I'M WAITING FOR WORK COMPUTER TO WORK SO THOUGHT I'D DO A CRAFT POST

Yes I know I know working on a Saturday, I'm feeling pretty grim if I'm honest but having done that amount of hours and then worked late last night and the majority of today - what do I expect.  At the moment I've asked the VPN to post a load of info - it's not happy with me LOL!

So whilst I'm waiting for it to sort itself out (which could take some time) I thought I'd post a couple of layouts, this one labelled Blow, we were at Cold Stones Cutt last year and said 11 year old discovered the walls had crystal formations in them so he wanted to see if they could be removed - not sure if blowing would do the trick LOL!

Then another layout of him exploring a castle with us - Richmond if I remember rightly just before I took poorly with vertigo he was racing around trying to hide and laughing so much!

Up close an embellishment provided by the wonderful Susie in a bag of goodies at Christmas - I was so happy to find something that matched the layout so well - thank you Susie! 

So there you go - a quick craft post and my computer is still not working LMAO!!!  Hey ho if I won't stop apparently my technology will!

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY

It's here - once again Friday greets us and we've had another changeable week with regards to weather so called summer and the trials and tribulations that we are all faced with each week - but this moment is the time to share and to think about the positives in the week.  Find those silver linings, those blue sky moments that have made your week more bearable and if you don't think you've had any then dig deep, cast your mind back, what part of this week has made you smile - maybe a phone call, a funny story, an e-mail contact with family or friends whatever it is nows the time to be grateful for it and maybe jot it down, so that when life gets tough and difficult you have positives to reflect on!

It's time for

This week has been a mixed bag, I've missed my Mum and my sister and niece like crazy since they've been away, they are probably counting down and commenting how fast their break has gone, me on the other hand feel like it's a lifetime since I last saw them so I'm grateful for the fact that I have such a good bond with them that I have missed them and I'm thoroughly looking forward to catching up when they return.

Next up - Sports Direct for having everything we needed last Friday which meant we didn't have to have a long jaunt out to sort said 11 year old with a new waterproof coat - woohoo!

Said 11 year old survived his residential (as did I) he toddled off on Monday morning, suitcase in tow seeming far too grown up for my liking and off they went arriving safely Monday lunchtime - which was another grateful of mine this week.

He had a great couple of days (apart from the broken nose but we won't mention that here) and came back completely shattered, with a smattering of random photos and some silent video footage the majority of which he took on the coach coming home - I ask you - does he not know his mother is an obsessive documenter of life!  But I'm grateful that he didn't miss us too much and that he had a great time when he was there!

Next up was the gift he bought us whilst away - a slice of green agate which is beautiful and will look fabulous in the crystal cabinet - so again another grateful that he was so thoughtful when he decided to buy a gift for us.

Getting his postcard at home before he got back, it was lovely to read the few words from him - bless him!

Then the next grateful has got to be the break me and hubby managed at the same time - now firstly don't ask how much it cost lets just say they'll be some serious money juggling next month, but a two night break away at Thoresby Hall was fabulous!  We went to Thoresby earlier in the year for a Spa day hubby had bought me last year, which was great, but we never got to see the actual hotel - so this is what we found this time!   It's owned by Warners who provide adult only hotels so there were no children about at all, we found however that most of the people there were significantly older than us but we didn't mind - I didn't go to socialise I went to down tools and switch my brain off whilst enjoying quality time with hubby and that's exactly what I got!

The great hall was a little intimidating when I first saw it - talk about out of my depth!

 We ended up with an historic bedroom in the old part of the house.

 We even got dressed up for evening meal - I mean how mad is that!

 This was one of the dining rooms - sadly not one we went to as dining here was an 'extra' but we got to have a look at it - the silk damask walls cost £100 per square meter - no wonder guests were asked to refrain from touching it!

We had a great time, we had late bedtimes and three course evening meals, we had aperitifs at the bar, chatted about life the universe and everything, enjoyed sleeping in a comfy six foot bed, historic tours around the house, walking around the grounds all in all great fun and yes before you ask we would definitely go again - however, with no children allowed I can't see that happening any time soon!

The entire time spent with hubby is most definitely a huge grateful for me.

Asda delivering the shopping last night when we got home.

Said 11 year old returning safe and sound

Doctors for seeing hubby after the two huge insect bites he has ended up with - having to keep an eye on him at the mo as he isn't feeling too clever with them.

Summer of Colour challenge over on Twinkle Twinkle - I've seen some fantastic art work - really inspiring.

