My Weblog

CAPTURE THESE SKETCHES blog hop

Hi and welcome to the CAPTURE THESE SKETCHES blog hop!!! Didn't know it was going on? No problem! Please feel free to join in anyway! To start, please go to the sketch blog . Visit each of the blogs in the order given! Leave a comment on each blog and return to the sketch blog. Leave a comment there telling us you have completed the blog hop and your name will be put into a draw for some fun goodies by the blog sponsor Let's Capture Our Memories! Along the way you may also have chances to win prizes from the individual blog owners, so make sure to read each blog post!! Here is the blog hop order!! Sketch Blog Tina's Blog Calia's Blog Lynne's Blog Darlene's Blog Guylaine's Blog Tara's Blog Ann's Blog (You are here!!) Allison's Blog Susan's Blog Back to the Sketch Blog Thanks for playing along! To find out a bit more about me and to see my interpretation of the new sketch team blog hop sketch, read on. Then you can hop on over to Allison's Blog, she is next on the list! Enjoy! So welcome to my blog if this is your first visit! I tend to ramble on about life here, sharing photographs I have taken, happening in my day, places I have been and layouts/projects I have created. I know sometimes people prefer to read a scrappers blop just to see their scrapbooking, but I use my blog as a way of communicating with distant friends and family too, and as an on-line diary to help preserve my memories - I hope you enjoy it! I am proud to be an addition to the sketch blog team over at Let's Capture these sketches and as part of the blog hop this weekend I've been asked to share a few random facts about me, both scrapping and non scrapping related. So here goes!

• I am a mum of three with a daughter of almost 13 and two boys aged 5 and 2½
• I am married to my soul mate Matthew whom I adore
• I work full time as an Accountant for the UK Government
• I have 5 tattoos, all with a specific meaning
• I start every day with a cup of tea
• I have been scrapbooking for over 5 years now
• My favourite manufacturer currently is Pink Paislee
• I love patterned paper, especially if you can cut out plenty of detail
• I have a minor addiction to acrylic stamps owning an obscene amount of them!
• Apart from Scrapbooking, I love photography, finding new places to visit both near and far and have recently discovered geo-caching which combines all of these loves!

And so, before you leave and continue on the blog hop here is a layout sketch for you, created by the very lovely Tina and my layout (I twisted the sketch counter-clockwise) - using Pink Paislee Amber Road papers (yummy!)    

 

Many thanks for popping by, hope you return again soon, and don't forget to leave a comment before you hop on to Allison's Blog

Five Faves on Friday

A quick post from me before I head out the door to celebrate my colleagues 30th birthday with around 100 other people! 

My Five Faves this Friday - a new thing I am going to try to do each week on my blog, as prompted by the Shimelle "Blogging for Scrapbookers" class.  This week I am sharing my Five Fave Autumnal photographs I took last month.

 Pop back tomorrow for the LCOM Blog hop which has been postponed for 24 hours, but so worth the wait!!

Take on me, Cry Wolf, Sun always shines on TV + Shimelle!!

All my favourite A-ha tracks were played last night as hubby and I had a rare date night to see them play at the O2 in London. A real trip down memory lane for me with plenty of singing along and dancing!

Other news, I have signed up for Shimelle's latest class in the hope of adding some more umph! to my blog. I set aside some time this evening to read through the first few prompts and prompt one talks of setting a goal for yourself in respect of the class and what you want to get out of it. I find myself apologising on my blog if I have not updated for a while, not that I am tied nor obliged to the frequency of my updates, but I say sorry all the same. But life happens, time oftens runs away with us (especially if you try and cram as much into it as I tend to!) and so sometimes it can be a while between posts. One thing I do notice that I do is explain my absence, catch up on what I have been doing, this as a way of downloading my memory! It certainly helps me in my scrapbooking to have clearer recollections of what I have been doing and helps when it comes to journalling. So my goal for this class is not to stress about keeping up! but to download as and when I can! I'm hoping my digi skills will be improved too!!

Pop back tomorrow evening when I will be taking part in a blog hop for Lets Capture Our Memories

Another light goes out

Another light goes out here on earth and another star appears in the sky. Yesterday we bid farewell to my grandad. Given the rain we have had falling from the sky today, and that which fell on Sunday I am thankful for a dry sunny day for his funeral yesterday, and so very proud to have seen him draped in the Union Jack flag, representative of his time served in the British Royal Navy. Whilst a sad time for us all, I continue to take comfort in knowing grandad is back with nan now, and despite their illness in latter months, they both lived full and prosperous lives and things are as they should be now with them reunited once more. God bless xx RIP xx

And as one leaves this earth I prepare to welcome another, with my longest friend Jeni due to give birth to her second child within the next couple of weeks. We spent over an hour on the phone catching up this evening, and I am now full of smiles and excitement at the immenant arrival of another small person in this world. Can't wait to hold the precious bundle in my arms and a set of baby eyes stare up at me and melt my heart, especially knowing the joy this little one will bring to his/her mum and dad and big brother too.

