Good morning one and all, how fairs thee this winter's morn' - ooh I've gone all Dickensian! It's a very cold crisp morning here in Yorkshire, Jack Frost has decorated both the cars and the roads - boo hiss - guess who'll be out scraping that shortly! So what am I up to? Well I've got the porridge whirring in the microwave, the heatings just come on so it's starting to warm up and it's technically too early to stir the 12 year old - so I thought I'd pop a quick post together seen as I've got plenty of layouts in my scrapbook folder to share.
This one from a holiday earlier in the year where we visited a sculpture garden, a private sculpture garden that we paid to go in and see! I love anything like this - just soooooooo unusual! Although the usual statement from said 12 year old is "what is it?"
And then said 12 year old when I said he was too close - insisted on getting closer! So I have a close up view of his freckles and he has loads! This photo still makes me giggle, he wasn't awfully keen on the pink background but I liked it, crikey summer seems a long time ago now doesn't it - what little we had anyway!
So how are your Christmas preparations fairing? Are you all ready and feeling happy and satisfied or are you going to be doing the trolley dash around the shopping centre on Christmas Eve? Whichever way it is I hope you are looking forward to slowing down and spending a bit of time with loved ones!
Right off to wake the 12 year old - grumpy or not grumpy this morning - we'll see.
Good Morning to my beautiful Rockettes, I hope you fair well this morning and are you embracing these December mornings. As it's Friday it is my opportunity to look back on the last seven days and be grateful for all the positives that occur in my life. Some of these positives are small and may seem insignificant, but when you make a list of these no matter how small they are add them together and you realise how blessed you really are.
Taking time back is my first grateful - and I mean in a literal sense, Wednesday, Thursday and today have seen me at home like some sort of crazed domestic goddess, making meals, cleaning, getting the house in shape ready for the festive season and it's been bliss (apart from the dodgy back but we won't mention that bit). As I sit and type this post on Thursday evening I've got a steak pie warming in the oven, some potatoes and broccoli boiling on the stove, the light levels are dropping and it's trying really hard to rain at the moment I'm grateful for a warm house and electricity.
I'm grateful for Lego advent calendars that were a surprise last Saturday morning an unexpected treat, although he has had me giggling all week with the "What is it?" question when he builds each piece.
I'm grateful for venturing out last weekend to Kelham Island for their Victorian Christmas Market, despite the throngs of people there (it was mighty busy) we got to see some fabulous sights, enjoyed walking around the stalls of beautiful home made items. We enjoyed the brass band and the real reindeers and the fact that kids went free. We enjoyed the atmosphere and we enjoyed spending time together - nothing finer!
We got to see all sorts of things - giant people
Beautiful stone sculpting
Busy restoration workshops
Crazy chimney sweeps on stilts!
Blue skies and millpond like water
Self portrait!
Sheffield in the Winter sun
And a visit to my Mum who had a steampunk joint of beef in the oven - genius!
I'm grateful for a supportive hubby who arrived home on Wednesday to rescue me when I'd pulled my back!
I'm grateful for both hubby and son being happy to get all the decorations up - that's four trees - I kid you not!
I'm grateful for a craft day on Thursday, I managed to catch up (nearly almost) with my journal your Christmas.
I'm grateful for the first Christmas cards to land on my doorstep.
I'm grateful for the change to enjoy the season.
I'm grateful for fleece blankets and fleece jumpers - just fleece in general!
For ladies at the Farmers Market being so happy and encouraging me to buy delicious homemade chutney.
For hot cups of tea and mince pies and for you taking the time out of your busy life to come and read and sit and absorb and perhaps to even join in - another blessing for me - many thanks
I'll leave you with a layout from a holiday earlier in the year when no matter how many times I said smile did I get silly faces!
If you fancy joining in and have the time pop yourself a blog post together and head back here to link up so we can come and visit your gratefuls for the week.
So here we are on the last Friday of November, the word gulp as December looms large tomorrow! Time to find the silver linings, the sparkles, the positives and the gratefuls of the last 7 days
Last Friday we ventured down to the local theatre for a pre-Christmas treat - A Christmas Carol performed by a local theatre group, thoroughly enjoyable and much fun. There were a few elements that added to the play overall, the well to do Victorian lady knocking over her wine glass and swearing had most of us tittering, as did the ghost of Christmas future arriving on stage dressed as death which led to Craig chortling his way through the 'Bottom' sketch - anyone who is a Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson fan will know what I'm talking about and the rationale for putting a man over six feet tall into a knee length nightgown and then expecting him to get on and off the raised bed platform without flashing underwear escapes me, but nevertheless we had a great evening! I want to read the book now but don't own a copy so will have to get it picked up.
Saturday brought kitchen cupboard cleaning and I can hear you groan now - why is this on my list? Because the last time I did this little task I pulled my back, this time my hubby helped and did the awkward cupboards which meant I was still upright at the end of this - a win win - clean cupboard and my back still working!
