Project Life….Weeks 27,28, 29, and er.. 30.

 

I knew I was getting behind, but really, what a marathon to get caught up. I had such good intentions as well because I knew it would be a busy few weeks. Ho-hum.

Week 27

Race For Life, nicely painted hearts on my cheeks before and after, tear stained.

A difficult week with Mum being poorly again, this time with cellulitis. Touch wood she has been much better since.

We had the shower ripped out and replaced, no shower for 3 days. Horrid, but the new shower is great and no longer leaks. The gap on the right is for the invoice to go in. Ouch.

Week 28

As you can see from the amount of filler cards and the large glass of wine the week was one to try and get through. I think it was partly realising that there wasn’t too long to get through to my holiday and then part-time work.

I had a lovely report for Ali

I received my new iphone cover from my friend Susi’s Etsy Shop Susibee’s buttons…..

 

Isn’t it cute, love that tiny bee that she sews to her iPhone and iPad covers.

Week 29

Again, more filler cards, but I quite like them. Work just went crazy and I was on nights for a couple of days (that makes sense to me!), so I was a bit out of whack! Auntie Ada was 90 Happy Birthday. Loved her cake.

Ali graduated from the Infants School and the qr code is for his class singing Gary Barlow’s ‘Sing’ as part of the farewell celebrations. Blub. He is off to Junior School in September.

Lauren dyed her hair pink, it is quite pale so I quite like it.

The week ended with me road tripping to Susi’s house and having a lovely day and evening with her and her family before my trip to the Olympics  

Week 30

My trip to the dress rehearsal of the opening ceremony. I am going to go back and add in the journaling on a 6x12 pp. I am, I am, I am

Also we swept away the cobwebs on wednesday evening by going down to the beach for a jump in the waves, so warm and lovely even at 8pm.

Another QR code showing some video footage of the boys jumping in the waves.

So now onward to Week 31 and 32. Humpf.

The day I went to the Opening Ceremony.

Storytelling Sunday: Summer Lovin’ – August. Have you heard of it? I’m sure you have…in case you haven’t then go over to From High On The Sky where Sian blogs and hosts a monthly Storytelling Time.
Summer Lovin’?

So easy for me, this summer has been full of things I have loved. Not a personal love but love of big events, in this patriotic year. I was so looking forward to 2012. In fact so much that in September 2010 I applied to be a ‘Games Maker’ one of the volunteers for London 2012. I have been waiting and waiting and waiting. I don’t know quite what I did or didn’t do at the interview (I had worked all night before the interview so maybe I was dull) They asked me if I would like to be a Team Leader as well so I was convinced that I was in with a chance of at least a day litter picking.  Anyway I waited and waited some more, My boss and his boss authorised me to have the time off (not really convenient either as it is our busiest time) and I rang and rang the Games Maker team and they said yes we are still hoping to place you, you are successful in passing….anyway at the end of June they sent me an email to say that I hadn’t been successful at that point although they may still need me but to console me they were giving me a ticket to the first dress rehearsal of the Opening Ceremony. OK then, well that was totally worth the stress and worry, now I don’t have to work, spend money I don’t really have and earn less as I am not at work and I get to go to see the stadium.

In my naiveté I thought that I would go into the Olympic park, then go into the stadium and watch them move stuff around into place. It was labelled as the ‘technical rehearsal’. How dumb am I?
So I went to stay at my good friend Susi’s house (which was so fab and a minibreak in itself, thanks Susi ) and then took the train into Euston from there. From Euston, well I’m pretty sure I would invite ridicule from Londoner’s if I told you my whole tale but suffice to say I think I did one part twice, due to being unsure if I was right Anyway I was only 10 minutes adrift of the time I was due so it couldn’t have been too bad from a gal from the sticks that generally just drives from A to B. Actually in all seriousness, that underground is genius and I love travelling it. Just once a year though
From Stratford station there were Games Makers all the way marshalling us and cheering us, welcoming us…and they were all laughing with us at the fact that the pink stripping at the top of the tunnels that had arrows pointing us in the right direction were pointing the wrong way
We emerged into the bright sunlight and again were marshalled so well into the Olympic Park, the soldiers were so polite and friendly getting us through security, and we were in.


I was here….here I was….Usually my hair is full of bounce and verve ;) I think it was overawed and needed to lay down behind my ears here.

