JYC is going really well!!!!! As in, not at all.

Well, that's not strictly true.  I am posting photos on Instagram and Twitter (both under paperwoolthread) whenever I remember.  I am reading the posts and writing the odd journalling.  But, I have abandoned the idea of making a full journal. Apart from the fact that I couldn't decide on a size, life seems to have got in the way.  Oh well, can't be helped.  I am planning to do a few one off pages over the season and hopefully, I will get a chance to do some this week once I have finished making Christmas presents. Which, of course, I am behind on!

I have finished one though. It is a book that I made for my Grandad using photos that I had borrowed from him to scan.  I pulled together a few of my favourites so he has some photos of my nan in one place. Below are a few of the pages.

I used Graphic 45 Le Romantique papers which I absolutely love. The paper is great quality and I love the designs.

Right, off to finish painting the childrens pigs and make the parents xmas card.

Birthday Wishes

think this was xmas 1977

You would have celebrated 74 years today.

No doubt you would have been spoilt by the family.

There would have been nice food and a bit of alcohol.

There would have been Skype calls from me and mother.

You may not be with us but that doesn't mean that you are not celebrating. 

I am sure that you and Robin are celebrating in your way now.

No doubt with a glass in your hand :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANNY



Britain in a Day Pt 2..

Ok, so I kept up with the photos......not!! I have been tweeting regularly though so I think they will serve as a good record for what I have done this afternoon.  I spent most of the time going through my photos and learning how to tweak them on the programme I have.....just a Windows programme that came already on the laptop but it will do for now. 

the picture that sparked off the mini book idea.  adore how in love they look

I am decorating an old Maya Road chipboard album that I have had for ages with Graphic 45 Le Romantique papers.  These papers are gorgeous and so hard to cut into.  I like the theme of them as the pictures I am using are all old pictures of my Nan that I robbed borrowed from my Grandad.  It is actually for him as I thought it would be nice for him to have some photos of her all in one place. 

I posted a picture of the front cover on Twitter (@paperwoolthread) but I will post the finished album here once its done.

Right, have to peel potatoes, finish watching England game (took me 30 mins to write this thanks to the first half!), bath, pick something to wear (o dear...!) then head out to the Golf club as there is a ticket do at the boss's club tonight.....all this before 8.30pm (and not including eat the dinner and phone the Uncle.....no hope of being ready for this taxi).
Wish me luck!

Britain in A Day..

.....well sort of. I saw this in my recent copy of Radio Times about an initiative to get as many people as possible videoing what they do for a day....more info here.

Now, I probably don't qualify as a Brit at the moment as I currently live in the Republic of Ireland (not a question I dare to ask in the pub lol) but I am British since I was born and reared there (I am a proud East Anglian). I also have a bit of a dislike of videoing myself so wouldn't submit anything anyway.  However, I liked the idea of documenting my day and as a true scrapbooker, thought I could do it in a Project Life type way.  Handy since I am interested in doing that next year so it gives me a chance to see how I could work it.

The plan is to use here as a log of what I do....hopefully remembering to take pictures...(so far, so good). I don't really blog about my every day life so this is a good way for me to see if I can comfortably write about myself....an issue I always seem to have. 

So, lets start....

07.00:  got up. Would say 'woke up' but as usual I was awake very early but couldn't justify getting out of the bed.

08.00: reading the above :)

 09.00: wave goodbye to the boss...off to the golf course...which means I can watch last nights The Walking Dead. mmmmm Andrew Lincoln....you will always be Egg to me :)
As you can probably tell, my photos above are a little mixed up....I took the tv snap then realised I could have the time showing on the photo (am using my Genius app incase you wondering...takes great photos), but they happened pretty close together so...!

10.00-11.00: involved a bit of Twitter reading and shifting things upstairs.  Finally changed the background on the laptop....(won't show you the previous picture...lets just say the boss had his turn for long enough). I would love to say that the table is messy because I am in the middle of a project but the truth is, I have not sat at it all week! It tends to become a dumping ground untill I can be bothered to put everything away.  Several attempts to stop this practice have obviously not succeeded.

Oh, I did a picture of my cup of tea but I seem to have deleted it.....! O well, the last couple of hours have involved blog reading, typing this post and getting ready for this....



Loving the posts so far :) Now, where did I leave my Christamas stash????