I am off to see A-ha at the O2 tomorrow with Mr Maf, a rare evening out for us together (thank you Clare!) and am very much looking forward to that, then Friday brings a colleagues 30th birthday celebrations, Saturday our monthly scrapbooking crop and then Sunday to visit Nan and then a fireworks display in the evening at the local cricket club. That's me, busy, busy, busy as always xx Also I am taking part in a blog hop this weekend as part of the LCOM sketch team (2) launch. Fell free to pop by and see what we've all been up to for our first assignment! It starts 11pm Friday (GMT) and should be a heap of fun!!

BOO!!

Happy Halloween to you all!

We had great fun carving up some pumpkins last night with our friends! Why then do I have an urge to go buy even more pumpkins and carve away again later today!!!

House should look pretty cool this evening what with our four carved pumpkins and this cute haunted house I made at Pickleberry Papercrafts this week (thanks Kate!). We also smell nice and spicey at the moment having just removed from the oven 2 baked pumpkin pies! My first attempt and I am impressed so far (hope they taste as good!) I followed this recipe off the BBC if anyone else fancies making one.

And now I shall return to tidying my house which has been a little neglected this week! Hallway to finish painting and a tonne of laundry too - boo! (and not the spooky kind!!)

Have fun today, whatever you do xx

Doing a little happy dance

Found out today I have been selected to join a bunch of fab talented ladies over the pond in Canada on a sketch design team!! The new DT is a mix of Canadian, American, Japanese and lil ole me from the UK! Exciting times ahead, pop over and see what we are up to! Congrats to my fellow DT ladies!

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Other findings today - my first puzzle geocache, located with Clare and my mini-trekkers along with another 2 caches nearby in Forty Hall. The kids seem to be getting really into this hide and seek game, though we have yet to hide any, maybe in the new year. They do get just a little adventurous during the quest, almost no telling them the cache wasn't likely to require this!!

With several hours spent outdoors today the kids all fell asleep nice and early this evening giving me some time to sort through some photographs to prepare for a forthcoming scrapbooking retreat I am off to (can't wait) and also to get a couple of diaries printed for next year as Photobox has an offer on at the moment bogof!

Tomorrow (or rather today as it has gone midnight as I type) I am off to see Kate and Jane and Pickleberry for some spooky creating, watch this space!!

Greenday

Who would you most like to be stuck in an elevator with? Well after the Greenday concert at the O2 last night I would say the lead singer from Greenday - What a voice!! and what a performer! Totally awesome, totally rocked the house, the whole band were amazing!!

One more sleep...

One more sleep til Greenday at the O2 in Greenwich (which just happens to be surrounded by 20 or so geocaches!!) Work in the morning, a few Piccadilly Line caches en route to Greenwich, pub lunch, bit more seeking, maybe a touch of photography, another pub stop or two, or three and then meeting Ally & Nicki under the balls!! What a pleasant start to the weekend, and indeed to 5 days off work! "Can I hear another Amen?"

A little bit of sunshine

After yesterdays blog post I thought perhaps something a little brighter today, a little more colourful - something to bring a smile to my crafty friends faces, a little bit of cheer-up eye candy... So what better than to share these happy coloured beauties from Prima?

Time

I haven't blogged for a while, it has been one of those things I go to do, but then don't know what to say as the events going on in the background of my life could not have been put into words very easily, least not for me, and to not speak of them whilst I shared photos of my children, or of the latest scrapping project I was working on seemed wrong also. But I find it helps me to write things down, heals, almost like downloading to relieve the burden, so forgive me if the following isn't the happiest of posts x

Last weekend I visited my two remaining grandparents in their respective care homes.

My Nan turned 88 last Tuesday and having progressive dementia it can be difficult at times going to see her, especially with the children, but she loves to see them and I adore my Nan and so any time with her is precious, even if she maybe doesn't know who we are. After a few hours, a nice slice of sponge cake and a cuppa with her to celebrate her birthday and we set off to visit my dad's dad in his care home. He too did not recognise me, although he knew my Roberts straight away, his "mate" he called him as Robert to him was a shining star. Sadly on Saturday my beloved grandad passed away, an end to his suffering from that awful disease that took my nan earlier this year. I take huge comfort in knowing he is no longer in pain and everything is now as it should be with him reunited with the love of his life in heaven - but that does not detract from the fact that I will miss him and am grief stricken for my dad.

It has been a rotten year watching three grandparents battle with their health, having to see the hurt it has caused my parents, and then to loose both nan and grandad barely 6 months apart seems so cruel. It puts things into perspective though, time is a healer I know, I still miss my grandad who died in 2003 but have such fond memories of how much he made me laugh. I will surely never forget the love my late grandparents bestowed upon me and my children, a love that I was brought up surrounding in. I only hope my children are able to say the very same thing when they are my age.

RIP Grandad John xx