I don't want to talk about it

No stories about the boys going off to Uni (both safely ensconced though)
No stories about funny things at work
No stories about my health
Some of these things are hard going at the moment.

So instead - as promised, some layouts. All using photos from my parents Golden Wedding photo shoot

This was based on a Creative Scrappers sketch with a bit of tiddling around with the photos. Most of the papers and stickers are Echo Park Graceful, with a few left overs from other projects thrown in!

 This one uses Basic Grey Clippings (love this collection so much!) Again I cut out all the bits and stuck them back together again so they don't look quite so printed on the page. This uses a recent Capture These Sketches sketch. I trimmed out one of the papers to make the banner and really like how it turned out.

I'm sure I used a sketch for this one too but can't find it in my file!

This uses Basic Grey Paper Cottage. I bought the 6x6 pad and a few of the larger papers as well as stickers and badges. I added MME stamps and embossed them with white powder. Also used some Hambly, a Prima resin flowers and 2 sorts of thickers and some BG chipboard letters.

Off to the theatre tonight with the leftovers (that's Phil and Carys). MUCH more expensive than our local theatre in Hornchurch was - and we are going to see a local Musical Theatre group, not a professional company!

Not again!

I can't beleive that I have been so neglectful again. I just seem to miss the time between being able to photograph things and then get them on the blog. I find myself very irritating.
I have been very, very, very busy and also been helping get the boys set up to go to University.
They went yesterday and Phil is on his way home with an empty car and a full heart.
But all of that is no excuse really.

So I could do a mahoosive catch up.
Again.
I'll stick to a couple of cards at the moment.
And try and find a space later in the week for some layouts.

Here is my Vellum dare for Daring Cardmakers

 

I saw someone make their own vellum feather as part of counterfeit kits and thought I would try to make my own. I drew a feather type shape on some white vellum and stamped some words in white ink. I added some wire and covered it in masking tape.

I used the same stamp on the green bazzill card and added some MME 6x6 papers. A stamped sentiment and some black gems finished it off.

For this week I had an idea of what I wanted to do straight away.

For a thank you card I wanted a simple phrase and remembered one that my friend Cathrine used a lot - "ta muchly". I wanted "ta" as I had a vision of thicker style letters on the card and didn't fancy having too many letters to cut out! I die cut the letters using Dienamic dies 4 times each, 3 on old paper and the top layer from navy blue paper. I then stuck them together. I added them to a piece of white card with some rub on letters on it.
Other materials: PTI kraft card stock; Basic Grey PB and J 6x6 paper pad; Doodlebug paper frill; white pen and Sharpie and lots of stick on pearls.

I also made a card to a recent Basic Grey sketch

I used a BG Paper Cottge 6x6 pad and stickers; MME and Imagine That stamps, a QK die and lots of Liquid Pearls.

Rather than fill in more stories of life and work I shall try and give you a treat to make up for not blogging.
John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme
He makes me laugh so, so much.

Which I need when the house feels very empty without my boys

Three strikes...

Four years ago when Hywel started Sixth Form College he got on the bus fine, but then did not return home due to a very scary bus mix up. He was bought his first mobile phone the next day.
Two years ago when Emrys started Sixth Form College, he failed to catch the bus on the first morning because his dozy mum told him to wait at the wrong bus stop.
This year when Carys started Sixth Form College, she failed to catch the bus on the first two mornings because the college website said to wait at the wrong bus stop.

We think everything is working fine now.
Although Carys' route will change in 3 weeks so who knows...
She has very long days (Leaves home at 7:30am and gets home at 6:15 pm) but seems to be enjoying it all so far.

well fishstock was awesome. Lots of music, food, cider (cider Pimms mmmmm)

and of course lots of fish

It raised money for

Which does an incredible job of supporting the fishing trade around Brixham. Another boat was lost on Tuesday and the hunt for the Captain has been called off. It is still a dangerous job and the Mission offers valuable pastoral care. We went on board the lifeboat (station soon to be closed at Brixham) and a fishing boat. Boy, that is a grim life

That pretty blue boat is fairly spartan and stinks of fish despite being freshly painted.

I managed to squeeze just one layout into my day on Monday. Monday's just are not long enough!
I used the latest sketch from Sketchbook 365

One of a series of layouts about my parents Golden Wedding celebrations. I've not done much with it whilst waiting for them to receive a photobook as part of their present. That is on its way now so I am free to play with the pics! We had done formal shots the night before but they look so much more relaxed and happy in these off the cuff ones with their hats on!
I stuck pretty rigidly (as ever) to the sketch but added masked circles using one of the summer range of Distress Inks. The papers, stickers and die cuts are all October Afternoon Woodland Park. I added some pink and green mist splodges (so hard to leave them off these days!). The letters are American Crafts Thickers, Jenni Bowlin and LYB; I used an EK Success border punch and a Sizzix film strip which I backed with vellum. Two tiny punched love hearts (the other is a sticker); lots of outlining with black Sharpie pen before sticking down, a slick of journalling and my work was done!

Area Quiz night is on tonight. Am I going to be the loving, helpful Minister or will my competitive streak win out? I have a pretty shrewd idea of the answer....

Messy Friday

Well, it is Friday and the first Messy Church of my new pastorate. Both my churches do Messy Church so I get to have "fun" twice a month. Actually Messy Church is fab - it is just very tiring! You start with craft and messy activities which tie into a Bible reading, then have a worship time (lively and interactive) and then everyone eats together. The idea is that families come and play and worship together. I am doing the story of Creation using Rob Lacey's version which will need practicing a bit. Its my first Messy Church worship so I hope they will be kind!

