OOH THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS FRIGHTFUL AND SOME CRAFTING

Let it not be said that I don't spoil you LOL - crikey there's so many double negatives in there I think I've not achieved positive but negative again LMAO - yes I'm here and it's only midweek!  We've woken to yet more snow this morning (albeit less than forecast) I've been working from home for the last two days, attempted to get to work and school etc yesterday (but to no avail - just way too dangerous - almost got written off on 9 separate occasions on the circuit I did - I kid you not!)  However, said self and said 10 year old and said Micra vehicle made it back in one piece just a little shakey once I got sat down at home - think I stiff drink was called for so had a large mug of tea -yum!  

I cannot believe that it's the first of December tomorrow, the start of my journal your Christmas and it's so not prepared (unlike previous years when I've been prepared and ready to go) think this one will be done on a wing and a prayer, although I've still got a few hours to sort it out haven't I.


Finally made a start on some Christmas shopping although it feels mighty 'stunted' this year, some years I've been all sorted by now, other years I've known what to get just timing when to get it - this year - well haven't got a clue - I've managed to sort a couple of people but that's it so best foot forward or should that be index finger forward as I'll be click clicking myself to Christmas this year - shopping centres and gift sets that no one really wants are just sooooooo not my thing! 


Feeling grumpy a little bit at the moment because dear son's school are closing their after school club, no consultation just not financially viable so closure, now anybody with children and a job will know that it's incredibly difficult to get good provision that you trust.  So having given due consideration to the options my Mum's come to the rescue, together with dear hubby's work when necessary and my work (although they don't know it yet LOL).  Just so frustrated with this it's untrue - so I've written a two page letter - not sure if it's made me feel better or not but at least I'll feel like I've had my say and let it be said I'm not called Little Miss War and Peace for nothing!  


Anyhow I can't tell you stuff like that on my Friday post when I'm being grateful so you get it on my mid-week post instead, maybe I should start a posting called Tantrum Tuesdays or Whinging Wednesdays LOL!  Nah on second thoughts best not - they'll end up so long you'll get bored, maybe I should have become a politician so I can bang on about stuff like this - mind you if they're all like Lembit Opik or whatever his name was on I'm a Celeb - maybe not!

Anyway I'm waffling just wanted to jot stuff down, I like jotting stuff it's fun and it's good for the brain!

Well onto the crafting  because that's what it's supposed to be about, this double 12 x 12 layout from a stone circle we went to when we were at the Yurt! I seem to find it absolutely essential that no matter how gorgeous the patterned papers I still insist on adding to them - hence the masked ink colour at the top, more stitching using up more embellishment stash that I've had for an age, the good old corner rounder and well you get the idea, I like it and it's another to add to the collection!

Hopefully the snow isn't causing you too much grief, if you happen to pass by and fancy saying hello then I'd love to hear from you!

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY AND SOME 'OLD' CRAFTING

Morning all and how cold is it this morning?  Very I hear you say but still no snow for us - which is a sigh of relief for me and a sob from said ten year old!

So what's 

For me well it's been a busy week again (you'll have noticed due to the lack of postings) I'm behind on the blogs I follow, I haven't read anything on facebook in weeks and my circle journals have either ended (sob) or been quiet due to the looming deadline date LOL!  However this posting is about positives so without further ado...

We had a weekend away last weekend, off to Center Parcs to get into the festive mood - yes I know it's only November but we've never been to Center Parcs at this time of year.  We had an executive lodge (with sauna and ensuite bathrooms), which had a rather distinct aroma about it, we unpacked but the aroma was getting worse (believe you and me aroma is a nice way of putting it - I couldn't put what we called it on here for fear of offending someone).  Anyway housekeeping came and sniffed and said they'd shampoo the carpet etc so we thought OK we'll see how that goes, the two ladies came back keys in hands for a brand new villa - an upgrade - so the fastest repack in the world and we were on our way!  The new lodge was absolutely gorgeous and was a true home from home for the weekend!

So my first grateful is to those two ladies at Center Parcs who didn't mess about simply got it sorted!  

 This is what we found on the bed in the first bedroom - my little one was so impressed I think he'd have left it intact for the weekend if he could have - it was his mother demanding showers at regular intervals that scuppered his plans!  Now I'm grateful to see that some people take their jobs so seriously that they create swans out of towels - genius!

