401

Yesterday was post 400. I started this in Dec 06 and I only reached 400 yesterday. You could never accuse me of over posting...
So, 2 days, near passing out and a great deal of help from mum I made another batch of cakes. You do have to ask if it's worth it...I may need to look up a different way of mixing. As it is you need to stand up as the cord's too short - maybe a free standing mixer...hmm...
No colours in the buttercream this time so I tried the coloured strands. So prettyful. And what a lovely excuse to try out the new lens again...
Oh how I'm loving the colours/light this lens gives!

Hope it gets a bit warmer soon so I can try going outside - it's so cold at the mo I can't hold the camera steady enough - brr...

Hope you're all staying snuggled up!

xxx

2 days in a row?

Goodness me, something must be wrong - I crafted 2 days in a row? huh...
Now don't get me wrong, I'm far from well enough to be doing these things, but I'm at breaking point. My boredom has reached its peak and I cracked. Just hope I don't push it *too* far...hmm...
Anyhoo, here's this weeks UKS Challenge. I've forgotten the rules again...The word 'who' in the title, red or earth tones, stars (which you can't see, but they are there!) and...umm...oo, a baby theme! (or something new)...so here you are -

I don't love it. I'm not sure what it is. It's good as a basic but I think it needs something added I just can't think what...hmm...
This next one is me at Doc 2010 breaking point. I've done the 2 July layouts but haven't started the divided 6x4s bit and am currently annoyed at my past self for not keeping up with this last year! I get bored quite easily and decided I needed a change before I start fudging up my layouts and get sad looking back at 2010 because you can tell I got bored and muffed all the journalling up.
So, I went through my 10,000,000,000 (or there abouts) photos and came across my (and fellow teamies) snaps from the Magpie retreat in 2009 and thought I'd start doing something with them!

I hope Stacey doesn't mind the photo - I needed to document the cake goodness and she was the baker so she had to be on there!
Anyone who keeps up with current scrapbooking trends may notice that those papers have just been released. Yes, I caved. Honestly I knew it would happen. Thing is (and I realise this may sound like an excuse!) I went through my papers and can you believe I didn't have any pink? Just some scraps and bits but no actual sheets. So, when I bought some new/different divided pages for Doc 2011 some of the new Echo Park little girl range fell in my basket. Oddly enough there are a lot of cupcakes and tea pots in it - is that what little girls do?! I played with toy cars myself...anyway, cakes worked out quite nicely for this page!
Oh, and while I'm in confessional, I treated myself to some new border punches from EKSuccess. The slim ones? I used 2 on the above pages. Wow, I love them. The first punch I've ever used that I can punch one handed! Really helpshaving a free hand to help keep the border pattern straight. A couple of sheets of the new AC Love range may have fallen in the basket at the same time...argh...it wouldn't bother me half as much if my fellow Mission One Ten teamies weren't doing so well at sticking to the rules. You know, the ones *I* set!? But that's it. When I put my papers in my box I noticed that it was now practically to the top. That's about a rulers worth of paper. (well, there is a bit of card and a few alphas in there too, but it isn't far off...) This is awful. Wasn't there a thing about a certain thickness of paper lasting you for x many years? I think I may be set for life...hmm...What I think I need to do is stop using card for backgrounds and try using PP too. And layers. And matting photos with PP. And layers. And no more hording scraps. And layers. Lots and lots of layers.
Argh.
I thought they said confession was good for the soul? I feel even more guilty now! Darn it.
This may ring a bit hollow now but I really am completely off stash buying. Completely and absolutely. There isn't anything else out there that's caught my eye anyways (phew!).
I shall leave you with this shot. Now this guy is *not* a lap cat. Emphatically *not* a lap cat. And yet he jumped on my lap while crafting so I figured I should get a photo as proof. He attacked me about 5 minutes later. Marvellous.
xxx

And finally she goes up the stairs

Well, they took their time but my legs finally let me go up the stairs to be all crafty. Yay.
1st up - I managed to get a photo of my UKS week2 Jan challenge.
It's my focus page for July in Doc 2010. I'm not overly in love with it, not sure on the title either, but I do love the papers and photos so I don't hate it! I can't remember the rules for it as it was a while back now! Umm...3 different papers, a die cut...ink pad? Possibly something else? Whatever it was I got full points...

And here's my WOYW...F...?! It's my planning for this weeks challenge, hopefully I'll get it done this weekend before the time's up! I'm going to be so annoyed with myself if I can't manage to count it after getting it all ready!

Yeah, I didn't really manage a lot - took a photo and planned a layout...hmm...still, better than nothing.

