Surfin and birthdays

Been an odd week - I'm still getting used to my new shift patterns, and with Mark being away all week it's been hard work with the kids. But fingers crossed, and weather permitting, he should be home tonight :) Just in time for me to work the weekend LOL

Anyway, I have been finding the time to create - and not just in the craft room. I made some soup, chilli and other meals that can be put in the freezer - quick and easy things for Mark to heat up when I'm at work, and something different :)

In the craft room I completed another LO and also made a birthday card - something I haven't done in a while...

The LO is based on a sketch in Feb 2010's Creating Keepsakes. I am finding that since reading Stacy Julians Photo Freedom book that I am doing more overview LOs - ones that have photos from different times, but doing the same things. This LO includes photos from a couple of different surfing trips to the beach :) Lossiemouth beach is the best beach around here for waves...

I used some Scenic Route and Urban Lily scraps, and some Thickers and Doodlebug alpha stickers. I think that we shall have more days like this now we live right next to the sea, and maybe it's time for me to invest in a wetsuit....

Tom has been invited to his first birthday party since moving to his new school, so I thought I would make a card. I used a sketch, I think it is one of Tiets sketches, and I used the Crate Paper scraps I had leftover from making the star book :) The image is Sugar Nellie Sk8r boy which I coloured in with my trusty watercolour pencils :)

Well the piggies are back inside, as we have had some snow again overnight, and Jemma gets quite frantic if there is any chance of the boys getting too cold - Guinea pigs don't handle the cold very well, and can actually freeze to death if the temperatures drop too much. So the wheekers are in the sunroom waiting for the white stuff to disappear - and with the sun out now it could be sooner than we think!!

TTFN

xxx

Tadpoles and tug of war

Tis a strange old week. Weather is going from bright and sunny to damp and drizzly. Mark is away on a course, and I am juggling as usual... But, between the mayhem I have found some time to play, and flicking through the new photos I got last week has been very inspirational :)

This LO is based on one I saw in the February 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes. They did a couple of articles on scrapping with 4x6 photos, which is kinda my thing LOL. I used up some of my large collection of Scenic Route scraps :)

This second LO is of Jemma and her tug of war exploits at last years school sports day! I couldn't believe it when I uploaded these photos that day, and saw the expressions on her face! This is so Jemma - especially when she is in Sport Billy mode (which is almost all the time....)
I used Sassafrass lass paper, and kept it nice and simple, as the photos really tell the story here :)


I have a list of cupboards to tidy up, although not sure I am in the mood for it! But if I get the heater on in the craft room, then maybe I can use that as an incentive to do my chores LOL

TTFN

xxx

When Miss World met Santa....

... yep, it actually happened you know...

Another one of those LOs that has been hanging around for YEARS waiting to be finished!! I used a January 2010 PageMap, although the original plan was to use an early PageMap... I think this is the only time I'll be known as Miss World ;)

This finishing off lark has turned into quite good fun, and I've managed to churn out 2 SLOs and a DLO in the past 2 days :) The other 2 I can't share, as they have photos of Mark during his basic training - I don't think its a case of National Security, more like cringeing embarrassment and he'd kill me LOL. Especially the Full Monty one.... Oops!

TTFN

xxx

Finishing what I started

I am terrible, my Mum always told me that I had to finish one thing before I could start something else - but something always catches my eye and I flit around with fingers in several pies and never finish anything.... So it is my mission to search out all my unfinished projects and finish them. Not that I am saying that I won't start new stuff inbetween however.....

This word book was started before we moved house - now we moved in October, and I packed up my craft cupboard in September, so you can see how long its been in progress! But yesterday I decided to print off the remaining photos I needed, and stamp some more journalling spots and finish the darn thing! And I did :)

I used My Minds Eye Laundry line, love how it is embossed and glittery, without it all coming off on your hands LOL. I used photos from 5 generations, going back to my Great grandparents and forward to my 2 kiddos. The journalling spots are a Prima stamp, and I used lots of Prima flowers to embellish with a few pearls in the centres :) I love having all my family in one little book :)

My Photobox order arrived today - very speedy seeing as I uploaded and ordered them this time yesterday ;) So I shall probably end up going through them this afternoon, and finding new projects to do when I know I have old page kits (some half done) waiting to be completed....

Then it's off to work, but I have the weekend off (first weekend off since I started working in October :) ). Mark is going away on Sunday, so I think we are going to be having a family day on Saturday. Jemma is at a football tournament on Sunday, maybe I should remember to take my camera.... She is so not a girly girl!!

