My Month in Numbers - May.

It hardly seems like a month since I last wrote a MMIN post! I've come to realise we have a busy family life & TBH thats ok with me because there will come a time in the future when it will quieten down I'm sure.

May.

11 family members enjoyed afternoon tea to celebrate my Mum's 70th Birthday.

61.84 miles power walked this month. 

21 years married on the 8th celebrated.

 

13 out 19 of Matt's GSCE exams sat!

Over £4 million raised by the efforts started by 1 inspirational man.

11 blog posts written, about average for me this year.

7 loads of Gang Show washing done ready to be stored for next time.

24 Dan's golf handicap in his 1st competition.

8 foot weed found whilst trying to sort out our back garden!!

4,300 Dominoes. WE watched these topple with hundreds of other people as part of the Coventry Mysteries Festival.

Hop on over to Julie's blog- the home of MMIN to see what others have been recording.

Sheena x

Saving the best till last - April PL.

Today I am sharing with you the last inserts for my April Project Life album. I had hoped to write a blog post all about this trip but time got away from me so I thought I'd give my pages on it a post of their own.

As I'm sure you are aware my Dad was given a Scouting award in the St Georges Day Awards & Dan completed his Queen Scout award recently too. My Dad was offered tickets as an award winner to see the Queen Scout Parade at Windsor Castle & Dan was offered a place to actually Parade. This was too good an opportunity to miss so we applied for tickets & all 7 of us went.

I've given the day it's own insert so I could include more photos & journal some of the highlights.

We stood in the Quadrangle of Windsor Castle & watched over 500 Queen Scouts Parade before HRH Duke of Kent, Bear Grylls & the UK Chief Commissioner Wayne Bulpitt. They all looked so smart in full uniform.

The feeling of pride amongst the audience was audible & we gave them a huge round of applause when they marched back out of the Quadrangle.

I highlight for me was when Bear Grylls came by the crowd & I plucked up the courage to speak to him & I said "May I introduce you to my father who has received an award..." This is totally out of character for me to be so forward but he took it well, smiled, shook my Dads hand, congratulated him & then took him out of the crowd so they could pose for a photo.

We had a fabulous day made better by the weather staying dry for the Parade. I know Dan enjoyed it & would recommend it to all Queen Scout recipients. Getting to witness this day together made it all the more special for me x

I'm still recording my 100 happy days on Instagram & FB so those pics are also in my PL to look back on.

Many thanks for stopping by. I really appreciate you taking the time to visit my little corner of the world xxx

Sheena x

See it, Pin it, Do it - May x

As a huge fan of Pinterest I love these monthly gatherings over at Fiona's blog to share what we have pinned & how it has inspired us.

This month I have a scrapbook page.

Loved.

The Lo I pinned that inspired this page is here.
I used a photo of a very special young man & I limited my colour palette then picked through all my embellishments to see what would go.The circles were drawn with pencil crayon for a softer look I really love the result.

Sheena x

Project Life - April

On & off for the past week I've been working on these pages & even though the photos are only from last month I love the reminder this project gives me of the small & the big things that happen in our lives.

April.

Including...

... A scrapping retreat, big feet!!, an award, a day out at Alton Towers...

... Matt's Prom, Dad's birthday & a National Scout Challenge...

...a Great Show, a Rugby final & a silly weekend with some scrapping & sewing at my house...

... St Georges Day presentation, Golfing success, Macmillan Girls Night In, Revision & a Trip to Manchester...

... Easter Holidays & chocolate, Jamboree Camp, Rugby match with a Son on each team!! ...

...The lovely Gary Barlow live,tasty baking, eating out, D of E practise...

In the words of Jimmy Cricket - "And theres more..." 

A special event was held in April too but I've given it it's own insert so will share it another time as it's not quite finished.

Thanks for sticking with it xxx

Sheena x

Bingo Challenge

I saw a scrapbook challenge on National Scrapbooking Day that I really fancied having a go at & this is the result.

You & Me.

A little close up.

On SJ Crafts blog they had this Bingo Game where you needed to have 3 of the items listed in a line on your Lo going either diagonally, horizontal or vertical.

