Summer?!

It has been another summery weekend, with lots of lovely sun and opportunity for going outside. Alex and I have had a wonderful time in the park and garden, with Alex helping me to do the weeding and preparing of the ground for having our turf laid on Tuesday. The plan is to extend and tidy up the lawn. I even managed to persuade Tim to spend some time outside with Alex while I did the shopping yesterday morning. Alex has had me in hysterics this weekend by playing a laughing game whereby he does a fake laugh and then gets the giggles, which makes me laugh. It has been the greatest of fun. We also had a very giggly game of chase where I chased him with his slippers which he found the funniest thing ever for some reason. Today he has been very tired though, alternating between tired grizzles and manic laughter. He was so tired after his lunch while playing before his naptime, that he fell asleep on the floor! I moved him to his bed where he slept for 2 hours...unheard of! We have also been doing a little drawing together. I have to confess to having done very little housework, but for once have done some gardening as the weather was too good to be stuck inside. I have also managed to do loads of crafting. I have completed three more pages for my vintage scrapbook. This first one is of my great grandmother, known by me as Nana. Her name was Annie Merritt and the journaling plaques read ‘Born 9th July 1894’ and ‘Annie was born in Great Crosby near Liverpool. This photo was taken when she was 6 months old’. I have decorated this with a mixture of Hot Off the Press papers from the Vintage and Heritage Paper Pizzazz sets, a purple Onion stamp and a few scraps of other papers I had available that matched to make a baby girl layout. This second one is of my great-grandad, called Alec Holes. The papers are from the same two sets and again I used a Purple Onion stamp. The journaling reads ‘Alexander Henry Charles Holes was born in Bitterne on 13th February 1896, eldest of four children. His mother and sister called him Charles, but everyone else called him Alec. This photo was taken in 1896’. This final layout was of Alec Holes later on in life when he was a ships engineer on RMS Andes. The journaling reads ‘Alexander Holes (1896-1980) worked on a farm until he was 15 when he served as a pantry boy on ships playing to the Isle of Wight until he was old enough to start his engineering apprenticeship. His first deep sea assignment was in 1918 on the Araquaya to Halifax, Canada. He sailed into Halifax shortly after the ammunition ship exploded in the inner harbour completely destroying the town. In 1920 he joined the RMPS Company (Royal Mail and Pacific Steam) and sailed mainly to South America. He was on the RMS Almanzora on her maiden voyage and on the RMS Caraquet when she foundered on a reef in Hamilton, Bermuda in 1923. These photos were taken in 1922 on board RMS Andes. He left deep sea vessels in 1924 (on request of his wife) and did a spell on the twin funnel paddle steamer Bournemouth Queen sailing to Cherbourg and the Channel Islands before leaving ships altogether in 1925’. The two brass buttons are images of buttons from his dress uniform. My mother has the actual buttons which I hope to put on the layout. I have also made lots of fun and summery ATCs as the weather has been so lovely and summery so I leave you with a taster of them. I hope you all have a great week. More soon,
Love,
Caro
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I am glad it is the weekend

Alex is definitely back to his usual tricks...he is exhausted in the evenings and sleeps well from 7 until about midnight, then he wakes up and has a party in his cot with his toys before drifting off to sleep again and then alternates between awake and asleep until about 5.30 at which point he is awake for the day. It doesn't make for the best nights sleep for us and he is really grumpy as a result of being tired. However, he slept well during his nap time today and so we had a lovely evening after work, playing out in the garden before bed. It was just the tonic I needed after a busy and difficult day at work. I am completely exhausted at the moment so I am glad that it is the weekend and I get a chance to re-coup before Monday.

I haven't managed to do as much crafting over the past few days, but did make this ATCs using free papers from one of the magazines, ribbon, stickers from my local postoffice and images from Crafty Individuals. As I am running out of paper on my Hot Off the Press Paper Pizazz Vintage set, Tim bought me the equivalent Heritage set. This should match quite nicely with what I have already got and I can't wait to play this weekend..more of Gran's photos and memories will be scrapped I think! Have a great weekend everyone.

Love,

Caro

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Things are on the up!

Well for a change there has been some good news this week. Firstly, Alex is back to his usual cheeky self, the ulcers are gone, he is eating properly and he is as lively as ever. He went to nursery today for the first time in two weeks and had a fantastic time apparently doing a collage...it was too wet to bring home so I will show you all when we see it. We have been having fun in the garden in the evenings, enjoying the dry weather. Secondly, I heard that I have had a successful grant application and will be able to employ another technician from January for 18 months. I am so pleased as these days it is so hard to get a grant from anywhere and although it isn't a big grant it is still based on my ideas and was funded.

