Postal delights

I came back from shopping this morning to find that a package had arrived from

How exciting!  I'd been the lucky winner of a giveaway over at Amy's blog and this was the package I had won

Not just the chocolately gorgeousness of the Tim Tams, but some information on Amy's corner of the world and the cute little kangaroo fridge magnet.  I have managed to resist tearing into those Tim Tams as it is close to lunchtime but trust me, I will not have such resolve when it's time for a cup of tea this afternoon!

How could I possibly do a post this weekend without mentioning yesterday's big event?  What an amazing Royal Wedding it was, and with all the pageantry and tradition, it really made me proud to be British. 

Picture from Sky's website . 

Didn't she look gorgeous, so elegant.  Congratulations to them both!

Happy Birthday Mama Turtle!

A little while ago, American Deb sent out some teal coloured wristbands with 'strings attached'.  She asked that today, those people who received them, showed our support to her mum by dedicating a post to her.  So, firstly - HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARTI - hope you are having a special day with your family.
Deb suggested that we share something regarding an experience we've had concerning cancer in our families or friends and so with that in mind, I have made a layout of a rare picture of my sister, me and my mum.  We weren't a great photo taking family so this was a real find!

I'm guessing I was about 16 in this photo which would date it at around 1974.  We were at my cousin's wedding and as you can see, hats were very much in vogue at the time, and the bigger the brim, the better!  Mum was not a great hat wearer and much deliberation went into choosing one which she felt suited her. I remember her quoting an advertising slogan 'If you want to get ahead, get a hat' on many shopping expeditions.  Trust me, there were many shopping trips before she found one she liked ......
My family's experience of cancer relates to my mum, who died in 1997 at the age of 76.  She was not ill for long, as unbeknown to us, she also had an aortic aneurysm which was not discovered until she was scanned for the cancer.  I still remember that feeling of shock and disbelief when her diagnosis was made and that is why my heart goes out to Deb and her family.  I know that they are loving and supportive and will do all they can to give her mum the strength to fight this horrible disease.  I send them my love and hopes that the treatment will be successful and that Marti will be one of the success stories.  I have taken part in the Cancer Research 'Race for Life' 5k runs three times now and it is such a wonderful, emotional experience to see all those running in 'Survivor' hats.  Let us hope that it will not be too long before Marti can call herself a survivor too.  Let's all raise a glass to her:

A day in the life ...

That was my day in pictures - here's the link to all the others that are taking part!

http://www.shimelle.com/paper/1005/my-day-in-photos/

Zumba!

I am typing up this post with a feeling of uncertainty in my bones.  My friend Lynda has asked me to go to a Zumba class with her tonight and whilst I wasn't keen, she gave me that look - you know the one, 'I really want to go but I don't want to go on my own.  And we didn't have our normal exercise class on Monday as it was Bank Holiday and we've been eating lots of chocolate and we could do with a bit of exercise and it'll be fun and ....'
So I gave in.  At the time it was a week away but now it's tonight.  It's 15 mins time actually and I'm still not in my exercise clothes ..... Can you tell I'm not keen?
I've been busy taking photos today in line with Shimelle's prompt yesterday.  It was a busy old day, what with it being the first day back at school after the Easter break.  Lots of work to catch up on and lots of new jobs to do.  Countdown to GCSE exams is on, first one on May 16th so the exams office is mega busy.   So busy in fact, that I forgot to take pictures on a regular basis but I've got a few in the camera now.   There will, however, be NO pictures in evidence of me at Zumba.  Absolutely not.  I've done Zumba once before and vaguely remembering saying 'I'm too old for this - never again'. 
Has anyone else out there tried Zumba?  Or any other dance related exercise class?  I enjoy Salsa and I've even been known to do a class or two of belly dancing (even have a belly dance skirt with the coins on to prove it!)  Hey ho, can't put off the evil moment any longer - need to get dressed and ready to go - wish me luck .....

