Photo At Last

At last I've found a minute of daylight to photograph and upload the cover of my LSNED book. The pages inside are also cut and ready to be decorated.
I am enjoying this class so much more than I expected to, even though my lessons are all still in my notebook and not yet on decorated pages. It's really making me think about life's everyday little events that normally pass me by. There's only been one day so far where my 'lesson' wasn't obvious but involved a little deeper contemplation.
Today I learnt that for me, as a Mum, sending my baby off to her first day of secondary school was equally as emotional as her first day of primary school. Who would have thought that? She was only four when I handed her over to her first teacher - I was bound to be emotional about that. She's almost 12 now, I expected that today would present no problem. Wrong. I keep thinking of that Abba song, 'Slipping Through My Fingers', and it makes me cry. Silly isn't it? 

Learn Something New

I have decided to do Shimelle's Learn Something New Every Day class. Last minute, of course. I'm not well prepared, of course. What's new?
My book is still in the process of being made and here we are day two and I'm off for a weekend away. However, I already have my first days entry in my head and I've learnt plenty today already! My plan is to take my notebook away this weekend and then catch up with my actual pages when I get back.
I'm using this book for my notebook. The cover is felted wool made from an old jumper and the book inside is hand made by me. It was my project for a weekend get together with some crafty friends last weekend. I took them all a piece of felted wool and they all made beautiful notebook covers and hand made books to put inside.

Sunshine Kisses

I was inspired by a mixture of two of Shimelle's challenges to make this card. I loved the polka dot butterfly in this challenge and I was inspired to use hot pink in this challenge.
I'm pretty pleased with how it came out and I used my favourite sentinment on it: 'Sunshine Kisses and Birthday Wishes'.

3 Really is a Magic Number

I'm picking and choosing from the remaining challenges, partly because I know I don't have time to do them all and partly because my aim for the weekend was to finish off the remaining layouts for our Florida holiday from four years ago and guess what? I only had one single and one double left to do! I am soooo happy to have achieved this since the weekend and my scrapping mojo is well and truly back on track.
So this challenge was about using elements in threes (which I have with the buttons, photos and rub on corners) but I also thought the title of the challenge made a perfect title for these pictures of the kids which were sort of extra to the pages in the album.

A Colour Story

So on to the next challenge - a colour story in red, white and aqua. I really do love this colour combination and I have more than a few sets of photos that fit perfectly with it. The layout is called '(Not quite) Surfin' USA' but it's as close as we were likely to get in Orlando.

Grid It Up Challenge

I'm still having fun completing challenges from Shimelle's weekend of scrapbooking. The next challenge was to use a grid and I loved this because truth be told I am a very 'straight lines' scrapbooker at heart. Here's my layout which I had to prop on my lappy to photograph. This could equally have been the colour challenge because it just so happened that the colours in the photo were red, white and aqua but I went with some other photos for that one.

Adding To The Stories

The next challenge really wasn't difficult for me because I've told so few of the stories in this album I'm trying to complete. I've often left spaces on my layouts to add journaling later but as the album isn't even finished neither is much of the journaling.
This challenge has inspired me to complete all the missing stories in my album and I've done several already. On the the layout shown below I hadn't left journaling space so instead I've written the story on a journaling card and tucked it between the boys' photo and the mat. You can just see it sticking out at the side of the photo and on the bit showing it says, 'Once upon a time'. On it I've written the story of the three little pirates in the photos.

Still Inspired!

I've decided that all the layouts I do this weekend for Shimelle's online scrapbooking weekend will be to finish off an album of our holiday in Florida four years ago. That's because we went again this year and I don't want to start on the new album until I get the last one finished! I think the challenges will be enough to get through all of my remaining pages - hurrah!
So here's my next layout for the Chop Your Paper challenge. I had the perfect piece of patterned paper for this from Teresa Collins from 2008 which was just a year after the trip. I love using up old stash!
Again, apologies for the poor photo: I will get better at this.

Inspired

It's been a very long time since I scrapped. I've created lots of things over the past few months but I haven't actually made a scrapbook page for longer than I care to remember.
I've thought about it often enough, I've tidied my workspace, stroked my stash, even bought new stash but just not picked up paper, glue or scissors.
So I was delighted to catch a mention of this over at Shimelle's blog. Shimelle can always be relied upon for inspiration. She seems to be constantly dreaming up ways to kickstart the imagination. I don't know how she does it but I'm glad she does.
 At last then I've been inspired to pick up my mojo along with my photos and have been scrapping like a mad thing.
It's past time that I photographed and uploaded some of my efforts so - here is my first scrapbook layout for hmmmmmm....however many months and my response to the first challenge from Saturday (I will need to come back to Friday's challenges).
Sorry for the poor photo - I'm totally out of practise for taking photos of layouts.

Alphanumeric Blog Hop

Some of the Ds I love:

Daisies, daffodils and dandylions,
Dalmations, dolphins and  dragonflies,
Dancing, daydreaming and doodling,
Dinner, dark chocolate and desserts,
Disney, Dr.Who and dressing up.