Hopefully, I will back later :)

From Bag to Book

I finished my 'bag book' today.  Or I should say my 'sickbag book'.  You see, the boss opened my mail on Monday and promptly asked me why someone had sent me a load of sickbags. Ha ha, poor man.  He won't come in to the spare room anymore.  He swears I have turned it into a rubbish tip.  But here is the proof that all things can be made pretty :)

Ok, when I say pretty, this book can definately be improved.  I am not saying it is awful but there are some things that I would definately change. 

But lets see what I did first before I moan  evaluate later

I used Papermania 6x6 Creative Tones pads which I have had in my stash for years.  I chose Amethyst Infusion well, I thought I would join the purple party here and Ivory Black.   

I was originally going to use rings but I accidentally stuck all the bags together.  I quite like it though.  Plus, it suited my original idea of writing some journalling in the flap just underneath the gusset pages.  I abandoned that idea in the end but it is logged for future use.

 Back and Front

 

I couldn't upload all the pictures...damn Blogger!! However, these give you the gist I think. Very little embellishment and in the end, no journalling.  I have left the ends open because I plan to use the book to store memories of my brother that I can scrap at a later date.  To be honest, I had started journalling but it got a bit much and I liked the idea of having pictures to flick through.  I have made many books and boxes of my brother for the rest of the family you see, but never for me.

 Sians instructions were easy to follow, especially once I had the bags in front of me.  I couldn't figure out the gusset thing before that.  However, next time. I will use thicker paper as I think that will make the pages a bit more sturdy.  I will also not try to cut the papers to the size of the bags when they are stuck down.  They are a little wonky! Other than that, I will be harrassing everyone for paper bags....large or small because it was fun to do.



Starting Points and Rainbows

As usual, the weather over here is shocking.  Good for locking myself in the spare room for a bit of scrapping though.  But, imagine my delight when I looked up from the desk to see the beauty above.

I love rainbows and never seem to get my camera out quick enough when I see them.  Well, I can tell you, I practically fell down the stairs in a desperate rush to get into the garden before it disappeared.

The photo is taken with my 16MP app on my phone but I reckon it derserves a bit of editing later to bring it up to its full glory.

I have made my wish and tonight, we will see if a rainbow really does have a pot of gold at the bottom lol

Anyway, once my excitement had died down, I cracked on with the project in hand....yep, I am finally doing rather than *thinking about* Shimelles Starting Point Challenge



Above is my interpretation of it.  The papers are My Minds Eye (Lime Twist) and Sassafras, the stickers are Sassafras and the ribbon is recycled. Not sure from what though!

Most of what I used on this LO comes from various Studio Calico kits.  I have an awful habit of seperating them as soon as they arrive.  Probably because I like to put things away in their correct places once I have stroked them (!) but I feel that defeats the purpose somewhat!!





And, here is the finished product.  The letter stickers are Mistables and I just coloured them slightly with Jenni Bowlin Chicken Feed ink.  I also used that and Distress Inks Wild Honey to colour the Papermania tag I used for the journalling.  The flowers were lying around in my stash for a  while and the tags on the photo are Elles Studio (well, one pennant cut in half). The 'jewels' are old stash and I misted a bit of Mister Hueys Hot Dog so that 'Strike' would stand out a bit more.

The photos are of my Nans when they were younger. I recently scanned a bunch of photos that I managed to 'borrow' from each side of the family and I liked the fact that these two were so similar even though they are taken at different times in opposite ends of the country. I can't wait to use the  rest of them :)

Hopefully, tomorrow I will finish the paper bag album that I started today using the bags kindly sent to me by Sian.  I just have to get over the idea that it has to look perfect....damn Virgoan traits!!!

Here's hoping I am graced with another rainbow as well :)

Just have a little Patience!!

as Take That would say!!!!

And that, it seems, is what I needed when I tried to post these up for my Month in Numbers post, which I was seriously lacking since it was the start of a week of night shifts and I was feeling stuffed with a cold.

However, nights now over for the week :) and head cold mostly gone, it has come back to me and I was able to post the three cards I made. 

 

The above 2 are for my 2 cousins. I love the Tatty Teddy range from Docrafts.



This is a thankyou card for my sister in law.  I sprayed some Jenni Bowlin journalling paper with Mister Huey Piggy, and Maya Road Butterscotch (I think they are the colours I used but I can't remember now!!).  The numbers are Sassafras....I love their mini alphas. 

I am hoping now I have a few days off to hole myself up in the office and play.  I have a huge list of things I want to do so I have no excuse really.

A Month In Numbers: September

Wow, did the month go fast.  So fast that I didnt realise it was the end of the month until Julie tweeted it! How did that happen?

