ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 21ST OF 2021

 Good morning lovely people I hope I find you all well, tis Friday time for 

So let us clock the positives and silver linings from the week that was. 

Well following on from the giant pile of squares of fabric that I shared last week, I'm happy to share my first rag quilt

I really enjoyed making it and despite it leaving a large amount of threads in the washing machine, it came out pretty unscathed, it is definitely weighty and warm. 

In further TV room updates, the Celtic cross in the middle of the wall was looking a little lost, so hubby fairly speedily managed to add a further four knots, which finishes it perfectly in my books. 

Unfortunately we aren't having the best weather at the moment, so we are definitely having to check out a weather app to help us plan, with the weekend forecast for turning more inclement we decided to book tickets for Yorkshire Sculpture Park for Friday and as promised the weather was very overcast, but nevertheless we went and it was lovely having a good walk and blowing off the cobwebs.  We went a slightly different root, so took photos of this bronze sculpture on our travels. 

Saturday dawned and we had a lie in (well 9am is late for us), we hadn't any firm plans and I'm trying not to just spend money to keep us busy, so we decided to head off to the local ancient woods to have a look at the beautiful bluebells, we were just in time, I think last weekend they would have been perfect, but I enjoyed it nonetheless and we managed to grab a few photos before the weather turned and the rain arrived. 

Sunday felt similar very much and we feel like we are having April weather with showers, downpours and bright sunshine.  

I enjoyed immensely reading over the weekend it is a past time that I don't very often indulge in, having watched the Bridgerton series, I've chosen to reading the set of books, they are mentally a very easy read and none stressful which is a joy for me and as I stand at the moment I've completed book three which only took a couple of days.  

Other than that I had a crafty afternoon on Sunday creating both a mini book using some Alice in Wonderland theme papers and I had a lovely time cutting and preparing, this is the book 

and I also used the papers to create this little display piece

The rest of the week has had mighty inclement weather and I'm preparing this Thursday because unusually for me I'm actually in work tomorrow, so this week is going to feel mighty long. 

I hope you've had a grand week, if you fancy joining in pop a post together come back and link up so we can come and visit. 

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 2OTH OF 2021

 Good morning lovely people tis Friday time for 

Well last Friday was a quiet day overall, I'd had a busy week as usual so Friday was more of a kickback day, we didn't do anything major and apart from a few bits around the house the main task was popping to Ikea to buy some more material and then wandering around Dunelm looking for flannelette sheeting.   Thankfully I achieved to find both as I want to make a rag quilt for the TV room.  I haven't made one before so not sure how it will turn out but I will let you know when I've managed it. 

Saturday however was appalling weather wise, they had forecast it and we had a very wet and rainy day.  We decided not to venture out, there seemed little point, so hubby set up in kitchen cutting some wooden knots out for the wall in the TV room and I set too finishing off layouts to do with the national scrapbook day challenges set on the Facebook group 'for the love of pretty paper'.  I had already completed the first 8 challenges but got stuck on the ninth, however with a little time I had soon sorted the layout I was fighting with and then completed the rest of the  challenges. 

Normally when I scrapbook I do so from a kit I've put together which then means most of the layouts have a similar feel, however the challenges prevented that so I have created 13 (I discovered there was a final challenge that I'd missed) layouts which all have a very different feel to them and I've had a blast. 

I only have another few layouts to create with the photostack I had printed before I'm fully 'caught up' again with my scrapbooking, but it was such fun. 

I will share the layouts I created below

Then Lisca said she had hoped I would share my 'haul' of crafting goodies that I mentioned last week, not wanting to disappoint Lisca, here they are, all I can say is, don't judge me as there are quite a lot.

I had to buy this little set, it has a steel 'typewriter' die and some stamp sentiments, obviously ideal for card making but as you will see on the first layout above I managed to use it in my scrapbooking.  As someone who learnt to type at the age of 10 this was a definite must and I'm sure I will be able to put it through its paces. 

This was believe it or not bought after my post last week, but with a bargain price tag of £3 and a colour way that I love it was too good a treat to miss. 

And this one also fell into my basket for the very same reason

Back to the original haul, a brights paper pack

Black and white, although I'm unsure of how easy these will be to use as they aren't my normal style. 

Foiled rose gold, well I couldn't exactly leave that could I

I needed this one to document the feature wall in the TV room (well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it). 

I do love a good purple stack and also put it through its paces in the layouts above

Pastel design pad, you can never have enough 'plain' in my book

Then my most recent weakness Crafters Companions paper stacks this one 'letters from the heart'

Hopefully we might get near the sea at some point this year. 

Vintage diary co-ordinating cardstock because...

