Happy Bloggiversary to Meeeee!

I just went to look and see the date of my very First Blog Post.. Because I knew it was around the beginning of November 2009, that I started this Blog, as part of Shimelle's "Blogging for Scrapbookers" course. 

It was... 2nd November 2009, to be exact!  Which makes today my Second Bloggiversary! Yay!

Last year, in honour of our First Bloggiversaries, me, Jo and quite a few of our Blog Friends (29 of us actually!), had a Party.  It was a blog-hop, held on the Saturday closest to the start of the first BfS course the year before.  Many of the blog friends me and Jo had made, were through BfS.  In fact, I met Jo through her blog, while we were both taking part in the course.  

I am so glad I took up the challenge and joined in with BfS.  It gave me the encouragement to start a blog (my second, but the first was not a success, being in the "wrong place").  I also got lots of information and helpful hints from the great course that Shimelle produced for us.  To date, I have written almost 300 posts, on a variety of subjects, including home, family, friends, holidays and celebrations, my studio (and it's trials & tribulations!), scrapbooking, crafting, book-binding, my Etsy shop, sock pets, teaching... oh, lots of stuff.

But most importantly, I "met" so many fab people, as a direct result of keeping my blog going.  It's been a great two years of blogging - and I plan on continuing for as long as I feel like it!

And, later this month, I will be meeting up - for real - with nine of those Blog Friends, at Coalport YHA near Telford, for a weekend of crafting, chat, cake (of course!) and relaxing.  I am getting excited about this now - and will soon be contacting all those who are coming, to tie up loose ends and finalise any arrangements.  Watch your e-mail in-boxes!

Of course, if you are available on the 25th-27th November and can make it to Telford, there is probably still time for you to join in.  The hostel is quiet at this time of year, so there may be a bed for you.  If you want to join us, give me a shout (e-mail lizziemade (at) aol (dot) com).  See the sidebar for a link to the post with all the details, plus a list of "who is going"! 

Meanwhile, if you fancy a bit of fun, you could try re-reading last year's Blog Party posts, or have a look at my little story of yesterday's fun here at LizzieMade.

And it just remains for me to say a Huge, Enormous and Grateful Thank You, to all my Blog Friends and Followers - long-term and brand new.  I value everyone who takes the time to drop in and read my posts - regularly, or occasional - and I love to read your comments.  Starting my blog was one of the best things I ever did - and that is all down to my Blog Friends (which means you)!

Ten on the Tenth - Top Ten Crafting Injuries

A post for my blogging, bookbinding and scrapping friends!

We all love to cut, stick, trim, punch, stitch, tear, layer, draw, write, plan, print, photograph and create. 
We all love to craft - especially with paper and fabrics.

But often, our dedication to our Craft can result in personal injury.

We all know the risks involved in our Crafts... yet we bravely go forth and create, regardless of the personal dangers...

Top Ten Crafting Injuries

10) Stubbing a toe on a box of crafting equipment - OW! (Observer Wince) Factor: 1/10

9) Pricking a finger on a sewing needle - OW! Factor: 3/10

8) Papercut... on fingertip - OW! Factor 3/10, on knuckle - OW! Factor 5/10

7) Dropping a box of equipment on your foot - OW! Factor 4/10

6) Banging your head on the desk, while picking up a dropped item - OW! Factor 5/10

5)  Burning fingers on heat tool - OW! Factor 6/10

4)  Trapping finger in die-cutter - OW! Factor 7/10

3) Cutting hand with craft knife - OW! Factor 8/10

2) Hair loss, due to frustration - OW! Factor 9/10

1) EARTHQUAKE!

Speaking from Personal Experience.... OW! Factor - 11/10!

For more 10 Things on the Tenth, see Shimelle's post today!

Shimelle's Scrapping Weekend - Hot Pink Hoopla Challenge

Well, I have had a crazy-busy week.  I completed two urgent commission books and am working on a third book (two down, five to go....).  However, somewhere I managed to squish in some scrapping and enter some of Shimelle's challenges.  I helped that last Sunday was Scrap Club day, so I got a good start there.  I worked on this page, for the "Signature Accent Challenge" and this for the "Colour Story Challenge", then I found this page from May and wrote a secret journalling card, to tuck away in the space I had left for it (but never filled!), to enter the "Add to the Story Challenge".

So, feeling very pleased with myself, I posted my three pages.  And have had some very nice comments - thanks everyone!

Then Shimelle posted some video tutorials, with pages she had made.  There's a beautiful page with a Bingo Card and Butterflies, a new Sketch of the Week  and a gorgeous page with a hot pink background, loads of embellishments, happy colours, bling and plenty of zing too! 

Shimelle's Hot Pink Hoopla Challenge was to make a page that's Inspired By her hot pink page, in some way or other. 

