Project Life Weeks 24 & 25.

Well catch-up time again. Oh and did I mention how much I love this project?
After completing the two weeks together I made some notes about how I want to change things for the second half of the year. Namely doing a bit more as I go. I still feel I am missing bits doing it after the week. So how has it gone this week? Well I am paying more attention to the bits I want to include and putting them in the project life drawer but as to actually processing any images, not so much. I also need to get around the problem I have that I don’t seem able to print ‘true’ 6x4’s or indeed 4x6’s. They are smaller and then need to be mounted on pretty paper. I don’t have an issue with the pretty paper of course, but it lengthens the time to put it together. I reckon if the photos fit properly i.e. print properly then it would halve the time. Any Answers? I would be grateful if you have any to leave them in a comment.
Enough blather.
Week 24.

An Ali character made it to the title page

Although it was more time consuming, it wasn’t a hardship using the beautiful AC Dear Lizzy Neopolitan papers (for both weeks).
I started the week with a most bewildering development, I actually felt like cooking, from scratch with fresh ingredients! The left hand side of the week is showing the results of part of that process, making Portugese Cream Tarts from scratch from Jamie Oliver’s recipe.
He has had the great idea of using bought chilled puff pastry, sprinkling cinnamon over, rolling it up into a roll and then using your fingers to push them down into the muffin tray. Blind bake for a few minutes, fill with cream and egg mix, bake off, then make an orange caramel and pour over when baked from the oven. Delicious and easy and so many possibilities I can think of. Anyway, slightly diverted
The right hand side shows a few photos from my photo a day challenge: family eyes; Cinders my Ragdoll; garden from above, and a message exchange with my mum where I illustrate ‘being careful’. If you would like to see more about that then you can have a look at my photo blog, click.
Mum got back into adding her take on the week as well, which always makes me happy.
Week 25.




The week was not overly documented shall we say as Mum and Ali were so poorly it overtook most things. They were so very poorly and I was so worried, especially about Mum. I think, even though the photos aren’t great, you can see Ali’s flushed cheeks.
In other events, Tesco cycled to the moon, 250,000 odd miles in aid of cancer research. I even managed 15 miles.
Other photos show my re-organisation of my room as it had become so unmanageable (I scrap and sleep in the same small room!).
The wierd photo at the top right of the right hand side? Well who knows where those shadows came from? This is the original photo.

Really, now, that is enough blather. Thanks for staying with me

Card Challenge Week 25/’My dull brain was wrought’

The card challenge this week from Natty was a sketch and as luck would have it I made one for a wedding my Mum was supposed to be attending on Saturday that fit the bill (or sketch rather). She was too poorly which was such a shame.

Anyway, simple and on a variation of a theme from the other recent wedding card I made. Just some great paper put together on kraft with some ribbon. I have to say I am loving vellum at the moment for cards.
So Shakespeare this week. The quote is a bit of an apology for such a shocker of a post last week. As I replied to Susi, I worked so hard at getting a link between the card challenge and Shakespeare that it all turned into a mismatch hodpodge.
I can’t guarantee it will be much better this week
So, my teamies (The Bijoux Belles) on UKS are a cranially bless’ed bunch and since I have been discussing my Shakespeare investigations I can feel them looking fondly on at me. They have been so helpful and for one reason and another we ended up with a discussion of Macbeth and I discovered that there a few of them that know this play well and a flurry of quotes appeared to the extent that I had to start it reading it.
I had a couple of lovely lunch-times starting it and recognising some of the great quotes that I knew and lots that I didn’t know that they had given me.
It has shown up some ignorance on my side, huh, well that wasn’t such a surprise was it! So I have been working hard on understanding it all.
The first quote that resonated with me (apart from the ones I recognised) was this;
‘Give me your favour, my dull brain was wrought’
This summed up how I felt about my dull post last week
I am thrilled that the BBC continue their Shakespeare season and I look forward to their adaptatons of the history plays and Joely Richardson’s programmes next week too.
Over and out xxx

Project Life Week 23

Still loving it.

I loved using my new camera stamp this week.

LHS. A couple of balcony shots I found funny from the jubilee finale on Tuesday.
My favourite bit this week is Ali’s characters that he drew specifically for inclusion again. Good to see Mum’s hand in there again this week. The pyracanthus in full bloom and some journaling on my favourite shot of the week which gives more detail.


RHS Some shots from our trip out to Hartland Quay. It was such a breath of fresh air, literally and figuratively. I have a QR code to go in but something is up with Vimeo and it says it is still processing 4 days after uploading lol and a ticket (which I keep forgetting to get out of the car). I’ll sort that out another day. Maybe!
I have nearly used up all my divided protectors so I ordered some and they arrived today. I have a different type so looking forward to trying those for this week. I am also nearly at a full album, so I will swap to a new one after June is done. If I had scrapped April I guess it would be bursting. I think because I have the title for each week in the same place (which I like) and I tend to embellish that mini layout more it has not helped so may think about doing that differently next year.
Ok, onwards x

Card Week 24/”for some four suits of peach-coloured satin,”

I quite enjoyed making the card this evening, my ex-brother in law and his girlfriend had a baby girl last week, Gracie. Poor Sophie had a difficult time of it and I can empathise with that.