One good thing to come out of Alex's illness is the fact that we made the decision that it was time for me to give up breast feeding. When Alex had ulcers he couldn't feed anyway and so I just let things continue from there...in a way I miss it, but it was getting to be difficult and being bitten is no fun, so this also counts as a positive in my book. Finally, I had a day off today to do nothing but crafting (except watch an hour of TV with lunch) while Alex was at nursery and it was bliss! This is only the second time that I have had a day to myself since he was born and I loved it, although it was still strange not having him yelling and chattering. I finished off lots of swaps, got presents for various people packaged up and ready to go and generally got organised. Wonderful!

I have continued with my vintage scrapbook with this page featuring my Gran (Joyce), her brother (Les) and her Mum (Annie) on the beach at Swanage in 1928. This page is a mirror image of one I did a little while ago of the two children with their Dad...I hadn't realised that I had this photo from the same holiday at the time so they now match and make a nice double page spread. The overall title is 'Precious Memories' and the journalling reads 'Annie, Les and Joyce sharing a cuddle on the beach at Swanage 1928'.

I have now completed the altered postcards for the swap organised by Linda Brunton on the CM&PC forum. For this one, which the author titled 'In thoughts of you' I added the cupids, dogs, pile of boxes, gramaphone, music and hearts.

I ran out of postcards featuring people so this next one is a Canaletto painting of the upper reaches of the Grand Canal in venice and I thought it would be fun to add speed boats to the canal, and then thought of the idea of jet planes which transfered into the red arrows and then there was a gap in the bottom left corner so I put the girls on the jetski in there. It is all very silly but I hope people like it. The final postcard was a landscape by Claude to which I added lots of stickers of zoo animals, gold edging and corners and thought of it as a scene picturing an escape from a zoo. I have to say that I have found the landscapes harder to alter than the cards featuring people. All these postcards have been backed as before and will be sent out tomorrow. I have also been on a card making bonanza using Penny Black stamped images from a swap on the CM&PC forum (I don't own any Penny Black stamps-yet!). I coloured all the images in using water colour pencils and then mounted them on the cards. This first one is for Julia's daughter Chloe who turns one on Saturday. This next one is for Julia's son, and Alex's playmate Robin who turns 3 later on this year and who loves all farm animals. I don't have anyone in mind for this one, or any occasion so an appropriate greeting will be added to the bottom right hand corner when I make that decision. Similarly, this card will just be added to my stock selection and used at an appropriate time. I would love to know what you think of these as I haven't made any cards in ages!

Finally, I thought it was ages since I had made some ATCs for swapping so I made these using flowers I pressed a couple of years ago, a stamp from Creative Expressions and covered them with mat protective transparent sheet. The reason I have never used these pressed flowers is simply because it is too difficult to protect them on a project, but now I have discovered the transparent sheet (from Joanna Sheen), I will probably use more. That concludes my crafting bonanza and I would love to know what you all think. More soon,

Love,

Caro

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Indian Summer weekend

Wow, what a lovely weekend we have had weather wise. We have had beautiful sun most of the time, which has made a lovely change. Alex and I were invited round to friends yesterday to mess around with water in their garden. We had a great time and Alex got thoroughly soaked (see photo below!) which was the whole idea. Lisa has two lovely girls (pictured above) and the youngest is only a couple of months older than Alex so it was a perfect afternoon spent watching the children playing together.

Today we spent time in the garden with me weeding and Alex 'helping' with his plastic fork. It was nice to be out there so safely and to be able to enjoy the weather. This afternoon we went for a run round the park, although Alex was too tired to enjoy it properly. His ulcers are finally mending with only two left on his tongue and for the first time in nearly a week he actually ate some vegetable puree...he still can't/wont eat anything solid, but at least we can get something other than rice pudding, cereal or custard into him.

Despite everything I have managed to do some crafting this weekend. I have joined another forum, Time for Crafting, mainly in order to join in with their monthly ATC swaps. This month the theme is travel and I chose Steam trains (no surprise there!). These ATCs are decorated with steam train memorabilia, a steam engine stamp from Stamps Away, and an image from Crafty Individuals.

