One little word review

Well it is that time of year when you get reflective and look back on the year. My word for 2011 was ACHIEVE and I thought I would check back to what I had hoped to Achieve back in January and see how I did.
So from my post in January:

The first thing has to be my degree - I should finish my last module in June of this year.  Yes I achieved this and finished my degree - graduation ceremony is scheduled for April.
Next I want to achieve a weight loss - I am deliberately not specifying how much, but I do need to lose some and feel more healthy.  - had some success and have lost half a stone, still some more to go
Tied in with that one I want to achieve a better fitness level - the gym didn't work out for me, so am going to try walking more and using the Wii Fit. - oops not so good with this one, maybe I am just not an exercise person!!!
Craft wise - I know I will not achieve much scrapbooking until my degree is finished so am not going to stress. - have not stressed, but have been so laid back I have not actually done any scrapbooking yet, but there is always 2012.
I would like to achieve at least one crocheted item this year and to continue with my knitting and felting. - done better with this one, have crocheted several items and also knitted a couple of things as well.
Faithwise - I have started doing the E100 reading list and I want to achieve the completion of this. - managed to complete this as well.


Well I don't think I did too badly this year. Now my word for next year is.....


haven't actually decided on one yet -watch this space.


If you chose a word how did you do and have you chosen one for 2012?

All Ready

It has been a busy couple of days getting ready but now the house is clean (well cleaner), food has been bought, cakes made - we are now ready for Christmas Day.

It is handy having a tall son when there is cleaning to be done.

We did some baking today

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas.

Projects for 2012

It's that time of year again when lots of new projects are being started, or about to start, and of course I get enthusiastic and sign up for lots of them - well New Year is all about good intentions isn't it.

So far I have found two. The first is JanFox Designed 52 playdates - an art journalling one.

The second is Creative Colour Challenge over at Louise Gale's blog. Every month a colour challenge will be posted.

I am sure I will find a few more. What projects have you found or have signed up for.

Off to the ball

Eldest son is off out to the 6th Year Snowball tonight. I can't quite believe that he is in his final year at the Academy.

Christmas Canvas

I haven't managed to do any real crafting this Christmas - had plans for JYC, but heavy colds and sinusitis got in the way and I have not really felt like doing much. I did however manage this canvas. I had bought the material with great intentions (as usual) and ended up glueing it onto paper on a canvas and adding some embellishments. The title is die cut and then gone over with diamond glaze to give it some depth.

I do like surprises and this week we got a lovely surprise - some good friends sent us these lovely flowers.

Pause in Advent No 4

Today is the last Sunday in Advent, next week is Christmas Day itself. Our Advent Box today at church contained a Wise Man and a Shepherd from our Nativity Set - to remind us that Jesus came for all people everywhere and also for the outcast and the lonely. The wise men came from the East and the shepherds were outcasts in their day, yet both were present to see the Son of God come to dwell with us. Who are the outcasts in our society today - remember that Jesus came for them too.

Also at church today we did a version of  Deal or No Deal - the TV show where contestants chose boxes which contain prizes. In our version each contestant chose a box number then before opening it they were offered another prize - they had chose either what they could see or what was in their box. The prize they were offered was always better than what was in the box. The point of this being that God will always offer us something better than we can find elsewhere. His deals are always better than those of the world - especially at this special time of the year we should remind ourselves that the baby in the manger is the best gift of all.

Jesus Is The Point

Another great offering from youtube.

A Pause in Advent - 3

Today's Advent Box contained a kaleidoscope! One of the lovely old-fashioned tin kaleidoscopes - which are actually very hard to find today in the toy shops. When you look through a kaleidoscope you see many different coloured patterns which are changing, you can't really describe them to other people, they have to come and see them for themselves. So it was for the shepherds out in the fields that first Christmas. Yes the angels visited them and told them all about what wonderful thing had happened, but they had to go and see for themselves. They had to go and visit the stable and see the baby Jesus for themselves. And so it is for us too today. We can listen to other people tell us of the marvels and wonders of God and of his love for us, but we really need to see him ourselves. So this Christmas find time to kneel in wonder at the manger for yourself, to reflect on what the coming of Emmanuel - Christ with us - really means for your life.