Phone call from my Mum Wednesday night - made me smile - it was lovely to hear them all chattering away

So overall a great week - I hope yours has been too.

If you fancy joining in pop yourself a blog post together and pop back here to link up so we can come and visit, we're only a small group of Rockettes but I feel immensely grateful for the devotion of this little group who really have become some of my best friends.

Before Mr Linky - I always put some crafting on (not sure why - someone tell me why?), first up a layout of said 11 year old on a break last year, playing on the stairs with limited resources, some turtles (his favourites, he was really sad that he didn't have enough money for a turtle at the sea life centre when he was away as he collects these cuddly little creatures) an egg box and a ball of string, he made them lifts to go up and down the spiral staircase - it kept him occupied for hours.

 Up close hand stamped title layered up on foam pads and hand stitching.

Next up on photo of hubby and said 11 year old again from last year, using up old stash both papers and letters

 Lettering up close

So there you go another post completed and if I'm right this may well be the half way one through the year - Sarah will be able to tell us better - is that right Sarah?

THURSDAY MORNING AND A BIT OF CRAFTING

Well it's been a flurry of activity over the last few days with said 11 year old on his first residential trip to Whitby for three days (two nights) and me and hubby escaping for the duration to an extremely beautiful hotel.  We've all had a great time and last night were all reunited from our escapades out, whilst said 11 year old had a fabulous time it would also appear that he managed to break his nose whilst away - running in one direction whilst looking in another - something I tell him frequently not to do and whallop straight into a friend and now has a very tender nose, he's just up and looks absolutely shattered - not sure if he's going to manage two days at school - bless him.  Us well even we didn't manage to escape without issues, dear hubby became extremely excellent fodder for the local biting insects which meant on his return yesterday I sent him on his merry way to the Doctors, with his arm looking like it had half a duck egg attach to it and the other elbow had started to swell as well, he came back armed with some serious antibiotics but apparently couldn't understand a word the Doctor said so just kept nodding - I ask you!

Anyway I'll let you all know the fun of the beginning of the week on a Rocking post tomorrow but thought I'd do a crafting post for a Thursday most of these layouts are from some time ago - I really need to crack on with some more layouts!

First up me and hubby at Stratford last year - I managed a pink layout - not something that happens very often I might add

 Up close proof that you shouldn't take photos of pink layouts in artificial light - the title was stamped onto some 'hand-cut' bunting and attached using mini brads

Next up a double layout from when we went to Bolton Castle, there was a young woman there who seemed to do everything, from the Birds of Prey in the centre of the castle, to the 'have a go archery' session, next up she was with the peregrine racing it in the fields and finally up by the Wild Boar behind the car park.  We had a great time whilst we were there and I ended up with an eclectic mix of photos so a double layout seemed the best option to capture the day.

 Up close

The embellishments were torn paper, and chipboard hearts painted red with glossy accents.  I used the crown paper in the Papermania range - which I thought I'd struggle to use - but obviously realised that it makes complete sense for a Castle layout

 and finally Brimham Rocks, a hand cut title

 and the journalling done on a mini postcard from a stamp from the Papermania range again

I hope you are all having a good day - thanks for stopping by and if you get chance to comment even better!  Tonight - well tonight I'll be mainly tidying, followed by (fingers crossed - some Summer of Colour mailart - in pinks and yellows - wish me luck!)

WEEK 3 - SUMMER OF COLOUR - BASEBALL NUT

Morning one and all, I finished off the mail art yesterday for Week 3's challenge on Summer of Colour - head over to Twinkle Twinkle to find out more, as suspected I'm now creating sets of mail art which by the time the challenge finishes will mean I have 36 pieces of mail art to send to people, now I'll just need a long list of people who'd actually like to receive one!

I'm enjoying playing with colours that I seem to have forgotten about or potentially not worked with previously, baseball nut as an ice cream is vanilla and dark raspberries with a hint of pale beige (being the nut bit) so that was my base.

And these altogether look like

Once again I managed to use images that I've had an absolute age and never thought I'd get to use which is brilliant can't wait to see what ice cream we get for week 4 - I'm going to be really sad when this challenge stops?

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY

So here we are again and if I understand Sarah's blog correctly this is Friday number 25 of the year - almost half way through the year and how quickly time flies at the moment.  We've now had our longest day and the days now start going in the other direction -grrrrrrrrrrrrr and summer is yet to arrive and yet in the last 7 days there must have been some positives to note - because it's

Sitting on the sofa last week with hubby watching a film whilst holding hands, I think we needed that contact that sometimes lacks because we are so busy - it was fabulous just to relax.

