My Month In Numbers TM Miss Julie Kirk

I love this theme, I didn’t join in properly last month as I didn’t include photos so couldn’t be included in the whole spread through the ether club. But that is ok, I am just enjoying joining in…I think I will build up to that.
29 days, well that is extraordinary and the photo a day challenge I am in helped us to celebrate that today
3 hours of pure bliss…..1….the day it felt as if Lauren was ‘back’ with us. Sheesh I was so happy I could have danced around the maypole. 1….the hour that this mad family was so in tune with our in-family jokes that we just laughed and laughed. 1….the hour we all spent watching Friends re-runs together, eating take-out and feeling peaceful…
1 family of blue-tits that have begun visiting our garden (despite our stooopid and bonkers dogs) Awww-happy
1 whole day left to prepare for my annual retreat with my bestie friends
5 haircuts. Really? Yes. All of us are groomed. I don’t have anything else to say about that.
2 sad days. My Dad went through the first process of being told that he was really very poorly this time last year and my friend and colleague lost her battle with blood cancer and her funeral was on the 28th just yesterday.
1 new must see tv programme, where was I to not watch The Wire at the time? Loving it. Idris Alba is my crush (although he is a bad apple in this show).
Sorry Julie, i’m still not playing properly at promoting it, but I will get there, promise.

P&Q: The Holy Grail

I am always in search of it, just a few moments of peace and quiet each day. Sometimes I get up early and it’s then, sometimes I stay up and it’s then, sometimes it’s only in the car, sometimes it doesn’t happen. When the boys were littler it generally only came when they were tired and asleep. They weren’t boys that would sit and do quiet things

I like this one of Ali crashed out in his cot.

He was teething here, the poor little chubby thing.

I used the photo for this month’s house challenge over at UKS. I love the palette and the photo suited it well enough.

I used scraps of paper so quite a thrifty layout from my stash……good job as it needs to budge up to make space for all the lovely new MME that is headed my way.

Also some BG Piccadilly chipboard flowers, gems and wire.

I used a hexagon/honeycomb mask with pearly paint and copics for the background. 7Gypsies tape and Thickers altered with copics and stickles.

I also dotted a border as something was missing from all the plain space, not sure that’s nailed it though. Anyway, it’s done and I’m quite pleased with it.

I have lots of peace and quiet today as the boys have been occupied with one thing and another, aww they are growing up (YES! I mean NO! I mean YES, I think I mean both).

Notes on Project Life - January

…so the main thing I learned was not to let your small child get so furious that he would take it out on your laptop. I guess you have heard enough about that and really I am over it

Otherwise I learned that the 6x6 leftover pad I wanted to use wasn’t quite enough to last……I didn’t include enough ephemera, journaling etc so I needed more paper than I should have.

What else? Well I didn’t actually take that many photos of the kids doing ordinary stuff. So I will address that for February.

I was also going to try and post every week with how it was going, I didn’t succeed at that over the month due to the laptop and then catch-up but I will try and do that as I think it is good to look back on what has gone well and what hasn’t weekly rather than monthly.

One thing I do know though is that although I will change what I am doing slightly, tweak it, get quicker at it, collect things in a better way etc.

I love it, just love it and have already found a great deal of pleasure in looking back at January.

Photo’s of the everyday, journaling the little things, all tied together with a bit of pretty paper. Scrapbooking in it’s most purest sense I think.

