Not Sure Which Way Is Up!!!

This past week has passed in a bit of a blur!! On Saturday 13th October a letter arrived from my Area Manager, inviting me to attend a team meeting in store on Thursday 18th October! Short, sweet & to the point…no explanation or attached agenda!

To fill in a bit of background, I have worked in the prestige cosmetics industry since leaving college & since 1984 I’ve worked for Elizabeth Arden. I’ve held varied roles…as a counter manager in JLP, Fenwicks Bond Street & Harrods, promotions consultant, business manager Selfridges, area manager & even a stint in Consumer Relations in Head Office. After a five year break when the boys arrived, I have for the past eleven years worked as a Sunday only consultant at a (fairly) local branch of John Lewis.

The account I work in has a team of three & we’ve achieved some great results over the years, currently ranking #1 on our area & #6 in JLP’s division league table.

So imagine how we felt when we arrived at the meeting to be told that John Lewis, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to close our account at the end of January…apparently a decision made to reflect current economic trends!!! To say we were shocked is an understatement! I still cannot see the logic & I have a reasonably good grasp on business!

Anyhow, after the initial urge to burst into tears at the injustice of it all & with redundancy looming, we had to accept that not being able to change anything means we have to be positive & forward looking!  Elizabeth Arden are an amazing company to work for & are doing everything they can to relocate us! It has been a week spent driving up & down the A1M to attend ‘Redundancy Procedure Meetings’ along with a couple of days pre-booked overtime…I really do not know which way IS up right now!!

Today I have been for an interview for another position within the company, this time a Debenhams store…& just for a change it’s a Saturday position! It’s a similar distance/cost to travel to & a slightly longer day. The only down side is that if I am offered the position there will be a cut in salary ….BUT…it also means I will still be eligible for all the lovely products that we receive twice a year & I would so miss those!!!

So please keep everything crossed for me…I hope the Department Manager approves me & doesn’t think I’m too long in the tooth!! I may not be a spring chicken but I’m too young to be put out to grass just yet….& I need the cash for scrapbooking supplies!!! LOL!!!

Thanks for stopping by…come back soon!

I Did Not See That Coming…

My Monday morning routine see’s me doing the school/college run, coming back home to make beds & clear away the boys breakfast dishes before getting myself some breakfast & settling down to watch the Sky+’d Sunday episode of Downton Abbey. I absolutely love it! I shed a tear in every episode…& Maggie Smith usually has the best lines which illicit a true laugh out loud moment…it is pure joy to watch!

This morning was no different, only I was left a total wreck by the end!

It was an emotional rollercoaster!

The sub-plots soon had me engrossed & Maggie’s usual caustic comments had me grinning…then we had the labour scene which was fraught but we were rewarded with the arrival of  baby girl Branson…tears of joy!!

Then….disaster…Lady Sybil DIED!!!…of Eclampsia…I was sobbing my eyes out by now…if anyone had called they’d have wondered what on earth was going on!! Well…I did NOT see that coming at all!!

So, we’re one sister down & there’s discord between Lord & Lady Grantham, not to mention tension between Lady Mary & the gorgeous Matthew!

 

Will Anna be able to free Mr Bates….will all be well ‘downstairs’ between Thomas & the hunky new footman?…will Branson want to take the baby away from Downton?…Where will it all go next I wonder?
I LOVE IT!!

So, back to the real world!… I can report that we had a good trip out to Kettering for the ‘Big Stamp & Scrapbook Show East Midlands’ on Saturday. As expected, the venue was much smaller than Ally Pally, but there were quite a few exhibitors there…enough to fill the whole morning anyway!

 

I managed to pick up a few bargains, two items out of the four that were on my shopping list, so a good day in all!  I have to say that the main focus seemed to be on stamping & card making…& of course Christmas too! I’m not sure I’ll go along to the Kettering BSSS again…I think Ally Pally has much more to offer, even if does mean planning a whole day out!