Well, this is my page and I'll explain my "inspiration" below:

I loved the idea of scrapping bright colours.  I used to stick to fairly pastel, soft colours for my page backgrounds, but recently I have made pages with very bright colours, including the backgrounds. 

I scrap for relaxation and enjoyment and don't really follow anyone's "rules" or suggestions much, but I do often get some inspiration from other scrappers - especially Shimelle, whose bright, happy and fun-filled pages are always so varied and exciting, even while they all seem to retain a "very Shimelle style". 

I did make a "hot pink" page, back in March, to celebrate the fabulous creatures made by my students, on my first Sock Creature course (see it here).  So I thought it would be great to make another. 

I got out my scrappy supplies and a pack of photos I wanted to scrap.  I found these photos and really wanted to use them.  However, it was clear that hot pink would not work with these pictures.

But red? Red might just work... the carpet had a red background, which shows up in both pictures and gives them a lot of warmth.  So I found a sheet of lovely bright red cardstock. 

Of course, there was then the question of the "other colours" to use.... And there, in my pile of scrappy stuff, were more aqua and white pieces, left from when I made my page for the Colour Story challenge.  Well, it would've been rude not to use them up.

So, I did!  And then started adding the "Bling":

I made the flower embellishment, from two hand-cut paper flowers, a fab little floral rub-on from Sassafrass Lass and a good old red brad (and not forgetting the inked edges!).  The painted butterfly was from a necklace I found in town last year.  I bought it because I wanted to use the butterflies for scrapping embellishments, so I pulled it apart and put the butterflies in a jar.  I've used one or two before now; this time I put pearly vellum behind the wings, so it would show through the holes, then I added some Stickles, for extra zingy blingy-ness.  I love the result and it looks very pretty on this page.

This chipboard sticker is from the "White Out" collection, by We Are Memory Keepers.  I received a packet of these in the fabulous prize, that I won from a giveaway by the lovely Susanne.  A funny thing though, was a mistake in the wording; it read "too sweet to possibly to forget"... which obviously doesn't quite make sense.  So I wasn't sure about using it.  Til I remembered my butterfly punch, that cuts lovely mini butterflies... So, one cut-out, blinged-up butterfly, strategically placed over the offending error... Who would know, if I hadn't told you?

And finally, one of my "signature" things... I wanted some appropriate lettering.  Played about with various options from my stash, but nothing quite worked.  In the end, I used white Thickers (Jewellery Box), plus the white rub-ons, which are from Maya Road (and which I have had about a century and never used!!). 

I inked the edges of the Thickers and stuck them down.  They were white, with red-inked edges... bleah.... I used the ink-pad to make a nice red dabbed effect.  Nice... but not quite right...

Stickles?  No...

Then I remembered my New Glitter.  I went to a "Stampin' Up Party" at a friend's house, just at the end of July and bought a couple of great label punches, plus a pot of very fine glitter, with a kind-of diamondy shimmer.  I also bought a glue pen, with a broad fibre tip, which is great for just stroking on and whizzing the glitter over.  You can also heat the glitter with a heat-gun, to use it like embossing powder.  I've tried it both "cold" and "hot" and it looks really nice both ways. 

So, there it is - glue pen, plus lovely glitter, equals blinged-up letters.  Just right for my page!

And the inspiration?  The bright colours, the bling, the stickers/ embellishments dotted around the page... The sheer feeling of fun!  And all of that seemed to really suit these gorgeous photos of my wonderful little Great Niece, playing happily at her Christening Day Party!

Hope you like it too!

Shimelle's Scrapping Weekend - Signature Accent Challenge

This weekend, Shimelle held a great Scrapbooking Challenge Weekend at her blog!

I decided to make the best of a day's scrapping at Scrap Club and I made / completed several pages (on Sunday and since), as part of the challenges.

A slightly loose connection, since I am not certain that I have one "signature accent" as such...  However, this page has four of the things I have been using most on my layouts in the past few months - circles mounted onto scalloped circles, something fancy done with ribbons, inked edges (on everything!) and hand-embellished/ hand-made lettering. 
The lettering is something I have always done - If I can't find some letters I like for my titles, I either embellish plain ones, or just cut out some from paper that I do like! 

I like ribbons and have fun fiddling with them in lots of ways - flowers, bows, double-layered strips with a slider decoration... and the technique on this page, made by cutting slots with a great little edge punch that I was given, then threading a narrow ribbon through, to make a decorative edging. I've used it several times and I love the effect.  It even looked good in black, just here!

And the scalloped circles are something I've had fun with several times.  I used them on the page about my Present from Deb (though to be fair, she made these as labels for the various sweeties etc in the parcel!); I made my own hand-printed lino-cut embellishments for this page... I just like sticking circles on my layouts!

