Very pleased with myself !!

I am indeed very pleased with myself. I have made a new page for Pencil Lines and I really like it ! I am biased obviously and I know it isn't very nice to blow your own trumpets but I am very pleased with the lay out so I will !!. I like the colours, the pictures and the memories. I like the bunting and the embellishments. I just like it all !! This was the sketch..

And here is my page...

And a few details...

It is the first time I make a bunting and I am sure it won't be the last. It is a little fiddly to cut all these triangles and thread through them but it is definitely worth the effort.

Anyway, should really do some work !

Take care

Anne

Lucky me !!

First of all, I feel so lucky, I won the random pick on Sketchy Thursday last week !! I never win anything ! honest ! never ! and this time I will get a bag of goodies sent to my home, I can't wait!

Last Friday, I went on a shopping trip with three of my anonymous friends. We went to a shop called Crafts You Love in Dorking. I bought lots of very nice papers and we had a really funny day gossipping ! We stopped in a very traditional pub for lunch. The food was scrumptious but the service was less than perfect to say the least. Although the staff was very friendly, they just couldn't cope, so in a very French way, I complained to the manager and got us all a free drink !! It was Gin and Tonic for me !!

The weekend was lovely, sunny weather all round. It makes me want to move out to Australia where I know the weather would be nice most of the year. We can do so much more when the sun is shinning. Kids played outside all day, we had our first BBQ of the year, we went on a family cycle ( with no drama !! Yehoo ! ) and just enjoyed being outside while we can !. I also managed to create a page for Sketchy Thursdays using the pictures I took of Harry playing with Andrew's old action men a couple of weekends ago.

Here is the sketch :

And here is my version...

and a closer look...

I would really like Andrew to write something on this page as he felt kind of emotional to see Harry enjoying his old toys but I know it will be a while until I persuade him to do so !!

We also went to see one of our local gardens yesterday. I told you I walk past a wonderful field full of daffodils every day as we walk to school, well, the owner of the house, a lovely lady called Pat, has opened her garden to the public for the month of April and is offering afternoon tea to all of those who take the time to visit. If you live locally, it is really worth the visit. I have never seen anything as beautiful as her garden in full bloom and the scones were also well worth the visit !!I took lots of pictures of Amelie in the daffodils, I will have to sort them out here are a few...

I also let Amelie use my camera to take some pictures for a photo competition she is doing at school and here is the result.. I know.. I have got competition .. call it beginners luck but her pictures are pretty amazing !!

Well I hope you all have a great week ahead. enjoy the sunshine while it lasts..

Anne

Keep on running !!

What a gorgeous day out there !! Probably the best day of the year so far. I have already been for a run and a cycle !! ( I know I am so good !! ) and this afternoon, my friend is coming to help me with my garden.
Last night my adult class was cancelled and Andrew was out so it was the perfect opportunity to scrap !! I made this page for These Are A Few Of My Favorite thing Challenge Blog. I really like this site. No sketch, just a little imagination. This month the challenge is to scrap your past times.

I am here today to share our latest challenge!! *These are a Few of My Favorite Pastimes*.... Soooooooo FUN!! This can go in soooooo many different directions and that is one of the things that I love about our challenges and our DT...the way you all have different views on our challenges! :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

I decided to take a picture of my very well travelled ( that's another way of saying very dirty !! ) trainers !! I spend a lot of time running. But in fact, I don't actually like it that much. I just feel this is something that I should do. It is part of my life and weekly routine and strangely enough, I miss it when I don't do it. I don't enjoy running on a treadmill. I like to be outside, smell the air and hear all the sounds. I sometimes take my ipod but most of the time, it is just me and the birdies ! I like to use my running time thinking about stuff, shopping list, things to do.. ( nothing like the legitimacy of wars or anything important, just stuff !! ). Anyway, here is my page.