A Pause in Advent 2

Today's Advent Box in Church contained a surprise - a chocolate egg! Not what you would normally expect at Christmas time, we normally have chocolate eggs at Easter time! The first Christmas brought many surprises. Mary was surprised when the angel visited her and told her she would have a baby. The wise men were surprised to find the King born in a lowly manger. The shepherds, outcasts of their day, were surprised to be included in such a wondrous event. Christmas and Easter are linked together, the baby born in the manger was foretold as was his sacrifice for each one of us. We need to remember that God often surprises us in many ways and that the cross lies behind the manger!

This post is part of A Pause in Advent over at http://trocbroc.blogspot.com/

Bethlehemian Rhapsody

This was shared on Facebook but I thought I would post it here too.

It must be December

because we have got out our Advent Tree, Santa and Rudolf! For the past few years we have had a knitted Advent Tree and each day we pin on a decoration. This is the tree awaiting its first decoration..

and these are the decorations

Rudolph and Santa

The boys of course also have a chocolate Advent Calendar each.

Do you have an Advent Calendar of any kind?

First Sunday in Advent

Ok how did it get to be Advent already - I think this year has just flown in really quickly.

Today is the first Sunday in Advent. At Church we have a candle which we light each Sunday during Advent and this year we also have some Advent boxes - one for each Sunday! The first one contained an alarm clock! How many of us dislike the alarm going off in the morning - but we know that it means that we have to get up and start  getting ready for the day. So on this first Sunday in Advent we know that we have to start getting ready for Christmas - getting ready for the birth of Jesus - not just getting in the food and the presents. The countdown has begun!

What are you doing to get ready for Christmas, to prepare for the birth of our Lord Jesus?

Fingerless Gloves

Well the carpet is down and I have almost got all the furniture back in. Also have a large pile of books which will be going to the charity shops so the bookshelves look much tidier now! Am thinking of getting a Kindle for Christmas, husband got one for his birthday - this might help the place be a little less cluttered with books - as we hate to get rid of books!

No pages done yet for my Gratitude journal - but I have been creative. I knitted a pair of fingerless gloves using Patons Linen Touch cotton. They were really quick and easy to do.

Slipped a little!

Oh dear I have slipped a bit this week with making pages for my Gratitude album and Art Every Day Month. My sister we here for a few days at the beginning of  last week. Instead of doing some creative art I did some creative baking instead and made this cake. She brought back some lovely sock wool from Germany so I have been some sock knitting every night.

I have been doing the volunteer training with Citizens Advice Bureau and really enjoying it, so that took up Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

Then on Friday the womens Guild had a display in the Library. Each local Guild had a table and we displayed some info about all the national projects the Guild support. Each year the Guild raise a phenomenal amount of money.

On Friday night our church had a quiz, our team won - hurrah!

I have had a lot to be thankful for this week - family, baking, work of the Guild, work of projects, winning the quiz. Hoping to be able to make some pages this week, although we are getting a new shower in tomorrow and a new carpet in the dining room on Tuesday!

Art Every Day Month - Day 13

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Art Every Day Month - Day 12

Today I am thankful for all the people who come along to Messy Church. We hold Messy Church once a month on a Saturday morning and it is for all the family to come together to praise, do crafts and activities and share food together. Today we were looking at Hannah and Samuel and prayer. It was a good morning.

 Remember I said that I was blocking a crochet project - well here it is - although the colours look better in real life. It is a table mat and is done in a variey of cottons.

Art Every Day Month - Days 10 & 11

Yesterday Mum and I went a run in the car and visited a wool shop - I was good and only got a couple of patterns, but Mum treated herself to some nice wool for a cardigan. So today my page says I am thankful for having  a car and being able to go places.

Tonight was youth group night at the church, IGNITE. For various reasons we have not met for a while so it was good to get back and I think everyone enjoyed it. This session we are starting off looking at the book of Romans. Today my page records that I am thankful for the young people that come along to the group.

10 on the 10th

Its the 10th on the month again, so here is a list for Shimelle's 10 things on the 10th. This month I thought I would share 10 favourite films - not in any order though!