The Monday after the Sunday before

Well, Easter Sunday went by in a whirl of sunshine, chocolate, cooking, eating, Prosecco and relaxing with family.  It really was a lovely day.  Isn't it amazing how sunny days can just change everyone's moods and enthusiasm?  So now onto Easter Monday and Round Two.  Today we have my in laws over for lunch, they are really quite elderly now so it will be a much more sedate day today.  Fortunately, I made way too much dessert yesterday and there is plenty to have again today without me retreating back to the kitchen.  I had cooked slow roast shoulder of lamb with pomegranate seeds and mint for dinner yesterday (that's a recipe for another day!) and there is even leftovers from that so we will be having good old Shepherd's Pie today, as that is especially lovely when made with roasted lamb that you have minced up yourself.  Good comfort food.
But today I am going to be sharing a dessert recipe on my brand new recipe page, it's for Bailey's Cheesecake with Raspberry Coulis and it's a perfect dinner party dessert: easy to make, can be done in advance, tastes scrummy.  Ticks all the boxes.  Try it and let me know what you think!

A tale of two Easters

The weather in England is nothing if not unpredictable -

 Easter 2008

Easter 2011

How can we possibly go from thick snow in 2008 to blazing hot sunshine in 2011?  We are having better weather than Portugal and Spain!  Looks like it may be Easter Sunday lunch in the garden tomorrow.

I do like to be beside the seaside

Today has been another day of glorious wall to wall sunshine and so to make the most of it, we packed up a picnice and set off for our annual day out to the local seaside:

Frinton is such a lovely old fashioned seaside town.  At beach level, all you have is sand, a promenade and a variety of beach huts.  No ice cream kiosks or shops selling tourist items.  Consequently, all children on the beach are busy digging, playing ball games, paddling, or building sandcastles.  No whining about wanting lollies or sculptures made out of shells or plastic bits and bobs.  There is a town there too, but it is so very uncommercialised and quaint.  We've been going there for years now, and it's an annual event.  You park up along the road, and there is a large grassy area, perfect for a kick about with a football or game of cricket if the tide is in and you are waiting for the sand to reappear.  Then it's a long windy walk down to the beach.  As the children are all grown up and our visits are now as a couple rather than a family, we give the football and cricket a miss and just sit down and have a picnic whilst looking out to sea.

It's been a lovely day and I've just got home and had a look at the prompt for today. 

I was interested in the ideas for how to photograph layouts as there is one that I am going to be publishing soon that I wanted to show a little sneak peak.  Deb over at Paper Turtle sent me a teal wristband to wear in support of her mum's cancer diagnosis.  It was a 'Giveaway {with strings attached}'.  The 'strings attached' were to post something appropriate on her mum's birthday which is 29 April, and I have made a layout to go with the story that I will be sharing.  Want to see a sneak peek?  Check these out:

I'm especially excited about the frilly bit of the layout.  It's made with Tim Holtz Tissue Tape and I just love this product, I can see it popping up on many a layout in the near future!

Do you have a favourite product at the moment?

Silly Moo

I live in a town of contrasts.  We have ancient buildings and historical landmarks.  We also have a modern shopping centre.  We are on the cusp of two counties and we have a major London airport within 12 miles.  I live on a relatively modern housing estate, yet if walk 5 minutes from my house I am in the middle of the countryside.  If I drive 2 miles in one direction I reach a busy motorway, if I drive 2 miles in the opposite direction I am heading off down quiet, leafy country lanes where only one lane of traffic can go a time and you have to keep an eye out for passing places in case you meet a car coming in the opposite direction.
Today the sun was shining and I headed off into the countryside to go to lay some Easter flowers on my parents' graves.  As I drove down the lanes, I passed a house that always makes me smile.  Well it's not the house, it's the garden ornament:

This concrete cow is always dressed up appropriate for the time of year or public holiday, it's a real landmaark around here so I thought I would share. 

Hey there, Daisy May, are you ready for your close up?

Tidy? Me?

