AWOL Blogger sneaks back in, hanging head in shame...

So, I'm back. Once you stop blogging for a while, it's surprisingly difficult to come back - a bit like when you miss a workout on the Wii and then are afraid to go back on it in case it tells you off! I started a class encouraging me to blog everyday and ended up not blogging again for nearly 3 months. That's reverse psychology in operation for you.

I do want to come back and start chronicling my life again though, so this is the start. It may be intermittent, as my job is a lot more demanding of my time these days, but at least I'm going to try for once a week. And you can always follow my mundane existence on Twitter in the mean time...

I have been doing a bit of crafting, mainly knitting, so I thought I'd share some of my trials and tribulations over the next few weeks. The item I'm currently working on is this (apologies for poor photo, it was taken with my iPhone):




It's going to be a hooded poncho, one of the largest items I've ever knitted. Trouble is, this is the third time I've started it, having made mistakes and unravelled it twice before, the last time when I had knitted at least fourteen inches! A valuable lesson for the future: always read the pattern carefully before you start.

I've also discovered the awesome Ravelry, so intend to start more projects soon too. Don't worry though, I haven't completely given up scrapbooking. Some more of my work should be seen in print very soon, and I'm designing more pages for the Papermaze blog over the next few days. I'm also planning a little Valentine's Day book for Ed. It has been proving a little difficult though, mainly because Ed took it upon himself to strip our bedroom to decorate it at the start of November, and then kind of lost motivation at that point, so we have been sleeping in my scraproom ever since, blocking the desk, computer and printer and driving me gradually insane. Men - you gotta love em (or you'd kill em!).

So I'm blogging from my parents computer, and undertaking some more mobile craft projects to try and maintain the remnants of my patience until I have my bedroom back! Wish me luck...

First day of class...

...in more ways than one! It was back to school today after a VERY lazy half term. I hardly slept a wink last night (I never do on the last night of the holidays for some reason, I'm always thinking of all the little things I forgot to sort out at the end of the last half term) but everything was fine as always, and the kids were just as thrilled as us teachers at having to be out of bed at 6.30 in the morning again! (Yep, that's sarcasm for you).

Another class that starts today is Shimelle's Blogging for Scrapbookers. Now I know I've been keeping a blog for two years now (originally set up when I took part in my first ever Shimelle class, When I Grow Up - Shimelle, you have so much to answer for!) but regular readers may have noticed that in recent months my posts have been less than regular. Now some of this is down to the inevitable work overload that can come with a new job, but its also been down to a significant reluctance to either scrap or blog that I've been suffering from since the Summer all told. So I wanted to take the opportunity of a short, three week class of daily prompts to actually get me blogging again. Let's see if it works!



Our first task was to blog our intentions for the class. So my intentions are as follows.
1) To blog at least every other day.
2) To try and scrap at least two layouts each week (this intention might be a little more difficult to maintain!)
3) To visit some new blogs and get some blogging and scrapping inspiration from others.
4) To not feel guilty if all these plans fall by the wayside! Blogger's guilt is NO FUN.

I have a number of obstacles that may stand in the way. First up, we have the job, and the mountain of marking than can form part of my evening several nights a week. Second, we have a few busy weekends coming up during this class, with Ed playing the last post at the Remembrance services and my sister coming to visit. Thirdly, Ed's near obsession with playing Age of Empires III which hogs the computer for several hours every night (I've had to kick him off just to do this post!). And finally, my own sheer apathy. I'm hoping that by identifying the obstacles at this stage, I'll have more chance of overcoming them. Wish me luck!

A dent in my marking...

...has finally been made! I put off the dreaded marking for most of the half term holiday, and when I actually sat down to do it this afternoon, it wasn't all that bad! I built it up in my head to be such a dull task, that the reality could only be an improvement! So it isn't all done, but it nearly is, and I can relax a little this evening and prepare for the onslaught of being back at work again.

Just a couple of layouts to share this evening, the first one was started on my weekend away (two weeks ago now, can hardly believe it!) and finished at the start of this week. The photos were taken on holiday by Lake Garda. I think that scrapbookers are obliged to take certain cliched photos when they are out and about, and the 'obligatory photo of feet' are one of them! I really like the way the title came together - I don't usually do such long titles, but the different letter stickers look great, so maybe I will start doing a few more.