What's your favourite D?

D is an important letter to me - it's my initials - both of them! It's also the first letter of my Mum's name and it was my Dad's too. I guess they liked the letter D a lot to give it to me too, although there is a funny story about how I came to be Donna. I'll save that for another time though because today is all about the alphanumeric blog hop which began on Mel's blog. 
Surprise! I was given the letter D - and why not? It's my letter :-)
I hope you're enjoying the hop. Your next stop is to see Miss Smith, Better be on your best behaviour!


Here's a complete list of all the blogs on the hop:
I Speak Melsh: http://ispeakmelsh.blogspot.com/
BE Glorious: http://beglorious.blogspot.com/
Captured On Film: http://mrsbeee.blogspot.com/
Chatty Crafty Arty Pig: http://chattycraftyartypig.blogspot.com/
Creating Room: http://creatingroom.blogspot.com/
Curiouser and Curiouser: http://journalofcuriousthings.blogspot.com/
Daily Life - Bits and Pieces: http://www.melissagross.blogspot.com/
Deb's World: http://debs14.blogspot.com/
Den's Crafty Diary: http://deecie.blogspot.com/
From High In The Sky: http://fromhighinthesky.blogspot.com/
Gallo Organico: http://gallorganico.blogspot.com/
Ginger's Life Of Spice: http://gingerslifeofspice.blogspot.com/
Handmade By Kirsty: http://handmadebykirsty.blogspot.com/
Havoc and Mayhem: http://www.havocandmayhem.com/
Heather's Scraps: http://heathers-scraps.blogspot.com/
Helena's Creative Maven: http://helenascreativemaven.blogspot.com/
Holaday's Happy Hearts: http://holadayshappyhearts.blogspot.com/
Jeant-Jinnag: http://jeant-jinnag.blogspot.com/
Just Jimjams: http://just-jimjams.blogspot.com/
K's Crafty Corner: http://kscraftycorner.blogspot.com/
Life...As I See It: http://jillconyers.blogspot.com/
{Life Behind The Purple Door}: http://www.lifebehindthepurpledoor.com/
Lisa E Design Blog: http://lisae-design.blogspot.com/
Living Life One Blessing At A Time: http://livinglifeoneblessingatatime.blogspot.com/
Mary's Musings: http://craftycreation.blogspot.com/
Michelle Loves...: http://michellelovesallsorts.blogspot.com/
Obstinate Pursuit: http://obstinatepursuit.blogspot.com/
Over At Our Place: http://overatourplace.blogspot.com/
Paper Turtle: http://paperturtle.blogspot.com/
Peonies and Pennies: http://peoniesandpennies.blogspot.com/
Random Reflections: http://www.kbwalker.blogs.com/
Rosalind Revival: http://rosalindrevival.blogspot.com/
Scrap Dreams: http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com/
Scrappyjacky: http://scrappyjackylive.blogspot.com/
Scrapworthy Lives: http://www.scrapworthylives.com/
Staring At The Sea: http://fiona-staringatthesea.blogspot.com/
Surefiredaisy Says: http://surefiredaisysays.blogspot.com/
This Kalil Life: http://www.kimberlykalil.com/
This Little Life Of Mine: http://tracyscraftycorner.blogspot.com/
Xnomads' Blog: http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog/


Note: If any of the posts aren't up yet, please bear with us - the different time zones and the peculiarity of blogging platforms when it comes to autoposts may mean that one or two posts don't appear on time! If that's the case, come back to this list to pick up from the next blog, but do please pop back and try the other link later, when the post should be there for your enjoyment.

A Pause in Transmission

I am sadly going to be without internet access for a short while - eeeek, what will I do???
Actually, I'll be doing quite a lot; primarily involving a big black mouse, some of his friends and a cruise ship (yippee!)

I will be back soon though - watch out for this:

Sixty Easter Cards!

I'm very lucky to have a job that I love - I'm a primary school teacher. We do have lots of important stuff to do like numeracy, literacy, science etc, etc, BUT... every now and again we get to play. With paper! One of those times is Easter. We have to make Easter cards. This year we had to make a lot of Easter cards!
The children always make a card to take home but this year we had also arranged to make cards for children from a school in Manchester who sent us Chinese New Year cards. Thirty children in my class, two cards each - that's a lot of cards. And that's not taking into account the Easter baskets we had to make to carry home their Easter goodies.
Now I'm guessing that most of you are like me and make quite a lot of mess when you are creating. Well imagine that mess multiplied by thirty. Are you seeing the scene of devastation that was my classroom this morning? Oh yes - we can sure make mess in Year 5! Still, we can also tidy it up with a little help from the Magic Mess game and the 'Everybody has to pick up twenty pieces of paper from the floor' rule.
It was all worth it in the end as they went home clutching their cards and baskets for a well earned two week break.
Here is the card I made for them as a sample.

And here are some of the children's cards hanging on a specially erected line in the classroom because we had no space to stand them all up!

