Planning for the week ahead

Well blogland, I am feeling alot better! I still feel fairly run down compared to normal but compared to how I have been feeling thats just fine with me!
This bug has been just awful! My immune system isn't doing what it should at the moment. A dear friend has recommeded Berocca to me.  Has anyone ever tried this, and if so what did you think of it?

This illness has reminded me of a couple of things I already know but had pushed from the forefront of my mind:
1. Our bodies are such tender and influential things.
When I started to feel better and actually tried to eat and drink something other than water I felt like every single thing that I tasted was new to me. My taste buds were so sensitive I could really really taste things. Hash browns (that I cook in the oven usually and love as a treat for brunch)...tasted of nothing but grease :-(

Packet pasta sauce (tasted just disgusting) Coffee tasted yum, but the caffeine rush that hit my body was so strong and so much like a drug that I realised just how dangerous that drink really is!! I still love coffee and I'm not going to stop drinking it, but I will truly drink it with respect for what it is.
I found the herbal teas I enjoy to be tastier than ever and I could also feel the way the herbs were effecting me (but in a much better and healthier way than the coffee!!) So again, an increased respect for herbal teas has been remembered!
This illness has been like a detox that I hadn't planned but may be needed!! I really hope I can keep in my mind the importance of remembering that eating, drinking, (and applying skin products) are becoming part of my body. I only want the best, and things that make me feel good and well to be part of me.

2. Our minds and bodies are so incredibly linked.
I felt so low last Tuesday after another set back in our plans to extend our house.  I pretty much fell apart for the afternoon, yoga pulled me back together, but then an awful day at work on Wednesday just knocked me right back down.  I don't think its a coincidence that I was so so so low mentally and emotionally on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then I woke up on Thursday to be so ill.  I MUST take care of my whole self.

Anyway, personal rant to self over with :-) I intended to set out my goals for the week ahead in this post!
I shall split them up for this purpose but this is just to categorise them, not in any order of importance.

WORK
Walk away if I get stressed and spend 5 minutes in the basement deep breathing to calm myself, put a smile on my face that comes from my heart and go back out there.
Plan the work room space for staff efficiency (considering using half as a meeting room)

CRAFTS
Complete 2011 round up page
See if I can make Project Life work for me

HOME
Speak to Santander further and start process for mom to be removed from mortgage (if they refuse ask for details of clause to leave there)
Blog every day this week :-)

HEALTH AND WELL BEING
Do 1 yoga session outside of class
Start a nutrition diary writing down how I feel after eating/drinking (and also how I feel next day)
Reconnect with one crystal

SPIRIT
Celebrate Esbat with S
Start preparations for Imbolc
Work on/Plan pouch.

Well, thats me.  I had intended on being asleep by now but theres still so much I want to do before work! Theres a lesson there Caroline! Stop trying to do so much and you might stop running yourself down!
Night night!
xoxo

Hello Mojo...where have you been all year?!

I have FINALLY found my scrapping mojo!! It's a little dusty for being all neglected but is alive and well :0)
Over the past 2 weeks I have attacked and destroyed my backlog of kits and created lots of layouts. Yippie! I feel like me again!
WARNING- PHOTO HEAVY FROM HERE!!!!

















A layout celebrating my childhood!














A double page spread for Shimelle's free 6x4 Photo Love course.  Below are the pages separately:























































From our holiday. I am loving working with smaller prints at the moment. They're patricularly great when the photo quality isn't top notch!!!

















As you can see from the next layouts, I am continuing to love Hipstamatic photos!!

















Not that keen on this Ludlow layout :0(



































The first of what will be many layouts from my brother-n-laws wedding last year! The bride wore black so tis allow for some great alternative layouts!!


















The following two layouts are back to back on a double sided piece of pattered paper as I loved both sides so much I couldn't chose between them. Woudl you believe these are only the 3rd and 4th layouts in my 2011 scrapbook (Oh, the shame!!)




































And thats it for now lovely blog land.
PS/ the photos appear all blurry and I'm nto sure why :0( I'm having bad experiences with uploading via Blogpress on my Ipad. Anyone got any advice????

Art Journaling

I am LOVING my art journal! I only discovered art journaling fairly recently and have launched myself into it as part of the amazing 'Soul Restoration' class over at Brave Girls Club.
There are some great technique videos and inspirations over there if you are like me - someone wo never did art at school and really hasn't got a clue!!
One thing I have discovered is art is one thing, journaling is another but art journaling... thats a WHOLE thing on its own!!
Does anyone have any favourite art journal blogs or websites they can recommend to me?
I'm really looking for inspiration and am collecting links on Pinterest to inspire me.

Grand October Plan update!!

