second (and realistically the last) card of the day

And here is card number 2:

For my Mum's 60th on Monday. Nothing like leaving it to the last minute....

The inside is actually a pop-out piece, there are flowers and a second butterfly on the other side. It's OK, but cards not really me, I'm afraid....

Have decided to leave the wedding card until later in the month - enough's enough - phew!

third post

of the day. I see that Sarah has passed on a blog challenge - pick the 4th photo from your 4th file (where you store your pics in cyberworld) and publish it on your blog. And tell a bit about it. In my case, this is said photo:

I have actually scrapped this before, for SLYMI:

But I never really liked it, although I liked the photo (taken at St Michael's Mount) & title. It was a sketch challenge, and I have to say, they are not my favourite sort of challenge. Sacrilege to say so in the scrapping world, but hey - I am NOT a Pencil Lines Sketch Fan lol.

Anyhooo, I will pass this challenge on to Sarah, Jill, Linda and Kathi, all of whom are far better photographers than me and no doubt will have stunning pics to show and tell.

happy days

Chutney made, and one card. Not bad. Here is the chutney:

And the card:

And now you see why I am not a cardmaker ha ha. Back off to the craftroom methinks...

cards, scrapping and chutney

well, you join me, reader, on what will hopefully be a day of a few blog posts and making a few bits & pieces. I have been up since 7am, and been to Tesco's to stock up on sugar and vinegar because today is the first chutney day of the season! Mark has taken Oliver off on a jaunt for a few hours pertaining to his new hobby (more about that later) so I am alone - positively unheard of on a Saturday, and at lunchtime my nephew comes for the rest of the day and night so Oliver will be therefore occupied for an entire 24 hours! The excitement is almost unbearable....

My rough timetable is:

- am: chutney making (a fiery one I've made with some success before)
- am: card making (for my Mum's 60th, a friend's 50th and a friend's wedding)
- afternoon: SLYMI for this week (with a glass of wine and a DVD)
- pm: watching You've Been Framed and Total Wipeout with Oliver (and cousin) and a glass
of wine.
- pm: pizza for tea so no-stress cooking!
-pm: preparing my marrow for marrow ginger and cardamom preserve tomorrow

And I've already managed to squeeze in a row with Mark before breakfast over shifts at work, so hey - a very productive morning already I say ha ha.

and here it is

the finished layout for SLYMI, something old:

I have spent two days looking for this passage, because I want to use it for this week's SLYMI (scrap something old, new borrowed or blue). I want to scrap some photos of Venice, and these words sum up exactly how I feel about Venice:

'The heaven of it is ineffable. Never before had I touched the skirts of so celestial a place. The beauty of the architecture, the silver trails of water up between all that gorgeous colour and carving, the enchanting solence, the moonlight, the music, the gondolas - I mix it all up together, and maintain that nothing is like it, nothing equal to it, not a second Venice in the world.'

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, June 1851

These beautiful words have got me all fired up to read some lovely literature - don't you ever read words which just fill you with joy & serenity?

saw a really good film last night...

....Dan In Real Life, with Steve Carell. Had me hiding behind my fingers a few times squirming with embarrassment at the social disasters unfolding, but hey, that's one of my favourite emotions whilst watching a film. NOT to be horrified, terrified or sickened. As regular readers of my bloggie will vouch...

This week it is the turn of the Scrapgoddesses (of which I am one) to host the UKS team challenge. Here is my layout, based on these themes: journey, handwritten journalling, purple and ribbon:

I like it, actually, and it is one I hope Oliver can see a bit of value in when he is older. Or not, I suspect. Feeling a bit melancholic about Oliver lately. Don't you ever get moments as time is passing that you kind of feel you should stand back and review the path you are taking? His days are spinning by so fast, that already he is 7, and I keep thinking - is this the best we can do for him? Is this the ideal life I dreamed for him? Am I steering him along the 'right' path? I don't really want him growing up in the city, I imagined a more outdoorsy life in the country, and enriched with home-education. I don't know. I feel a bit lost about it all really. Mark would say I am putting my fears and ever-present anxiety over him onto his shoulders so I should just chill a bit. I know, however, from bitter experience that when children stop looking to you for their main influence/guidance they will be looking elsewhere and you will not be able to prevent the snowball from gathering pace and disappearing off down the mountain.... I just feel afraid that I don't have enough time to arm him with the necessary 'tools' to carve his own, confident path through life, or that I may not have the ability to place him in the best environment to bloom.

Does parental anxiety ever ease?

My Mum will be 60 next week, and my severe shortage of cashflow has prompted me to get-a-jewellery-making. She did make noises about a bracelet the last time I wore my own, so I hope she will like these: