Sunday 30 March 2014

Anyone for Tea?

It's Sunday evening and the weekend has flown by yet again, but there's just about time for a quick cup of tea and a catch up I think, inspired by the lovely Abi over at Creating Paper Dreams. So come on in from the evening drizzle and grab a mug and maybe a flapjack? Settle yourself down by the stove and let's share all that's been going on in our worlds over the last while!

At the moment, I'm facing into my last two weeks of school before the Easter holidays, and therefore the last two weeks of my contract, as the teacher whose maternity leave I'm covering is returning to work at the end of April. It's impossible to believe that I've been teaching my little class for over six months. I've had such a brilliant time with them, and it's going to be very difficult to leave. I've become attached to the little characters, the giggles we have, the odd hug from the little ones at the end of the day, the staff and colleagues who have become friends... And if I'm being honest with you, I'm also terrified at facing the prospect of supply work (or lack thereof) and joblessness once again in just a few short weeks. Keep your fingers crossed something turns up, won't you? How is work with you at the moment?

So have you been doing much crafting recently? I've been really delighted to get back to doing some 12x12 scrapbooking. I had forgotten how good it is to just get totally lost in paper and photos and stories. I hope to have some more layouts to show you soon... Blogging though, is something I continue to find it difficult to fit in. I love blogging, I love the community of lovely ladies that inspire me and engage me and make me smile, and sometimes it annoys me that I'm not a more active member in this blog family. Joining in with memes is something that helps keep me on track though, and organisation is the real key I think! Any advice? What are your thoughts?

Another cup of tea? Go on, it'll give us a chance to discuss our Easter plans! I'm hoping to meet up with some friends, do lots of crafting and I'm also taking a trip to Edinburgh for a few days, which I'm really excited about! My friend from school is there doing a Masters in the University of Edinburgh for the year, so it's the perfect excuse to see her and visit Scotland for the first time. I can't wait to see the sights and take lots of photos! What are you planning?

Oh gosh, is that the time? There is so much more we have to talk about but it'll have to wait til our next cup of tea! Take care of yourself and can't wait to see you again soon. Oh, and don't forget to pop over to the lovely Miss Abi to catch up with lots of other ladies for a chat over a beverage of your choice!

xxx

Monday 17 March 2014

For the Love of Aqua

What is your favourite colour to scrapbook with right now? Mine, without a moment's hesitation, is aqua (or teal, turquoise, blue-green... whatever takes your fancy!). Aqua looks great paired with pink, yellow, white, woodgrain, grey - pretty much everything really. It also looks pretty fabulous all on its own in its various hues and shades, as part of a monochromatic colour palette. So it comes as no surprise that when I put together a kit of supplies to ease me back into 12x12 layouts following my JYC adventures, aqua would feature heavily! Assembling a kit from things in my stash is an idea I got from the ever-inspiring Shimelle, and I find it really works when I haven't scrapped in a while. I'm often far more productive when I can only work with those supplies I have spread across my desk, rather than rifling through everything I own when I want to find the 'perfect' paper or embellishment!
These photos are from last summer, when my lovely friend Jenny came to visit me where I was teaching in the wilds of the west coast of Ireland. It was a lovely couple of days; we both took lots of photos of the stunning scenery, ate some delicious food and stayed up talking almost all night - perfect! This page came together pretty easily. Sometimes I find having two 4x6 photos on a single layout can limit my journalling space (and I like to write... a lot!) but clustering everything together in the middle of the page allowed me to fit everything in, along with a healthy dose of layering and confetti :D You can't really tell from looking at the photo, but I put some of the Thickers partially on pop dots to give some extra texture and dimension to the layout.

This second layout is one for my Paris album. I visited the French capital in July 2012 with my friend, and still haven't scrapped all the photos! I decided to use his sepia shot of the iconic Eiffel Tower to tell the story of how we planned for the trip. Our motivation for visiting Paris was to meet with another friend who was working there as an au pair (nanny) for the summer. However, her job didn't work out and she ended up at home in Ireland while we were seeing the French sights sans tour guide! This layout relied on a simple structure with a block for journalling and lots of layers under a single photo - this is a design I often fall back on because it accommodates everything with lots of white space too.

Hopefully I've have some more of the layouts made from my self-constructed kit to share soon! What have you been scrapbooking recently?

xxx

Sunday 9 March 2014

One Photo & Twenty Words

Finding time to blog is something that I'm finding increasingly difficult at the moment. But I'm trying not to put pressure on myself or allow myself feel guilty that I haven't posted in quite a while! What better way to get back into the metaphorical blogging saddle than joining in with the lovely Abi's meme, which invites you to tell the story of one photo using only twenty words...
*****
Spring arrived the morning a beaming little girl in my class brought me a present of two delicate golden daffodils. 
*****

Now hop on over to Abi's to see the beautiful photos and read the stories of other talented bloggers!

xxx