Jennies Jottings

Fog - -

2011-03-22T08:16:00.000Z

- - this morning - which makes it warmer - but at what cost? Visibility is not good - Manannan has spread his cloak thick this day and I would guess that there will be no mail plane - at least not until much later today. Pity - as I was hoping for my Crafty Individuals parcel to arrive - but hey ho "ce la vie" I guess. Not a good start when I got to work either as C backup has failed - hopefully it is just the tape and not the drive - better see if the new tape is running I think.

Blogging for Scrapbookers

2011-03-21T16:18:00.012Z

- - I took this class in 2009 - and did love it as I managed to blog a little and scrap a little more regularly - but I have sadly fallen by the wayside - and my blog has been sadly neglected of late! and as for scrapbooking - just don't ask! I don't want that to remain the case - so here I am - and as mum says - if at first you don't succeed try, try, try again!
I have done some crafting - made mini albums, cards, ATCs - even run classes - and joined in with classes - but don't seem to get many photos in albums or journalling done. That I am hoping to change - realistically!! so I don't overface myself and then give up, and maybe somewhere along the way I can find the old mojo!
Anyway here I am - ready to try again - and attempt to blog at least a couple of times a week - and try to make my posts a little more interesting.

Thanks for stopping by.
Gura mie Ayd J x

December 24th

2010-12-24T21:26:00.000Z

Christmas Eve on the island - and it is still freezing - the snow is clinging to my little island home as if it's never going to leave. I have never seen snow on our beaches before - inches deep as well!
However my home is cosy and warm and my guests slept well last night - the turkey is cooked and ready for tomorrow - and the ham just needs finishing in the morning when we do the vegetables. Mum is finishing the trifle and we have Belgian waffles with caramel sauce, chocolate sauce or raspberry sauce as an alternative pudding.
There are so many stories & legends associated with Christmas Eve that I really could have filled a book - but this time I thought I would include the rhyme linked to the game of Snapdragon. It seems to be very out of fashion now - and indeed I don't think we have ever played it - but I do know that you splash a large bowl of raisins with alcohol and light it, then sing the rhyme as you grab a handful to eat. I'm not quite sure how you decide a winner - if there is one, that is!!
Christmas Eve no longer has the same sense of anticipation as it used to - all our "little ones" are now grown, so stockings don't have quite the same magic any longer - and as our family is scattered there are fewer presents under the tree - gifts have been dispatched to catch the Christmas post. And with all the snow the UK has been hit by there has been widespread disruption. However I d think everything arrived safely - so can sleep easy in my bed.

The Story of Snapdragon
'Here he comes with flaming bowl,
Don't he mean to take his toll,
               Snip! Snap! Dragon!

Take care you don't take too much,
Be not greedy in your clutch,
               Snip! Snap! Dragon!
With his blue and lapping tongue
Many of you will be stung,
               Snip! Snap! Dragon!
For he snaps at all that comes
Snatching at his feast of plums,
               Snip! Snap! Dragon!
But Old Christmas makes him come,
Though he looks so fee! fa! fum!
               Snip! Snap! Dragon!
Don't 'ee fear him, be but bold--
Out he goes, his flames are cold,
               Snip! Snap! Dragon!'

Thanks for stopping by.

December 3rd

2010-12-03T16:33:00.129Z

Once more December has sneaked up behind me - overtaken me and is off and running - and from now on in I will be playing my inevitable "catch up" with all I have to do. All the same I love this month in the year - after all it is the anniversary of the biggest upheaval of all - that 2000+ years ago the Son of God arrived on our earth to live his short life as a human baby, boy & man and in the process leave the rest of mankind with the gift that is Christmas. Well it has always felt like a gift to me - it is magic, mystery, gifts, wrapping,cards, candles, special secrets, fire light, good food, love & laughter. Why should we be exempt from a bit of upheaval too?
As you know, actually I enjoy the upheaval - I have always loved Christmas, with its trees, evergreens, bright berries, and all the other fripperies which go alongside. I adore wrapping my parcels, decorating my tree and the rest of my home, preparing the Christmas foods, having guests - and being one! sending & receiving cards, being with my family, and just the general hustle & bustle of making & planning my Christmas. I do hope all your Christmas preparations are coming together smoothly.
I have been thinking about Christmas past as I go about my preparations fo rthis year and I know I am blessed, as in my mind's eye, when I look back down my years I see only happy memories. So many of them - far too may to mention each one individually - but wide ranging - from Christmas in hospital with a new baby to preparing our "Works Christmas Buffet" for many years, Christmas on an island to Christmas in the English Lakes, Christmas in school to my many golden childhood Christmasses at home and at Granny's, for me the magic never fades. I hope you too are looking forward to another very happy Christmas season.
Anyway - to play catch up for another year - there have been few major changes to our life again this year - Rhiannon is in her second year at University and still enjoying it and hopefully working hard towards her degree. I am sure she is - she knows that it is an opportunity she can't afford to waste. She will be home for Christmas in the next couple of weeks - so I am so looking forward to seeing her again. She towers above me now - looks "down" on her little mum these days! Lydia is still living and working in Sheffield - after a few difficult months I think life is beginning to be kind to her again - at least I do hope & pray it is. She is still horse mad - and dreams of a job working with them, so perhaps next year will be the one in which that particular dream comes true. Ben is still at home, though has got a few travel plans in the pipeline.
Both my girls will be coming to stay for the holiday season - as will mum & dad - well they come for a week - at least they do as long as there are flights on & off the island, so I will have a cottage full of guests. We have been hit by snow - very unusual I assure you - and as I write this letter it is still bitterly cold and the ground frozen, hopefully it will have warmed up by the time mum & dad are flying in.

Quote for the Day

Christmas is the gentlest, loveliest festival of the revolving year - and yet, for all that, when it speaks, its voice has strong authority. ~W.J. Cameron

On this day
1967 - Dr Christiaan Barnard carried out the first heart transplant on a human - Louis Washinsky - Cape Town, South Africa
1989 - George H W Bush & Mikhail Gorbachev release statements the the Cold war between USA & Soviet Russia may be coming to an end
1992 - Two bombs planted by the IRA explode in the centre of Manchester injuring 65 people. forcing police to evacuate the whole of the city centre causing widespread disruption.( I was in Manchester that morning but had returned home before the bomb detonated)
Feast Day: St. Lucius, king and confessor, end of second century. St. Birinus, bishop and confessor, 650. St. Sola, hermit, 790. St. Francis Xavier, Apostle of the Indies, confessor, 1552.
UK

and the weather outside is frightful - - -

2010-12-02T11:05:00.018Z

Britain has been hit by the snow - and there is no denying it - we are not geared up for dealing with it. It is very early in the winter for us to have been hit by snow quite this hard - but it happens so infrequently that the skills needed to live with snow never get to develop. Already this week my little island has been affected, and our transport suspended - no buses all weekend, roads closed, schools closed on Monday - and now we have the big freeze. The rest of UK is still being covered in the white stuff. Yesterday it was Sheffield & Hull Universities that were closed (my daughter texted me to tell me she was heading back home - no lectures! And my friend's daughter texted her from Hull with similar news).
Of course being in the British Isles - the weather is of great significance - simply because it is so changeable - and our discussions about the weather take place on an almost daily basis - where-ever you might work - and the Weather Forecast is an obsession with the Artisan!! Not a single day goes by when he wouldn't want to know the weather forecast - all his hobbies are outdoor ones - and linked to the tides and the weather and the wind direction - so of course it is of huge importance to him. Now me - If I want to know what the weather is doing - I look out the window!!

If I could have avoided coming in to work to stay home and play I would have done, but today it is the school Christmas Fayre and we are having a stall to raise a few funds for our Library Clubs.It is going to be a busy day for us as we put together all our goodies for our stall - and I was so busy making chocolates last night for our Choc-in-a- Boxes that I didn't get to stick down my papers to my page for my manifesto. It is on my daughters desk - just waiting! I did manage to glue everything down on my Christmas ATCs for our crop swap though.

Quote for the Day
Oh! The North Wind doth blow
And we shall have snow
And what will poor Robin do then, poor thing?
He'll sit in a barn to keep himself warm
And hide his head under his wing, poor thing!

December 2nd - - on this day

1804 Napoleon Buonaparte Crowns himself Emperor of France at Notre Dame Cathedral

1956 Fidel Castro & Che Guevara land in Cuba - to initiate the Cuban revolution

1988 Benezir Bhutto is sworn in as the first woman Prime Minister of Pakistan becoming the first woman to lead the government of an Islam dominated state

The Zodiac sun sign for today is Sagittarius - a Fire sign, ruled by Jupiter & according to Greek mythology a Centaur - half man, half horse - though better known to us The Archer.

It's Saint Vivian's Day - and she is the patron saint of those affected by mental illness, again something my family has had to deal with as best we can - and in that I know we are not alone.
I know it is unlikely I will get to create any pages tonight - but hope to share when I do manage to get them done.

Bannaghtyn, J x

And so it begins - -

2010-12-01T10:05:00.120Z

- - that most magical season of the year I mean. You must be able to guess?? Of course you can - for today is the start of Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas for 2010, I am an Alumni of the class of several years standing yet I am filled with the same sense of anticipation and excitement that I used to feel as a little girl waiting for that Man in Red to come down the chimney! My favourite albums and a favourite time of the year!!!

As in previous years I will use Shimelle's prompts - but try to add a little twist of my own. Last year in order to stay on task I took a photo every day in December, the year before I had only about half my pages with photos, and the two years previous to that I simply worked with the prompt topic.
This year I thought I would try to include snippets of information about the day/date that interested me - a bit like an old fashioned almanac, with quotes: poems: other countries Christmas Traditions, poems or legends,odd snippets and scraps which have caught my attention : all related solely to the month of December- well thats the theory anyway - lets hope I can make it work!
I am also really trying to post on my blog more regularly - especially as I complete my Journal

Quote for the Day
Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind. ~Mary Ellen Chase

December 1st - on this day

in 1761 Marie Tussaud was born
in 1955 Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama
in 1971 it was my Wedding Day - the day I married my first husband - and it was also a Wednesday!
in 1990 the English & French halves of the Channel Tunnel meet up.

It is also St Eligius Day - and as the Patron saint of Metal workers - he is quite significant for me as my husband is a metal worker, as was my Grandfather and my Uncle - and we have Smiths as a name in our family tree.

I just need now to plan my "manifesto" for this year and hopefully tonight it will all come together so that tomorrow I have the first page in this years journal.I am planning on making it as easy as possible so will keep it simple. Love Shimelle's print out for today!! I have just decorated the Christmas Tree in the school foyer - hope you like it!

I love this season of the year!
Bannaghtyn J x

Big skies and

2010-11-23T10:10:00.001Z

- - beautiful colours driving in this morning. I am truly blessed with my daily commute as I come in towards the rising sun and home again towards the setting sun - so beautiful skies are a gift given to me each day. This morning the moon was a single pearl hanging from the sky like a jewel - soft and glimmering in the reflected light as the new day dawned. Sunriise painted the sky with peaches and cream fading to pearl and silver, tree branches, chimney pots and soaring gulls made silhouettes like a child's drawing

I just wish I could do it justice with my camera - but somehow my pictures never quite work out how I think they will.
Nice of you to drop by,
J x

Birthday flowers - -

2010-11-14T21:27:00.024Z

- - from my youngest daughter. Today was our my Craft Club's all day event and we had a great, though we were quite a small group this time compared to previous all day activities. We did manage to enjoy ourselves though and the kit went down really well. That is always a relief for H & I as we do all the choosing of product. Any way a good time was had by all and Theo, H's new baby boy - was a little love - so very placid and good that she was able to make the whole album and stay for most of the day and so enjoy the whole class!

When I got home it was to find that R had had D - her boyfriend, go to M & S to get me flowers & wine for my special day! So here are my beautiful flowers!!

Thanks for stopping by.