I'm beginning to think that someone, somewhere has sent Shimelle a list of my worst characteristics and she is designing this whole Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers class in order to make me change my ways.  First we had the whole statistics/analysis malarky yesterday which made me think we had got the worst bit out of the way.  So I popped into town this morning, came home and printed off the pdf on the next prompt, made a coffee and went to sit on the patio in the sunshine to see what today's prompt held. 
There must be some mistake.  TIDYING UP?  Clearing out?  Me?  I felt a shiver go down my spine as if the sun had gone behind a cloud.  I don't 'do' tidy.  I do cluttered and messy and 'don't get rid of that, you never know when you might need it'.  Anyone who needs proof, please feel free to pop round and look in my 'drawer of useful things' in the kitchen.
So anyway, I've taken a deep breath and been ruthless.  All those little 'badges of honour' on my sidebar, showing classes I have taken - gone!  Just the ones that I am doing at the moment left.  It's a start and it's my leap of faith that by the end of this course, my blog will be bright and sparkling, up to the minute and looking like it just stepped off the catwalk at London Fashion Week. 
While I am admitting to my faults (of which there are many!) I am deeply ashamed to say that my good intentions on the Rosemary Conley healthy eating front have started to deteriorate.  I blame Mel for giving me a number to deal with on Sunday's blog hop thus enforcing me to consume vast quantities of chocolate all washed down with a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc to calm my nerves.  I've never been vastly overweight but have reached a certain age {ahem}where I have to be a little careful over my food intake (or the type of food that is intaken).  I went to RC classes about 3 years ago with the intention of losing half a stone, and ended up losing almost a stone but that extra 7lbs is gradually creeping back up on me, despite still going to classes.  So I am going to try and plan my menus a little better from now on, and with the results of yesterday's survey, will share a few recipes along the way.  I've even added a new tab especially!   Tonight for dinner we are having salmon with a red pepper crust.

4 Salmon Fillets
1 pot roasted red pepper hummous
2 tbs breadcrumbs
Sprinkling of parmesan cheese

Place salmon fillets on a foil covered baking tray and spoon hummous over top in a nice even layer (those NOT on the RC diet plan have a thicker layer than the others!)
Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and grate over a dusting of parmesan.  (Those lucky devils not having to watch their weight can have a very much more generous dusting)
Bake at 180C/360F/Gas 5 for about 15 mins
Serve with salad or green vegetables.
Enjoy!

Mathematically challenged

So have we all recovered from Mel's Mega Blog Hop yesterday?  Wasn't it fun?!  I really enjoyed going through all the blogs and managed to totally ignore my husband's 'You can't still be reading through blogs' comments.
When I signed up to join in it was still an alphabet blog hop and I'd been mentally singing the 'ABC' song in my head {a la Sesame Street} thinking of cute stories for whatever letter she threw at me.  So you can imagine my shock and surprise at being given a NUMBER.  Now anyone that knows me will be aware that I hate maths - and it's not one-sided, maths hates me too so that's fine.  I avoid figure work at all costs so being told I had to do a whole post around a number was enough to send me off to a dark room with a glass of wine and a bag of maltesers to have a lay down to get over the shock.  But, hey ho, ever one to rise to a challenge - I managed to come up with something.  Having done that I was really looking forward to the prospect of a new class from Shimelle starting this morning.
So you can imagine how thrilled I was to see that we were going to be signing up to http://analytics.google.com to work out {gulp} statistics for our blog.  Statistics? Oh my goodness, pass me another malteser.  Anyhow, nothing ventured, nothing gained, I'm all signed up and woohoo, I didn't even come out in a cold sweat.  Now we have to 'leave it alone'.  Leave it alone?  What?  Not even have a little peek?  Not one little check just to make sure it's working?  Hmmmm.  Have I ever mentioned how impatient I am?
OK, let's read the next paragraph.  Surveys?  Polls?  That sounds a bit mathematical to me.  But I've signed up for it and I'm sure I won't be scarred for life.  But take pity on me, dear fellow bloggers, could someone, somewhere please take part in my survey so I haven't gone through this stress and strain for nothing?!
Only joking folks.  Now I tried hard to think of what I could possibly do a survey on and whilst this is in theory a scrapbooking blog, I did once take part in a blog hop that was recipe inspired and that was great fun too.  And I know that I love it when other people post recipes on their blogs as I am constantly on the look out for new meals to try.  So my question is:

