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

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

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...

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Spring arrived the morning a beaming little girl in my class brought me a present of two delicate golden daffodils. 

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

xxx

It's Finished...and my First Video!

At last, I have completed my 2013 Christmas journal! Yes, it is February (just where did the last month go?!) and I'm still talking about the December festivities which are just a distant memory at this stage, but the return to school put the brakes on my JYC for a while and it's only now that I've gotten around to completing my book. Whew!
So here's the lowdown on my documentation of Christmas 2013...

Supplies: My album is the 6x8 Simple Stories 'Sn@p' binder in red faux leather with a mixture of divided page protectors (by the way, I highly recommend this album, it's just beautiful and the quality is amazing, plus the spine is really wide to accommodate all those bulky and dimensional entries!). My other supplies came mainly from Simple Stories 'December Documented' and Echo Park 'Tis the Season' Christmas lines. I also used a pack of Freckled Fawn wood chips throughout, along with some American Crafts baker's twine, mistable stars, Papermania washi tape, sequins, Mister Huey's grey mist and some other bits and pieces from my stash. Along with the Echo Park sticker sheet, I also used two BasicGrey alphabets.

Photos: In previous Christmas albums, I've both printed my own photos at home, developed them on a machine in the local pharmacy and ordered online from Photobox. By far, the Photobox prints are my very favourite - they are just stunning quality and lovely to scrapbook with. So with that in mind, I took photos all through December and popped post it notes into my album to give me an idea of what might go where. Then I made a big order in early January, with a mixture of 4x6, 6x8 and collages of 3x4 photos.

Journalling: One thing I love about the 6x8 size, and the divided page protectors, is the freedom to journal. In this album, I have everything from lengthy tales that stretch over a couple of pages, to short anecdotes and captions popped into the little pockets.

Process: I started out December with the intention of creating a page every day, but knew that the chance of this happening was slim, what with juggling a full time job and all those Christmassy festivities. However, I did keep a little notebook in which I wrote something almost every day. I found it really helpful to just scribble down my rambling, jumbled thoughts in response to the day's prompt or whatever else came to mind. Not every one of these stories made it into my journal and many of them were edited before finally being committed to paper, but I found the notebook really helpful. Plus, having the journalling plotted out made creating pages easy even when Christmas was becoming a distant memory! I did end up making an entry for every day from December 1st to January 6th, but these varied greatly from detailed, layered, heavily embellished pages to simple and unadorned photos.

AND... While contemplating how to share this project, I photographed the entries, and I also tried something new - I made a video! I thought maybe it would be easier to see the album as a whole in video format, rather than scrolling through countless pictures. Plus it's always good to branch out and experiment! And so, I present my very first attempt at video (it's totally amateur and basic so be kind!)

I love this project. I love Shimelle's prompts and ideas. I love that different stories about Christmas bubble to the surface every year, and that each journal is a mesh of stories and photos, recent and not so recent memories, traditions and captured moments. I love seeing my family looking through the albums and remembering the little details of Christmas past and present. JYC has been part of my Christmas season for three years now, and I hope it will continue to be!

xxx

One Photo & Twenty Words

A spontaneous last minute Christmas gift. One thousand pieces. Many hours of patient puzzling with family. Jigsaws never get old.

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Today I am joining in with Abi's lovely meme 'One Photo and Twenty Words' - pop over and say hi to her, she's the best!

xxx

Looking Back and Looking Forward

Happy new year! I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas season and had fun welcoming in 2014 last night! I really enjoyed the festivities, we had lots of family time and relaxation and indulgence and catching up with friends...the best.

I've been looking back over 2013 and all that happened this year - from finishing in one school and starting in another, summer travels to Italy and London, spending time with lots of lovely friends old and new, crafty endeavours, lots of laughs and a few tears, thousands of photos, one wedding, turning twenty one in July - what a year! Choosing photos to make these collages proved very difficult :D

Here's to a fantastic 2014! I'm still deliberating over maybe starting Project Life, and at the moment am finishing up my Christmas Journal, so watch out for posts over the next few days!
xxx

Christmas Eve Eve

I cannot believe that it's December 23rd. It seems like only yesterday that it was the end of November and we were gently trundling towards the festivities, but things have just snowballed in the last few weeks. School was very busy but very exciting in the run up to the holidays - seeing the children's excited faces as they spoke animatedly about what Santa was going to bring them, decorating our classroom with fairy lights and baubles, singing Christmas carols, making clay Christmas decorations and counting down the days on our Advent chalkboard were just some of the highlights. We also went to see two different Christmas shows, 'Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer' with the little ones, and an 'Aladdin' pantomime with the older children, both of which I enjoyed just as much (if not more!) than the intended audience!

Most of our time, however, was dedicated to preparations for our Christmas nativity, which was held in the local church last Thursday night. It was a modern musical twist on the nativity called 'A Midwife Crisis', featuring singing sheep, dazzling angels, a frenzied midwife and her gormless donkey and of course, a very special baby boy. We practised and practised and practised the weeks beforehand. On the night, all went to plan (well, mostly!). One boy sadly got a case of stage fright just beforehand and decided that he wouldn't be making his acting debut after all! The adorable little boy who was cast as the star above the stable decided to take a stroll down to say hello to his parents mid-play! There were a few mixed up lines and giggles, but overall, the children did us proud. All things considered, the children and teachers were well ready for the break when our holidays began on Friday afternoon!

The last couple of days have been swallowed up with glorious preparations for December 25th. Last minute presents have been bought and wrapped, the Christmas cake has been iced and dug into, mince pies have been baked, some gifts have been exchanged, friends have been met, chocolates have been devoured, Christmas carols have been sung in our choir, cards have been sent and received, candles have been lit and memories have been recorded. Speaking of memories, I am very far behind on my JYC, however I have managed to write some journalling into a little copybook every day, so am planning a crafty catch up today. Also planned for today is making Mary Berry's gingerbread house with my sister. I've never made one before but was won over watching Mary and Paul construct their masterpiece on the Great British Bake Off Christmas special on last Tuesday night. I'll keep you updated on the progress! What have you been up to for the last few days?

Anyway, I'm off to get crafty with a cup of tea in one hand and a journalling pen in the other! Wishing you and yours a very merry run-up to Christmas - enjoy these few days of joyful anticipation, they always go by far too quickly!

xxx

P.S. My lovely friend Jenny has recently started her own blog over here. She is such a sweetheart and a brilliant writer and storyteller too - do pop by and say hello!