A warm bath on Saturday afternoon to warm my bones, second one in as many weeks and my backs still working, I could get used to this!
Hubby making roasted squash soup again - honestly it's beautiful, so tasty and zero points!
Writing the round robin newsletter from beginning to end on Saturday, every year I do a round robin type newsletter to go with cards to people that live far and wide despite the fact many say it's not the 'done thing' it always feels like hard work to do but I still insist on it every year and it is nice to look at the year that we've had, this years newsletter came together quite quickly, it's not as funny as previous ones or as sarcastic (a tone I struggle to omit with most written words if I'm honest - can you tell) but it is complete and approved by hubby and said 12 year old - just need to fathom out how to copy it now!
Sunday brought us to a Christmas Craft and Gift Fayre, am I the only person who stands saying "I could make that..." and not buying the item whilst not arriving home and making it either! It was a lovely mix of stalls at this particular one and little bit of everything, we got to admire some great photographs, some beautiful Christmas wreaths, some gorgeous knitted items (although I'm no good with wool so not for me), oggle at the cupcakes for sale, lots and lots of lovely items. The haul for the day has to go to said 12 year old who managed - a slice of rainbow cake and let me tell you that in itself was a mighty fine haul for the outing - it took him two days to eat!
he also managed, a DVD film for a £1, some old coins and a copy of a book signed by the author himself, and a chocolate orange stirring stick. Whilst dear hubby caught himself a 1 kilogram - yes that's 2.2 pound pork pie! And me, well hubby bought for me two chocolate orange stirring sticks with cinnamon (these were the Christmassy ones) together with a fur muff for my hands, I'm always complaining of being cold and this particular one is in grey leopard print, with a wheat lavender bag inside which means - it can be warmed in the microwave - simply genius!
Sunday night brought a Chinese take away because we couldn't be bothered to cook, naughty us but it was lovely!
Monday morning came around too quickly but in a simple summary this week I've
Enjoyed the gorgeous night sky (even at 6am Thursday morning)
Watchihng - I'm a Celebrity - Ant and Dec are fantastic, so much fun to watch!
Watching - Elementary - wow what a TV series.
Hubby finding Whitechapel on catch up - provided we can watch it earlier I might be able to cope.
Said 12 year old being honest with us one evening about an issue at school, he was relieved to have a chat about it and think he was surprised with our reaction - which was laid back and matter of fact.
Cleaning the house by stealth, I'm trying to sneak in cleaning tasks without it being a mass cleaning session - up to now it seems to be working!
Making some in roads into the massive amount of Christmas cards I need to make - I hate Christmas card making and usually do it in January, didn't manage it this year, but believe you and me the same won't be said of next year!
Lovely evening meals cooked by hubby!
A warm house (goodness knows what it will cost us with the gas bill but I refuse to be cold!).
Ovaltine
Wii console keeping my hubby and son happy!
Catch up with my sister.
Secret Santa gifts finally completed and sent
Circle journals completed and sent (the sense of achievement is always a positive).
A day off work on Thursday even if by default due to the by-election in the town meaning we couldn't use our normal office base.
And that my lovely people will have to do you this week.
These are two circle journal entries I've done recently on the Desert Island Disks Circle Journal on Collaborart.
And a layout that I did as part of the UK Scrappers cyber crop recently! This one documenting chemistry experiments in the summer.
If you fancy joining in, pop yourself a post together and head over here to link up so we can come and visit and share your positives. Don't think anything positive has happened this week - really? Go on have a think, you'll be surprised at what positives you can find when you set your mind to it!
Yes - stop groaning - I know it's Friday again, I blinked and a whole week has whizzed by at lightening speed, I really do wonder where life disappears to sometimes. But when you are busy busy busy then the hours turn into minutes and a week turns into a day - but we're back again for Rocking Your World Friday
Oh let's see how many we can manage this week
Douwe Egberts Caramel flavoured coffee, it's not cheap and comes in a tiny jar - but it's lovely and feels a bit naughty, hubby says it smells Christmassy, not sure I'm feeling that one but tasty it is, I may have to try the hazlenut one next.
A bath last week, I know that sounds mad and yes I do shower regularly but I have such a 'dodgy' back that I honestly struggle to have a bath, there is nothing so nice as a relaxing bath, a cup of coffee and a magazine read whilst I'm in there and it warmed my bones - now that I can cope with!
Making a few bits for Christmas, nothing major but makes me feel productive and positive
Listening to hubby and said 12 year old playing on the play station 2 the other night, they'd got hold of a second hand game recently and were playing on that - howls of laughter coming from the TV room had me smiling from ear to ear.
Butternut squash soup made my hubby - he made this at the weekend, knowing I sometimes don't like 'orange' vegetables (I hate carrots with a passion - they have to be hidden in taste for me to cope with them) but the squash soup was delicious - so big thank you to hubby for that!