Well, I've been a busy bee this afternoon. I've nested in the living room with Saffy curled up on a cushion nearby, logged on to the internet and done sooooo much stuff I had planned to do for months but hadn't gotten around to!! Its annoying - when you spend all day at work infront of a computer, you feel less inclined to turn one on when you get home. Even if its to do things that are nice for yourself!
Anyway to day I have:

• Made use of my 10% discount (which only had 2 days left on it!!!) and bought some yummy scented candles and oils for the house from Starchild - I can't wait for those to arrive!
• We had already cleared out the house (and in particular the loft) in September, but I hadn't noted it down. We are in danger of the clutter reappearing so I need to be quite strict with my lovely other half. We have VERY different views on what is acceptable as clutter! I don't mind pretty clutter (ie/ a basket of minibooks in the corner, a notebook and pen somewhere. But I HATE muddy shpes in the hall and the fact that he refuses to put any of his paperwork away - thus the huge stack of dusting papers on his bedside table. I have offered a basket for this purpose. It was declined. I shall get tough, and just ditch it (or at least tell him I've done that!!!) to get my point across!!!!
• I have sorted out my health (apart from the fact I have a yuck cold at the moment) by registering and visiting a dentist for the first time in 10 years (blush, yes 10 years!!) It wasn't too awful. I needed 3 fillings (which aftrer 10 years isn;t too bad I guess!) The fillings were as bad as I remembered but I have promised myself I will go for regular check ups and be very mindful of my teeth as they are the only set I have!!
• I have organised my 2 1/2 years and counting crystal study notes into folders that are well ordered and easy to refer to. I am soooo happy to have done this! I am going to decorate the folders a little bit when I get chance so they look pretty on the bookshelf!
• I have bought my ticket to Bath for the Christmas market and a day out with my dear friend. From this experience I have learned NEVER to put off buying tickets again! I had a ticket saved but not paid for that would have cpst me £14. As I left it too long I ended up paying £34 pounds for the same journey :0( I truly thought that 5 weeks was advance but clearly not (fail!)
• I have paid my dear friend for the lovely cards I bought from her (I love to scrapbook but just can't seem to make a decent card!! Maybe oneday this will come, I think probably not!
• I have planned a routine for cooking and shopping that is more organised and hopefully healthier for us. I have made the huge decision to start eating meat again. Well, I think I have!! I feel guilty at the thought of it, but my diet has steadily been declining into eating nonsense and I think I may need this focus to bring it back on track. Not to mention I have started to crave meat again.  I think I will give it a go with one meat meal a week and if that works I'll stick with it, if it doesn't I know I can happily live as a veggie!!

Well thats it so far! LOADS to do over the next two days if I want to get the plan all sorted for a fresh new Celtic New Year :0)

ps/ I've got all the Halloween decs to make yet too, so if any of you have any links for groovy hybrid or fabric decs please leave a comment or link :0)

Bored! Bored! Bored!

In case you can't guess from the post title - I Am BORED! Or more specifically - I am bored with my hair!
I have long dyed black hair and am fed up with it. BUT once black, its very hard to go back!!! I am a coward and don't fancy stripping the colour out of it myself to redye lighter. I have been assured by a friend that its easy to do and works fine but it would be just my luck that my hair would turn oramge, or green, or fall out (eek!!)
So, I am bored! I'm tempted to have the hairdresser strip the colour and dye it a nice brown with coppery bits, but a) thats expensive, b) I am a spontaneous and impatient person and want it done now! and c) What if I pay all that money, am patient and wait for an appointment, look in the mirror and think 'I prefer it black!'
My other option is streaks of something  vibrant (like red, or pink etc) but somehow, I feel I'm passed this!
So for now, I'm just moaning to my poor blog readers and wondering if anyone has any ideas??

Having a moment with kits again!!

I'm having trouble with my subscribed kits again. I LOVE what comes with them, but I al always SOOOOO strict with myself and refuse to add anything to the kit until I feel I have got as many pages as possible from it and then I just file the rest.
The trouble with this is I feel at the moment I am ending with pages that, although they are pretty and nice, are not quite as good as they could be. I always think: oh if only I could have added that embellishment, that letter sticker, that bit of bling etc.
This is SOOOOOOO silly! There are no rules (other than my own) to stop me using the kit but just adding to it too. I know some people just unpack the kits into their usual stash as soon as they arrive and don't use the pieces together necessarily.
Not sure why I am ranting about this here! I guess I just hope for some encouragement from my blogging friends that it is OK to add to kits! (Feels like a therapy session!!!!)

Advice needed...

I have an 8x8 album of pages that I completed earlier this year. I like the pages , but at the moment they are simply a few pages held together in a cover together. I want them to be a unified album. I want flow, continuity, balance. I know I want a lot, but I just know it is possible without redoing all of the pages. Does anyone have any tips???