I also made a scrapbook page for the vintage book. This one features Solomon Merrit and uses a photo taken in about 1908 (we don't have the exact date for this one). The page uses the Hot Off the Press kit and Making Memories lettering. The journalling reads 'Solomon Merrit (pictured here with his wife Lizzie and daughter Annie) was injured while trying to stop a drunken brawl and spent the rest of his life in the 'Bath Chair' which he referred to as his 'Chariot'. Apparently he retained a great sense of humour... One year Annie wanted a doll which she had seen in Keoghs (the local drapers) window for Christmas. In the run up to Christmas a school friend said 'I saw your Mum going into Keoghs and the doll has gone from the window'. Christmas morning came and there was no doll in Annie's stocking. Very disappointed she went into her parents room to find the doll looking out of Solomon's stocking!'.

Having been assured that I am on the right lines I have altered two more postcards for the swap on the CM&PC forum. The first is of a painting by Georges Seurat (Une Baignade, Asnieres, 1883-4). I have added the biplane, cocktail glasses, ice cream, fishing rod and fish, gramaphone, music and butterflies as well as the gold edging and corners.

The second postcard is a classic Renoir of Madame Charpentier and her children. I decided to turn this rather staid little scene into a birthday party giving them all party hats, and adding a cake, gramaphone, music, presents and party banners down the side. It is back to work for me tomorrow, so I will update again mid-week. Have a good week everyone.

Love,

Caro

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On the mend?

I hope Alex is on the mend...his temperature hasn't been up today and he is acting much brighter. However, the ulcers are still there and despite my best efforts I can't really get Bonjella onto them to ease the pain so eating is still a nightmare. I have been off work today with a migraine so his yells and screams of pain haven't helped my head any. I retreated to bed, and then collapsed on the sofa while Alex played at my feet. I felt a little better this afternoon so dragged myself off the sofa to take Alex for a run around the park as he really needed to burn off some energy and Tim needed to sleep. My head didn't like the experience, but Alex had a great time making friends with another little boy also called Alex.

I have done a little crafting over the past few days in the form of these trading cards made using photographs of cells stained with fluorescent markers for the cytoskeleton and the nucleus. I mounted the pictures on colour card added gold edging and hilighted the cell structures with sakura stardust pen marks. The effect is quite fun but doesn't really show up in the photographs sadly...they are much more sparkly in real life.

In a rather rash moment I agreed to join an altered postcard swap. This is not something I have ever done before and I have to say I haven't found it easy. I have loads of old postcards from both myself and my mother that I intend to use, most of which are rather 'arty' in nature. The first two I made are postcards of paintings by the same artist - Jack Vettriano, and are both beach scenes. To the dancing couple I added the gramaphone, dog, bi-plane and ship and then numerous stickers of music notes, butterfly, hearts and 'love'.

This second one I added the spots to the ladies dress, the three different gulls, the parrott on the umbrella, the dog, the starfish, shell, octopuss and dolphin as well as the edging, which was done in tipex. I hope that these are both altered enough.

I have made the backs of both of them the same by brayering the background and then stamping the greek lady and the purple onion corner stamp. I hope that by the end of the weekend we will all be back to normal but we will just have to see. In the meantime, have a great weekend everyone.

Love,

Caro

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What a miserable boy.

Poor Alex is feeling very sorry for himself as on top of his cold he has had a fever for the past few days coupled with a rash over his bottom, legs and shoulders and he has three really nasty mouth ulcers. These mean that the poor little chap can’t eat and cries every time he tries. He is surviving on pureed rice pudding, baby rice, vanilla custard and petit filous. Even fruit puree stings too much for him to eat, and for two days we struggled to get any fluid into him. It makes me want to cry too to see him so miserable and upset. We have had very little sleep because he isn’t sleeping very well because he is in too much pain. However, this morning he did appear a bit brighter and gulped down large quantities of water which was a huge relief. We took him to the GP who said it wasn’t anything like chicken pox or measles, just a viral infection with spots and the ulcers are because he is run down, so he is having a vitamin supplement to try and boost his immune system. Understandably, although we have been outside in the evenings he has been more subdued and wanting to be carried or closely accompanied whatever he does meaning that I haven’t done any gardening. Hopefully he will recover soon and things will get back to normal. I have managed to do a little crafting in the evenings after he has gone to bed and made this card using the resist technique with colourwash inks and purple onion stamps, finished off with stickers and an image from Crafty Individuals. I have also continued with my vintage scrapbook with a page about Lizzie who was married to PC Merritt (shown in a previous post). She was my Gran’s Gran and I have lots of information about her, including Gran’s memories of her as a Gran (if that makes sense!). Again I have used the Hot off the Press papers and embellishments and a purple Onion stamp. The journaling reads ‘Elizabeth Anne Merrit (nee Passingham) (1868-1941) was born in Durley and married Solomon Merritt on 1st July 1893. On leaving school she went into service and was highly thought of judging by the inscriptions on two books she was given. She was a staunch member of the Wesleyan Methodist Church and helped in the soup kitchen in the chapel in Bitterned. Although she was a fervent teetotaller she would have a bottle of Stones Ginger wine at Christmas!' I am looking forward to completing this scrapbook and showing Gran when I next see her, I hope she likes it. More soon,
Love,
Caro
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busy weekend crafting