Grateful for chalkboards that provided ample amusement throughout the weekend and led to many smiley faces!  Together with the world's longest itinerary on Sunday!  It also provided me with the opportunity to wipe of the blackboard in its entirety on Monday and made me wonder if I'd missed my calling as a teacher - only to think - no - they don't have blackboards in schools anymore - so nowhere near as much fun!

Grateful for lights - these beautiful lights along the path made us feel like we'd been followed by a set of patronuses (Harry Potter fans will so get that comment - others won't)  - tee hee - and made us feel very Christmassy!

Also grateful to hubby whose been my rock this week!  He also seems to have captured me and Melanie in something between an Avatar phase and a Close Encounters phase - no photoshop on these - just a blue lit Christmas tree in front of us!

 Grateful for having such an amazing Mum who has raised the three most sarcastic children in the world (sorry Mum we can't help it - sure it's genetic)  and still puts up with us!  She is always up for a challenge - no matter what as the photo below proves! Yes that is my Mum on a climbing wall - despite being afraid of heights!  This is the woman who was doing a happy dance for her free bus pass earlier in the year - I kid you not! 

Grateful for laughter, it is such a good therapy, it calms the mind, keeps us focused and when we are together we laugh and laugh and laugh - it's sheer bliss! 

Talking about laughter I think there should be a big grateful to said 10 year old and his new found friend as per the photo below - there's quite a story to this one!

 We had loads of squirrels visiting after putting nuts and seeds outside, this little guy kept coming up to the door and was more than happy to feed off the wooden door frame, then he edged inside and fed off the floor!  All was going well until anothe squirrel caught onto the activity and before we knew it we had two squirrels inside - the first was unhappy so they had a bit of a barny resulting in the second one scarpering outside and the first one coming inside fully!  

Said ten year old scarpered immediately shouting at his Dad 

"Dad the squirrels come inside" 

as he made his way frantically to his bedroom.  

Craig headed over to the doorway to see where it was and by this time I'm laughing so much I'm crying "where is it? Craig asked and the answer

"He's sat on the sofa" 

and he was sat there looking around as if he'd just adopted a new family, thankfully we managed to escort him back outside but it was certainly one of the highlights of the weekend!

Family time is incredibly precious and should never be taken for granted - I am grateful for each and every person in my family!

I'll leave you with crafting photos of the first ever entry into the first ever circle journal I did.  The subject was 'favourite things' with specific instructions, however, as I was the first to have the journal I had a full choice and chose favourite song!

 Used plain pink cardstock with black inking and photos that I had from a gig.  Stitching and bling finish it off.

Plus a little mini book - I can't help myself sometimes - particularly on something I feel passionately about! 

 Details of the song, why it means so much and further photos hidden within!

So there you go another Friday posting!  How's your week been and what are you grateful for.  Link below and leave a comment - love to come and have a nosey at others lists! Have a fabulous Friday.

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY and some crafting!

Crikey what a roller coaster of a week - there have been some massive happies and some massive issues - but I'm still here and it's Friday (well technically it's Thursday as I start this and I'm hoping I survive today and therefore what I've written above will be the case) LMAO - are you following this yet?

Rocking my world this week starts with the return of my very first circle journal - I haven't seen this little beastie for 10 months and as it left my hands it was all empty and blank - it's returned with some gorgeous layouts and quotes - I've put the entire book on the previous posting if you want to see what it looked like once it returned.  I'm truly humbled by an amazing group of women who took time out of their busy lives to share their creativity with me! 

Another grateful is to Laura - who is allowing me to post her full picture from my circle journal on - so here it is without the masking!  Just showing you how gorgeous it is! 

Next grateful is hubby who despite having a hectic and busy week himself has just allowed me to be me if I'm honest!   On occasions I know I'm a nightmare to live with (sometimes) but he's so used to me now that he realises it's easier to just let me get on with it rather than try and stop me in my tracks. 

Next grateful is a new keyboard and mouse - I was really starting to get a little frustrated if I'm honest with it - particularly when it kept asking about sticky finger - haven't got a clue what they were talking about - but now shiny new keyboard in place which actually types - hurray!

Grateful for my Mum this week who helped me with a bit of the old Christmas shopping it's slowly coming together - I still have things to buy but I'm making headway now.

Grateful for my scrapbook class and the lovely ladies that I share the class with, I hadn't realised it was going to be the last one before Christmas if I'm honest.  So a big thank you to all those who attend and deliver - it's been a great year!  