And no, I still haven't covered up my mojo jar...really need to dig out some pretty papers and get rid of the coffee mate logo - not overly inspirational!

xxx

Wordless(ish) Wednesday 3

Wordless(ish) as though I probably could have gotten away with it, I think some of them needed explanation...
A bit more lens fun - it's funny, even when I missed focus I still kind of like them...
Pretty headband I got in the post the other day

I love this picture, even if The Fluff is out of focus, the colour's lovely. Though I'll be honest, if nan and granddad starting their car hadn't made him turn and run half a mile up the road, I probably would have taken another shot.

Here's the wordless part...

xxx

New Toy

I caved and treated myself to a new lens. It came today, just after it started raining and not long before it was getting dark anyway so couldn't really give a good play - of course. (feel like death too so it's probably a good thing). So far I'm loving it. Hope I have a bit of daylight (and energy) to try it outside tomorrow.
First up - mums purple ball thingies. Ooo DOF goodness...
Then slightly above the purple ball thingies...ahh rain...

I think this lens was built for keyboards and walls etc. Here's my keyboard. (well, organ...)

And let's face it - what's a photo shoot in this house without a picture of The Fluff...was trying to focus on his eyes but I still like it. He moves around so much though, it's really hard to get a focus on anything never mind anywhere specific!

Fingers crossed for dry weather tomorrow! (and, you know, muscles that co-operate...)

xxx

A third of the bottle later...

Mmm - dontcha just love a good post day? One day I'll have a good post day without having to buy the contents first...but still, yummy!
There's a headband from Hollysarah on Etsy. (slightly funny thing - she sent it from Morden in Canada. My Nan lives in Morden in London. Cool!)
The other cutely wrapped bits are lipbalms from Orange Thyme on Etsy (I love that place!)
The scents are Caramel Apple, Blood Orange and Lemon Cupcakes. Mmm. Also a Blackberry scented lip tint that is just beautiful. I love them - wish I could find a seller with similar stock in UK though...
Also, I baked! I was somewhat excited about trying out my new recipe book - then I found the natural food colours. So overwhelmed I was I didn't know where to start! I ended up picking blue as I haven't ever had any blue food my whole life - I didn't even realise blue could be made naturally. It's technical name is 'spirulina extract' which is either a seaweed or an algae...I keep forgetting...
Now, I didn't pick an exciting recipe as I think the test for a good cook book is how it handles the basics. So vanilla cupcakes it was! Different way of making them - more complicated and slightly strange, but it worked.
Only problem with the recipe - I'm not keen on buttercream with unsalted butter. But I'll try them again with reg butter and see if they still work. The sponge's yummy though!
Now, as excited as I was to dye the icing blue, it didn't really work...I think I can see why food companies tended to avoid making food with the natural colour - I used about a third of the bottle (normal food colouring size) to get this pale shade! It's a lovely shade though - maybe if I just pour the whole thing in next time...!

Turns out (after a little experimenting) the red and yellow are pretty bright with just a little bit so hopefully I'll have a bit more luck next time!?

Oh, and here's The Fluff. Wasn't intentional but he jumped on the table just before I went to upload the photos - how's a girl to resist!?

I'm still working on those f stops - I'm considering a new lens. I do love a shallow depth of field and this lens just doesn't really give one. (It's the original kit lens from my film canon). I mean, it's good - it's lasted me...umm...8 years?...but I'm starting to get more aware of the yummy lens goodness out there now and I would like to experiment. I'm pretty much decided on the 50mm 1.8 (I'll be honest, the price is the thing that drew me in at first!). I've checked out a whole bunch of review sites and it's gotten some really good reviews too - I think a trip to Jessops might be in my future...
Anyhoo, that's enough rambling for now...

Hope you're all well xxx

Camera play time

One of my missions for the year is to take my camera off auto and try out a couple of the manual settings. Today I tried playing with the f.stops. Still haven't got a flipping clue what they mean (maybe that should have been my first lesson...) but here's a couple of pics of the frost on f5.6
Believe it or not the above is not a carpet, it's my mums cars windshield. Frost to the extreme this morning!

The sun had hit the roof to melt a bit of it by the time I'd gotten out there.

When I went in to upload and have a look these guys appeared in the back garden - I forgot to change the settings, or at least to auto, so they've all ended up a bit 'soft' looking. Of course it was through the window too so that probably didn't help...

"Did I hear something?..."

"Yes, I definitely heard something..."

"Hey! Stop taking my picture!"

Whoops!