So that’s me for today! Thank you for stopping by & come back soon!

Playing Catch Up….again!

I’m still playing along with Suzie & her daily prompts for ‘365+1 in 2012’ but I had allowed myself to fall behind so far that I’ve just uploaded TWELVE new collages to the flikr group & onto my ‘365+1 2012’ page right here & I still have two more collages to go to bring me up to date! I have every intention of keeping up between now & years end….I have a photo book planned to hold my years worth of photo’s!!

This week saw Lee & I heading off to register at Costco! As a teacher he received an invitation to join & who are we to refuse!

We grabbed a trolley & set off into the Aladdin's cave!
Just inside the door were these enormous plush dogs! So soft & snuggly but who has a house big enough to accommodate toys of this size?

   Lee once came back
   from a day out at Alton
   Towers with two huge
   dragons for the boys, not
   as big as these dogs but
   they were always in the
   way! They have resided
   in vacuum bags in the
   for the last year or so…I
   wasn’t allowed to  give them to the charity shop!!  So needless to say this cuddly canine went back on the pile!

We wandered along each aisle checking out the bargains, we dropped a few items into the trolley that were just too good a value to miss! Mostly foodstuffs, but I did buy a Brother label maker at £8.95 & a ‘super slim & reset-to zero-able’ electronic kitchen scale for £9.95!

Then we turned a corner & I could not believe my eyes! There in front of me were genuine Australian leather/sheepskin long boots (Ugg style) for £40!! AND they were wide enough in the leg to fit my more-than-ample calves! I had been planning on buying new Uggs with my store employee discount in the coming weeks, which would have still worked out at £120+ for the short version, so you can see why I was hyperventilating!!

So they were added to the trolley & have been worn daily since! Lee has suggested I go back for a second pair….who am I to argue?!! I will definitely be visiting Costco again to bulk buy those non-perishable items which we buy weekly anyway…& of course I’ll be there to stock up on Christmas goodies too! It’d be rude not to!!

I’m actually feeling pretty excited today! Tomorrow Karen & I are setting off to Kettering for the ‘Big Stamp & Scrapbook Show’ East Midlands! It’s organised by the same people who organise Ally Pally & a lot of the same exhibitors will be there. It’s on a slightly smaller scale, but it’s only half an hour up the road!! If any of you are going, keep an eye out for us!!

I’ll end on a slightly sad note…I have to report that our last remaining Guinea Pig, Jamie, is no longer with us!

 
He went peacefully, overnight, after spending the last twelve months living indoors, being thoroughly spoiled! I have put my foot down & said ‘No’ to any more piggies…I do love them but it’s muggins here who ends up cleaning/feeding/grooming & paying vets bills, while the boys just get to cuddle & play with them!!

So that’s me for today, I do hope you all have a great weekend…it’s supposed to be cold & wet, so try to keep warm & dry if you can!

Thanks for stopping by & come back soon!

Scrap 365 October Sketch Challenge…

How could I resist a challenge using a sketch based on a LO by the lovely Sian?

Sian’s example LO’s & those of the other members of the Scrap 365 Design Team where all so varied & there was much inspiration to be had!

I don’t usually use photo’s as small as 2 1/4” square & it stumped me for a while! Then I thought of using a landscape 9x13cm photo cut into sections to cover more than one block! Job done! I like this picture because Lee & the boys are oblivious to me taking it! I was sitting in the lakeside cafe playing with my then new zoom lens, waiting for them to return from their time out on the boating lake!! It’s not perfect…but the day was!!

 
Thanks for stopping by & come back soon!

WARNING!!! SPIDER ALERT!!!

I know it’s Autumn….& I know these creatures want to get in out of the cold & wet….but why do they all seem to be making a bee-line for our house?!!!

This week the ‘spider’ glass has been put to use FOUR times & each evictee seemed larger than the last!  This BIG fella was so big he had to bunch his legs up & stand tall just to fit inside the PINT glass!!