Positive blog comments, it's always lovely to come along and find that people not only took the time to read your blog, but also took the time to comment - makes me very happy - so if you were one of those people and you know who you are a big thank you!
Donna - for the first entry into my Desert Island Disk CJ - see it here she managed to link the story behind the song (the track was Santana's Smooth and it was the track hubby played over and over whilst I was pregnant, bump (who later became known as said 12 year old) used to enjoy partying inside me when he could hear the track - albeit muffled!
Lots of lovely blogs out there at the moment, including some lovely Christmassy ones! In particular the fabulous items on the Shabby Art Boutique, from a Christmas planner to 'homemade' wrapping paper - check it out here
An Autumn walk - there is nothing so nice than a bright blue, crisp day, with Autumn colours, walking through crunchy leaves, it always reminds me of when I was young and used to walk through a graveyard with my Mum on the way to school, I used to love walking through the piles of autumn leaves that had fallen!
This is Wentworth Castle - and yes before you say I know it's not a Castle, it's actually a house which is now actually a college, but you can walk around the gardens which have been restored back to their original design over time
Enjoying that winter sunshine
The dragon at the top of the staircase in the tower
Isn't he gorgeous!
And his tail at the bottom of the staircase.
Now this is part of the castle within the grounds, (it's known as Stainborough Castle) was built by the original owners of the house as a miniature castle, it had a 'great' hall, with four towers, ramparts and towers running around the outside curtain wall
You can see said 12 year old running around the central piece - and why you may ask did the owner of the house build a scaled down version of a castle? As a playground for his four children - must be nice mustn't it!
Me and hubby
Said 12 year old sneaking piccies we didn't even know about
Including gorgeous close-ups of miniature cyclamen!
10. Making good progress on Christmas shopping
11. Identifying things to do through December to make my 'journal your Christmas' that bit more interesting!
12. Getting tickets for the theatre for this Friday.
13. Crafting time!
14. A coffee with my sister on Thursday for a brief catch up which was nice.
I think my lovely people that that will do nicely for this week, fancy joining in, have a think, do a blog post, head over here and link up so we can come and visit and enjoy your gratefuls as well. If you don't have time to write a post or you don't have a blog, promise yourself that you'll look back over the last 7 days to spot the positives, it's a worthwhile thing to do and sets you up with a positive outlook ready for the weekend.
Before I go - I'll share a layout, this one documenting a rather dark piccie but a piccie nonetheless that I didn't think we'd got but discovered on hubbies phone! Said 12 year old at primary school enjoying an archery lesson!
Blink and it's Thursday - well that's how my week has gone, I kid you not and so before I start to consider my gratefuls for last 7 days for my Friday Rocking post, I thought I've got time to squeeze in a quick craft related post.
So here I go, photo of said 12 year old discovering the 'dangers' of magnifying glass and sunshine this summer on wood. What he actually discovered was that he could burn his name in the wood as he went, I now have a garden full of 'graffitti-ed' wood! I like this layout, it's pleasing on the eye, and vibrant with my signature stitching!
Thanks for looking and may your Thursday be full of positives!
Big waves to everyone, well it's been a mighty busy day at work and at home, but it's kick back time so before I attack the thing called my craft-space which is lacking seriously on the 'space' front at the moment I thought I'd put together a quick post for the beautiful book that Annette (Voodoo Vixen) created for the UK Scrappers Cyber crop recently.
I've had to wait a while to post on here as one of the two I created during the cyber crop was a gift and I wanted the recipient to actually get their paws on it before it appeared on my blog.
I created two books at the same time, the one on the left a gift for Carmen and the one on the right to be filled by yours truly with appropriate photos at some point in the future.
I loved the tissue paper design for the book as per Annette' instructions
The book unfolded
It has a mini book as part of it's main design
Which you can see a bit better here
It has lots of little pockets and spaces for tags
And more
From the side you can see the two giant matchboxes, painted to colour co-ordinate with the rest of the book. I thought Carmen might want to put Logan's hospital bracelet and any other small mementos in here.
Up close my book in red
I added lots of ribbons and threads
And a giant key!
Inside the book is a mix of papers including some hand stamped and masked as the papers I used for this one were not double sided.
I made a slip when making this and attached the double sided a different way so there's no ability to add tags - so this will be a photo based mini book
Used some lovely DCWV papers I've had for a while
Again the side shot with the matchboxes
I'm so pleased with both books, I love how tactile they are and how easy they were to put together, so much so I've now bought four more matchboxes and got hubby to cut me some grey board ready so get ready to see some more of these books very soon! Just not sure what to do with all the matches if I'm honest!
If you fancy having a go yourself! It can be found as a PDF download on this page here it's the third one down called it's a mystery, but all the classes were great, so feel free to explore the page!
If you fancy seeing more of what Annette creates check out her blog here