TTFN

xxx

Star book, a layout and organising...

... it's been a busy week in the house of Yoo, with a new freezer being delivered, a full weekend of work, and the start of new routines and the problems they bring...

But that hasn't stopped me being creative - it helps when someone gives you a little push! My friend asked me to make an album that she could fill with photos and give as a gift to her father-in-law for his upcoming 70th birthday. I showed her some pictures of a star book I made a few years back as Mother's Day presents for my Mum and Mark's Mum. She was suitably impressed (!) and so I then went to dig out the instructions. The instructions were a UKS Cyber Crop class - designed by Suzanne Torr (Fruitysuet) from the Star Wars Cyber Crop in 2005. They can be found in the UKS library here . I then went to my LSS and purchased some goodies :) I used Crate Paper's Hampton range, thought the colours were suitably "Grandad-ish" ;)


I loved the way it turned out, and my friend was over the moon with it. It has given me a star book making bug again, so I might end up making a few more.... First on the list, a baby girl one...


I also finished another DLO, again using a January 2010 PageMap.


This shows us on the first day of the snow, when we were all excited, and the kids loved it!! After 4 weeks the novelty has worn off completely, in fact they were fed up with it by the end of the holidays LOL.
There is still snow on the hills, and lots of ice around, as Tom found out on Monday night, when he went flying in the car park outside the Tang Soo Doo Studio... A bump to the head, followed by a pile of sick on the lounge carpet was the result - all happening whilst I was in work of course. But he has had no lasting ill effects, and was bouncing around as usual the next day.

The organisation of the craft room continues, helped in part by a blog entry I happened to come across... Cath showed how she organised her stamp collection using 12 x 12 storage boxes from Hobbycraft so I had a look, and then promptly ordered a few for myself :) They came yesterday, and I managed to organise my small wooden stamp collection more effectively :) I have a few spare boxes, but I know that I'll find a use for them too :)
I have decided that I really want an Expedit bookcase for my room, so I measured up and looked in the catalogue, and have decided on a 2 x 4 bookcase :) Only problem is that the nearest IKEA is in Glasgow.... Luckily, the friend who I made the star book for is from Glasgow originally, and will be making a few trips home in the next month or so, so I batted my eye lashes and asked "pretty please" and she is going to try to get me one :)

I have had a bit of a splurge this week on stash too, using up both my share of the raffle windfall we had before Christmas, and the earnings from my Star book... I finally got my hands on the Martha Stewart butterfly punch (the one with 3 butterflies) and also a border punch. Plus some yummy My Minds Eye Asparagus papers, and I restocked up on kraft cardstock (both 12x12 and 8.5x11) and replaced my black Staz On ink pad. Oh, and I had to get a Sugar Nellie fix (well, when you visit the House of Sugar it is rude not to ;) ) and so now the little Manga Fairy has a new home :)

I've finally got round to putting in a Photobox order today, so I should have some more photos to play with later in the week - although I have noticed that the number of photos I have been taking has dropped considerably recently. Probably due to the fact that I have worked every weekend since October, so our family time has been reduced :( Hoping that as the weather gets better, and as we get used to our new routines, I can start recording the snippets of our life again :) Looking forward to getting the photos back, especially for ones showing Tom's progression through Little Dragons :)

A snippet not caught on camera, which happened when I was at work (can you see a pattern forming??), was the bathing of the Guinea Pigs.... Especially the bit where they were dried with a hair dryer, and looked like little balls of fluff - just think of Pink Panther coming out of a tumble dryer (or so Mark told me) .... Must train Mark better me thinks....

TTFN

xxx

Organisation and scrapping...

One of my aims for 2010 is to sort out my newly acquired craft room. In our last house, I was Harry Potter and lived under the stairs - the cupboard was just about big enough for me to actually work in, and it sort of worked storage wise. When we bought this house, one of the main selling points for me was the study room - too small for a bedroom, but just the right size for me! This room has been the last room in the house to get sorted, and I finally got it into a sort of order before Christmas, and now I am ready to start and get it working properly :)

I found this challenge on Two Peas, and thought I would give it a go. I am not joining in the thread, but following the original blog posts in the hope I can get some ideas and a neat, tidy and workable craft room.

I took these photos this morning ...