My boys think it hilarious when I’m trying to take a photo of the captured beast while jumping & squealing every time it so much as flexes a leg! I guess it’s a morbid fascination…this one had knees…& hairy legs!! Ugh!!

Anyway with that out of the way I realised yesterday that I have omitted to update you on my cinema visits of late!! I missed several Sundays over the summer, but we’re back on track now if it is with mixed results!!

   ‘Hope Springs’ was delightful! With
    a cast dominated by Meryl Streep
    & Tommy Lee Jones I expected
    nothing less!

    Both funny AND moving, it deals
    with the issues faced by many
    ‘long time married’ couples who
    have given in to habit & become
    stuck in a rut! I won’t spoil it for
    if I tell you that it all comes good
    in the end!!

‘Looper’…I loved this one! Bruce Willis is fabulous as is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who plays a young Bruce! Not one to pop out to the loo during, or you’ll totally lose the plot!! Quite a bit of blood & guts, but all relevant & it certainly gets the old grey matter working!!

   ‘Anna Karenina’….what
   can I say?! I was so keen
   to see this film, expecting
   a lavish costume drama.
   With Keira Knightly in the
   title role & huge hype
   about the jewellery &
   make-up used in the film
   I wanted to be amazed!
   But I wasn’t! It was a very arty interpretation & all the scenes centred around a theatre…on-stage…backstage…front of house…most scenes started & ended here, drifting off into different rooms & bits of countryside in between! I suppose it was all very cleverly choreographed but it didn’t really ‘involve’ me & I do like to ‘get lost’ in a story like that!!

So that’s it from me for today! The window cleaner has just been, so that’s my cue to wash the insides! As the sun is shining I’ll rather enjoy that!!

Thanks for stopping by & come back soon!

The Littlest Pirate

*Just popping in to add that for some reason the 'auto-post' failed yesterday, so I'm manually posting this a day late!! Sorry Sian!!

This short tale is brought to you as part of ‘Storytelling Sunday’ hosted by Sian at ‘From High In The Sky’.

I have loved Fancy Dress since I was very small & over the years I’ve worn costumes ranging from sublime to ridiculous! I have been a vampire, Cleopatra, a tampon (embarrassingly explained away as a snowman to my best friends Mum!!), the back end of a cow, a St Trinians schoolgirl to name a few & have joined in with gusto at numerous Toga, Come-as-you-are & Pyjama parties!

But they all have one thing in common…the costumes were all home made! I will admit to having shop bought a couple of hats…but generally I consider putting a costume together as big a part of the fun as enjoying the event it’s worn for! Sadly, very few printable decent photo’s of myself in fancy dress could be found, so I’m turning to the next generation!!

It’s December 2001 & Nathan’s playgroup are holding a fancy dress Christmas party. Nathan is two & this will be his first time in costume (I was never one for novelty Christmas baby-grows!!)  So what did he want to be? Why, a pirate of course!

We pulled together a stripy shirt, worn with blue jeans & red wellies. Tied a red chiffon scarf around his waist to hold his scabbard & sword, Added Dads red spotty neckerchief & a couple of my pearl ropes & chains. He even allowed a clip on gold hoop earring & a drawn on moustache! I pinned a small blue felt parrot to his shoulder, placed an elasticated felt eye patch over one eye & topped him off with a pirates tri-corn hat!

Amazingly enough, everything but the scabbard & the eye patch stayed in place until the party was over! They seriously impinged on the taking part in tricycle racing around the hall, so that was OK!!

In this photo Nathan is clutching an envelope, which contained his prize for winning the Fancy Dress First Prize….but he carried it around with him unopened, until we got home, happy just to have his 15mins (or so) of fame!!

Thanks Sian for this opportunity to relive a very happy memory, which actually seems like just yesterday, in spite of Nathan now being a teenager!!