Also grateful for my wonderful Rock In Peace circle journal buddies who are having to put up with my enormous journal - Carmen, Marie and company you are all angels!  I abided by the rules - no bigger than 6 x 6 - but nobody said how deep it should be - and to say it got a little out of hand before it left me is an understatement - so a formal apology for it's weight and size and an absolutely honest grateful for putting up with me LOL!


Finally I'm grateful for escaping from life for just a little bit of time this weekend - I'll fill you in more next week - but let's just say after the week I've had I really really really need some down time to switch off and re-boot! 


Finally a little bit of crafting to share - I kid you not - how spoilt are you all feeling this week with everything I've provided you with!  

I rarely get the benefit of using pink in my layouts but with this one I thought what the hell and did it anyway!  I managed to use up an oversized brad I've had ages - with it being pink never thought I'd manage to use it but this layout just worked with it and my hubby and my son are definitely two peas in a pod.  Bit of stitching and some pink buttons to boot!  Look at me go with the layouts - I'm still trying to sort them out so I don't do duplicate layouts which is proving a lengthy (but hopefully worthwhile) project.

So there you have it - so what are you grateful for this week?  Leave me a comment and add yourself to Mr Linky (who is hopefully behaving himself this time) and we can come and visit. 

MY VERY FIRST EVER CIRCLE JOURNAL RETURNS HOME

Well look at me go - I finally got my very first ever circle journal home today - it has been something of a roller coaster of a day some really good and some not so great parts to it - not that I can control the not so great in any way but you know sometimes you wish you could just influence something in a positive way - so I'm sending some positive vibes that things come right - anyway this is so not why I was posting so I'm going to show you my beautiful book.  My theme was Quotes - basically quotes that people loved whether it be ones they live their life by or whether it be favourite lyric quotes or favourite film quotes - just quotes that made sense to everyone and the stories behind them and this is what the beautiful ladies in my group did! 

This is the cover and I'm going to tart up the book rings with lots of ribbons and fibres now it's home

My layout which is quite plain - again I'm going to add to it now it's home didn't want to make it too heavy before it started it's journey.  I've put the quote included on the page before each picture so eyes down here goes

"Stay Gold"

"Do not let what you cannot do 

interfere with what you can do"

" Mother's of little boys 

work from son up till son down"
This layout has photos on that I don't feel happy to share without permission of their Mum (I do for the one above in case you were wondering) so rather than wait to share I've done a little bit of photoshop to enable me to share the layout without the photos - if I do get subsequent permission I'll put that on my blog at a later date but you get to see how pretty it is
 

"Don't judge a man 

until you have walked two moons in his moccasins"

"A house is built of bricks and beams 

A home is built of love and dreams"

"Life is the sum of all our choices"

 "Look after the pennies 

and the pounds will look after themselves"

 "If you can dream it, you can do it.

Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse"

 "Life is too short to be unhappy, 

laugh when you can 

apologise when you should 

let go of what you can't change, 

love deeply and forgive quickly, 

take chances, 

give everything, 

have no regrets, 

take the good with the bad 

smile when you're sad, 

love what you've got 

and always remember what you had

Always forgive, never forget, 

learn from your mistakes but never regret."

 Not all treasure is silver and gold mate!

  

So there we have it, my book is home, with gorgeous pages, beautiful quotes and a little bit of creativity from 9 other creative ladies plus myself!  My heartfelt thanks to you all and a huge thank you to Claire - who ran our group for the duration of the last 10-11 months she's been an absolute star and kept us on an even keel when occasionally we started to lose ourselves in the process!  

SCRAPBOOK CLASS, ANOTHER 12 X 12 AND A NEAR MISS

Yes don't faint another blog post and it's not Friday what the hell is going on with the world!

I'm finding by blog posts the little bit of therapy I need to keep myself feeling sane at the minute - it's like having a chat to a bunch of girlfriends - well I suppose that's exactly what it is really!

On Monday night I headed down to the local scrapbook shop and finished off my 'happy accident leaves' layout (also known as serendipity) courtesy of the gorgeous Sandy Poppins - we'd sprayed and collaged and inked and die cut and heat embossed then we assembled - the pictures aren't up to the usual high standard so apologies for that but you get the idea - don't you!

 

You won't be able to appreciate just how gorgeous the leaves are but they really are so very pretty - poor quality macro shots but you get the idea!

 Not sure what I'm going to do now it's the last class before Christmas - how scary is that!

