It's Monday. What Are You Reading?

This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!

Lat week I managed to read Things I Couldn't Tell My Mother by Sue Johnston which I thoroughly enjoyed and it made me decide that I really should read more autobiographies.

I then moved onto The Hidden Child by Camilla Lackberg which I had noticed from Goodreads that my friend Kirsty was reading - I already had The Stonecutter in my library book pile after it was picked as one of the TV Book Club choices earlier in the year. I have now discovered that this is a series of books about Patrik Hedstrom and I have just read the 5th in the series but will certainly be back to read some of the other.

For a complete change of pace I have picked up The Beach Cafe by Lucy Diamond. I keep getting a feeling of deja vu so am thinking I have read something similar earlier in the year. This is a nice light read and I am cracking along with it.



Evie Flynn has always been the black sheep of her family - a dreamer and a drifter, unlike her over-achieving elder sisters. She's tried making a name for herself as an actress, a photographer and a singer, but nothing has ever worked out. Now she's stuck in temp hell, with a sensible, pension-planning boyfriend. Somehow life seems to be passing her by. Then her beloved aunt Jo dies suddenly in a car crash, leaving Evie an unusual legacy - her precious beach cafe in Cornwall. Determined to make a success of something for the first time in her life, Evie heads off to Cornwall to get the cafe and her life back on track - and gets more than she bargained for, both in work and in love...

Pop over to The Book Journey and see what everyone else is reading today.

Pretty Paper Party # 1

I know I haven't got very far with this class but what I have done I absolutely love - just need to find the time to do some more.

The first prompt involved using paper strips - and it is a perfect way of using up all those scraps. Each prompt is packed full of examples and a page full of inspirational sketches.

This is my first page using one of those sketches and some scraps of Basic Grey 'Origins' papers which I have had for a while - and were perfect for the photo of the view from our cabin in the mountains while we were on holiday:





I then used another of the sketches for this page of Sam - the photo was taken back last year when we visited Stokesay Castle in Shropshire with Nanny. The papers are 'So Sophie' by My Minds Eye which I love - and are one of those paper ranges I have hung on to and not used because it is too nice!!!!





In the bag with the papers were a couple of half started pages from a crop (probably last year some time!) so I managed to finish those too - and they fitted the brief of the prompt and used strips of paper too.





There was also a sketch to make some cards so I might try those before I move onto the next prompt. I think this is the most inspirational if Shimelles classes I have done - and I think if I continue at this pace the class is going to last me ages.......

52 Weeks In B&W : Week 44

Callum on a local walk.

Halloween cupcakes

We are having friends round tonight for a curry night and as there will be more kids in the house I thought I would have another go at making cupcakes.

I found the brown polka dot cases in Hobbycraft the other day and the orange food colouring and sprinkles came from Asda. Adding all the food colouring made the butter icing a bit softer than I would have liked but didn't want to add anymore icing sugar in case it ended up full of lumps.

I also bought a better icing kit from Lakeland while I was in Aberdeen the other day - and I have to admit it made decorating the cake so much easier - and you can put the icing bag in the dishwasher to clean it - a double bonus!

Now all I have to do is carve a pumpkin seeing as how the boys don't seem at all bothered to have a go themselves - luckily where we live is very quite and we don't get any guisers - so there will be nothing to interrupt Strictly later on!!

Skywatch Friday

My local beach - looking forward to Sunday as Callum has got rugby training down on sand - should be interesting!!

See more skies from around the world here.

Holiday pages

I have made a start on Shimelles new class Pretty Paper Party - but am still only on the very first prompt. I keep being sidetracked by other things - and here are a few of my recent pages all for my holiday album:

This was a challenge page from my local crop and I used some very old Junkitz "Athlete" papers and the photo is of the boys in Nashville:



I used Echo Park "on The Record" for the next page of Sam and Matthew in the Smoky Mountains - love all the white space and my rosette die on this page:










































And finally I decided to scrap this out of focus photo of Callum taken in downtown Nashville using old Scenic Route "Salem papers":




My album is starting to fill up nicely!

WOYWW 26th October

Not much happening on my desk today - but in my defence I have been out all day as I had to take Callum through to Aberdeen on the train for his first orthodontist appointment.

But being stuck in Aberdeen meant we could indulge in some retail therapy - along with KFC and Thorntons!!

I popped into Hobbycraft and spotted these cute little stamps - and at only £1.29 I bought a couple.