Thanks for stopping by…I’m off to check out some other Storytelling Sunday tales over at ‘From High In The Sky’…why don’t you follow along!

Cards, Crops & A Challenge!

It’s October 2nd! How did that happen?!! This year seems to be just flying by! I can’t believe it’s just twelve weeks till Christmas & I’m already planning scrappy projects for 2013!!

So here’s a quick round up of my creative output during September…it’s a whole month since I shared anything scrappy!!

Firstly, some cards….I don’t make many, as you know!

The first was for my sisters birthday. She’s a serious cat-lover, so I was pleased to find these cat silhouettes for my Cameo. I’ve been experimenting with concertina folds & was pleased how this card turned out, having an interesting view whichever way you looked at it!

 

 

   Still continuing with the folding
   technique, I put together the
   second card for my friends son
   who was turning sixteen & has
   just passed the exam needed
   to qualify as a snowboarding
   instructor! I think he may be
   the youngest on record!
   Quite an achievement!

 

I’ve managed to attend two crops in September, firstly the ‘Merly Impressions’ crop. I don’t always take the class kit at this crop, but this time I loved the two pages designed by Chrissy & felt they suited some photo’s I had to scrap!

Chrissy’s first example LO looked like this…
  

 

…I  followed the design almost to the letter, with just one or two minor adjustments…

                                                    

   The second class LO
   looked like this…




   …this time I made a few
   more alterations, using
   different PP’s & grouping
   of embellies etc.…

 
Then, this very weekend, I was at the ‘Cambridge Croppers’ crop with the lovely Ifa Zianon! Ifa had put together two LO’s for us using masking techniques & we got to play with Distress Stains!  Ifa lets us have just a  couple of sneak peeks prior to the crop, & these were they…

 

 

 

 

Isn’t Ifa’s style so neat?! It’s simplicity appeals to me! I enjoy the techniques she incorporates for us & the products she sources for us to create with!  I managed to complete both of the class LO’s & my first one looked like this…

…I did alter the colour scheme slightly to fit with the Olympic themed photo. I tried to keep it as ‘Red, White & Blue’ as I could with the Amy Tangerine embellies, resorting to a bit of ‘felt tip assistance’ where needed!

The second LO turned out  like this…

…again a few minor alterations, but the style is all Ifa!!!

Thanks to both Chrissy & Ifa for two wonderfully productive & enjoyable days with like-minded fellow scrappers!

Looking forward….my Project Life core kit arrived last week & I’ve already set up my album with the title & journaling cards! I’m planning to start on January 1st 2013 & share my weekly entries right here!

Karen & Hilary very kindly brought along their albums for 2011 & 2012 to date, for me to peruse on Saturday, & inspired by their additional methods of memory keeping, it seems that one album is definitely not enough for a whole years entries!! Looks like I need to keep an eye out for another to match/compliment the one I have!

Finally, it’s Challenge time over at ‘From Screen 2 Scrap’ & this time the movie poster for inspiration is ‘A tree grows in Brooklyn’…I love old B&W movies & this one is a classic!

The added criteria is…

1. Use leaves
2. Use a tree or trees
3. Use a B&W photo

Here is my example LO…

Why not play along with us this month…you have until October 31st to link your entry over at ‘From Screen To Scrap’…there are some great scrappy prizes up for grabs & we’d love to see you there!

So that’s me for today…thanks for stopping by & do come back soon!

Want To Know What I Did This Summer?!

I was AWOL from Blog Land between July 17th & August 20th & I did say that I would explain why!! So here goes….

When we moved into our current house in 2004, in spite of having four bedrooms, my boys decided to share a bedroom. This meant we had a designated guest bedroom & the smallest bedroom was my craft (& ironing) space!! Then, in 2007, they decided they’d had enough of each other & we re-jigged the room allocation, giving the boys the two smaller rooms & dividing the second largest into a guest room & craft space for me!

