Scrapbook Layouts 2022 - Nos.1&2

Hello Everyone

I hope this finds you all well and enjoying the weekend. I was thinking of going for a short walk this afternoon - I want to build up my fitness again - but the rain stopped play. Maybe tomorrow will be better. 

On to the subject of scrapbooking, although I'm not quite done with December 2021, I thought I should start to share 2022 layouts now before I fall too far behind. 

1/2022 - Silver

2/2022 - And Relax

As you can probably see, the photo in the first page is of Silver and the one in the second is of Bonnie who is no longer with us. 

Both layouts were made in January from the kit I put together for Scrap Backwards (a challenge group on Facebook) that was made entirely of what was left from two old kits, one all cat themed, the other a mix of cat & dog themes. They are Echo Park's Meow and DCWV's Playful Pets. These layouts are based on two of Lisa Sikorski's sketches (Scrap a Sketch on Facebook). 

Of course, because I chose to make my kit from a combination of papers, etc., with a very obvious pet theme most, but not all, pages made in January feature photos of animals, but not all are of cats! 

That's it from me tonight. 

Take care and stay safe.

Friday Smile

Hello Everyone,

I'm back, joining in with another of Annie's Friday Smile posts over on A Stitch On Time. I really enjoyed reading all your posts last week and look forward to doing so again today. It's been another ordinary week, much the same as usual but for one exciting bit of news. 

We have a new great-grandchild on the way. Due in August. And, no, we don't know whether it's a boy or girl yet. That can wait. We're just delighted with the news. Here's how young Callum announced the news to us all on Facebook.

Milo looks a bit nonplussed, but there's no mistaking how Callum feels about it - he's clearly delighted at the thought of being a big brother. 

Other less exciting, but still noteworthy, reasons to smile this week have been:

Snowdrops in Culzean Country Estate. No, we didn't take a trip down to Culzean but Facebook kindly reminded me of our visit there six years ago when the snowdrops were particularly abundant. 

I keep looking for signs of the snowdrops in our garden but so far there's been none. However, the primroses are out on Bonnie's Mound (named to honour our beloved cat, now sadly gone). 

Silver just takes this little tribute to Bonnie in her stride. Her reaction is less tolerant of other feline trespassers on her patch. 

Dawn today. The sky was so beautiful I should have realised it was going to be a lovely, albeit chilly, day. The sun is streaming in through the window as  I type this post. It's almost too hot!

We watched this film yesterday evening and it  was so good. Sheila Hancock is very good, as is her co-star, Kevin Guthrie. In a nutshell, the film is about Edie, a recently widowed 80 year old who feels bereft, not of her bullying and emotionally abusive husband, but of the life she had and gave up for marriage. With her house sold and her daughter intent on dumping her in a home for the elderly, she sets out to take control of her life, starting with a climbing trip alone in the Scottish Highlands. The film, dare I say, is worth watching for the Scottish scenery alone. 

And finally, a cutie to start the weekend.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone - full of lots to smile about.

Take care too.

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 662

Hello Everyone,

And a happy WOYWW to Julia in the Stamping Ground and all fellow deskers everywhere. I hope you are well and finding plenty time to spend at your desks crafting. We're still enduring some wild weather here - wind, rain, more wind and yet more rain. We even had a flurry of snow on Sunday. I call it good scrapping weather. 

This is the state of my desk this morning after I'd abandoned it yesterday evening. As you can see, I'm working on yet another scrap layout so there's stuff everywhere. That rickety looking pile just visible on the left is needing sorted out - again! Though it does have to build to wobble height before I'll do anything about it. The page itself is surrounded by piles of ephemera that I've sorted roughly by size - large, medium, small. This helps with cluster building. Once the page is done, it will all be sorted by colour and returned to these plastic boxes.

There's two sets. I don't know what I'd do without them. Yes I do, I'd be working in an even bigger mess than I already do!

The kitten bit.

Silver joined me in the garden yesterday as I checked for snowdrops. She would be more than happy if I spent all day out there but it's bitterly cold even in the sunshine so fifteen minutes was more than enough for me. 

The book bit. 

The book I've been listening to this week is Elly Griffith's new book, The Locked Room. It's the latest in the series that has Dr Ruth Galloway, a forensic archaeologist, and her lover, DCI Nelson, always referred to by his surname, as the main characters. Set in Norfolk during the first Covid lockdown it has everything - mysterious deaths, domestic abuse, missing students and more. I did enjoy listening even though it did bring back the horror of Covid in vivid detail. 

And that, coincidentally, brings us to what is happening now. Alan is not too well at the moment with another episode of fatigue and breathlessness. There's nothing for it but to rest, something he doesn't do well as he hates inactivity.  In the meantime, I'm head nurse, cook and bottle washer so I'll hope you'll understand that I may take even longer than usual visiting and commenting. 

The funnies bit

And finally,

Take care and keep safe. 

Bye for now,

Elizabeth

December Scrapbook Layout No.27

Hello Everyone,

Following on from yesterday's post I'm sharing the next page for that December album today. It was made out of turn a few weeks ago because I especially wanted to tackle the last Scrap Backwards challenge for December.

As you can see it involved an awful lot of circles, fussy cut baubles and more flair than is good for me! The circles were punched from the many scraps leftover from previous layouts and even now there's still more to use up. I think this room is breeding scraps. Sigh. On the plus side, the huge stash of old patterned paper is going down, quite noticeably. 

The photos are of just a few of my favourite tree decorations. For many years, that was up until the first year of the pandemic, I made a point of buying a new, and special, decoration for our tree. Sadly, that's not been possible these last two Christmasses but I have high hopes that this coming Christmas will see that tradition revived. 