I was inspired by a French lady, I can't remember her name but I will look it up. She often works with a black background and funky colours. I like the result as it is a little different from what I normally do in terms of colours. I also like the fact that it has a story attached to it. When I first started scrapbooking, the journaling side of it is what attracted me. I like the fact that my grandchildren will be able to read about us, what we did and liked.

I hope you get a chance to enjoy this gorgeous weather. And HAAAAPPPYYYY BIIRRTHHADDAYYY Claire, you know, the anonymous one !!

Anne

A little tired.

I am feeling a little tired today. May be the result of two sleepovers in a row or more because of all the hard work in the garden yesterday. We are redesigning the back garden at the moment and that has involved a lot of back breaking efforts to turn grass over, bring in manure and rake new top soil on. Now all the hard work is done. I just have to wait for the brick layer to turn up and build the new border and the real fun job of choosing new plants and buy some bulbs and seeds can start. Yehoo. At the moment it is looking like this...

But I am hoping that in time for summer it will be all nice and colorful and the grass will have grown around.

Talking about garden, I have decided to try and make a page every month to remind myself what is happening in the garden. ( Obviously I will forget next month about my resolution, but here is the first page anyway !! )

Shame about the flash !! the picture is really pretty with vibrant colours. The picture is of my front border and the little crocuses are always the first signs of spring so I just love them.

Anyway got a huge pile of ironing to do ( glamorous life of a woman who works from home!) But in fact in won't be too bad as a friend of mine has sent me a copy of a French concert I used to watch every year when I was young !!

Speak to you soon. And if anybody is local and wants to join our next village crop, it will be on the 7th of May.

Anne

Crop Day !

What a lovely I have just had.
Today was our local crop in the village hall. About 14 ladies doing crafty things ranging from painting to cross stitching, card making and scrapbooking. One lovely coffee and walnut cake, dozens of chocolate cookies and lots and lots of cups of teas !! Thank you all of you, I have had a very relaxing day !

I did manage to make two layouts ( which is good for me !! I am rather slow !! ) but I haven't had a chance to take any pictures yet so I thought I would show you something that I made last night instead ! I really like to scrap pictures that I have just taken and that are still very fresh in my memory so I thought I would use the pictures I took of Mad March Hair Day and try to enter the Sketchy Thursday challenge. I like the sketch but I especially like my friend's Lisa's interpretation of it ! ( if you have never seen Lisa's work, go and visit her blog at scrappy fairies, she is amazing !! ) So anyway, I took the sketch and turned it over...( like Lisa !! )

Here is the sketch...



And here is my version...

I tried to be as messy as I could to reflect the MAD. I find it really hard not to put the pictures straight and use paint randomly but I like the result, and the pictures really make me laugh.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend. Half Marathon day here where I live so we will be spending the day outside, handing out sweets to the brave runners who need an extra little help !! ( well that is if the kids don't eat them all before the runners arrive !! )

Take care

Anne

Mad March Hair day

Hello,

I know, I know, I haven't been blogging recently !  I have so much to do in the garden at the moment, I haven't got much time for anything else. But... We are having a scrapbooking day tomorrow, all day, in our village hall so I have got lots of pictures ready to use.

Today is Mad March Hair day at school. All the children can make their hair as mad as they dare in exchange of a small gift for charity. I love this day, I always go to school early to see all the children and yes, I do also make my hair mad, but there isn't any picture to prove it !! Although I am sure someone will post them on face book later !!

Any way, here is how Amelie and Harry looked. they don't actually need the hair to be mad, they are barmy anyway !!

Have a nice day !!

Anne



50p ? That's far too much !!

Hello everybody. I hope that you all had a nice weekend. It was cold but sunny here, we can't complain. I can't quite remember what we did on Saturday so it can't have been that exciting but we went to a car boot sale on Sunday. We got up early, very early, packed up the car and set off to sale all of our unwanted ( but still gorgeous !! ) items !! It was such an experience. I love car boot sales and it was lovely to be able to do it with the family. Kids were happy to sale their old stuff, and Andrew sold lots of his toys ( don't feel sad, he has still got a loft full of them !) and I was happy to sale other people's stuff!! It did make me laugh when people argued that good quality items were 50p and could they have it for 20p !! I love bargains but some people were just comical and if anything, car boot sales are a good way to have a laugh !!