Move forward to 2012 & both boys are now teenagers & no longer require simply ‘bed’ rooms, so much as space for all the tech that takes up so much of their time & quite frankly, too much space in the rest of the house!

So, I had been mulling over in my mind how best to, once again, re-allocate the upstairs room space to best advantage!

Shortly before the start of the school Summer holidays I happened to be in Homebase & spotted some price reductions on paint! Half price 2.5ltr cans reduced from £25.99….& one shade reduced again to £6.49!!! Bargain!….& just the catalyst I needed to get the ‘mulling over’ phase moving forward into action!!

That same day I went home & before it was time to do the afternoon school run, I had taken this room, Nathan’s & the  smallest, from this….

 

 
                                       …to this!

I still cannot believe it took just four hours to completely empty a room, wash down all the paintwork, remove all the football decals & apply a coat of emulsion to almost all four walls!! The next day I applied a second coat & shampooed the carpet & on day three I started moving all of my craft space stuff in!

By the weekend, the boys had broken up from school & Lee kindly fitted a new roller blind & I had a brand new scrap room! I love that I can once again close the door & have my own little sanctuary! No more having to put a hold on creativity because the ‘guest’ portion of the room is in use! That sounds terribly selfish, but it’s also nice not to have the ironing board in my scrap space either!! Just me, my PC & my stash!!

So, still feeling smug about how quickly that all came together, I set about room #2…

This was Alex’s bedroom & the poor boy was quite squashed in! The room itself is actually a decent size, but he has quite an extensive collection of military/science fiction/gaming memorabilia & what you don’t see in this photo is the shelving all along one wall which really ate into the floor space. Added to that was the huge TV his Nanny had passed onto him, so there really was no room to swing a proverbial cat!
  
The process of emptying this room wasn’t quite so straight forward! The TV had to be manhandled by Lee & was taken to the refuse recycling centre, the shelving units are floor to ceiling & finding a temporary home for them was as challenging as boxing up all of the precious items that live on them!! The wardrobe had to take up residence on the landing for the duration, which was fun!  But, that said, within 48 hours the room looked like this & I was soon slapping on the bargain emulsion!

The carpet here was shampooed too & a new blind fitted. Then it was time to retrieve all of Nathans furniture & put together his new room.

This was a bit like doing a Tetris puzzle, moving Nathans furniture around Alex’s, dismantling & reassembling the bed, desk & putting up new shelves! Once his posters were up & his PC/X-Box connected he declared himself more than happy with his new space!

This second room had taken twice as long as the first & here I took a break as Alex & my birthdays were approaching & Mum-In-Law was due for a visit to help celebrate. So poor Nathan had to relinquish his new bedroom for Nanny to sleep in & both boys had to endure sharing a room again…one in total chaos as it still needed to be decorated & reassembled! But at least they had a bed each & one connected X-Box!!

Once the visit was over it was time to turn to room number three! This one was going to be a challenge & had to be done in two halves! Previously the shared guest/scrap room, it looked like this…

Most of this stuff was now in its new location in my scrap room, but I still had the bed & Alex’s other furniture to work around!

I moved everything up to one end & poor Alex had to sleep in amongst it all while I worked on prepping & painting! Then it was repeated at the other end, moving it all once more!

Finally it was done & Alex now has his new bed/sitting room! He now has ample storage/display space, a desk, easy chair & a newer flat screen TV.

The bed linen was another bargain, found in Ikea’s bargain corner…each double set with four oxford pillowcases was just £6.99 & has a lovely soft glazed cotton finish! I’m altering a couple of pillowcases into cushion covers for the easy chair!

I feel that the colour scheme is a little more grown up, although he still has his camouflage bunting & posters!

What really amazes me is that both boys rooms are staying remarkably tidy…I had expected more space to equal more mess, but not so! I still pick up abandoned socks & retrieve empty plates & glasses on a regular basis,  but generally, things are being kept quite neat!  Now if I can just get that working through the rest of the house I’ll be one happy Mum!