Fun Flowers

You may have seen my 'Fun With Felting' post a week or so ago, where I showed some pictures of a couple of things I'd made on a free felting course run by the County Council. Well this afternoon I went on another free course and made this sweet flower brooch. Simple, enjoyable and pretty - a great way to spend an hour on a Monday afternoon.

Mothering Sunday and Sewing.

It's been a lovely weekend here - birthdays, anniversaries and Mothering Sunday all in one weekend! We've had several meals out and more than a few celebratory drinks.
There was a family service at church which was very child centred and included sunflower seed planting, face painting and church hugging! Have you ever tried that?

Apparently it was a medieval custom and we revived it for a day. I'm not a regular church goer but living next door but one to the village church, I usually go along for special events like Mothering Sunday and Christmas. All Mums and Grandmas were given a posie, a packet of sunflower seeds and a card by the children.

All of that was lovely and the gifts of a book, CD and DVD from the three small people were fab BUT...... my favourite thing of today was this:

She dates from 1913 and works perfectly. She was given to me by a friend to use at school with the children. I just can't get over how beautiful she is.
I hope you had a lovely Mother's day too!

Excited!

I love this card from Spring Chicken Designs. It's particularly relevant at the moment as a good friend of mine was 50 last week and I'm not very many years behind her.

We both had some brilliant news today and we're very excited! We have been given funding to spend a week shadowing teachers in a Spanish primary school in Granada in May. All travel costs, hotel accomodation, meals etc is covered and the trip includes opportunities to experience the sights and sounds of the wonderful city of Granada (said in best Travel Guide voice).

It means leaving the three small people with Daddy for a week but both Grannies will be here to help. Lucky him.

A Splash Of Colour

One of the things I am loving about Blogging For Scrapbookers is the way it's making me think differently about things I thought I'd already decided! I wasn't planning to use this blog to share anything other than the things I create BUT after today's prompt I've had a rethink. I'm going to share a room project with you. Well, after all, it is still something I'm going to create....... kind of........

When we moved to this house three and a bit years ago, it'd had the Anne Maurice treatment (remember her, the House Doctor?) So every wall in the house was cream. Every carpet in the house was cream. There was no colour. Anywhere.

Now, I like neutrals, don't get me wrong, but really...... with three kids? We've added our little sprinkles of colour here and there and completely refitted the kitchen and one of the bathrooms, but there is one place I've been aiming to get to for a while and planning little schemes for in my mind, a place where I can really let loose with the colour: the family room. It really ought to be called the kid's room because dh and I don't actually venture in there that often. It's the place where the kids take their friends and play on the Wii or watch TV. Their computer is in there too and all the board games as well as lots of the children's books.

So, whilst I have been planning, all I've actually managed so far is to put up new curtains. I have bought a few items of inspiration though:

I think my next step is painting the walls. But what colour? I feel a purchase of more than just a few matchpots coming on!

Experiments With Felting

My latest fascination (or obsession as some would call it), is felting. After attending a free class run by the County Council, I have been scouring the charity shops - and my mother's wardrobe - for pure woollen items that I can shrink in my washing machine. I found some too! The felting process is a bit hit and miss and you can never be sure whats going to come out of the washing machine - that's part of the fun though. This ipod cover was made from a wool blanket and teddy from a shetland wool jumper (remember those?)

Friends are becoming very wary of what they wear around me now - I had my eye on a cashmere sweater my friend's husband was wearing last weekend. I'm gripped though - it's great fun. watch this space for future felted creations.

Amazing Day

When the Blogging For Scrapbookers prompt for day two said to think of one of the most amazing days of your life, how could I not think of my wedding day?
I never wanted a big 'do'. I'm not the kind of girl who wants to be princess for a day or even the centre of attention for a few hours, I just wanted to be married. In fact, if I could have just gone to sleep single and woken up the next day married, that would have suited me fine. I just didn't want all the fuss and if I'm honest I didn't want to waste thousands of pounds putting on a party for long lost relatives who I hadn't seen for decades and who I probably wouldn't see again until someone in the family died!
In the end we compromised. We went to Sri Lanka and got married there, then flew on to the Maldives for our honeymoon. We had the most amazing time, our wedding was more perfect and beautiful than I could have imagined and our honeymoon was blissful. Our compromise was to hold a 'hat party' (so Mums and aunties still got to wear their hats), when we returned, which also turned out to be a wonderful day.
The layout above isn't a new one. I did it as a class on a retreat a few years ago but I can't remember whose class it was. It is however, one of my favourite photos - for more reasons than one.

Starting Again!

I started this blog last year as a place to share (and keep a record of ) the things I make. I didn't do that for long. That was partly because I didn't make much for a while, but also because I got out of the habit of blogging. I have made things since then - but I haven't shared them.
So I'm using Shimelle's Blogging For Scrapbookers class to kirkstart my blogging mojo!
I'm beginning with a picture of chocolate cupcakes I made for my friend's fortieth birthday party last month. I'm hoping this class will inspire me to keep on making and keep on recording what I make. I'm also looking forward to building up a list of  blogs to follow so I can look at all the lovely stuff other people are making.