Marks and Spencer dine in for two, not that it was amazing just that it made life easier!

Tealights from Ikea creating a very atmospheric mood when we had our M&S meal!

Long drawn out discussions with hubby about life the universe and everything.

Enigma CD playing in the background, very chilled out.

Travel companies for getting my Mum, sister and niece to their destination for a couple of weeks safely

Summer of colour challenge - for helping get my creativity going again!

Ross Noble - for being completely mad - hubby got space cowboy DVD for Father's day and it's proved highly entertaining to watch once said 11 year old has headed up to bed, an amazing comedian who literally goes out on stage without a script - now that's brave!

Father's Day for allowing me take charge of kitchen duties because it was his 'day off' - which meant he got bacon and egg tortillas for breakfast - completely mad I am sometimes - we'd got no bread, so I cooked some bacon and mushrooms in a pan, then threw a couple of eggs into a pan for some scrambled egg, discovered we had no bread so basically put it in two flour tortillas for hubby (one for me) and then put the whole thing back in the pan for a few minutes flipping it half way through - a random amount of deliciousness!

Hubby for being quite happy to collect said 11 year old on Tuesday because I had a late meeting and for putting up with two extremely long work days for me without so much as a grumble!

The weather on Wednesday for being sunny when I got in and prompting me to get the mower out and attack the jungle garden, didn't manage the front garden but the back now looks like I might be able to beat it into submission - that'll obviously be when the rain stops which doesn't look likely in the next couple of days does it!

Wednesday evenings crafting - always a blessing, just sat playing with paint and ink and stickles and anything else that came to hand if I'm honest!

Well that's going to have to do you lovely people, if you fancy joining in pop yourself a post together and head back here to link up before I leave you the almost obligatory crafting hubby and son at Brimham Rocks last year!

 Up close the hand stitching I so love to do on these pages!

I hope you have a beautiful and blessed week ahead

SUMMER OF COLOUR - MINT CHOC CHIP

Oh it's so nice to have a short set of challenges to get the creativeness flowing - over on Twinkle Twinkle there is an awesome - ice cream based colour challenge for six weeks and week two is mint choc chip, I really enjoyed playing with this one - so much fun!

So what are they?  Well last week it was six pieces of mail art for my collection ready to send out at a moments notice and this week - well this week proves I like some levels of symmetry in my life so once again I've put together six pieces of mail art to send out, each is A5 in size (I like to get my monies worth out of the postal system bearing in mind the extortionate costs of sending anything these days).  First layer was acrylic paint using my fingers - I like finger painting it's fun.  Then images onto the cards, then masks, stamping, painting the stamping, using metallic water colours to add to the dimensions of the card and finally stickles I had such fun and I've already started preparing my cards for next week!

All together

Thanks for stopping by - now where's that paint!

MID WEEK POST

I have a need to create at the moment, not a strop create (although I could do that with relative ease) but a artistic create!  This week so far has just been work if I'm honest - far too much work, Monday left at 4pm - laptop set up at home 5pm - laptop shut down 11.30pm, yesterday 8.10 start time, evening meeting - arrived home 9pm - mmmmmm too many work hours - mind I can tell the house is suffering, the garden is now taking on jungle like qualities so I'm hoping for a sensible home time 3pm - collect said 11 year old, blitz through a few jobs in the house and then - yes wait for it - drum rollllllllllllllllllllllll - time with my pairs journal and some mint choc chip goodness on Summer of Colour - let's see if that's achievable.

Feeling a bit low, my Mum and my sister and niece flew out to Tenerife at the weekend and apart from a single text message I've not heard from them, it's amazing how you take for granted picking the phone up and speaking to them when they are here.  I'm sure they are having a fabulous time and I'll find out all about it when they land back but in all honesty I am really missing them.

Anyway - crafting - what have I got in my folder let's see. I loved this photo and as a result I loved the layout if you know what I mean, journalling around the outer square was fun too.

 Up close the title were chipboard pieces I had which I painted black

 Then this layout which documents my Secret Santa at Christmas I'm still in awe of the book - utterly amazing!

 Up close accents on the page.