He was hanging out with a great tit - how cute! I love the little birds, esp. this time of year. Acting all twitterpated and such ^-^

Wordless Wednesday 2

Wordless Wednesday 1

On a roll

I like being in a sunny frame of mind - hurrah for June photos! I'd forgotten we'd actually had sunshine last year...
Here's my layout for my teams monthly mojo challenge - I picked one of Debbie's which was to use more than 3 photos.
Above was my highlight of June below is the opening page. Highlight? Well, the photo op. was funny but I'm not too sure about the actual event!!

I've changed up my style a bit for this months opener as I didn't really have anything to put in an envelope. I can see the point of them - I know people can gather lots of little pieces of paper day to day but I don't really get anything! I've made the bigger piece of paper into a pocket just in case I find a receipt in the bottom of a drawer or something...!

And here's a bit of a deeper page. I made it in response to the UKScrappers monthly challenge - we had to follow a sketch and include at least 50% journaling.

I've decided to document my journey for the year - remember my rant from a few days back? I am determined to find at least a bit of peace of mind & contentment this year. I really hope this is the start of something positive!

xx

Ooo photo heavy!!

In fairness I should have done this when I was halfway through the year but there you go. Here are a bunch of my pages from Document 2010. Looking back through I think I need to put some dates on my earlier pages. Also I need to add some more journalling in places - maybe add a tag behind a photo or 2...hmm...yeah, anyway, here we are -
January - lesson learned here - I wasn't keen on the adding January twice so haven't done that again!

Feb - I didn't want to add too much on the photo of my drawing so I just added a K (as it's supposed to be of Kristen Stewart. The close up is of my favourite part of the drawing and now wish I just crop it down to that bit...mum won't let me!)

To match the 'K' on the previous page I added a 'O' for Owen. After adding the 'good' for the month summary I realised adding a S (for me!) up the top would actually make the month 'so good' - aren't I clever!? (don't answer that...)

March - couple of fun things for March. Went to see Avatar in 3D which was completely lost on me. I think if I try it again I'll try and wear my glasses as I could only see a couple of bits in 3D while mum was blown away...ah well...

it should say 'drama' in the top left...little re-cap of the trip to the vets!

April - nice and pastel! This was the month of the new - New blossoms, new dress, new hair, new library, new drawing, new car (briefly...) - good times!

I'm ashamed to say that my new drawing (that you can see on the left page in the middle) hasn't had much done to it since I started it in...april...argh! And I swore I wouldn't take a year on this one like I did with the last...

And here be May. Started with a vote ended with a sprained ankle. Luckily the inbetween wasn't as bad (!)

Anyhoo....there should be another page here so not sure where that one went...! It's been fun doing the pages but I wish I'd done them a month at a time - I'm finding they're all starting to look similar! I know someone that did them each month using just the scrapbook kit they got each month, I don't get a kit...maybe I should create one each month to do it myself? Hmm...

Hope you're all well!

xxx

Workday wednesday...ish...

There's a new round of 'what's on your workdesk wednesday' floating around. I don't want to commit myself to weds. just for the fact that I might not be able to get up there but I do like the idea of photographing it every week - even in this state!
While we're sorting out the loft part of the loft my desk has become even more of a tip - I really need to have a good think about some decent storage solutions...
So, what can you see...
*Firstly - yes, crafters cardinal sin, there is a drink on my desk...argh! Though I've yet, in my life, to ever spill a thing over anything I've made. However - for any nervous magpies out there - I would never drink or eat near your CJs!!!!(crosses heart and makes brownie guide promise ^-^)
*There's my shiney new notebook on sale at TKMaxx - it's so cute! Great for keeping organised month to month with all the bits our team get upto. You can see it open to the first page which is my check list for mission one ten. Currently I have 8 boxes checked...92 to go!
*My new slice card that I picked up cheap from eBay (to go with the Slice machine I picked up cheap from Hobbycraft - I do love a bargain!) - love it! Has some lovely and different journal card shapes too which come in handy for the magpie swap this month!
*My mojo jar which clearly needs adding to my project list as I still haven't decorated it...shh...
*My 2010 album which is still waiting to be finished. I'm 5 months in now, not the best at keeping up to date clearly!!
It's actually a really nice project now it's all coming together. I'm looking forward to putting another one together this year. I'm amazed how thick it is though, I wasn't expecting how stuffed the album would look - and it isn't even finished!

Anyway, that's about it. Hopefully next time I'll have some actual crafting on there for people to have a nose at!
xxx

Ignore me

This one is more of a diary entry than anything that would interest anyone else so please don't feel you need to read or comment!