Jx

A Different twist - -

2010-11-10T08:22:00.001Z

A challenge today to add a slightly different twist to my scrapbook journalling - since I had my recipe book out I took my inspiration from that. I can't claim that it is my idea - as I know I have seen poems?? or similar called "Recipe for a Happy Marriage" - however I made it really pertinent for us, as I listed what I thought had made our relationship work.

Take one boy and one girl
Add love – and mix well

Into the mixture - -
Add a large handful of liking
A huge scoop of laughter
Two handfuls of tolerance
4 listening ears
A large pinch of friendship
A spoonful of patience
A dollop of courage
A measure of trust
And a pinch of space to grow
Mix very carefully and share generously every day. Make it last - for always.

Result – me & you –still loving and laughing, still together, still happy in each other’s company
What could possibly be better than that?
I plan to include it on a page at some point - just don't know when!!

Thanks for stopping by. J x

Write like a novellist

2010-11-08T14:33:00.000Z

Well I have tried - this was the prompt from my latest class with Shimelle which inspired this

She lay in the semi darkness – the bed beginning to warm to cosiness as the wind -howling & wuthering in the darkness outside - battered itself against the roof & chimney – the cottage almost shook – but she knew that it was only her imagination, built into the hillside as it was, meant that was an impossibility! Hailstones spattered the skylight just over her head and the continually rising wind was beginning to roar – she had never heard it sound so elemental or loud before. The cottage felt like a small ark being tossed around on the “cloudy seas” from Alfred Noyes poem The Highwayman, as the storm raged overhead.
In her imagination she could see the bay – knowing that the sea would be churning as white horses gallupped into the shore before crashing in tumble of white water, blown spume and spray against the cliffs. Here in the safety of her bedroom – a little sanctuary from the wildness of the night - she was safe & warm – just her and her thoughts – a small smile played over her lips as she thought of Christmas plans before drowsiness crept up silently and suddenly she slept - - --

Thanks for stopping by
J x

Questions????

2010-10-25T17:53:00.013+01:00

The first prompt for true stories came today - and it was all about asking questions - an interesting start - and one of the options was What Frequently Asked Questions do you get asked?
Not a lot I found in my case - good job there are few other options to choose from!
I did manage to think of a couple of questions -
1 What made you move here?
2 Would you ever go back?
3 How long have you been here?

Not really very exciting but there you have it.
We had to scribble our ideas or answers in a note book as really this class is all about journalling and actually WRITING more - with a real pen or pencil and on paper!!

I do write my thoughts - but mostly on the 'puter. So I guess I will do as I am told and use a notebook. Off now to do just that - -so more later hopefully
Thanks for stopping by.
J x

Words - -

2010-10-24T16:11:00.001+01:00

- - and True Stories - as Shimelle is running a new class starting on Monday! And of course I have signed up - don't I always??? Though recent classes have resulted in half finished projects - much to my dismay. I have never been brilliant at keeping up with the posting of my pages etc - but I do usually manage to complete an album - -somehow life is getting too much in the way of my creativity. And usually I am very much a "glass half full" person so actually I find I am quite down about it - I am also constantly tired and am no longer sleeping very well so maybe that has a lot to do with it. Better get a tonic I think! We have had a difficult couple of years with our son - maybe it is beginning to catch up with me.
On a more positive note I am looking forward to the class - I do love words! I rather feel my life is a little too mundane to make much of story though - being a creature of habit and routine doesn't make for very exciting reading I feel.
Thanks for stopping by.
J x

Jack o'Lantern - - -

2010-10-18T15:22:00.012+01:00

- - -and other such Halloween things - - We have been planning a small fundraiser for Crafty Corner and our other Library clubs - so on Wednesday this week we are having "Halloween in the Pumpkin Patch!" - - other wise known as the school library - - for Ghostly Goings-On! Actually it is just a cake sale - but heyho - you've got to make it sound good don't you? We do have Freaky Fingers and Creepy Cupcakes, as well as Choc-in-a-box so we think these treats might go down well.
We have hunted out a goodly selection of Halloween poems - and a few very interesting facts for the display boards - because here of course - it is Hop-Tu- Naa - not Halloween - - and our children carve turnips - not pumpkins.
The original Jack O'Lantern was very fond of turnips - indeed they are believed to have been his favourite food! and as our culture has some deep Celtic roots - - and very strong links with Ireland - - where Jack originated - - I find that old customs die hard. And trust me - - turnips are not easy to carve!!

October Afternoon

2010-10-09T17:38:00.001+01:00

pale grey skies this morning, drifting quietly past - and it had rained in the night but the forecast was for better - fortunately - as today we celebrated with a birthday tea. An incredibly mild day - the still cloudy skies holding the warmth in. In the stillness we found ourselves driving into a golden day as we headed to our destination for Afternoon Tea. Misty; damp; hazy and quiet empty roads, and pale drifting sunlight as we wended our way across the island to Milntown - the sun brightening all the way so that we arrived in the most glorious sunshine. And though it is most definitely autumn - it was beautiful! The gardens of Milntown are a joy to see - so much still in bloom - yet that unmistakable scent of autumn in air - earthy, damp leaves, woodsmoke - whilst insects danced and flitted in the shafts of golden light from the suns rays.

There are fruits and blooms everywhere -colour abounds, russets, greens, golds, purples pinks and blues whilst espaliered apples line the paths and windfalls scatter the orchard, - and in the potting shed the aroma of the harvested apples was so appetizing!! The garden produce is used in the cafe and restaurant kitchens and since it is all grown organically no wonder the food tastes so good!

We had the most delicious afternoon tea to celebrate S's birthday with a real traditional feel to it - delightfully dainty sandwiches, luscious cakes - lemon drizzle, chocolate slices, home made strawberry jam, cream filled scones! All served on a 3 tier cake stand with pretty china and pots of tea or coffee - lovely!! Delightful company of course made it a perfect afternoon! What more can one wish for at this time of the year.

Bannaghtyn - J xx

The Scent of Water - -

2010-10-08T15:16:00.001+01:00

- - and damp leaves, soil and smoky bonfires - - Autumn is really here - the days are shortening almost as I watch it seems - - and the days have started grey and overcast this week and then surprised me by turning into the most beautiful, crisp , sunny afternoon - - it's just a shame I have to work and can only see it out the door of the foyer. I can't even say through the window - since my office is in the internal space of the school!
Today though is one of those still grey days that this season can bring, atmosphere slightly damp, a faint smokiness in the air, an expectant feeling - yet tranqility abounds: "a season of mists & mellow fruitfulness" - I love the changing seasons!
And to day is Friday - yay - meeting friends after work for a social hour - then home with the weekend stretching before me - - - bliss!

Thanks for stopping by.

J x

A weekend drive

2010-10-03T11:12:00.000+01:00

A little drive over the Sloc today - -
It wasn't a very prepossessing start to the day really as the weather wasn't brilliant - - but we decided to go out anyway. I'm glad we did - the uplands have put on their autumn apparel and are dressed in faded green and russet brown - - the day was the very epitome of autumn - a grey sky with occasional flashes of silver as the sun lit the clouds as they scudded by in the winds, sudden shifts on the sea and the hillside suddenly glowing as the suns rays turned the dull browns to glowing russets touched with gold.
We stopped off as usual at Fenella - for a stroll round the outer walls of the castle in Purt ny Hinshey before wandering up through the streets. I have never seen it so empty of people - it was a Saturday afternoon for goodness sake - where was everyone??
We called into a shop - and spent some time chatting with the owner - who told us it had been the same all year - no visitors to speak of - and those that had come in coach parties - -not impressed. I am not sure what our island's current government is about - it not about encouraging people to want to visit and return anyway - since they do little or nothing to encourage the travel operators to give either residents or visitors a fair deal on prices - or encourage SOME our hoteliers to offer quality, reasonably priced accommodation. It is such a shame as we have some of the most beautiful countryside in the UK - and a wide range of attractions to cater for every taste. There are times when I could smack them!!

So long since I posted

2010-09-29T11:20:00.000+01:00

- - I am sorry - I have been a very bad blogger of late - my inspiration totally deserted to me - and life has been exceptionally busy!
I will try to get back on track I promise!

Bonfire Night - -

2009-11-05T19:21:00.000Z

- - November 5th -

Me -"What's for tea?"

Mummy - "A Bonfire".

Me - “What are we having to eat?? Is Granny here? Is daddy home?? Where’s Grandad??”

Me - “Where’s daddy??”

Mummy – “In the garden - - Lighting the fire”

Me - “What are we having to eat??”

Mummy - “Hash, Black peas, Jacket Potatoes – get the salt, pepper & vinegar – put them on the kitchen table”

mmm Jacket Potatoes baked in the embers of the bonfire - - - al blackened skins, smoky tasting- and unbelievably hot!!! Parkin, Treacle Toffee - and fireworks! Oh the magic - - I love fireworks - - I do - - I find them truly magical - - I loved them when I was a child when we only had a small display in the garden - - and I love them still - - even though now almost everywhere there is an official display – so much safer I am sure - - but I do miss that impromptu “bonfire for tea” moment!

A change in the weather - -

2009-10-27T09:08:00.002Z

- - so much milder - but wet today - the kind of weather the Irish call "soft". Fine rain which wets everything through yet makes everywhere look glossy and polished. The ivy leaves are a deep, deep green and the bracken the most wonderful warm hazelnut colour. I wish I could paint to capture it but I am not at all artistic - I can't even copy a picture to male it look like the original!
Hopefully it will brighten later and I might get out for my constitutional! I can hope anyway.

Thanks for stopping by

Autumn - -

2009-10-26T20:11:00.006Z

-- today was one of those quiet days which we sometimes get in autumn. Everything was very still - there was little or no wind and not a lot of brightness to the sky - yet the autumn colours on the hillside were clear and fresh looking in spite of the muted skies. It was incredibly mild for the time of year - I guess I could even call it warm.
Did a bit of playing with pretty papers to cover this little box

- it is the perfect size to store the free clear stamps I get with my Craft Stamper so I am being organised a well as creative!!
We also got the first tips from Shimelle on her new online class - Blogging for Scrapbookers. I am a Shimelle Junkie I'm afraid as I can't resist her classes - and even when I think - no don't think I'll bother with this one - I succumb anyway!!

A new class

2009-10-25T11:50:00.001Z

with Shimelle - so I hope I can get my blogging Mojo back with her inspiration and help!

Another wet day - -

2009-09-08T20:40:00.005+01:00

- - its truly dreadful weather today - for people that is! The rain is hammering on the skylight in my office and I am just waiting for it to start raining in - I know it will, so I have the bucket already in position!!
Today is the last day before the students return to school - then it will be manic for days!! I do love my job! Seriously I do - it is so rewarding seeing our students turn into young adults to be proud of - and there are so many more of those kind of students than the "more challenging" ones I promise you! I am glad I am not a teacher though - I don't think I could handle the constant testing all the time!!

It is the end of an era for me this term - as it is the first time I will have no child at the school - my youngest has now left and is off to University. I think it might be strange for a while with no 6th Former popping her head through the door saying "mum - I need - - -". I am going to miss her so much.But hey ho - life goes on doesn't it?
Thanks for stopping by.

Wild weather

2009-09-04T09:08:00.007+01:00

- - seems to have battered our shore this last week - and we seem to have had every season in one day on some days!!
I know that my island home is known to be windy - but we have never (since I came to live here anyway) had such RAIN.
The downpours have been frightening in their intensity! Water has been hammering on the skylights, both at home & at work, so hard that I was afraid the glass would shatter!
Yet it blows away as if he has never been - and we are again blessed with beautiful blue skies and scudding puffs of white fluff as the clouds skim across the blue.
The wind is shaking the tree tops and the leaves are falling in their droves - it seem autumn is already upon us and yet it feels like we have had no summer.
I am participating in Shimelle's Learn Something - - class again this year so here is one of the pages.
TFL

Bank Holiday Washout

2009-08-31T22:21:00.005+01:00

Nice weather today here on my island - - for ducks!! I don't think it has stopped raining at all today. A wet bank holiday Monday – no surprise there then! I woke to the sound of the rain pattering on to the skylight - and it has rained all day.
Good excuse to play with crafty stuff – and I might even get to upload a few creations - but don't hold your breath!
Even in the rain my island has a special beauty - all the leaves shine as if they have been polished with Pledge. There is a definite feeling of autumn in the air now -the leaves are falling and everywhere there are berries to be seen. The hillsides are purple and gold with the heather & the gorse - their colours intensified by the rain and though I have not been further than my garden today it has been a good day.