Bridge A, my way in. Not at all excited at this point

I hadn’t listened to anything or searched for anything on twitter so I was ‘green’ but by the time I got to the stadium it was clear that I was going to see a version of the ceremony.
To see the ‘green and pleasant land’ was awe-inspiring. I chuckled when I saw the clouds carried by the ‘mechanics’-dance girls that had a real flair to gee the crowd up. To see the local children doing the maypole (let’s bring that back) was magical.
Also if you see on the big screen it says #savethesurprise Danny Boyle came out at this point, thanked us all for applying and getting involved and asked us to save the surprise and you know, most people did. I know I did, although I was itching, itching I say.
All of a sudden a child was singing Jerusalem and although I would have been surprised and saddened if it wasn’t in there, I was amazed at my reaction to it. I love it and am always moved by it, but this just made me cry.
Then when the drummers started (and this wasn’t clear on the telly), I mean they started out of nowhere just behind our heads and travelled down between us, there was a few to start and it just grew until there were a thousand of them and they kept the same amazing beat with Evelyn Glennie going great guns a few metres from us. Sublime. Awesome. Unexpected. Effective.
My heart was going with the drums as was the intention.
Just as we wondered why, up came the chimneys.

Then watching the team take off the green and pleasant land in pieces in order and in dance time, then ‘forge’ that ring and seeing all the other rings swing into the stadium. Well my heart was in my mouth.

Seeing Sir Kenneth Branagh speak was the topping. I so enjoyed the rest but that whole first half hour just stirred me, especially as it segued into the London Symphony Orchestra (about 20 metres from me) playing Chariots of Fire. I was done. I couldn’t even take many more photos. I just sat there in awe.
Summer Lovin’ indeed. I hope you enjoyed it too, everyone I have spoken to has been thrilled.
If you read all the way through, thank you Enjoy the rest of the Olympics.

Friendship/Creative Craft World ScrapMap July

Creative Craft World have a great ScrapMap this month. I had fun putting a kit together and then scrapping this lunchtime.

New Thickers called Sprinkles and good old white cs.

My plan.

The photos and paper. August Moon from Ruby Rock-it.

The kit.

The base.

The End. From Top Left, Maria, Susi, Karen, Laura & Sue, my friends that I spent a happy week with at Dartmouth House in Olney with back in March. Happy memories.

The quote is;

“I count myself in nothing else so happy

As in a soul rememb’ring my good friends.” WS

Weekly Challenge: July Week 2/Shakespeare.

So where was I with Shakespeare?

Reading Macbeth. Enjoying it, I have watched the programme that Ethan Hawke made for the Shakespeare Season on BBC. I downloaded a support book to help me through it a bit and I have read a bit more. It has been a difficult week at home and will continue to be so, so the only chance I get to read it in the peace and quiet my dull brain needs is at break time at work as I have described before, but they have been few and far between.

I had a lovely friday evening making a layout for the weekly challenge over at UKS.

I used a Nigella recipe for Jumbleberry Jam for my first foray into jam making. I liked the recipe as there was no faffing about with a thermometer that I don’t own! It was brilliantly easy and it was good jam. I did this in early March to take to our retreat. We finished the jar at home this week so am looking forward to September and making some more.

The layout was on started on white cs, I don’t seem to use anything else very much apart from the odd Kraft. I painted on some stripes of pearly paint once I knew where my photos etc were going. I used Shimelle’s 4x6 Photo Love class for September last year. I used it for the first time to scrap a lovely break to Legoland we had that month.  I posted that layout here.

I adapted that challenge as this challenge wanted some white space. I cut down the photos to 4x5 and matted them on to pretty paper from BG Nook & Pantry.

So happy to finally use some, I loved it at the time I bought it but didn’t use much of it. Then matted them onto neutral cs, added a washi tape tab and then tucked them into the acetate pocket I made.

The acetate pocket uses the same washi tape to secure it and there is a strip of my new pp Simple Stories Summer Fresh underneath the pocket and securing the bottom of the pocket. A few embellies and the journaling and twas done

 Thanks so much for looking

Monthly Challenge: Nostalgia.