Anyway, I will start off with this somewhat dubious number ......35

This is the magic number of years that I have annoyed been loved by my parents :)

This....

....is what the boss bought for me.

Above is what I did with it.....thanks to Heston Blumenthal, I was drinking fake champagne 80's style.   Now, I just have to hunt for the old classic flavours...Cream Soda and Dandelion and Burdock .....and I am 10 again!!!!!

0 is how many days I managed to complete of LSNED this year :(  I did read all the prompts but couldn't get into any type of rhythm.  I may do it next month or just use the prompts as journalling ideas.  I still find them useful for speaking ideas.

I was hoping to show you 3 cards I made but it seems that blogger got a bit drunk on the fake champagne and wont upload the photos.

So, I will leave it here for this month I think except to say THANKYOU to Lilipopo and Shimelle for the giveaway that they ran and for which I won this (which arrived today and is beautiful) and this.  Check out her shop, there are some beautiful items in it :-)


*seems my typing is coming up different colours again.....maybe blogger has caught this rotten head cold I have as well*

Where did the month go...?

I know I am not a prolific blogger but ..wow...September is moving fast.  I didn't realise I hadn't posted for that long!!! That means it's that long since I stuck paper and glue together ...no wonder I have been agitated.  There has not even been any needle pushing through aida!!!!! OMG..what is wrong with me?!!!!

Don't worry, nothing serious.  Just work, training and a non existent sleep pattern last week.  But, I have slept my usual 5 hours for the last 2 nights so I feel half Klingon and I had a whole day off with nothing to do (thanks to the boss cleaning the house on Friday...did I ever tell you how lovely he is???!) so my crafting genie came back to me today.  :)

This was the genies first output of the day.  It had been sitting on my desk half done for the last 3 weeks so all that was added were the embellishments, journalling and attempts at blending Distress Inks on the edges.  I based this LO loosely on Shimelles starting point challenge here but used it as a sketch rather than what I was supposed to :)  I liked how the pictures were so similar and to me showed how close my sister and brother were.  Most of the stash is Studio Calico ...Boardwalk kit I think but I have a habit of mixing them up so can't be sure!  The tags are Papermania, distresssed with Distress ink and the twine from them is inked and put around the panel.  The flowers and doily were from a swop I did on the Docrafts forum. 

The blending then gave me an idea for a leaving card I had to make for my boss ...

Using the offcuts from the LO and a few odds and ends.

A good day I think :)  I did manage to do something else but I will put that up in the week when I work out how to make photos smaller!!

Challenges and Companions

 Above is the stash I took to work last night. I had to make a leaving card for a work colleague and as usual, said I would have it done a week ago but life got in the way! So, in a rush before I left, I bundled a load of stuff that was lying around on my desk and basically hoped for the best.  I am not always good with limited stash (especially on my 4th night shift!!) but thought the challenge would be good

And, I am pleased to say it was.  Above is the completed card. I am quite pleased with it and based on what I have been doing recently, it seems that distressed is definately my 'style'



I even made a second card.  Very pleased with myself *smug look*

Lesson? Less is more from a creative viewpoint.

Ok, no Month in Numbers from me..just not prepared this time! Click on the icon to see what everyone else is upto though.

Yep, I am doing LSNED (above could be my lesson 1!!) I am following on Twitter (@paperwoolthread), but am off for the next few days, so hopefully, I will have an album to do as well. I have an idea of what I would like to do but not sure if I can pull it off yet.

But, in the meantime, I have to run....no time to even check if this makes sense........as I have to put the football up on the computer and am about to watch Doctor Who again well, the boss isnt here!!!

And, I have to see this man again.....

Rory......Best. Companion. Ever? I love him more and more every episode :) boss is not worried......yet!!!!

Something to brighten the day

Feeling a little blue today.  If anyone has any tips to cope with PMT that does not involve medication (EPO seems to be struggling with the workload), I would be greatful.  Today, housework seemed to help....not impressed lol!

So, thought I would finally put up my colour LO from Explore where I declared red as my favourite.

These pictures are from my school exchange trip to Germany.  Nearly 20 years ago!!!!! Ok Jayne, u are supposed to be cheering yourself up here!!!  The pictures highlight just how much I loved red back then.  And, on this trip I was quite famous for it. Especially with the item of redness on my head. 

I was going to put this on the LO but didn't feel it fitted and figured the story of the hat deserved its own LO rather than a garbled couple of lines.  That will be a good challenge for my journalling....or lack of lol.