- - and today we have

2009-08-30T14:17:00.005+01:00

- - basking shark in our bay! So cool - they are truly awesome creatures! I think that as there were 2 of them it was probably a mother & calf as one did seem a smaller one, and was really very close in to the shore. Only just off the rocks on Spaldrick beach. I get such an uplifted feeling whenever I see them - though usually all I can see is the fin above the surface of the waves. They do seem to circle round in a particular area feeding and can often be there for hours. I seem to see them more when the waves are a little choppy - not wildly windy but not flat calm.

I do feel bad as it is such long time since I found time to update this. I really am a bad blogger recently - but life has got in the way somewhat and I haven't even been very creative either!
Never mind - life goes on and I shall try to do better.
I do have a couple of reasons to blog about as I am in the middle of finishing my last class with Shimelle and a new one starts tomorrow in which I am already an alumni - It is September so that means Learn Something New Every Day!
I have been very poor about sharing my craftwork in the last year so must get back into the habit!
I will try - promise!!!

Sunny Sunday - -

2009-06-14T13:52:00.003+01:00

- - in the garden.
So lovely just to sit in the sun listening to the humming of the bumble bees as they lurch drunkenly from flower to flower. I have a good half dozen of them here at the moment - two varieties I think as I am sure one of them is the smaller red tailed bumble.
There are a couple of them who are real whoppers - must be at least an inch long!
My flowers are truly beautiful - their beauty is a gift I am so thankful for as they always lift my spirits when I am feeling a little low.

Senior Race Day

2009-06-13T20:45:00.002+01:00

- - is the day we usually go to watch at least one race in the years TT races. This year was no exception. We had to find a new spot to watch from though as our usual place was no longer available. We did find somewhere with some atmosphere - and a tea stall!!
It really is very scary the speed those bikes travel at - and sadly there was another fatality on the last lap of the last race. The riders get tired I think - after all 6 times round a 37 mile course at over 100 miles per hour must be pretty draining - and a lapse of concentration at those kind of speeds is all it takes. I can understand their fascination with racing - it must feel like flying - but its not for me - and I hate the waste of life! But the TT Races is something the island is very proud of - though I am sure there will be more calls for the races to stop as there usually are after accidents, and lots of those who live on the course find the road closures slightly more than just a nuisance!
Living in the South as we do - we are much less affected.

Spent some time crafting when we got home finishing ATCs for swaps & trades so that was fun and gave me a pick me up as it always makes me feel down when I hear of accidents.

So long since I found time for this - - -

2009-06-10T22:48:00.003+01:00

- -but today I noticed & loved
. bumble bees
. the scent of roses
. the sparkle of sunlight on the sea
. my garden
. colours
. so many flowers I can't list them all
. the perfume of the escalonia leaves
. ducklings in the bay with mama duck - just three now
. blue butterflies in the Glen
. the song of the skylark
. swallows swooping over the headland
. a martin's nest
. swifts
Such small things - but it is always these little things which give the most joy!

It's getting nearer - - -

2008-12-18T15:19:00.002Z

- - to my trip to Munich Christmas market - and I am beginning to feel like a child on Christmas Eve, with that bubble of excitement in my tummy. I have been to collect some euros from the bank at lunch time - and got drenched on the way back as the heavens opened! I am hoping to get some traditional German Christmas foods from the markets - "pfeffernousse", and "Kuchen" - Hope I've spelled those right. I am planning my Christmas buffet on Boxing Day around what I can bring back, so plan to travel with a half empty suitcase on the basis that I can fill it for bringing it back home.I will of course have our cold meats that I have cooked myself(turkey, pork & a ham) along with pickles,chutneys & salad stuffs and trifle for pud - though I might also make Nigella's "Rocky Road" as it looked so delicious last night on TV - LOL!! Though this year I am going to be without my Chocoholic DD1 as she will be at the other side of the world - so maybe a chocolate sweet might not be needed. Actually on second thoughts I will not need it then as I won't actually have very many visitors this year at Christmas - I could do a bit of something for New Year's Eve perhaps.
Need to think about it.

It'sbeen a little - -

2008-12-17T16:08:00.003Z

- - hectic!! I haven't had a minute to do any "me" stuff for a good few days, what with DD2 having school Christmas Concert, the school panto, driving tests(theory) - she passed - DH deciding he would wait til I put the Christmas Tree up THEN paint!!!!!!!, organising posting gifts & cards as the possibility of a postal strike looms and - - - I'm sure you can imagine. My Christmas Journal has lots of page protectors with notes and so on in them - but no pages I can upload. As I am off the the Christmas Markets in Munich on Saturday for 3 days, and Friday is my works Xmas party - M & D are arriving at my sisters for the festive season next week - I can't see many pages being done now til after the 29th!
Ah well c'est la vie!!
I have some great pictures though - for at least 3 of the prompts I have not yet done pages for - and hope to have some wonderful Christmas memories to add from my trip to Germany.

Oh Christmas Tree - -

2008-12-11T09:48:00.005Z

- - oh Christmas Tree -
I haven't got mine up yet - but I do so love putting it up - maybe I'll be able to do it on Saturday - hopefully anyway. Ideally I love a real tree - there is something about the scent of the pine/fir tree that is just Christmas to me, though we didn't have real trees when I was a child - I think only the "comfortably off" could afford real trees when I was growing up - unless they grew their own of course. I do know that when mum could afford it she got a real tree - and I can remember the scent as I walked in the house from school (Senior School). Magical!! Totally magical!!
When I first had my own tree it was a small artificial one - and my cats licked ALL the glitter off the baubles!!! which I only discovered when I took the tree down to put the decorations away on 12th Night.
Now I have a real tree - which goes up at different times - when my children were small it had to be up in time for B's birthday (17th) - now its the most convenient weekend - since I am ashamed to say that I have enough decorations to open a shop - - so it takes me quite a long time to put up my tree!!!

An Outing to - -

2008-12-09T09:16:00.013Z

The Clog Factory - -
Living on the very edge of the Pennines - the Lancashire side - we were nevertheless within touching distance of Yorkshire, in fact when I was a little girl (Saddleworth - on the outskirts of Oldham - - was in Yorkshire!). From Royton we were less than an hour away from Todmorden, Holmfirth, the Colne Valley & Hebden Bridge - the home of Walkleys Clog factory - They are now the only company in the UK making clogs - but I digress -
the time I am remembering was when this enormous yet beautiful - well to my eyes anyway, building - an old stone built mill, on the edge of the river Colne had the clog workshop and shop on the ground floor (where you can still go to buy clogs - if you go they will draw round your foot and make you a pair of clogs that will only fit YOU. The master clogmakers then, were men of character with broad Yorkshire/Lancashire accents busy in their workshops - where you could watch them at work - and their skill with a few bits of beech & leather has to be seen to be believed. I believe clogs are the most comfortable shoes you will ever wear - but I could never afford to buy any to test the theory out - we were on a tight budget with a growing family.)
However the the upper floors were given over to small and unique retail outlets, selling wonderfully quirky items, and hand made delights like soaps, bath oils & salts, bubble bath, handmade chocolates, sweets, glass ware, pottery, toys - and all manner of other beautiful things - clothes, hats, leather goods, bags, jewelry, scarves & knitwear - - a wonderful place - full of surprises - each little shop like opening the door of the Old Curiosity Shoppe - - you never knew what treasure you would find inside!
The Piece de Resistance - the two top floors -- a German Christmas Market, Santa's Grotto & the Cafe - a Christmas lover's dreams come true!! At this time - probably 20 years ago - this was unique in my part of the UK - there was no where else like it. So on the second weekend of December we would bundle up the children in warm clothes ,wrap up warm ourselves (the van heating system didn't work too brilliantly) collect mum - & dad sometimes too if he felt like it and set off to see the Man in Red. we were welcomed to this magical world of a shop by The Nutcrackers - two beautiful carved & painted life size Nutcrackers on each side of the entrance and inside all the amazing decorations were set out on stalls to browse around, little wooden smoking men - with incense cones, wooden carousels full of tiny Christmas figures, exquisite coloured glass baubles, not only the round ones but teardrops, cones, houses, churches, trees, drums, soldier boys, trains, angels, little children, skaters, dancers, snowmen & Santas - & I am sure I have forgotten some, other stalls contained wooden decorations - toys, stars, moons, eggs - some painted some not - and miniature Nutcrackers!& yet more stalls had cards, giftwrap, tinsel and so on- it was like being a child in a sweetshop - we just didn't know where to look first!

Our fist little wooden Christmas decorations came from Walkleys as the children each chose one decoration they loved each year, as did I & some of my most precious glass tree decorations came from here - now taken out each year - and memories come flooding back. We would finish our trip with the visit to Santa then tea or coffee and spicy biscuits in the cafe before the drive home in the darkening afternoon - watching for houses with Christmas Trees & Lights - getting excited about putting up our own tree & adding the new decorations when we did. Christmas Magic on a cold December Saturday - - wish I could do it again right now!
I don't think that the Clog Factory has the Christmas Market any longer - - so sad to think its gone - & am glad to add it to this years Journal - so at least my memory of it will live on.

Countdown - -

2008-12-05T08:25:00.012Z

- - to Christmas - - so dark as I go home after school in these short winter days – yet sometimes I get an unexpected boost to the spirits – I look up to see a sickle moon and the evening star – shining so brightly against the deepening blue of the twilight sky – almost I can reach out and pluck them from the sky shiny and bright – ready to hang on my Christmas Tree. A typical Christmas scene moon, I think – the kind usually in the background when you see Santa and his sleigh flying up over the rooftops on a Christmas card.
It’s a true midnight blue at this time of the evening – yes I do know the timing is all wrong! – the smudges of cloud creating texture – it looks so “strokable” and tactile, blue silk velvet in the cold air. As the sky darkens even more the stars begin to appear – pinning up the curtain of the sky!

Another day dawns and I awake to the sound of rain drumming on the skylight – it has turned considerably milder – so no snow for us then - but time to think about our family traditions as we countdown to Christmas - do you open an Advent Calendar, light an advent candle, open a small gift, eat a chocolate? I have done all of these things and this year have gone back to the very old fashioned Advent calendar I had as a little girl - with tiny pictures behind little doors - I think my children think I am finally losing it!
I have been looking back at my pages so far - and have realised that this years journal is mostly journalling - and though I love the papers I am using I am not totally happy with the way the pages look!!! Might have to do them again I think - when I have a bit more time at the weekend perhaps.
With that thought in mind I am going to go with one of the prompt ideas today.
So 25 reasons why I love Christmas

1: The sense of anticipation it brings
2: Putting up my Christmas tree
3: Seeing family & friends
4: Candles
5: Spices - the scent of Christmas baking!! Yum!
6: Candle lit Carol services
7: Pine cones on the fire giving off both scent & colour
8: My glass angels
9: Time at home
10:School Concert
11:Twinkling lights
12:Robins in the garden
13:Cards
14:Special food we only ever have at Christmas
15:Stockings
16:Winter walks on Christmas Day
17:Ben's Birthday
18:Gift giving - (no longer too fussed about receiving)
19:Christmas Eve
20:Christmas Music
21:Carols - Listening to and singing them
22:Using my Victorian Sherry glasses (the only time I ever do)
23:Lydia's Birthday
24:Wrapping parcels
25:Christmas Day!!

What do you love?

