Albufeira

A few days absence from my blog, due entirely to me trying to catch up with school work and doing very little scrapping. I did manage to fit in a badly needed trip to the hairdressers on Saturday - my hair is gradually getting shorter and funkier - Colin, my hairdresser, styled it brilliantly, I haven't yet been able to replicate it at home, but isn't that always the way?

I'm off to a conference in Birmingham tomorrow for a developing leaders course I am on, but thought I would just drop in here and share my latest layout which is up over at Scrap, Paper, Scissors. With the weather the way it is at the moment, its almost impossible to remember our trip to Portugal in August, but here is a layout to prove that not so long ago I was enjoying blazing sunshine and leisurely days at the beach! I used a Crafter's Workshop template on this and sponge-painted the leaves through it - it all went a bit wrong when I smudged paint all over the bottom of the layout! A sneaky bit of cutting and sticking over the offensive smudge saved the day though - I was fortunate that two different bits of paper in the Fancy Pants Daily Grind range had exactly the same bottom left hand corner!

Tired, tired, tired!

Whoever believes teaching is easy, with (to quote my Dad) 22 weeks holiday a year, start at 10am and finish at 3pm, should really have been a fly on the wall in our department in recent weeks. We seem to be constantly on the go, with pantos and trainees and parents evenings and trips and all kinds of stuff to organise. If I just spent my days teaching my classes I would be happy - that is the easy part of the job!

So I have achieved very little in the way of scrapping in the last week. I did enjoy my weekend in London with my parents though, and discovered a shop in Covent Garden, David and Goliath, which had the most amazing PJs and T-shirts in it. Possible crimbo pressie alert, my dear family???

Passing it on...

Ok, I will tag the following lovely ladies to share 7 random facts: Micayla, Gem, Helen, Emma, Cleo and Julie xxx

Tagged!

My Grandad's funeral took place today. It went well, very emotional and draining but also lovely to see family I hadn't seen for a long time and also for the opportunity to share memories and stories about my Nan and Grandad that we might have forgotten.

A short post tonight, as I'm exhausted, but I've been tagged by Katherine and have to provide you with 7 random facts about me. So here goes...

1) I'm a massive fan of Agatha Christie's Poirot. Yep, that Sunday night staple is one of my favourite shows. I'm also getting into Agatha Christie's Marple too. Its probably the history teacher in me - I love all the sets and costumes, as well as the fabulous acting.

2) I can read and translate Latin and got an A in my Latin A-level - a very random skill these days, but it comes from attending grammar school where they still teach dead languages, who knows why? I have never really had the opportunity to make use of this skill, apart from a vain attempt to translate the wallpaper at my aunties (which I was unable to do!).

3) I can play the saxophone, the guitar and also the drum kit (very badly!). I rarely pick these instruments up anymore, but could probably still pick out a tune...

4) I wear dodgy J-Lo style chavtastic velour tracksuits around the house. I wouldn't be seen dead leaving the house in these, but they really are the comfiest clothes for lounging around on the sofa. I am wearing one as I type!

5) I am probably the unfussiest eater I know. I will eat practically any food (not those freak foods you get on I'm a Celebrity, but all normal foods). The only food I can't bring myself to try is kippers, because they stink the house out. But if I wore noseplugs I could probably eat those too!

6) I have read the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte more times than I could count. My copy is in bits. I love all classic literature, but this is most definitely my favourite. However, it is not my favourite TV adaptation - that accolade goes to North and South (yummy Richard Armitage...)



7) I am a fan of Neighbours. I'm just not happy if I get home too late to get my fill of preachy moral messages and wholesome storylines.

So thats it, 7 random facts about me. Now I'm off to bed - I will tag some folks in my next post!

Fairy Mary

Thought I would share with you the latest page I did for Scrapbook Inspirations Magazine. Its for their December issue and therefore had to be made with a Christmas theme - not the easiest when the commission comes in at the end of September! There was a really quick turnaround for this page, and to be honest its not my favourite - I normally like to make something a little more elaborate. However, time was against me and once I'd got hold of a suitable photo from my mum (I didn't have any christmas photos in the pink and silver colour scheme the magazine wanted) I only had a couple of days before I would need to post it off! Talk about last minute. Still, I'm happy with the design - its clean and simple, and I do like my mosaic tree which used up some scraps which would otherwise have been consigned to the rubbish bin.

