try again? and a trip to the Usa

Much as I try to make blogging a regular thing I dont seem to manage it but are some urging by Jen from Wear crafts .co.uk I am set off again.

Last year I seem to have cut off at the point I was off to London to meet with Annette.  Welll I put all the blame in her cos she asked me to come visit her and then there was the bonus money from work.. well once an idea gets into head I get carried away so an off the cuff remark resulted in me headed to the USA alone.  But it gets better.  While I was doing the travel agent bit and exploring Alternative flights prices and airports it seemed possible to stop of in Boston sooooo who do I know in Boston.  Yup our friend Stef and her daughter Rachel.  So I sent a tentative email.. would u like a rather broke Uk visitor for a week.  Within 1 minute of receiving it I got 3  emails from her basically very excited yes.3

Plans were made and flights booked. And on a rather chilly day in Novemeber I headed off. Flights to Amsterdam then Boston and a visit whic included not only seeing Boston meeting family and friends, outlet shopping But Stef also organised 2 days in NEw York omg.  Exciting.  After a thrilling week back to the airport and a flight to Madison WI and 10 days with Annette and her husband Tim.  I was thrilled to be able to spend Thanksgiving withthem, and to go to the tree farm and find the perfect tree and decorate it fror Christmas.   Annette and I did lots of crafty shopping.   We organised her scrap room and cleaned out other areas.  After 9 years of knowing this lady whom I call my twin across the pond it was so nice to go to her home.

We have been lucky enough to be able to meet if not every year at least every other but sadly her job came to an end and we wont be able to do it again.  So for now it was great to spend the large chunk of time together.  We are hoping that we can organise a little visit in 2014 in Orlando florida or if not roll on 2015 when I am going to try to save enough to do it all over again.  So that was the excitment of 2012 and now I am working my way through scrapping a rather large album to document this trip.

 We have plans for this year but I will leave that for another day

As a member of UK scrappers there are many challenges you can take part in.  When a member of my team challenged us to make a mini book it was ideal for a gift for Annette when we meet in London in June.  Her first trip to our capital and the Jubilee all rolled into one! Course as hers came together I loved it so I decided that I just had to have one for me.  I used the 2 books to show alternate pages.  Also there are lots of flaps that come out but I haven't lifted them but believe me they do :) I must admit that I cursed the young lady who designed the proto type - hand stitching! I went through 4 skeins of thread making these- carried away maybe but it was great fun and I am thrilled with them and can't wait to print the pictures and fill it with the joy of our trip.

I know I know I do promise to keep this up todate and then I don't. I cannot believe how fast this year is going. Its a year of big birthdays with a 21, a 50, a 60 and a 70 so we are having lots of celebrations (just the 50 one to go). We have 3 babies due in the family and 1 wedding. I suppose its what happens when you come from a big family that spreads over a number of generations.

But anyway today is about adding a new page. On Good Friday my nephew Kayne celebrated his 5th birthday and we took Beth along. For the first time she decided to have ago at the climbing wall and had a number of goes and got really quite high. Using a sketch from

http://creativecraftworld.blogspot.co.uk/

I made up a new page for my year scrapbook - not the one thats 365 photos but the other one!

totally forgot

to add the links!

http://creativecraftworld.blogspot.com/2012/02/scrap-map-challenge-february-4th-march.html

can't help it - senior moments

subscribing to a kit

With the demise of my Local scrapbook shop I was struggling to find a place to buy locally that suited my needs and have had to resort to on-line. So finally decided to sign up for a kit - a monthly selection of papers and embellishments that match and arrive with a pamphlet giving you page ideas. Some are rather expensive but I seem to have found the ideal one! Creative Craft World- £10 buys me a kit with free postage and also very very helpful owners. I loved it and decided to do the deed. Tonight was my first chance to play and along with not only their kit but a sketch challenge on their blog.