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A plea for help...with creating 8x8 pages!

I am revisiting a recent project (I'll update you with the details tomorrow) and could really really do with some advice.
I always scrap with 12x12 pages (unless I am making a minibook) and am comfortable with this format.
My current project is in 8x8 format. I feel a little out of my my comfort zone with this size and would welcome any tips people have for scrapping in this smaller size. I am particularly keen to hear what size photos people use on 8x8 pages - do you print out smaller photos, scrap 6x4 anyway or even use 5x7's for impact????
Any help very gratefully received! :0)


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Do you tweet?

I've just entered into the world of Twitter. It's good fun and a great forum for learning about things. If anyone reading this is a tweeter then please follow me :o)
My username is stryxaluco (i adore owls!) and my full name is Caroline Faulkner.
Thanks everybody!


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I haven't scrapped in over a week...(plus PHOTO ADVICE PLEASE!!)

...and I feel panic-stricken!!! Rather than feeling like I've had a 'bit of a break' or time to plan pages and projects, I actually feel horror-struck that so many things have got in the way of my special time to myself!! I am at work all day tomorrow too, so can't even look forward to that, and a friend is hoping for girlie time on Sunday. I can't bear the thought of another weekend with no scrapping. I'm toying with the idea of crafting over dark in my Craft room (which I have never done before - as my Craft room is at the bottom of my garden - fully carpeted and plasterboarded, with a heater,  but still at the bottom of the garden with only a little lamp and thus not a lot of light to work by!)
I think part of my problem is that I have no photos printed. I can print them from my PC as I have a few I want to scrap now (well, loads actually!!!)I usually print as I scrap, which is becoming very expensive. I think I am going to have loads of photos printed at once (ones I know I want to scrap at some point) and then I can decide when I want.  My problem is, that sometimes I don't know until I start creating, what size I want photos printed in. I am trying to do more multi-photo layouts so need some smaller prints.
Can anyone advise?? How do you get your photos printed in preparation for scrapping?  Do you opt for one 'smaller'size or print them individually at home??

Life versus scrapbooking ;0) plus a plea for help at the end of the post!!

I love scrapbooking!! When I have time off work I love nothing more to be out in my Craft room creating! The problem I have, is that as the weather gets better and better I am more inclined to be out doing things (which is great in itself, but results in yet more photos and events to scrap!!) rather than scrapping about things I have already done or want to do!
Thats where the great British weather comes in!! However glorious our summers may get (and they DO get glorious on occasion!!!), you can pretty much guarentee that you will have a few grey days, or rainy days. Days where you just don't want to be out visiting places in the rain etc. These are PERFECT scrapping days!!!
This year I am far more creative (shall we just say 'obsessed with scrapping' and be done with it?!) than I was last year. I have really blossomed into this past time and am always thinkign about it - even if that thought is just a little one at the back of my mind!!
I have decided that one night this week - or on the next grey day ;0) I am going to organise my Pictures folders and PSE albums and get in to the habit of uploading photos each week or month. I also plan to make myself a little Rainy Day notebook.  In this I plan to write down pages I really really want to scrap but I may not have time to do t that point in time.  I know alot of you probably already do this, but so far I never have.
I have a notebook I scribbles scrapping things I see in magazines into - but no actual Scrap Journal.  I'd like it to be a really pretty, usable and visual thing. Something that will grow to be colourful and bursting with ideas.
 Does anyone have a book like this? Could you post a photo on your own blog and leave a link here or in an email so I can pop over and get some inspiration?? Thanks in advance!!

Prima blooms - advice needed!!!

Help!! I am completely in love with Prima flowers (particularly all the lush new ones out there) BUT I am only just venturing into the world of online scrap shopping and wonder if anyone can recommend any UK stores where I can get good deals on Prima flowers OR who stock a wide range. I've googled, but the hits are huge and I was hoping someone out there may have stores they have used and thus can recommend them to me.
Any help greatfully received (although my bank balance may regret it!!! Tee Hee!!)
:0)

Todays crafty achievements and a request for advice on a page...

My fourth page from my GoGo March kit (I'm allllll ready for the April kit now!!) celebrates my first ever ride on Oblivion at Alton Towers.
I'm really happy with the glossy accents on the covered chipboard circles. They pick out our faces in the photo perfectly!

I caught up on the final two pages for my Celebrate Life album with Shimelle's Something from almost nothing course.
The album I've used is an 8x8 one, this isn't a format and I've had mixed results with my pages. Disliking some:

Disappointing chipboard prompt page :0(

And loving some!

