surprises and the Fossil sisters Pauline, Petrova and Posy remind me of children I know and you will recognise someone in them too. Able readers of 7+

Magyk - by Angie Sage
This I think will become a modern classic. It has all the features of a fairytale - wizards, princesses, an orphan girl, good, evil and a dragon. But it is written in such an inviting and real way and Jenna is such an appealing character that I couldn't wait to find out what happened to her. There will be 7 books in this series but only 4 have been published so far. 10+

Saw this at the shopping centre - just love it!

Star book

I have a good friend who is one of those people who send you things because they 'saw it and thought of you'. She's very thoughtful so I thought I would do something for her.

I adapted this star book, using up scraps of paper and Sakuri gel pens. I like the way it turned out and she seemed to as well. The thing I like the most is that you could make 4 star books out of 4 pieces of 12x12 cardstock!

There is an online video tutorial on YouTube for how to make a star book (although these ones are bigger than mine!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke19zFCcG7Q

Icy morning

This morning I woke up to snow outside! I had been reading on Facebook that it was snowing elsewhere in the UK, but definitely not outside my window! So when I woke up this morning there was a layer of whiteness everywhere! The cats didn't know what to do with it but it was fun to watch them experience their first snow. And as I walked out of the front door I saw this icicle suspended on the end of a spider's web. Just beautiful!

Feeling overwhelmed

I mentioned in a previous post that I have a bad back at the moment and am off work. I think this bout is a repurcussion of the car accident I had nearly 2 years ago where a white van drove into me at 30mph while I was stationery.

I'm seeing a physio to help me get it sorted but I'm struggling if I'm honest. I suffer from chronic fatigue so of course it's made worse by my back hurting and I have Coelic disease so my back is pulling on the gut and making that feel worse too.

I'm not writing this for sympathy, I'm not writing it because I feel I have to. I just want to send this message out into cyberspace in the hope that it will make me feel a little better, just a bit.

My actual scrapping spot!

I think a person's scrapping space can say a lot about them and the way they live their life. This is my little scrapping haven in the corner of our spare room and I love it! We only have a little house so I feel lucky to have this all to myself. I am one of those people who like to be super-organised (even though I don't always achieve it) and I think this probably shows in my scrap space. As much as I love my scrapping spot, I still dream of the kind of scrap rooms you can find on 2peas. Have you seen this one?:

http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/pg.asp?cmd=display&layout_id=1170072

Colour my world

I got to thinking about the way colour affects our everyday, the way we feel, act and make choices. I often link a colour to a mood/feeling and sometimes when I put together a layout I think about the memories and feeling from the day or event as I scrap.

This is a chipboard mini book (I think it came in the Scrapagogo kit). When I couldn't sleep one night between the hours of 3 and 5am(!) I put this mini book together.

I hope the photos are clear - I've taken a a snap of each colour and although I originally wanted to add every colour, I just wrote about the ones that appealed to me.