I've had a bit of a mess about time as well as I ordered Carys a new mattress (hers is awful) and paid by Paypal which had retained my old address as the main one unbeknownst by me (I am sure that I changed it, and the new address was there, just not as my main one) Anyway thanks to Mattress Online who have sorted me out and saved me from one of Carys' looks. (Scary)

Aaaaaaaaaand I got into a bit of a mess with the Daring Card challenge this week, suffering from the ownchallengeitis that we all get (aka getting stumped when you came up with the Dare). It being the first Friday of the month it was colour challenge day. I love this photo that Phil took and used a colour generator to create a palette

I love those colours. But then looked for papers to use. I have a lot of papers. A LOT of papers. I almost got depressed at the amount of paper that I have (so much lovely stuff and yet I buy more. It's shameful really). And yet, hardly anything to match the colours AT ALL. So this was as near as I could get

The blue is a little paler in real life and is embossed with a brick pattern to echo the photo. I do like the black/white stripe that goes with the woman's top. The papers are MME; Basic Grey; Piggy Tales; Bazzill and the sticker is Echo Park (with added gems). The focal point is raised as the black stripe bends round a bit

See? The cloud and phrase are an Imagine That set

And look at this

the answer is that I need to take photos in the morning and not in the afternoon/evening which is the opposite of what worked in Upminster. Doesn't it look better now? And you can see how the three buttons together have a colour in them (only in certain lights)

While I am on a roll

Basic Grey Clippings has come into my possession. It is right up my street and I have had fun cutting out all the bits they have stuck together and then sticking them back slightly differently. Almost everything is from the paper kit apart from the green washi tape; the bird die cut (K and Co I think); the grey button; the ships wheel (a freebie from Dies to die for) and the Liquid Pearls/glitter glue dots that I don't seem to be able to do without at the moment.

Even set on large that writing is small so

I say "music" it is mostly music from computer games. Yup he is a true geek.

And finally

The patterned strips down the side were on one paper so I cut them all out and stuck them back down on another! I prefer that even though it is hard work as otherwise the pieces just look printed on the page. Which they are. The top and bottom strips were the top of another paper! I sprinkled some Mister Huey on first and stamped some random Banana Frog and another set, circle dot stamps. I added two stamps from the Imagine That new sets on top of the photo (you can buy them now here and here). I asked Phil if the layout looked better with or without the Studio Calico butterflies and he said "you can never have too many butterflies" I am impressed! The photo was given a treatment on Picasa. The same one I keep giving all my photos at the moment but I love it!

Off to get messy with lunch. I ought to wear a bib really! And tomorrow we will wind down with Fishstock (isn't that a fab name?) - fish, food and music in beautiful Brixham in aid of the Fishermen's Mission. here's hoping it is as sunny as today!

Nearly forgot

Its me age you know (querulous voice)

I planned to blog again with some layouts and it is almost Friday again when it would have been too late!
Life is still busy but the sun has been shining and I have a glimpse of the sea a few times a day to keep my equilibrium up. Who needs green pastures? It is being with the Lord by green seas that restores my soul. It really is more of a green than blue round here. And so clear. I've almost been tempted to swim. But not yet!

So here are the layouts I have made and not shown
With a slight qualifier.
The only downside with having a lovely teal coloured bedroom is that it is soooooo hard to take a photo without the colours being all blue toned. I might have to give up with these and replace them with better ones if I can find somewhere good in the house to take photos!
The worst is this one

It is a soft grey with pastel peach and turquoise - really lovely and I can't get the tone right on the 'puter (sad face). It is the tale of the horses that followed us on our walk. The papers are all Basic Grey Paper Cottage and I did a lot of cutting out and round. Two of the papers were identical except one was just the grey tones and the other had coloured doilies so I combined some of them, cut the frames out of another paper in the collection and added lots of Liquid Pearls (really loving them at the mo' as you will see) Added a couple of freebie buttons from my cousin Inga which are lovely - thanks! and American Crafts alphabet stamps. Yes that does look pretty neat considering I stamped all those letters!

I

And yes it does take quite a long time to add that many pearly dots to a layout!

Moving on...

I bought these Ruby Rockit papers specifically with this photo in mind. It is just awesome! Pam from the choir brought the house down by playing Britannia at our final Kingsley Choral Group concert and I had to record the moment. I added some background to the paper by inking through two masks with Distress Inks and adding some extra stamping as well - some British bits like the Union Jack and newsprint. The houndstooth print is a Hambly screenprint backed onto card and the ribbon is Papertrey Ink. The photo frame is Websters and the crown is Grungeboard. Some of the stickers are Jenni Bowlin and others Ruby Rockit. And some gold Stickles both in little blobs and smeared around the edges. And red gems. And, and, and - gold peel offs! I know!
(for my non crafty friends that don't just skip through the descriptions, crafters like me don't usually use gold peel off stickers any more. Bring 'em back, that's what I say. In small doses)
Couple of close ups ahoy

 

and finally...
a tribute to my home from home in Upminster - Imagine That

Yup it is quite bright and cheerful - like Emma and the shop really!
I started with some Basic Grey Basics paper and did some inking, masking, spraying around the place a bit. Then using a MME 6x6 pad I cut and punched strips and shapes and inked their edges before sticking them down. I also used two of Emma's brand new sets of stamps - not on the website yet! They are perfect for giving a lift to a scrap page or to Project Life if you do that (so not me! But I love what others do with it) or Smash Books - or anything really. More Stickles and the most divine new Liquid Pearls in an olive colour

Here is a close up of that hard to read journalling

 

which is still pretty hard to read. Ha!

Look at the time, promised myself an early night. Failed again! Nos da pob hywl