1. X-Men films - all of them
2. Fantastic Four films - all of them
3. Superman films - all of them

do you see a pattern here?

4. Memoirs of a Geisha
5. Kramer vs Kramer
6. Planet of the Apes
7. Shakespeare in Love
8. Gone with the Wind
9. An Officer and a Gentleman
10. Shall we Dance

You can find other lists here

Art Every Day Month - Days 7, 8 & 9

It seems to be easier to find the time to do a page each day than it does to actually load them on here, but here are my pages for the last three days. I am now all caught up. I have also been creative each day in that I have done either some knitting or crocheting. I have finished another crochet project and it is currently being blocked so photos will follow shortly.

On Monday both Andrew and I were feeling under the weather so we had a film day - we watched both Madagascar DVDs, which are always good fun and also National Treasure.

 Tuesday's page was about being thankful for the flowers that we see about us and all the different colours that there are.

Today was Andrew's first parents night at secondary school. I was thankful that he got a good report from all his teachers. He seems to have settled in well and doing fine in all his subjects, albeit he is a rather quiet boy in class - he certainly isn't at home!

Art Every Day Month - Day 6

Bit late getting this posted but I did actually do it on Sunday night. I used watercolour pencils and just freely coloured in the background then added the words and the sticker.

Sunday was such a lovely day that we went for a walk along the beach at Wig Bay in the afternoon. Then I didnt feel well at all on Monday with a sore back - wonder if there was a connection!!!

Art Every Day Month - Day 4 & 5

Two simple and quick pages to share with you today:

The first is the page for Friday. I am thankful for being able to meet together with others at CAMEO crafts (Come and Meet each Other), a monthly craft group in our church. This week we were making boxes from Christmas cards - I don't have any photos as I forgot to take my camera and the boxes are for our Christmas stall in a few weeks time. We are going to fill them with tablet etc and hope that people will buy them for gifts.

Page for Saturday is about being thankful for the colours of Autumn. This weekend the weather has been really lovely, so we had a family day in the garden yesterday, trying to get it tidied up a bit before winter - everything in the garden is just sooo wet at the moment though.

Art Every Day Month - Day 3

Today I am grateful for music. I often listen to music while I am crafting.

We have recently bought a keyboard for the boys and I to learn and yesterday I spent some time practising on it and really enjoyed it.

Do you like to listen to music when crafting?

Art Every Day Month - Day 2

Well I was busy last night! I did the next page in my Gratitude Journal and made some Christmas cards.

I was grateful for the Scripture Union group at our local school, which I help run. We have about 20 children who come along each week to hear about God. This year the P7s, who have been coming regularly since P4, have asked for  a smaller group for themselves where they can go deeper, we have called this group Scripture Union Advance.

Our Church is having a Christmas sales table at a Quiz in a couple of weeks, so I thought I would make some Christmas cards, using up some decopatch sheets I have had for some time! Yes, I am decluttering and tidying all my craft stuff this week.

Art Every Day Month - Day 1

I made this last night, but the light was not good for taking a photo, so I am posting a day behind, which is probably what shall happen throughout this month. This is the front cover for my Gratitude journal. It is a zig zag book. I painted the covers with bronze and a touch of gold paint.

My Gratitude page for yesterday. I was thankful that it was such a  lovely day after all the dreadful weather we have been recently.

My verse on my calender for this month was very appropriate for this project:

"It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High" Psalm 92:1

November Plans

I have been feeling quite a bit in a slump at the moment and have been wondering what to do to give myself some energy and focus again and to start enjoying crafting again. I have come across two projects starting in November (both free - an added bonus) and I thought that I could try and combine the two together and kick start some crafting again.

The first one I found out about at Bernice's blog. It is Art Every Day Month and the idea is to create something every day during November, it doesn't need to be a big project as long as you feel it is creative!

The second project I found at http://my-crafty-world.blogspot.com/ and is Attitude of Gratitude.

I know that, for various reasons, I have been feeling that life is not that great at the moment and I thought that focussing on positive things for a month would maybe help lift me again. So for the next month I will be looking at things to be grateful for.