So I enjoyed making the new family a card to celebrate.

The challenge from Natty was from the prompt jar. Peach, Layers, Flowers. This threw me a bit as they aren’t my favourite things. Good old Dear Lizzy Neopolitan came to the rescue.

Welcome Gracie Hart, let the fun and mischief begin.

So Shakespeare. Hmmm well I have a really random quote from the middle of a longer verse. I love that you can google Shakespeare and a word, in this case ‘peach’ from the card challenge, and you can come up with something.

“Then is there here one Master Caper, at the suit of Master Three-pile the Mercer, for some four suits of peach coloured satin, which now peaches him a beggar.” Measure For Measure Act 4 Scene 3.

I like that I know a little bit more about Measure For Measure and look forward to reading it, that will be a while off yet though, I have others I want to read and re-read first. I have started on Macbeth today, although many interruptions prevented me getting very far!

It shall be Terry Pratchett at bedtime though And that time is now. Night xx

Project Life Week 21/22.

Again, behind! I blame my energy exhausting job
Caught up now though, only because it has been a ‘print out the photos and add a bit to it’ kind of a week. That’s why I like it though I guess. Looking back through the album quickly I realised that I am happy with the weeks that have a couple of filler pieces of pretty paper in as well.
Although I didn’t ‘do’ April due to Rich, I am so happy that I have kept up with it otherwise.
Week 21

Details:

What a lovely evening Saturday was, Mum had made a lovely salad for when I got home and by the time I had changed, there was a glass of wine waiting in the lovely warm garden. I am aware that I use the word lovely too much, but it is, well, lovely and I can’t/won’t stop.

I used the eclips to cut the title of Week 21 and stuck it onto the photo. I prefer doing the layout type but this was nice for a change. Photo of my team and Mum’s photos from the ipad. Space for her to add her journaling when done. She spent all day on Monday for the torch relay with Ali and his class and saw Louis there too.
Ali’s drawing that you can just at the top of the left hand side protector, he did it especially for project life. I love that he wanted to do that. I have a drawer where I put everything in for project life and he put it in there and kept looking at it to see if it was still there. He has been at his Dad’s and is home tomorrow, so I can’t wait for him to see it done. I hope he isn’t going to design his life around project life and what is going in there though Or actually is that a good thing?
Week 22

 My week was dominated by work and the wedding. The excitement generated by the Jubilee and the warm weather meant work was crazy; trying to order enough stock, ensure the shop was ready for trade, the warehouse would cope and there was enough staff to cope with both the Jubilee and the wedding.
In an ordinary way the Jubilee would be enough to test us (I work for a supermarket in a busy seasonal village that increases by £100k when it’s sunny in the summer) but with my Services Manager getting married and half the staff going to the evening do and a lot of us (including me) going to the actual wedding it was incredibly testing. On top of that the Store Manager (my direct boss, and therefore I was acting in loco store mangeris) was on hols for 10 days arriving back the day before the wedding!
I really needed to use that exclamation mark. I was exclaiming.
When I arrived home each evening I was about fit to drop but had to try and fit in improving myself.
Moisturiser. Nail Polish. Practicing Putting On Make-Up. It all had to be done.
I was sensible though, I left the hair to the professionals. I arrived at the hairdressers at 09:50 for my 10:00 appointment on Friday. One of the stylists approached me to say that for the first time in ten years my stylist hadn’t arrived for work and they couldn’t get hold of her and they were actually quite concerned. There were also reports of a nasty accident so they were actually quite rightly concerned. They asked what I was having done….I said, well I am concerned for her too, but I am going to a wedding in 2 hours and waaaahaahhhaahh.
They were absolutely brilliant, the lady also waiting offered my stylist so we all came to a consensus that she would wait 15 minutes whilst I had my hair curled and I would not bother having it washed and cut.
I had just washed it. I just want to point that out
Anyway, here it is.

The Bride, The Reception, The Rings and The Flowers. Just a gorgeous, gorgeous wedding and day.

The other side with the journaling, photo of the card I made them, photos of me (just because of all the effort ) and an insert photo protector (kindly given to me by Sue at our retreat) which has my invite to the wedding that I designed for them as a wedding present.)

Also the pyracanthus coming along nicely from last week.

Wow, are you still awake? Well done, I salute you. If you want to see the photos of the wedding in more detail (and the great job they did of my barnet!) then I posted them here.
Good night x

Card Week 23/”the marriage of true minds”

I didn’t go with the card challenge for today although I will do it at some point this week. Instead I thought I would share the card I made for my friends, they married on Friday and it was the most lovely day.

I used my lovely new eclips to cut the hearts in a variety of sizes in no time at all.
So the Shakespeare quote this week had to be about love. I especially admire the line love is not love, which alters when it alteration finds. I have been thinking a lot about that over the weekend after hearing them making their vows.
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no, it is an ever-fixèd mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken
Sonnet 116.
If you wanted a quick glimpse of the wedding it is on my photo challenge blog here.
I hope you are enjoying the Jubilee celebrations, I have finally finished working for the weekend and have this evening and tomorrow to enjoy the celebrations. I have just heard that Prince Phillip has gone to hospital so that is sad news. I imagine the Queen would rather not be at the concert tonight.