I didn't have much chance to scrap but I did take some nice pictures of Harry playing with Andrew's old action men that we found it the loft. They smell so old and look kind of weird but Harry loves them. And I guess it must be nice for Andrew to see his little boy enjoying his old toys.

I did make a page last week for Sketchy Thursdays. I used some pictures I took walking to school. We are so lucky we can walk to school ( although, kids would probably not think themselves lucky everyday !! ). And at the moment we pass a few beautiful gardens on the way. One of the garden looks like my idea of Heaven ( if there is such a thing ) ( but that's another discussion topic ! ). It is truly the most beautiful thing with little crocus, iris and daffodils growing randomly in a meadow. Believe me, it is very special. Anyway, here is the sketch:

 


And here is my page:

And some close ups !!

I really like the result and it is probably thanks to the kind help of all my anonymous friends and especially anonymous Sue who gave me the back paper. You will also recognise the little flowers that my mum's friend Jeanne made for me.

Anyway, got to go and teach.

See you later


Anne

Cool hair dude !!

Did I say it was a shame I had a lesson last night !! Well I did have a lesson but decided to then stay up, for far too long and make a page with my new pictures of Harry. I put a French Cd on ( Axelle Red for those who want to know !! yes, I know that's not many of you !! ) and I scrapped for a couple of hours.
There is a challenge on These Are a Few Of My favorite Things that had caught my eyes about Features. Here is the brief:

What a FUN challenge we have today! "These are a Few of My Favorite Features!"... this can be taken in sooooooo many different ways!!  Do you love your nose? Your eyebrows? Your hands? Your painted toenails? OR... is it something about your kid(s) that is your FAVE? Or what feature about your pet do you love? Whatever the feature is ... we wanna see it!!! :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

 

And I thought it would be perfect to scrap Harry's new haircut. So here is the result of my late night  !!

 

 

The writing is quite small for the journaling but in fact I like it that way as Harry gets embarrassed when I speak about him so it is little more discreet that way. Well it was until I put in the web blown up !!

 I love the colours on this page and the little embellishments I bought last weekend work well with the Basic Grey paper.

Anyway, better get ready for my next lesson.

Have a nice day.

Anne

 

 

Lucky me !!

Today I received a little parcel from France !! I love receiving parcels !! I get so excited !! It was from my mum, I knew straight away as the stamp was beautiful and my mum always makes sure she puts nice stamps on for my dad's collection !! ( That's a hint for all you readers who throw their stamps away !! keep them for my dad ! ) Anyway, in the little parcel, were 22 gorgeous little hand made flowers. A very generous friend of my mum called Jeanne crocheted me these little beauties. Now, I don't even know Jeannne, she is a patchwork friend of my mum, so you can imagine how kind this lady is. So Merci Jeanne pour les jolies fleurs, elles sont magnifiques et elles vont faire bien des envieuses !! and here they are...

I have a French lesson tonight, which is a shame because I have just been to the hairdresser's for Harry and took some good pictures. Harry has been worried about his hair for a few days and is spending quite a lot of time combing it and putting water on it and trying to make it longer every morning ! ( sweet, he is only 6 !!). So today I took him to have his hair cut and when the young lady asked him what he wanted, he answered that he wanted to look like Mathew!! ( Don't you know, Mathew, from school !! ). Mathew is a really nice lad, trendy and very popular. I guess he looks a bit like Justine Beiber, only with black hair. So my little Harry now looks very trendy and very grown up and I can already imagine that it won't be long before I am asked if I can buy hair gel !!

Have a nice evening.

Anne