Needed to have check up at dentist today but for some reason I really didn't want to go. Nothing to do with the dentist herself, or anything involved, just the thought of even leaving the house scared me.
I washed my hair and then cried for half an hour and I have no idea why.
I hate days like this.
We stopped off at a shopping centre after and I managed to go in 2 shops. I even bought some bits in one of them but all I really wanted to do was hide in the car.
Stupid.
I've had days where I knew I couldn't face going out so I've cancelled (just shopping or similar) but because I had no choice this time is that what bought it on? If I'd have forced myself on those days I cancelled would I have had the same reaction?

Why does it always seem to be one step forward and two steps back? I was (still am) so determined to make this year a positive one. I can look back on last year and count the happy memories on both hands. 10 happy memories in a whole year? This year was going to be great and my body goes and has a breakdown? And I don't even know why! Isn't that ridiculous? I mean, it's my body, my thought process, why can't I pinpoint what made me so sad I just couldn't stop crying? Was it just exhaustion? I've barely done a thing in over 2 months, how am I still exhausted?

Just putting this out there - I HATE M.E.!

I really do.
No medication.
No official diagnosis.
No cure.
No life.
Granted there are many far worse illnesses out there but it doesn't mean I can't hate this one. This one's my one. I can do what I like to it.

It has made me more determined to discover the things that make me happy though. I really hope I can.

Again - no-one needs to comment, just needed to get that out of my head
xx

So now it's 2011

Am I the only one that's *just* gotten used to writing 2010? Now, 3 seconds later, it's 2011. What's that all about? And they say you can't speed up time - sure you can, apparently it's called getting older. Remember the days when summer holidays lasted a life time, now you blink and a year's gone. And I'm not even 30 yet - how much quicker is it going to get!? Ok...that ended up in a different place to what I wanted this post to be about...

So, resolutions. Made any? Me...sort of...more like missions. I don't have time limits(ish) just things I'd like to accomplish by the end of the year, though I won't be annoyed if I haven't.
My life is always a bit up and down. I started last year on such a high - I felt positive, my health seemed better, my weight was great, then it all started going wrong and by the time I sprained my ankle in May that was it. Game over. I ended the year feeling depressed, over weight and about as healthy as I did when I was 16. (16 was not a good year fyi).
So. This year. Well...I'm not exactly sure. I know I'd like to be in the same frame of mind as I was in Jan 2010, but I'm not entirely sure how to get there.
I think this year is going to be one of discovery.
Trying to find the things that make me happy.
I know I'm not going to end the year on a delirious high (though I wouldn't be opposed...), but it would be nice to feel content for the first time in a long long time.
It will be a fun journey to find those things out!
BUT I do have a few goals(ish) in mind, some that I think may help -
One I've talked about on here before (I think...). Mission One Ten. Make 100 scrapbook layouts and 10 projects before I even consider buying more stash (super bargain die cut machines not included, thank you Hobbycraft...I think...). I think all the clutter and piles of photos when I go to scrap kind of bring me down, oddly enough. Too many options I guess...never been that good at making decisions...!
2 - I never thought I'd say this, but after seeing the completed collage I think I'll carry on doing the self portrait Mondays. Huh. Didn't see that one coming! But I'm looking forward to seeing how I 'develop' over the year (take that to mean what you want!). Though, perhaps I'll make it one portrait a week instead of definitely Mondays. I remember some days thinking 'why couldn't I have my self portrait today while I'm wearing this cute outfit' and 8/10 times my bad hair days fell on Mondays (of course). So, yeah, ramble ramble...
3 - Learn how to use my camera better. You'd think that 2 years worth of a photo a day would have helped. It didn't.
4 - Create more. I love drawing and painting but I'm always too intimidated to do any. Which is daft. It just annoys me that what I see in my head doesn't translate onto paper. Also, in 2 years I've done 1 1/2 drawings. After I muffed up the Kristen Stewart one I started one of Jackson Rathbone (again with the apparent Twilight obsession, I'm not! They just all photograph stupidly well!) that I was determined to finish before the end of the year. I didn't. Grr.
5 - I guess above can lead me to this. Learn how to prioritise. I spend faaaaar too much time being sucked into the world of t'interweb. If I want to draw, why am I online? Inspired to scrap, yet I've been sucked into a game...over and over. Must break that cycle. Maybe a computer timetable...hmm...
6 - learn a song on the piano. Well, keyboard, we don't have a piano...it shouldn't be *overly* hard (she says!!). I can play the organ - tune with right hand, chords with left hand, tune with feet on pedals. I just need to take away the pedals and turn the left hand chords into more of a tune...yeah?...maybe I need a trip to the library for the kiddies easy learning section...!?
7 - de-clutter. I'm far too sentimental about silly things. Do you know I have a walnut in my draw somewhere. I'm not ever sure why anymore, I just know every time I find it I think 'ah, there you are!' And apparently walnuts are volatile. They're on the dangerous cargo list for exporting....hmm...maybe next time I find it I should introduce it to the bin...

