British Summertime (and a ramble!)

A Happy Summer to you all!  I hope you have all remembered to go to BST today, well those of you in the UK anyway lol.

Isn't it great, I have a follower! Thanks Lyn :)  Who would have thought that something so simple would give such pleasure, not that I blog for followers as I don't think that I have much to say that is very interesting, but it is nice to know that I am not the only one to read ...... occasionally!

Another non crafting related photo today, but isn't it gorgeous, 

daffodils at Belfast Castle, very Spring.

Mrs Dunnit's blog has been making me think, for those of us who do, why do we blog? Is it because it is a 21st Century form of keeping a diary, somewhere to sound off, networking, idea grabbing or all of the above?

I have kept a diary for many years, and in it are all sorts of random things, a lot of them I would never want to be read by anyone while I am still here, but when I am gone, it could be useful to future generations to know what sort of life I have lead, I do not presume to think that I have done anything so wonderful that the world will want to know anything about me, but as a record of a life lived, maybe.......... I will never know, even though I have told my boys that I will still be around haunting them forever lol.

So, somewhere to sound off?  Yep, some blogs are, these are personal thoughts and it should be remembered that it is only the writers opinion and not something to use to have a blast at the writer, I am not in favour of anyone using a local craft shop for convenience, then letting all know that they make their bigger purchases from well known TV programmes, or bringing catalogues into a shop to share with other potential customers right under the nose of the shop owner, the shop owner is not daft enough to think that if you use their shop, it will be the only place that you buy products from, but it is insensitive and rude to rub their noses in it. 

Then there are the few blogs that bash people just because they can, I know they exist, but I don't read them. Why is it considered necessary to bash anyone who you personally do not agree with just because they are well known?   Jealousy?

I love reading blogs because I am right nosey! I love the little peeks into other lives and craft rooms that blog hopping allows me, networking? Maybe, I have met a couple of really nice people online, yes I know that I do not really "know" them at all, but what I have been allowed to know, I like. I have had a blog for a long time, but it has only been recently that I have started to use it, there are some amazing people out there, I just have to find them.

I also use blogs to inspiration, you never know when someones fantastic work will spark off something in the little grey cells, I have even loved an idea so much that I have asked to use it "as is", never yet have I been refused, crafters are such sharing people. 

My teamies over on UKS are a great bunch, we didn't know each other when we all started, and with only a few exceptions, we are all still together, through all of life's ups and downs.

I have to say, that I blog for all of the above reasons, and I love to talk lol. DH has learned the art of seeming to be listening to me rabbit on, but I am under no illusions that most of the time it goes straight through, so this is a good option for me. If you have got this far, you have been a captive audience, and if you have any kind of feelings on this or anything that I rabbit on about, a comment or two would be nice {wink}

Lastly but not least, there is the idea of blog candy, I love the idea, but I am at a loss to know why some ask that you become a follower to be eligible to win. Going right back to the start of this ramble, I love it that Lyn had been kind enough to follow this blog, but I do not want to "buy" followers or friends, surely the idea of blog candy is because you want to celebrate? I don't mind in the least having a side bar that tells others that someone out there in Cyberland wants to share, but to want to buy my support? Not for me I am afraid.

Interesting Subject

One of the blogs I follow has got an interesting post on it. Mrs Dunnit is an inspiration anyway and should be read, but this post is a doozy!  Journalling, the 5 W's, where, when, why, what and who. 

I left a comment, but thought it deserved a better answer than I gave, so here goes.

When I started this crazy journey of scrapbooking, I wanted every LO to be perfect and in my innocence thought this also ment that the journalling had to be perfect too, so used my computer to do it, no I am more knowledgeable, I know that the journalling does not only say what the picture is about, it tells a story, conveys feelings and thoughts (hmmmmm should concider this more when blogging lol) so I now use my handwriting, even if it does look like a spider has jumped in the inkwell and run across the page!

A lot of time and effort goes into making a scrapbook, and it is personal, so the journalling should be personal too, I usually write in the first person, but this is not a "rule", and sometimes I use hidden journalling, but not because I write things that should not be read. I love elements that DO things on a page, so I often add bits that flip, twist or open on a page, and yes, I am still ashamed of my handwriting, so sometimes hide it! lol. Sometimes the story is just too long to be included on the page, so goes behind the pictures, ten there are the times that there are just too many pictures on the page to allow any room for journalling!

There are occasions when the picture is self explanatory and does not need anything extra (my boys are brilliant at giving me the sort of pictures that need nothing more than a title!)

Then there is the LO I am working on right now, the story of Puss in Boots, it is the story itself that is the LO, so there will be a lot of writing on this one.

