My Month in Numbers - September.

Here we are yet again at the end of the month, with time speeding by during 2013.  Here are  my numbers this month & a communal count too.

September.

0. No Gromit's seen on my last trip to Bristol as the queue was too long but met up with 6 IG girls & had a great day out.

2 prizes at Prize Giving. A best in year History award for Matt & Class progress prize for Harriet.

1 recipe - whoopie cakes by Lorraine Pascale. Messy to make but very tasty.

14 blog posts this month.

131 Dans room number in his halls of residence.

4367 Hainault Lodge. We were guests at their Ladies Night.

374 The Candy Crush level I'm stuck on!!

60. We attended the wonderful birthday celebrations for our friend Jilly.

Communal Count.

I live...

1.6 miles/ 32min walk from my primary school.

1.3miles/25min walk from my secondary school.

This really made me smile as over the years I've lives & worked in a number of different cities but are now back where I started :)

Many thanks for looking. Please hop on over to Julie's blog,the MMIN organiser & see what everyone else has been up to.

Pinterest Inspired Again!!

Earlier this month some dear scouting friends of ours got married. I couldn't decide what to give them till I saw an idea on pinterest & thought I'd have a go at making it myself.

All the hearts were cut using my silhouette so I could size them to use the maximum space in the aperture of the frame.Each one is double to add depth. I typed their wedding details on the central heart as a reminder of their wonderful day.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out & would certainly make something similar in the future x

Recording the occasion

To be honest I don't really like this photo of us but it was the best we could get on a windy day in Amsterdam doing a selfie! But I did want to scrap the occasion, our wedding anniversay & this weeks CSI case file seemed perfect for the job.

Before you know it... 

...you have shared over half your life with your Best Friend.

I enjoyed getting out my stamps & inks to alter the background for this page.

From this case file I used all 5 colours for the scheme. For the evidence I used hearts, stripes, tie something, white space, 2 different alphas & something transparent. For the testimony I journaled about a friendship.

This sketch from Sketchbook 365 was perfect starting point for this page. 

This finished page also uses a small photo meeting this months Merly Impressions challenge too :)

Many thanks for looking x 

Getting Punchy!

I saw a challenge a few months ago to make a page but to challenge yourself to use limited supplies. I decided to go one further & try & use something I now use rarely but have plenty of ...Punches!

War Baby.

I can't even remember when & where I got this punch but by using scraps & layering them up I really love the effect & may well have to try this again.

The journalling says This was my Mums first meeting with her RAF Dad when she was 6 months old!

One Photo & Twenty Words.

I saw this wonderful challenge over on Abi's blog the other day, to tell a story in just 20 words & decided I really wanted to take part & record whats happening in our household at the moment. So here is mine x

Getting packed.

 Soon be time to go. 

New start, new direction.

Going to miss him.

Love you Son.

Sad already...

Scavenger Hunt - Final Edition.

This weekend the Summer Scavenger hunt organised by Rinda comes to a close and even though I'm sad to see it end I'm thrilled that as a family we found ALL the items on the list including the bonus ones :)

We enjoyed working as a family completing this challenge on holiday & I would certainly join in again.

I've saved the best find for last.

SH11 - An animal in a zoo, aquarium, nature preserve...

We spent a few days on a game reserve & here are a few snaps of what we saw...

This baby elephant is less than 24hrs old.

 White Rhino

 Lioness

 Cape Buffalo

We saw 4 of the Big 5 and many other animals & birds too making it an amazing experience x

You can find all my other Scavenger Hunt posts here, here, here, here, here and here.

Mad about Minions!!

My girl has a thing for these cute little yellow guys so after a little on line research I decided to crochet her a phone case to look just like them. 

I didn't use a pattern so I'm really pleased with how he's turned out & I know she'll love it too.

New Beginnings...

This was the theme I chose for Septembers card challenge over on the Scrapology blog - new beginnings.

Our September has seen lots of new things ...new babies arrive, a wedding, new schools started & Uni courses starting...

I chose to make a wedding card for a very special couple.

I used the silhouette cameo file to cut this card out, I used the bridesmaids dress colour for the cardstock.

I backed the skirt with vellum & used a whole pack of pearls for the flower centres. I dug out some peel off letters for the greeting.

Hop on over to see more "new beginnings"cards & there is a great prize to be won if you join us in this challenge x

Summertime Scavenger Hunting in SA.

As this wonderful on line hunt organised by Rinda draws to a close I thought I'd share a few more of our holiday finds with you.

SH3 - City Hall.

Situated in Cape Town. A beautiful imposing sandstone structure.

SH19 - A Fisherman.

These gents were sea fishing off a pier at Umhlanga Rocks, Durban.

 This Lad was spotted fishing alone at Knysna Lagoon on The Garden Route.

SH18 - Local coffee shop.
We became regulars here during our travels in SA as the tea & coffee were good & sold in big mugs full. Plus the muffins were tasty & they sold meals too.

SH21 - Me with a craft tool.
This has to be my camera, it's always with me & without it I'd never get to record the wonderful life we lead :)

Bonus  - A sundial.

One of things I love most about this challenge is looking for & spotting things you may not normally see. We found this sundial on the wall at The Castle of Good Hope Cape Town & all took photos to remember it.

I only have a few more photos to share in the next week or so :)

My Life In Orange

Now the children are  settled back at school I  have more time to get back to scrapping :)and this is what I made yesterday x

The journalling says" Being a "ginger" I'd always avoided wearing orange till my 40's where I found out it actually suited me!!"

For this page I used CSI's case file 88. Scheme-all 5 colours are used. 

Evidence-notebook paper, clock, map, pen, book page.

testimony-Use a book title & document something learnt.(The book is by Tim Guest)

I also used this sketch from Merly Impressions which I've pretty much stuck to.

Many thanks for taking the time to pop by x

I blame Pinterest !!

I do mean this in the nicest sense! I find it very easy to spend time on Pinterest & a quick 10 minutes can turn into an hour or more before you know it.

But I love the concept of a virtual pin board. In my twenties I used to have files of magazine clippings covering recipes, things to make,clothes patterns...which used to spill out in an untidy jumble when ever I tried to look through them. So I admit I have a number of boards on Pinterest for inspiration & now I've actually made something I've pinned :D

This frame hangs proudly in our hall housing coins from our families travels around the world & I love the mix of colours & different  coins catch my eye each time I pass.

Here is a closer view. The need to fill the frame had us rummaging though old boxes & tins in the garage plus collecting coins on our recent trip away.

I have plans to act on other pins real soon :)

Happy pinning.

Scavenger hunt -Open Air Market

When we were on holiday in July the children & I decided to take part in the Summertime photography scavenger hunt created by Rinda to really get us exploring & photographing this beautiful country & I think it worked not only did we find most of the list in 2 weeks! both children got comfortable carrying & using their camera :)

SH1- open air market.

Whilst exploring Cape Town we found Green Street market. A market has been held in this space for centuries.   

 The square was packed with stalls.

 The goods sold here are made all over Africa.

 The colours & details really drew me in.

 All types of crafts were for sale.

Inside the market it was a maze of paths & alleyways between the stalls.

In theory I wanted to take lots of photos here but in reality the moment you showed any interest in a stall you were encouraged to hold their merchandise & haggling would start before you could even think or speak! all in a very friendly way, but quite off putting when you are not used to this direct approach or of a shy disposition :D