Page Maps Anniversary sketch - Here comes the bride

When I spotted this sketch on the Page Maps blog for their anniversary party I knew right away that it would be a good challenge for our next scrapbook day (that's when me, my sister-in-law and her sister get together, usually at my sister-in-law's house and this is what we got up to last time).

I decided to scrap these photos of my daughter playing dress-up at the childminder's house. I just love the expressions on her face. The final one is actually a smile - that is as good as we get at the moment!

I borrowed most of the embellishments from Tracey and Clare. So much for using up my stash. But thanks to them for their generosity. The flowers were from Tracey and the little diamantés were from Clare.

But by far the most painstaking part was getting the ribbon to stick to the thin piece of string I used for the bunting. All of which were donated by Tracey. As were the clothes pegs used to hold all the glue together until it dried! It was worth the effort though, because the ribbon is similar material to the dress that my daughter is wearing.

So fingers crossed one of us wins the competition. Here's Tracey's page and this one is Clare's.

30 Days of Lists - Day 31

You thought I'd finished with this didn't you. Well although there are no official lists left in the 30 Days of Lists challenge I thought I'd take the opportunity on the last day of March to go back over all my previous lists and make a list of all the things I actually completed.

Day Nine

My oughta do list...

• Wash the evening pots
• Put the 2 piles of clothes away that are sitting in the bedroom
• Look at the CD of old holiday photos my mum gave me and sort out which ones I want to scrap
• Send my proof of no claims to the insurance company

Day Five

Things I would like to do/accomplish by the end of the month:

• create 4 scrapbook pages
• renew house insurance
• finish reading "Married to the Mouse"
• spring clean the whole house
• sort the kitchen drawers
• start my crm blog
• sort through blog photos

Day Three

This.... I am going to....

• This week I am going to make a start on the tea shop page I've been trying to start for over a week
• This week I am going to finish the book I'm reading - The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
• This week I am going to finish writing up last year's diary for my project 52
• This month I am going to the Birmingham NEC scrapbook fair and buy some more washi tape - if any stands have some
• This month I am going to get up to date with all the programmes I've recorded on the Sky Planner
• This year I will finish reading all my outstanding books and I will reward myself by having a Kindle for Christmas

So there we go. I don't think I did too badly after all. 

My next challenge will be to scrap some of the lists and write them up in my lovely travel-themed notebook.

I've really enjoyed taking part in the 30 Days of Lists challenge and can't wait until September when I can do it again.

Liz

Finally getting around to using the tool - Sew Easy

This year I'm determined to use some of the tools I've got that I've haven't got around to using yet. Last Christmas my sister-in-law bought me a We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy tool and I'm ashamed to say I haven't used it yet. So I created the following page using the cross attachment.

Whilst at the NEC Hobbycraft show last month I bought some travel-themed papers and embellishments from Do Crafts. I just love travel scrapbooking supplies so when I spotted these I couldn't resist. I made a page about our day out in London last October.

I used paper from the Papermania All aboard collection along with the embellishment in the top left hand corner.

The envelope on the left hand side is just a regular airmail envelope that I've had in my stash for ages. Inside are our tickets and receipts from the day.

The bunting down the right hand side and along the bottom is from The London Line and the embroidered London title is from a stall at the fair but I can't remember what it's called.

I'm so glad I finally got around to using this tool. I'll definitely be using it again on another layout soon.

Liz

30 Days of Lists - Day 30

Well I finally got there and finally got around to posting this last list. This was another difficult list to compile. It challenged me to really think about what I believe in.

My Manifesto...

I believe you shouldn't wish your life away
I believe I am as good a mum as I can be
I believe in writing lists
I believe you can't hate someone unless you've loved them
I believe in karma
I believe having children changes your outlook on life
I believe I'd be truly lost if I ever couldn't sit down and read a book
I believe you should never leave the house on an argument
I believe the elderly should be treated better in this country
I believe in feeding the birds
I believe cancer will be cured in my lifetime 

I'm sure, as with al my other lists, that if I sat down to write these lists in a year/five years/ten years time they would be completely different. We'll have to wait and see.

Liz

30 Days of Lists - Day Twenty Nine

I've tried to write a variation on today's list before but I never completed it because I didn't specify a timescale so trying to write a gratitude list for my entire life is just too big to think about. I was more successful with today's list because it was just asking for what I'm grateful for this week. So here it is:

This week I'm grateful for...

