Saturday 1 September 2012

Getting Back To Routine…

Yay!…for September…for a new school term…for things returning to ‘normal’ & new beginnings! As much as I love the summer holidays & the minimal need to clock-watch, there is something very energising about reinstating a routine.

In our household we are having a staggered start to this process, with Lee taking up his new teaching post from the 3rd, Nathan returning to school on the 6th & Alex starting at college on the 10th. 

But for me, the 1st of September is a great place to start getting things back on an even keel! Most things are in place…new school clothes/stationery/lunch bags have been bought…cupboard/freezer stocked with packed lunch items…shoes polished or replaced…both boys (& Lee) haircuts done…we are generally ‘good to go’!!

I’m also up to date with my scrappy commitments & looking forward to (hopefully) completing Shimelle’s ‘Learn Something New Every Day’ project (which I started in 2010!) during the coming month!

1 Last House On The Left Movie PosterSo, back to those scrappy commitments! First, Septembers challenge over at ‘From Screen To Scrap’ is to take inspiration from the movie poster for ‘The Last House On The Left’ & to include the following criteria…

1. Use a black background/CS.
2. Feature a house somewhere on
    your LO.
3. One word in the title to be in red.

I must admit that I struggled with this one from the word go! Nothing jumped out at me from the poster that had me running for my scrap supplies! But at last, while searching through old photo’s I found one with a story attached & this LO came about…

2 First & Last House LO 
Not the most technique-rich Lo, but it tells the story of our visit to Lands End in pitch dark, to watch the weekly summer fireworks. There is a house that sits near the cliffs that is signposted ‘The First & Last House’. We explained to Alex why & he became quite panicked that we were close to the edge of the world itself! He asked? “Why would anyone want to live in a house at the edge of the world?”…good question!! We did actually return to Lands End in daylight, to prove that there was sea beyond ‘the edge’ & not just the blackness of the night before!

If something jumps out of that poster to inspire you, why not play along with us over at ‘From Screen To Scrap’ this month, you have a whole month to create your LO & as always there’ll be some great scrappy prizes up for grabs!

3 Jacky's LO to lift for September 1stSecondly, the final LO for Dawns Chinese Whispers (sigh). I have so enjoyed taking part in this & can’t wait to see how each of the eight participants sketches evolved…I didn’t recognise my own sketch at all in the final LO I received from Jackie yesterday!!

Here is the LO I received from Jackie last month…

…& here is my ‘lift’ from it…

4 LO from Jacky's August LO

Another confession here…I have had in my stash a set of Glimmer Mists since our trip to Chicago in 2010 & I have never opened them! It is not a technique I have had much success with & dislike how the paper/CS wrinkles when damp!

But I knew I wanted to create a masked effect on this LO, so I bit the bullet, made an Olympic ring mask & broke open the Glimmer Mist! I have to say I’m pleased with the result, even though I did need to iron the CS once it was dry! I chose pink because it was the colour scheme for the Olympic venues & the red, white & blue seemed appropriate & came mostly from the ‘Portobello Rd’ collection.

The sun is shining here in Darkest Bedfordshire & I’m planning to have an afternoon out & about with my camera!  I have several ideas for locations to complete Rinda’s scavenger hunt & I have a major backlog of editing for Suzie’s ‘365+1 in 2012’! But it’s all about regaining control & getting back into routine! Which is where I came in….

Thanks so much for dropping by & I do hope you’re enjoying your weekend! Come back soon! Open-mouthed smile

4 comments:

karen said...

Perfect photo for that house layout.
I can't remember if I I joined that Shimelle class years ago. I can't seem to get into the old forums as all my email and passwords have changed since all those years ago. Was I Buzz or buzz ??? I mean he's been dead over 3 years!

debs14 said...

Ah, your comment box comes up right next to the picture of David Cassidy on your blog - I may stay here a while ...
Love the Olympic page, I too am a wrinkly glimmer mister and had never thought about ironing the page afterwards - good plan!

Sian said...

Oh, yes, you have perfectly put into words the way I feel about September too.

I love the Olympc Ring glimmer effect - subtle and perfect.

Ifa said...

I spot an Olympic LO...yay! My boys are back at school so I too am also back to scrapbooking and reading blogs.