Tuesday 17 July 2012

Short & Sweet Movie Update!

With the end of term & summer break looming, it seems like there just aren’t enough hours in any one day!

But, I have managed to make it to the cinema twice this month!

Ice Age 4We managed to make the preview showing of ‘Ice Age 4 – Continental Drift’ & I have to say this series of films is wasted on children! I know they enjoy it, but the subtle humour is  just too wonderful & often goes straight over their heads!!  If you enjoyed films 1-3 you will love this one too! It always amazes me how they perfectly capture a little of the voice-actor in the animation & it’s worth watching the end credits right to the very last, just to see who played who!!!

Snow-White-And-The-Huntsman   Secondly, we saw ‘Snow
   White & The Huntsman’.

   I guess this was how the
   Brothers Grimm intended
   the tale to be told. Quite
   unlike the sugar coated
   Disney animation, this is a
   dark tale indeed!

   Charlize Theron as the
   wicked Queen is perfect!
   Nice to see Kristen Stewart
   in something other than a
   Twilight film & a very
   good portrayal of a tougher
   than usual Snow White!

The casting of the seven dwarves is inspired…Ray Winston, Ian McShane & Bob Hoskins to name just a few! Great special effects & so many twists in the plot made this more enjoyable than I had expected!!!

I’ll be back soon with a taste of the orient….but for now I’ll leave you with a ‘warm & fuzzy’ moment…

426919_10150938478353722_1216107033_n 

….aaaaah!!  Thanks for stopping by & see you again soon! Open-mouthed smile

Tuesday 10 July 2012

Deja Vu?!!!

You may remember this time last year I posted HERE about Hubby’s graduation….well, yesterday we did it all again!! He is now a qualified teacher…yay!!

What is so funny is that all through the day (& apparently during his trip to China too….more on that to follow!) he was mistaken for a member of the university faculty!…one elderly lady even going so far as to say ‘Excuse me professor…’ I guess being a MATURE student has it’s advantages!!

IMG_7579 (3)So I had to just pop in & share a photo of the day…rain was forecast, heavy & all day…but from the minute we collected his cap & gown until we left the church (where the post- ceremony refreshments were served), the sun shone!!

He actually got home from China at midnight on Sunday, so considering he is still jet lagged he stayed awake through the whole thing very well!


He is at his new school today, getting to know his class for September & his way around the buildings! I know I’ve said it before…but it bears repeating…I am so very PROUD of his achievements over the past four years & he truly deserves all the success now coming his way!

Thanks for stopping by…& see you again soon! Open-mouthed smile

Saturday 7 July 2012

Cambridge Croppers

This time last week I was spending time with good friends, doing what I love most…scrapping!

IfaI have been trying to get along to one of the Cambridge Croppers crops for ages, but something always seemed to…well…crop up!!! So I was very pleased to at last meet the lovely Ifa, who’s LO designs I’ve admired for a long while! It was also a chance to catch up with these lovely ladies…

Hilary & Ann

 

 

   …Hilary & Ann who have
   been good company at
   many a crop over the
   past few years!

   With all the catching up
   done it was time to settle
   down to some serious
   scrapping & Ifa had created two fabulous class kit LO’s for us to work with.

15 Ifa CC LO #1Firstly, this one entitled ‘Rallying’ which used a great technique for twine which I will definitely be using again!! The alpha’s are gorgeous, Thickers called Muse by Amy Tangerine…love them!

I chose some photo’s of my boys being allowed to sit in the rocket car at Santa Pod raceway back in 2005…

16 Rocket Car

…my background cardstock is actually white too, just not good light when I took the photo of my LO!!

17 Ifa CC LO #2

   Ifa’s second LO was called
   ‘waiting 4 the Queen’ & we got
   to play with fabulous ‘Keep
   Calm’ & union jack stamps by
   Artemia. I liked them so much
   I promptly came home &
   ordered them on-line!!

  I went with photo’s of our stay
  in London last year, when we
  played tourist & joined the
crowds to watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace…

18 All Change
So there you have it! A great creative day out! It is rare for me to actually complete two whole LO’s at a six hour crop! Not only did I complete these two, but I started a third which is still a work-in-progress!! Watch this space!

I hope everyone is having a good weekend & if the Olympic torch is headed your way, that you get to see it! It comes right through our village tomorrow morning, about an hour AFTER I have to leave for work! Typical!!

Thanks for stopping by & come back soon! Open-mouthed smile

Wednesday 4 July 2012

A Challenge, A Whisper & A Bit Of Sunshine!


7 The QUEEN Movie PosterIt’s time for another movie poster challenge over at ‘From Screen To Scrap’. This time, appropriately, it’s ‘The Queen’…

The extra criteria were…

1. To use a two word title.
2. To use pearls/rhinestones.
3. To use a cut-out figure from 
    a photo.

So with that in mind I put together my LO…

8 Back Then...

…I managed to include all the criteria! That’s me back in 1981, aged 21. Not a care in the world except thinking I was fat!! How I’d like to be as fat as that right now!! Oh the folly of youth!!