• The sun coming out today after all the cold weather and snow we've had
• The fact that my employer allows us to have such a long Easter break (6 days)
• Having nice colleagues that I get on with
• My job that I enjoy doing
• Grace being happy at the childminders so I don't have to worry about her all day
• My husband for looking after Grace while I went out for a work's night out

30 Days of Lists - Day Twenty Eight

I can't believe I only have a few more days of this challenge. Although it has been quite difficult at times to compile a list each day and even harder to post about it on my blog every day, I've thoroughly enjoyed doing it. Today's list is as follows:

This week I chose to...

• Invite my family round for Easter Sunday dinner
• Go to the Hobbycraft show on Sunday instead of Saturday because of the snow
• Start reading Victoria Coren's autobiography
• Buy too many pieces of scrapbook paper at the show (whoops!)
• Have the liver when we went out for dinner on Monday with JC and Fiona
• Only fast for one day rather than two. Must try harder next week

30 Days of Lists - Day Twenty Six

Today's list is looking back to this time last year. I can't believe what a difference a year makes.

This time last year I was....

• Still on Maternity leave
• Buying new leather sofas
• Trying to get Grace to sleep more in the day in the hope of getting her to sleep more at night
• Warmer - it was a brief heatwave compared to this year's unexpected cold spell
• Signing contracts with the childminder ready for her to start going in May

and here's a photo of the warmer weather to prove it:

Liz

30 Days of Lists - Day Twenty Five

I struggled again with today's list. Maybe because it doesn't require much imagination and I always prefer those ones. So here is today's list, in no particular order.

When faced with a tough decision I...

• Speak to my husband
• Speak to my mum and dad
• Consider all my options
• Try to think of all sides of the story/situation
• Sleep on it

I haven't had many tough decisions to make in my life so far and for that I'm grateful.

Liz

30 Days of Lists - Day Twenty Four

So finally some photos to go with today's post.

Pets past and present...

• Perky - budgie
• Michael - fish
• Bubble and Squeak - gerbils
• Pedro - budgie
• Frankenstein - budgie
• Rory - Rabbit

Unfortunately I cannot find any photos of the first 3 pets but here is one of Pedro (on the left) and Frankenstein in their respective cages. Taken Christmas 2006:

And here's our most recent pet Rory:

All of them except Rory have left us now and are buried in my parents back garden, under the statue of the white lady. There can't be that much more room for any other pets!

Liz

30 Days of Lists - Day Twenty three

Today's list is looking at past injuries. This is quite an unusual list because we usually concentrate on happy memories and while most of these are not unhappy memories, they aren't the ones I would usually think of to document in a scrapbook. So here's my list...

• Ripped off half of my right big toe nail on the corner of the bed (age 28)
• Weak right knee from landing on it during a netball game at school (est. age 13)
• Compressed disc in my back (est. age 27)
• Small chunk dug out of shoulder from the corner of a rusty firebox in Tenerife (est. age 14)
• Thumb nail on right hand half ripped off twice (ages 16 and 25)
• Teeth pushed back as a result of running into the coffee table as a child (est. age 1)
• Electrocuted by some exposed wiring above the bed while staying in the Hotel Fenecia in Benidorm (age 1)

Not surprisingly, I don't have any photos of these injuries but perhaps that's a good thing.

Liz

30 Days of Lists - Day Eighteen to Day Twenty Two

So it's been five days since my last post so I'm going to roll that last five days worth of lists into one post. Here goes.

Day Eighteen

So far this year I...

• Have changed my hair and now have a fringe
• Have moved office at work
• Have read 6 out of the 62 books that I'm aiming to read this year
• Have created 6 scrapbook pages
• Have volunteered for my first Nearly New Sale with the Loughborough branch of the NCT
• Have spring cleaned the whole house and sorted the Kitchen drawers
• Started saving £2 coins

Day Nineteen

In the next year I will...

• Read more books
• Use up the scrapbook stash that I already have before I buy some more
• Get more organised with birthdays
• Make more of an effort to make time for my friends

Day Twenty

I do not regret...

• Doing a BTEC National Diploma in Media rather than doing A levels
• Deciding not to do journalism at Lincoln University in favour of taking a gap year and doing American Studies at the University of Leicester instead
• Doing a degree in American Studies even though some people see it as a 'Mickey Mouse' degree
• Moving in with my then boyfriend after only 6 months

Day Twenty One

Today's weather reminds me of...

• Winter and it's supposed to be spring
• Saturday mornings when I was a child and going shopping in Arnold with my Mum and Dad

Day Twenty Two

Roadtrip playlist....