My Month In Numbers #1

Admire Julie Kirk I do…her blog has much to admire it has.
Too much Lego Star Wars playing with the boys and I channelling Yoda I think…
Nearly every month I have said that I will join in ‘next time’. Every time I am surprised that it is time and I have no numbers. I know that is silly, I must have hundreds……but none can come to mind.
Julie was fab enough to share a fab post in which she gave away the secrets to her success in recording the numbers. I also have started a different regime of scrapping this year in attempting project life. Another thing I have done which is the one thing I have absolutely sworn to, stuck to and am enjoying and seems to be the key is joining Suzie’s fab 366 photo a day challenge. Somewhere in the middle of all that has ended up me recording all the numbers I need to join in.
Amount of times I have participated in My Month In Numbers – 1
(In honour of finally joining in and to Julie) the amount of plundered pages I have been enjoying – 1
Now I have to say Julie has not paid me nor does she know that I will say this but if you haven’t seen her plundered pages then please check out her Etsy shop. I sent my Mum a link in hope and I had the most fabulous Christmas present of a pack and I can’t wait to put it to scrapping this spring.
OK stalker-ish-ness over
Amount of times I reached for my laptop whilst it was ‘away’ – 1,000,000
My laptop was broken by my son ‘exuberantly’ smacking the lid down twice. Now I have discussed this many times and it has been a definite theme of this month around here and I am not going to bore you guys with it…lest to say that it made life very difficult, what with all the challenges that needed an internet connection. I was without it for 2 weeks, longest ever 2 weeks. I will never let myself get in that situation again
Amount of kilometres run – 15.15
I love running, I am built for comfort not for speed but many a person has been surprised by the fact that I can run, well jog! I was one of them this month, I did hardly any last year for one reason or another and I dreaded going out again but the muscle memory was there and although it protested the weight gain; it got on with it. I have set some strong goals to get me to The Great South Run at the end of October and I hope to be able to share those successes along the way. So far so good, My first challenge was to be able to do 4 km, I did 4.5 km on Friday
Amount of hours watching the first video I ever made – 32
I got an iPhone from my lovely family for my birthday this month. They were so lovely (and clearly had had enough of me banging on about the photo a day challenge) to give it to me on New Year’s Day. I made a video of my colleagues at work for a project at work. It was such a performance to understand the software and make the movie that at the moment I am pretty glad it is over. I will be happy that I learned how to do it though. I saw that footage so much though.
Amount of points accrued on UKS by making scrapbook layouts et – 275
I am in a fab points collecting team on UKS and I clocked up a much better set of points this month.
Amount of money spent at the friendliest dentist in the world - £47
My dentist is something to be believed, lets just say that her bedside manner is not desirable and it was a test of will not to yell out, also I am not sure that an injection or indeed several injections should blind you. Just sayin’.
Amount of photos taken for Snap366-2012 – yep you guessed it, 31
Love this challenge, just love it. Suzie has administered it so well. Her blog is very well thought out.
Amount of times I said ‘please’ after my children have demanded something – 1,000,000
Amount of times I wondered when my children will ever be trained properly – 1,000,000
Amount of years I clocked up on my birthday – 38
Really?
So, that’s it. Much I have missed out, sure I am. Such as the lego bricks, many there were.

The Meddler

A couple of years ago I was grasping for a word to describe Ali’s Ali-ness;

med·dle

verb, -dled, -dling.

to involve oneself in a matter without right or invitation; interfere officiously and unwantedly.

The Meddler was perfect and has stuck. Although sometimes I think of him as Macavity the Meddler Cat as he channels that naughty creature as well.

He has very busy fingers, he keeps them occupied by using his pokey-sticks which I scrapped and posted here.

However he has been spied with pokey sticks tucked under his arms so they don’t interfere too much with the meddling.

He just has to meddle.

I have just realised that I used the same Thickers as on the Pokey-Stick layout. Jewellry Box, I love them.

I wish I had coloured them red, i’ll have to go and do that now.

Journaling reads;

If a drawer needs opening, (his eyes widening was a sight to behold when he found the spice drawer).

If a cupboard needs clambering into, (although he cannot now fit into the one that he used to hide in).

If a box needs investigating… (sheesh, they are all up high, high now!)

…Call Alex, he is a professional meddler.

Even he will now say,

“Mum, I just need something to meddle”.

I need to add that to the layout now This layout is not finished is it?

Thanks to Shimelle for her great challenge over at UKS ’& Now For Something Completely Different’

Baby-wipes are marvellous.

They are pretty high-up the must have list for kit when crafting. But now that Carole over on UKS has shown me how to use them as a stamp pad, well they are now essential

As I posted yesterday, I am joining in the card challenge and this week (4) the challenge was a sketch by Natty, here on her blog and the entrants are here on UKS.

The inks I used to stamp the butterfly image and then coat onto the gloss card are currant, pink sherbert and pearl mixative from ranger. I love the shimmery effect you can see irl.

I think I may go back to the card and add a little pale colour to the butterfly.

 

Cracked Glass Technique.

I found another challenge on UKS that is to use techniques, I haven’t done this cracked glass one since starting crafting. I wanted to make a card and I found the 52 week card challenge that is over at Kool Kitty Musings (click) and thought that if I could catch up then I would join in as I never have any cards on standby.

The cracked glass technique was used for the topper and it also covered week one’s theme of new beginnings, circles and scallops. Paper is Echo Park Splash, and I stamped the smaller image and the sentiment from the other stamps in the set (free with craft stamper) using perfect medium and perfect pearls.

Birthday cards.

Today I am 20+18+6

Which is cool, i’ve lived all these years that’s for sure.

Most of them are etched on my face

And the grey hairs come through the dye quicker and bring a friend each time. Man.

I had an iPhone for my birthday last week which has made me very, very happy.