I thought that both these projects seemed to go well with each other - here's looking to a creative and grateful November!

Keep Calm and Get Crafting!!!

Another shawl

 Definately getting the hang of this crochet! This is a small shawl from Inside Crochet magazine No 9 that I have just finished. I used Cortina sock wool which I bought in Lidl ages ago.

I am rather pleased with the result!

This weekend I am off to the Craft Show at the SECC Glasgow with a friend and am looking forward to getting some inspiration there to kick start my scrapbooking, cardmaking again.

A finished project

I have finally finished knitting this jacket for myself - well actually it has been finished for some time except for the button - which my sister kindly sewed on for me when she was down recently. It is knitted in Rowan Cotton Jean wool and the pattern is Lynton from Rowans Coast book. I am pleased with it although perhaps should have knitted it a little longer.

Lifes Turns

Sometimes life just throws a little twist into your life. This happened for our family since my last post. My mother-in-law passed away on 21 September, aged 87. She had had health problems for the last two years and got gradually worse over the summer, finally being admitted to hospital a week before her passing. Her life ended peacefully with her family beside her.

'One thing  I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.' Psalm 27:4

10 things

Struggled a bit to come up with an idea for this month's 10 things on the 10th, so decided I would take my word for the year ACHIEVE and come up with 10 things I could achieve before the end of the year.

1.  Finish the E100 Bible Reading Challenge
2.  Start (but realistically maybe not finish) an album for Andrew's trip to Paris.
3.  Finish the EXPLORE Shimelle course
4.  Lose a stone and a half - did I really commit to that!!
5.  Sew up my yellow cardigan which is waiting to be completed.
6.  Finish crochet scarf I have started.
7.  Make some Christmas cards.
8.  Get into a good habit of exercise regularly - and stick to it.
9.  Get the garden tidied up for winter.
10. Make a good inroad into all the things on my household to do list.

I wonder how I will get on - will report back at the end of the year.

For some more interesting lists see here

Back on Track

Sorry for the short absence but hopefully I am getting back on track now. The last couple of weeks have seemed really hectic. We had two birthdays - mine and Andrews, had a few days up in Glasgow getting last minute things for school. Andrew has now started at secondary school and so far so good, he is enjoying it - well apart from swimming at PE!! I have had a cold, sore throat and no voice for the past week - you can image how happy that made the boys!

Today is the 1st September so hopefully going to get back on track again now. The weight loss needs to start again, as does the fitness programme. Lots of things still to Achieve this year - I have started some crocheting, more knitting, keeping up with my Essential 100 Bible Reading passages, and have got several scrapbooking projects in mind.

As this is September Shimelle is doing her Learn Something New Every Day again. I successfully did this the first year and got half way the second year. I am wondering if I should try something this year, but not sure - will need to decide quickly before the month is gone. Who else is taking part in LSNED?

Scavenger Hunt 5

Some more photos for the summer scavenger hunt at Rinda's blog

9. A festival or fair - this is Henry Olanga taking part in the Keswick Cricket Festival. Henry was taking part in the Keswick Convention this year and had put together a team to play the local cricket team. Henry Olanga made his international debut in 1995, and was the youngest player and the first black cricketer to represent Zimbabwe, helping them to their first ever Test victory.

 11. A forest - this was taken during one of the forest walks we went on around Keswick.

 15. Graffiti art - spotted this on a wall in Paris.

Scavenger Hunt 4

The next lot of photos for Rinda's summer scavenger hunt

21 A rooster - this chap was roaming free at South Lakes Wildlife Park

 18. A person sketching or painting outside - this was at Keswick and is outside Andrew's favourite fish and chip shop.

 8. Your country's flag - saw these cushions in a shop and took a photo.

Scavenger Hunt 3

The next lot.

5. A hand lettered sign selling something - we saw lots of boards like this one outside restaurants in Paris.

 17. Rain - boy did it rain the day we went to Disneyland - luckily it stopped by late morning.

 6. A person dressed as a pirate - where else but at Disney's Parade. The Parade was good and definately worth waiting for.