Thankful for Friends blog hop

I’ve been very AWOL recently but that’s a tale for another blog post!  Today SALT are joining in with the Scrapbook News and Reviews Thankful for Friends blog hop and I’ve finally added my layout to the SALT blog!  I would say normal service will resume soon but since my blogging is erratic I’ll be best not promising anything!!

My layout is of 7 friends and I who rented a cottage in York in February 2008.  We had a fantastic time scrapping and chatting!  Good friends are definitely worth celebrating and giving thanks for!  Supplies used are: Bazzill Kraft cardstock, Basic Grey chipboard letters which have been embossed with bronze embossing powder, 7 Gypsies paper and tape, ric rac and buttons from a kit a while back!

Thanks for popping in – make sure to have a look at the other blogs, there’s some fantastic inspiration.

 

SALT – Serving

It’s time for another SALT challenge today. This week’s was set by Kim and she’s written about it over on the blog. I felt prompted several times when I was thinking about the theme of serving for God’s glory and kept coming back to how I can serve God in my day to day teaching. I decided to use photos of my planner which is where all my notes, lesson planning etc are kept. It’s invaluable! The papers are all Cosmo Cricket which I love at the moment!

Please pop over to the SALT blog as well as everyone’s personal blogs – they’ve been much more organised and posted before 10pm!!

 

Paying it Forward

I’ve been blog hopping tonight and on Lynz’s Domestic Light and Magic I spotted that she was taking part in a crafty pay it forward challenge.  Since I frequent Lynz’s blog I thought I’d give it a shot (the temptation was that I have 365 days to do it in!)

The rules are:

1. I will make a little something for the first three people who comment on this post. It will be a surprise and it will arrive on your doorstep when you least expect it!

2. I will have 365 days to do it in.

What’s the catch? To get a handmade prezzie from me, you have to play too.

1. You must have a blog.

2. BEFORE you comment here, you must post about your Pay It Forward on your blog to keep the fun going, and display the Pay It Forward button

Now, since I don’t get a huge amount of traffic on here (which is entirely my own fault for rarely updating!) I will copy Lynz and have some reserves in case I don’t get 3 comments!!

Happy it’s Friday – this weekend the girls are staying at my mums while Sharon (sister in law) and I go to Nick Nairn’s cook school.  This was our Christmas pressie from the in-laws (well, my in-laws, Sharon’s parents!) and it’s taken us until now to get round to it, how bad is that?!   We’re looking forward to a girlie day though so better head to bed!

 

Bad Blogger!

Ooops, I’m terrible at updating this blog, sorry!

I’m late with the latest SALT challenge because our schools were on holiday last week so as well as a very welcome week off work it was also a chance to spend some time as a family so we were in Blackpool for a few days. No scrapping was completed during the week hence my blogging tonight when I’ve finally had the chance to upload my layout!

The challenge was set by Hazel and was on the theme of Confidence in God. You can read her reflections on the theme over on the blog. My layout is using a photo taken at the top of Blackpool Tower. There is a glass panel in the floor up at the top of the tower and the girls were perfectly happy to sit and have their photo taken. At the time I was amazed at their confidence and because it fitted well with the theme of the challenge I thought I’d use an up-to-date photo! The verse from Philippians is one I learned many years ago on a Scripture Union camp. When I was a student I went as a team member on several camps and it continues to surprise me that I can remember verses from then.

Supplies used are: White cardstock (not sure of the brand, it’s definitely not Bazzill but otherwise I’m not 100%!), American Crafts Remarks letter stickers and Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday patterned paper and stickers.

For the next challenge I must try to be on time!

 

SALT – Growth

Today’s SALT challenge was set by Esther and her chosen theme was growth.  I had a few ideas for the challenge with specific photos in mind, but when I came to put the layout together at the weekend could I find the photos I was looking for?!  I did find the one of these hyacinths which Hayley grew last year.  Her primary school has a competition each year to grow 3 bulbs (either hyacinths or daffodils).  Hayley has never won but was happy last year that the bulbs grew and looked great!  She had put a lot of effort into caring for them so this is where I took my layout’s theme.  I chose the verse from Colossians, “Keep your roots deep in him, build your lives on him, and become stronger in your faith as you were taught.”  I see now that I’m adding my layout to the blog (late thanks to an incredibly busy week and no internet connection for most of yesterday) that I’m not the only team member to choose the verse!  It’s always fascinating to see what inspiration we’ve got from the theme – well worth having a look!

Supplies used are: Rusty Pickle French Market patterned papers, Making Memories noteworthy journalling page, Heidi Swapp chipboard clock (I’ve been hoarding these to use on a ’special’ layout which hasn’t happened so have decided it’s time to get them on layouts!) and Doodlebug letter stickers.

 

SALT – Listening to God

It’s SALT day today and Tanis set us the challenge of reflecting on the theme of Listening to God. My layout was inspired by the fact that I find it quite difficult to find ’space’ in the house to reflect and to spend a quiet time with God. I found an assortment of photos that I’d taken on my phone hence the poor quality! They show our girls dressing up and playing in a local park. I thought the bottom left one with Hayley yelling into a megaphone was appropriate!

The journalling reads, “With 2 young children in the house it’s rarely a quiet, contemplative place. They love music, dancing and generally having fun – fair enough! Add to their noise the phone, dogs barking, the washing machine etc etc! I know that in order to really hear God in my life that I need to set aside time to listen. It has to be a conscious decision I make to set aside that time, but I know my relationship with God will suffer otherwise. I get reminded by the passage in 1 Kings 19 – ‘After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”

Supplies used are: Imaginisce Sam and Abby patterned papers (Daffy Dills and Stripeys), Making Memories chipboard letters, Doodlebug paper frill, Heidi Swapp date stamp (with which I stamped the wrong date – it should be June not July!), felt flowers and embroidery floss.