And I've discovered that inking the edge of a photo, matt or other element for a page, really makes it stand out and gives it a "finished" look.  The edges of photos are often very white and they show up against the paper when you matt them; inked in a matching or contrasting colour, the photo suddenly "pops" on the page and somehow stands out much better. It just looks more complete somehow.  I like it anyway and use it A Lot.

So, this page has all four of those things - I think it therefore qualifies as a "Signature" layout for me; I hope you agree!

Shimelle's Scrapping Weekend - Colour Story Challenge

This is the second Challenge that I tried, from Shimelle's great Weekend of Scrapbooking! 

The Colour Story Challenge was to create a page using only Red, White and Aqua.

A sea-side theme seemed just right for this colour palette.  I had these two smallish photos of Wells-Next-the-Sea, in North Norfolk, which I had been wanting to scrap for a while. 

This American Crafts paper, with the white dotted lines seemed just right for the photos and the piece of checked/gingham-style paper that I found (in a pad of A5 papers from Papermania) also seemed to have the right feel for my theme. 

I wanted to try a page on a white background, since this is something I don't usually do and have been thinking of trying for a while (I think I have only ever made one other page with a white background).
So, that was my aqua and white...

The photo at the bottom has a few touches of red, so it was really just right for this challenge.  I used a red strip cut from a sheet of Cosmo Cricket paper (back of Odds & Ends - Spare Change), which is fab for this layout. The "journalling label" is cut from the same sheet. 
The lovely little white bunting flags came from my stash - they might be by Bazzill, but I'm not sure - and I just added some aqua and red inks to spiff them up. The white cardstock is Bazzill Basics, by the way.

I cut the title letters by hand and used my mini-letter stamps for the words on the inked-up bunting string. 

I haven't put any journalling on this page.  Not sure if I actually want to - the title pretty much says it all; however I have left a pocket behind the checked paper panel, ready for a journalling card, if I think of something extra to say (see the little tag of paper, waiting for the journalling card?)
I will add the date I made the page though (better do it now, before I forget again!).
I did actually consider adding this to a different challenge - the "From the Heart" challenge, as the title is just right... But the page was really made for the White, Red & Aqua theme, so there we are!

See also This Post below, for another challenge I tried!

Shimelle's Scrapping Weekend - Add to the Story Challenge

Some of you may just have noticed a leeeeetle bit of fun going on, over at the fab Shimelle's blog?  
For those who have been sleeping too much since last Friday, Shimelle was hosting an Online Scrapbooking Weekend, with lots of Challenges, Tutorials, Sketches, Layouts.. oh, just fun really!

So, I thought I would have a go at some of the challenges, seeing as it was our Scrap Club weekend and I needed a break from all the book-binding and laundry!!

This is a page I made in June (using the prize kit that I also used for this layout), about a lovely afternoon out, that we shared with my niece and the little ones (blogged about here)

As well as the journalling on the left-hand side, there is now some "hidden" journalling, which I added after reading Shimelle's post for the "Add to the Story Challenge".  I had left a "pocket" behind the photo, where I thought I might add some notes... But then I didn't know what to write, as it was about feelings... you know, the things we tend to ignore and try not to journal about, in case anyone reads it...  

So, I got brave, found a matching journalling card and wrote down my secret message. 

Which, of course, I will not show you... because it is secret!

But please take the evidence of the journalling card, complete with matching inked edging, peeping out of the pocket, as proof that I did join in the challenge?  You will, won't you - 'cos you know I don't fib?

It was really nice to get the courage to do this.. I am grateful to Shimelle for the challenge.

And now I'm going to publish my post and put the link on Shimelle's Challenge Post - see you there!

The Story behind the Socks!

Hello All!

This should have been posted last night, but it was dark and I couldn't get a decent photo of the layout - pink does not photograph well in artificial light!

I made it at Scrap Club yesterday. It was partly for a Challenge on Shimelle's blog, for (Inter)National Scrapbooking Day, but also because I have wanted to scrap this photo since the end of March, when it was taken.

This layout is really about the reason for the photo, rather than the photo's content.  The picture shows 11 of the Sock Creatures created by my lovely group of girls, on 26th March, when I taught a day-long workshop on creating Sock Creatures. 

However, the story-behind-the-photo is more than that.  For a start, this was my First workshop. It was the first time I have planned and taught a class of this kind to children.  I've taught adults before, as part of my job; I also helped in school for 5 years, while DS was younger, assisting with general maths, English etc, hearing and supporting the children's reading, helping in the "Design & Technology" lessons - anything from sewing to building models with pieces of wood etc, etc...  But this was my first children's workshop, thought up, planned and executed entirely by myself!  I feel rather proud of that - so this page is partly to document that fact.