If the colour red hasn't cheered you up ..marginally worked here!.. these may help some of you.

They have DEFINATELY cheered me up :)  Only 4 days to go.

Mission completed. LOL :)



A dash to the finishing post

 Half Page Challenge

No paper used.....at all! That is a first :)

Go Retro Challenge

Ok, I have lots of photos that are way older, but I love this one of my parents taken in 2000

 Sketch of the Week

This could yet get some journalling added...just don't know what to say yet.  The picture has been attached to the cardstock cloud for yonks.....the paper arriving in this months Studio Calico kit was like magic lol

Starting Point Challenge

This photo is actually older than the retro one. 

Above is my last minute dash to enter some of last weekends challenges.  I will definately do the rest at some point because I have several ideas for each.  Just time ran away with itself and work got in the way as usual. However, 4 LOs in a day is pretty good for me.

$%@! customs!!!!!

I got my Studio Calico kit and extras today.  Yay, I hear you cry.  And yes, it is gorgeous and strokeable etc but the joy of receiving the box was tainted by nasty customs. 

€20 they charged me for VAT!! None of my 2peas parcels have had this problem.
And it wasn't just me that was affected. 

The boss ordered 2 new games from CDWOW and they always deliver separately.  They were put together and VAT was charged!

 You see, anything over €22 (not including delivery) is liable to VAT here.  And apparently, the boss was told that if 2 parcels come from the same invoice, they can be put together and charged as 1 package. 

€31 we paid overall this morning to the postie to get our goodies.

 We reckon they were noticing the high amount of goods coming our way (ok, mostly mine...but come on...) and decided we weren't paying enough so they should have a bit of my hard earned cash too! 

RAGING is putting too polite a phrase on it.

 RIP OFF IRELAND at its very bloody best!!!

Yes, I could have left this for my Month in Numbers but too annoyed to sit on it.

But, on the plus point....I did get my goodies, and now I don't know where to start lol

The meaning of colour

I can honestly say that although I like colour decided last night it is because I was an 80's child..the era of clashing colour lol I am definately  too scared to use it.  That was certainly recognised yesterday as I discussed my favourite colour and realised that I dont really have much obvious colour in my life anymore....visually speaking anyway.

I have never put much thought into 'translating' colour even though all my hobbies require its necessary participation.  I can certainly give you my feelings on music, what makes me happy, sad etc, but colour? Not so much. After writing my list, I find it highly amusing that I have listed yellow as irritating to me, especially since Shimelles web example listed it so positively.  I am not too surprised to see this because for all that I like the sun to be out, too much of it can make me irritable and tired and since yellow is such a summery colour, it figures that yellow is not my most happy colour. 

And yes,  you guessed right, summer is not my favourite season.  Maybe thats why I live in Ireland lol. Although, I do think it is because I am just not used to sun, since I do not go on foreign holidays much.

Comparing my thoughts to the web example though, I found it interesting just how I do think about colour.  Purple is fast bcoming one of my favourites, yet I put it down as feminine which is something I definately do not class myself as!!!!. In the example, they used magic and mystery. Imagine I never associated that side of me fantasy films/books are my favourite ways to 'disappear 'for a few hours with a colour at all.

This now means that nearly everything I do is being opened up in a whole new way.  Even as I typed my line earlier about music, I started to think of albums in colour.  This will open all sorts of doors when it comes to creating, as the one thing I do struggle with is the use of colour and whether it is too much or clashes with the photo.  I forget sometimes to look at the photo, rather than the visual colours.  This is also what hinders my journalling, as in, I cant scrap that picture as I don't know what to say.  And I have loads of colourful stuff in my stash as I am so drawn to it, just too scared to use it!!!

How glad am I to be on my week between nights to start experimenting while its all fresh :)

Whenever I am asked what my favourite colour is, my instant answer is always to say Red.  I have no idea why it is my favourite.  Ok, my favourite football team play in Red ....Liverpool...and incidentally, I did pick them as my team when I was 8 based on the colour cos all my friends supported Spurs and I wanted to be different......and funny how most of my family are YID supporters now......., my favourite fruit are strawberries, which are red, my favourite hat and coat used to be red no photo to support this on the computer but I think I will definately be scrapping one in a minute........but other than that.....I have no idea..

