Hey Ho Bloggers!

Hello bloggers :)

Not much going on here, but I have some photos to share.

First up some HSMS prompts. Apple and Clouds. Hmmm.... Apple Clouds......... sounds like a colour from a paint chart!
Some apples on the tree in my garden:And some of the clouds rolling over the Welsh countryside this afternoon:Yesterday Lee and I met up with Katrina and took Ellie to the park for the first time as she's finally big enough to fit in the baby swing. Here are some snaps (i.e. they captured the moment beautifully, although not technically prefect or well-composed!!)

First up, the Slide - she loved this straight away!She soon got into the swing of this;
Little unsure:
Smiles all round:Screams of baby joy!!!

xxx

She Rocks!

Hello!

Well I've had a busy little week getting sorted for my impending studies - most of it has been a drag as it's been all facts and figures and form filling, but I've finally had confirmation of my grant and loan entitlement so at least we've now got some actual figures to work with!! I did find a little light relief though by partaking in a gals' favourite pass time - shopping!! I'm now armed with a brand new wardrobe and accessories to boot, and enough pens and notebooks to keep me going for possibly the next twenty years or so! the week of preparations has given me a couple of ideas for LO's though - so just got to get the photos taken to illustrate my thoughts and I'll be away! :)

At the South Wales Crop last week I decided to use Pencil lines Sketch #45 to create a page about my sister (she was less than impressed, gushing about how fab you sister is when she is sat next to you is apparently not a cool thing to do!). I really loved the clean lines of the sketch, and the cropped second photo, and the theme I had in mind seemed to fit it perfectly. I finished it off this week at home - I needed the PC to print my journalling onto acetate which was something I obviously couldn't do at the crop!

I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.The journalling reads:
This Girl Rocks.
She really does. Just by looking at her, you’d never know what a rocky ride she’s had, & how she’s amazingly triumphed over the past to truly become the most amazing person I know. She’s the most thoughtful, most generous & most selfless person I’ve ever met. She’ll fight passionately for the people she loves & the things she believes in. She will not be walked over, or let it happen to others. She’s intelligent, warm & funny. I’m amazed by this woman, & each day I learn from her example. I truly believe that there are even greater things to come from her, & that she is going to shine and pour light into the lives of others somehow in a BIG way. I’m honoured, & humbled, to have this girl as my sister.
Picture: 18.07.07 (22nd birthday) Journaling: 22.08.07

Todays' HSMS prompt is:
Stone: A hard solid mineral. Show us 'stone' in your space today
I took this pic of the intricate stone work surrounding St Fagans Castle at the Museum of Welsh Life when we visited a couple of weeks ago. It hasn't come out quite as I wanted - I thought I'd set the shot up for the star to be in focus, rather than the bit to the right in the sun light! Never mind, it's a pretty bit of stone work none the less!And here's a catch up for earlier in the week - Friend. This is my best friend in the whole world, love him loads. This one was taken in St Fagans too. It's just as well that he likes to pose as much as I like to take photos really!! Catch you all soon xxx

Plant

Todays' HSMS prompt is plant. Here's one of the poor, weather beaten fuscias in my garden, just about one of the only things to have with stood all this wind and rain. The photo has been very obviously edited, but what do you expect on such a cold and grey day?!! :) Mil Lunares has very kindly nominated me for this "nice" award :)
In return, here are my three nominations for some of the nicest peeps in Blogland (it really is hard as everyone is lovely!),
Gems,
Gemma and
Di

Off work this week until Friday so despite all the running about and organising we seem to be doing at the moment due to my up-coming departure from the working world, I hope to fit in a spot of shopping and some scrapping! I've got just under four weeks left at work, so I've finally broken the news to some of the tenants, and I was actually quite touched at some of their reactions as a few of the boys were genuinely sorry that I was leaving, bless their hearts. It's nice to know that I've made some sort of difference to them during the years I've worked with them :)

Edited to add: Just been catching up on all my favourite blogs, which I haven't done for a couple of weeks, and noticed that my Funny Faces LO was posted here under Reader Submissions on the Multiphoto Layout gallery blog on Sugust 3rd. Cool! It's a great resource for multi-photo inspiration, check it out :)
xxx

Pasta!

Mmmm I just love this stuff! It's one of my favourite foods. Fresh pasta is absolutely the most delicious, but we haven't got any of that here :( Just as well we had plenty of the dried variety on hand for todays' HSMS prompt!

Pasta : An Italian food made from dough. Find pasta in your space today
Yesterday's prompt was drive - here's a pic of us doing a spot of off-roading in our "gas-guzzler" last summer, we're so lucky to live on such a beautiful coastline.
I know a lot of people frown upon 4x4's now, but it's our one little treat in life and we do do our little bit for the environment, at least more than most people I talk to anyway! Anything that enters this house that can be recycled is recycled and we compost our kitchen scraps. We use energy efficient bulbs, and energy-saving appliances too where possible. Our thermostat is turned down. We buy most of our fresh produce directly from our local farm shop, rather than stuff that's been trekked across the country, or worse, jetted across the world, and we don't holiday abroad (alright, as much as I'd like to do so!). I'm always on the look out for more ways we can be kinder to our planet too - so any suggestions will be welcome! I've heard a recycled paper scrapbooking line has just been released at CHA, so will be looking forward to seeing what that's like!!
I don't know why I'm sitting here feeling that I have to justify the car I drive! I Came home from my 12 hour night shift this morning smuthering with a stinking cold and sore throat, and I can't get off to sleep as a result, so I think I'm feeling emotional!! I blame this wacky weather for my lurgy - two days of glorious sunshine and now it's torrential rain again today!! xxxx

Ta-ra-ra boom de-ay!!