The second layout was made a week and a half ago, and was a reaction to the way I was feeling at the time about my job, while I was having a little crisis of confidence. It needed to include a lot of journalling, since this was my way of getting my head straight and really deciding what I wanted. The photo was taken while I sat at my desk and printed out straight away - and it definitely looks the way I was feeling at the time! The papers are the gorgeous Basic Grey Lemonade line - perhaps an odd choice for this subject, but you don't have to always go for the obvious.

Now, I'm off to eat my dinner, and find something to do this evening now that I don't have a gorgeous costume drama to whisk me away into a world of escapism on a Sunday evening!

If you go down to the woods today...

Today I thought I'd share a few different bits and pieces I've been working on over the last couple of months. First up, we have some of my knitted production - this is Jean Greenhowe's Teddy Bear's Picnic.

I knitted this in the Summer for Ed's little niece Olivia to play with when she visits us - she is nearly three and loves playing with the little sandwiches and drinks cups. Jean Greenhowe makes such sweet knitted toy patterns - my Nan taught me to knit using her patterns many years ago and you can sit knitting for just one evening and have a lovely little knitted doll finished by the time you go to bed. I have knitted several other toys since this which I will share with you another time.

Back to scrapbooking, and I don't think I ever shared this layout from Scrap, Paper, Scissors on my blog, so here goes. Strawberry Plant does exactly what it says on the tin - records Ed's foray into 'growing your own'. We have done this for a few years and have had some successes - the strawberries and the blueberries - and some unfortunate failures - the greenfly ate our raspberry and gooseberry plants alive this year! The paper is some beautiful Scenic Route, which I advise you to pick up while you can as the company will no longer be producing any more. Some more of the great Basic Grey chipboard in evidence, this from the everlasting Offbeat pack, which I think has to count as my favourite ever Basic Grey line.

I was really pleased to find out so many others are Jane Austen Emma fans - and also pleased that I managed to encourage one reader to watch the whole thing on iPlayer - well worth it in my opinion, I've watched it several times over before it disappears at the weekend. I tried to wean myself off Johnny Lee Miller by watching another favourite of mine on DVD, North and South, but even the great Richard Armitage is not succeeding in knocking Johnny of the top spot at the moment!

I've also been re-reading my Austen and am struck again by the fact that years go by but human nature never changes. I love reading Austen, because she could have been writing yesterday when it comes to describing people's follies and insecurities - it's only the costumes and situations that have changed. I think you have to be fascinated by human behaviour to become an historian in the first place, and I think it is the most difficult thing as a History teacher to make children understand that people two hundred years ago had the same thoughts and feelings as they themselves do, and weren't in fact alien beings!

And to another former teacher who commented on my blog - Caroline, I do remember you from that tough PGCE year! I definitely know teaching is not for everyone, so I'm glad you are now happier - congratulations on getting married, and enjoy the scrapbooking, it's a fantastic hobby even though your stash can tend to take over all available surfaces (and I should know!).

Feeling a little bit lovesick...

How gorgeous was the BBC production of Emma? Trouble is, now I'm feeling all lovesick and gooey-eyed over Johnny Lee Miller - if Mr Knightley had been following me around all over the place looking like that at me I'd have put up with all manner of scolding. I'm rather sad it's over - now I have nothing to look forward to on Sunday night before another hard week of work. Will just have to wait till the end of November when my DVD boxset arrives instead.

A quick blog post tonight, just to share another layout from last weekend. I can't remember which of the Cocoa Daisy kits I had that was predominantly black and green, but I do know that I love that kit - I produced some great layouts with it. This one is about giving in to Ed's annoying habit of constantly pulling a face when I'm trying to take a photo of him. I've now decided to adopt the philosophy of 'if you can't beat them...' and just scrap the stupid photos! This one was on holiday this year when we were taking a walk by the lake in the evening.

