My month in numbers - July x

Here we are again at the end of another month, how quickly they keep passing! I love this alternative way to record your life following Julie Kirk's original concept.
July.
2 - Harriet & Matt completing Discover 2 kayak course.

£231.58 - amount of cash I spent on uniform in the school shop & that doesn't include shoes & shirts!!
£27.21 - Got stung for this amount of duty when shipping these iphone cases from the States.

17 - blog posts written this month - my average this year.
148 - number of fabric pieces sewn together to make this quilt top.

54 - miles return to visit my friend Jilly & her 2 gorgeous Grandsons.
5 - olympic tickets to join a crowd of 18,290 to watch Japan beat Canada 2-1 & Sweden beat South Africa 4-1 with only 1 yellow card.

 1 - recipe this month, a very tasty honeycomb.
1.4457 - exchange rate for Australian dollars to the pound, needed for our holiday next month.

This month would not be complete for me without these stats...
30th - Olympic Games, 3rd time in London, 204 countries competing & 3 amazing medals for Team GB so far & hundreds of hours glued to the fab BBC TV coverage.

Many thanks for looking

Hop on over to Julie's blog to read others Month in Numbers x

Recording Holiday Memories...

We will be shortly going on a very special trip to see family, friends & Harriet's Godfather on the East Coast of Australia. As this is a trip of a lifetime for us I so want to record it as my memory is not what it was & I want to be able to look back on a journal & smile at the fab times we had. 

With this in mind I have been trying to find a journal to fit my criteria of removable pages so I can pics when we get home, not too big or small, sturdy enough to cope with the travelling & handling...I found these photo albums in Paperchase & have added both lined & plain paper & cardstock plus a few tags & envelopes to hold the tickets & bits I like to collect when we go away.

I found this cute little case to take with me a mini set of tools & embellishments to help personalise this journal whilst we travel. I holds the usual basics of journalling pen, pencil, glue stick & pencil but also hole punch & Tim Holtz mini stapler.

I've also added paper clips, washi tape, mini envelopes, stickers & Smash pad.

You will also spy a few mini stamps & a black ink pad & a date stamp to help document our stories.

To be honest, I don't know how this will work out particularly on busy action packed parts of our tour but I'm not going to get stressed about it & if I can record some of our highlights then I'll be happy. I'll post pics on our return.

Can you think of something I should add to my kit ?

A day to remember

On tuesday we spent a glorious sunny afternoon watching Ladies Football at the City of Coventry stadium (Ricoh). The stadium looked impressive with all the football playing nations flags aloft.

 It was great to be there as a family, having a laugh, cheering for all sides & sharing the memories.

 Most suitable treat for an Olympic footy game :D

 We watched Japan beat Canada 2-1 & Sweden beat South Africa 4-1. It was great to see so many goals & there was lost of supporters from each nation watching, cheering & flag waving.
 I've never seen so many Japanese press & photographers before, so excited to be recording their teams win.

Getting ready for the Games

My home city Coventry is hosting some of the Olympic football matches this week and to get into the spirit of it they have been working hard to make this city feel more "festive'.

These photos were taken around the Coventry Stadium yesterday as the final preparations were being sorted.

Later today I will be there, sitting in the sunshine watching amazing men & women giving their all for their Country. I hope to have some snaps to show you tomorrow x

 Are you going to an event ? Do you watch it on TV ? I'd love to hear your opinions on the Olympics x

If you go down to the woods today...

...you are in for a big surprise !!!
Today my family & I met up with photographer Anna Bowkis for a mini family photo session in the woods around Brampton. I was lucky enough to win this in a competition on her website.


Anna & I have met numerous times & she has taken lovely photos of me before but this was the first time for the family. She totally made the children feel at ease & with very little coaxing they were soon showing their true mad selves to her in the glorious sunshine.
I snapped a couple of pics of the shoot with my phone!


I'm so looking forward to seeing these photos after we return from our holiday as it's been years since we had professional family shoots taken & the children are growing up so fast.

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In Print

This months Scrap 365 magazine is now out in shops & I'm thrilled to have a Lo published in it.


My page, Lomo Love is in the small is beautiful section, focusing on scrapping small photos.

I've focused on photos I took on a Lomography course in Birmingham combined in a simple grid formation & then embellished with lots of bits & pieces.

 Close ups of the little bits :)

 Many thanks for looking.

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Summer Fayre

I'm totally loving the summer vibe from the Websters pages papers in this months ScrapaGoGo kit - Picnic basket . Together with the cute little basket stamp they evoke feelings for me of summer fetes, village shows & school fairs.

 I loved the Websters basket but I didn't want it at the bottom of my Lo so I shortened the paper & added cardstock at the bottom to move the design up the page. I added a grassy border to house my Thickers title & a mini stamped basket.

To continue the food theme I created a jar using the Dear Lizzy Pretty Please paper topped with a gathered gingham lid cover like I see on stalls at the Church Fair.

I cut around the flower embellishments on the Websters pages paper & tucked my jar & photo behind this. The page was completed with some strawberry buttons & a couple of cutout hovering wasps!!

many thanks for looking x

Seriously, do I need another hobby ?!

Way back in the early part of the year I picked up a jelly roll & basic quilting equipment on a whim at the NEC Hobbycrafts Show! I had never quilted before but had seen lots of lovely modern looking ones at the Quilt Show last summer & was really tempted to have a go.


I got cold feet about cutting into the material but a recent visit from quilting/scrappy friend Kirsty got me started with a lap quilt. With her help I cut everything to the right size...


Now I have a quilt top measuring 6 x 4 feet ready to be quilted during the next stage. I'm not going for anything too fancy just straight-ish lines down the purple strips I think.


This will be for my daughter when it's finished but I still need to get my head around binding it first, another new skill to learn!


I'll keep you posted with it's progress :)

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Oh What a Night!...

...Harriet & I had at Warwick Castle last night watching Jessie J in concert. Considering how the weather has been recently we got off very lightly with only a couple of light showers during the open air concert.

The supporting acts were AME, Josh ? & Lawson who all got the crowd in the mood.

Can you see us ?! we are in the first couple of hundred people, there was 20,00 in attendance !

Jessie J was as good as ever, singing all our favourites, interacting with the crowd, making us laugh & made it fun & enjoyable for all age groups there.

 Jessie spotted Becky Hill ( The Voice contestant ) in the crowd & got her up on stage to sing together.

 The finale was some beautiful fireworks, rounding off a fabulous evening with my Girl :)

Thank Crunchie it's Friday...

We had a go at another of Lorraine Pascale's recipes & boy did we pick a cracker :D It was her honeycomb recipe which is so easy to make & doesn't need any fancy equipment or thermometer etc

Basic ingredients...

Add the bicarb...


Leave to cool...


We covered ours in melted chocolate for that real Crunchie taste :D It didn't last as as it was super delicious & certainly will be made again & again.


There is a link to the recipe at the top if you fancy a go x

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