Always the shadow



Sometimes a photo perfectly captures a moment or someone's personality.  Now and then a photo can capture a feeling too and sometimes it can help you to put things into words.

 

This photo was taken at Christmas on a rare sunny day.  Everyone seems to have had lovely weather again today except for parts of Wales which has been cloudy and misty - typical!  I still managed to get out for a gentle stroll on the beach here in Newport though (the one in the photo is the next bay round in Moylgrove) except that this time I was on my own.  I'm waiting to have the aerial fixed after the storms earlier in the year and having some much needed head space. 

After many attempts to find the right medication for my depression, we've come to the end of the road with it really.  I'm in the process of writing a blog post about what it feels like (boy won't that be a jolly read!) but right now I can't even scrap - that's how bad it is.  I'm going to try something a little outside of the box when I get back in a sort of last ditch attempt to make some progress.  I don't want to be the shadow blighting the lives of my family and friends.  I want to be there with them, enjoying the sun.

Supplies List
Patterned papers from Crate Paper "The Pier"
Letter stickers from Simple Stories "Homespun"
Enamel dots inside the flowers from My Mind's Eye
Wood veneers from Studio Calico "Hearts & Arrows"
Cardstock from Bazzil Basics in Kraft
Other items from my stash

Bye for now
xx

My Christmas Manifesto 2013

How are you getting on with recording your Christmas memories this year?  I am really enjoying documenting my December with Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas and as always we started out with our manifesto.

So many people are having a hard time this year and with our recent fundraising for the Philippines and accidents and illnesses in the family, it didn't seem the year for poetic phrases about sugar plum fairies and sparkles of joy.  That's not to say I'm not hoping for magic because I am, very much so.  This could well be the last year that my son especially believes and so recording it and trying to make it as magical and special as possible is still right up there, but with an understanding about others less fortunate, more so than ever before.

As well as setting out my intentions for this season, this page also sets out my intentions for my colour scheme and embellishments.  You can see the splashes of gold from the Studio Calico stars and polka dot vellum from Shimelle's Christmas kit and the Studio Calico veneer stars and Bundled Up papers from S J Crafts.

This page is the reverse of the double page that I shared in the previous post because I loved the pink snowflake paper so much that I couldn't bear to hide it!  Ahhh... pretty paper... it's definitely my kryptonite!

Bye for now
xx

Welcome Theo!

Happy birthday Theo!  My first Great Nephew is a year old today!  He is such a cheeky chappy, always on the go and loves to be centre of attention.  He flirts with people in shops and knows his smile can melt even the coldest heart and he uses it to his fullest advantage.  We don't get to spend as much time together as we would like because they live a couple of hours away but they are all very very precious to me.  This layout shows him at 4 days old when they finally escaped from hospital near their old home.  They stayed over at our place for a night before heading across to their new place but we were like ships that passed in the night because we were heading to Wales the same day.  It seems so fitting to be sharing this now because we are off to Wales again this very morning.

  

I was inspired by a layout on my Pinterest board but in my haste to get things sorted for the holiday I can't find the link!  I'm so sorry to whoever the original layout belonged to and I will find it and update as soon as I can.

I used the wonderful Studio Calico Snippets collection with some older Papermania letter stickers for a fresh and modern feel that seemed fitting to the new family.  Some funky turquoise washi tape completed the look.

I hope they have a wonderful day together and we will be thinking of them as we wend our way west to Pembrokeshire.  We're back in a couple of weeks so enjoy the peace :-)

Bye for now
xx

WOYWW 207

Its a bit of an empty desk this week.  Management and I swap cars when I go to a crop rather than have the kerfuffle over the car seats and all my stiff is STILL in the boot of his car.  I just about got through the crop but I didn't feel right.  I had a headache all day and I was so so tired.  I was in agony with stomach pains by the time I got home and it turns out that I've got another ovarian cyst.  I've pretty much been under a blanket since then but I'm managing without painkillers now so it looks like it is buggering off again thank goodness.