A Perfect Christmas - -

2008-12-04T12:07:00.003Z

- - a view like this outside
- - warm & cosy inside
- - delicious food on the table, glassware gleaming in the candle light
- - family & friends around my perfectly decorated tree
- - love & laughter in the room
- - Christmas music we all enjoy playing softly in the background
- - children with "candle eyes" as they open the perfect gift

Christmas is always like this - in my dreams, yet surprisingly often a little of that perfection creeps into the room - usually when I least expect it - when just one of those "perfect" elements is mine for a fleeting moment in time, captured like a snapshot in my head, and when I find that picture coming to mind I smell the cinnamon, the pine, the wood smoke and delicious roast, I hear the music & laughter & see the glittery decorations of the tree as firelight flickers - reflected in the baubles. Once it was the children with eyes like candles opening the perfect gift as, once their awe as they attended their first Christingle service. Another year all my family were there - I even remember a white Christmas, and once upon a time I had crystal glasses.What will this year bring?

Pages 2 & 3 - -

2008-12-04T08:31:00.003Z

- - of this year's Christmas Journal.

- - the patterned paper on each page is a pocket - and I have put a copy of the weather forecast for the day inside this one. I have made my snowflake this year from wire and assorted glass beads.

This years cards - well just a few.

Christmas Crops - - Cards - - Correspondence

2008-12-03T08:24:00.014Z

- - last night was our Christmas Crop – yes I know it’s very early to celebrate the season – but if we didn’t have our meeting on our usual first Tuesday – we wouldn’t have one at all. December is a hectic month – many of us have children – with their attendant Nativities, Concerts and Parties – many of us work in schools – with all that brings in the way of Christmas Activities – so you see early December is perfect for our Christmas Crop!!

It was a wonderful evening –

mulled wine (a non alcoholic variety which is truly delicious!!) with mince pies,

a small buffet

a Secret Santa Swap of crafty goodies for each other

held our usual raffle,

Lynsey brought along her “shop”

swapped Christmas ATCs

took photographs & printed them out to scrap

- – not that many of us did LOL – too busy talking and laughing!

I had ordered some small custom made stamps as a surprise gift for our subscription members which was very successful – a great relief for Hayley& I (our idea!! - & as we are running things we thought it a good one) and we had 2 new ladies – who are going to join us on a regular basis I hope – so I think that made the whole evening a resounding success. I know I had a lot of fun.I even completed my page in my Christmas Journal - (about the only thing I did) but foolishly I have left it at home so can't scan my page to show yet. I will have to add the pics later.

It was icy cold this morning - and the roads quite treacherous with black ice everywhere - but oh what I wonderful sunrise - one of nature's gifts to me - (to make up for getting up in the dark to go to work?) beautiful skies - giving Gansey Bay a mystical shoreline, the sea a steely looking glass with scarcely a ripple visible - - gulls soaring high overhead - tiny black dots against the orange of the rising sun. I tried to capture it on camera - and failed totally. Maybe one day!

Now to consider my thoughts for page 3 - - Christmas Correspondence - very apt as a few ladies were making Christmas cards last night & our Christmas Stamps are illustrations from The Jolly Christmas Postman!!!

Do you write a Christmas letter to go with your cards when you send them?? - I have done since I moved away from the area where I grew up and lived for a large part of my life. Ooops - -I haven't started this year's yet - -however I do like to put my year down on paper - I don't hand write them - all done by word processing as they would not get done otherwise!! I need to get a move on as I have some cards which MUST go by Friday.

I love getting letters myself, so really should be a better correspondent than I am - - I love that my godmother always includes a letter with my birthday card & Christmas card - but I fear that letter writing is a dying art since I don't get many others -( I am just as guilty as the next person for not finding time to write letters - for someone who loves words as I do that is a shameful admission!!) Would Shimelle's report read "Must try harder" were she to write one??

I know many people now feel that Christmas cards are waste of money and prefer to make a charitable donation instead - I understand their sentiments, sometimes I feel guilty not doing the same - but for me writing my cards, including a letter - - is my gift to those friends & family I don't see from one year to the next - by writing a card I give them a little of my time, I think of them, wish I had phoned/seen them more often in the last year - - and always mean to do better in the New Year. I don't of course - - so - however hectic or frantic these season may get I will find the time to write my letter - and my cards - even if it means burning the midnight oil.

What a change - -

2008-12-02T08:26:00.009Z

- - in the weather! Yesterday was icy cold and bright - today - to steal a line from the song - nothing but grey skies!! and so much milder, at least that's what I thought til I heard the weather forecast on the the radio when it was announced that our Mountain Road is closed because of "adverse weather conditions". Oddly enough I didn't think it was cold enough for that - but there you go!!Life is full of surprises! The weather forecasters had said it could snow - and I have to admit to looking forward to that - just because it always looks so pretty - as it so rarely gets cold enough for snow here on my island, though I am NOT a great snow lover really.
I love the way it LOOKS - not the way it feels - I don't do cold & wet - yet tell me it's snowing and I will dash to the nearest window to watch the flakes as the first few drift apparently aimlessly down before turning into a great flurry - all in a race to be the first to land. And a real snowstorm - snowflakes accelerating like a Formula1 race driver, whirling past the window at a rate of knots, dancing, spinning, swirling & tossed by the wind so all you see is the snowflakes mad dance - muffling all sound , turning the world white & silent - and completely beautiful!! From inside looking out that is!

Also here is my page from 1st December - It lifts up to show the photos I took yesterday of our girls crafting (Crafty Corner in school) and our Advent calendar. There is additional journalling to go on - ie their names and details of what they are making, but I do not want to upload that info to the web so took the pictures before I add it.
My journalling for today's entry is above, and I will post pictures of my page tomorrow.

Advent begins - -

2008-12-01T10:21:00.004Z

- - with an Advent sky today coming in to work, the softest peach where the sun was rising, turning to a golden shimmer as it paled and spread long pale fingers of light out over the landscape and the bay – so , so beautiful – I wish I could capture it and bottle it to share – it is so fleeting – this ethereal beauty of the morning skies – I always feel as if the heavens are giving me a gift – such an appropriate feeling for the beginning of Christmas don’t you think?

However it was so COLD – we had a heavy frost last night and there was ice on the windscreen – not common here let me assure you! When I got out of the car the ground was glittery & sparkling – more beauty – well to my eyes at least – so that it really did me think that today is the start of something special - - well it is of course as it is Advent & is also the start of 2008 Journal Your Christmas class with Shimelle Laine – so my first prompt has arrived in my Inbox with its idea of making a little promise to yourself, writing your manifesto, declaring your intentions – so here is mine – for 2008
SO

I am going to -
Keep a record of this Christmas season
By making a few notes each day of my thoughts
Creating a little page - every day -
Just because I want to – and its fun –
To tell the stories of my favourite time of year.

I HOPE
That by taking a little Thinking time each day
that I can keep the true Spirit of Christmas
alive and kicking - not only for me
but for all of my family, so they can
look back at these memories with smiles.

That I meet likeminded souls
who will make this particular Advent journey with me.

To Share my creations occasionally with them as
they may do with me.

To remember why I love Christmas – not the
madly commercial variety – but that one that
Ebeneezer Scrooge promised to keep – so like him
“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”

THOUGH I MIGHT

Skip the days when it gets a bit too hectic!

I also found an old fashioned Advent Calendar - the kind with little pictures behind tiny doors as opposed to a chocolate - at the weekend so have bought it for my desk - at home I have given B & R one with a chocolate inside - but am an old-fashioned girl at heart - so I prefer them without chocolate.

Time for - -

2008-11-29T19:49:00.004Z

-- collecting together supplies to create the kits for the end of term - today I have been to get the ribbons for making the star books - & at the same time I found some beautiful fabric - for quilting, so hope to do a bit to add to my Christmas Journal. The class properly start on Monday - how exciting is that?

It's beginning to feel a lot - - -

2008-11-28T14:50:00.003Z

- - -like Christmas - la, la,la - The Christmas trees arrived in school today - the scent in the foyer was wonderful!! I love the scent of conifers - pine and fir are so very evocative of this season of the year I think.
It was funny though - the tree for the main foyer was about 2 feet too tall - so what did these Manxmen do - start sawing through the trunk!! Took 3 of them - including the Headmaster - to cut it to down to size. Me - I would have just clipped off the spindle at the top - no one would have been any the wiser since the tree is such a good shape! The photo of the Head sawing madly is now on our school plasma screen- I'm only sorry I can't share it with you since the whole incident has had us in tucks of laughter all day! I LOVE the Isle of Man!!!!
All for now J x

Oh so dark - -

2008-11-27T13:49:00.006Z

- - this morning when the alarm went off - and it didn't get much lighter going into work.Such an ominous sky - - - very, very gloomy - the kind you see in horror movies when the heroine gets abandoned in a spooky house somewhere!
Needless to say - the heavens opened just after I got into work and the rain came down in bucket loads!! Yet now it is a beautiful autumn day - with blue sky and sunshine - a little breezy to be sure - the wind is scooting in across Scarlett and over the playing fields - but I have just really enjoyed my walk into town to get a wee bit of shopping. Managed to get another Christmas present as well - which is a real bonus - at this rate I won't need to go into Douglas to shop at all, just to absorb a bit of Christmas atmosphere - so will avoid the pressure and it will just be fun!
I have been making Christmas tags today for the Craft Club gifts for all our members - and hope to finish them later - need to go an root out my crop o dile from Crafty Corner to punch the holes.
Also made this star book which we are doing with out crafty corner girls on the last day of term. Hope they will like it.

The Preparation prompt arrives - -

2008-11-26T08:04:00.010Z

- - for this year's Journal Your Christmas - as you probably know I am playing along again with Shimelle and a host of other great participants from right across the globe. The board has been buzzing with anticipation awaiting this first email from Shimelle - we - grown women - are all like children waiting to see Santa - just bubbling with excitement. I first did this class in 2006 - so this will be my third Journal! I can't thank Shimelle enough for designing and running this class - because it really has made Christmas magical again for me. I have always loved Christmas - as a child I remember spending most of December with a permanent bubble of excitement in my tummy - and felt the same way when my children were little as well, in anticipation of their faces on Christmas morning - but as they all became young adults - it wasn't quite the same, yet I do still love Christmas.
However - thanks to this class my delight in Christmas time has returned to childhood levels - and f0r that I raise my glass (metaphorically speaking - it is only 8.30 am here!!)and say Hooray for Shimelle and Journal Your Christmas.
I am really proud to say that I did manage a finished product - all be it that I missed out a couple of prompts in 2006, and that when I was invited to join in again in 2007 was also able to produce a passable Journal of my season - even though I didn't manage ALL the 37 prompts. I love both of my journals - I think they might be my favourite scrapbooks - as they certainly are looked through more often than any other!
So - - - once again I am Journalling My Christmas -- Why you ask? because I love Christmas - - for all the hustle & bustle, all the preparation, all the shopping for gifts for my loved ones. I really enjoy wrapping my parcels - making them as pretty & special as possible for my own very special people, making mince pies on Christmas Eve - with all the memories it brings of doing the very same thing with mummy as a child to doing the same with my children, planning my menu for Christmas Day, decorating my home with my Christmas Village, putting up the Tree - - candles. school Christmas Fayres, writing my Christmas letter & my cards, travelling home in the dark to see fairy lights appearing in windows and outside homes as other families start their own preparation, listening to Christmas music - going to the special Candlelit Services, being with my family, enjoying foods and drinks that I only have at Christmas time, roasting the turkey & pork, Christmas Crackers, party games, silly hats , walks after Christmas Lunch, High Tea on Christmas Day, Boxing Day presents and so many other small special traditions - - all make this the most magical time of year. My Granny, Grandad,my mum & dad always made Christmas Magic for my sister and I - -I try to do the same with my family - my husband, my daughters & son - I hope I am succeeding - - - that mum and gran would be proud of the way I carry our family Christmas tradition forward before it moves on to the next generation - -and of course I can always dream of a white Christmas - Can't I?
If Christmas means just as much to you - why don't you take a peek here http://www.shimelle.com/classes/389/journal-your-christmas - - play along too?

