Pure New Wool

So the x factor is back on, so that means it's Crochet Time! This new hat is item no. 1 created this weekend from some fun new wool my sister gave me for my birthday! Gotta love those dark (productive) nights! Did some fun stitching today at a class and also taught a scrapbook class in athlone. Busy busy!

Craft Extravaganza Layout Sneaks.....

It's that time of year again - already! The Great Big Craft Extravaganza is coming up in only two weeks!
This year I'm teaching a gorgeous double layout scrapbooking class using An Siopa Buí's Yellow Club September Scrapbook kit. I can't say too much yet, but it's an autumnal based layout in a rustic style. You'll need four 6x4 photos - 2 portrait and 2 landscape....ideally in autumn colours or black and white.

Here's a few sneaky peaks! See you there.....

Revision!

Learn Something New Every Day - Shimelle's annual class starts today.
Today I learned (re-learned, because this is something I have to keep reminding myself) that sometimes you just have to say no. Even if you feel under duress but ultimately know that you are going to be more pressurised, just say no. This could also have been called 'don't bite off more than you can chew'. Etc

Scrap Happy

So my creativity is back with a bang...thanks to Shimelle (who is becoming all to often my saviour). While I would have liked to have got more layouts completed for last weekends crop party, I'm delighted to have finished four new layouts and got my mojo back. I also learned that it doesn't take 2 hours to make a layout and yes, I should just follow sketches or prompts more often and 'just do it'.

So, here are my layouts....in no particular order....

Here's us on holidays in Achill -  photos I have been meaning to scrap for ages, so this goes under the 'photos from before 2011 challenge':

Here's my attempt at a 'half the page' challenge....love the photo, not sure about the sploge in the top right...let's just pretend it isn't there ok.

I 'heart' .....reallly like this layout. Am happy I also got to scrap Grace as there's always a comparison between who has most photos/layouts, etc....the plight of the second child!

Finally 'Galway Girls' is my effort for the group of three challenge. Am also delighted to have used these pics which I thought were going to be difficult to scrap based on dark background for photos (our hall carpet)...but I used Shimelle's 4x6 photo love template for my three pics and am super happy with result.

So that's it for now....but I think I might be in the habit now. Am currently making puppets for school....but my mojo is back. Hurrah!

My new obsession

I realised over the course of the last few weeks that I am obsessed with stone Walls. I am drawn to them. As I walk, drive, etc. I have gone so far as to email someone in appreciation of their stone wall (which was just fabulous). Is it really strange to be in love with an inanimate object such as a wall?! I'm going to catalogue my finds. This photo is of a wall in Clonbur in Co. Galway. Limestone. The light on the evening I took it was tremendous but it doesn't really show. Still like the wall though!

Isn't it ironic

Or an alternate title would be "oh I wish I'd looked after me teeth"
Yesterday, I broke a back tooth on the aptly titled bubblegum pictured beneath. Yes, jawbreakers broke my tooth.

That in itself is a funny story except it meant I had to go to the dentist. And the thought of that made me close to physically sick. I'm not sure if I'm phobic but I'm pretty close. I hadn't been to a dentist in (gulp) 11 years. Now for those of you holy joes who get dentally checked every 6 months and have a perfect set of choppers, that sounds utterly shocking. But (and I know this because you can find anything on the Internet, including dental phobia support) there are lots of folk out there the same as me. So I'm breaking the silence (go me!). I feel I can now cos I'm just back from my visit to a super nice modern dentist. I got 3 fillings including repair of that broken tooth and a filling replaced and I feel great. So, the message is don't be afraid. Drugs seem to work better, drills don't seem to do as much work, no pain and White fillings. I have to go back (11 years - remember!) but I'm ok with that. This was the first step.

How this links to finding perfection or letting go of perfection (ala Shimelle's prompt) I'm not sure but I might have teeth that are closer to perfection at the end of all this. Explore indeed!

Maps

Maps are a big part of my daily life. At work I create and consult maps for every project. We use GIS packages to create maps as if it's second nature. And yet when you think about all the work that had to be put in to create the first maps. The trigonometry. It's mind boggling.

However, the map challenge has identified in me my require to control. I almost always bring a map because I like to be in control of the journey. I don't like feeling lost and the possible associated sense of adventure. It's not for me although occasionally I'm happy to take a different route if it's with a plan to getting there faster or avoid traffic. But usually that only happens with a map so it's not about getting 'lost' rather just finding an alternative route. Deep!