Another 12 x 12 that I've completed recently - I know I've already shared the photo of the butterfly a while ago - so here's proof that it made it to paper as it were!  Using up more papermania scrabble letters - although I'd run out of one of the letters so I went back over with ink - badly - so then had to do them all to make them all look the same and normal! 

and the stitching detail - I'd used a template and done a circle on the page - but it was lost - so rather than it being a broken circle I went around it again with my thread - so it was an unbroken circle and still it didn't float my boat!  So then I run a thread through each stitch on top of the paper and got this as the end result which I was mighty pleased with! 

 And finally the giggle of the last few days - 

said 10 year old reading the other night and said Dad not paying attention and said Mum asking the 'what?' question

He read "that as far as he was conquered was that"

"what?"

Mum that's what it says "as far as he was conquered was that"

Frown - stern look at hubby - who then puts brain back in gear - "err let's have a look"

"as far as he was concerned"

Mmmmm - guided reading extraordinaire my hubby!

then last night 

"Mum I'm watching Rosemary and Theme"

Puzzled frown

"You mean Rosemary and Thyme"

Nope "Rosemary and Theme - it's spelt t-h-y-m-e"

"Yep that spells Thyme as in the herb"

"oooh"

Giggle yep - but no where near the near miss in the car with my Mum

We'd been to Meadowhall and were chatting on the way back about her hubby potentially purchasing a new TV 

"I've told him that we can have a high definition one but that's it"

"Haven't you considered a 3D one?" I asked 

"I've told him I don't want one of those"

"Why not? - apart from the price the pictures are fabulous"

"I know the pictures good but I can't be doing with it?"

Puzzled frown across face - but what's the difference between that and a HD TV?

"Well it was bad enough sitting in the cinema for 3 hours watching Avatar with those glasses over my own glasses without having to watch the TV at home with those things on all the time"  

Laughed til I cried and explained she'd only be wearing 3D glasses if she was watching a 3D film - that the TV looks normal at other times - apparently this was a revelation! Love you Mum!

CRAFTING AND JOURNALS

Yes I know - don't faint - it is only Sunday and I'm doing a posting - I mean what on earth am I thinking - bet you thought my weeks only consisted of Fridays these days didn't you! 

 

Scary scary stuff how quickly these weeks are flying by - I mean it - I'm sure last week it was January - where has the year flown to!

Anyway you'll have to put up with my Sunday evening ramblings you know what I'm like - little Miss War and Peace.  I'm going to share a circle journal page with you, I've only partaken in two circle journals to date.  The first of which finished last month and my first ever circle journal is still not home - I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that it actually makes it but it's difficult to tell whether it will or not, however, I'm remaining hopeful! 

My second circle journal is also proving as stressful, we've had one person go AWOL and take two circle journals with them - we're rallying round but it's been a difficult one to date.  This is the page I did for the person who went AWOL - we had initially intended on carrying on with the circle journal however given the two missing journals it's been returned to it's owner unfinished which is sad.  This is my layout that I did, I loved doing the page using the silhouette of Jared Leto on the page - so thought I'd share it here as I don't think it will be seen again!

 

 

Then another page - don't faint - yes another 12 x 12, the photo was taken at YSP in the summer - the wooden sculptures are simply amazing and I loved the jaunty angles that my hubby took this photo at.

 

 I enjoyed doing the stitching on the page as well as using the masks, I was unsure of the colour combination but it always amazes me how sometimes perseverance means that it just works out fine once it's done!  A close up of the stitching - I love stitching templates they really can bring things together and mean that I get to use some of my hoard of embroidery threads up!

 The weekend has been mighty strange - it's gone so quickly I can't quite believe we're at Sunday evening again, we've managed to do quite a lot though and I finally feel that I'm making progress on presents - just not very fast LOL!

Today has been a really Christmassy day - why you may ask - well hubby has cooked the Christmas cake (he's had the fruit soaking in rum all week!) and I've made what has become our traditional Christmas pudding - so all the spices have been permeating the air today - bliss!

So there you go - my weekend in the blink of an eye if you stop by don't forget to say hi - I love to know whose been around!

CRAFTING AND SOME ROCKING YOUR WORLD

Thought I'd do this the other way round this week - to prove that I do still craft it's just few and far between, biggest frustration is when you sit down to craft and then your mind goes blank grrr - anyway more 12 x 12 layouts!

This one is from a visit to Yorkshire Sculpture Park during the summer, I love the colours and the combinations in the picture. 