That's me done for now. It's bitterly cold outside here but the sun is streaming through this window beside me and it's hot! I may have to take off the cardigan I'm wearing. Hope you having an equally lovely day. 

Take care and stay safe.

December Scrapbook Layout No.26

Hello Everyone,

I hope you had a lovely weekend and Monday hasn't been such a bad day as it's reputed to be. At Casa Worthington each day is much the same as another - that's the joy of being retired. Happily, I've been able to get to my desk and scrapbook a few more pages. Today, I'm sharing one more made for the December album - another one nearer completion. 

I chose a simple Lisa Sikorski sketch, quick and easy too, for this copy of my profile photo with the Christmassy frame provided on Facebook. The black/white stripe background paper is out of a kit from Ella Bonella - Crate Paper's 'Hey Santa'. I used leftover scraps for the side strip and to mat the photo and journaling card.  Apart from the two flairs from  Dotty About Flair everything else is old stash. I'm pleased to be using up so many leftover scraps and bits of ancient stash. Apart from anything else, it's nice to see the piles getting noticeably smaller. 

That's me done for now. Hope you have a good day tomorrow. 

Take care,

Christmas Card Club Challenge - Cards 7&8/2022 - Festive Gifts & Gift Bags

Hello Everyone,

Whoops! Almost forgot what today was - indeed, if it wasn't for Rita posting on FB, I wouldn't be here now - it's Christmas Card Club day and the theme, set by Lorraine, this Sunday is 'Festive Gifts and Gift Bags'. 

As luck would have I had these two cards already made. 

Both were made from what was left of a very old Docraft's Papermania kit. The toppers are decoupaged, so perhaps they have too much dimension to be anything other than hand delivered given the ever- rising postal rates these days. 

That's me for today. I hope you're having a lovely weekend. I hope also that you will pop over to see what my teammates have created this week. You'll find a list of their names and links on my right sidebar - as always they are so much more creative than I will ever be

Elizabeth

Friday Smiles

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are having a good day wherever you are. Here, weatherwise, we've had a very mixed bag so far. It rained this morning, it's very breezy, and now the sun is streaming through the window, much to Silver's delight. Nothing pleases her more than a snooze in the warmth of the sun.

And any bed will do as long as there's a stream of sunlight to bask in. 

I've taken very few photos this week. Most have been scrapbook related but I though you'd like to see two notebooks that I'm enjoying using at the moment.  

The 'One Line A Day' book is intended to encourage me to keep a journal longer than just a few days ... up to now I've been a bad diary keeper! So far so good with this little book. Writing just one line is not so difficult.

The grey covered one on the left is my most recent book of recipes - there's two others on a handy shelf  in the kitchen. I've been experimenting with new soup recipes and reviving some long forgotten, but favourite, dishes.  I haven't made this cheese and onion pie for more than twenty years!

The recipe is one I got from my old friend, Jean, who was a very good professional cook. She was a school cook when I met her but she trained as a baker and specialised in the confectionary side of baking. Her cake decorating was a work of art.. 

It's a brief smiley post today but that's because I've taken very few photos this week, and those I have are mainly of the kitten. Proof, if proof were needed, that I don't get out much. I could bore for Scotland on the subject of the kitten but I'll spare you that - I can almost hear your combined sighs of relief!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone - full of lots to smile about.

Take care too.

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 661

Hello Everyone

I don't suppose I'm the only one to notice today's date.  All the twos. I can't remember the last time time the date was made up of all the same numbers - I'm guessing 1.1.11 but I'm probably way out and some statistician out there knows the answer. What they won't know is how likely I am to be interrupted on a  Wednesday morning to see to something more vital than typing up WOYWW post. It's often. This morning it was a form for DVLA. The one they should have sent three months ago! The one that will enable DVLA to decide whether Alan is allowed to drive again. It did come with a letter apology but really!!! Rant over.

Breathe. 

Where was I? Oh yes, at my desk.

I know, not very exciting. Just me deciding on the papers and photos to scrap next. Yesterday, I spent much of the day putting together papers, stickers, etc., for this months Scrap Backward's kit. It's bigger than January's but I hope to make a lot of pages this month. Well, that's the plan! Here's a peek at the papers I've chosen.

Lovely, aren't they? Very springlike - summery even. I'm going to enjoy working with them.

The kitten bit:

Sunlight streaming through the window. Such a rare sight it enchanted Silver. She pinches Alan's chair at every opportunity - it's so comfy she loves it.

The book bit:

Not too surprisingly I'm drawn to any book that has 'bookshop', or 'book' even, in the title so when I spotted this one I had to download it. And it's a heartwarming enough story, if somewhat predictable. The main character, Natalie, inherits her mother's struggling bookshop and at the same time finds herself helping her aged grandfather. Of course, it's not as simple as selling up, finding a nice home for her grandfather and getting back to her high-flying career. What follows are enough twists and turns in the plot to entertain me to the end, even though that ending was just a wee bit corny. Sometimes corny is good. If you're a romantic you'll love it. And, bonus, I did learn more about San Francisco's history, about the 1906 earthquake, the subsequent fires and the loss of life and destruction that followed.

The funny bit:

That's all from me today. Note from last Wednesday - the cauliflower cheese soup was voted a great success and one to make again. No soup today but I did make potato soup yesterday - my mother's recipe - and that always goes down well. 

I hope you've had a wonderful WOYWW and that you will have a fabulous week ahead.

Take care and stay safe.