Yes I do practice writing what I am going to say first as I want to make sure it is going to fit the space I have left, and to spell check what I am going to write, but if I still leave the odd typo, it does not send me into a tail spin, bad spelling is part of who I am, along with my appalling writing lol.

I am lucky that both of my boys love the work that I do and I hope that my scrapbooks will live on, Miss K already loves hers and looks at it a lot, but she is a vain creature and as one of them is all about her, this is her favourite one :) Perhaps Miss E will feel the same way about hers, as she is only 12 weeks old I will give here a little more time to become interested!

I Survived!

Well, I survived the class ............. just!  Something else to add to the list of what I won't be doing again in a hurry lol.  Not the most popular class I have ever done, but the results were worth it in the end, and I think they were all secretly pleased with them. Going to get them going rightly next week though {evil snigger}

Poor car has had to go to the car doctor today, one of the warning lights came on yesterday, and all I could find out about it was it was the coolant light. The manual said that this is the coolant light and it was not important unless it was lit .......... you don't say!  Nothing about what it might mean, was the car going to stop if I drove it home (it didn't) was I going to cause serious damage by driving it (I didn't) but nowt about what the problem was so off it went to the car doctor this morning.

No crafty pictures today, so I thought I would use one of Miss K with a poor appetite (apparently) doing some serious damage to a 6" sub.  She ate the lot and then wanted a cookie to finish off her lunch! This was eaten at about 11.30 in the morning AFTER downing an adults portion of porridge at 9.30!  Takes after her Daddy that one does lol.

Later on in the day I was regaled with a unique version of Puss in Boots, but that story will have to wait until I have done the lay out of it. 

I just love the way children's minds work sometimes, how do you answer them when they ask you "Why do you love me?"  I was lost for an answer.

Another Week Gone By

Ahhhhh well, here is another week gone by, and not a lot said. I have not been idle though, I have bee sifting and sorting my lovely new stash from the NEC, not made a lot with it yet, but that will come. No longer am I going to be a hoarder of papers, there are always new ones coming along that I just HAVE to have, that it seems to be a waste of money and precious storage space to keep, what will be in a few weeks, old papers :)

These are going to be this weeks cards, beautiful stamps by Creative Expressions, daffodils and a basket weave frame. No patterned paper on these cards at all, just paper piecing, I will let you know if I survive this class, but nothing can be worse than the night I got them all sewing, I thought I was going to be lynched!

I have been working on ideas for the course I am going to be doing, it is fun having a blank canvas to work on, but scary at the same time, I need to get in touch with the co-ordinator soon to see if the ideas I am working on are in the right area or am I totally off the wall lol. She has not e-mailed me back yet, so a trip to the collage is in order, and the fact that a craft shop in the next town has a sale on has nothing whatsoever to do with this decision!

Late again, but this time I do have a good reason :)  This time last week I was in Birmingham at the Craft show at the NEC and what a good time was had by all, well both of us I should say :)

Somehow we even managed to end up at the filming

 of Gok Wan's Fashion Fix!!!!!!!

A bit of evidence I hear you say? Here you go!  It was a great laugh, and hands were sore clapping at the end of it. I hope that we will not be in the bits that get to the telly, but you never know.  Showing 14 April we were informed.

I don't think that I have ever laughed so much, the things that went wrong were unbelievable, and he is a very naughty boy, but very funny :)

Here are tonight's cards, I just LOVE these Hero Arts stamps, and I got the template for the Curvy Card when I was at the show, I am thinking that I will use it a lot :)  If done 4 times it makes a collapsible cube card as well!

Oh, and I have had the news that I have been waiting for................I got the job! Not only that, but I have the opportunity to start a new class for mini books! All my own!  I will have to do the whole course myself, starting with a name for it..............hmmmmmmm...........mini books does not really do it does it?  Any ideas on a postcard please :) :)

More Cards

Another week gone by and I am still lagging behind.  Oh dear!

This week we will be doing a couple of cards that I find I quite like, one was a request from a lovely book by Truike Bron, full of page maps, and the other is another "new and interesting way to use envelopes" lol.

I do have some actual news this week, I have been for a job interview!  Not a real job type job you understand, but now I have been for the interview, I will be disappointed if I don't get it.  OK, here is what I will be ............ a part time lecturer!     In card making!   I had to take samples with me, so I took some of the ones I have done in class, along with class notes, and as I didn't have time to make all the ones I wanted to, I also took along some of the mini books I have made. These had a lot of the techniques I like doing in them.

They loved the cards, but went bananas over the books!  There was even talk of a course for them if it could be wangled, so hopefully this is a good sign?

If I am going to hear from them, it will be in about a week, so fingers and all else crossed. If anyone reads this drivel, please cross your fingers for me :)