So if this challenge appeals, why not play along with us, you have until the of July to create a LO & use the linky tool over at ‘From Screen To Scrap’ to add your entry!  Hope to see you there!

9 Jacky's LO to lift for 1st July 
  I have another LO to
  share. This time for the
  lovely Dawn’s Chinese
  Whispers. Jacky sent me
  this LO to lift…
  <<<<<<<<<

 

  …& this is what I did with
  it…

10 LO from Jacky's June LO

Photo’s of Rosemary & I enjoying the local beer in Turkey last month!! I can’t remember when I last scrapped such recent photo’s!!

Finally, in the midst of all the rain we’ve had lately, I did manage to grab some shots of the boys when the sun did deign to shine for a little while! Alex is very much an indoor boy, only venturing out when coaxed & never to sit in the sunshine…too bright…too hot!!!

Lap Cat

I actually succeeded in getting him into the garden by setting up a lounger in full shade & providing an extension cable so that he could be online.

The cat also liked the look of said shady spot & promptly made himself comfortable on Alex’s laptop keyboard! It soon became apparent he had no intention of moving, so a wireless keyboard & a lap tray were used saved the day!!

Meanwhile, Nathan was being more industrious! He is saving up to buy a laptop himself & is doing as many chores as we can find for him in an attempt to boost his savings!

Mowing   He actually made a very
   good job of mowing the
   back lawn, making sure that
   he lined up each stripe!

   I will admit to nagging him
   the entire time to keep an
   eye on the power cable!! But
   he seemed to have it sorted!

  Of course the weather of late
  has been so damp that this
  isn’t turning out as lucrative a
  chore as he thought it to be!!

 
Ro's ArtI’ll leave you today with a glimpse at a piece of my sister Rosemary’s artwork.  She has been going to art classes for many years but feels she has no real talent…I beg to differ!  Check out her latest project, a close up of a Giraffe’s face…

It’s most impressive when you look close up…

Ro's Art close-up

….just look at those eyelashes!! She just has no talent at all does she?!!! Too modest I’d say!!

Anyway, that’s all from me today. Thanks for stopping by & do come back soon! Open-mouthed smile

Monday 2 July 2012

When Is A Lizard Not a Lizard?

Why, when it’s a ‘Pog’ of course!!!

Before you think I’m losing my marbles, let me explain! This post is part of Sian's Storytelling Sunday’ over at ‘From High In The Sky’…a day late, but I’m hoping Sian will turn a blind eye to that!! This time Sian suggested unusual souvenirs as a theme for our nostalgic ramblings…& here’s what sprang to mind!!

Brunei B

  Back in July 1999, when
  these two munchkins
  were just three years old
  & five months old, we set
  off on a BIG adventure!

  Hubby had spent a large
  part of 1998 working in
  Brunei, on loan to the International part of the finance group he worked for here in the UK. When they asked if he’d go again in 1999, he said  “only if I can take my family this time!” So, off we went!

Hubby flew out to get settled & arrange our accommodation & we followed on a week later. Let me tell you that flying half way around the world with two little ones is an excellent way to overcome pteromerhanophobia (fear of flying!).

Brunei AAfter being in transit for over 24 hours we arrived in Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei, & hubby drove us to our temporary home…a beautiful & very spacious apartment on the tenth floor of a gated residential complex.  

As well as three large bedrooms, three bathrooms, a huge lounge/diner & three balconies in the main apartment, off the kitchen was a utility balcony & a suite of rooms intended as maids quarters.

Although I was totally jet-lagged & Nathan was happily napping, Alex was wide awake & set off to explore the maze of new corridors & rooms! He disappeared off into the maids quarters & we suddenly heard a wail of terror & a little blonde tornado came crashing into the main corridor shouting “Pog! Pog!”

When we finally managed to calm him down he took us back into the bedroom & pointed to the built in wardrobe. Once we opened it we saw a tiny & very scared lizard looking back at us, before it disappeared in a flash through a crack in the back panel! Never having seen a lizard before Alex had identified it as a frog!….& so from then on, the lizards we became very used to seeing all over the place were referred to as ‘pogs’!

Before we returned home at the end of November 1999, we bought some ceramic lizards from a craft shop in Bandar & we’ve had them stuck on our kitchen walls ever since! One peeks out from behind a mirror…                    

Brunei D

Brunei E

 

 

 

 

 


…& the other from behind a picture frame. When we moved house they came too & even when we decorated, they went back up as soon as the paint was dry!! Just a little reminder of our time on the other side of the world!

As an aside, the picture frame above holds a painting that Alex did while we were in Brunei…entitled ‘Trees’ (he was adamant about that even then!) & I thought it was an amazing  piece of artwork for a three year old…or is that just a Mothers blinkered view?!!

Brunei F

Brunei C

 

 

 

 


 
  I loved our time in Bandar & cried
  when our stay was cut short. We
  were hoping to be there for a year
  but something happened with the bank that meant all Brits had to return home before New Years Day 2000.

Who knows? Maybe we’ll get back there again one day…now that would be nice!!

Thanks for stopping by & do check out some of the other stories being shared over at ‘From High In The Sky’ too! You might even like to share one of your own…it’s not too late! Open-mouthed smile