Poor Alex has yet another cold and hasn't been sleeping as a result, so the poor little thing is soo tired and inclined to be unhappy. Despite that I have had a really good weekend. Yesterday we did the shopping as a family, and then I did the cooking in the morning and then in the afternoon we went to the park where we were joined by one of my best friends Julia and her son Robin. The two boys had a fantastic time chasing each other round the park, although Robin was always miles ahead of Alex (not surprising since he will be 3 soon!). Alex was exhausted by the end of it, but as you can see from the photos he had a wonderful time. The boys interacting...Alex was fascinated by Robin and kept gently patting him! Robin enjoying the tunnelJulia coming down the tunnel slide!

Today I cleaned the house from top to bottom and then went out in the garden with Alex where I was able to do some weeding while he played on the lawn...now we have the fence up it is much safer to turn my back on him...I don't need to worry about a 6ft drop! This afternoon we went to the park and Alex was so tired that he took teddy round the park with him.

I have had a wonderful weekend crafting wise too...I was inspired by Kath (LazyKay) to try decorating a candle. I used a mixture of stamped images onto tissue paper (the words!) and pressed flowers to decorate my candle. The key is to hold everything tight to the candle with something like baking paper while heating it up with a heat gun. You only need to heat it for a short time for the tissue paper, but the flowers need longer and the results aren't quite as neat. All in all I feel that this wasn't bad for a first attempt. I think that Kath's inspiration has solved my Christmas present problem..what could I make this year that was different...candles may well be the way to go.

I have joined a vintage swap on swapbot and had to make 4 ATCs for it. I decided to use photograph of my Great Great Grandparents for the basis of this. The cards are actually of two couples (the top two were married as were the bottom two) and so I will send a couple to each person. I hope that they like them.

I have also continued with this theme to make scrapbook layouts of each of them with this layout of Alexander Holes again using the Hot off the Press papers, but supplimente with a Dovecraft paper, a Purple Onion stamp and some buttons from my Gran's button tin. The journalling reads 'Alexander Holes (1869-1940) apprenticed as a stoker on steam shops and worked as an engineer on private yachts. He was an engineer on the Yacht Rossmarine when Alfred Lord Tennyson was aboard. He was also part of a treasure hunting party to the Cocus islands but didn't find any treasure!'.

This second layout is of his wife Jane again using the Hot off the Press papers. The journalling reads 'Jane Holes (nee Vaudin) (1867-1932) was born at Samares on the Island of Jersey. She was a dressmaker who married Alexander Holes in 189?. Her wish was that her grandchildren call her Grandmere, but she had to put up with Grandma and was remembered for her love of playing Halma'.

It is Tim's Uncles' 70th birthday next weekend and as he is a complete bookworm I made this card especially for him. I would love to know what you think of all the crafting I have done this weekend. Have a great week everyone. More from me soon.

Love,

Caro

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Challenging.

Well it has certainly been an interesting and challenging couple of days. Yesterday I had to do a viva for an MSc student who wanted to increase her mark from 62% to 72%...that was never going to happen but it took ages to convince her of that...annoyingly I didn't get home until after 6pm as a result, just in time to put Alex in bed. Today was the Sheffield Oncology Research Day and I gave a talk in the afternoon on my research into combination therapies for breast cancer treatment. I felt that it went well and got lots of compliments on the presentation afterwards which was nice.

Alex had his first trip to the dentist yesterday. Apparently he was very good apart from being bored and wanting to get down from the chair and run around. He has been the greatest of fun to play with in the evenings as he is very much inventing his own games to play with us. These usually involve some form of rough and tumble or dancing and amuse us all no end.

I haven't had a great deal of time for crafting so spent the little time I had yesterday evening turning some of the Christmas inchies into cards. I am still pleased with the effect of this so will persevere with the great inchie extravaganza.

I also had to make a birthday card for a man for this weekend. I have to say that I found this one really hard, but came up with this in the end using K&Co papers, a card blank kindly given to me by Kath (LazyKay) and a picture from Crafty Individuals. The card opens in the middle, which is unusual for me and I can't decide what to think about this one, but I hope that he will like it. Have a great weekend everyone. Take care.

Love,

Caro

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