Looking for a class in the New Year?

Then look no further than Kirsty's aka Miss Smith at a Journal of Curious Things.  Here's what she is offering...

Telling tales is a brand new scrapbooking class all about telling stories and sharing memories.  Through a series of prompts and audio recordings, we’ll be looking at how we convey our stories through our journaling, pictures and design.  I believe that capturing our memories is one of the most fundamental aspects of scrapbooking and that the way we do this is personal and unique to each of us.  Telling Tales explores the different ways we can communicate our stories while doing what we love: scrapbooking!

To read more and sign up for the class starting on 28th Jan then go to her blog here.

Its all in aid of a brilliant cause too.  Hope to see you joining in :)

RAK - go check it out!

Lou Collins is offering a fab bundle of stash booty all for just a few clicks if the mouse to share her blog :)

Go and have a look at http://prettypaperandchipboard.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/time-for-rak.html

and you could win this little lot....

Well?  What are you waiting for?

10 things on the 10th

It's that time of the month again, except I am a couple of days late!  This time I am posting ten dinner recipes that I have tried and tested (and loved!) and now form part of our family favourites.  I hope there is one in there somewhere that you would like to try...

1. Lorraine Pascale's slow roast leg of lamb - perfect for a lazy Sunday

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/food/ic/prog_16x9_448/clip/p00xz74j_640_360.jpg

2. Gordon Ramsay -  Pasta with pancetta, leek and mushrooms; a quick, tasty supper after a busy working day.

                         

http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/gordon-ramsay/pasta-with-pancetta-leek-and-mushrooms-recipe

3. Good Food - Rosemary roast chops & potatoes; my (very fussy and almost vegetarian) son loves this!

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/10763/rosemary-roast-chops-and-potatoes

4. Jamie Oliver's "Jools' pregnant pasta" - quick, easy and tasty

http://www.redonline.co.uk/food/recipes/jools-oliver-s-pregnant-pasta

5. Jamie's roast chicken...

www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CFIQFjAE&url=http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/JAMIE-OLIVERS-ROASTED-CHICKEN-1265412&ei=vOafUPqYKuqM0AWs64HYCw&usg=AFQjCNGt6bvWwIWZSnXynh5pyO3uRfDICw

6. For something a little special....Pan fried sea bass with a three pepper stir fry

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/panfriedbasswithathr_67270

7. Couldn't do a list of recipe's without including some Delia!  This is a firm favourite in our house and livens up what I would class as "boring" vegetables! Oven Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli with Garlic and Coriander

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/party-food/accompaniment/oven-roasted-cauliflower-and-broccoli-with-garlic-and-coriander.html

8. And another Delia favourite - Braised Red Cabbage

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/party-food/accompaniment/traditional-braised-red-cabbage-with-apples.html

9.  Beef Carbonnade - this isn't the recipe I use (that is my Mum's tried and tested one!) but this is pretty close!   A real tasty, warming winter stew

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1236/carbonnade-flamande

10.  M&S - Dine in for £10.  When all else fails... what more could you ask for?

UKS Weekly Challenge

This week it's my UKS team's turn to host the Weekly Challenge....

Welcome to the Dizzy Dots second weekly challenge.

We now have 2 of our team in warm climates, Dubai and Malaysia, whilst the rest of us are in a much cooler climate in the UK 

We are so dizzy  that we couldn't decide upon which sketch so have given you a choice of 3 sketches fromhttp://www.pagemaps.com/12x12.htm

Since Christmas is only 2 weeks away  and we are all getting very busy, we have made this challenge easy for everyone this week.

1. use sketch 1 ,2, or 3 for 10pts (Please say which sketch you have used)
2. use warm colours or cool colours for 10pts
3 some new stash for 10pts. (Tell us what stash you used)


I chose to scrap some photos of when our friend and his son came to stay in July.  Thomas has Cerebral Palsy and at 6 can only speak about 5 words.  I was so proud of Alex and Josh and they way they adapted to interacting with him.  They kept him entertained all weekend and played so well together.

I used Sarah's Cards June Kit which was on the shelf unopened and is full of lovely Fancy Pants "Be You" paper which is just gorgeous!

There is still time to join in with the challenge over on UKS if you have time to scrap this week :)

I am a little behind with blogging at the moment so back later with some JYC pages and my November month in numbers!

Hello Monday...

Hello a day off to organise photos and emails (Whatever happened to these two little monkeys?)

Hello ladies' evening at the kids' old school

Hello a night out with Chris Moyles (I so miss his Breakfast Show...my mornings have just not been the same since...)

Hello a 3 day week

Hello shopping and make over fun with a friend

Hello 2nd week of "I'm a celebrity..."!!!

Hello Monday

Hello early shifts all week

Hello a trip to IKEA!