I had to buy the paper

Then I bought four of these, bargain price of £2.99, they have a selection of papers, sentiments on vellum, stickers, die cuts and all on the same theme.  They all lend themselves to scrapbooking even if the initial idea was cardmaking.

I had forgotten in amongst everything else that I had ordered a limited edition box of crafting goodies online.  I don't think I've spent this amount on my hobby in quite some time, however, anyone that knows me knows that I have a complete addiction to Alice in Wonderland, so this one had to be bought and unusually for me, I have broken into the 12 x 12 papers and used the first sheet!

These shows the goodie box that came with it, a stencil and some stamps that can be re-used with lots of one off items as well.

The flowers I bought the other week are looking particularly pretty, I love the colour combination and they've definitely brightened up the dining table. 

Sunday was a bit of an odd day, it had initially forecast further inclement weather, but on waking on Sunday morning we found it dry and there were parts of the day when the sun almost shone.  The problem is with current lockdown restrictions we hadn't planned ahead what we were going to do, so after breakfast we headed out for a walk to find it not only sunny but also much warmer than we've had it. 

On returning home I decided to set too cutting some fabric for a project I've got planned, 162 squares in total, hubby thankfully made me a template which speeded the process up, but it still took several hours, so I used the time to Facetime my Mum and we had a lovely catch up. 

The rest of the week has tripped along at a merry old pace as it does, I worked from home on Monday getting things sorted for our business planning day coming up in a couple of weeks.  Hubby did the food shop so he had a busy day. 

I got some happy mail in the post, I had ordered this from my niece's Etsy shop but despite her sending by Royal Mail it didn't arrive, I told her not to stress it as it wasn't her fault that the original hadn't arrived, but she decided to send another anyway, which was a lovely surprise as you can imagine. 

The rest of the week has been busy work days as always, but overall a good week, I hope you've had a great week, if you fancy joining in then pop a post together, come back and link up so we can come and visit. 

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 19TH OF 2021

 Good morning lovely people tis Friday time for

So last weekend saw the beginning of May, I'm not sure how everyone else feels, but I'm not sure I'm ready to be saying I'm in the fifth month of the year already. 

Thankfully we had some reasonable weather from Friday through to Sunday (I've started typing this on Monday and the rain has already started).

Friday was one of those lovely unplanned days, I had made several complaints to hubby that my wardrobe was looking somewhat depleted and a little on the 'shabby' side (the signs of lockdown and wearing the same items particularly on the work front), so he decided that we might have to head to the local shopping centre, somewhere we haven't been since before the lockdown began and as the shop assistant said "which lockdown" our reply was "the first one".  Unusually I was allowed to try on in the shops (this is only recently being introduced with many shops insisting you take items and return them rather than trying them on in the shop), I spent a small fortune, but as hubby said they were much needed and rather than overthinking it, I just handed over my card and got on with it. 

Then we popped to the shop across the way to see if they had any scrapbook items in, but to no avail, then off to the buy hair dyes and face packs, I've decided I need a bit better self care routine at the moment as I've previously mentioned running full tilt and managing aren't necessarily going hand in hand, so I know I need to prioritise a few changes. 

We were going to hit Primark, but I for one have spent more than enough time in queues over the last 12 months, so I gave that one a rest. 

Hubby also managed to find me some 'cheap' over the counter iron tablets as my current costs are astronomical on that front, the pharmacist in Boots was brilliant. 

After we left the shopping centre, we had a wander around B&M, I fancy making a rag quilt but need some flannelette material and I wondered if sheeting might suffice, but I didn't like the colours, so I left it. 

Then we headed to the Range, now this was a very dangerous thing to do, because they had paperpad after paperpad of scrapbook papers that I hadn't seen before and before I knew it, we were weighed down with armfuls.  I said to hubby I had to work out which ones to take and he said, but what happens if you come back and they've sold out, the look on my face said it all, so needless to say they now all have a new home and it made me rather giddy.  I don't think I've spent like that in quite some time. 

I caught up with family as well in the afternoon some of whom are going through their own trials and tribulations at the moment, fingers crossed they can make some progress and make some changes.  

Saturday arrived and we had no plans, so we didn't do anything specific, it was just quite a nice housey day, doing housey jobs, I hoovered through, we made a lovely tea.  Hubby sorted a few things out that we needed to sort, light bulb replacements etc.  I was going to put washing on all day but it had threatened rain so I refrained, in hindsight I should have just got on with it.  We finished watching Shadow and Bones which was a brilliant science fantasy series, really hoping the second season happens and doesn't take too long. 

Sunday and we booked for YSP, as part of my aspiring self care routine I definitely acknowledged the need for a good walk, so we booked and headed off early. 