I've also moved my writing stuff out into the study now that it has all been decorated in there and that makes the desk look really bare here!  A few layouts that I'm in the middle of but need to be finished at home, Scrap365 to be read, the pink folder is my Parent Governors information and the Jiffy envelope had those circular frames in which will be the labels for the side of my albums.  I got this idea from a fellow WOYWW-er and I'm so sorry that I can't recall who it was!

That khaki bag in the middle there was just delivered and it is very exciting!  Its a Real Adventure Den Kit for Louis for his birthday, sshhh!  His birthday is while we are away at the farm which is a perfect place to try it out!

And here is the full layout that I gave you a sneak of last week.  This was for an Inspiration post for S J Crafts and I just love the way it turned out.  

What's on your desk this week?  Show us what you are up to and link up with Julia over at Stamping Ground.  Have a great week!

Bye for now
xx

WOYWW 206

Good morning to you all, especially all you WOYWW-ers.  I'm twitching this week.  My cup is empty and there is someone else invading my space again.  Miss Bella takes up more and more room each time she comes in here.  However, she has been banned from my studio as of today because she refuses to put any of her stuff away when she has finished with it.  What can I say, she has just turned 4 and, I'm told, is exactly as stubborn as I was at that age, and still am apparently.  Ahem.

Lots of Portobello Road on my side of the desk, making a card for the lovely Deb at Paper Turtle to go in her box of swap goodies that you can just about see to the left there under the stamps.

I'm packing for a crop on Saturday with Artful Angels (if you are around the Winchester / Southampton area and fancy a visit then please do get in touch!)  I'm still working on my Devon album and as I've been using the same selection of things throughout, it means my supplies are pretty much sorted.  I just need to have a tidy up and make sure that all the consumables go back into my little tote bag.

I've become so used to scrapping with Sarah from S J Crafts but she is at another crop this week and I will miss her!  This layout has just gone up at the shop blog where we are talking about the different things that are inspiring us right now.  For me its my Cameo. (This cut file was inspired by this Pin).

Show us yours, now that I've shown you mine, and don't forget to link up with Julia for the bestest desky blog hop there ever was.

Bye for now
xx

Onwards and Upwards Blog Hop

It's the weekend!  A special welcome if you are hopping as part of Jennifer's Onwards and Upwards blog event. Details of the hop and the giveaway etc can be found at the bottom of this post.

Up until a week ago I had no idea what my post was going to be about for this event.  I had lots of bits of ideas and I definitely wanted it to be about sharing positive messages but I had nothing concrete.  Until Thursday morning.  It was a crazy day going from place to place but I felt the need to pop home mid morning and I'm so glad I did.  There was an e-mail from Shimelle about being a guest artist on her blog event for National Scrapooking Day on Saturday.  I leaped off of my chair and squealed.  Then I panicked.  Then I scrapped.  Then I changed my mind.  Then I scrapped again.  Then I went back to my computer and double checked and triple checked the message in case it was a fake.  Then I sent my husband a text telling him my exciting news.  But he doesn't understand creativity.  Then I picked up my 6 year old son from school and he jumped up and down and "Wow, Shimelle's blog?  Really?  Wow!" which was more the sort of reaction that I was feeling myself.  I felt really positive about my scrapping and I would love for other people to feel that too.  We just need to tell them :-)

Very few people can say that scrapbooking is their job but Shimelle can and I admire her for that.  I also admire her style and her passion for the story.  I have followed her since I met her when I started scrapbooking at Scrap-a-Mia exactly 3 years ago.  Good grief what a baptism of fire that was!  Since then I have had ups and downs with technique, style and general ability and had days where I liked my layouts and days when I wondered why I bothered to even try.  

About 18 months ago I applied for a Design Team place with S J Crafts in a moment of "why not?" and I was over the moon to be chosen.  Seizing that mad moment of thinking I might be good enough to be on a DT was one of the best decisions I have ever made.  Being selected restored my confidence in my ability as a scrapbooker.  Someone else liked what I did.  About a year ago someone asked me to make an album for a colleague as a commission, completely out of the blue.  A few weeks ago I won a competition with Echo Park papers.  This week I've been featured on a website that I would have never thought possible.  I am never going to make a living from crafting but in the words of a very wise 6 year old "Its not about the money Mummy".  So what is it about?  Its about feeling positive about something you've made.  