I've used Mist, Metal Embellie & a Bow.I got a little carried away & also used circles, vellum & torn paper!!

I hope you like it.

Sheena x

What a difference a week makes...

Since we moved back home over two years ago now, we have struggled to make much head way in our back garden. There were a number of factors that caused it's demise including the builders & their equipment, the garden left to it's own devices for 2 years & then us focusing on settling back in to our home.

Last year, to make a start we had a new path laid so this year we are trying to turn the tables & give our garden some TLC. By focusing on small areas at a time we hope to give it our full attention & the weather over the past week kick started us into sorting a couple of the borders.

The border was cleared of all weeds & dug over before a membrane was pegged down to discourage the weeds.

We took a trip out to a garden centre & made some purchases focusing on the hardiness & height of the plants we chose. We decided to place our old stone bird in this border which was in the garden when we first bought it. I blogged about him last year.

Today we planted them all. There is still lots of bare space but these will grow & no doubt there will be more trips for more plants.

Now just need to water them well & watch them grow & flower whilst we decide on the next bit to tackle.

I'm looking forward to spending more time in the garden surveying our handiwork & enjoying all the positive changes x

Sheena x 

WIP !!

Here I am on this wonderfully warm sun filled evening in my craft room... working on my half finished Christmas Journal from 2013!!

To be honest I'm questioning my sanity :D 

As I look around me I have quite a few "Work In Progress" projects doted about all requiring my time & attention & in need of a final push to get them finished. So why so many?? Some are classes from retreats, mini books awaiting photos, layouts needing journaling, others just put to one side whilst something more urgent was dealt with & then forgotten.

I think it's time to make some hard decisions...what stays & gets finished & what goes...you know I'll probably feel better for it. I need to be more choosy in the future & have more real expectations of what I can achieve but then I'm a crafter...so I'll probably never learn!!

Any tips & advice will be gratefully received. 

Sheena x

Scrap 365 Gallery

You should be able to get your hands on the next issue of Scrap365 magazine as it hits the shops this week, unless you are a subscriber (like me) & have received it already x

As always it's full of inspiration, ideas, sketches & lots of lovely layouts to look at over a cuppa.

This month I have a Lo in the Stencil gallery.

Stencils are totally my new crafting love. I'm not a naturally messy, painty scrapbooker but by using stencils I feel I can control the wet mediums more on my pages, getting them where I want them and liking the effects that brings.

Durban Days.

I wanted to try using only stencils to make a page and apart from the 12x12 mat, there is no patterned paper on this page. I've used 4 different stencils/masks to decorate the cardstock plus 2 chipboard shapes & the alphas.

I'm really happy with the overall finished effect.

Do you use stencils/masks on your pages?

Sheena x

One photo & twenty words...Anniversary.

Today I'm linking up with Abi for one photo & twenty words.

Chosen on different days,

bought in different cities,

after 21 years of marriage  

we seem to know each other well!

Sheena x

Sewn with Love x

Following a weekend full of family celebrations for my Mum's 70th Birthday I can now share with you one of her gifts from us, which I made.
I'm still a novice where quilt making is  concerned. This is only the fourth I've made & is certainly the biggest one to date.I saw a pattern on Pinterest I quite liked so then came the search for the right fabric. Choosing a colour scheme for a present isn't very easy but when I found this Moda layer cake on line I felt sure my Mum would like it.

It's not perfect if you look up close but Mum was thrilled with it so I'm happy.
I'm not sure what my next sewing project will be, think I'll go back to Pinterest for inspiration x
Sheena x

Fancy a challenge on NSD ?

Happy National Scrapbooking Day to you x

I hope you get a chance to be creative over this lovely sunny bank holiday weekend.

Over at Scrapology this month our scrapbooking challenge was to use corrugated card & a sketch.

I was really drawn to this sketch but as I started to create, my Lo changed but there is still a loose resemblance to the sketch I think.

Flower Girl.

The daisies are a Silhouette cut file, shaped to give a 3D look.To create my background I layered tissue paper before sewing it down around the edges.

Hop on over to the blog to see the sketch &  lots more layouts too.

Sheena x