Alphanumerical blog hop

Welcome!
I'm guessing you have arrived here via Melissa's blog but even if you just stumbled across me by accident please do come in, sit down and relax a little before you head off to the next port of call.  For those of you that don't know me, my name is Debs.  I was born in 1958 which sounds SUCH a long time ago!  I grew up in a place called Old Harlow and went to Mark Hall School until I left when I was 18.  In 1978 a lady I worked with set me up on a blind date with her cousin.  Just to prove that blind dates can lead to lasting happiness, I married him in 1980!  I have such special memories of the 80s, not least because in 1986 {when I was 28}  our daughter was born, in 1989 I was pregnant again and our son was born the following March.  Have you guessed what my allocated number is yet?  Some more facts for you:
It's an extremely lucky number in China.   The opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Beijing began on 8/8/08 at 8 seconds and 8 minutes past 8 pm (local time) and the Petronus Twin Towers in Malaysia each have 88 floors.
Fancy seeing what the average girl in her twenties would have looked like during the 80s?  Here we go:

Well now it is time for you to move on to my dear friend Denise - it's not far to travel, about 25 mins straight down the A10.  Be ready to fall in love with her gorgeous dog, Archie - star of many a scrapbook page!  If you get lost along the way, the full journey is shown here, enjoy your trip!

blog list
I Speak Melsh: http://ispeakmelsh.blogspot.com/
BE Glorious: http://beglorious.blogspot.com/
Captured On Film: http://mrsbeee.blogspot.com/
Chatty Crafty Arty Pig: http://chattycraftyartypig.blogspot.com/
Creating Room: http://creatingroom.blogspot.com/
Curiouser and Curiouser: http://journalofcuriousthings.blogspot.com/
Daily Life - Bits and Pieces: http://www.melissagross.blogspot.com/
Deb's World: http://www.debs14.blogspot.com/
Den's Crafty Diary: http://deecie.blogspot.com/
From High In The Sky: http://fromhighinthesky.blogspot.com/
Gallo Organico: http://gallorganico.blogspot.com/
Ginger's Life Of Spice: http://gingerslifeofspice.blogspot.com/
Handmade By Kirsty: http://handmadebykirsty.blogspot.com/
Havoc and Mayhem: http://www.havocandmayhem.com/
Heather's Scraps: http://heathers-scraps.blogspot.com/
Helena's Creative Maven: http://helenascreativemaven.blogspot.com/
Holaday's Happy Hearts: http://holadayshappyhearts.blogspot.com/
Jeant-Jinnag: http://jeant-jinnag.blogspot.com/
Just Jimjams: http://just-jimjams.blogspot.com/
K's Crafty Corner: http://kscraftycorner.blogspot.com/
Life...As I See It: http://jillconyers.blogspot.com/
{Life Behind The Purple Door}: http://www.lifebehindthepurpledoor.com/
Lisa E Design Blog: http://lisae-design.blogspot.com/
Living Life One Blessing At A Time: http://livinglifeoneblessingatatime.blogspot.com/
Mary's Musings: http://craftycreation.blogspot.com/
Michelle Loves...: http://michellelovesallsorts.blogspot.com/
Obstinate Pursuit: http://obstinatepursuit.blogspot.com/
Over At Our Place: http://overatourplace.blogspot.com/
Paper Turtle: http://paperturtle.blogspot.com/
Peonies and Pennies: http://peoniesandpennies.blogspot.com/
Random Reflections: http://www.kbwalker.blogs.com/
Rosalind Revival: http://rosalindrevival.blogspot.com/
Scrap Dreams: http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com/
Scrappyjacky: http://scrappyjackylive.blogspot.com/
Scrapworthy Lives: http://www.scrapworthylives.com/
Staring At The Sea: http://fiona-staringatthesea.blogspot.com/
Surefiredaisy Says: http://surefiredaisysays.blogspot.com/
This Kalil Life: http://www.kimberlykalil.com/
This Little Life Of Mine: http://tracyscraftycorner.blogspot.com/
Xnomads' Blog: http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog/

Note: If any of the posts aren't up yet, please bear with us - the different time zones and the peculiarity of blogging platforms when it comes to autoposts may mean that one or two posts don't appear on time! If that's the case, come back to this list to pick up from the next blog, but do please pop back and try the other link later, when the post should be there for your enjoyment.

