Snowy spring saturday

 

Spring is here - you can see it in that photo, can't you?  No?  Oh well, I'm sure it will turn up sometime soon. 

On a Saturday like this, what's a girl to do?  Get crafty.  It's also my sister's birthday - so I need a card.

I started with a pile of scraps and an idea.  The idea was inspired by the mostly fabric pieces I've seen around, where they're scraps of fabrics, and some machine embroidery.  You know the ones? Have a quick look at The Bloggings of Mrs Bertimus, then nip back here to see my take on this idea.

I made up a patched effect with my scraps of paper, tearing against a ruler, and adding a touch of inking around the edges for definition.  Then added the bird image, he's a Prima stamp - and so sweet - stamped onto a piece of Paper Artsy crackle paper.  Yes, I'm happy with that, turned out pretty much as I'd hoped.  So I made another smaller one using the same scraps.  I think I'll be doing more in this style, and maybe, one day, move onto the fabric version.  It's on my extensive list of crafts to try.

Feels like a new term

Autumn.  It still has that back to school feeling.  A time to start afresh.  

To open up the blog, that has been neglected.  But, like a succulent, with just a little attention, it can be brought back to life.  

To start running again, after a year off.  But, inspired by watching this year's half marathon in the city centre, and by my falling fitness levels, this morning I pulled on my running gear and running shoes, put Laura back on the ipod, and ran.  I'm not aiming for another half marathon, just to be able to run for half an hour, three times a week.

There's still plenty going on around here, and it's time to get on with it.

Before I go, do you want to see one of the reasons for this quiet blogging time?

 

This is Bailey.  Under all that fur he's a Miniature Schnauzer.  He's sure to make future appearances around here.

thrifting dreams

It might have been her eighteenth birthday, but Luu still got a go-to card. Although, Mark did help with choosing what went on the card - with my ultimate design choice, of course.  And the good news, is she got an offer of a place from her favoured university, subject to her grades. But, they are really do-able, so she should be off in the autumn.

 And, talking of birthdays, and the money that came with it... We're going thrifting today. Which reminded me, I haven't shown this little project that I did over the Christmas break. I saw a few last year around the blogosphere, on my favourite Dottie Angel and on Decor8, to mention just two, and wanted to have a go myself.

With few thrifting opportunities, it took me until December to find a likely shade that I could pull apart, wind strips of fabric around, and hang a motley selection of items from.

Not the best photos, probably why it's taken me two months to show, but you get the idea... Anyway, I've seen a few more around lately - being used as actual shades... So, now I want one as a shade, for my dressing table, here's hoping the thrifting gods look favourably down on me today...

Strictly knitting

It's that time of year, Strictly is back on our screens.  Last year, I knitted a pair of wristlet/fingerless gloves mostly whilst watching Strictly. I knit while the chat goes on, then watch when the dancing starts. 

Just after last Christmas I bought another ball of the wool, cast on and knitted a few rows.  Then, put it away. After all, I didn't need another pair of gloves for the summer...  But now, my Strictly gloves are back on the top of my to-do pile, and by the end of the series, I should have another pair of wrist-warmers. It may take that long, as I am an extremely slow knitter.

Hello, anybody there?

Hello, anybody there? I know, I know, you thought I'd fallen off the edge of the blogosphere, didn't you?

Well, not quite.  I've been busy, busy, busy.  Getting used to working full time, and then when I get home it's all train,train, train for the half-marathon.  Which is in just four weeks... eek.  

Oh, and we're also looking at Universities for Luu for next year.  We just came back from Chichester this afternoon, then out for a 4km run, and now about to have dinner.

The pictures?  It's against my self-imposed blogging rules to post without any.  And I'd uploaded these to blogger in May (!) so, I thought you may as well see them.  Back in May we were very busy in the garden, and re-vamping the shed for Mark to go and "play" in.

new furniture

When I was a bit awol from this blog, over the Easter holidays, I wasn't busy doing nothing.  We spent a few days having a sort out and move around of furniture, which left us with nowhere to put the hamster cage in the living room.  Ikea was suggested for a unit of some sort - but I decided to keep my eyes open for something secondhand. 

Within just a couple of days I spied a pine chest of drawers outside a local charity shop.  It was no good, a liitle bit small, and with a big chunk out of the top.  But inside the shop I found another much more suitable, but very dark chest of drawers. 

A day spent sanding and re-painting, and Poppy the hamster has a lovely new place to reside...

And I have somewhere to store my crochet, knittting and hand-sewing stuff, as well as my "good" stationery - you know what I mean, not the functional, stuff - the pretty stuff.  And I prettied up the inside of the drawers with wallpaper samples, from the diy store where I bought the paint.

Oh, and I also gave the coffee table in the conservatory a face-lift.  It's a good shape, and very sturdy.  But had turned that orange that laquered pine goes. 

 

Now, what else can I paint?

been a-thrifting

Earlier this week, Luu and I did our weekly food shop, and then popped into a couple of local charity shops.  There were lots of treasures, but only three for us.  This suitcase, which has been on the thrifting wish-list for a liitle while, although we did ponder, should we? do we really want it? But for the princely sum of just £2.00 and with some '80s Snoopy stickers it had to be.  Luu is going to use it in her room for storage.