All for now Jx

A Weekend Getaway - -

2008-11-25T12:27:00.006Z

- - the Dance Festival trip was so much fun! Though it didn't get off to the most auspicious of starts since I misread the flight take off time and we missed the plane!! DOH!!! Do I feel dumb!!It cost so much to change the ticket that we almost didn't go. If the visit hadn't been incorporating the Gallery visit that R needed for her A Level Art course we would have stayed home! In fact if I am totally honest this trip was cursed I think, since we had problems with the hire car as well- it just lost power after we had been driving about 25 miles. It was actually rather scary as we were on the motorway at the time - M55 heading to M62 so there was a fair volume of traffic. I am not a driver - so rarely "feel" the engine etc the way D does - but even I felt this! We did manage to get to Manchester though for the gallery visit - a great exhibition of Pre Raphaelite paintings - so worth a look see if you are around Moseley St.
All for now. J

A grey morning - -

2008-11-20T07:56:00.005Z

- - and last night was a black night! I always get a slight sense of shock whenever I go home by bus in the winter from how very dark it is here. Street lights are few and far between once I leave the town - only on the main roads in the very centre of the villages - so the windows of the farms and cottages scattered along my route shine out like beacons as the bus whizzes along the lanes.
There are communities en route of course - small villages with really rather a lot of homes tucked away at the back of the main roads on fairly new housing estates - but they still have very few street lamps - particularly compared to the huge conurbations of North West England - where to be truthful - it is never truly dark!
It makes the Christmas lights all the more spectacular though - so I think I prefer it here!
This morning was pale grey - but not dismal, and the trees were very black against the sky. Quite windy when I got out of the car, which I hadn't expected to be honest - but it was blowing straight off Scarlett.
This morning I have cut a few papers for the Crafty Corner girls tomorrow - as I am off the island for a trip to Blackpool Dance Festival - am so looking forward to it!!
Til later J x

JYC 2008 - Stamps for Xmas

2008-11-19T13:39:00.008Z

Had to pop down to the PO to send some stuff to DD1 in Oz - and when I got there I realised they had the new Christmas stamps in - so I got a whole set ready to add to my Christmas Journal 2008.
Last year a few in the group swapped Christmas stamps - so maybe that will happen again - you never know.Our stamps this year are based around the wonderful book by Janet & Allen Ahlberg - The Jolly Christmas Postman. Any of you who have little ones - their books are truly delightful - full of interaction and beautiful illustrations - having the books from when my children were small I am delighted to have these stamps to add to my Christmas Journal 2008! They can be purchased from here if you are interested.

Another beautiful - -

2008-11-19T10:27:00.004Z

- - sky as we drove into work today. It was incredibly misty over South Barrule and the Sloc though - their tops were shrouded in Manannan's Cloak. I couldn't decide if they were rain clouds up there or whether it was just cloud which looked grey because it was so early in the day. Over to the east though - the sky was pearly again - like the inside of a shell and the trees stretched bare fingers upwards - their silhouettes so very black against the pale pearly sky. A few gulls soared up over the bay as we passed - sharp silhouettes again - like the birds small children draw in their pictures - then this fleeeting flash of nature's beauty is gone as we round the bend and the scattered farm buildings come into view.
Til later J x

Getting Ready - -

2008-11-18T13:01:00.010Z

- - for Journalling my Christmas once again. So to get into the spirit (a little early I know) I created this exploding box of The Twelve Days of Christmas (or A Partridge in a Pear Tree if you prefer) to do with my Crafty Corner Girls as a Christmas project. I am also considering offering them a "Star" book class - so may well let them choose which they prefer. We plan to run the class/session on the last day of term for our regular Crafty Corner members - and I am so looking forward to it

Coming into school this morning the sky was just so beautiful - all mother-of pearl colours - just like the inside of an oyster shell - soft pale grey, the faintest of peachy pinks and the gentlest of blues as we drove towards the rising sun. It gave the whole of the bay a very tranquil feel - which felt odd as it had been and incredibly windy night! I could even feel the wind through the skylight in the bedroom- which was a little draughty to say the least!! Still it must have settled down as I woke to a very calm, pale day - slightly grey skies though not in the dull sense if you follow me. These pale grey days make the sea in the bay look like glass - and the few gulls around were reflected in the water this morning. I do love this drive into work - it isn't far but so very often we are driving towards the most beautiful skies - and it does boost my spirits, especially in the long dark days of winter.
Here are a couple more pictures of the exploding box.

Til later J x

An AllDay Crop

2008-11-17T20:19:00.007Z

Yesterday my craft club had one of our allday crop/craft days. It was really lovely - very relaxed and I had a great day. For the very first time a few of our members brought their little daughters along - 5 to 7 year olds - and they were so very well behaved and delightful to have with us. Their mums deserve to be very proud of them.
We had a kit of course, with beautiful BoBunny papers - all rich autumn colours and a mini book class as well as some LO ideas and card ideas to use the papers for - I will take some photos tomorrow to upload.

The "littles" had their own kit and made mini books too - but in lovely pinks and turquoise - Abigail (age 6) said their kit was best - which really made me smile!! They worked on a theme of Friends, All About Me- or Favourites - their mums knew which kind of photos to bring and all in all had a wonderful day. I only hope the mums had as good a day - I think so as the "littles" were all sat on their own table and very soon made friends.
I have made a start on my Journal for Christmas - printed out all my numbering as this year I have gone with computer generated numbers, cut a good batch of card stock and covered my journal front cover ready for further decoration - doing a bit more later as -hopefully.
Til later. J xx

Life has - -

2008-11-11T20:18:00.003Z

- - got in the way somewhat over these last months - but maybe this is a good time to try to start blogging again since it will soon be time for Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas class. I do intend to join the group again and create another Christmas Journal. Today is my birthday - so this is a promise to myself - and I will keep the blog up to date too!

Arty Farty Jigsaw

2008-04-23T18:56:00.002+01:00

Here is the completed jigsaw

The Doors of Friendship

2008-03-31T22:06:00.015+01:00

Well as you know I have joined Shimelle's "No Place Like Home" class and one of the prompts was a mini book about Doors. At first I wasn't quite sure what to do - I just couldn't think of enough doors that I could actually get to photograph to make the book worthwhile for me. I mulled over the prompt at work for quite a while - then checking my email I saw I had just got the last ever set of classes from The Design Collective. I was feeling quite sad at tha thought of not getting any more classes from them - then started thinking about the friendships I had made as result of being a part of the forum - and eureka !! (as Archimedes said) I would ask if any of the ladies I consider my online friends - who I welcome to my home each time I chat with them online - would be kind enough to email me a picture of THEIR doors. And bingo - they so kindly did. Here is the album I have made to put the photos in. Since for me taking classes is all about USING my stash I am delighted to say that I have used a whole paper collection on this project! and a few other bits and bob too! YAY!!
I have used Daisy Bucket Maribella, Angel Kisses & prima paper flowers,Big brads, mini brads, Heidi Swapp sticky paper ribbons and my Bind it All!!TFL

Easter Day 2008

2008-03-23T20:38:00.002Z

Easter Sunday 23^rd March 2008

Woke to a beautiful bright morning with blue skies and white clouds scudding across the skylight window – so it’s still at least breezy - We couldn’t possibly stay in on such a lovely morning so my plans for the day will have to wait – When I was a girl of perhaps 8 or 9 mum read the book A Valley of Song, by Elizabeth Goudge, to us – a book, that like all her stories – paints beautiful pictures with words – and to me an inspiration to try to capture just a little element of that in my own scribbles –

so this morning I have been in my very own Glen of Song - The glen is filled with birdsong and the trees are so bare that it is easy to spot the carollers – chaffinches, robins, wrens, blackbirds - all making music to lift your heart to the heavens whilst the sea shimmers and sparkles in the sunlight that kisses my skin with its gentle warmth. The glen is carpeted in celandine – their pretty golden stars opening & lifting shining faces towards the sun – almost smiling with joy – and along the steep wooded banks the daffodils dance gaily under the grey trunks of the still bare branched trees – oh how I love my glorious glen – today I can really see what the builders of our great cathedrals were trying to achieve. I am so blessed to live so close to all this beauty and tranquillity, and somehow I have to get this feeling into my next class with Shimelle.

Autumn Themed Fat Pages Photos

2008-03-13T14:22:00.005Z

Fat Pages & Jigsaw Swap

2008-03-13T13:26:00.006Z

--- Ooooh I have had such fun with these swaps. I got my truly beautiful fat pages back yesterday - such a lot of talented artists have made me a page on my theme of Autumn and I put them all into a book last night. Need to take a few pictures to upload.

I have actually managed to finish my first 3 pieces of jiggy and am so pleased with the way they have turned out. We have each chosen a different theme - these are Flowers, Pink and If it Flies it must have Wings - my interpretation of course - but do hope that their future owners will like them.
It is very satisfying trying out new techniques and textures then including them in a piece of work, It makes me feel like a real artist!! LOL as if! But it has stretched me creatively I think so that has to be good has'nt it.
The photos don't show the colours very well really - the Flowers one is more Blue/Mauve than pink and the Pink is softer in colour too, whilst the Wings one is more turquoise and has a sparkle in the background which doesn't show on the photo.

3rd March

2008-03-03T08:25:00.004Z

- Monday come round again - where does the time go - already we are into March and before I know it its Easter!! Well its only 2 weeks away now!
I had a lovely day yesterday. I spent the whole day creating. I did 3 scrapbook pages, made my E Tag for my mini Art Journal and of course had a play with Tim Holtz techniques - being March he had a new tag technique on his blog. I didn't have any of the mini misters - or the re-inkers, but I muddled through. I had to use a paint brush to add it to my tags - but overall I am quite pleased with the effects.
My E Tag is E for ephemera -background is painted with crackle paint then I just glued bits and bobs to it, including old stamps. an old bus ticket. a few very tiny buttons, a scan of a book cover (which I reduced in size)- the challenge was to use something metal, so I have added a HOTP swirly clip.
Thanks for looking

Mothering Sunday

2008-03-02T13:43:00.007Z

at least that's what I call it. I have been alone today - I just love having the house to myself, and so I have spent my day "creating" Loved it!. D & R out at work. B didn't come in last night as he was in Doolish at a concert. L is across. I have beautiful flowers from R along with choccies, card and phone call from L & B has got me a bottle of wine.
I have been blog reading and discovered that on Tim Holtz there is a new tag for the month - just tried the technique its brilliant so simple but really effective. Mind I had to adapt it as I don't have any mini misters, found an old plastic bag, pounced the ink on there a few times - added perfect pearls and a quick spray of glimmer mist in iridescent gold, mixed with a paint brush and this was the result. I was really pleased with it even if I did get messy hands - I don't do messy hands LOL

February 25th - Monday

2008-02-25T22:29:00.007Z

- - and its Crafty Corner Day! I find myself really looking forward to the craft club with the students - and today I had a lovely surprise for them. I ordered some more Cardstock for them from A Trip Down memory Lane - and the lovely Mel & Jill sent a whole batch of older papers as a freebie for us to use with the girls!! I was so touched - it really is so kind of them - and my girls were delighted with the designs - all colourful and funky - They were Chatterbox paper s totally suited to their tastes!THANK YOU MEL & JILL.

I have completed my D tag for my Tags of Creativity book - so here it is. I covered my tag with packing tape, pounced it with alcohol inks in shades of green,painted a chipboard letter added a bit of gold highlights then covered it with Glossy accents, then stamped the rest of the letters to spell "design", a black paper flower with a brad centre and some doodling completed it. Very simple I know - but it felt like I was being an artist!! LOL.
So far I have represented Altered Art, Buttons, Collage and Design and I feel really pleased with my work - especially as I have never been very good at art - at least according to my art teacher at school - he said I wasn't!! Probably because I really CAN'T draw and that was what was considered art when I was at school - to be good at art you had to be able to draw - at least you had according to Mr Longden! - I couldn't - so ergo - no good at art. I much prefer today's interpretation - artists come in all mediums these days - and I have discovered I just love playing with collage - I still can't draw - but heyho - I will just be a different kind of artist! So there Mr Longden! You don't scare me anymore!!

