ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 1ST OF 2025

 Morning all, well Friday came and went every day has turned into some day, just not sure which day, so I'm sat on Sunday morning preparing a post which is now technically two days late.  Time for

So last Friday we went to Wentworth Woodhouse, for the postponed trip (from the high winds), with hubby, son and daughter-in-law.  It was a really lovely evening, they picked us up and we headed to the venue, had issues getting in as the automatic electric gate had closed and they were struggling to open it, thankfully it was resolved. 

We got to see the mice on the 'Twas Night Before Christmas' trail in the house itself

The beginning of the trail 

The snowy corridor

The beautiful marble ballroom

Got this lovely photo 

And one of the guides asked if we wanted a group shot so got this one

The dining room

The bed on the stairs

The trees in the alcoves

Outside we enjoyed their festive light trail 

And then stopped for hot chocolate drinks and hubby enjoyed a mulled wine. 

It really was a beautiful evening together which I really enjoyed. 

On Monday we headed to YSP for a good walk, it was quite breezy so we ensured we were wrapped up warm and after a drink and a sausage sandwich we headed off around the park.

Selfie time

We didn't think there were any new sculptures to see, but came across this piece by Barry Flanagan which is stunning

Here you can see the perspective of the piece next to hubby

Then we found these two sculptures with French names meaning Queen and King

Took a selfie in front of the Queen one

and got hubby to take a photo in front of the king one

We then came across this, initially I thought it was a real chicken, alas it was not to be, although I'm sure Helen would agree that it has similar colouring to goldie!

I've loved my Christmas break, the reading, the down time the plotting and planning, all very much appreciated and definitely needed. 

We had a quiet night on New Year's Eve, hubby let the New Year in as a first footer this is his tray that he brought in. 

Coal for warmth

Salt for flavour

Money and silver for prosperity 

Whiskey for good cheer

Bread for food in the home

It was raining heavily that evening, so he quickly headed out of the other door and back in the main door as soon as the clock struck midnight. 

New Year's Day morning we enjoyed pancakes for breakfast courtesy of hubby, it was nice having something simple after the richness of Christmas food. 

I had a mass sort out of photos and a sort out of poems, I've put in a photo order and ordered the first poems book for 2024 as I continue to work through the remaining poems for the second book (too many poems for one book alas). 

I also enjoyed making some birthday cards using up some craft supplies. 

I hope you've all had a great week. 

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 28TH OF 2024

 Good afternoon lovely people I'm late to the party today so apologies, time to clock the silver linings and positive moments from this week. 

Well last Friday we had a tootling day in the garden, hubby was on with sorting bits out and I was painting the world, well the new fence anyway, it was good to be out in the garden and get some fresh air. 

I was still struggling with a bug that hubby had been kind enough to share, with a stupid hacking cough that genuinely would not leave me alone, which frustrated me somewhat, however time together is always very precious in my book. 

Saturday our son and d-in-law popped over for a catch up, it was lovely to see their faces and put the world to rights.  I checked in with my d-in-law who has recently lost her Nan and checked to see how her Mum was doing, it just seems that a lot of people are going through the mill a bit at the moment. 

I spent some of Saturday making cards, after I realised that I was running low when I wrote July's cards out last week (yes I know I was running late).  

I had a lovely few hours creating these and now the birthday card box is full again.  

We also watched Axl on Netflix and hubby watched the rest of the Beverley Hills Cops films over Saturday and Sunday. 

Sunday and we genuinely had hoped that we would be able to get to YSP but the weather had other ideas and with the cough I'd got I decided the best thing to do would be to stay put and just craft and chill out and watch a few films etc. 

As it was we watched Peter Rabbit, which I thoroughly enjoyed and did a bit more crafting, I'm still on with making Pigling Bland out of a book I bought recently, it is mighty slow due to all the hand stitching. 

The rest of the week has been busy with work, including a number of hours at home doing some training on Thursday but it was needed and it was good to get it out of the way. 

We are trying to make headway into watching some of the DVDs we own, so we watched Eat Pray Love and Amelie this week.  I've seen Eat Pray Love before but hubby hadn't, it amazed me that I had a vague understanding of some of the Italian language as I watched it (well I have been learning it on Duolingo for 3 years). 

Amelie, very nearly didn't get watched as I'm not a fan of subtitled foreign films (I read enough in my day job without reading a film if that makes sense), but it had been a recommendation from a book and well within 10 minutes we were invested, so we saw it through.  I really enjoyed it, and it reminded me that the simple acts of kindness can sometimes bring real joy to individuals which I love.  

I hope you've all had a good week.  

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 45TH OF 2023

 Morning lovely people tis Friday time for 

Well it has been another strange week of it, it has to be said.  I'm going to try to find the silver linings again this week, as always and as I've said before sometimes this can prove easier than at other times. 

