Well My 1st post and what inspires me at present

I have been crafting for approximately 6 years. I love loads of crafts, I do a bit of felting some patchwork , but mostly my enduring love is of all things paper.
I teach scrapbooking locally and demonstrate all forms of paper craft for Alexander paper supplies. I have been published a few times in Making cards magazine, and am still working to be published elsewhere. I consider myself to be a skilled learner, as no matter how much I learn there is still so many more techniques and new products to get a grip off. I think that is one of the main reasons why paper crafting grabbed a hold of my soul. No chance of getting bored

So as this is my 1st post and I have absolutely no idea where this blog will take me and anyone who wants to come along for the ride, I thought I would give you a glance at what is currently inspiring me.

I have just started working on a slightly different angle in my scrapbooking, sort of my personal commentary on current affairs. I think that someone in the future may find scrapbooks a bit like Samual Pepys Diary's. A great comment on today's society.

My other most recent inspiration is the fact . That despite being told that she probably wouldn 't ever have children , My beautiful daughter has just found out she is approximately 4 months pregnant "Yippee" which inspired this lo

I also think that some of the more interesting and inspiring scrapbook pages are about honesty, honesty about ourselves and our situations. We all have good and bad days, anyone can deal with the good days, is how we deal with the bad days that really makes us who we are.

So a couple of Lo's that are inspired by my bad days



Journalling reads.
I was horrendously bullied at school. All the girls used to scream Lesbian and run away when I walked down the hall. I was beaten up a couple of times. It got so bad that when I was 12 I tried to kill myself. Fortunately the "Pill" my mums doesn't kill you just makes you very very sick. I survived 5 years of bullying. left school and went to work for my Dad. ("Unfortunately the rest of the journalling involves personal information about other members of my family which I know they would not want in a general blog but journalling ends) But by the time I was 26 I was suffering from ME. I spent 5 years undiagnosed and being told I was mentally ill. Then I found out it was ME. I learned to deal with it and met my wonderful partner . My Me had been under control for 3 years when I fell onto some stone steps and ruptured two discs in my back, (The only time I didn't actually bounce)
I know that no matter what life throws at me. I will cope with it. I will fall and bounce back up . Because that is me.

Sometimes it is the good bits of the bad days that are what we should remember



Journalling reads
Pictures I wish I had

I wish I had a picture of you asleep face down on my knees, which was your favourite way of sleeping. I wish I had a photo of us playing your favourite game, which was demon driver. Yeah Yeah. I used to stand you on my legs and rock you back and forward. Saying Demon Driver Demon Driver Yeah yeah, You used to laugh so much you had tears of laughter running over your little rosy cheeks.

I wish that situations had been so different, so that I could have photos of all those special moments in your life. Moments that will live forever fresh in my memories.

Sam you were the most gorgeous little girl always laughing. You were so adventurous that sometimes it was really hard to keep up with you. I laughingly called you my little “ratbag” (because you ran me ragged) You weren’t a great sleeper. So I used to have to lie down and read or sing you to sleep. I used to sing you the song from the movie “Legend”. You loved it despite the fact that I couldn't’ hold a tune in a bucket.
I can’t remember all the words but it started with,
“Flowing River turns the light to diamonds when I look in my true loves eyes. I feel magic tumbling within me when I look in my true loves eyes” Or my version did anyway. More often than not you would wake me hours later, wanting me to sing you to sleep again.

I used to wake you up in the morning by singing “Good morning Good morning it’s great to get up late Good morning Good morning to you. I wish I had a photo of that 1st smile of the morning, when you were so pleased to see me.

There were lots of less happy memories for both of us, but even then we found time to laugh with each other and time for hugs and cuddles. I used to love the smell of you, (except that time when I was really bad with ME, and you had to look after yourself and you decided you wanted a pet. So sneaked a neighbourhood cat into your bedroom and kept him in your wardrobe, you were only 7 and had to look after yourself as I was too ill. So one day you came home from school and came to give me a hug and you smelled of cat wee. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I think I did both. I cried because I couldn't look after you like I should, and laughed at your ability to make the best of what was a truly bad situation.

I remember so many times when we lived in that flat that had no central heating and was at the top of a hill, so that any heat from the coal fire just hovered an inch from the floor and was sucked out between the floorboards, being huddled with you under 4 quilts watching television.


Or the times when money was really tight and I didn't want you to know that we had no food in. So we had skinheads (beans) on toast and that one-day when all I had in was soup mix (the dried lentils and pulses type) and an oxo cube. So I said we were having a Victorian night and we dressed up in nighties and skirts to make us look like Victorians and I cooked the pulses in the Oxo and told you it was Victorian gruel. You loved that night you still remember it now.
Things were sometimes awful, but they were less awful because we shared them. I love you Sam and always will, but I want you to remember the good days and the good memories. Because they are truly worth remembering.





Just to show a less serious side to my crafting



My niece's 10th Birthday Bash