Maybe these will make it onto my Christmas cards this year.



Also popped into Paperchase and saw this kraft A5 ring binder - thinking about using it for this years Journal Your Christmas class - also bought kraft pages (only paper but might be able to do something with them and some divided display pockets. And finally a cute little kraft notebook - as I did sign up for the latest Create 10 class but as yet haven't done anything with the prompts.



It wasn't all shopping today - I did drag Callum into the Aberdeen Art Gallery to look at the Breathtaking exhibition which is described as a new wave in British glass blowing. Some of the pieces were amazing - a hand blown glass trombone - which actually works.

This exhibit was called Cook's Eggs by James Maskrey and features an imagined assortment of delicacies collected on Cooks voyages to Australia and New Zealand - the details was amazing.



Pop over and see Julia at The Stamping Ground to see what everyone else is up to today.

It's Monday. What Are You Reading?

This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!

For a change I am reading an autobiography - not something I do that often. But as an avid "Brookie" (for my overseas visitors this was a soap opera which was set in the city of Liverpool which ran for 21 years till it ended in 2003 - you can read more about it here)in my youth - and Christmas wasn't Christmas for a time without The Royal Family special on the telly.



'There was a lot that we kept from my mother. My dad would say to me as a teenager "Don't tell your mother". We couldn't face the disapproval'. Sue Johnston always seemed to be disappointing her mother. As a girl she never stayed clean and tidy like her cousins. As she grew older, she spent all her piano lesson money on drinks for her mates down the pub, and when she discovered the Cavern she was never at home. The final straw was when Sue left her steady job at a St Helens factory to try her hand at that unsteadiest of jobs: acting. Yet when Sue was bringing up her own child alone, her mother was always there to help. And playing her much-loved characters Sheila Grant and Barbara Royle - although her mum wouldn't say she was proud as such, she certainly seemed to approve. And in her mother's final months, it was Sue she needed by her side. The relationship with your mother is perhaps the most precious and fraught of any woman's life. When she began writing, Sue set out to record 'all the big things, and all the small things. Everything I wanted to tell my mother but felt I never could'. The result is a warm, poignant and often very funny memoir by one of Britain's favourite actresses.

The book catalogues her TV and film work but a large part of the book relates to the not always easy relationship she had with her late mother. It appears to be written very honestly and I am sure she will have even more fans after this book. The parts about her youth were fascinating - growing up in Liverpool, hanging out at The Cavern club and socialising with The Beatles.

A little bit windswept

We are so lucky to be spoilt for choice when it comes to beaches to walk on where we live - and even though it was a tad breezy we headed down to Lossiemouth to blow the cobwebs away.

Love the dramatic skies and the fact that it was virtually deserted - even if it was a bit chilly for an ice cream!!

52 Weeks In B&W : Week 43

A friend we met on our walk down the beach yesterday!!

Skywatch Friday

Series 5, Episode 15.

A last glimpse of summer maybe - the sunflowers in my garden last week against a stunning blue sky.

This week it has all changed with temperatures dropping and snow on the hills - and the wind has taken its toll on the tallest of my sunflowers - just hope the birds enjoy the seeds.

You can see more skies from around the world here.

WOYWW 19th October

I am a fully paid up member of Shimelles new class "Pretty Paper Party" but I have yt to actually "do" anything.

I have pulled out the scraps of some of my favourite ever papers - Origins by Basic Grey and a couple of holiday photos in the hope of creating a page using strips of patterned paper for the first class prompt.



And look what my friend Helen sent for me - a couple of fabby little badges - perfect for today's wintry forecast. My happy snow dance seems to be working as it was actually snowing in Keith this morning - woo hoo!!!!



Pop over to see Julia at The Stamping Ground to see what everyone else is up to today.

A first attempt

I have never made cupcakes before - to be honest couldn't see what all the fuss is about - all they are is glorified fairy cakes aren't they????

Armed with a recipe from this years Great British Bake Off winner Jo I decided as it was such a dreich day I would give them a whirl. The cake itself is really easy to make and I was chuffed with them when they came out of the oven - all golden brown and risen.

But the decorating is something else! I have got an icing set that I bought from Lakeland many moons ago but have never used. Made up a bowl of butter icing and the first problem is getting the damn stuff into the plastic tube - I am sure an icing bag must be far easier as it has a wider opening.