Love it :O)

Wendy

Monthly Make for 2012

Remember when I set my goals and I said I was joining in the monthly make for 2012 and hopefully 12 different things- along with all those other goals. Well I have managed to get this one of the ground. And as is typical for 2012 goals its a combined one :O)



These knitted cup sleeves are the first things ready to go into the Esty shop - well they will be when I work out how to :O)

For anyone that knows me I can't just sit and watch TV there is always something else going on and usually crafty. So the time taken to make things in my brain doesn't cost me - so when I sell things the money made will be on covering cost and to make a small profit on the materials to enable me to buy more to keep myself busy. Ohh and postage costs of course. So some of my prices are perhaps less than others who do craft for a living but thats just the way I am.

But until I work out my Esty shop thingy if you are interested in these - I can make to your chosen colours - please contact me. The price run from £2 ($3) to £3 ($5) for the larger ones.

Hope to hear from someone so that I can tick the box to say I have achieved another goal this year and sold something I have made :)

keeping on track

Just thought I would check in a let you know how my plans for 2012 are going. Ok its still early but

(1) I have remembered to take my photo a day. This is going to turn out harder than I thought or extremely boring - I mean I go to work and come home most days but I will do it

(2) I am making the weekly page - I only have a photo of page 1 so far.

(3) Magical. I have found a page that I was to scraplist to work on this word but not too much yet.
(4) I have done 2 of the 52 challenges. I utilised the sketch to make the page above so that was easy. The second was a lift this so I used it for this



Again I did 2 at once as this was also one of the monthly challenges to make a title or end page for your album. I am going to rattle through every thing if I double up :O)


(5) I have worked my way round UK scrappers and managed to find a localish crop which I will be attending next month and I think I have joined a scrap group just not sure.

As for the other things they are work in progress.

The next couple of weeks are busy with meetings in other part of the country but I have got some leave in among it too so that will be fun.

Until next time - hugs Wendy
x

10 things on the 10th in January

Happy New Year everyone. Its hard to believe that another year as gone. I always start January with great plans and they seem to go awry in a very short time but I am hoping that this year will be very different. (well thats the plan but isn't it always??)

So what have I planned you all ask:

1 I am trying to follow the photo a day for a whole year program and for now it seems to be working

2 for the photos above the idea is that I make a scrapbook using a weeks photos on one page so thereby documenting each day in the year of Wendy. Will I keep it up - I hope so. So far I am loving the page I made and full of ideas.

3 I have chose a word for the year - Magical - how will this fit in? I am hoping in both good times but especially in my down times that I can find something in my life that is magical that makes me realise that there are good things out there. Sometimes life can be a bit of a struggle but working together with Hubby and the support of our familes we get through.

4 I am a member of a wonderful disney scrapbooking group who set a number of challenges - for example 52 in 52, a monthly challenge and many others. I love doing these and they help me to focus on things and I get an enormous amount of scrapbooking done - something I really enjoy.

5 i am determined to work my phobia of technology and learn to understand some of the web groups. I have started by re opening my UK scrappers account and reading things. They have a whole set of scrap classes and challenges on there too.

6 As many of you know I do more than just scrapping - I knit and sew. This year I have plans for these too. I am hoping to finally use some of my skills to make some extra money and have opened an ETSY account. Although see above I got this far but still haven't explored the site and how it works.

7 To complete the Journal your christmas and learn something new everyday classes from Shimelle.com

8 to blog more often. To share my life no matter how mundane.

9 Do I need more challenges - yes maybe something that will help me to keep some of the above so today I am about to join http://thefeltfairyuk.blogspot.com/2011/12/make-month-2012-sign-up-here.html and pledge to make something each month (easy you would think) and then blog about it.

10 - and finally, despite all of the above, to spend some quality time doing things with my wonderful husband.

OK so despite the good intentions I cannot add the picture thingy!! using HMTL so I will try and just paste a picture

there now I feel slightly better - I can copy and paste!