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

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

10 on the 10th

My ten things for this months, 10 on the 10th are 10 books that are on my bookshelf waiting to be read:

1. The Plains of Passage, Jean M Auel
2. Last Chance Saloon, Marion Keyes
3. 10 Lighthouse Road, Debbie Macomber
4. Mini Shopaholic, Sophie Kinsella
5. The Return Journey, Maeve Binchey

Some books I bought at the Keswick Convention this year:

6. The Gender Agenda, Lis Goddard & Clare Hendry
7. Going for Growth, Ken Clarke
8. Everyday Church, Tim Chester and Steve Timmis
9. Feminine Threads, Diane Lynn Severance

number 10 is not in the photo, as it was in my bedroom, which is being decorated this week, so has been put somewhere else

10. Alan Sugar Autobiography

You can find more lists over at Shimelle's blog.

Explore

Shimelle's new online class started this week, Explore, and with many thanks to Carolyn, I am signed up for it. I am away next week to Keswick in the Lake District, so it will be after that before I get into it really. I have made my playbook and taken my self-portrait with my camera, so at least I have started. I have also printed out the prompts for this week and might take them away with me.

A Day in Photos

My day in photos for Shimelle's Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers

You can find more photos here

Some letters

The next prompt from True Stories was about letter writing. I must admit I don't really write many letters these days, I keep in touch with people mainly by email or telephone. I decided to have a bit of fun and write some short letters.

Dear Computer,
   Please don't break down on me. How did I ever manage without you. You keep me connected with so many wonderful people.
               Love  Me xx


Dear Fiona
    We are tired of lying around in this basket. We would really like to be all flat and folded in drawers. Please stop writing in that book and come and iron us.
    Love your ironing pile xx

Dear Washing Machine,
   I am so glad you are working again, that is wasn't anything too serious. We have been together a long time now and I would hate to be without you.
   Love your biggest fan xx


Dear Fiona
   Stop faffing about on that computer and come and read us. We contain all sorts of information and can fire your imagination and give you an escape.
    Love the books on your shelf xx

So who would you write a letter to today?

Mel asked me what I am studying with the OU. My current module is called 'Living Political Ideas' and will (hopefully) be my last module for a BA in Social Sciences. I have already done an Introduction to Social Sciences, Exploring Psychology, Living in Globalised World.

A day in numbers

Following another prompt from True Stories I thought I would share with you a day in numbers

7.15 alarm, had to get up
1 shower
2 children off to school
4 cups camomile tea
2 slices bread
2 loads washing
1 lunch with a friend
13 emails
15 kids at Scripture Union group
1 trip to doctor
1 skeleton taken to school disco
600 words written for assignment
4 pieces of mail - none for me.

This was on Wednesday and I am now glad to say that my assignment is finished and sent off - all 1,951 words of it!

This is the skeleton I took to his school disco:

Scrappyjacky asked me another question: What do you do when you are working?

In life BC (before children) I worked in an insurance company as a secretary, then when I thought I might go back out again after having the children, I retrained as a Nursery Nurse. Sadly Nursery Nurse jobs are hard to come by in this area and I have only managed to find short term supply work occasionally. I thought I would like to try and get back into an office - although this is proving hard as well. In Sept I managed to get a 6 week short term work in a school office, which I really loved, but this is now finished as well - so at the moment I am on the look out for work again.

True Stories

As I am currently not working again I thought I needed something to do (well I don't really have anything do I??) so I have signed up to Shimelle's new class - True Stories, looking at writing and journalling. I have a lovely new fountain pen, which I got for my birthday, which I have been wanting to try out, so just to look for a notebook now - I am sure I might have one somewhere!!

The first prompt looks at questions, so while I go and think about what questions I get asked I thought I would be brave and give you the opportunity to ask me any questions. Not that I guarantee to answer them all, but I might. So ask away...

Walk by the Sea

I am so lucky to be able to live near the sea and have some great beaches for walking along near by. This photo was taken last month when we all went for a walk (and then some tea and cake!). I really liked the way the boys were leaving their footprints in the sand behind them as they walked! This layout was for another of Shimelle's challenges - to do a layout about your neighbourhood. The paper is Basic Grey Oh Boy! I really like Basic Grey paper and have quite a collection of it.

More Cake!

We seem to like cake a lot in this family! This photo was taken on holiday in Yorkshire in 2007. We were staying in a lovely little village and we found a shop that did yummy homemade cakes. So after a walk through the park we thought we deserved a little treat - so we bought some to take home.