The other half of the story, though, is about the students.  They were a great bunch of girls, ranging in age from 9 to 14.  Their skills varied enormously, with a couple of the older girls being pretty accomplished needle-workers, whereas two or three of the others struggled - one girl in particular.  However, with one exception, all the children took home at least one completed Creature, with several having a part-completed one, to take home and finish.  The "exception" did struggle a lot; her sewing ability was very limited and she had problems with planning and visualising the process of creating her creature.  She made a fairly major mistake, which I helped her to work round and rectify.  She had to unpick and re-stitch (I helped a bit with that too).  However, I was so impressed by her determination and effort - she may have struggled, but she persevered.  I sent her home with several pieces of model, drawings to help her attach head, limbs etc and sufficient bits & pieces to make it look nice.  She said her parents would be able to help her - I so hope they did! 

So, I was proud of me, but also of my students.  One young lady found a striped sock and turned it into a fabulous bumble bee; another made a cute monster, with a bow on its ear; there were several rabbits - all starting with the same design, but all so different and all so cute!

It was just a wonderful day and I really wanted to record it. 

I'm going to print this Post out and stick it to the back of the page, as I didn't have room to journal all this on the front - the journalling just says "My first Workshop Day, teaching 9-14 year-olds to make Sock Creatures. It was a great success and the 11 students completed 13 creatures betwen them, with two or three more taken home, to be completed there.  We had Fun!"  - that's all true, but I want to record the whole story for ever!

Shimelle's Sketch of the Week - The Lizzie Made Version

Inspired by Fay over at Beautifullilly's Ramblings, I had a go at Shimelle's Sketch challenge for this week:

Here is Shimelle's Sketch...

...and this is my version! 

I've had this photo on my desk for ages, meaning to scrap about it.  We went out for a meal together and the Boys were chatting and messing around, I got my camera out and J. & D. just spontaneously posed like this.  But it sums up so much about their relationship as Father and Son.  The love is so obvious - as D. said, it doesn't really need words to explain it!

You should take a look at Fay's and Shimelle's layouts too - they are both really great.  Fay's made me laugh - go and see for yourself!

Oh, oh! Forgot a list of materials used (in case anyone's interested!):

Bazzill Kraft cardstock (for the base), brown collage-style paper by Dream Street Papers, Red and White spotted paper by Cosmo Cricket, Houndstooth check paper by October Afternoon, green paper strips by Basic Grey.  The small paper strips on the right are the reverse of the October Afternoon and Cosmo papers.

Metal embellishments and letters all by Papermania, as are the "scrabble tile" letters. Green letter stickers by Basic Grey.  Black chipboard circles are Thickers by American Crafts. Small script word stickers by MLS.  Mulberry paper hearts & cork heart from my stash. Punched hearts & flower made by me.

There I think that covers it! :-)

Celebrating Blog Friendships–Blog Party!

Good Evening All Bloggers!

A big welcome to our  Blog Party.  This is a Blog Hop, with 29 wonderful people blogging on the subject of “Celebrating Blog Friendships”.  You start right here and can follow the links from one blog to another, all the way round the chain, until you will (hopefully) end up at Jo’s blog – Curlyscrapbooker. 

As this is a party, I hope you’ll have some fun on the way, perhaps have a little music, cake, a balloon or two, play a game… whatever our friends have in store for you, I’m sure it will be fun! 

Every party should start with a little bit of a quiet spell, while everyone has their first little drink (!) and warms up a bit; this is the quiet start, but I hope it will soon get lively!  So, pull up a floor cushion, get comfortable, sip your first drink and let’s make a beginning to our evening. 

Firstly, a little bit of history… this time last year, many of those taking part in this evening’s Party were starting out on a new online course, created and organised by the ever-fabulous Shimelle (yay!).  It was, of course, “Blogging For Scrapbookers” and as a result many of us started our first ever blog, or began to use our blogs on a regular basis, to post about our lives, homes, families, scrapping and crafting.  Of course, we also began to read others’ blogs – many of those on a regular basis too.

As always, there was a forum available to all course members, where we could post questions, comments etc and our responses to challenges set by the course.  Shimelle dropped in regularly to give support and help.  We were encourages to introduce ourselves and to “meet” others who were on the course.
All that was a year ago, starting on 2nd November; but for me, and many others, it has continued well beyond that initial month of BFS.  I began to visit other blogs on a regular basis and quickly gathered a list of blogs belonging to other BFS classmates, which I read daily and often responded to with comments.  I started updating my new blog on a regular basis too and was so pleased when someone commented on one of my own posts.

And now? 

Well, last month I realised that I’d had this blog for almost a year.  It got me thinking about the year and how my blog had developed, what sort of posts I’d made, whose blogs I had visited, the enjoyment I had while joining in with the huge Blog World that is Out There.

I mentioned this to Jo, during a bit of a chat we had.  We agreed that we wanted to do something to mark the occasion.  After all, it’s not every day that you have a “Bloggiversary”, is it?  