I also was sent some fantastic cards from my crafty friends.

From Sue, Susi & Maria

Here is a close up of the one from Susi, i’m not playing favourites I just needed a close-up for something so i thought I would share it here.

It is exquisite isn’t it.

Henry Ville

I haven’t scrapped Louis so much lately.

He’s my firstborn and the sweetest darned thing. Apart from the x-box obsession and hot water revulsion that is. His interests in the x-box and playing with his friends in the park and going to the cinema mean that we don’t hang out like we did. That’s progress and whatnot, but sad for me as he is great company.
11 he is for a few more months and then he will be 12 and I guess after that he will be 13 and then all the rest. 
When I do snatch a few minutes, usually over dinner or homework I am amazed by his P.O.V. It generally is different to mine and none the worse for that but sometimes there is quite a pie-chart chunk where we collide. It is usually the sense of humour where we pick up on something that someone says, give each other a wink or a nudge or an expressive look. It takes me straight back to where we were when he was two/three and it was just us, we had a simpler and simple life then with no work, nursery, spare money or anything to get in the way of us taking the most out of each day. We had such a great relationship and spent all our time together (poor chap couldn’t get away!)

Anyway, I was watching him watching something and ruminating on it all and the nature of mummy/son relationships and feeling that rush of emotion that you sometimes (*sometimes*) get when considering your kids and I remembered a day when I just wanted to eat him. Right up, gobble gobble, gnaw and munch.
He was 7 or 8, not sure, wasn’t a scrapper then
He had some work he was doing at school and I was going over it with him, fairly painful usually but something had caught his attention and I was keen to explore this and exploit it to keep it going, so I just encouraged him to keep talking. Well I was interested as well, as much in that he went to the same junior school as I did and the curriculum was the same. Not a bad thing as of course I am highly educated….

He said “there was this guy henry ville and he was something to do with a vicar or something happened at a church and it wasn’t good”
Mum looked at me bewildered, as I thought it through I said “Lou, where did you get henry ville from?”
“From this book mum, I think he was famous or somefink”
I knew, just knew as he turned it over that it was Henry VIII.
So when we see our far distant king anytime; henry ville he is and always shall be in our house.
Yeeesss I did go back and set him straight, nicely, mummily. The dear of him, he totally saw the funny side and was giggling himself.
‘Oh, i’m glad I didn’t say that in class Mummy.’
Love the bones of him.

I loved this AC paper and have been stroking it for a little while.
The story came to me this week and I wanted to use the great sketch from Creative Craft World

so this has all come together nicely this morning…I am really enjoying my scrapping and this has been lovely therapy, remembering and sticking.
Oh and the laptop is home and well.

Sunday round-up.

Firstly, we played the 12 Days Of Christmas in our UKS team where we sent another team member a pressie to open each day. The presents are fabulous and I have put mine to good use already. The thing that I really look forward to though is the tags, the ones from Sue are just lovely so I thought I would share a photo with you.

How good?

My first scrapping of the year.

The weekly challenge on UKS.

Week 1

Old Stash (Brown CS lurking around and buttons are a mix of new from Sue-thanks and old), Circles (paint dabber, alcohol ink and mist), Doodling (doodled round some of the circles and the page, as well as the title).

 

Week 2

New Stash, Old Stash, Bling.

The new stash and the old stash is the same pp. I bought the 6x6 pad yonks ago and Mum bought me the 12x12 pad for Christmas (No I didn’t tell her )

 

Fudge in one of his many favourite lounging spots. He is supremely lazy.

Thanks to Sue for the lovely rosettes.

Monthly Challenge.

 

All about my immediate and overwhelming, against all that is sensible, love for my iPhone. The photo of the iPhone is rubbish and I will replace it when I am set up better.

Right, just in time to get my Horlicks ready for Sherlock. It’s all rock and roll to me.

Project Life & A Sad Tale

I have so enjoyed doing this project this week or so and finally put the first week together. Although it didn’t come out quite as polished as I imagined I am pleased and have learned a lot about how to tackle this week.

 

One thing I didn’t do was add ephemera, I will fix that this week.

The Sad Tale.

One broken laptop. I have tried to keep it in perspective, but really I am quite heartbroken.

So apologies if I don’t keep up with commenting on your blogs. I can’t use the phone as it doesn’t like the word verification. I will try but sorry in advance if I miss anyone.

Project Life-ish

I’d like to say that I will post every Monday or Tuesday with the finished result of the previous weeks project life. But that would be “setting myself up for a fall” now wouldn’t it.

I will say that I will try to do an extra post a week about how it is coming along, what works for me, what doesn’t work for me so that I can adjust it as I go.