Weekend fun

Whilst we obviously miss our daughter living at home, there have been a few unexpected bonuses!  She works in town here, but it's a good 40 minute walk into town or a nearly £8 a day parking fee so she would usually ask us for a lift into work on a Saturday which meant that although we had no reason to be up bright and early at the weekend, she still had to be in work by 10 to 9 and we therefore had to be up too.  It was such a luxury to wake up this morning, no alarm clock, and see that it was 8.38am - bliss! 
We're going over for dinner tonight at my sister and brother in law's home.  In June they are going to the same hotel that we stayed in Sorrento last year, so we are going to give them some ideas of places to go and things to do.  They are going to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary!  And I thought 30 years sounded a long time when we were celebrating last September.  My sister is eight years older than me and I can remember being a bit of a moody teenager when I was her chief bridesmaid! 
So, there's a few facts and figures in this post, which leads me nicely to this:

Mel's blog hop starts 2pm {please be kind to me, Blogger, and let my scheduled post go live at the right time} and I'm sure it's going to be fun so please pop back again tomorrow!

Beach body beautiful

Some tips for looking your best on the beach this summer - as modelled by me in Cornwall 1961

• Always wear a hat - an especially handy tip if you have ginger hair to hide.  If you do not have a hat of your own, wear your mothers.
• Shop around for a rather becoming ruched swimsuit.  If it has been handed down from your big sister, the elastic may have 'gone' from around your midriff but no one will notice
• If a bracing breeze should pick up, make sure you put on your cardi.  When bracing breeze becomes too unbearable, retreat quickly to behind the windbreak for a picnic lunch of cheese sandwiches (complete with sand)

It seemed a good idea at the time

I've been giving some thought to what I am going to post for Mel's blog hop on Sunday.  When I signed up for it, it seemed AGES away and I would have plenty of time to think of something witty and original and arty and thought provoking.  Now suddenly it is Thursday and the blog hop is Sunday and I have done nothing!  Not even dull and boring.  So I decided that I needed inspiration from the old box of forgotten photos - got totally sidetracked and still haven't found anything witty, original, arty or thought provoking.  But I did find this

There is actually one professional model in this photo, can you guess which it is? 

So here's the story behind it.  When I left school I went to work for a holiday company that specialised in luxury villas and apartments overseas.  I worked there from 1976 to 1986 and I am guessing this photo may have been taken in about 1984.  My job there was in the Passenger Relations Department, basically replying to all post-holiday correspondence and trying hard to settle disputes with disgruntled holidaymakers.  The other three ladies in the photo are people who worked in the same department as me.  The gentleman um, well, you know, we kind of stole him out of the front window display.

Our manager had gone on holiday for two weeks and she was one of the few who had a proper office, the rest of the building was mostly open plan.  So when she was away, other people were constantly 'borrowing' her office for meetings which was really annoying as her office was where a lot of the filing was kept and if someone had the office on 'Do not disturb' we couldn't get in there.

I'm not sure whose bright idea it was, but someone thought that it would be a good idea to have a sitting tenant in the office so that people couldn't take advantage of it and as her office had a frosted window in the door, so long as they could see someone/something sitting at the desk, they would think it was occupied.

So after work one day we sneaked downstairs, crept into the window display of a couple sitting having a drink in front of a backdrop of a Greek taverna  and removed the gentleman from his seated position, removed the fake glass of wine from his hand and smuggled him upstairs.  How we didn't get caught I don't know and we must have looked a sight carrying him upstairs as the 'gentleman' in question had no legs. 

But we put him in position, closed the door and it worked like a charm.  People looked through the frosted glass, saw a figure at the desk and moved on elsewhere.  We, however, were free to come and go as we pleased.  The only slight flaw to our plan was that our manager had her flights changed and returned to work a day early, only to find 'someone' sitting at her desk.  Ooops! 