The bright green splodge of paint on the wall was me testing out paint - but its too bright LOL I have got some other green paint, I just need to get it on the wall :)

But I am still able to scrap, and I managed to complete a DLO :) I used a Jan 2010 PageMap, and these are photos I took on Christmas Day 2009 - it feels good to have scrapped Christmas LOL. The papers are Basic Grey, there are some Thickers on there, and some Making Memories tiny type alphas, and a Making Memories journalling page too. It's good to be off the mark for LOs this year, not that I am making any goals, I'll just go with the flow, ha ha ha.

I also managed to all but finish my Learn Something New Every Day from September as well - I just need to work out how to get a photo off my phone and printed out and that'll be the album finished.

TTFN xxx

From Hopeman to Burghead...

....and back. We took the opportunity to go out for a walk yesterday, I have been working alot over the holidays, so this really was the first chance we got to get out and about. We went for a walk along the Moray Coast Trail, down the old railway tracks from our village of Hopeman to Burghead - about 2 miles away.


First family photo of the year, using my new gadget a Gorillapod which Mark bought me for Christmas. We secured it to an old bench and set the timer!

There was lots of ice and snow around, much to the kids delight, and we found a little waterfall that had lots of icicles hanging over it. The kids found some huge ones later on, and Tom was in his element making weird and wonderful noises as he fired his new "ice gun" at everyone.

This is the view from the playpark at Cummingston, which is about half way.

We were glad of a hot chocolate break at Burghead, and the kids and Mark explored the beaches on the way home, although the tide was in and they couldn't go into some of the caves they found.

It's been a strange old holiday period for us, Mark has been off for 2 weeks, but I still had to go to work. A lot of the things we did last year - lighting bonfires on the beach, Boxing Day walks, and generally getting out the house - we haven't been able to do as a family, or Mark has done them with the kids when I'm at work. Hopefully when I get my new shift pattern at work we can get back into a routine of going out and exploring - with the scenery around us its a shame not to make the most of it!

TTFN xxx

One Little Word 2010

I have been a reader of Ali Edwards' blog for a few years now. I last chose a word in 2008, which was balance. I find it hard to find balance, and I have been trying very hard, but in the last 3 months I think "juggle" was a more appropriate word for me, especially with 2 kids who have an active after school activity programme, and with me getting a part time job. I am still actively striving for balance, but decided to choose a new word for a new decade.

This year my word is "create". Now I know that this word is used as inspiration on the walls of many a craft room - and I have no problem with that - but this word is not just to do with my creativity in my craft room. I had many words on my shortlist - renew, restart, organise amongst others - but decided that create was the word I kept coming back to. The last few months have seen new beginnings for us - a new house, new job, new school, new friends - a chance to create a new life. So this year I want to create a warm and beautiful home in our new house, I want to create a good impression at work, I want to create new friendships and I want to encourage the kids to create new friendships too. I want to create the time to enjoy our new life, and to create a balance between home and work, and to allow myself time to craft and scrapbook. I also want to create a perfect crafting haven for myself! I also want to create memories, create masterpieces in the kitchen, create a small vegetable patch, and a herb garden. Looking at my list, it looks like I may have to create a few more hours in the day LOL. But I'll be happy if I manage a few of these things, as I see this word as something I can work on for a few years - I'm still working on the balance that I chose 2 years ago...

TTFN xxx

Happy New Year

A new year, and I thought I would blow the dust off the old blog! Before I start spouting about the new year, I thought I would just do a basic recap of the latter half of 2009...

We bought a house and moved in October - and now live beside the seaside.

I found a temporary job the week before we moved house, and found out just before Christmas that I have been kept on as a permanent member of staff.

The kids both won bronze medals at the Scottish Tang Soo Do championships.

The crafting front has been quiet the past few months, although I do now actually have my own craft room now - more of that to come in future posts ;)


So that was the end of 2009, now for 2010. I've decided to resurrect the blog - and to try and update it on a regular basis. I have a couple of things in the pipeline for this year that I hope will be blogworthy, and would like to keep myself on track by blogging about it.

Ever since my beloved Gran died, just over 2 years ago, I have kept a daily diary. I inherited all her photos, and her diaries - she wrote a couple of lines a day in a week to view slimline diary, and reading them after she died gave lots of little insights into her daily life. So I decided that I would do the same, just jotting down basic info about the day. I have 2 of these diaries completed now, and have just opened my new one to start writing in today. I finished off my 2009 one with a list of memorable things from the year. And looking back, I realise that 2009 was a pretty special year for us, and one in which we were very lucky in many different ways. But sometimes I wish I had blogged a bit more, to record more than just a few lines. So here's to a great 2010, and regular blogging.... Well, I can but hope ;)

TTFN xxx