Hello sharing our photos from our weekend trip to Wales...

Hello a final bit of Christmas shopping with my parents

Hello a bottle of Harveys Bristol Cream...Mmmmm

Hello bedroom clear outs for the kids!

What are you saying hello to in your week?  Check out Lisa's blog for more...

My month in numbers - October

Is that October gone already?  I swear the days and weeks are flying quicker these days.  October was a great month - lots of sunny days to get out and lots of rainy ones to hide indoors and snuggle up in front of the fire with a glass of rouge.

So my numbers this month included the vast amount of 14 adults, 14 children and 4 dogs in 2 barns for a weekend in Wales.  Below are the 7 "matriachs" of the 7 families that went, along with 3 of the dogs and 1 random child. It was a blissful weekend full of wine, women and song....literally!...plus a few men, a bunch of noisy kids and some long walks.


Barn 1:

Barn 2:

We took the Kids to see their 1st Bond film at the cinema. We saw the 10.30 showing and enjoyed all 143 minutes of it!  I have now put Daniel Craig on my Christmas list :)

We all went to see Newton Faulkner and sat in Row EE 4-6. The seats were perfect with a clear view of the stage.  It was Josh's first indoor gig and Newton did not disappoint!


Josh grew 2cm in about a week. This is a momentous achievement and I have blogged before about his height challenges! So at the weekend we bought him new jeans that don't argue with the top of his shoes.

My lovely in-laws celebrated 50 years of wedded bliss and we went out for a lovely pub meal to celebrate as they didn't want a huge fuss.

 Alex cleared out her Build A Bear items ready to make room for a desk in her bedroom and so far has made £68 on eBay!!  I am now searching the house for things I can sell too.  Josh has also listed his BAB items and we look forward to his total this weekend when his listings end...

Finally we carved 3 pumpkins to decorate the front of the house tonight.  My attempt is below.  I think the last of the "trick or treaters" have been and I have a Scream like ghost and a strange black hooded figure currently drinking hot chocolate in my conservatory whilst Alex has decided to do the sensible thing and just go to Guides!

Hope October was good for you too.  You can see lots of other Months in Numbers and find out how to join in over at Julie's blog

And I am closing this post whilst chuckling to myself as I've just realised I've been eating a packet of Galaxy counters whilst typing this post.... counters...Month in Numbers... Get it?  Oh well, it made me smile!







- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Cover to Cover prompt 5

I am slowly working through the Cover to Cover prompts and today tried some continuity in my album.  I'm doing this by using blue on all the pages as that was the colour of the school jumpers.  At the moment I have half a dozen pages in there so plenty more years to record!

I have used the September Gossamer Blue kit for this page and added some left over words from the previous kit.  I promise you this page is straight - not sure what happened during photographing!!

Back tomorrow with my month in numbers...

Unknown

Nothingness, we all start there,

A spark in the unknown,

Flickering in the shadow of a corner,

Shying away from the rest,

Thinking, waiting to be discovered.

Each one differing from the last,

Moulded into something more,

Evolving out through a dangerous place,

The voice of the mind, it goes on forever,

Limitless, yet so small.

A poem by published author, Alex Heald, aged 13

from Express Yourself Through Poetry published October 2012

Hello Monday...

Hello to Hello Monday! I've not joined in before but I like the idea as a simple way of recording what's coming up this week.

Hello back to school after half term

Hello housework - now they are back I can tidy up and clean everywhere!

Hello Hallowe'en...Josh and I are picking pumpkins after school today

Hello to my parents who are here for a visit later this week

Hello Ed Sheeran in concert on Friday!

Hello to a Christmas Shopping trip later this week - well it won't do itself will it?!

Find some more Hellos over at Lisa's blog

10 things on the tenth...

As I am off to a gig tonight for one of my favourite artists I thought I would share 10 songs today.  You may know some of these artists, you may not.  You may like some of these artists, you may not!  But these are the 10 songs most played in our house or on my iPod right now...

Train - Drive by

Maroon 5 - Harder to breathe

Fun. - Some nights

Muse - Knights of Cydonia (thanks to the Merlin adverts on TV!)

Tings Tings - Hit me down Sonny

Take That - Love love

Sam and the Womp - Bom Bom

Turin Breaks -Pain killer

Noah and the Whale - L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.ON

And the man himself.  Very excited to be seeing him for the second time this year but more excited to be taking Alex and Josh as they have no idea... they played his music non stop on holiday so I think they may be quite pleased when we roll up at the Manchester Apollo later!

Newton Faulkner - Sugar in the snow

Hope you enjoyed something in that little lot and a HUGE well done if you listened to all ten!  If you would like to see more 10 things on the 10th then head on over to Shimelle's blog where there will be loads of links added throughout today on all sorts of subjects.

Thanks for stopping by.

Where's the balance?