Mind reader

This morning I woke up and thought 'Right, today I am going to spring clean and tidy that room'.  Stripped the bed linen off the bed, took down the curtains to wash them before I started work on tidying up the dressing table and hanging up the odd bits of clothing that were on the floor etc etc.  Quietly wondering if I could consolidate the odd bits and pieces left in all the drawers into just one section and how I may be able to incorporate some of my scrapbooking supplies into all the spare storage space .... when my phone beeped to say that there was a new text message ....

How did she know?

Home sweet (new) home

It's a funny old day over here in Deb's World.  Today is the day our daughter moved out to live in a lovely new flat with her boyfriend.  So we've spent the day loading up cars, unpacking cars, building flat pack furniture and generally helping them move in.  I was very conscious of not outstaying our welcome and as soon as I could see that the worst was done and all furniture built and in it's place I made sure we said our goodbyes and left them to finish it all off on their own. 
Coming home to the house seemed a bit strange, and when I looked in her room, it was as if she hadn't left!  Still clothes hanging out of drawers, bed unmade, various pots of make up on the dressing table - obviously all the stuff she doesn't think she will be needing but can't bring herself to throw away.  I went to put a load of washing in the washing machine and found a large batch of clothes that she had put in the machine last night, still there - waiting to go in the tumble drier!  I suspect she'll be back very soon to collect them.
Our son, sensing that the full burden of being parented was going to fall on his shoulders, beat a retreat to his girlfriend's family's house on the pretext of needing to see one of her sisters.  Hmmm - I know his game!  He could tell that the absence of his sister would mean more mothering for him. 
As we were leaving the flat, I suddenly remembered that I needed to get a photo of them by their new front door and although eyebrows were raised and sighs were heard, they co operated and I will be using that for a new layout very soon. 
Meanwhile ... there's an empty bedroom in need of spring cleaning ....

B&W - It's in the news

Whilst laying in the swing chair in the garden enjoying the sunshine I suddenly remembered that I had intended to try and post a black and white photo every week.  (let's not mention me missing last week - ok?)

Being as lazy as can be, I picked up my phone and took a photo from where I was laying!  We've been sitting out in the garden reading the weekend papers in the sunshine.  And with under a month to go, you can see that the newspapers are already getting Royal Wedding fever!

A full nest

This weekend is unusual in that we have both chicks in the nest at the same time.  Son chick is home from uni for a couple of weeks and daughter chick is home too.  Not for long though!  She will be moving into a flat with her boyfriend on Monday and our house is becoming a depositary for boxes, clothes and flat pack furniture – you should see the state of our landing and garage!  I’ve been looking for a suitable ‘new home’ card for them but couldn’t find anything that I liked until the husband looked at me in a bemused fashion and said “but surely you’ll be making them one”.  Hmmm …. maybe he has something there.  So this morning I got to grips with card and paper and glue and glitter and came up with this

 

The quote inside says ‘It takes hands to build a house, but only hearts can build a home’ which is very true.   I suspect that Monday will be pretty chaotic,  but very exciting for them both.  I also suspect that our house will feel pretty empty by the time we have unloaded everything and returned home! 

3 x 4 x 6

No don't worry, this isn't turning into an arithmatic lesson - trust me, adding up and messing about with numbers is NOT my strong point!  We're into the third month of Shimelle's 4x6 Photo Love classes and this month we had to fit three 4x6 pictures into a layout.  So, just when you thought you had seen the end of the photos I took at the Cologne Christmas Markets in November ....

Normally I would think that this was all a bit 'busy' but you know what?  I kind of like it!  It suits the photos and it sums up the fun and festivities of the markets.  Instead of using 3 identical motifs by the title I decided to use up the last of the little tags that I bought with a Christmas theme to them.  I don't often take three photos to make a sequence of shots for a page, but I'm thinking that I ought to do it more!



Now even with my poor grasp of maths, I can see how three 4" wide pictures will fit perfectly onto a 12 x 12 page, but I'm wondering how we are going to get along with four pictures next month (cannot begin to get my head round what we will be up to by December!).