She also bought this linen top, which she will wear as a dress, destined for those hot days, which are on the way back...

 

And the third item?  A 1990s road atlas for 40p, destined to be chopped up as backgrounds for some more of my pictures.  I've a couple I'm working on at the moment, I should be back with them later in the week...

April stuff

Sorry I’ve been gone for a while.  Here’s a brief round up of some of what I’ve been up to…
We’ve had this little one for a year

I turned another year older.  And so did Mark.
We went away to Cornwall for 5 days, just before Easter, and enjoyed the fabulous British weather, and had a great break.
We went to St Ives…

To Porthcurno beach…

To Mousehole..

And to Geevor tin mine museum

There’s plenty more, but I don’t want to get you too excited with too much in one post…

Tuesday Play

It's the Easter holidays around here.  So, today, Phoebe and I had a quick shopping trip out.  Then came back to do some art, based on the She Art course that I did.  Mine's finished, Phoebe's is still a work in progress.  Then we watched Harry Potter.

friday night project

It's been half term around here, the girl's mostly do their own thing, but on Friday I took the day off work, and we went to Worcester for a mooch around.

There are loads of charity shops, where Lou got a couple of items, and independent shops, including a couple of old-fashioned sweet shops, where Phoebe bought quite a few different types of sweets.  And, of course we had to pop into the scrapbooking shop...

I was very restrained, all we bought was a house/shelf thingy each...  We came home and started to decorate them straight away - instead of leaving them hanging around...  Three people sat around one table came up with three very different items.  

Lou painted hers - complete with stars in the night sky in the roof, and a garland of daisies.  She added some paper flowers and bling from my stash. And it is now home to one of her my little ponies.

Phoebe painted hers white, and then added some Amy Butler papers. We came up with the idea of adding some hooks to the bottom, for some of her necklaces, and she added some bits and bobs from around her bedroom.

I painted mine white and added some Sassafras Indie Girl papers, and some stuff from my stash...

hope your week's been good, as well...

mushroom pot

It all started yesterday when I bought a new spice rack for the kitchen.

Actually, it started when I bought these mushrooms, a year ago.

But then I bought the spice rack, and ended up with some empty jars.

And, I already had the reindeer moss, just because I knew it would go with the mushrooms, somehow...

Then I  had an a-ha moment when i came across this post, and this happened

happy days

The eagle-eyed of my readers may have noticed a distinct lack of scrapbooking on this blog.  Now, there's not been a lot of blogging, I know, but even less scrapping.  There is a reason for this, and I've thought long and hard about sharing this, but it's part of me, and although it's not my story to tell, it is part of me and my story. 

So, here goes....  This is a transcription of the hidden journalling, behind the photo of my brother, my sister and me...

It's all letters and numbers

I started the day with a list of numbers.  You know, 6.40 alarm went off.

1 cup of tea

3 red lights

1 green light 

4 cups of fruit tea

You get the idea...

But, by the end of the day there were some new numbers.

1 word

6 letters

Cancer.

My brother has cancer.  He's had the op, and today found out that it's not the better seranoma we hoped for.  But the teratoma.  Which means two lots of chemotherapy.  But, that has it's own numbers.

2 doses of chemo

6 weeks

2% chance of recurrance.

He should be done by Christmas.

This was originally journalled on Tuesday October 26th 2010, inspired by the day's prompt on Shimelle's on-line class, True Stories.  And finally scrapped on 30th December 2010.

So, there you go.  Sorry to end the year on a bit of a downer.  But, his outlook is good.  He had his (hopefully) last lot of chemo yesterday, and, as a family we shall spend new year's eve together and say goodbye to the old year, and look forward.  To a happy and, above all, healthy new year.

To all of you who pop by my little blog, thank you for visiting, and here's to a happy, healthy 2011.

Large Pumpkin Alert!

 

As with most supermarkets, Tesco's have pumpkins in stock.  Today we bought a "large pumpkin" for carving, and pumpkin pie baking.  To show just how large this particular specimen is, I got Phoebe to take a photo of me holding it, in one hand...

 

And, to show I don't have giant hands,  here is the large pumpkin next to 50p, incidentally the cost of this "large" specimen, for comparison.

 

And to show I don't have a special "large" 50p, here it is with a ruler next to it.  It has a "large" diameter of 6 inches, or 15cm, in new money...

 

And, just in case my "large" pumpkin is feeling a little inferior...  Here is the "extra large" version I bought a couple of weeks ago...

 

Do you think a man may have labelled these?

Mwa-ha-ha-halloween

 

We do like a bit of decorating around here, and hallowe'en is one of our favourites, right behind Christmas.  We're not having a party this year, so that means it's all a little bit tasteful, and not too full on!  These few bits are in the living room, Luu and I did the house, a couple of years ago

 

It is decorated with some of the papers from Somerset Studio, some grungeboard swirls, pom pom trim, the bird is from some wrapping paper and Luu made the pumpkins from Fimo.

This year's additions are these words, from Hobbycraft.

Which have simply been painted, covered in patterned papers and a sticker added to the window.

I made this little picture by painting a deep frame black, and simply framing the corner of some patterned paper, and then adding the little dude who didn't quite fit.  

And, finally, another spooky little corner of our house...