The apple blooms on the warm wall around the Bothy were beautiful 

The area near the lake was awash with bluebells, which were beautiful

We enjoyed up close some of the Henry Moore pieces in the park, this is the first time that we saw this sculpture resemble a cross section of a face, the lips and nose seem quite distinct. 

And we enjoyed using this one for views of the park and of each other! 

Monday and we were treated to a typical bank holiday Monday, basically rain with a few high winds thrown in for good measure, so the day was spent leisurely and after a shower I enjoyed spending time at my craft table joining in a few of the National Scrapbook Day challenges I'd seen on Facebook (despite the fact I'm waiting for the photo order to physically arrive). 

Tuesday saw me back and work and as always busy busy and the rest of the week has tripped along at a merry old pace. 

I hope you've had a grand week, if you fancy joining in put a post together come back and link up and we can come and visit. 

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 18TH OF 2021

 Good morning lovely people tis Friday time for

Well it has been a funny old week, we are still enjoying lots of blue sky spring days albeit that they aren't always particularly warm. 

Last weekend was one of my cousin's wedding anniversary, I'd made a little mini book and spent some time scanning photos and cutting them with a polaroid die that I have and then filling and completing the book.  I know it is a day she always struggles with because it also marks a sad day for her which is another anniversary that happened years later.  So I thought a mini book reminding her of the beautiful day she had would be a nice keepsake and it meant that for once I managed to 'complete' a mini book rather than leaving them blank.  

I delivered it to her doorstep and we had a very quick socially distanced catch up, I'd wrapped it, she said it was such a surprise and she couldn't believe she was seeing 'people' you forget how isolated some people have been and as a stay at home Mum she is probably more isolated than most.  There is definitely a lovely positive glow for yourself when you do something like this and I remind people of that.  I felt happy about giving her a little homemade gift which I'd poured love into and in turn she had a mini visit and also a gift that she opened later that day, which meant a phone call which was lovely again.  As I try and instill in said 20 year old, it often isn't about the money you spend as we can't take any of this with us, but the time you spend that create the lovely memories. 

This is the front of the book, I won't show you the inner pages as they are obviously of her wedding but I had great fun creating. 

Me and hubby enjoyed a trip to Ikea to buy some new cushion covers for the TV room, I went for an eclectic colour mix of electric blue with a splash of white (bargains at £1 a cushion) and some mint green ones, giving the sofa a decidedly spring like feel. 

For the sofa at the reading end of the room I bought some heavily patterned material with a 'jungle plant' type print on it to make some cushions.

I ordered zips from Amazon which I expected to take several days to arrive, but you can imagine my joy when they landed on Saturday morning. 

Saturday afternoon I met my Mum and sister at Wentworth Woodhouse gardens, we are allowed to meet outside socially distanced with up to 6 people, so we were falling in line with government guidelines.  My sister had never visited the gardens, so we gave her the 'grand' tour as we have been several times and gained further information each and every time.  We even enjoyed a picnic on the picnic plains, nothing major just some anti-pasti platter of meats and cheese with some olives and feta and some cheese bread, whilst drinking it with a flask of coffee.  It was nice to stop and chat it has to be said.

When we got back late afternoon hubby popped a film on but I was too giddy to get the cushions made, so I set too and created six new cushions for the sofa and here they are complete. 

Sunday should have been another trip to YSP,  but it dawned on me that we were going full tilt and I was hurtling towards another busy week without much of a breather, so we decided to stay put and chill out (well that was the plan). 

After making breakfast, sorting a few housey jobs out and preparing tea we were at 2.30pm in the afternoon.  Nevertheless, determined to have some time 'off' we hit the sofa and started to watch a Netflix series called Shadow and Bones and blitzed a few episodes before said 20 year old arrived home for work, we are really enjoying the series, it feels like a cross of Carnival Row and Game of Thrones, it is just one season of 8 episodes and we are halfway through, but we've really enjoyed it as it isn't mentally challenging. 

The beautiful cherry blossoms are in full bloom currently and I've noted them on my travels over the last week. 

Work has been exceptionally busy this week as always, but has flown by and for the first time in over 12 months I was in every day of my working week (Monday - Thursday), what I've found is that there isn't a lot left of me mentally at the end of this week and so with a long weekend ahead of me, I have a grand self care plan to action to make sure that when I return to work next week I've given myself the mental and physical time to rest as well as come up with some solutions to resolve some of the things I need to sort at work. 

And that my lovely people was my week, I hope yours has been grand, filled with people and making memories and I hope your weather has been kind and that you've been allowed to venture out (or stay put according to your preference).  If you fancy joining then Mr linky is below.