21st February Tags of Creativity

2008-02-21T19:50:00.007Z

Finally got round to deciding what to do for the A-Z with the girls from It's a Creative World. I am doing a small tag book of the A-Z of Creativity - different techniques, embellishments or ephemera or whatever comes to mind.I have managed to catch up with A,B & C and so here are my attempts. It does mean I am up to date anyway as I am now on the current letter D - so I can work on that til next week I think. I will perhaps post on the blog to let them know I am up to date.

February 20th

2008-02-20T16:14:00.003Z

I enjoyed the "Fat Pages" so much that I have done a bit more playing and here are my creations. I have used a variety of techniques on them - alcohol inks, stamping, paint, fabric, embossing, silk & paper flowers, brads, charms, ribbon & buttons. I am quite pleased with them. Some of them are decorated on both sides. I have even done a bit of doodling!!
Not been as cold today - we have quite a bit more cloud so it has warmed the atmosphere considerably- but then we lose the beautiful bright days we have been having recently.Can't have it both ways I suppose.

February 19th (Tuesday)

2008-02-19T11:49:00.005Z

Well the memory didn't come home last night - so guess what - I forgot to pick up the parcel agin!! I could be dangerous if my memory ever returns!
Another heavy frost last night so a cold start to the day. Had to get the bus in today as the car is "dead!"- so no lift from my beloved.
It was still, and very misty when I came in - the sun a large orange ball hanging in the sky - very muted through the haze. All the fields are still covered in white frost,their green so much paler than usual. We could be in for a nice bright, cold day again as where the mist was thinning the ball of the sun was red not orange - I can live in hope anyway!

February 18th

2008-02-18T10:26:00.004Z

Monday again and back to work,
Woke this morning to a very heavy frost -a real Here we go round the Mulberry Bush day. So COLD last night - we rarely get frost here so I had to take a few pictures of the school garden when I came in.It always looks so very pretty - in my eyes anyway. I have got my last swap to post - Of course I forgot to pick up my packet to take to the PO - don't know where my memory has gone - I seem to have mislaid it - If you come across it - please send it home - I miss it so!! Please let today be the day my memory returns!!
Christine is not well - so no crafty corner today for our youngsters as the library will be closed at lunch time. Pity as I think it the the best bit of my week! Next week eh!

Swaps & other snippets

2008-02-15T08:28:00.005Z

Friends H & A did come, as planned last week - for lunch yesterday, so we put the tourist industry to rights, organised better crafting opportunities on the island enjoyed lunch, chatted and even scrapped a little! I made a start on the Design Collective CJ I have currently, so am pleased about that. Even managed to send my 2 of 3 swaps, so really am quite pleased with myself. Found a box of kiddie jigsaws in one of the local charity shops so bought it for the princely sum of 50p - I have even managed to do a bit of altering so here is my first attempt at an altered jigsaw piece. I need to get practising as I am hoping to join in with an altered jigsaw swap on UKS - as soon as it goes up. I have my blank jigsaw and have picked a theme and am now collecting scraps and bit to go in a pizza box so I can do the project. Do hope I manage to sign up!
This piece is painted, then covered in Distress inks in 2 colours, stamped & embossed , then I added a scrap of acetate that I had covered in alcohol inks (2 shades again, stamped a Crafty Individuals image onto hand made paper, and added a few flower sequins, A bit of doodling and a dab of Stickles completed it.

Friday February 8th

2008-02-08T14:37:00.001Z

and its half term holiday. We break up this afternoon for a week - well some do!! I will have to work Monday/Tuesday as my contract isn't term time only. Hoping to see friends for lunch one day - probably Thursday - and get some crafty stuff done as well. Have a couple of swaps I want to finish and get sent off and hope to keep playing with a few techniques a la Tim Holtz - but I am really not very good at altered art. Just a beginner! and I really don't get the "scary eyes" thing at all!!

February 6th - Altered Art????

2008-02-06T13:32:00.002Z

- - a beautiful day today. The sun is shining and the sky is blue - oh bliss - REAL light - such a wondrous thing it is!! It lifts my spirits and gives me such a boost and makes me feel alive again. The dark days seem to have gone on forever! It has made me feel like sharing my "makings" again so - a few pictures
I have made my first attempts at "altered art" - not something I "get" at all - but I am making Fat Book pages for a swap on UKS so have had to have a bit of a play. Here are my attempts anyway. I do hope they will like them.

February 5th

2008-02-05T11:53:00.000Z

- - another day another dollar as they say. went home early yesterday as I really didn't feel well. Went home and to bed - feeling better today, though not 100% yet. I had to come in as it is our crop tonight and I feel as if I must go! We have had a poor turnout the last couple of times as the weather has conspired against us - but it does mean that funds are low as we need a reasonable number to cover the hire of the hall. Will see how we fare tonight.
Also noticed that Shimelle has a new challenge up - and I have also found this site with a cool plan for a creative year so have emailed to see if I am able to join. Doesn't matter if I can't - I'll try to play along on my own. I might snaffle the button though!!!

February Dawn

2008-02-04T07:54:00.000Z

- - at long last it is beginning to be a little lighter in the mornings. I think it is the only thing that got me up today - the scrap of daylight I could see through the skylight as I have been battling a dreadful cold for days - it seems like forever!! My head still doesn't feel as if it belongs to me, my eyes are puffy, my nose is running like a tap and I am achey all over - just your normal cold really as you can see!
Never mind I have still managed to "play" -all but one of my Fat Book pages are almost complete, I completed my Hopes & Dreams ATCs and have got them back from our host - love them to bits ladies - thank you all! I have still got a Winged set to make and some 6x6 backgrounds however I am very relieved that I was inspired to do my pages in the 2 Stars & a Wish CJ when it first arrived - all I had to do was stick it all down and it is now packed up & ready to post. Just need to email the photos to our overseas members.
DD2 has been across (as we say here) to a rock concert with her friend to see "Paramore" - hope I've got that right - so DH & I have had a very quiet weekend, and I could curl up in front of the fire and nurse my cold in between crafting a bit. It is our monthly Crop tomorrow - so I do hope I feel a bit more alive then.
Shimelle has a new challenge on her blog which I find very appealing so I must have a go at it and I really need to get back into scrapping more photos - I have gone off the boil lately - since Christmas really I suppose - I have so many empty albums - I really must get some photos in them!
Anyway - to get back to the light - the sky over Gansey Bay this morning was beautiful - pale and golden pink like a soft peach and the bare branches of trees silhouetted against it were stretching long fingers towards the rising sun - almost like praying. The sea birds wheeled and soared just over the high watermark, also silhouetted against the creamy gold and the waves rode into shore with white horses on their backs - no sign of the heron today though. Not much warmth in the air yet - and in fact very icy elsewhere on my island and there has been an accident on the mountain road, so I hope no one is hurt. We didn't get much snow though!

Creativity

2008-01-28T12:26:00.000Z

In spite of the dismal weather we have had recently I have found some inspiration somewhere to keep on creating! I am having a go with Ranger products - I have never really known very much about "Altered Art" and such a lot of it is not me at all - but some of the techniques incorporated in the work that these artists create really appeal to me, So I have found Tim Holtz blog and to my great delight he has tips and techniques on there - what a gentleman to share like this. I do find some of the "craft community" so very generous with their skill and share techniques so very kindly amongst us lesser mortals.
I will post pictures later

Keeping my spirits up - -

2008-01-17T12:31:00.000Z

- - I am finding it hard to keep my usual rose coloured spectacles on this month - we have just had so much rain! and this dreary weather is really sapping my resolve to keep to my normal cheerful outlook on life. It has been the darkest January I can remember since we moved here - and never before have we had so much rain - incessantly, day after day, so that it never feels as if it ever gets light so I feel tired all the time. If it wasn't for things like Crafty Corner at work, Design Collective mailings and swaps on UKS I really would be down!!
I am joining in with a couple of swaps on UKS again - which I must admit I have found quite challenging - but hope my fellow swappers will like what I have done! One i a set of ATCs - I made one set but just wasn't happy with them so scrapped them and have started again and the other is Fat Book pages - which I have never done before so am on a steep learning curve here!!! LOL

Dark & Dismal

2008-01-15T09:17:00.000Z

- - such a WET day yesterday and so very grey! Dark, lowering clouds and heavy skies, it has rained so hard that I cannot believe there is any water left in the those clouds - yet still it keeps on raining!!
I was a good day for Craft Club at school though. Our girls have made mini maze books! They did so well! As most of them are year 7, therefore 11/12 years old they love bright colours - and it was lovely watching them chose their papers, card and ribbon. I am so proud of them! They are really beginning to develop and eye for what looks good together - and some of these children arrived in school with a real "bad press" - but for me and Christine they are a pleasure to be with and try so hard!
Look at what they did!

Back to work

2008-01-07T20:11:00.000Z

Well it's back to the grindstone time - back at work today after a lovely 2 week break. Did I not feel like going in - I could do retired SO easily! I have managed to finish the CJ entry in Sue's and now need to scan or photo the pages to send to Carol & Cath. Must remember tomorrow to bring it to work for scan before posting.
I am loving these CJs - I have found it really inspirational getting my hands on the work of such talented ladies - who have fast become my friends I feel.It is wonderful seeing others interpretation of the themes and how they have done things and the techniques they used.
Here is a sneaky peak of my own entries in the Rainbow Showers CJ & the Passions CJ. I can't post the whole pages as I don't want to spoil the surprise for their owners but hope they won't mind a teeny bit showing. I have done a DLO for each journal so it is only a tiny snippet of my work.

January 3rd

2008-01-03T19:40:00.000Z

- and today i have been sorting stash! I have gone through most of my supplies and divided it up into stuff I will use and stuff I won't - which is off to school for the craft club! It is in 2 14" pizza boxes along with another box of cardstock to go in as well.It means if I want to do a class with the girls I at least will have some supplies I can raid.
Very cold, wet & windy here today - a day for definitely staying in and scrapping really. I might get a bit done shortly as I have got quite organised and doen a fair bit of sorting out.

January 2nd 2008

2008-01-02T21:34:00.000Z

- - a day spent catching up with emails and the journal prompts. Have been scrapping like mad trying to add my photos of Christmas to my journal pages and finally publishing the posts that go with them. I have managed to upload quite a number of pages to Flickr - so hopefully some members of the Journal Your Christmas group will see them even if none of them catch them here on my blog.
I need to start putting my stuff for taking to school together tomorrow for the weekly craft club and I need to think of a couple of ideas we can do with the girls who come along. have to work on this I think.

New Years Day 2008

2008-01-01T14:49:00.000Z

Another year rolls over - I can't imagine where the time has gone - but the Journal prompt from Shimelle is to review the last year so I look back and I have managed

to go to 12 crops
take 3 holidays
start dancing again
teach 2 scrapbook classes
learn about ATCs - & make some then join in some swaps
participate in a Circle Journal
see my youngest daughter at her Prom
chat with online friends
move office into a new office.
write 4 letters to Jamie (I must do better this year!!)
visit Debbie
Celebrate my son's 21st Birthday
start a craft luch club at school with a colleague

New Years Eve 2007

2007-12-31T22:23:00.000Z

- A very quiet New Year for me - DH is off to sunnier climes to go climbing, DS is off out with his friends and DD2 is not feeling well. I have been printing my piccies for my journal today and hope to add them to my pages (already done) in my Christmas Journal so I can upload some more pages tomorrow. I have tried to visit all my friend's blogs too - to wish them happy new year - and to any I have missed -Maynrys as Blien Noa - Happy New Year one and all.

Boxing Day

2007-12-26T22:01:00.000Z

Collected Mum & Dad from Rose & Carl's house and brought them here for the day again. Dad seems a bit better now, which is a relief. Went for a walk down the glen with mum whilst it was bright and sunny - then it began to feel colder so we came back home to the cottage. Not a lot of time for "me" things so here is yesterday's page.

