The picture that shouldn't have been taken

She isn't too hot with a camera is my Grandma.
We love her so, but photography is not her strong point.
She was insistent though. A photo of all my family. On the bench. In the lovely grounds of a national trust property.

There she stood, gingerly walking backwards trying to get us all in the frame while we hooted with laughter.
"The camera won't stay still" she howled.
We laughed still harder. "you need to hold it still!" we said.
"You're now on an angle" she bemoaned. We doubled over laughing as my Mum told her that she needed to not only hold the camera still but straight.

"hang on, I've got it" she shouted confidently as she clicked the shutter.
And this is what she captured. This is what she decided was a well framed photo...

Photo Caption: The Beach family knees. March 2013.

Project life week 13

There has been a lot of project life on the blog in the last few days so I will keep this short and sweet!

Photos:
So many to choose from this week what with Easter and visiting a national trust property. I also wanted to include my new graphics tablet and the project life cards. As well as throwing in a few instagram shots!

Journalling: 
I wrote a large card with journalling about the project life set. I like the effect of including an instagram on the text card. I wrote about the graphics tablet, about Easter and a really funny story about the photo that shouldn't have been taken. (I hope to post this story on the blog soon because it is a good one!)

Techniques: 
I wrote directly on several photos with my own handwriting. I am loving this effect so I'm sure it will grace more pages in the next few weeks. I also added a calendar page to a blurred photo and set it to transparent.

Anything else: 
I used a few of my favourite actions on the photos on the right hand page. For a set like this, the snapshots of my family weren't doing much in colour- there was too much going on in the photos. I therefore used this wonderful black and white action on them. I also added a cross processed action on the photos of my brothers. It often gives a photo a bit of pop.

I made my first insert this week. I wanted to included some of my favourite lenten instagrams complete with their relevant Pslam or Proverb. I will include this with some text between weeks 13 and 14.

Hoping your week and Easter weekend has been lovely and not too cold! Where is Spring friends?!

Project life free download

For a while I have been playing around with making my own elements for project life. 

Often there are sentiments I want to convey or colours I want to use on my spreads that I can't find anywhere else. 

Since purchasing a graphics tablet I have also been working on combining traditional fonts with handwriting. I knew the extent of my playing around was getting a bit silly when my computer files contained more half finished project life cards than anything else! 

So... I took the bull by the horns and went all out to make a cohesive project life set for myself and for you guys. Don't say I don't treat you!

So, here it is. My first, ( I write in anticpation that I will probably make another!) set of project life cards. I chose the colours, partly because I have found these work well on spreads, but also because they coordinate with both the seafoam and olive kits which I use a lot. 

The set is called "Carefree Afternoon"

Download Carefree Afternoon journalling cards here.

All the designs are my own. I used watercolour brushes from several different sources and a font from here. All script font is my own handwriting. 

The download is entirely free. Just click on the link and you should see a file with all of the cards in. Download one, download the whole file I don't mind. What I do ask though is that this is just for private use. If you put the cards on your blog I would really appreciate it if you linked back to me. I would be honoured if you pinned them too but again please link back to here! Thank you! 

Enjoy friends. 

A little preview

I have been working on a few things of late.
A little download. A set of eight homemade project life cards. Plus two fun extras.
They are my friends, entirely free.
They are cards I have made in response to my own needs for project life and things I think you guys might enjoy using too.

The download will be available on Easter Monday.

But in the meantime here is a sneak preview....

Have a Happy Easter.
"And behold, he's alive. Alleluia!"

Around here- March edition

This is what life has looked like in March. Enjoying cuddling with this silly creature, folding, cutting, hammering and weaving. Drinking copious amounts of tea after coming home, trying to take photos of animals and experiments with my new graphics tablet.

My around here photos are the photos that get left behind. The ones that are left on the memory card or never made it to the blog post. They are imperfect, the exposure is often wrong but they capture now. This month.

What would be your picture for the month?

Let's sit and have a cup of tea.

Hello. It's nice to see you again. Come on in and let's talk...

If we were meeting for tea today (or coffee or hot chocolate or even juice if you are so inclined) I would greet you at my front door.

I would usher you in from the cold and invite you into the warm kitchen. The table would look pretty with its spotty oilcloth and the kettle would be whistling on the Aga. We would laugh that due to my mothers love of polka dots, our kitchen looks like something out of a Cath Kidston book. If you were lucky there would be a plate of fresh cakes or biscuits on the side.