This LO was for another of Shimelle's challenges - challenge this time was to use 4 different patterned papers. I have also managed to use up some buttons!

Woodgrain

Another of Shimelle's challenges was to use a sketch and to try and use woodgrain in your LO somewhere. I really like using sketches, even if I change them slightly, it gives me a starting point. How do you feel about sketches? I have even managed to use woodgrain on my LO - the brown bit at the bottom with the white flowers is a bit of wood veneer from a pack of wood veneers for use in cardmaking that I got in a recent swap. The photo is from our holiday to Rome in April 2007. After taking lots of photos with just one of us in them, we were very brave and asked this couple next to us if they would take a photo of us - and then we took one of them!

What does a party need?

cakes of course!

Shimelle's first challenge was to do something with cupcakes - which are definately one of her favourite things. Would I do a LO - did not have any cupcake paper. The boys thought I should just bake some, they would decorate them, so they could have cakes for tea. So I did and here is a photo of them - and they taste delicious.

It has been such a warm and sunny day here that I could not stay in and scrapbook, I just had to get out. We went for a run and a walk along the beach - but forgort my camera - oops! Then went to the garden centre to get some seeds to plant for the garden - will definately remember to take photos of them once I plant them.

Hoping to get some scrapping done this evening as the rest of the challenges look good too. If you haven't checked them out yet you should pop over to Shimelle's at http://www.shimelle.com/

Online Party

If you are anything like me you love a party - and especially an online Crop Party. Well Shimelle is holding her first online crop this weekend, 16-18th April. You can find details about it here. Hoping to get lots of scrapping done this weekend - although hubbie thinks we should go and make a start on the garden!!!

Brads

The first Something from Nothing challenge from Shimelle was to use metal. I really liked the idea of making a frame using brads, so I found one or two brads! and made this LO. The photo was taken on our holiday to Legoland in October 2008. Funny I still seem to have a couple of brads left!!!

Spring must be in the air this week - I have been busy tidying and cleaning. The bathroom, especially the shower, got a really good clean on Monday and I finished off the kitchen today. I really wish I had nice smooth things without all the odd little fiddly bits that are soo difficult to clean.

Not actually done any studying this week though so had better get cracking.

Lots of stash!

The first challenge from Shimelle's class, Something from almost nothing, is to talk about and show photos of your stash - just to prove that I really don't have that much (honest!!) here are some of my photos.

Boxes contain ribbons, buttons, bits and bobs - but it looks tidy!

Cupboard has paints, alcohol inks, embossing powders and my Big Shot.

This neat bag has eyelets and brads.

My tote, which sits under my desk, has a few! kits, mainly unused!

Another tote bag contains other patterned paper, card is in a separate folder(s).

Stamps are in this great box.

OK a few more ribbons - but they are tidy!

I will admit to having a few more bits of stash lurking in drawers and under the bed, but on the whole the room is fairly tidy. The room I use doubles as a guest room, so really has to be kept reasonably tidy. I had a major tidy out last year and to be honest have difficulty finding stuff now. So hopefully this class will help me rediscover what I have - and then use it! Then I can go buy more...

This is why I scrapbook

Shimelle has a really interesting video on the reasons why she scrapbooks here I thought I would share with you some of the reasons why I scrapbook.

First I scrapbook because its fun, if I didn't enjoy it I would stop. I also enjoy being part of several on-line scrapping communities and have made friends through scrapbooking.

I scrapbook mainly for myself, I don't necessarily think about what will happen to my scrapbooks when I am no longer here - that's for the boys to decide!!! I have made a couple of special mini-books for them for special events - like one for John's years at primary school and for his trip to London.

I think scrapbooking is a good way to tell stories and is an interesting way to keep photos, although I do still keep other photos in a traditional photo album.

I find it fun to experiment a bit with all the different types of pretty paper and paint etc that you can get nowadays - although am definately trying to use up my existing stash before adding to it.

I have recently tried to incorporate my faith into my scrapping.

If you are a scrapbooker why do you scrapbook?

It's Friday today, so I though I had better bake some cakes for the weekend. I made these and they taste yummy!!

Thankfully all the snow from yesterday has now gone - we are just back to rain!!

Two little birds

Say Hello to my new Christmas decorations, not that I really need more, but I like buying at least one new decoration every year. We found these two at the garden centre on the way to the hospital the other day and they really wanted to come home with me, so how could I refuse?