We chose today as our Official Bloggiversary – or Blog Birthday if you prefer – and a subject of “Celebrating Blog Friendships”, since we both felt that the most significant benefit to both of us, from becoming involved in our blogs, has been the wonderful new friendships we have formed during this past year!

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all Blog Friends who have been with us this past year.  Even if you already had your blog, or if you’ve started it since, we want you to know that we appreciate your friendship, we love having you around and it is a pleasure to know you all!

* * *

On a personal note, I want to tell you how very much I personally value the friendships I have begun this year.   A number of you – and you know who you are – have become regular visitors to my blog.  You read the various rambling waffles that I choose to call “Blog Posts”; you even leave me comments. 
Your encouragement when I have posted a tutorial or pictures of my various layouts, craft projects or bookbinding efforts, has been much appreciated; your appreciation of my efforts to please has cheered me and made me happy. 

It is great to have people laugh with me, when I post something that I have found amusing, to have someone to tell about my adventures – small or big.
 
And, really important to me, I have wholly appreciated the wonderful, supportive, encouraging and friendly comments that you have left for me, when my posts have not been about adventures, crafting or fun, but about sad, lonely, dull, frustrating or unhappy episodes in my day-to-day life.  I have posted about these things and you have supported me every time.  It makes it easier to cope, knowing that other people do care – even though they are people I have never met face to face – even though they may be hundreds, or even thousands of miles away, across oceans and lands I have never seen. 

I LOVE MY BLOG FRIENDS! 

* * *

Okay, that’s the soppy speech-making out of the way guys….

Shall we liven things up, just a bit?  Fancy a few Party Games? 

* * *

Pass the Parcel

(the essential game for any serious British Party-goer! )

In case you have never played this and don’t know the rules: 

There is a large parcel, wrapped in many layers of paper. 

This is passed round a circle of people, while someone plays music (live music is not required, but if someone fancies bringing their guitar to the party, well, hey, we won’t say no!). 

The musician (or controller of the cd player) stops the music – whoever is holding the parcel at this point tears off One Layer of paper.

Often there will be a little prize (sweeties?), or a forfeit in the wrapping.  Any forfeit must be done straight away, then the music starts again and Pass the Parcel continues.

The final layer of paper will always contain a Prize (and maybe a forfeit too, if the party-host is rotten, mean and likes teasing their friends). 

Of course, being a British party game, the person in charge of the music does tend to try and make sure that everyone gets a chance to open a layer of the Parcel.  We do like Fair Play!

* * *

So, how can we play Pass the Parcel by Blog? 
Easy!
Yes, really!
At every blog you visit in the Blog Party, you will get the chance to open a layer of wrapping.  The “Prize” will be a Letter.
?
Okay, bear with me here…

You will get a Letter from the Alphabet.   Each letter, in order, will be one more clue to work out a Phrase that will entitle you to have a try at winning the Final Prize in the middle of the Parcel.
(okay so it’s a bit of a fiddle, but we thought it would be fun).

So, has the music stopped?  Are you holding the Parcel?   If you are, the Letter under the first layer of wrapping is….

“H”!

Umm… I’m getting a bit of Deja-Vue here….

Collect all the letters, keep a note of them in order and when you call at Curlyscrapbooker at the end of the Blog Hop, you will be told what to do next.

Okay? 

Good Luck!

* * *

Pin the Tail on the Donkey

Another good, old-fashioned Party Game!

Ever played this?  No?

* * *
There is a picture of a donkey, usually side-on, but in any case, it must include the part of the donkey where the tail would go (with me? hee hee…).

Each person in turn is blindfolded.  The Person In Charge then spins them round and round, until they are probably dizzy.

They then try to Pin the Tail on the Donkey – ie. they try to attach a “tail” to the donkey’s picture, in the correct place. 

The “Tail” can be a sticker, a bit of string on a push-pin, a paper slip with blu-tac on the back….

If the person attaches the tail in the right place they win a prize – OR  at the end of the game, the person whose “tail” is judged closest to the correct place will be the Winner!  (the second rule is better for older kids – or “grown-ups”!).

* * *

Pin the Tail on the Donkey… by Blog? 

Yup! I know, I get madder and crazier every post, but never mind eh…

Okay… this is really a Giveaway in disguise…

All the best parties have Prizes.  I wanted to give away some prizes at my party, so I have found some goodies to share.

I have five prizes!

Prize Number ONE

Since this is really a Birthday Party, I thought I would share part of a great Prize that I received recently. 

In August, Shimelle held a weekend Inspiration Party, with challenges and ideas posted every hour.  Some were scrapping posts and those in between were photo challenges.   I won the prize for this Photo Challenge.  It included these great little stamps, with a Birthday Theme.