Mother’s Day

So to complete my weekend, this Sunday was Mothering Sunday in the UK.  As our son was up in Sheffield at university, my daughter was in total control of the celebrations!  A few years ago she cooked me the most amazing lemon curd and mascarpone gateau and it has become a tradition for her to cook it for me every year now!  I didn’t get chance to photograph it before it was sliced up but she had taken a photo on her phone so excuse the quality but I can assure you it was delicious:

Not only that, but she had also baked white chocolate cupcakes:

 

She had bought me some lovely, thoughtful gifts and put them in such pretty gift bags:

Then in the evening she cooked a wonderful meal, I was thoroughly spoilt and can’t begin to put into words how much I appreciated all the things she had done for me.  All in all, it was a pretty magnificent weekend!

A weekend of two halves

So let’s concentrate on Saturday first! 
We never quite know what to expect from an Eclectic Keepsakes crop.  The only thing guaranteed is a a delicious cupcake:
How pretty is this?  And those little jelly beans were the tastiest jelly beans I have ever tried!
So that got things off to a good start, and as usual, we were left to our own devices in the morning.  I decided to do a layout showing my offspring with their ‘other halves’ as I don’t think I’ve ever made a page with them as couples.  

In the bottom left hand corner you can see a ‘Love eye test’ picture that I downloaded from Mel’s blog.  I photographed the page from a new location, who’d have thought the quarry tiles in my kitchen were exactly the right size to frame a 12 x 12 layout?
So after lunch, Karen revealed our project for the afternoon.  Was it a layout?  No.  Was it a mini-book?  No.  Was it a picture frame?  No.  It was a pretty canvas bag, just the right size to transport 12 x 12 papers/cardstock/layouts  etc etc.  We were given the basic bag, which Karen had kindly stencilled a lovely green swirl.  I’m guessing the thought of 20 scrapbooking ladies getting giddy over the fumes of aerosol paint didn’t pass health and safety rulings and so she had done that bit for us! Our task was then to make a variety of fabric flowers to stitch on.

Now before I show a close up, I have to ask Karen, if she is reading this, NOT to look too closely!  I managed to do one ribbon rose bud correctly but the other two refused to co-operate and so I have ‘free styled’ them into carnations ;-)  The white flowers were fun to do and yet another H&S risk – we cut circles of organza fabric and then held the edges to the flame of a tea light.  As the organza starts to melt it curls up and makes a cup shape.  Very pretty, especially when you put a little glitter around the edges.   Oh, and I seemed to have only cut out two felt leaves instead of three….

April Fool?

Does anyone have any good April Fool stories to share?  I'm pretty sure that I haven't been hoodwinked today but only time will tell!
Some of the girls at our school tried playing pranks, one of the more successful ones was when our deputy head (who is also a language teacher) went to teach her Year 9 class and they were all sitting there silently.  Arms crossed.  Not a murmur from anyone.  Much as we would like to think that this is how all Year 9 classes are anyway, trust me, they are not!  She was very suspicious.  Started the class, asked a question and then one of the girls in the front row held up a card which said 'I am on a sponsored silence'.  Then the next girl did the same, and the next - until the whole class were holding up signs.  She was almost taken in, until one of the girls couldn't stop herself from grinning and the penny dropped ....!
Not so successful were the girls who thought it would be fun to send their parents a prank text at break time saying there had been 'an incident at the school, but don't worry I am ok'.  Followed a little later with one that said 'April Fool!'.   We had a call from a frantic parent who was at work, had been in a meeting when the first text came through and in the time between that and the one they sent 5 minutes later the battery on her phone died .   She came out of her meeting, saw the phone needed charging, plugged it in, and the first message flashed up.  Can you imagine?! 
Well, tomorrow is the Eclectic Keepsakes crop and I have bags to pack, photos to print, sandwiches to make.  Ooooh I wonder what flavour cup cake it will be this month?  I think we will be learning different ways to make flowers etc to decorate a linen bag, big enough to transport 12 x 12 pages and papers.  That could be a lot of flowers!  So, thimbles at the ready .....