My first ever transparency page(s) which I totally adore :0)

And then finally I used this sketch from an old Scrapbook Inspirations mag:

To create this page:

I kind of love the page, but am not sure whether the block of journalling ruins the page. Any thoughts anyone?? It is glued down, but I could glue over it or pull it off and then glue something else there??????????

I've caught up...

with the Something from almost nothing prompts! Hooray!! I know the project is by no means a challenge with deadlines etc and that you can potter along at your own speed etc. BUT I am always far too strict with myself and I always set myself deadlines regardless and I get very uppity with myself if I fall behind!!!
Anyway ...
Prompt 3 was to use ribbon, and  photos that you had already printed but never scrapped. To find a link between these photos and to celebrate it. I used some photos of me and a hawthorn tree and the hawthorn tattoo I have on my hip - celebrating the fact i LOVE nature and the earth we are lucky enough to be living on :0)

And prompt four was to use a photo that made you happy on a page made using (if possible ONLY cardstock!) Tricky and I almost succeeded but in the end allowed myself a few brads a) to use them up and b) to hold my pretty flowers together better!!

Hope you like them! I think the Earth Love page could do with something else..any thoughts? You may see an amended version of this page later in the week!

Life - and why I love it! Is this page OK or does it need 'something'??

This was the topic of todays class over at Shimelle's. The challenge was to use paper scraps on our page.
I decided to go with something different to my usual style and punched paper 'buttons' with my new Martha Stewart punch. These were then sewn onto the page. I use some simple lined patterned paper as the base and decided to journal straight onto this.
I didn't add any other embellies as the buttons are quite busy. Not sure if the page is OK as it is, or whether it needs 'something' - any advice anyone??

Night-time scrapping?????

I hate not finding time to scrap when I have been at work all day. By the time I have cooked, eaten, washed up etc Its fairly late and I don't tend to start scrapping as a) the light isn't great and b) I know that if I start I am unlikely to ever stop and then will never go to bed!!
I started digi scrapping briefly. This meant I could scrap at nights and easily stop mid-layout. Trouble is, it just doesn't 'do it' for me. Does anyone know what I mean??
So, has anyone got any advice? Shall I just put up with longing but not scrapping at night?? This would leave my weekends (Well, Sundays every other week as I have to work) and my blissful, wonderful Tuesdays.
WHAT can I do to feel scrappy without getting too involved and also without getting lost staring at the laptop for hours.
Heeeeeellllllppppp!!! I want to use my new found mojo as much as possible!!!!

This is what I made today...does it need more though???

I really really enjoyed ripping, scrunching and generally 'wrecking' the papers to get that fab distressed look I am loving on my pages at the moment!! I think I could use a few more of the book page flowers on the page though. What do people think??? Please leave a comment and let me know! Thanks!

Yearbook advice please anyone????

I need some inspiration - I am doing Document 2010 and am recording a self portrait each month and 12 mini photos taken that month too. I really really want to make my Go Go Yearbook completely different and have a complete block of inspiration about what I could focus it around! I quite like the idea of books I'm reading, but am wondering whether a photo of a book cover each month would be a bit boring. Then I pondered doing Things I love this month...but wondered if that was incredibly shallow and materialistic (to focus purely on things!!!)
Any advice very very gratefully received!! I have a beautiful kit box of goodies just waiting to make a page with!!

Advice from digi scrappers appreciated...

I only started digi scrapping this year and am really enjoying it.  I am slowly aquiring some lovely digi papers and embellishments and so far have just saved them on my computer in the collections they are purchased in.
I read through the AMAZINGLY useful tutorial from Ali on her blog and she suggests storing them on the computer in type rather than collection (ie all the cardstocks together, papers together, tags etc) and maybe keeping a collection or two together (ie Christmas, Valentines day...)
Can I ask how other digi scrappers out there store their files? I like being organised when I work in any format and its driving me a little crazy!! I thought it would be better to get this issue resolved before I buy too much digi stuff ;0)

Hmmmm, how do I do this?

OK ladies, I need more advice.  This time about organising my album.  I have a 12x12 album for 2010.  Is it better to put the pages in as I scrap them OR to stor them in the album in chronolgical order of date (if its an event/ season etc) Help please.....

I had some fab responses to the 'how can I store my ribbons' dilema.  I took today as a sick day from work after catching the lurgy from walking in the snow and cuddled up in warm clothes with a lemsip and my ribbons! I copied the lovely idea of storing the in jars (although I only had 3 jars so need ALOT more!!)They will look so pretty when they are all done:

I spent some time in the afternoon scrapping and this is the layout I came up with. I loved scrapping it. I love the photo, I love all of the papers BUT I'm not so sure I love the page :0( I'm not sure that I have done the best I could have and wonder whether it all looks like a bit of a mess! Oh well, its in the album now and I'll just have to judge how I feel about it as time passes!