As we sat warming our hands round our mugs this is what I would probably tell you...

I would tell you that I am so fed up with winter. That I am longing for spring. That I have lost all faith in the British weather (not that I had much in the first place) and that the jumper drawer is looking less and less exciting. If you were from warmer climes I would listen avidly to your stories of sun streaked days and balmy weather. We would discuss Summer plans and I would tell you that I am heading off to France with the boy and his family which I am so excited about.

As we bit into the first cake I would tell you that I am so glad to be home. That I was feeling really under the weather at the end of last term and that what I really needed was my own bed. I would tell you how good it is to spend time with family and play many new board games with them. You would look over to the corner of the kitchen where some of our current favourites are stacked up. I would laugh as you pointed them out and explain that board games are a bit of a thing in this house. We would chat over Easter plans and family. I would mention that the relatives are descending on Friday and that it will prove to be an exhausting and hilarious time.

If we were together now I would tell you how much I am enjoying creating again. How I have lots of ideas in my head and can't wait to get them out into the open. I would tell you about my creative process how ideas form and how sometimes they come to fruition in unexpected ways. I would ask you about how you are inspired and what inspires you. I would tell you too that I am seeing a lot of good stuff on pinterest at the moment including a lovely new blog course by Julie Kirk.

I would tell you that I cannot get enough of weaving. That I am loving the repetitiveness of it, how tactile it is, the possibility of infinite number of patterns. I would laugh as I mentioned with a sheepish look that I have no idea what these scraps of material are going to become but that sometimes it is just good to create.

The cat would come into the kitchen and curl herself around our legs. I would get up and put the kettle back on in anticipation for another cup. If we were there now I would tell you excitedly about my new toy- my graphics tablet- that arrived the other day. You would look quizzically and I would explain that it is like having a pen and paper attached to your computer. You can draw on photos, documents, photoshop. I would tell you that I am having so much fun using it and playing around and can't wait to play with it on project life this week.

As the cake turned to crumbs and the clock chimed, our thoughts would go the coming week. I would tell you that the boy is coming over for the day and we are going to follow Paul Hollywoods recipe with Mum to make some hot cross buns. I would tell you that there is going to be a lot baking going on in this house in time for the Easter weekend. I would also mention with a sad note in my voice that I am in the middle of revision but it is made easier by the fact that I am revising at the same time as my little brother. Nothing like sibling rivalry to get us sitting down and working.

I would be sad to see you go as we walked to the front door. I would encourage you to wrap up warm and we would hug and laugh out loud at the power of blog friendships.
I would love to sit down and do life with you.

If you were with me now, what would you tell me?

If you would like to write a "tea" post please add it to the linky at the bottom so we can all sit and share with you! The linky will be open for a week so you have plenty of time. 

Weaving some magic

There have been a few tutorials flying around the web recently about how to create a loom and weave on it. These are the two I followed most, here and here.

New crafts are fun I thought, so I headed over to our lovely next door neighbour who works wonders with wood and asked for an off cut.

I decided just to use a solid piece of wood rather than a frame and found this worked just fine. I then set about hammering nails into the top and trying not to hit my fingers. I placed my nails roughly half an inch apart along the top and the bottom. They aren't that straight but I'm afraid at this stage I was more concerned with getting the things in the wood!

I used string to weave around the nails and then used wool to weave in and out. The string was good in that it didn't give too much and pull the edges in but I didn't like the texture. I am creating another design at the moment where I used wool all over and I prefer this.

As said in so many of the tutorials, it is really easy to pull too hard at the end of each row which will create an hour glass shape. I found the easiest way to weave was to choose my length of wool and then thread it onto a large darning needle.

I didn't really follow any pattern or design when I was weaving. I chose my colours and worked with what felt right, trying different things along the way. I experimented with two colours and really liked how that turned out. It is very easy to experiment and equally easy to undo it when it all goes wrong!

This is such a tactile craft and totally mesmerising. It is also very addictive.

I don't quite know what I am going to do with these small pieces of material. There are ideas running around my head for some sort of blanket or maybe a patchwork? Who knows. For now it is fun and simple to sit and pull yarn over and under.

Have you tried weaving?

Tomorrow I am sitting down for a chat and a cup of tea again. Do pop on over tomorrow, say hello and tell me what is happening with you. See you then!