What I would also like to come out of it is that I can pull out the better stories and pictures and do a proper layout a week to link in with the challenges at UKS and extend the project to encompass a lot of my scrapping this year. I think that is the way I want to go. Let’s see.

My pretty came today,

I know, shocking that of all the colours; I chose turquoise. My project life box is there ready and the title page is half scrapped. Those gorgeous prima pretties are one of my 12 days of Christmas presents from lovely Sue.

So far the best prep I have done is follow a photo-a-day challenge which Suzie has set up, fabulously, here.

I have set up a blog, Snap366-2012 specifically for this which is working well so far. So I know that side of things will be taken care of.

My family are quite interested and I was so pleased that Mum did a journaling spot for me already and the boys are keen to get started.

We were stymied from really getting into it tonight by der life stuff, Christmas to be dismantled and then getting into the attic (miss you Dad) to get it all up there, which led to (as the ladders were out) to do all the light bulbs that blew over the last few weeks.

So I am going to have a quick tinker and then, hopefully, I will show you how you got on.

If you are interested in it though I suggest you check out some of the design team for Project Life-proper. Now they know what they are doing!

“Why aren’t you at work?”

Firstly, a Happy New Year to all of you, thank you so much for popping by my blog this year, I really appreciate it and hope you enjoyed it.

New Years Eve 2002

“Why aren’t you at work?” I blearily said to Mum, she was in her uniform making a cup of coffee in the kitchen as I came in after celebrating New Year’s Eve.

“Erm, because I have finished my shift” she said with a slightly exasperated tone.

Blearily looking at the clock made things worse.....I understood what the hands said but not how it could be that time.

“Is it broken?” I wondered, (blearily) aloud.

“No”, sighed Mum.

Earlier that evening...

My best friend Lisa was home from Inverness and we had not caught up for about 2 years as we had been busy, she had travelled the world, updating me with the most amazing postcards and photos and I had married and had my first baby. So we had a lot to catch up on, we looked through photos and played with my baby. Then we put away the photos and passed over the baby and got ready and went out.

Disclaimer: This photo was from New Years Eve 1996 (I think)

A lovely evening in our seaside town catching up with old friends, finding out many of us were now parents, had proper jobs and were doing some fab things with our lives. Eventually we settled into a quiet-ish corner of The George & Dragon with a bottle of white and talked and talked and talked of hopes and dreams, of startling realities and a bit of good old gossip.

Eventually, tiredness overcame us and we wandered along our old haunts to home, I remember us giggling as to who was going to see who home, our parents lived either side of our local church and graveyard, we settled on half way through and shouting to each other.

…………………

“Is it broken?” I wondered (blearily) aloud.

“No”, sighed Mum....

“Well, I don’t understand....” I replied.

“You and Lisa have been out all night”

“We have not...have we?”

“Yes dear, do you want a coffee?”

“......”

Mum was a nurse and had worked the night shift, she came home at 6:30am closely followed by me. We genuinely had no idea of the time, hadn’t checked and just went with the flow. Fortunately, the baby was with my brother until lunch-time so I got a few hours shut-eye.

I will remember that night as one of the best ever New Years Eve, only beaten by the year 1999 into 2000 which as we were out watching the fireworks it occurred to me why I was feeling out of sorts and the warming spirits I had tried to consume before we went out had turned my stomach. I remember telling my husband that just maybe, by NYE 2001 there would be a new little Hart person.

And there was; my new millenium baby, Louis.

Thank you Sian for hosting Storytelling Sunday again. Perversely, I have less photos than normal. Although I think we can all agree that after seeing my sparkly silver cardigan, fringe and those bleary eyes we have had more than enough.

Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Recklessly in January I threw the old tree out into the garden…I loved that tree, I would spend all day decorating it, and then tinker with it all through December.

Five years with Alex and Minty had taken it’s toll and the final bell rang on December 19th last year when Minty; in her haste to jump onto the window-sill to bark at whichever audacious person dared to walk past, simply jumped through the tree and snapped a crucial branch off.

Hmm, here she is plotting it’s quite literal downfall on the day I put it up last year.

So, out it went in January with fervent plans to put aside enough pennies to afford another one.

No, that didn’t happen and so sadly I couldn’t justify the cost of the one I wanted from the garden centre (£120!)

Instead opted for a cheaper one. Bah humbug.

Anyway, here it is, i’ve gussied up the photo to make it look more than it is and ready for printing for my christmas journal.

Yes, irony at Christmas is quite misplaced, but still, it’s there.

Father Christmas’ expression says it all I think.