Day 3 from our Advent boxes was;
Joke - How does a snowman lose weight? He wais for the weather to get warmer!
Yesterday we had an activity instead of a tradition - Start to write Christmas Cards.
Bible verse - A fresh start, Luke 3:36. Luke includes Noah in the family tree - a farmer who learnt to be a sailor as part of God's first rescue plan.

Day 4:
Joke - What do you have in December that you don't have in any other month? The letter D.
Tradition/Fact - 26 December was traditionally known as St Stephen's Day, but is more commonly known as Boxing Day. This expression came about because money was collected in alms-boxes placed in churches during the festive season. This money was then distributed to the poor and needy after Christmas.
Bible verse - Listening to God, Luke 3:34,In obedience to God, Abraham started a new life and a new family that one day would include people of many faiths.

The start

I can't quite believe today is the 1st of  December, the start of Advent. I feel like I have missed the last three months somewhere. Having discovered that I had no Christmas paper (honest!) I did an online shop last night, so can't actually start my journal until the goodies arrive. Meantime I shall make do with blogging!

The children were excited this morning as they got to open their chocolate advent calendar. We also have an Advent tree, which Mum knitted last year.

In the advent boxes this year I have put some different things for each day. Today we had a joke: What do monkeys sing at Christmas? Jungle bells, jungle bells. A Christmas fact: In the Ukraine, if you find a spider web in the house on Christmas morning, it is believed to be a harbinger of good luck! There once lived a woman so poor, says a Ukranian folk tale, that she could not afford Christmas decorations for her family. One Christmas morning, she awoke to find that spiders had trimmed her children's tree with their webs. When the morning sun shone of then, the webs turned to silver and gold. An articial spider and web are often included in the decorations on Ukrainian Christmas trees.

To help us remember why we celebrate Christmas each day there will be a short verse from the Bible, which will build up into a journey to Christmas. Today's verse was Luke1:1 and 3-4. Luke sets out his Gospel first showing that he has carefully researched the events that surround the truth about Jesus.

I also got to open my first parcel from the Advent Swap at FaithscrappersUK, I got a lovely ball of fluffy white wool.

And lastly, my manifesto from Shimelle's JYC class about why I am doing a journal.

1. I enjoy doing a journal and, as I have done it for the past 3 years, feel it is now part of my Christmas traditions.

2. It helps me to spend a short time day for me and to be creative.

3. To help me  remember the joy and love that there is at Christmas.

4. This year especially, as the last three months have not been easy, to bring back some joy and fun again into our lives.

A look back in time.

Shimelle asked us today to have a look back in time and see what we had blogged about this time last year. Well I had a look back at the last two years posts for November and this is what I found:

Nov 2007: I only blogged twice (how different this year!). Neither of the posts were very inspiring either.

Nov 2008: I had just come back from a weekend retreat, so was full of scrapping inspiration and had found my mojo again!!

This year I have done lots of posts in November, due to Shimelle's class and am having great fun reading lots of new blogs.

I need to start to get organised and decide what format I am going to use for my Christmas Journal, I have done one for the past three years, so don't want to miss it. Thinking about some amalgamation of Shimelle's and Holidays in Hand. In the boys advent calender for the past two years I have done something different each day. Two years ago I put in an activity/worksheet/craft along with a joke for each day. Last year I had a poem for every day. Not sure what to do this year - any different ideas?

We're off to see..

the wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz!! Yes it's Cybercrop time again over at UKS and the theme this time is the Wizard of Oz. I am in the ToTos team - Go ToTos Go!!! I have done really done much scrapping for ages so I am hoping the the classes and challenges will inspire me and help me find my mojo again.

I decided that I was feeling a bit better this morning so thought I would bake a cake as it was a Friday. The kids thought that was a great idea when they came home from school and discovered there would be cake for tea - maybe I should do this more often.

This morning I got a very welcome delivery from Amazon

I think the Twilight series of books are great and am looking forward to seeing how the story ends (no don't tell me!!). They are a great light read for me just now when I am spending so much time with my feet up! Although now that I have started it, stopping to join in with the cybercrop might be difficult.

Shimelle's prompt for today on Blogging for Scrapbookers was about how important and good it is to comment on other people's posts. This is something that I have been trying to do during this class as I have realised how good it is to have some comments. So a big thank you to all who have commented here and I shall be visiting your blogs, if I have not already done so.