I also used a piece of chipboard covered in paper, with a little wire and bead assembly as an embellishment - I did this an age ago and never found anything it would 'go with' until I did this layout! 

I seem to be going through an autumnal phase on the layout fronts at the moment

 So you see I do still scrapbook!  Just not as often as I would have liked!  

Anyway on with the gratefuls

My hubby - rocking my world as always - just for being him!  

 Love you hun!

Chats with my Mum and sister and niece, even if we didn't manage any crafting - Melanie was late - there's a surprise LOL and so it was tea and chatting only.

Books, I'm loving the reading books at the moment - pure escapism, I'd lost them for a while but this year have re-captured my love of fiction.

I'm grateful for on-line buying, as Christmas presents start to tumble through the door I start to feel a little (and it is only a little) calmer.

Sensible eating with no stress - being a true Virgoan I have to do everything to the letter and if I don't then that always equals failure- I know that's not failure but it's just the way I am - so I tend to do all or nothing - to extremes - always - this week I've just tried to be sensible - I've not counted or written or listed or checked on or anything - just a 'normal' weeks eating - whatever that is - so here's to trying to break the genetic makeup and just going with the flow!

So there we are my grateful list for the week - last week we had one person join in - I know we're all busy with Christmas but the Friday morning grateful post always leaves me feeling positive even when madness is all around - biggest grateful I'm alive, I'm here, I'm breathing, I have a loving family, a roof over my head, a warm home - big gratefuls there!

The weekend ahead - well who knows - few items on the 'to do list' which I'm trying not to actually write down (as I always make them huge and then obsess about getting them completed - regardless of everything else) - last time I did one of those the list was too long and I damaged my back - so the 'to do' list can only be in my head and given my amazing memory (not) is usually manageable! 

Anyway I'm off for the day - link in the comments - Mr Linky being awkward this week - so leave the trails so I can come and visit!  

Hope you are all having a fabulous friday! 

 

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY and some crafting tee hee

Good Morning lovely Rockers and Rockettes - 

it is indeed Friday again!  And apparently according to the 

hairdresser last night a whole 7 weeks until Christmas

whoops when did that happen!

So what's rocking my world and yours this Friday?

Well for me first thing this cool Friday morning is definitely central heating, black out curtains, winter weight duvet - I almost didn't drag myself out of my slumber this morning it was so nice and cosy and warm!  

A catch up with my sister and my niece at the beginning of the week was fabulous and much needed, for those of you who know my sister she is having somewhat of a tumultuous time at the moment - not necessarily all negative just something of her usual roller coaster but it never stops me as her older sister worrying!!

Hubby's DIY skills - on finding a leak under the sink he promptly dealt with and sorted and it's now ready for everything to go back into the cupboard - hurray!

My hairdresser who listens to me - slightly different style this morning - I'll let you know how easy it is to manage.

And most definitely a start on Christmas presents - I'm not being funny but until last weekend I had absolutely nothing - and that doesn't sit well with me, as I've usually got them bought and wrapped by this time, so to have made a start is a very positive thing indeed!  

Right onto a bit of crafting!  I'm so pleased with this layout - it just came together, lots and lots of layers, stamping, stitching, bliss! I love the colour combination - the hood on hubby's top being perfectly balanced with the blues in the layouts - it took an age to do but I'm finally happy with it!

I've got loads of metal tags left that had cotton through them - think they were made by papermania and I've had them an age - I could never get my head round a way of using them because the cotton always seemed such a none starter - but I'm trying to use what I've got - so I cut the cotton thread off and put some organza ribbon through then tied it in a knot, added a bit of stamping and made it part of my layout!  Bliss

 Mixing papers is something I love to do but wasn't sure if I'd get away with this basic grey/K and Company combination but with everything else on the page it just seemed to work!  

So I managed some crafting this week!  Hurray!

I'm also going to include a little anecdotal tale from the 10 year old - 

this weeks question - 

wait for it

"Is fish meat?"

Now repeat this question and follow it with the answer

"No fish is fish"

That was last nights conversation - honestly!

Finally Mr Linky - I've learnt this last week - then when I put a new Linky up I lose last weeks (I'm sure I can probably upgrade it - but at a cost), therefore if you are linking also drop me a quick message giving the link as well - so that when Mr Linky disappears people can find the other posts linking with this week - Hopefully this makes complete sense! 


Hope you're all having a great Rocking Your World Friday!