I do not own many red clothes. I generally dress in browns and blacks, hints of green etc.  I am certainly not a  person who cares what I am wearing much, short of the hope that it fits and looks ok, so I don't give much interest to my wardrobe.  However, having a quick look... and I mean quick. My wardrobe for the WHOLE year fits into one small Argos 2 door job ...I have been told lots by the girls about their need to pull out their summer wardrobes...I look at them slackmouthed..but anyway, I am babbling lol..... highlights my attempts to bring in colour through my shirts with a flower pattern on and my cheap work tshirts which are fast catching up with the rainbow.

There is actually very little evidence of my favourite colour anywhere....wel except here but the boss picked this!

please ignore the wet patchs on the wall. i thought i had a better photo but this is what the boss took to show the assessor who is coming tomorrow to check out our flood damage.

Therefore, I am off to look at old pictures.  I know I have always liked colour but as I have got older, I seem to be more scared to use it and I am sure I was never like that before!

A Month in Numbers: July 2011

I forgot to write everything down again! And, by the time I get access to the computer, I am usually too lazy to write anything on here as I  cant always think so late in the day. Luckily, the boss bought a couple of new games for his PS3 at the weekend (Top Spin 4 and Masters Golf) which means he does not require internet access. This means I dont hear...'the game has slowed down Jayne, get off the computer.'
So, on this lovely Bank Holiday Monday yes, the sun is trying its hardest to show her head, it is just a cruel lie that she never visits Ireland lol I am sitting in the kitchen, with unlimited internet access...yay..with the calming sounds of the washing machine (!) and  an avatar version of the boss hitting a golf ball into the water (!!!!!) as my soundtrack.....maybe I should turn the stereo on!

Anyway, back to the game in hand.....my month in numbers.
Which must start off with these 4 lovelies......

..my gorgeous nieces and nephews.

I went home for a week to visit them and the sister and uncle of course....... and the camera was out in full force as is usual.  The picture above is my attempt to get a good one of them all together but as you can see, the boys were just not interested in the slightest! And #2 who was 8 last week...happy birthday :) did try her best to get them all to play ball ....

They are great kids but honestly, I don't know how my sister does it.  They have my head torn in a day vying for attention and while I know they don't see me very often which explains the desire to fight over me I love it really.....so nice to feel wanted lol the patience of a Saint does not give her enough credit. 

I had a great time though and proceeded to really test out my new IPhones capabililty in the camera department......180 pictures and 5 videos later, consider it well and truly tested :)

And, I love it.  My poor old Sony 5.1 is weeping at the lack of interest I had in it over the week. But, in my defence, it was so much easier to just pull the phone out, especially since my family still roll their eyes everytime I get click happy.

And, it only took me 3 days to remember to move my finger before I clicked lol

ok, this was on the 5th day but sssshhhhh.....

The other reason I was at home? 3 Thetford Forest gigs.

For all that I was born and raised there, I have never been to Thetford Forest. My uncle has been a regular visitor to the gigs for the last couple of years, and since he always comes with me to the Stitch and Craft shows, I gave it a miss this year :( and said I would go to the July gigs with him.

Can you see who they are?

 4 members of The Script on Thursday

 4 members of Westlife

1 Bryan Ferry.

All were brilliant...although we did find it amusing that I travelled so far to see 2 bands who live down the road from me lol although the biggest surprise for me were Westlife.  Now, I like my boy bands ....Take That anyone??? but could give or take the Sligo boys to be honest, as nice as they seemed.  But, on the night, they were brilliant.  Great sense of humour, great voices, great interaction with the crowd. I am now totally converted !

I travelled by boat to get home...the con to not sorting out my passprt yet...but really, €160 through the embassy here, when I can go up the north and get it for app €100 and get it sent to my sisters....! and it is not a bad way to travel, just long...13 hours roughly door to door.....so basically, a shift to me! But it gets to be a pain when the trains don't put on enough carriages when I am Britsh side and, again, this happened from Chester to Holyhead. They cut the train from about 8 carriages to 4....I think....all I know is that nearly everyone was going  to Holyhead and it meant 40-60 minutes stuck in a Virgin train corridor.  Now, don't get me wrong, the people I was crammed in with were great fun and it made the journey easier, but this happens nearly everytime I travel and you would think train companies would learn  by now. Especially in the summer months! O well.......!

Right, have just looked at the preview and for some reason my colours are not consistent. I am sure I can figure it out, but since I  want to catch up on Explore, I will post and have a look later.  So, I hope the constant colour change doesn't make you too seasick!