I've been off on a course today - was ok, apart from realising I have to write an assignment for it by January! Not so fun. Still, I used to be good at writing essays. I just haven't written one for around 4 years. Could be interesting!

I hate the winter!

Well, not exactly hate, thats a strong word for a season that brings Christmas, cosy jumpers and a good four months of not having to epilate your legs every week. What I do hate though is getting back from work in the dark. Which means that photographing my layout made for a challenge on our lushalicious thread is more or less impossible. I've done my best with a mini easel and the room with the most artificial light in the house - and here is the result. Expect a better photo after the weekend. Its also made with the October Cocoa Daisy kit which I used to make yesterday's socks layout, and is the first page I've done about the retreat - we all had to scrap the same photo and see what we came up with.

Also in the news, my new stamps arrived today from ebay! Just look at the gorgeousness. Along with an Inkadinkadoo alphabet stamp set that arrived the other day, I'm in stampy heaven. Did I mention I love stamps...?

Half Size

What a horrible few hours I had over last night and this morning - I got a terrible upset stomach (not sure from what!), ventured into work but felt so queasy I came home before the day began. Feeling a lot better now and hoping to brave a bit of food which doesn't come in the form of dry toast later.

In the meantime, alongside getting on with some school work (within reach of the bathroom!) I put together a quick layout - my first ever 6x12 in fact. Apologies for slightly awful scan - there is no light to take pictures in my house though!

I can't believe how quick it was to make - there just isn't enough room to put too much on the page, so I had to be quite careful about what I chose to include and what I left out. It does mean that you can get away with only using a couple of embellishments, so you can choose quite nice ones (like the fuzzy ric rac on this layout which I adore!). The bits and pieces are mainly from the last Cocoa Daisy kit, and this is the first outing for my new Dymo labeller too. If anybody knows a good place to buy the tape from, please let on, I can't seem to find much anywhere.

I may have a go at another layout later, but probably back in the usual 12x12 format. I like these 6x12, they are perfect for small or slightly dodgy photos, but nothing quite beats the space you get to play with a normal sized page.

The Night of the Weakest Link Machine...

I love the memories associated with this layout. Its one of the latest I created for the Papermaze blog, using the swoonworthy Basic Grey Offbeat range (which I have since gone out and purchased - naughty me!). The picture is of me and my friends in our uni days, when we went out to drown our sorrows one night in Leamington Spa and I ended up rather battered and started a rather violent competition with a Weakest Link machine. That night, my housemate Sarah got together with my workmate Luke. I like to think of myself as a rather drunken Cupid, as the two of them are still together now some 7 years later.

I decided I wanted to create a layout with lots of little details - not something immediately striking but one which draws you in to look at the elements. I ended up having to be thrifty with an American Crafts alpha I wanted to use too - if you look closely the second 'e' is made out of a spare 'c'!

In other news, I have managed nearly a full week back at work - I returned on Tuesday, and it was probably the best thing for me. The kids have been great, and I've been so busy its kept my mind off things. I've felt a little down this evening, as its the first time I've had a chance to stop, but Ed took me out to Pizza Express for a nice meal so I've cheered up a little now. Its amazing how the credit crunch has affected the town - it was nearly dead on a Friday night, which is so different to a year or so ago. Several bars had closed down. It will get back to normal eventually I guess - these things always do. But its still a shame that people have to suffer so badly in the mean time.

Gone

My Grandad passed away in the early hours of the morning. While I was expecting the call at any time, I was still devastated, and can't quite believe I will never see him again. Apparently, just like his life and character, his death was calm and peaceful. This is the way I want to remember him now - as the happy, down to earth and loving person he was. Thankyou to everybody who has left kind messages over the last few days.

Yesterday, while trying to keep my mind off the inevitable, I sat down to finish the layout that I had been working on but not finished on the last day of the retreat (which seems like so much longer than a week ago now!). Here is the finished page - the pictures are of my Dad earlier this year when he took part in a bit of street theatre with a squeaky man in a box on London's South Bank. When we walked past, all we could hear was a squeaking noise, like Sooty's friend Sweep, so curiousity got the better of us and we put money in his collecting plate. This was the result of that encounter!

I love those American Crafts puffy thickers!