Christmas is coming!

 

Thanks to my friend Juliet, I have finally found out how to upload collages! I love picasa! These are just a few pictures from the "snow day" we enjoyed a few weeks ago. Snow seems to make the most boring things take on their own magic...even our rusty garden gate looks beautiful!

Nick's Scholarship Award

John and me were both really proud parents today, when we took Nick to RAF Cranwell to receive his John Cunningham Scolarship award (he gained his private pilot's license a few months ago with this scholarship). He was one of only 4 cadets in the country to receive this award this year, and we were almost in tears when it was announced that he was the overall winner. We are SO proud of you Nick, and hope you achieve your dream to join the RAF next year.
The only black spot in the day was when I went to take a picture.....and found that I'd left the camera battery in the charging unit at home, aargh!!! So this picture from my mobile 'phone is all I have until I receive the official photo's. I am having too many senior moments these days..

Party Night

Our caravan site had an end of season fancy dress party, so we had great fun choosing who to be for the evening! The platform boots made me feel like a giant, and it was weird seeing John with long hair and matching platforms too! Polly looked fab with a short bob, too, and we're all now deciding who to dress up as next year!

We packed up the caravan today, she will now go into storage until March next year. It was a bit sad, as it's become our second home and there were a few tears as we said Goodbye to our friends. On the bright side, I may have more time to catch up with Nick's A to Z scrapbook now!

Me-Treat Weekend

I've just returned from a fabulous weekend doing nothing but scrapbooking all weekend, pure Heaven! I went to Chester with my friend Janet, where 3 lovely ladies Chris, Gill and Moira had organised a fabulous indulgent weekend full of scrapbooking classes. It was sheer luxury being able to do what you wanted all weekend, with all meals provided. Returning back home to cooking, cleaning, work and a burst radiator has been quite a shock! Well, never mind, they are oraganising another Me-Treat hopefully in March or April next year, so I will look forward to that!

Polly's new bedroom

Phew! At last it's finished! The last few weeks, our house has been in turmoil while we've moved Polly out of her old "Barbie" bedroom and into the old spare room, which has been decorated in black and white, as per her instructions! I have to say, it looks fabulous, and really grown up. I feel a bit sad too, though, as my baby is growing up and it's quite poignant to think that our little girl will soon become a teenager.

K is for Karen

Wow, I'm on a roll here! Well, after really falling behind with Nick's journal, I decided to try and catch up a bit yesterday. I was stuck on the letter K, then decided that as my name is Karen, and I'm making the book, I deserved to have a page in it! I kept the layout simple, and got John to take my picture looking "thoughtful" (ha!). I was going to write my thoughts on a cloud, but decided to tuck them on some hidden journalling behind the left hand photo instead....and yes, I only wrote good things, as I want this journal to celebrate the positives of Nick.

Memories mini book

Bought this wonderful kit from Cleo Jarvis, and made a mini book of childhood pictures. Met up with both my sisters last week during our annual family get-together in St. Anne's, and got them to journal their childhood memories for me in the hidden pages. Only trouble is, now they want one too, so think I'll be busy churning these out for Christmas! I love how it turned out, as I'm usually too scared to try anything vintage or deliberately "aged", and it was my first time using acrylic paint too. Hope you like it! Cleo's website is http://cleos-scrappingkitsnbits.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday to me!

OK, I know this is really "sad", but it was my birthday yesterday and I got a set of fantastic bags to put all my scrapbooking stuff in! I love them so much I'm even putting a picture of them on here! Now I'm counting down to October, when I go on a scrapbooking weekend retreat and can get the chance to use them all at once. Thanks for looking, and I promise to post a more interesting picture next time!

I is for Ikea, & J is for Joy

Finally catching up with Nick's A to Z journal at last. The letter I was easy, as he works part time at Ikea....getting him to agree to be photographed in his uniform was a bit more difficult!

For the letter J, I chose the word joy, as it sums up how I feel when I look at my favourite picture of him. It was taken at his best friend Tom's 2nd birthday party, and they shared such a happy moment while blowing bubbles together. How I miss those innocent days!

A rare family day out!

Not done much scrapbooking for ages - too busy talking about it on UK scrappers! Must get down to some scrapping soon, but meanwhile I just wanted to share this family photo - we went to York for the day during half-term, and had a ride on the Yorkshire Eye. It was so nice to be all together, as Nick is usually off doing his own thing these days. It's even rarer to get a photo of us all too! Must scrap it when I get back to my scrapping some day soon..

Flying High

Nick's volunteer squadron had a "Friends & Families" day yesterday. He was allowed to take 2 people up in the air, so me & my hubby each had a 20 minute flight, piloted by Nick! Despite being terrified (that was me!) Nick was really confident and we both had a great time. I've told him that next time, I want him in charge of a 747 en-route to Florida though, with free flights for his long-suffering parents, ha ha!