I'm sure there was something else. Ah well, I think that'll be plenty to be getting on with!
On top of those bits I do have a few other little 'really need to get this done' type missions. For example, putting together all my Doc. 2010 layouts. I have all the pics developed (minus Dec.) Just need to sit down and do them! I've decided to treat them like proper tasks with a reward system.
That sounds really odd doesn't it?
I just think, maybe I'll get them done if I don't allow myself to buy things willy nilly. Might save a bit of money too.
(ooh, there's number 8 - try to slow down spending. Think things through before you buy!)
For example - I *really* would like to get Big Bang Theory 3 so I figure I'd make it my reward for finishing Doc. 2010. This way I might be encouraged to do it quicker. I mean I'd be buying it anyway (knowing my will power...) so this way I'd accomplish something and own hilarious tv dvd at end of it. Win/win yes?

Okay, that's probably enough stream of consciousness for now.
I hope you're all safe and well
xxx

2010 in 7 Days...

So, remember my 365 project? Mondays take a self portrait, Tuesdays TTV, Weds 'the world at my feet, Thurs 'what made me smile', Fri - skies!, Sat macro and Sundays were Green.
So here we are. This is how I envisioned putting the project together but at the time I didn't have a clue how to do that! Thankfully I discovered Picasa and the deligtful collage function a few months back so here we go - 2010 in 7 days!
(side note - I've filled in a few gaps as an 8x10 collage seemed to quite like the #54. I just took a extra photo here and there that fit the theme but wasn't taken on that specific day)
Oh, and all the photos are in order. Trust me. Wow that took a while!
Monday - Wow, I can't even begin to say how much I hated this one. Some days it was fine but most days it was a 'urgh, what in the heck was I thinking taking a photo of myself every week!?'.
Now it's over and I see the finished collage? I kind of like it. Can see things I might have done differently. And I think that I possibly maybe sort of kinda want to do it again...oh dear...

Tuesdays - I think this one speaks for itself on size alone - I only made it to June. It was a good idea in principal but without my ability to a) make a light tube and b) leave the house very often, it limited my ttv goodness potential. Definitely wouldn't repeat this theme but will happily still use my ttv. Funny thing, and I'm not sure how it happened - do you see I doubled up in the middle there? I wish I knew whether I accidently got rid the last one of March or the first one of April - and what did the missing one look like?! OoOo mysterious...

Wednesdays - 'the world at my feet' so to speak. Orginally the plan was that I'd try and make sure I left the house every Weds. Even if it was just a tag along with mum while I sat in the car the whole time. I didn't predict this year being a bad one. I certainly didn't predict spraining my ankle in May. Although, even though I thought I'd taken far to many lying around photos, now they're all together it doesn't really look that bad. I wouldn't do it again though. Interesting/different way to maybe document a holiday though...

Thursdays - Funny how often the Fluff appeared on my 'what made me smile' day...anyone would think I liked the little dude or something...! A couple of the photos probably need explaining but I'll just do that when I put the pages together...

It's funny - it turns out Fridays were a lot bluer than I remember them being...and there weren't as many sunsets as I thought I'd capture...hmm...

Saturdays - Macro days! Some may be more close up than others. Usually that depended on what camera I was using. However, if macro was selected then macro it is! Although for some reason I didn't take one on the Sat we left for the I.O.W so I just put the pic of the Ferry coming in so it matches the one the week later where I macroed the raindrops as we waited to go home...

Aaaand, drum rolls please, Green Sundays! Granted, not as much green as I imagined, but I think it still works. I like the row of Courgettes from seedling to first harvest. I didn't realise I did that...! (I wish I knew whether I was aware of it at the time - stupid memory!)

And there you have it. 365 (and a bit) photos. My year in 7 collages. Huh. Didn't get out much did I!?

Hope you enjoyed having a look!

This was a fun project *but* I am never doing it again! No more 365. Far too much stress! The one I did in 2009 wasn't so bad as I was getting them developed at the end of each month but this time round I was waiting until the end of the year so I could do the above. Let me tell you - first I had a major virus attack my comp so had to reset to factory settings, thank goodness for ext. harddrives. THEN the ext harddrive packed up in Nov...argh! I was so worried I'd get this close then poof, all gone. Not worth the stress. I like projects that are fun! (I'll be back later for more on that subject...!)

However, I would happily recommend it to anyone who wants to do a 365 but a bit different than just a photo a day. Just back up your back up that you use to back up that original back up. Far less worries that way. ^-^

xxx