So, there you have it! The main reason why I neglected my blog & have had very little scrapping time through the Summer!  I also have an enormous backlog of photo’s to edit & collage for ‘365+1 in 2012’ & hope to have them done & dusted by this coming weekend!

Before I go I have to comment on the return of something that I have missed so much….the new season of Downton Abbey!

After the 2011 Christmas Special I have been counting the days to this new series & so far it does not disappoint! Maggie Smith & Shirley MacLaine have had me laughing out loud & the wedding had me in tears…I love it! Do you? I really must plan a visit to Highclere Castle before too long! It’s really not so very far away from us & I hear that the Christmas Fair held there in December is well worth the trip!

Thank you so much for stopping by & I do hope you’re managing to stay dry now the weather has turned so wet here in the UK!  Only thirteen weeks till Christmas!!  Come back soon!

Summing Up The Summer Scavenger Hunt!

Friday sees the deadline for Rinda’s ‘2012 Photo Scavenger Hunt’ & it’s been fun! Lee & the boys have become used to me producing ‘The List’ on all our days out over the summer & today I’ve completed the hunt! Yay!

A couple of items were a challenge & a couple have been ‘loosely’ interpreted, but I did it!! I had planned to post updates on 21st July & 21st August, but as you know I embarked upon projects that took priority over the summer & blogging went by the wayside! So here is a collage of my ‘finds’…

1. A pier….at Brighton…taken from the car on our way to friends in Hove!
2. A clothesline…Mine!
3. A border…mine again!!
4. A Roadside stand selling something…a local ‘layby grill’ which does the most amazing bacon sandwiches!
5. A train…The Javelin, on our way to the Olympic Park!
6. A historical landmark…The Houses of Parliament, taken from ‘over the river’ on a day visit to the capital.
7. A person playing a musical instrument…street performer in Bedford town centre, a fabulously talented drummer!
8. A person dressed as an angel, or a statue of an angel…this one was a challenge! In the end I settled on an angel decoration in a local interiors shop!
9. A fountain…easy! This is the wonderful example in Welwyn Garden City’s Parkway!
10. A horse…a wander down to the end of the village & I found these!
11. A shadow…I loved this one of a bench on Bedford’s riverside Embankment!
12. A maze, labyrinth or trail…this timber maze is a favourite of ours! Found in Bedford's Priory Park!
13. A library…The lower floor of Bedford's Town Centre Library!
14. A person playing with a ball…I felt like a private eye, sneaking photo’s (out of the car window!) of these guys kicking a football around in Bedford's Russell Park!!
15. Someone dancing…well, several someones dancing during the Paralympic Closing Ceremony, which we were lucky enough to attend!
16. A bride…another challenge!! But I found this lovely cake decoration made of fondant icing to fit the bill!
17. A church, chapel, cathedral, mosque or temple…I went with Bedford’s Queens Park Mosque!
18. A movie poster…In our local cinema advertising ‘Brave’, which was brilliant!
19. An outdoor stairway…not a very glamorous example, the fire escape at our local branch of Pizza Express!
20. A swing hanging from a tree (or a hammock)…these amazing swings hang from high up in the trees at Groombridge Place in Kent. On a family day out with friends, even we adults made good use of them!
21. Finally…A picture of you standing with something that symbolise your nation…well, for 2012 I think this counts! This is me on our way into the Olympic Athletics Stadium!

I did have a photo all ready of a hand painted, heart shaped stone…just in case!

Thanks Rinda for such an enjoyable project & I’m just glad that I made the deadline! I have so enjoyed seeing other participants awesome finds on their blogs & ready the ‘back stories’ too!

Thanks to you too, blog friends, for stopping by…I’ll be back soon with an update of the past two weeks & a bit of creativity to share! I do hope you’re settling back into routine after the summer break & are enjoying the gorgeous Autumn sunshine! Come back soon!