• Every album by The Killers
• Country Superstar by Dolly Parton
• There you'll be by Faith Hill
• Flight of the Conchords
• Anything by Jack Johnson
• The Best of James Taylor
• Breathe In by Lucie Silvas
• All Michael Buble's albums
• Anything by Michael Jackson
• Paul Simon's Greatest Hits
• Seasons of my Soul by Rumer
• Alan Jackson Greatest Hits

30 Days of Lists - Day Seventeen

I've always wanted to be an author but I don't have enough skill/time/imagination. One day though this may all change and then maybe I'll write my biography. Today's list got me to think about what would appear in my biography. It's made me realise that I do have quite a lot of stories to tell. I guess in the meantime I'll have to document some of these tales in my scrapbooks instead.

My biography would include tales of...

• All the great family holidays I went on as a child 
• My achievements at school and all the certificates I won
• What I got up to with my friends when I was a teenage - mainly following boys around!
• My time at university and all the activities I got involved in
• The different jobs I have had while temping and when permanent once I graduated from University
• All the gigs me and my husband used to go to when we first got together - even the miserable time we had at V Festival
• The difficult early days when my daughter was born which I seem to have magically erased from my mind!
• The great work colleagues and now friends I have made through the years

That should keep me going for a few years.

Liz

30 Days of Lists - Day Sixteen

Today's list is 'This month's soundtrack' but as it's not the end of the month yet who can say what I'll be listening to in the next 14 days. I'll amend this list and blog at the end of the month but I can say this for now - I got a new digital radio for Mother's Day and now I have access to radio stations that I've never listened to before :)

So until the end of the month.....

Liz

30 Days of Lists - Day Fifteen

Right I'm back on the lists. Today's I can do and I've even included a photo!

Ways I save money....

• Buying most of Grace's clothes from NCT nearly new sales
• Bringing my lunch to work rather than buying it
• Wearing an extra layer in the house rather than turning the heating up
• Buying 99% of my books in the charity shop or borrowing from the library
• Saving £2 coins

I'm sure there are more so I'll probably keep adding to this list. I do love saving money (!) and this is the money box I use to save the £2 coins:

As you can see, plenty of room for savings.

Liz

30 Days of Lists - Day Fourteen

Today is the first list that I'm not able to complete. I just can't think of anything to put in it. So I'm giving myself some leeway on this and I'm going to miss it out. Today's list is....

My Role Models....

Hopefully it's the only one I'll miss.

Liz

30 Days of lists - Day Thirteen

I struggled again with yesterday's list. Maybe because there aren't many things on it.

My Causes...

• Guide Dogs for the Blind
• National Childbirth Trust (NCT)
• Age UK
• Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance
• Bird and Wildlife charities

Maybe one of my goals for this year should be to get more involved in the things that matter most to me by giving more time, money and expertise.

I only really give money to the Guide Dogs for the Blind so maybe I could give some time to them. I support Age UK and Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance among other charitable organisations by donating unwanted clothes and household items and I support the NCT by donating my time and expertise to volunteer as Publicity Co-ordinator (Leaflets) and at the Nearly New Sales with the Loughborough branch. I am a supporter of bird and wildlife charities although I don't do much to help them at the moment. I will look to improve on that in the future.

Liz

30 Days of Lists - Days Eleven and Twelve

Ok so I'm a little behind with my lists. Not the actual writing of the lists but the blogging of them. So here are my lists for Monday 11th and Tuesday 12th March. They're both about my daily routine, although most of it applies to weekdays when I'm at work - some things are the same at the weekend but not everything.

Things I do every morning....

• Check email on my phone as soon as I wake up
• Sit with Grace and read books while she drinks her milk
• Check the train's running on time on my phone
• Have porridge or Cheerios for breakfast
• Walk to work from the train station
• Say good morning to Barbara in the office
• Take my boots off when I get to work and change into my work shoes
• Fill up my water bottles at work to prompt me to drink more
• Have a banana and apple for mid-morning snack

Things I do every night....

• Read Grace a book or three while she drinks her milk
• Pack Grace's bag, lunchbox and nappy bag for the next day
• Pack my backpack for the next day
• Check Grace's cup of milk is ready for the next morning
• Leave James to lock the front door
• Get into bed before 10.30
• Try and read a bit of my book before I go to sleep

As you can see, most of my routine revolves around Grace and this is true whether it's a weekday or the weekend.

30 Days of Lists - Day Ten

On to today's list. Not a particularly long one today - sorry but I enjoyed thinking of things to put on it. I thought I would struggle at first but as I started writing I realised there were quite a few things that I crave at the moment.