Prize Number TWO

What does Liz do?  Liz makes BOOKS!  So I had to give books as my other prizes.

This is a pair of notebooks, one A6 size (approx 6x4”) and one A7 size (4x3”).  They are tablets of plain white notepaper, which I have covered with pink cardstock and this cute wintery Owl scrap paper.  Each book ties with a pale blue ribbon.

I chose the owls because I know Jo loves owls… go on Jo, have a try to win these!

Prize Number THREE

Teeny Notebooks!  These notebooks are absolutely tiny, weeny and teeny!  You can see from the photo above that they are sooo small!

They are filled with twenty or so sheets of thin notepaper.  The covers are stiff scrapbook papers, by Imaginisce.  The binding is a Japanese-style stab-stitch in red linen thread.

They would be great for a very small handbag, or a wallet.  You could fit one in your pocket and still have room for your door key and a pen.

Or you could make them into scrapbook embellishments – what an interesting way to record your journalling!

Prize Number FOUR

A Christmas Decoration?  Not quite… it’s a mini-book. 

This is a mini scrapbook, with embellished chipboard covers, pages made from coloured cardstock, with Christmas papers and a book ring fastening, decorated with ribbons.

Inside view…

It’s about 3 1/2” diameter and has 10 pages for you to decorate as you choose.  Of course, you could turn it into a real Christmas decoration and hang your completed mini-book on the Tree!

Prize Number FIVE

A pair of pamphlet-style notebooks, measuring approx 6 x 4”.  Each book contains 20 pages (40 sides) of good quality sketch paper (stiffer than notepaper), hand-cut and folded into a single section and hand-stitched with ivory-coloured cotton. 

They are covered with stiff scrapbook paper – one has a design of Christmas trees on a burgundy background, the other has tiny spots in burgundy, olive and aqua, on a white background.  Each book has a wrap-round ribbon which ties on the front cover.  

Ideal for your seasonal planning, Christmas shopping or present lists, journalling notes for JYC, collecting quotes, scribbles, doodles and drawings… anything you fancy!

* * *

How to Pin the Tail on the Blog Donkey? 

Please leave me a Comment!  Simple really!  I would love to know your opinions on Blog Friendships.  Do you feel they are valuable?  Are they “real” friendships, or just something contrived?  Do you feel that you have blog friends who support and encourage you, or do you not really want this sort of interaction with other bloggers?  Everyone has different points of view in life – would you like to share yours? 

* * *

OKAY!  So now we’ve come to the end of this round of party games.   Thank you for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed yourself.   However, it’s not over you know… there is more (much more) to come!

To continue on your way through the Blog Hop, follow the link below, to the Second Party Host’s blog… Jennifer will be happy to welcome you!

http://jennifersjumbles.blogspot.com/

* * *
In case you should become lost at any point, or a link fails to work, here is a complete list of Blog Party participants, in order:

http://www.lizziemade.blogspot.com/  (You Are Here!)
http://jennifersjumbles.blogspot.com/
http://ispeakmelsh.blogspot.com/
http://www.overatourplace.blogspot.com
http://www.creatingpaperdreams.blogspot.com
http://www.gallorganico.blogspot.com
http://libertycottage.blogspot.com/
http://scrapadventure.wordpress.com
http://chattycraftyartypig.blogspot.com
http://mypaperview.blogspot.com
http://www.lifebehindthepurpledoor.com
http://www.clearingthebrambles.blogspot.com
http://www.fromhighinthesky.blogspot.com
http://www.rachelbsworld.blogspot.com
http://www.sunlight-simplicity.blogspot.com
http://journalofcuriousthings.blogspot.com
http://www.enjoytheridetoday.blogspot.com
http://thelinarstudio.typepad.com
http://sharyncarlson.typepad.com/living_artfully
http://paperturtle.blogspot.com
http://www.amysoto.blogspot.com
http://www.snapsandsnippets.blogspot.com
http://www.scrappyjedi.com
http://mayadahan.blogspot.com
http://www.kbwalker.blogs.com
http://www.melissagross.blogspot.com
http://www.xnomads.typepad.com/blog
http://www.debs14.blogspot.com
http://www.curlyscrapbooker.blogspot.com

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Have a Great Time – see you at Jennifer’s in a minute!

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This Blog Post was brought to you by the Letter

and the Number

This was a LizzieMade Production…. Thank You and Good Night!

Another Week of Learning - LSNED 18th - 24th September

Having "caught up" with my pages, up to 17th, I've had a week of non-scrapping.  I have managed to keep notes of my little "Lessons", so I will be able to make my pages soon.  This is my summary of the past week's Learning:

* * *

Saturday 18th September

After all the problems of the previous 3 weeks, our little guinea pig had to be put to sleep. I posted on the Friday, about how sad I was.  Once again I was touched and amazed by the many, many kind comments and supportive messages left on my blog, by some of my many blog friends. It brought home to me how very lucky I am to have this network of friends, that has built up over the past 11 months and who give me so much support and encouragement, especially if things are not going well - or indeed, if they're going extra-well!