December 20th

2007-12-20T16:13:00.001Z

Today's prompt is about the unexpected - not sure yet what I will do - I need to think about this one for a while.
Here is yesterday's page to be going on with, along with the one from the 17th -- Ben's actual birthday.I am so pleased with this photo - I took it at his party just before the battry gave out on my camera - so I was delighted when I saw it - I think it will become a favourite with me. TFL

December 19th

2007-12-19T08:57:00.000Z

Well I have had rather a hectic few days so no blogging for me - just had no opportunity. I t has been slightly chaotic in school - rehearsals for the Christmas Concert were very frantic to say the least. Still it all came good in the end - even if it was way too long a concert!!! So it was a very busy weekend for me - on Friday night I was official photographer for the concert and I believe some of the pics are to go to the local paper as they couldn't send a press photographer- I am just an amateur - I really mean amateur! with my camera - so I don't think I will have anything good enough - the light in the hall was just all wrong for my little camera! Well I did my best!
Saturday - and Siobhan rang to say she had arranged a surprise Birthday Party for Ben and would we come - in the Ship Inn, she is amazing - finding a venue at this time of year - I had no success at all - but the Ship has an upstairs lounge - which they were willing to close for a private function! It was a lovely room as well so I must remember it for the future. She had done a buffet as well - well she and her mum had. It was a good evening and of course must be included in the journal - so I have just ignored the prompt for today - even though I could have used it - a this time we were the visitors!!!
Sunday was a catch up day - though we did have a bit of a special tea with Ben in mind and Monday was his actual 21st birthday - so that also must go in the journal! Another prompt gone by the board. It doesn't matter though as I do have last years journal - and may well have others in future years.
Had a day off yesterday - went for haircut & colour. Finished off my Christmas shopping in Douglas, and spent my birthday money from my mum & dad - got boots, trouser suit, top for Christmas Day as so many shops had sales on - already. I really needed a new coat - but couldn't find one that felt right.I ma behind with my cards - I have lost my address book - so cant remember addys to sent to friends!!! What am I to do!!
I have uploaded as many pages as I have got done so far TFL

Thursday December 13th

2007-12-13T15:54:00.001Z

today's prompt is about the presents - I am quite organised in that I know what I am getting for my children and they are ordered and I am awaiting delivery and Lydia is sorted as well.Imogen is also organised so really with the children in the family dealt with the pressure is off. Here is todays page anyway. TFL

December 12th

2007-12-12T22:30:00.001Z

Day 12 of this years journal. In a way this feels like a duplicate prompt to that for day 6 - so as I am short of time I have split that entry. I have to be honest - I look back at all my Christmases and really don't remember one that wasn't happy - even when I split from my first husband - that last Christmas we were together was not unhappy - we had a little one and we both wanted Christmas to be magic for her - so we made it so. Anyway here is the journalling I chose to cover this topic.
Christmas Eve - when I was about 11 or 12 (I think), Granny & Grandad had come to our house for a Christmas Eve supper - hot pork pie was on the menu– I can smell the aroma to this day. Granny was served her piece of pie – but it never got to her mouth as when she picked it up the filling fell out along with all its delicious juices and landed on her somewhat ample bosom! As the initial shock wore off she started to laugh – and so did we!! So much laughter - yet it completely ruined her beautiful new dress – which was a peacock blue brocade – very elegant and a glorious colour, simply because the grease! I never saw her wear that dress again, yet I know she would have loved it – it was a favourite colour of hers, and I am sure my mum must have made it for her. My abiding memory of this evening is of laughter - even after my sister & I had been sent off to bed I could still here the adults laughter as I fell asleep. I feel all warm & fuzzy now! TFL

The Tree - December 11th

2007-12-11T14:54:00.000Z

- - my tree - what can I say about it? I just love my Christmas Tree - It just wouldn't be Christmas without it. I love all my old fashioned ornaments, which include those made by the children. I have a mixture of a "themed" tree in that I do tend to stick with traditional colours - red gold silver white - and a sentimentalists tree with home made decorations and treasured items form my own and my children's childhood.I was planning on having a "Homes & Gardens" tree this year - all white, gold & silver - but I couldn't get the white lights to work - so went back to my usual of predominantly red, gold silver white - and the toys.
Here is the page from my Christmas Journal this year. It had to be a double page as my tree means Christmas to me - I have included the words to the Oh Tannenbaum Christmas Carol - in English of course and they are the words we sang at The Mission primary school - so think they might have been simplified for us - the versions I found on line used different words. TFL

All Wrapped Up?? - -December 10th

2007-12-10T15:25:00.000Z

- - got my wrapping papers on Saturday so I guess this prompt is appropriate for today, though I don't have many parcels to wrap this year yet. I do need to get those I have wrapped though - I have got the children's main presents and have wrapped Imogen's pressie and given it to her mum to take to Canada with them.Journalling is on the back of the tags -

Usually I just choose one design of paper for my gifts and mainly go for red trimmed with gold, however this year I was spoiled for choice and finished up with 3 or 4 patterns - so here they all are!
TFL

Traditions - December 9th

2007-12-10T11:10:00.000Z

- - I love my Christmas Traditions - like Chocolate Oranges, Sherry when putting up my Christmas Tree, candles, having my family all around me, fairy lights all stuff I included in my Christmas Journal last year - so this year I am just putting a photo of my girls with their grandparents as going for a walk after Christmas lunch is also a family tradition. We have done it as children and adults and only the very most inclement weather has prevented it - and not even then for Doug! He needs his fresh air does my boy! Journalling is on the tag and says

Last year I missd this from my list of traditions of my Christmas, because I forgot to include it, but now I am gald I did as it means I can add something different to this journal. We have always "walked off" our Christmas Dinner - and only the MOST inclement weather has prevented us from going out for a breath of fresh air after lunch on Christmas Day - if even for only 10 minutes (because it was icy cold!) Even the worst weather doesn't stop Doug going out though - he needs his fresh air and to burn off some energy - such a restless chap - the man I married!

Here is the page anyway.TFL

Listen to the Rhythm - December 8th

2007-12-10T08:47:00.000Z

- - of the pouring rain - it's pattering down on the skylight above my bed and I think that is what woke me - early for a Saturday as well! Nice weather - for ducks!! It is raining so heavily that I am a little afraid of the cottage flooding. I have never seen rain like to day here on the island - Doug has gone into work this morning so I am going to clean the lounge and make the space for our Christmas tree to go. Then if it ever stops raining I will try to persuade him to take me to Ballapaddag to choose this years tree.
I hasn't stopped raining - but we are going to go into Doolish anyway. Phoned Lydia and we picked her up and took her for her Christmas present. She wanted a good rucksack for her holiday plans for 2008, so we have got her a Karrimor. She chose it herself - so its pink!! Her dad was horrified to think that she picked it on the colour - but me - I understand completely!! It's a girl thing.

Also got a couple of things for Christmas that I wanted, and then dropped Lyds off home before setting back home ourselves - and stopping en route to choose a tree - in spite of the fact it was bucketing down - needless to say I have never chosen a tree so quickly!!!!!

Doug & I spent the afternoon & evening ( apart from watching Strictly Come Dancing) putting it up and decorating it, so we cracked open the Sherry!I can't put up our tree without my traditional glass of sherry. It is slightly smaller than I usually have so the branches are not as sturdy as usual - so I haven't got as many decorations on as usual. I was thinking of going with a change of colour scheme and just having gold, white & silver - but I couldn't get all the white lights to work so have gone with my usual of red, white,gold & silver. I had to use the red lights you see! I am pleased with it though and I think that Ben & Rhiannon like it.

Do you hear what I hear -

Christmas Lists - December 7th

2007-12-07T08:24:00.000Z

- - are here again! I always make Lists, lists for cards, lists for presents, lists for food shopping, lists for drinks, lists for decorations for the house, list of "to do", wish lists - you name it - I have a list!

I think in my head I am being organised - however in fact I probably spend more time on making the lists when I could actually be doing something constructive like DOING the shopping, or WRITING the cards! I am sure I am not alone in this but still I make my lists!!

Christmas Memories - December 6th

2007-12-06T10:51:00.000Z

Today prompt is about Christmas memories - good and not so good. Here is the text. I'll try to post pictures later.

I have so many I could write a book - but oddly enough I can't think of any that were not just right - none at all. All good - I have been blessed.Probably because I know that I always look back down the years through those magical rose coloured spectacles, my memory is particularly selective (thanks mum and granny for you gave me the gift of an optimistic outlook on life)and I only ever remember the good times, whilst the not so good just fades into the background.

The Thomas & Bertie Christmas
Oooh it was so cold – the year Ben wanted the Thomas & Bertie play set for Christmas – and it was proving impossible to get hold of. I had tried every toy shop & market stall in Oldham, Rochdale, Ashton, Bolton and Manchester and not been able to find anyone who had it in stock – in desperation I had gone through the yellow pages phoning every toy shop in the north west of England and tracked down a small independent retailer with one left in stock in the village of Marple in Cheshire, who agreed to put it on one side for me to collect at the weekend! You have no idea how relieved I was – Ben was only 2 – almost 3 and just would not have understood why Santa hadn’t brought what he has asked him for.
And to top that it started snowing - and snowing – and snowing! Then came the big freeze – and it just got colder & colder so that by the time Saturday arrived – it was an icebox outside – snow which had become ice, black ice & freezing fog – just treacherous driving conditions really! But Needs Must – as the saying goes! So we bundled up the children in coats, hats, scarves, gloves & blankets, wrapped ourselves up as well as we could and set off to collect “Santa’s delivery”!! The van (our only form of transport was a VW Campervan – with very unreliable heating) had to be defrosted many times on the journey – one of incredible slowness because of the dangerous state of the roads- and it felt like we were the only people mad enough to be venturing out on this particular winter’s day - the things you do for love!!
Have you ever tried explaining to a 10 yr old & a 3 yr old just why you had to go out on such an awful day to collect something that is supposed to arrive courtesy of a magical person and that you can’t let them see – under any circumstances!! No – I thought not – I couldn’t think what to say either!

Sorry - as usual now with me -once I started I couldn't stop!!

Christmas Countdown - December 5th

2007-12-05T14:18:00.000Z

This evening is the School Xmas Fair and Farmers Market. A usual it has been organised by one of our Junior Achievement Companies and the seem to have made a good stab at it this year.They have plenty of stalls booked and have organised Santa's Grotto - with a visit from the Man in Red! Seems like it will be a good evening and I wish them every success.I have been thinking about my entry for my Christmas journal - put my thoughts down and printed out ready to complete the page tonight. I'll try to remember to bring it in to work to scan the completed page and post a piccie as soon as possible.Here is the text anyway.

Christmas Countdown – December 5th 2007
I am so ashamed of myself – I haven’t got the children an Advent Calendar this year!!! What a forgetful mother I am turning into– because it was so much a part of my own childhood Christmas Season that I feel horribly guilty not having given them one – I shall have to rectify this – even though my Rhiannon is 16 and my Ben is 20, whilst my Lydia is 28! Do other mothers feel such a failure as I do at this moment?

I'm Dreaming of - - - -December 4th

2007-12-04T16:20:00.000Z

Todays prompt is about what makes a Dream Christmas for you. Certain things are essential for me
- Family around to share the day
- Christmas Tree
- Scented Candles
- Mince pies & Sherry
- Christmas Carols & songs
- Flavoured Coffees
- Chocolate Oranges & Chocolate Ginger
However I included all these in my journal last year, so want something different for this Journal so I thought about it long and hard before realising that I am totally cliched and cheesy where Christmas is concerned - and am happy to be that way!

I look back down the years of all my Christmas Past – and they all seem perfect to me. Am I looking through rose-coloured spectacles? Probably. Do I wish I looked back any other way? NO!!
However I will admit to “dreaming” of a White Christmas – and I do so love the film and the song. I know it is “make believe” and probably not just my imaginary “perfect Christmas” but a lot of other people’s as well. Still Christmas is really all about sharing isn’t it? So I don’t mind sharing this particular dream with millions of others- as long as they don’t mind sharing with me.
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten,
and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white

I had to make another set of ATCs for a swap I'm in as RM seem to have lost my original set - these are the ones I have made to replace them.