We need more layout love in this cold hard world that we live in.  We need to tell people when we like what they do.  Hearing from other people about things we have made makes it all worthwhile, whether it is a cup of tea, a bowl of soup, a card, a layout, a tutorial or a wedding dress.  If you've been enthused to create something, tell the person that inspired you.    If you've entered one of the many many challenges from last weekend, tell them why.   Make someone's heart swell and face beam like mine did this week.  Share the love people :-)

So... my challenge (all open until Sunday night) was to create a double layout.  In a hurry.  I scraplifted myself by choosing the first double I came to in a random album I picked up with no deliberations over "what about this one or that one".  It was this layout that was originally a quadrant design for a 6x6 paper pad and I mirrored the placement and then tweaked the embellishments to suit the larger structure.   Choosing the layout gave me a strict plan for the photos and I did the same thing again - choosing the first batch that fit the orientation, style and number.  Same with the papers.  Studio Calico Snippets was to hand (being obtained recently) and it was ideal so I didn't try and find anything possibly more ideal.  I spend far too much time trying to find something even better when actually it just makes me go around in circles!

  
The photos are from Ta Prohm in Angkor, Cambodia, about 10 years ago on our Round The World Trip.  We often wonder how much more damage has been done by the invasive roots but they can't stop them because they are all that is holding it up!  Such a tough battle of man versus nature but it does make a wonderfully atmospheric temple.

It makes me laugh when I look back and think of us shooting a whole reel of black and white film there and then a whole reel of colour, with no idea how any of them would turn out.  The children can't get their heads around the idea of waiting for film to be exposed and not seeing the photo instantly on the screen.  How things have changed since then.  Onwards and upwards eh?!

If you comment on all the blogs in the hop, finishing at Jennifer's to let her know you've been all the way around, then you'll be in with a chance to win a prize pack of cheerful Glitz Designs Color Me Happy and Simple Stories 24/7, worth over £25! 

All entries must be received by Monday the 13th of May at 10.59pm BST. 

Your next stop along the hop is Julie. Have fun!

Bye for now
xx

Jennifer - http://jennifergracecreates.com/
Rinda - http://gallorganico.blogspot.co.uk/
Meghann - http://www.meghannslittlecorner.blogspot.co.uk/
Louise - http://scrapbook-me.blogspot.co.uk/
Lisa-Jane - http://comeinsidemycrazyhead.blogspot.co.uk/
Julie - http://www.icreatepurtythangs.blogspot.co.uk/
Jo S - http://www.curlyscrapbooker.blogspot.co.uk/
Jo B - http://www.buckinghamspalace.blogspot.co.uk/
Jenny - http://dragonllew.blogspot.co.uk/
Jacky - http://scrappyjackylive.blogspot.co.uk/
Fay - http://beautifullilysramblings.blogspot.co.uk/
Daphne - http://dapfniedesign.wordpress.com/
Abi - http://creatingpaperdreams.blogspot.co.uk/
Jennifer - http://jennifergracecreates.com/

A Guest Post for NSD with Shimelle!

May the fourth be with you!

Happy Star Wars Day and happy National Scrapbooking Day - what better way to celebrate than to be a guest artist for Shimelle?  I still can't quite believe it and I keep going back to the e-mail because it makes me smile every time I read it.  I was so happy to be asked to participate especially as the message came through a fair while after I had assumed everyone would have had their challenges.  It gave me a much needed boost!

The focus was very much on crafting with limited time and my own challenge was to create a double page spread.  Here's a little sneak peak of my layout which you can see in full on Shimelle's blog.

I really enjoy doing double pages and I even made the S J Crafts sketch in the previous post into a double by using a divided page protector as the facing page.

Here are a few more of my favourite doubles.

  

I hope you can join in with one or more of the challenges around the various blogs this weekend as many of them are open for a while.  It has all certainly got my creative juices flowing I can tell you!  If you create something this weekend then put a link in the comments box and I will come and take a look.

Happy crafting, bye for now

xx