"G" & "H"

I have done a double page layout for these 2 letters, as they are both on an outside theme. Nick loved helping his Grandad "Pops" to water flowers and grow tomatoes when he was small, and now likes to grow an annual crop of garlic in the back garden. I did the letter "H" for Harvey, his pet rabbit. He eventually got too big and didn't like being handled, so my sister "adopted" him and he became like a surrogate child I think!

F is for Flying

2 posts in one day! I'll have to lie down soon!

Just finished Nick's "F" page, and had to choose flying as he's dreamt of being a pilot since he was small. He flies powered gliders with a Volunteer Squadron, and recently qualified as an instructor so he can take other cadets up in the air. Can't believe he can do something so responsible while he's still in the 6th form, and although I am really proud of his achievement, there is no way I am letting him take me on a flight....he is really upset about this, but I value my life!!

Easter Sunday

Just loaded our Easter pics, and wanted to share this photo of our caravan in the snow on Easter Sunday....never thought I'd be wading to church in my wellies this late in the year! I am SO grateful for heating in caravans!

E is for "Eat", and our Easter Tree

Finally got round to doing Nick's "E" page today; after breaking up from school for Easter I now have time at last! Had a mammoth scrapping session this morning, catching up with my Disney 2006 album too. Just need to do his "F" page and I'm up to date again!

We are now spending weekends in Blossom, our beloved caravan; so whilst I love the peace, my scrapping time is even less than it was before. We are spending all of Easter week there, so I'll have to try and organise myself better, maybe take some supplies so I can scrap AND enjoy the peace and tranquility too. Bliss!

Happy Easter to everyone x

D is for Dressing Up

Just finished Nick's "D" page, and as he spent most of his early years dressed as Fireman Sam or a policeman, the title just had to be "Dressing Up"! Now he hopes to join the RAF, so I suppose his love of dressing in uniform has never really left him!

My Clipboard

At last! After buying the kit to make this last summer, I finally got round to doing it! I loved making this, as my usual style is very regimented so it was great fun tearing papers and tying bits of ribbon everywhere. I've promised myself I'll try and do this type of stuff more often. I've used a favourite photo of me on it, sulking madly as I hated having my photo taken....wish I'd remembered this when my daughter went through a similar phase a few years ago! I've hung it above my desk and I love looking at it. The only trouble is, I can't actually USE it as a clipboarsd 'cos I don't want to cover it up. Maybe I should make another one to actually use?!

C is for Clarinet

Just finished the "C" layout for Nick's A to Z journal tonight, this one was easy as Nick has played clarinet since the age of 8 and we've always loved hearing him play. I chose 2 photo's for these pages, the first shows him playing a duet with his Aunty Carole, and the other shows him proudly wearing his marching uniform when he played for the West Yorkshire Fire Service Band. His bright red uniform made it easy to choose the background papers! Nick has a real musical talent, and although he doesn't play much these days, I hope he never stops playing in the future as he really is a joy to listen to.

B is for Birthday's

Yay me, I've finished the B page at last! I wanted to make a record of Nick's favourite birthdays, but after spending several nights finding all his old birthday pictures and scanning them in, I became quite nostalgic and didn't know which to choose. Finally decided they were ALL going in, but as the journal is only 8" square that was impossible, you'd have needed a magnifying glass to see the pictures! Finally decided to put my 3 favourites on one side of the layout, and small pictures off another 8 on the other side (that was all I could fit on!) Hope you like it. Meanwhile, I'm off to pour myself a well deserved glass of wine to celebrate!

The A page is finished at last!

At last, I have finished the first pages of the A to Z journal I am doing for my son, Nick. I decided to do "A for Arrival", using a double page layout for each letter. These pages came together quite easily, as I was able to copy newspaper clippings and photo's from his baby book. I am going to try and keep plenty of room for journalling throughout the book, so that Nick can read it over the years and remember that I wasn't a bad mum, after all! I hope you like it.

My only problem now is whether to do another one for my daughter Polly - she wants to know why I'm not doing her one, too!

Making Gingerbread House

Hi,

Resisted huge urge to go shopping today and decided to take the Christmas decorations down instead. So now the house looks really bare, but I can get to my desk again so have no excuse to start scrapping soon! I ordered my journal on the internet today, and have my first page planned in my mind.


My DD has been wanting to make a gingerbread house since before Christmas, after I bought one in kit form from Aldi's. Well, we assembled the house yesterday and today she decorated it all by herself. It looks fabulous! The kit came with all the people and decorations, I gave Polly some extra jellies from the cupboard so she really went to town! I love spending time with her like this, wish we didn't both have to go back to school on Monday.