Monday 3rd December

2007-12-04T08:41:00.001Z

- - I didn't get around to posting on my blog yesterday so have to play "catch up" to show my pages for the Christmas Journal. This is the entry for the prompt - which was Christmas Cards and how we feel about them. I do have my first card of the season - from Grace & Max in California - but yet again I am behind with my own!! So no change there then!! My own fault - I should do my Christmas letter sooner I know - but somehow December creeps up on me unawares - then I get horridly busy - and the time disappears!
Never mind I have made my page - and here is the text -
Cards - December 3rd 2007

I have been thinking about my Christmas Cards – I have made a few this year – not like me as I usually don’t have the time these days. Not made many though – so need to get my act together! I have always liked choosing cards for my family. Mum & Dad: Doug, Lydia Ben & Rhiannon: Rose, Carl & Imogen- and when I was small of course Granny & Grandad.
I always got “special” cards for them – and still do of course, some things will never change. I love “special” or “different” cards and have a couple that mum sent to the children when they were much smaller that I still use as Christmas decorations. I wonder if the children will want them still when I no longer want to decorate for Christmas. I don’t think they have inherited the nostalgia gene – so maybe the cards will eventually be thrown away. Sad thought – at least it is for me.

TFL

December 2nd - -

2007-12-02T15:17:00.001Z

- - and I have the second prompt in my inbox from Shimelle's "Journal your Christmas" class. She now has 1000 + participants - how cool is that?? It was one of the most enjoyable things I did last year during December and so I am determined to keep on track as far as possible again this year. Here is today's effort - and my text fom the tags. TFL
Wintry Weather?? - - December 2nd 2007
Christmas weather – what can I say about it?? I have such mild Christmas weather now I live here on Ellan Vannin – a truly green Christmas - but still my image of Christmas is always that of a crisp, cold day, just a light dusting of snow – only enough to make everything white I hope you realise - with a pale winter sun making that snowy frosting sparkle like diamonds, children building a snowman, Christmas trees on dad’s shoulders and shop windows – the bow fronted variety of course - all alight & shiny and inviting – full to bursting point with Christmas Fare!! Charles Dickens & the Victorians have a lot to answer for - as I have their rose-tinted image of Christmas in my head when ever I am asked about Christmas weather, yet in my world, Christmas is usually green – wet & cold even – but green.
However I love the delicate beauty of snowflakes, the fact that no two are ever the same, that sometimes they drift down as gently & softly as a feather floating from the clouds yet on other occasions can seem to tumble out of the sky, as if there is no tomorrow, in a mad scrambling flurry, spinning, swirling eddies of white, turning the world white & stormy then covering the earth in a soft white blanket. Waking to the light on a snowy morning has to be a gift from above – it’s magic lingers in my memory from childhood. I certainly remember snowy days from then – using the coal shovel to dig out daddy’s car so he could go to work! Does it ever still snow like it did then? Not in my world now – yet I do remember snow on the island – when Castletown was cut off only a couple of years ago. I was on my way to work in Irving’s car when it was announced on Manx radio that the school was closed and we should all go home – so Irving turned the car round and home we went. The children arrived about an hour later!

December 1st

2007-12-01T21:50:00.000Z

- - - Advent begins. Today was the first day of this years Christmas Journals Prompts from Shimelle. Today our task was to produce the manifesto.
So here it is -

I have always loved Christmas ~ for me it has always had a special magic, a sparkle and glow that I can almost see, touch and feel whenever I think of it. It fills me with such a sense of anticipation ~ the same feeling I had on Christmas Eve as a little girl, that even now ~ old as I am, returns without fail at this time of year ~ that intense bubble of excitement in my tummy as the big day gets nearer!! As a child of course it was in anticipation of the visit from the Man in Red ~ as I became a mother it became anticipation of the “candle eyes” of my children on Christmas morning and now - well don’t quite know what causes it ~ I just love Christmas! So ~~ once again I am going to keep a Christmas Journal. I will write something down each day, creating a scrap of my journal every day, whenever possible, because I want to keep my Christmas as Magical as it always has been for me, and this will surely help!
I hope that by taking a little time for myself during this somewhat hectic period in my year that I can hold on to the true spirit of the season, despite the commercialization of Christmas that exists outside my cottage door.
Along the way I look forward to finding others who feel the same way as I do and who will share in this with me, and I know that amongst them I will find friends old & new, for whom Christmas is also Magical and who also want to remember why they love Christmas.

I also received the second CJ (Sue's) - with inspiring pages form "Sue's Soapbox" and equally fantastic pages from Nina. Need to get my thinking cap on to match the quality of the work they have produced and think of at least one idea to go in the CJ that fits with Sue's theme.Got a bust time ahead of me I foresee!!

Crop Day!

2007-11-26T09:06:00.000Z

Well the crop - and more to the point my "classes" - which I use very loosely since one was the Mini Maze book from Craft TV Weekly - went down very well. I think everyone had a lovely day - I certainly did. We had mincepies, mulled wine (the non alcoholic variety to take into account the drivers (it was DELICIOUS by the way - I NEED to get some for home over Christmas!! Thanks Meshell for finding it - you are a star!)and a mini buffet to go with our packed lunches. Everyone went home with a Christmas Mini Maze book and a Christmas wall hanging - which was my own design - so feel quite proud!
I managed to almost complete the CJ I am participating in - so have a tiny bit to finish tonight and it can be parcelled up ready for posting tomorrow. I have 2 mini maze books I have done for a swap on UKs ready to take to the post as well. All in all a very creative day!
here are a few photos of the maze books. I will post pictures of the wall hanging later.

And Wednesday comes round again - -

2007-11-21T11:00:00.000Z

21st November - - Where does the month go to - I was supposed to be doing so much crafty stuff this month and have done NONE - I have a CJ, ATCs, 2 Mini Maze books and 2 Class demo pieces - all unfinished!! and the deadline is upon me!!!! Aaaaaagh!!! I really do need to find some TIME - is there anyone out there who can tell me how to get more minutes to the hour??? I'd pay good money for the secret!! Must get some done tonight!
As you can see from my last post - I am making a Christmas Journal again with Shimelle. Have I given myself too much to do?? Will I be playing catch up again like last year? Probably LOL! However I did manages to get it done and so am really looking forward to this years class. Here is a link to my pages from last years blog entries about the Journal.
Hoping to be back later!

Christmas Journal

2007-11-20T15:49:00.000Z

Oh I am so excited - I have signed up for Shimelle's Christmas Journal Class again. She sent an email inviting me to join again - if you have signed up once you get another invite to this class!! I LOVED it last year. It was so special chatting and creating with such a fabulous group of ladies - and there are so many familiar "faces" so I am really looking forward to renewing friendships, making new ones, sharing in a delightful experience and admiring everyone's interpretation of the prompt Shimelle sends out. It truly is an inspirational experience - Shimelle is a gifted teacher, all the ladies who participate are artists - the work produced is uplifting and I get really inspired to complete a piece of work! I'm a real good "starter" me - but don't often make the finish line!!
Every album I have ever finished was a Shimelle prompted one - she makes it so "do able" and all the members of the forum are so encouraging and supportive of each other - sharing tips and techniques,and so much more - a lot like the Design Collective with members from all over the world - such fun finding out their different Christmas Traditions. I just lurve Christmas!!

Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.

Autumn Outing

2007-11-04T22:21:00.000Z

Well as I said, yesterday I had to go out with D for a trip round the island. It was a lovely Autumn day - slightly grey with the clouds sometimes breaking to let glorious sunshine through. We did have a slight variation to our normal route as D has been working in Ramsey all week and wanted a change of scene. Instead we went to Laxey, found a new cafe where we had a delicious light lunch and had a lovely atmosphere. We walked along the beach and it was magical - the light was fantastic and I took lots of photos.
We set off back and the autumn colours in the trees were so fabulous that we had to stop again at Groudle Glen and walked through the Glen and I again went slightly mad taking photos!! So though I didn't get much scrapping done I do have lots of "raw materials" to work with!

Saturday

2007-11-03T23:33:00.001Z

Autumn is really here - today is the first time I have felt the the season is really here, though it is amazingly warm for the time of year. It's a grey day this morning though the local radio station weather forecaster promises brighter later.D should be going climbing but his mates are 1) working 2) moving into a new flat - so he doesn't quite know what to do with himself - which means my scrapping plans are now on hold - I am going out for a drive with him.Here are a couple more pics of my CJ before I have to dash!!

CJ Excitement!!

2007-11-01T19:19:00.001Z

Well - posting day has been and gone - my CJ will be is winging it's way to D and I will receive N's journal to make a page in hers.It's really inspiring seeing another persons work. It is great to see the ideas in the flesh - photos are good and can be inspirational I know, but you cannot feel texture in a photo!I am so looking forward to interpreting N's theme in my own way, and also really excited about the other CJs I will be having some input in.We have such a fantastic range of themes - and I can see lots of fun ahead with my scrapping and craft work!
Here are some more pages from my CJ - which is on it's travels now.

Thursday - Isle of Woman

2007-10-25T20:22:00.000+01:00

Rhiannon was very busy last night helping to run a Disco in school for Lower School (Year 7 8 and 9) to raise money for Breast Cancer Research. This weekend is The Isle of Woman Festival on the island and there are lots and lots of fundraising activities going on. We are all "Thinking Pink" from the local radio stations to the smallest business, schools both primary and secondary, large stores and small shops - all are involved.Our Sixth Formers made us very proud last night - they have worked so hard organising DJs, "pink" refreshments, negotiating with the Head and the Site Manager for the school hall, and persuading staff to come in to help them supervise and so forth.
They raised over £600 - I am so proud of my girl and her friends!

Sunday

2007-10-21T17:24:00.000+01:00

I am having a crafty day - I have the house almost to myself - Ben has gone to stay over at Siobhan's,Rhiannon is in her room and Doug is out climbing so I am busy making a big mess on the kitchen table with glitter and glue averywhere!! Such fun!!.I have finished my Christmas tree ATCs for the swap I am joining in. Here they are ready to post - which I will do tomorrow. Hope they will be OK - I am always ever so slightly apprehensive when I make something for a swap - in case it isn't good enough or that the recipients will not like my art work. Especially so with ATCs as I don't have any of the ATC art stamps or anything really that fits with "altered art" which I know lots of ATC collectors do and have! If you understand what I mean.
I really have to thank Jane of the Design Collective for "de mystifying" ATCs for me, and giving me a huge amount of pleasure and fun making them. TFL

That Friday feeling - - -

2007-10-19T14:44:00.002+01:00

- and I fell like there is a bubble inside me about to burst! And I have no idea why that should be but I feel excited - WHY?? I don't know - but my insides feel like Christmas Eve when you are a child! Bubbles of excitement that you are desperately trying to keep under control! Just got the next lot of fabulous classes from the Design Collective - how these girls do it I don't know but they come up with the goods every time. Fabulous ideas and classes.

Morning Glory

2007-10-18T08:19:00.000+01:00

The most amazing sunrise this morning coming in to work - - the sky was breathtaking - turquoise, soft rosy pink and gold all pearly and iridescent - and just where the sun should be – red like the glowing embers of a dying fire. On either side of all this glowing beauty the clouds were pale grey, deepening to the most dramatic stormy grey as you looked further away from this luminous light and all this was reflected in the waters of Gansey Bay. The sea has turned into a sheet of shimmering Tiffany glass – the colours just so beautiful - glimmering, breathtaking colours – the few herring gulls around were all silhouetted against this magnificent sky - small black dots wheeling round and soaring away on what few thermals they could find. Seeing this is like being given a most precious gift – but – like the last slice of rainbow – you can’t hold it in your hands or even keep it for longer that a moment.
I came into work feeling totally uplifted - and frustrated because I can never capture the beauty on camera!! Instead you will just have to look at these I took of the sunset rather than the sunrise - at lease they are photos of the sky!!