I'm craving....

sleep
a holiday
anything that's bad for me on the days I'm fasting
Red Bull
the opportunity to do some scrapbooking

a day to myself

time to read more books

I'm sure there are more but the thing that underpins most of my cravings is 'time' (something I probably won't get back until Grace is grown up) but I don't want to start wishing it away so for now I am happy to have cravings. After all, life would be dull if I managed to achieve everything I wanted!

Liz

30 Days of Posts - Day Nine

I didn't really enjoy today's list because it seemed a bit negative to me. I prefer to concentrate on what I can get done and not what I can't. Also today was not a normal Saturday for me as I was working.

My oughta do list...

• Wash the evening pots
• Put the 2 piles of clothes away that are sitting in the bedroom
• Look at the CD of old holiday photos my mum gave me and sort out which ones I want to scrap
• Send my proof of no claims to the insurance company

So as expected I have managed to do none of these things today and since I'll be going to bed soon the chances of me doing them are pretty slim so it really is an "oughta do" list.

Hopefully tomorrow's list will be more positive.

Liz

30 Days of Lists - Day eight

I really enjoyed thinking of items to add to today's list. Although it did make me really hungry and want to eat all the things on it. Today I had to think of comfort foods. You'll see from my list that most of my comfort foods are savoury. I'm very much a savoury person rather than a sweet person. Most of the items on the list are also things my mum used to make when I was younger so remind me of being child.

Comfort Foods....

• Treacle sponge and custard
• Prawn curry
• Corned beef hash
• Chilli con Carne
• Mum's homemade meat and potato pie
• Beef stew and dumplings
• A big bowl of pasta
• Apple crumble

Sometimes I try to think what will come next in the 30 days of lists challenge and I never can. It's always a nice surprise when I open the email and I look forward to it every morning. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Liz

30 Days of Lists - Day Seven

Today's list was quick and easy to do but I love the fact that when I look back at this challenge in years to come, this list will give a real indication of what my life was like at this moment.

In my Bag...

• Book - The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
• Purse
• Security pass for work
• Umbrella
• Banana guard
• 2 receipts for children's books
• Pencil
• Business card for a company called Pythagoras
• Receipt for my monthly train pass
• Book - Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Piccoult
• Earmuffs
• Invoice for milk delivery
• Last month's train pass
• Receipt for am energy drink
• Mini hairbrush
• Packet of Extra Strong Mints
• Body Shop Foundation
• Next Lip Shimmer
• Paracetamol
• Blemish stick
• Avon eau de toilette
• A black bobble wrapped around 5 hair grips
• Online Banking doodah
• Blemish stick
• Spare button in a small plastic packet

If you're wondering how I managed to get all this stuff in my bag it's because I carry a backpack to work so that's my bag for 5 days of the week. It doesn't usually have this much stuff in but I'm glad it did so that I could document it today.

Liz

30 Days of Lists - Day Six

I really struggled with today's list. I think because I'm not very good at highlighting my good points. I feel a bit self conscious doing this kind of thing but I managed to put a short list together as follows:

My Talents...

• Working with spreadsheets 
• Analysing data
• Making pastry
• Falling asleep in the cinema
• Getting up early
• Clothes shopping in a hurry
• Seeing both sides of a story
• Making people laugh
• Delegating ;)

This is the first list that I've written in this challenge where I feel that I've not really got to the root of the question and not really put everything down that could go in the list. Maybe I'll be able to add to it later in the month as I think of things.

Liz

30 Days of Lists - Day Five

Today's list is just the kind of list I like to make. Not only is it good for helping me with my goals, it also helps me to get everything down and remember what needs to be done. So, on to today's list:

Things I would like to do/accomplish by the end of the month:

• create 4 scrapbook pages
• renew house insurance
• finish reading "Married to the Mouse"
• spring clean the whole house
• sort the kitchen drawers
• start my crm blog
• sort through blog photos

The easy bit was writing the list - the hard part will be making sure I accomplish each one. I'll let you know how I get on.

Liz

30 Days of lists - Day Four

Today's list was a little more difficult because I'm trying to use these lists as a way of. talking about myself a bit more and my average day seems to revolve around Grace a lot at the moment and anything that involves myself is about work. I had a go though and although it's not very exciting, it does give an insight into my life as it is right now.

On an average day I....