As I went through my reader a couple of weeks ago I was surprised to see Storytelling Sunday over at Sian’s From High In The Sky. I’m know it is always the first Sunday in the month but still! I was feeling nostalgic as I read Uncle Dave’s post and started thinking about what I might write about.
My mind skitted upon the Run To The Sun we did to Newquay many moons ago-when it wasn’t all about the drinking! That immediately linked to The Verve and their Bittersweet Symphony. (I am listening to it now as I write this and still finding such emotion and joy in it). The album came out the day we drove down there which is why it resonates and is so tied up with that weekend.
We worked at sea for P&O European Ferries and five of us hired a VW Sharan when we disembarked–’The Bus’ we called it immediately and shouted at every car to get out of our way “We Have A Bus, We Go First!”. We were all used to driving Renault 5’s and Fiesta’s. It even had aircon, AirCon!!!!
Such silly, such happy 22 year olds we were. We stopped everywhere to see if they had it stocked. We finally tracked it down at Exeter Services and we didn’t stop listening to it for a week. I still listen to it regularly.
I also remember hysterical laughter as we drove through a sleepy part of Devon (yeah, I know most of it is quite sleepy, and still is, I love it) and seeing a tourist attraction sign, you know the brown ones, advertising ‘Barometer World’, well as we dissolved in helpless laughter (Matt was driving and he had to pull over) someone quipped, “What’s next, ‘Thermometer Kingdom’…?” That was it-just paralysed. Those are the things that you find hilarious. It still makes me smile now, and I drive past that same sign, now and again.
So what a co-incidence when I came across Sian’s post for Saturday (in the same Google Reader catch-up!) where she discusses nostalgia and the photo is of cassettes of music. So well done Uncle Dave you managed to make me nostalgic simply from your post and you sent me down a nice memory lane this morning.
Were there ever any photos? I don’t think so. It seems strange compared to now when I never leave the house without a piece of equipment that will take a decent photo ready to document our lives.
There are photos from that year though, this post drove me to find them. They were of a cabin party on board for my 22nd birthday.
Firstly, Paul & I sharing a moment. So many things to tell you about this photo.

Firstly I must tell you that however suggestive this photo might be, the reality is much more innocent. For some reason Paul’s nickname on board was fathead…I cannot remember why. But I do remember it used to wind him up. One of the entertainment crew had made the balloon man of Paul for me (with a fat head balloon for his head) and he wasn’t particularly happy but we teased him to vaguely smile and he was brandishing it at me here.
Paul and I were very fond of each other and had some nice times, he was a really sweet person and treated me so well. We also shared a weird experience. Our maternal grannies died within 24 hours of each other, I clearly remember comforting him as we travelled to Le Havre with him knowing that he couldn’t get off until we had turned the ship around “turnaround” and returned to Portsmouth, I then got the call from shore-side on our return journey to Portsmouth that my Granny had had a stroke and so I went to pack to get going too. I am sure that as we were an item there was scepticism about it, not for us though, we went our separate ways at the train station and my Granny died a few hours before I got there. Paul’s Granny had died when he heard.

On one of our watch weeks (for those that don’t know, and I know KathiJo does because of Zac at least.) we worked a five week system, one week at sea, one week off, two weeks at sea, one week off. This meant that we didn’t spend much for 3 weeks out of 5. Brilliant. I paid off my student overdraft in about 10 weeks. I remember being so relieved that the £1000 was gone. I know it wouldn’t be that easy for anyone today.
It also meant that those of us on the same watch or on a ‘good’ overlay watch could arrange breaks away. We went to many places of which Newquay, Dublin and Skegness were highlights A few tales to be told from each!
So back to the birthday party I so wish there were straighteners in those days and my hair wasn’t so fluffy

This was just before the previous photo when Paul discovered me dancing with his ‘fun balloon’ doppelganger.

And then later on when it all got so much more drunken and crazy. How many people can you get in one tiny cabin?

I just had to make a layout of it so I used the monthly challenge sketch, a lovely one from Sue and stretched it to a double as the photos are so big. I used my fab new eclips to cut a doily big enough and cut it in half to use on both sides. I was also really happy to use up the final scraps of the Summer Days papers that I am sure you are fed-up of seeing on my layouts. What a lovely few hours I had reminiscing.
Thanks for looking it over xxx
PS I have just noticed in the post that the hexagons have slipped on the bottom left of the pic, straightened them now, wish it would be so easy to do that to my hair!

Project Life Week 26.

Woo Hoo (as my over-excited alter ego might say). I am half way through
I love the new page protectors, it made it easier that I had some pre-made journaling cards, but harder in that I am not as used to this size so much. I think on the whole they will be better.

The LHS. I used up some of the rest of the 12x12 collection from Echo Park Summer Days, that I have loved scrapping with this month. The journaling card page that comes with the collection is perfect. Echo Park have it nailed for my use
The title page, pretty pinwheel paper with a QR code linking a video of Ali running on the beach. My journaling, two snaps of my dinner and some snaps of us with closed eyes, blissed out at the beach.


The RHS.

Mum’s journaling, snaps of the sea mist, letters from the infants about Ali’s transition, a cloud cut from the eclips, space to put links to the relevant blog posts, must go back and put them in. Photo of Ali at his transition assembly, predictably mucking about with Eleanor, those two are incorrigible
So, as I always say, I love it. That is volume 1 of Project Life from Hart Towers done. New Album and New Adventures just round the corner I hope.


Thanks for having a gander. xx