EDIT  *forgot to mention, you can find link for where all this started to the right....it will lead you to the lovely Julie who is also running Going Postal month which is worth a look :)*

I have to come up for air.  I will presume that anyone who comes here will also read Shimelle? Have you seen the lovelies that she has been posting these last few days? I love the Christmas ranges, in particular Bo Bunny and Simple Stories. I can feel some sneaky shopping occuring whilst himself is on the golf course. Here is hoping I can be a bit more bold this time....I never shop with confidence. I always create a huge basket then trim it half, then half again.  The boss never feels that guilty when he shops online!

Whether any shopping will occur though depends largely on how nice our insurance company is to us.  You see, our house decided he fancied another shower at the weekend. He wasn't happy that we had managed to thwart his attempts since he washed downstairs and the inside walls 5 years ago.

Then he had a brainwave.

 Realising the dogs were not going to bat an eyelid at any disturbance, he figured that night time was the time to turn the shower on and complete his wash.  He figured he would give the lounge another going over since we are in it so much and risked the bedroom floor in the hope we wouldn't fall out of bed too early! 

The house is in serious trouble.

However, I may be able to forgive him if the insurance pays up.

In the meantime, smelly walls and chipboard floors I will have to deal with.



Which is why, today, I won't be photographing where I sleep lol.  I do have pictures of where I sit though

Sofa on right side of fireplace

Sofa on left side

Nothing hugely remarkable about the chairs. Our lounge is small so both offer good view of the tv.  The one on the right was the first sofa we ever bought. You can see it is used often as it has started to sag in the spot where we sit the most. It is also the sofa that the dogs are allowed to sit on....hence the tartan rug on the part where we don't sit.  Now, are you wondering if we both sit on that sofa at the same time because us 2 and the dogs?....doesn't seem possible right?

Yep, it's not possible. We very rarely sit next to each other....not even for movie night :( probably because I usually have some form of craft taking up any space left by the dogs lol

And we swop seats as well. If I am here during the day, I will take the nice comfy sofa on the left.  Good access to the plugs for the laptop and comfier yes, but the boss prefers the other seat for playing his computer games so I don't end up walking in front of him every 10 minutes.

Come the evening and we swop. I prefer the older seat for putting my legs up so I am directly facing the tv (which is at the end of the sofa). Plus, the lamp is there for the extra light when I am stitching.

So, throughout the day, we generally play musical chairs, whilst carefully maintaining a safe distance from each other lol

As for where I stand, I have been pacing the floor today as I start my stint of 4 nights and I find it awful hard to settle as I always get up early and find it hard to sleep in the day.  And according to RTE, we are gonna get a heatwave this week *FUME* I am wondering whether I should fish out my sleeping bag and sleep in the garden this week.

So, it was pretty hard to decide the best place today.  Definately one to think about!

While I am here, a picture of my playbook.

I am using Studio Calicos Mind The Gap kit.  Thought it was pretty suited for the class to be honest.  Yet to make some headway on some of last weeks prompts but guess whats coming to work with me later........!!!!!!!! The butterflies, if you are interested, came in a swop I participated in, on the Docrafts forum. Go check it out, they have some great swops.

With that, I better go print off this weeks workbook.

And before I go, imagine Dave are currently showing a Christmas edition of QI.....I guess CHA blogs and tv are definately hinting to me that I may need to start my Christmas cards!!!!!

Yay, I love it when a new class starts.  I have been reading the classes on my phone which I am totally addicted to and have finally got access to the 'real computer since I have still not managed to figure out how to blog with it yet partly cos I have been away, partly cos I am just damn lazy lol

So, I will start with the self portrait.

This is me and my #4 my sis has 4 children and the boss gave the numbers so he doesn't have to remember their names.  handy for here i think :) She loved looking at the pictures I had taken so I let her 'take' some pictures after I found the ingenious button that flips the lense round without turning the camera did I say I love my phone lol  I actually took the picture the day before class started so was quite chuffed that I had it as I hate taking pictures of myself.  This is something I will definately have to explore since if I am not confident in myself, how am I going to get confident in my creatvity.  So, that is my goal for this class I think. Exploring how I create, why I create and what I create!
I have yet to make my playbook. I might use my Studio Calico kit that came last week but am undecided so I have left my stash on the kitchen table.  I do this sometimes when I am unsure of the direction I want to go although not usually downstairs what with dog hairs, dinners etc however, lots of tv to catch up on .....  the only problem being that it can slow down the process a bit.
Hopefully, I will have it finished it by tomorrow. In the meantime, I am off to reread the next prompt and see if I have any old maps lying around......!