Yep! Still struggling with thinking of exciting post titles!! Hopefully I'll get my title mojo back real soon!!

Anywhooo....here's the last of those pages I did last weekend, and I think it's quite sweet. I loved this pic of Lee and his nephew, and thought I'd use it to document the conversation they have at least every ten minutes when they are together, which goes along the lines of Lee asking "Who's your best Uncle?", and Harrison replying, with a huge grin on his chops, "Uncle Lee!!!!". Very sweet!
PP is very old Basic Grey ('twas perfect for this LO - it just goes to show NEVER throw anything away!!!) and Creative Imaginations, chipboard American Crafts and Fancy Pants, buttons My Minds Eye. Stamped the acetate border with acrylic paint and a small lid, and used a dymo to make the brown journaling strip. I saw a punch advertised in Creating Keepsakes that gives you the effect of torn note-book paper, loved the effect, but ever-striving to get looks whilst saving pennies I had a go at copying it by making holes with my Cropodile and tearing outwards from each one to the edge of the paper. I think it worked quite well and will not be splurging on the punch!
Been trying to catch up with the HSMS prompts from over the weekend today, but couldn't find anything inspiring to photograph. I did manage the "Down" prompt though, although it could quite easily be "up" too, depending which way you are going at the time!! This is my hallway, there's a window at the top of the landing and I love how the light flowing in has made this shot look magical - it's like the original Stairway to Heaven, don't you think?!!!
It was the Swansea crop on Friday, I didn't get much done as per usual, but it was fab as always to catch up with everyone, especially Gems. My lil sister is getting in on the scrapbooking act now and came along for the evening, and we're all off to the South Wales crop in Newport next Saturday. Fab stash shopping there - better lock up my cheque book me thinks!! xxx

Ooh la la :) *struggling to think of proper post title*

Here's another one of the LO's I made at the weekend, a quickie of me and my fabulous mum. The pic was taken on my sis' birthday last month. Todays HSMS prompt is
Eyes : The window to the soul, which eyes are watching in your space today ?
And catch up from yesterday;
Bloom : A period of greatest beauty, find 'bloom' in your space today.
This was taken at St Fagans (The Museum of Welsh Life) a couple of weeks agoxxx

She's been up to something........

Well I've been a creative little sausage and have made three layouts over the last few days. Fancy that! So I won't spoil you by showing you them all at once; here's a little tease of what I've been up to. Ooh I am a temptress aren't I?The first challenge over on the One Little Word blog gave me the original idea for this - but I never manage to finish challenges in time with everyone else (or even get around to starting them at the same time, for that matter). It's a page I've been meaning to make for myself for the past couple of months, since my place on the course at uni was confirmed. Naturally, as the world's most pessimistic lass (according to Gems), lot's of things are worrying me, and so I wanted to make a page full of reassurances, things to look forward to and a reminder of why I'm putting myself through it all!

It's a first for me as I've not used any patterned paper which is my one essential supply! My aged collection of crap stickers collected over the years really came in handy for this too. As did an SEI crochet flower that I bought (reduced to some silly price) goodness knows when as they were deemed pretty naff - but now they're hot again! Also had some fun with some acrylic paint and bubble wrap for the background (don't ask - the lack of pp got to me!!)

PS - I have totally given up on trying to crop my photos of my LO's tidily cos I just can't do it!! They always look wonky and daft whatever I do so I'm chucking in the towel. Two years of trying to get a decent shot of my LO's where everything's straight, in focus and the colours are true to life, but no luck. Hence the flash of white around this page. It's my lounge wall, I think. It's more cream in reality. I do hope you like the tiny glimpse of my home decor that this gives you. A little peep at my humble abode, if you will. Tomorrow you may get lucky and see some of the duck-egg blue we have in the kitchen. Or the hot-pink from the bedroom. Exciting stuff eh? xxx

Bumper Cards!

Hysteri-Cal has very kindly bumped me with the Bumper Cards Tag - designed to spread a little random sunshine and happiness around the world! All the original info can be found here :)

Here are the lovely peeps I wanna pass it forward to:

Heather - hope you feel more of your good old self soon xxx

Gemma L - for being totally sweet and thoughtful xxx

Gems - for generally being a fab bud and always making me giggle xxx

Have a happy day my friends:) xxx

The Girls are Back in Town!

The HSMS girls that is!! Back from their summer hols; yesterdays prompt was summer (I think the photo in my previous post looks pretty summery), and todays is Breakfast. Yummeh! I love cereal.
It's quite a dark and moody shot - which I think is a subconscious expression of the fact that I am simply NOT a morning person!! :)
Finally finished the one and only LO yesterday that I started at the retreat (apart from the classes I took). It's a selection of the funny faces that Ellie pulls at the moment, usually accompanied by wacky noises and roars!
The journalling is hidden on a little tag behind the central photo.
xxx

Sunshine Days :)

Hurrah for the sun! It doesn't take away the pain of my newly acquired sprained ankle, but it sure makes me smile anyway!!!

The retreat was fab over the weekend; the hotel and food were lovely, classes were great and the company was amazing. I have not laughed so hard and so continuously in a long time - and swear I have sprained muscles in my side from doing so!! I really met some lovely new peeps and had a great time catching up with old buddies :)

Just a short blog from me - because I really really want to share this photo with you! It was complete fluke I think, due to the lovely light, but it's the sort of picture I always *long* to take but never seem to have the right ability/equipment/settings/subjects that keep still long enough to do so! I'm totally pants at portrait pics (hence all my close up still life shots I share with you all the time!!), but this is sooooo the type of pics I dream of taking, or at least I would if I was obsessed enough to actually dream about photography!

I hope it brings a little bit of warmth and sunshine in to your day too :)

xxx