We enjoyed Fika time at Ikea when we went for a wander around, me and hubby had a dessert and then were very naughty and shared their new tiramisu dessert which was quite pleasant. 

Over the weekend, I enjoyed having some crafting time and made some birthday cards to replenish stocks.  I'd bought some papers that all matched so no need to have to engage my brain on the design (if that makes sense), hubby in the meantime was having a play with some Christmas decorations. 

We also enjoyed our first fire of the year as well, it was lovely to cuddle up on the sofa. 

Now the tougher parts of the week, my cousin who is only 42 had a heart attack at the weekend, which as you can imagine has come as an enormous shock, he is currently in intensive care and we genuinely don't know what will happen moving forward, so can you keep him in your thoughts this week it has really hit home to all the cousins and was so very unexpected. 

Then on Tuesday hubby started with chest pains, my grateful on this was a work colleague who got him to the hospital quickly, said 23 year old for rescuing me from work when I genuinely broke down so upset, the hospital seeing him so quickly and the result being no heart attack, however, they have identified a bloody pressure issue, so he is now on a diet to reduce weight to try and bring it down without tablets.  We will see how quickly he can move it. 

My other grateful moments have been my lovely Mum, her love and care this last few weeks have been so important to me.  My sister for talking sense to me and said 23 year old for just being him even though he too is having a bit of a tough time at the moment. 

I hope you've had a lovely week and hopefully next week I will have some better news. 

Much love

THE LAST OF THE COUNTERFEIT LAYOUTS 31 32 33 34 AND SOME

Good morning lovely people the last of my counterfeit kit this morning. First up a double page, monochromatic layout using my wavy board again! 

Up close the left hand page

and right hand page documenting one of those 'I'm going to win' moments at a penny slot arcade in Bridlington, with my niece and sister - needless to say we walked away empty handed!  

As most of you know from the blog hop yesterday I cut the middle out of a hexagon paper, but rather than use it 'in tact' I split the elements up and used them across a page. I rounded the corners of the photo, photo mat and other elements, added a stamped title and some strips of washi tape! 

Last year I printed off a Simple Stories sheet from UK Scrappers which documented a layout similar to the one below, using little 'cards' made from scraps measuring 3.75" x 2.75" so I thought it would be fun to do the same with the balance of the items I had in my kit

With a few I had left over I also managed to throw a card together

And because I was in the mood to throw a few cards together I managed to create these, I've never professed to be particularly good at cards, but I enjoyed making these! 

And there you go, another kit used to the fullest and complete.  I might take a month off in April as my scrapping is getting a little 'out of hand' if I'm brutally honest at the moment, although I might play with some more cards as they don't require an abundance of photos! 

SUMMER OF COLOUR WEEK 6 - Sage and Sepia

Good morning one and all, it is a little cooler this morning in Yorkshire but is forecast to turn even warmer this week and it's been warm enough in our office as it was!

Anyway we draw to a close the Summer of Colour challenge on week 6 with Sage and Sepia, a colour combination that I voted for - but crikey I struggled. I'm going to apologise in advance my Sage ended up slightly more vibrant and my sepia got drowned out with the sage - but I promise I did start with two colours!

First up a layout - gelli print at the ready again!  The now defunct sidings at Jackfield near Ironbridge (I tried to use sepia in my photos when it wasn't so clear in my gelli-plating)!

Carvings at Stokesay castle - they amused me quite a lot - couldn't help it - they were on a fire place!

Finally inside the barn we stopped in, this was the main living area (apologies this is slightly blurry, I thought it was my eyes when I took it apparently not)

Then cards from the project, these were simple gelli plates, offcuts of the cardstock and paper that was left over and simple birthday wishes, I also used peeled paint distress ink with my new Bo Bunny stamps to add to the cards.  Now remember I don't ever and have never professed to be a card maker, there are those that can and those like me that use scrapping offcuts up - just saying!

 I liked this one because of the tree!

 I love this hexagon stamp - it's so versatile!

Then mail art, not completed fully but getting there

So there we have it, colour of summer drawn to a close, boo hoo - I've loved it though, a massive thank you to Kristin on Twinkle Twinkle for hosting this, it really makes you work outside the box which I adore.  It gives me the chance to work with colours I wouldn't normally work with, it gets me to create layouts without photos (rather than working from photos to layouts which is my normal way around things).

I hope you've enjoyed seeing my creations over the last six weeks, I've loved seeing yours and hope to visit lots more SOC posts over the summer when I have a little more time!  And finally Natasha, you've ordered a gelli plate - you are going to love it, although once Victoria gets a chance to have a go - you might not get much time on it - just warning you!