A different post form me today but I figure if I get this written down it may actually happen!  Balance was my   one little word for 2012 but it is not going well of late.  I am feeling stressed about lots of things so from today I have set myself some goals to achieve by the end of the year...

Find a new job - the CV has been dusted off and is getting it's final tweaks (yikes!).  When the company I worked for was taken over in 2010 I said I'd give it 12 months and see... well I have given it more than 24 and they have not been the greatest months of my working life so it is time to see if the grass is greener.

Book a night away - we decided we would go away once a quarter, just the two of us, but have only managed it once this year.  Time to book something.  I was thinking here or here...

Read some books on parenting teenagers - It has been a particular trying week with Alex.  It seems she has been threatening and picking on her little brother.  Not great as I now work longer hours and they are in each other's company for a while each day now.  I have seen this book - has anyone any  more tips on what to read? - I need to get through to her without shouting!

Scrapbook more - I'm sure we all say this but I love it as it is a stress reliever and I love to capture another memory before it disappears.  I'm thinking I should set aside one evening a week but not sure if that will work.  Try it and see I guess!

Finish a room - we have a couple of rooms that are half decorated for various reasons which I won't bore you with.  We need to pick one and get it done!

Excercise more - I have fallen out of love with Zumba... I need to get the love back!  Maybe I will try couch to 5K... maybe I will walk more... but I need to do something for the sake of my waistline!

Get some routine into the house - with my new shifts we all seem to be at sixes and sevens.  I need to get organised with nutritious meals, an online shop, a check list for school (I have dropped off at least 4 times already this term with forgotten items!), chores for everyone and setting aside time for family. Again if anyone has some organisational ideas then link them up people!

I think that's enough to keep me going for now.  If I achieve it all the balance will definitely be tipping in my favour and that can only make for a less stressed me and a happier house!

Thank you for listening.

Holding Hands

This month the Sketchy Scrapper Sketch was set by the lovely Lisa...

I decided to re scrap a photo that I had found on a page when I reorganised my albums earlier this year.  The photo was colour, with Josh wearing a bright red t-shirt and I had scrapped it in citrus colours (what was I thinking?).

I reprinted the photo in sepia which meant I could then put it with any papers and I chose some of my remaining Gossamer Blue kit from August.

The poem reads

 "Brother & sister, together as friends,

 ready to face whatever life sends. 

Joy & laughter or tears and strife, 

holding hands tightly as you dance through life"

My month in numbers - September

Every month Julie asks us to post our month in numbers which is a fun way to record the month...Head on over to Julie's blog to read more about how you can join in but before you do that here are my numbers for September...

74 was the number of pictures rescued from iPhones, Josh's iPod and my blog from our holiday in Parga after the lap top hard drive crashed shortly after I'd downloaded all the pics when we got home :(. Thank heavens for the technological world we live in and Instagram!

9 was the number of lovely ladies who spent 2 nights in Edinburgh on our annual girlie weekend. Fun, fine food, lots of Prosecco and so much laughter!  I am so lucky to have such fabulous ladies as my friends.

100 cyclists rode through my village as part of the Tour of Britain and straight past my friends house. This included Olympian Mark Cavendish and gold medal winner Bradley Wiggins (centre of the photo below). An amazing site and another excuse to get the Union Jack out!

Years 7A and 9M; the classes Josh and Alex are in respectively at high school this Autumn.

Josh came back from Scouts with no less than 8 badges earned at camp for me to sew on!  He then got to hold an Olympic Torch brought in from one of the torch bearers who is also a local Scout leader.

While staying at Mum and Dad's at the end of the holidays we managed to catch up with my brother and my nephews so there were 4 cousins together...

Thanks for stopping by to read my numbers.  See you in November!

2012 Scavenger hunt - final three!

I have completed it!  Here are my final three photos for the hunt...

Someone dancing - I didn't think I had this one then I realised I had taken photos in July of Josh and his mates doing a Zumba class at the school fair.  Here are a couple of shots...

And for the full effect - here is the video!!! (I know this hunt is all about photography but this makes me smile every time I watch it!!)

I have not come across a bride all summer but the kids picked up this stone on a beach in Portugal earlier in the year so am substituting this...

And finally me with something that symbolises my nation.  I think the Olympic rings and the Paralympic agitos adorning Tower Bridge have been seen pretty much everywhere around the world this summer and to me symbolise the UK this year...

Rinda has asked us to pick a favourite...Hmmmm... not all my photos were my best work.  Some (like above) were shot by my 10 year old, others were quick snaps on my iPhone.  I have enjoyed though, the process of taking pictures of everyday things and blogging more because of it.  I guess overall this is the one I love...

Huge thanks to Rinda for coming up with the list for the hunt and keeping us all going :)  Looking forward to next year's all ready!