Today's Lesson:
I am so lucky to have all my blogging friends.

* * *
Sunday 19th September

J. and I spent the morning busily tidying and cleaning, ready for a small invasion in the afternoon.  He had 3 friends round, from 3-7pm, to play games, eat pizza and generally celebrate his forthcoming birthday. 

The boys headed out into the garden, where they stayed for about an hour and a half, playing various games and jumping on the trampoline.  Then they came inside and played some silly games, ate their pizza and cake and had fun playing Mario Karts races on the Wii. 

In past years, we've spent time and money organising "events" for J's birthday - a trip to the local indoor playground, with food laid on; cinema and a meal out; bowling plus burgers; sledging at the nearby indoor ski-slope etc etc.  It can get very expensive and it was a relief this year, when J. said he'd rather invite friends to celebrate at home.  From the enjoyment they obviously had, it was an excellent idea - and it saved us lots of money, as we only had to pay for the pizza delivery and the cake!

Today's Lesson:
Fun can be (nearly) Free!

* * *

Monday 20th September

Monday was a "normal Monday" - I went to my mother's, with her shopping that was delivered first thing. I collected her pension and prescriptions, also the eggs from the "egg lady" in the village. I sorted out her laundry (a neighbour hung it out, so I brought it in, folded it and put it in the airing cupboard), did a few jobs for her, helped her organise her money for bills etc.  This is what I do every Monday morning, unless I'm away on holiday. 

In the afternoon, I was feeling very tired, so I did almost nothing.  There were jobs to do, but I didn't do them really - I ate my lunch, read a book and rested. 

A friend of J's was due in the afternoon, to visit and have tea with us, but they didn't show up - again. His mother has, over the years, proved herself very unreliable - he was due last Thursday, but when I called to see what had happened, as they were 45 minutes late, she said they couldn't come! Dinner was on the stove - I froze the extra portion for another day; on Monday I didn't even call to see what had happened - and she didn't call to apologise. She doesn't seem to realise it's really rude.

I am so used to it now that I've given up worrying and just shrugged my shoulders; but I feel sorry for her boy.  We will probably not see them again now, as they move to New Brunswick, Canada on 1st October. This weekend we are so busy, so I don't think there will be time to drop by and say hello/good bye, but I will try to make time for it. In spite of everything, they're a really nice family and we'll miss them.

Today's Lesson:
Hmmm.... one was that an unreliable person will probably always be unreliable - even if it may be their last chance.

Also, I learned a new idea from Alexa of Trimming the Sails, for a "Catching Up Page" method.

* * *

Tuesday 21st September

It was a really lovely day on Tuesday; so lovely that I ventured out into the garden, took the cover off the bench and sat there to eat my lunch. 

Sherlock was very pleased about this.

I really enjoyed sitting in the sunshine, reading for a little while and soaking up the warm rays.  The weather forecast for later in the week is wind and rain again, so I'm glad I made the most of this little opportunity. 

Today's Lesson: 
Make the most of the sunshine - it may not last long!

* * *

Wednesday 22nd September

I had an appointment with the osteopath, for a routine "adjustment" treatment.  I've still got some problems relating the the fall I had, including a little stiffness and soreness in my upper back (not all the time though), pins and needles, with weakness in my hands - especially the left one, which is clumsy and has little grip, also a regular feeling in my ears, that they are full of water. 

The osteopath explained the cause of this problem.  I now understand how the bones of the skull are constructed, how they make very small movements and how these movements (or lack of) can interfere with the body's normal processes - including the draining of fluids from in and around the ear canals.  It seems that the tightness of my back and kneck muscles are causing problems with the "occiptal" bone and stopping my ears from draining properly, so that they feel clogged.

She loosened things up a bit for me, but ultimately I think that I need to concentrate on my kneck exercises and my posture, to minimise the muscle tightness that is causing the problems in the first place.

Today's Lesson: 
The bones of the skull are delicately balanced and easily impeded by muscle problems.

* * *

Thursday 23rd September

It wasn't sunny this morning, but it was dry and fairly warm.  I was supposed to go into town, to do a number of jobs that have been collecting over the past month or so.  Instead, I pottered about the house, doing "indoor jobs", like cleaning and laundry, putting off the trip into town...

Of course, it rained - in fact it poured with rain!  So I didn't go into town, as I didn't want to be soaked to the skin - and after all, it will wait til next week... Hmmm...

I did have an odd sort of day really. One of those where I had no motivation to do anything.  I made myself do some jobs, including making a start on a "birthday card" for J. - which is in fact a 12" scrap page, as it'll go in an album and be kept for ever. I've all but given up on cards for J. and D. now - they like having a scrap page and the pages look great on the mantlepiece too!