The little chipboard bees are great - they come from a pack of Basic Grey chipboard elements. Speaking of Basic Grey, I just got hold of a pack of the new Nook and Pantry range which is very fabulous. I have plans of recording my Raspberry and Apple Candy Cake photo with it - perfect subject matter (and the cake was very tasty by the way - and so big it got shared by me, Ed, Mum and Dad!).

Tomorrow may have to involve a lot of housework and other boring stuff like marking Year 11 coursework (yawn!), but I aim to finish a layout and do some knitting as well, so hopefully I can keep up this run of blogging too.

The Bag

It's been a busy old day - I've caught up with the folks, been to the transport museum and currently have a raspberry and apple Candy Cake from the shop of the same name in Covent Garden waiting to be devoured alongside a cup of tea.


In the meantime I thought I'd share with you my 'crafting on the road', the handles for a bag I have been knitting. It's nearly complete, I just need to buy some lining fabric and wadding for making it up. If anyone has any idea where I can find some cheap online supplies of either, please let me know as I'm not very knowledgable about fabrics or what they should cost!
This is my first ever attempt at blogging from my iPhone, so I hope this works!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

End of an Era

So the official announcement was made yesterday that Scrapbook Inspirations is to cease publication, bringing to an end the run of a magazine which really introduced 'proper' scrapbooking to me (before I had been relying on Dawn Bibby and co on QVC and a couple of pages in a DoCrafts magazine to give me inspiration!).

I had subscribed since my first discovery, and always looked forward to it arriving on the door mat - those were always the good days, when I would sit after work with a cup of tea and browse through. I loved the stories, the layouts, the style of the publication. So when the Best of British Scrapbooking competition was announced in 2007, the leader of the crop I attended at the time (which I discovered through Scrapbook Inspirations) told me to enter the New Talent category, and astoundingly I won! This led to a relationship with the magazine which involved regular contributions and commissions, and more recently the opportunity to spend a couple of months as part of the extended Design Team. This magazine fuelled a hobby which led to friendship, beautiful albums full of memories and helped me to develop my skills as a scrapbooker immeasurably. I'm just not a fan of browsing online all the time (it gives me a headache!) so to me this mag will be irreplaceable - I have never regularly bought Scrapbook Magazine which I found too basic, or more recently Scrapbook Trends which is far too American in style for me.

What is most sad however is that some very talented ladies who have helped to put together such a fantastic magazine will now be looking to move onto pastures new, breaking up a fantastic team. I hope they all move onto bigger and better things, and know how sorely they and their publication will be missed and how much fun and enjoyment they have brought to me and many others. I fear that this will see a real decline in British scrapbooking, as there are so many people who do not take part in online activities and would not necessarily have found out about scrapbooking without this magazine. Let's hope that this is not the case.

In happier news, I do have some layouts to share from last weekend. This snap is of my sister by Lake Garda on the first evening of our holiday earlier this year. It was such a serene shot, and we all felt so instantly calmed by our surroundings, that I decided to record how desperately we were all in need of the relaxation.

Secondly, we have my boy Bertie in this gorgeous shot of him that I took earlier in the Summer, sitting on the garden table and looking for all the world like he owned the place. Hence the title! Unfortunately, all my three cats get mercilessly bullied by the ginger Tom next door, so Bert is kidding himself if he thinks he rules anything around here! All the papers and some of the embellies for these layouts came from past Cocoa Daisy kits which I was trying to use up.

In other news, I am very happy that I am now on half term holidays - I was at breaking point earlier in the week and this will give me the opportunity to collect my thoughts and take a breather. I am also really looking forward to the concluding part of Emma on the BBC tomorrow - I think I can safely say that I am now 100% in love with Johnny Lee Miller as Mr Knightley and I think the actress playing Emma, Romola Garai, is perfect and very loveable as a character who Austen herself thought was very difficult to love. I have been re-reading my copy, which I hadn't picked up since secondary school - I always love it when an adaptation encourages me to get reading again. This has been the best adaptation I have seen of this novel - I'm not a Gwyneth Paltrow fan and I didn't like the Kate Beckinsale version. Catch it on iPlayer if you haven't already seen it - it will be several hours pure bliss, I promise!