Ta ta for now - see ya later!   Thanks for looking

SUMMER OF COLOUR - RAINBOW SHERBET

I've found myself at a mental loose end when it comes to creativity since I got back, I don't have any scrapping on the go and don't feel the need to art journal, so other than the pairs journal that Donna and I are doing there really isn't much going on on my desk and to be honest it was starting to make me grumpy.  Anyway Joanna said to me that I should join in Summer of Colour 2 and then Carmen agreed and although I'd seen a couple of posts about this and the results of creations others had done I didn't really know what it meant.  So having had a read of the posts I thought - perhaps I could actually join in.  Oh my - I had a great time so thank you girls for the encouragement I had a few hours last night feeling pretty awful but managing to create, I didn't know what to do so settled to do some mail art in advance, I like to have a stack of these in hand and the colour scheme was definitely going to make them different to my usual schemes of dark blues and greens.  The ice cream colour in question rainbow sherbet, vibrant fuchsia pink, strong oranges, yellows and a hint of white and here is what I created.

Most of the images I'd had an absolute age and honestly could see me using them, I used paint images, stamps, masks, distress inks, metallic water colours that you can't see but honestly they are there and oil pastels. And altogether they look like this - size they are half A4 size as I like larger mail art if I'm honest!

So a big thank you and now I'm starting to think about the next ice cream - mint choc chip -oooh where will that colour scheme take me!

CRIKEY IS IT REALLY FRIDAY - THEN IT'S ROCKING YOUR WORLD TIME

Oh the latest of my post indicates a glimpse of the kind of week I've got doesn't it - grrrrrrrrrrr, anyhow it is Friday which means it's

Now I can't remember the last time that I actually posted one of these from scratch on a Friday morning - let's see how it goes.

1. I'm grateful for my family coming over on Sunday for a belated birthday tea for Melanie, it was a very relaxed chilled out affair we ate, had cups of tea and plenty of chat, awesome stuff. (I'm not grateful for my Mum passing her dreaded lurgy onto me however but that's not what this post is about is it).
2. I'm grateful said 11 year old is looking forward to his final half term at primary school - where do the years go, he has so much going on in the next few weeks that will keep him busy and the exams are out of the way so I'm grateful for that. 
3. I'm grateful that we managed a week away without me being struck down by vertigo, sciatica or chronic back trouble 
4. I'm grateful for digital cameras and other media which allowed us to take in excess of 800 photos during our week away.
5. I'm grateful for living in a relatively nice neighbourhood, we've been having issues at work with individuals who are very obviously bored with little in the way of youth provision and it made me realise that although I don't particularly like some of the kids in the neighbourhood because they can be mean to said 11 year old they are not intimidating or unruly.
6. I'm grateful for the salad hubby made last night, I said I really didn't fancy a salad (too cold) but he made it to go with tea and it was delicious!
7. I'm grateful hubby dropped everything yesterday to collect said 11 year old so that I could stay at work an extra three hours (too much work again).
8. I'm grateful the house was absolutely spic and span when we arrived home (not that you'd know it now but it was lovely to come back to a clean and tidy home).
9. I'm grateful that the garden has now been well and truly watered, now I'd like it to stop raining so I can start to cut down the triffids in the back and front garden.
10. I'm grateful for being alive, for living in a country where I can be myself and speak my mind
11. I'm grateful for hubby leaving a hot cup of tea on the bedside table this morning, I'm not grateful for the two alarm clocks that woke me at six and half past that he'd accidently left on however I am grateful that the tea was still warm when my sleep was disturbed.
12. I'm grateful for Flying Fox shower gel, mmmmmm smells lovely in a morning shower.
13. I'm grateful for balsam tissues that mean that although they are wiping all my makeup off my face they are at least soothing on my skin.
14. And finally I'm grateful for our email group that pulled out all the stops whilst I was away sending cards and gifts to my little sis for her birthday - you know who you are and your all awesome! 

I think peeps that will do us for this week, it's always a tough one going back to work and resuming your normal routine, 

As always a bit of crafting (not that I'd done much this week I might add) be warned there is a Christmas layout, not that I produced it recently. 

A double layout of our visit to Fountains Abbey 

Up close

 and the other page

 The Santa layout, I remembering fighting with this one to be all red and green before realising that a blue card background sorted the problem out in one go, this is said 11 year old opening his electric guitar - as you can tell he was very very happy!

 Up close - glossy accents on the title

 and on a hand cut poinsettia, I cut this out of a scrapbook paper and layered it up on foam squares, putting a glossy edge around the same.

 And there you go, another weeks Rocking post done, I hope yours was a good one, fancy joining us, throw yourself a blog post together and pop back here to link up so we can come and visit.  Don't stress if your list is short it can be as long or short as you like and if you think you've not got anything to be grateful for dig deep, you'll be amazed what you find as you look back on your week.  I hope you have a beautiful and blessed weekend and week ahead.