Of course, it being a non-motivated, fuzzy kind of day, I didn't do very well with the scrap layout and had to put it aside to try again on Friday, as it just wouldn't go any further and I was stuck.

Today's Lesson:

Well, I suppose this sums up the general procrastination - "Go out Early and avoid the Rain!"

(a bit like "The Early Bird catches the Worm", isn't it?)

* * *

Friday 24th September

Amazingly I made it to the end of the week... such a weird and woolly kind of week, where nothing quite got finished as expected and motivation was a bit scarce!

This morning, J's school held their annual Coffee Morning, in aid of Macmillan.  I went to this for an hour and a half. It was amazingly crowded this time - they had moved the cakes table and halved its size, from the last few years' arrangements.  They'd also let people into the hall, to sell things on stalls (presumably they charged for the stall, then the people kept their sales/profits).  This all meant there were less tables and chairs available for people drinking coffee to sit at and chat. It was hot, stuffy and noisy, with everyone milling about and having to shout at each other to be heard.  The children were taking it in turns to play us music, on various instruments, but to be honest, unless you were right next to them, it was too noisy to hear them - they just added to the general bedlam!  It was a shame, because the event is usually very well organised and enjoyable. I did not enjoy this one - it was an hour and a half of torture really.  Luckily, just as I got to the point where I was beginning to feel a bit odd, they opened a couple of the outside doors and got some air flowing - phew... it was nice to be able to breathe again! 

I hope they still raised plenty of money for Macmillan, but it would have been nice to be able to sit and relax, to chat with the other parents and to actually find our children and speak to them!

I did manage to look at the stalls, towards the end, when the crowds cleared.  I bought these, to get me started on Christmas books:

I have to plan ahead by at least one Season!

So, after a bit of lunch to recover (I didn't have cake - the stall was too crowded to get near it!), I had another bash at J's birthday page.  Today the ideas came along with almost no effort and it has ended up looking great (finished version to follow after the Birthday!).

Work in Progress. Inspiration just struck!

Today's Lesson:

Apart from "Don't go to the Coffee Morning next year!"...

I suppose the lesson was that you sometimes need to give a project a break; which can make a big difference to your ideas!

So there we are - a week of Little Lessons.  Once this manic weekend is over, I'll try to get time to make the pages to match.  It's going to be a great little album, once it's finished... that is giving me the incentive to try and make all those pages and "keep up"!

* * *

Up to Date - LSNED Pages and Thank You

First of all, I want to say Thank You. 

I am so grateful to my blog friends for the support and encouragement that you all give me, especially when I post about the difficult things in my life.  I had some lovely messages on yesterday's post about Coffee the guinea pig.  Also there were kind messages on the posts about my mum being ill and stuff related to that  - and when I looked back at any other posts about difficulties and problems, it was just the same - lots of kind, supportive and helpful messages. 

I just want you all to know that it really, honestly does make me feel better.  We may only be friends through this strange cyber-world of blog posts, but I really do feel that I am lucky to have you all there, all over the world, yet only a few button-clicks away.

Thank You.

* * *

I know Shimelle says that "Up to Date" or "Keeping Up" is a self-imposed rule, but it is nice to have all my mini-book pages completed, up to yesterday!

I posted about 1st-7th September pages Here. 

These are the pages, from 8th to 17th September. The stories behind them are Here.

It's wonderful to have a friend to listen and understand.

Check the FUSE!

I can't resist lovely fabrics (or papers!)

Nothing is better than a quiet day at home with my Boys.

It's amazing how much I can do when there are no distractions!

I really can scrap One 4"x6" photo!

A good Nap can fix a lot of problems!

I am grateful for the gardening team.

I really can not work in this MESS!

Sometimes it's hard to accept that even your Best isn't enough

* * *

I took up Shimelle's challenge to use transparencies for the 15th/16th mid-way pages.  The pages for those two days are made with two printed acetate sheets (from Papermania), fixed back-to-back.  I sandwiched two strips of patterned paper between them (also Papermania - Secret Garden).

The patterned paper strips were just a bit wider than the photos and I placed the little journalling envelopes back-to-back, to keep everything lined up on each page.  This means that, although the next page will show through, there are less things to destract you when you are looking at the pages.  I like the effect - it's fun.

I fixed the pages together at the top with hand-stitching, using a brown linen thread that I have for bookbinding.  The bottom is fixed with glue under those ribbons!  As the binding-side will also be fixed together, I didn't think I needed to apply any adhesive to the sides.  The acetate is very stiff and will keep its shape without needing any more sticky stuff.

I also have been making my own embellishments:

As Shimelle said in her prompt on 15th, when you put the pages together, they really do look like a book already!