Get up when Grace  wakes me up around 6am
Battle with Grace to get her dressed in the morning
Get a kiss and a "huggle" from Grace before she goes off to the childminder's
Leave the house a little be too late so I have to rush for my train to work
Read a few pages of my book on the train journey to work
Walk up to work from the train station with my colleague Helen
Check my personal email at work about once an hour
Have a banana and an apple for my mid-morning snack
Have soup for my lunch (usually Heinz mulligatawny)
Leave work at dead-on 5pm so that I don't miss my evening train at 5.25
Collect the car from the station car park where James has left it so that I can go and pick Grace up
Watch In the Night Garden with Grace after we've eaten dinner
Wash the pots - that's my job whereas James cooks the dinner
Read three books to Grace while she drinks her milk
Watch some TV or do some scrapbooking in the evening
Go to bed at 10pm

Liz

30 Days of Lists - Day Three

I can't believe I'm on track with this. It's been really easy to stay on top of this so far, even though this weekend has been an incredibly busy one. But then I'm only three days in so there's still time for this to change.

Today's list is "This......., I am going to ........"

• This week I am going to make a start on the tea shop page I've been trying to start for over a week
• This week I am going to finish the book I'm reading - The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
• This week I am going to finish writing up last year's diary for my project 52
• This month I am going to the Birmingham NEC scrapbook fair and buy some more washi tape - if any stands have some
• This month I am going to get up to date with all the programmes I've recorded on the Sky Planner
• This year I will finish reading all my outstanding books and I will reward myself by having a Kindle for Christmas

No photo today because, as I said, it's been a really busy weekend and where I was hoping to make a start on the first item on my list, I just haven't had time!

Can't wait for tomorrow's list in the 30 Days of Lists challenge.

Liz

(P.S. I realised I haven't been signing off my blogs and that feels a bit rude so from now on I will!)

30 Days of Lists - Day Two

I'm really enjoying this 30 Days of Lists challenge. Weeks go by sometimes and I never get any scrapbooking done so this taking part in this makes me feel like I'm doing something and I can do it while I'm on the  go.

Today's list is "I am...."

I am....a volunteer with the NCT

I am....a baker of cakes and puddings (when I get the time)

I am....a scrapbooker

I am....a mum to my beautiful daughter Grace

I am....an organised and methodical person

I am....an eater of sushi

I am....an avid reader

I am....a reluctant public speaker

I am....a fan of The Killers

I am....a proud person

I am....a member of the WI

I am....funny (I hope)

I am....a little critical of myself

I am....not a decisive person

I am....a wife

I am....older than I look

I am....not as smart as I wish

I am....a watcher of The Good Wife, Mr Selfridge and Call the Midwife at the moment (well that's what the Sky planner is full of)

I am....a hater of people who don't hold the door for others

(The photo above was taken at my cousin's 50th birthday party last night.)

30 days of Lists - day one

The 1st March has finally arrived and my first prompt has come through in the 30 Days of Lists challenge.

So here goes.

Day one - I'm a lister because....

1. I like to be organised 
2. Being organised stops me from getting overwhelmed
3. I like the satisfaction of crossing something off
4. I have a rubbish memory
5. It helps to compartmentalise my life
6. I have too much to think about

I'm going to write them up in my new notebook at some point but at the moment I'm just using Evernote.

Let's see if I can manage to blog them as I go along as well!

Scrapbook Day - 23rd February 2013

Had a great day yesterday - a whole day of scrapbooking with my sister-in-law and her sister. We all worked on a layout that was scraplifted from this original page which can be found on a blog called This Kalil Life:

The idea was to think of a number of random things about yourself. The number being your age. I got the better end of the deal with this layout as I was the youngest of the three of us so I only had to think of 31 random facts about myself. But actually once I got into it I enjoyed making the list and had lots of things to put on it.

This is my attempt and while it's not the best page I've created, it's quite nice to have a layout about myself for a change:

And this is my list of 31 random facts:

Thanks to Kimberley from This Kalil Life for the inspiration, and thanks to Tracey for hosting the scrapbooking day. Here we are busy at work:

30 Days of Lists Challenge

I realise it's been a year since my last blog post but I haven't managed to do a great deal of scrapbooking in that year so there's not been much to write about. I didn't get any further with Project 12 that I was attempting with my sister-in-law but never mind. Onwards and upwards they say. At some point I may go back and do a page for each month of last year as I still have photos and journaling (ooh, I'll come back to that because I haven't been totally useless this past year and I did attempt my own version of Project Life) but for now it's time to move on.

So, I love writing lists. I have lists at work, lists on my Blackberry, lists on the fridge, lists for scrapbooking and lists in other random notebooks lying around. When I saw the 30 Days of Lists Challenge I knew this would be something I could get my teeth into.

So I'm waiting in anticipation for 1st March when the first email will come through and I can begin the challenge. I've even bought myself a new notebook from Etsy to celebrate.