My month in Numbers - June.

Here we are half way through the year which is going much too fast for my liking! I'm going to share with you today my numbers for the past month using this fab system devised by Julie Kirk.

June.

175 points scored by DH on his golf holiday to win this trophy.

1227 & 4232 the candidate numbers for the 5 & 2 exams my boys sat at school.

2 new recipes cooked, mustard chicken & quick lamb tagine (pictured)

1779  the year this amazing Iron Bridge was constructed over the Gorge & my first time seeing it.

18 friends I've caught up with for chats, coffee, meals, scrapping, weekends & skype not including a 50th party we attended last night!.

158 chased down in 20 overs to become Warwickshire Schools Cricket U15's Cup Winners.

13 blog posts written this month.

12% bigger 30% brighter - The Super Moon looked from earth.

4 nights our daughter spent away on a school residential trip to Yorkshire.

Many thanks for looking & hop on over & check out Julie's numbers & all the other lovely bloggers joining in xxx

Doubling Up

Really I should be doing something other than crafting but at the moment I'm really loving creating & my mojo seems to be back & I'm trying to make the most of it before school finishes next friday!

I wanted to share with you this page documenting a special event I blogged about a couple of weeks ago.

60 years ago

The fern is cut on the silhouette cameo then layered with grunge board pre cut flowers which I've misted with Mr Huey Calico Shine.

I've written my journalling on a tag hidden in envelope under the title.

I used CSI case file 77 for inspiration on colour & supplies.

I also used this sketch from Scrap 365 magazine, as it has been taken from a page I made for the last issue, so I'm lifting myself ?? Saying that the two pages look nothing like each other.

 Many thanks for looking x 

Focus on Friends

When I realised we were nearly half way through this year, it got me thinking about what I had wanted to achieve during 2013, so I went back to my One Little Word blog post from January to remind myself.

Focus is my word for this year.

In fact I'm doing ok with my Focus list but for now I'll concentrate on telling you more about the first - Focus on spending time visiting  & chatting to family & friends.

Over the past few weeks I've been lucky that I've been able to catch up with lots of friends.

I've had a scrappy weekend with these wonderful friends Sam & Jackie.

Enjoyed a bead making workshop with Eileen.

Lunched with the Solihull Ladies & The Barn Crafters.

Spent a lovely day in the company of these sisters who I haven't seen for 4 years but have known since we were small.

I have some really lovely friends( not all pictured here ) some I've known most of my life & some I know  through my hobbies & I love spending time with them all, chatting & laughing & usually shopping or scrapping or eating or all of the above!!

They colour my world & I hope they all know how much they mean to me.

CSI case 76 - Solved x

I've had a bit of time to myself this week so to keep me occupied & away from the housework & the ironing I had a go at another CSI case file.

SNAP!

This case file included a sketch which I've pretty much followed with just a few adjustments.I used all 5 of the colours.

Evidence. Circles - cut from paper & stickers,

frames- Polaroid's over photos.

small repeating patterns - I cut the vines with the silhouette & hand coloured them,

date accents - sticker.

Testimony - Journal on your photo.

The journalling which I've typed & cut into stripes says " When the Solihull Ladies saw this Orla Kiely display in John Lewis they had me sit on the bed as I matched it!"

I'm really pleased that I've got to record this funny moment from our Ladies that Lunch day out :D
I also realised that this page fits with Merly Impressions latest challenge of using more than one photo :)

Moving On

Yesterday was Dan's last day at school ever! well if you don't count book return & final assembly!

When did that happen ?

It may be the end of this chapter for him but it's the start of the next.

So I thought I'd look through the photos & reminisce :)

This is him on his first day at primary School, a little apprehensive as he hadn't attended their nursery but he soon settled in.

This was his first day at Senior School, looking so smart, wearing collar & tie for the first time.

Yesterday after his last exam. An adult with his whole life ahead of him.

I really hope he gets to do in life what he wants but most of all I want him to be happy xxx

Missing you.

My daughter is away this week on a school trip with the whole of year 8!so beware if you are in the Yorkshire area it's going to be flooded with school kids:D

I realised I'd not shared with you this page I made featuring her using a CSI challenge prompt 64. I struggle with how fast she is growing up, I think this is partly as she is our youngest, but she is a wonderful your lady & we are really proud of her x

beYOUtiful

I love grouping bits to add interest to pages.

The colour palette was perfect for this pic. Their challenges get me thinking which is the kick start I need sometimes to be creative x

 Many thanks for looking x

Gardening with the silhouette!

The card challenge this month over on the Scrapology blog is " English Country Garden". This got me thinking for a few days & it conjured up loads of thoughts & ideas & this is what I finally made.

Perfect Moment.

 

The gate & the vine were cut using the Silhouette, the flowers are mostly Primas with pearl gems added to the centres.The back ground paper, sentiment & butterfly were from the free papers with last month's Scrapbook Magazine.

Hop on over to the Scrapology blog to see the beautiful cards other DT members made :)

Diamond Anniversary.

Sixty years ago today, 11 days after the Queens Coronation, my Aunt & Uncle were married.

Today is their Diamond Wedding Anniversary, which is an amazing achievement. My brother organised it so that the Queen was able to congratulate this lovely couple too & they had no idea this had been sorted for them.

It was wonderful to see the emotions as they realised what the recorded delivery contained.

I'd never seen a card from the Queen before, even the envelope is stunning. It now has pride of place on their mantle.

 Also a special day deserves special flowers.

Today has been a day to remember, sending my love to a wonderful couple xxx

Meeting the Alpacas

Last week I treated my lovely friend Jackie to a morning out together at the Toft Alpaca Farm & Shop using a Group on voucher which entitled us to a guided walk around the farm then a demonstration with refreshments afterwards.

Luckily for us the weather was kind & stayed nice & dry & also the fields were not too muddy either.

The Alpacas were just adorable even though they were recently sheared.

They were really inquisitive of us.

Under the guidance of our guide we were allowed into the fields to get really close to a group of Mums & babies. The youngsters were so giddy jumping & running around us. 

When we got to the field of expectant mums we arrived just as a little one was born...can you see his ears picking up above the grass.

All the Mums fussed around him till he was up on his feet albeit unsteady.

Then into the shop for the biggest home cooked scone ever :) followed by a knitting demonstration using some of their gorgeous alpaca wool x

We followed this up with a relaxed lunch & good natter in the village x

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Project Life - April.

Here are my April project life pages & be warned there are more than ever!!I've realised that I need to be very careful that this album doesn't take up a lot of my time & reduce my creativity in other areas so I'm now rationing the time I spend on it & therefore reduced the hunting for the perfect embellishment & just got on with documenting the stories x

April.

Featuring ...

...a visit from my Brother, pizza night with friends, recipes tried, oil on the drive!...

 ...fancy dress party, dropped phone, scrapping with Jackie, Lads youth hosteling...

 ...week of Coventry Gang Show for H & I...

 ...My boys at the Apex Challenge & Dan's team winning their age group...

 ...Dad's 70th...

 ...more birthday celebrations, seeing cousins...

 ...candy crush!!!, League chess win, movie night, Yvonne visited...

...Memorial Rugby game, Gang Show washing!, meeting Mango...

For the first time I've added a hidden tag, the details on it are private but need to be recorded here for the future x

Many thanks for sticking with it :)