More practice it required I feel - don't think the local bakers shops have anything to worry about! This little pink one was the best of the bunch (I made the boys and their mates eat the misfits!!) There must be a knack to icing them neatly - and not pebble dashing half the kitchen with hundreds and thousands. Not quite in the same league as the ones Shimelle has featured in her new class which you can see in my previous post.

But for a first attempt I am quite pleased.

Pretty Paper Party

Today is the start of Shimelle's new class - it was announced at the end of this years Learn Something New Every Day class at a bargain introductory price - I snapped it up.

You may have noticed, I am rather fond of pretty paper. What you might not know is when I say ‘pretty paper’ aloud, it is almost always immediately followed by a wistful sigh. Pretty paper inspires me. It’s such a simple thing and yet such a fabulous bonus in life. Why yes, I do have significant gratitude for pretty paper. So much that this is all leading to a brand new online scrapbooking class.

If you are also a fan of such things, I invite you to a party. The Pretty Paper Party. A four week celebration of pasting pretty paper to other pretty papers in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Would you care to join me?

In today's prompt we were asked to describe what sort of paper person we are - I think I fall into the category of "The Collection Packer."

Craft long enough and one is
bound to learn the look of at least a few key paper
company styles. The discovery of one lovely sheet of
paper usually means there are another dozen patterns to
match. The Collection Packer loves to purchase and
create using those matching papers together, and finds
it hard to fathom why anyone might mix items from one
collection with items from another collection. Though
sometimes curious about the creative possibility,
Collection Packers stick to one product line on any one
project.

I am hoping this class will help me to overcome my fear of putting papers from differnet collections/manufacturers on the same page.

Shimelle also asked us to share a photo of our favourite paper. I haven't bought any new stash (my holiday purchases don't count!!) for a while but I have to admit October Afternoon remains a firm favourite of mine. But after looking around my craft room I think I might have a problem! It is all nicely sorted and organised - all by manufacturer and on the whole I know where stuff is.

My crop bag - full of paper.






















Pizza boxes sitting on the floor full of paper (one of which has my yummy holiday stash in!)
















A stack of Really Useful Boxes with paper in - and I think the stuff in the bottom one comes under the "why on earth did I buy that" catagory!























One sad little Really Useful Box with a bit more paper in.

It's Monday. What Are You Reading?

This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!

I picked up All For You by Shelia O'Flanagan from the library as she is one of my favourite authors who never fails to disappoint - and I do love a good Irish tale.



As TV's favourite weather forecaster, Lainey is good at making predictions. But what she doesn't foresee is that her own life is about to hit a stormy patch. With a string of failed relationships behind her, surely history isn't about to repeat itself with her beloved Ken? To add fuel to the fire, her estranged mother announces that she's returning to Dublin. Deanna has always been dismissive of Lainey's choices - particularly in men. And Deanna's lectures are the last thing Lainey needs now.

Yet is there more to her mother than she knows? Uncovering some long-concealed family secrets, Lainey begins to reassess her life. Is the happy-ever-after she's always dreamed of really what she wants after all?

I am enjoying what I have read so far but I can't say I really like the main character of Lainley - I want to give her a slap for being so soppy and romantic!!

Pop over to The Book Journey and see what everyone else is reading today.

Scatty Scrappers Crop Night and SOTW

Once a month over on UKS my team has a monthly crop night - and each month a different team member sets a challenge.

Last month Ann gave us a stunning class complete with instructions and everything. I am afraid I couldn't manage that so cheated and used Shimelles sketch of the week:




I asked the team to use the sketch as inspiration with the element that they had to use some old stash that they have been holding onto for some time. I used Garden Grove papers by Scenic Route (so old that the company is no longer in existence!) which I bought at the first Scrapagogo Getaway I went on - not sure what year that was but it must have been 2008/2009. Not sure why I have never used them - maybe some of the bright colours didn't appeal but I toned them down with the black and White sheets.



I have to admit I don't often scrap Andy - probably because he isn't keen on having his photo taken in the first place. These were taken on holiday when we stopped off in Pigeon Forge and took all the kids (big and small!) go karting.





My second challenge I spotted on Facebook. It was in a post from Creating Keepsakes and was a challenge to complete a page in 10 minutes!! Here is the original article. And this is my finished page - which did take me more like half an hour to do rather than the 10 minutes predicted! Same papers again but this time the photos of Andy were taken at Ober Gatlingburg during a break from following the kids around the amusement park.