Check the rest of the team’s creations on the blog!

 

SALT Challenge Day

I can’t believe I’ve been so appalling at updating here! It’s been an incredibly difficult 3 weeks since starting work full-time and I’ve barely been able to keep up with online friends let alone the blog so apologies to those who’ve been checking for updates!

Today is SALT challenge day and we were asked by Stacy to consider the theme of guidance. I had a lot of ideas before I sat down to do my layout but as always have ended up with a very simple one. I found the fantastic photograph of a path going in several directions and decided to use that as the focal point and the verse from Isaiah 58:11, “The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land.” I sometimes feel that at the times when I’m looking for guidance from God that it’s not always immediately obvious (thinking about work again at the moment which is a difficult situation at the moment). When that happens I know I have to try to focus on positives and not on the negatives of the situation and usually I gain a little more perspective and I can start to see things more clearly. I know God is there and believe he is trying to guide me in the right direction but I know I have to put my ‘human-ness’ to the side occasionally because I have a tendency to be quite independent and not want to lean on others for support. Usually the very people I’ve been trying to avoid leaning on are the ones that God most wants to be helping me and who he has provided as supporters. I suppose it’s about taking the time and listening for the still small voice. I really enjoyed the challenge – thanks Stacy, you provided some much needed food for thought.

Supplies used are: White Bazzill, Basic Grey Mellow patterned paper, Scrapworks Magpie Collection chipboard (arrow, scroll and journalling spot) and Papermania Alphaminis foam letters (for the second challenge running – I need to go alphabet shopping!)

The rest of the team have produced some gorgeous and thought-provoking items so make sure you have a look!

 

SALT – According to His Purpose

It’s Ruth’s turn to set the challenge for the SALT team this week and her chosen theme is Purpose. The verse she gave us to think about is Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disastor, to give you a future and a hope”.

Whenever I start to think about God’s purpose in my life I tend to start thinking about my work situation/career. I left university after completing my degree in 1998 and my plan was to go on to study teacher training (a year’s postgraduate course in Scotland). God’s plan was different, however! Bryan and I were engaged and he was still at university for 2 years after me while he was training for full time ministry. My plan became ‘find a job’ to support Bryan while he was at uni. Time went on, we got married and had the 2 girls but always in the background was what I was sure was my purpose and that was teaching. I’d been sure about that since primary school and had so many confirmation of it in various, unexpected ways. Everything worked out last year and I started as a full time student again in August. I graduated in June and on Monday began working full time as a teacher. The photo in my layout is of the school I’m working in.

Supplies used are: Papermania cardstock (cream and brown) and alphamini foam stickers, Basic Grey Mellow patterned papers and rub ons, Doodlebug paper frill, Jenny Bowlin journalling card, Making Memories mini brads and a random ticket from somewhere! The journalling is the Jeremiah verse Ruth shared with us.

I’ve taken a slightly different approach to the theme which Ruth intended for us (sorry Ruth!) but I hope there’s still some inspiration there!  (I should learn to read things more carefully!)  Please check over on the blog for the work of the rest of the design team.

 

Room Make-Over Part 2

Ok, I decided that if I didn’t just get on with taking ‘after’ photos the room would probably end up messy again!

The first photo is from the door over to the window.  The single bed is a little one, but we plan to replace it at some point with a sofa bed but because of space between it and the desk it needs to be quite a small sofa bed and they seem to be more expensive!

The second photo shows the new desk – isn’t it huge compared to the little square one I had?!  It’s at the end of the room where the bed head was with new shelves up above.

The third photo shows one of the bookcases which has now moved round the corner.  It’s got all my teaching things in it (nicely organised!) so when I start work on Thursday I can not panic about reference material!

The fourth photo is taken from the desk end of the room where you can now stand (what a novelty!) and shows the other bookcase which is now where the old desk was.

I’m really amazed by the transformation in the room.  It’s not the biggest spare room in the world and felt quite claustrophobic before with the 2 big bookcases right next to the double bed.  At least now it’s serving it’s purpose as a study for me slightly more effectively – the bed ended up being an extension to the desk before.  The new desk is almost 3 times the size of the previous one and only cost about £20 – bargain!  The colour scheme came about as a result of the file boxes that are on the shelf – it was one of those “oh they’re nice” moments which then spiralled off on a tangent!  I do like red and I think it works well with the plain walls and curtains.  The girls are fans of the cushions!

You’ll see from the photo of the desk that there’s a massive pile of filing to get done…that’s my work in progress!

 

A Room Make-Over Part 1

Last weekend we went to Ikea for ‘a look’ but inevitably while there we started talking about potential purchases (what is it about Ikea that does that?!) I had been contemplating a new desk because I’ve been working on a small square table that didn’t really offer a huge amount of room if I wanted to write something while having the laptop next to me. A conversation later and we came home with a new desk and plans to completely rearrange the spare room (which is where my other desk was housed).

Here’s the before photos – all taken from the door of the spare room. The desk was straight in front of the door, the bookcases along the wall to the left of the door and the window side is opposite the door.

The desk wasn’t always that messy just in case you think I’m a complete slob! I realised part way into rearranging things to be able to move the bed out that I hadn’t taken any before shots so quickly did that!  The plan that Bryan and I decided on was to get rid of the double bed since we tend to have few people staying (and there’s a double sofa bed in the girls’ playroom), move the bookcases, bring in a single bed that was stored in another room and add in the larger desk.  I think Bryan was very aware that I get pretty stressed over clutter/mess/bad organisation and that if I was to be slightly less stressed about starting work then we needed to come up with a better space for me to both work and scrapbook in.  Lovely man;)

Back later with the ‘after’ photos – I haven’t taken them yet!