The Final CJ!

At least I think it is! The person before me has mine so I am guessing I have done all 11 in the group...I lost count! This is my final entry and OH MY it was a toughie. I am a bit funny about clowns to start with but this one was quite cute. I began by googling clown quotes and guess what.....the best ones had already been nabbed! So my next idea was ask hubby and he came up with this play on words. It is quite a plain LO; the BG was already done by the owner, but the world is 3D with silicone glue and I just realised that I added some yellow stickles to the buttons after I took the pic. Hmmmm a bit plain but I need to get it posted so it will have to do.

Some more learning!

Few more days for you. It is as much as I can manage to keep up with this at the moment so I haven't been doing any other craft. However I do have a CJ waiting to be done so if you are bored of my journal I should be tackling that this week I hope! Anyway, Day 15 I got home from work to find that Ken (hubby) had tied up all the fresh chilies I have been given, into a pretty dangly to go in the kitchen! Great for 2 reasons; they will air dry without going mouldy; they look pretty! I never knew he had it in him so =today's lesson!. The craft challenge was to use the colours you were wearing today so that was brown, khaki and a splash of orange.

Day 17 was a calender related "learn". Quite simple and self explanatory I think. I get up at 5.45 every morning so a lie-in only needs to be til 7am or so to feel like luxury! The craft challenge; use a stamp you never use and that is the "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!" one

Day 18 and I experienced the WHOLE meaning of this class! Jess has an open day at Edinburgh University and I am going to take her so I booked a day trip, flying in and out same day, on-line! Craft challenge: use three bold stripes as BG (well they are there but not very bold!)

Finally Day 19 to bring me right up to date and this was an obscure phrase that would mean something to you but not necessarily to the reader. Don't think mine is very obscure but the story behind it is this; last night Jasper and Eliza took part in a Bonfire parade at the end of which were fireworks over the funfair. I know from previous experience that there are no real photo opportunities because of the light but I did get out my phone to try to snap the fair lights. They were very blurred and I thought, a bit rubbish. But when I got home and viewed them on the PC I really like the effect, hence the learning for today!
Craft Challenge; draw round items in your kitchen to get a variety of circles to use. I was trying to mimic the blobs of light with this one and they are shiny IRL using my foil card scraps.

LSNED Days 13 & 14

Are you bored yet? Next 2 days. Now I can't remember the actual prompt but at afore-mentioned craft fair I saw a cake stand as I walked in. I loved it at first glance and went all round the fair not buying anything in case it was really expensive. Finally on the last stall, in the last tent I saw it, dithered, stroked it, heard there were only two left and bought it with the last of my birthday money! I know I won't use it daily, and I nearly broke it in my impatience to assemble it when I got home, but there was never really any doubt that I would buy it! I feel very grown up now too!
Not sure if I have mentioned the crafting challenges that Shimelle has added this time around but if so, the challenge on this was to use odd stickers from a set of letters....rather short on t's!

Day 14 and again I think I veered away from the prompt. However after a long summer off I really had to get down to planning the next term of Guide meetings. My leader and I always get together to thrash this out but somehow I always feel it looming over me in a threatening manner! Needless to say once we get going and get through the boring admin stuff we manage to get it done quite quickly and have fun doing it!
Craft challenge this time was to use a post-it note and I have these rather funky speech bubble ones!

LSNED Days 9-12

Had a few internet problems and been rather busy so I am catching up again! On Day 9 I happened to take my camera to school and as I was picking up one of the girls I saw some beautiful cobwebs in the dewy morning. I hopped out and I was reminded that even though I am not a fan of spiders I do love to see their delicate works of art!

On Day 10 I had a half day and I had to go to a resource centre to get books for a child at school. Whilst I was there I popped into the shops as my bronze pumps (that I wear ALL the time, even thought they rubbed for ages) are finally falling apart. Just as they have stopped rubbing and got comfrotable too! Well I spotted some replacement gold ones for just £6 so I thought BARGAIN!

Day 11 and once again I was feeling miserable about the weight gain I have had. I just love my food and I keep thinking the weight might just disappear if I eat carefully. Well I think I now realise that I seriously need to get my bum in gear and diet and exercise properly and with determination. I have set myself the goal of a stone off by Christmas...just 15 weeks away.

Day 12 and I went to a posh craft fair with Mum and the two youngest, wha havibng just started secondary school just think of themselves as mini adults......until they spotted a large playground that is! I sneaked up on them and snapped this with my phone but I still loved the shot!
Right off to tackle days 13 and 14 to catch up!

LSNED Days 7 and 8

Day 7 was a rubbish day. I have very low profile tryres on my car and I was driving my usual route round the country lanes (slowly as the car is big and the lanes are small and windy) when a car shot round the corner and forced me into a huge pothole. There was a bang and then when I stopped and checked there was a bulge in the tyre and a hole. So an hour wait for the AA and then a bill for £180 for a new tyre. The really gutty bit is that the tyre is only 3 months old!

Day 8 was my first day in Reception. I will be working in there twice a week and this was when I tried to get to grips with their names. Luckily only 10 of them are in for the afternoon so that made it a bit easier!

LSNED Day 6

Oo look at me keeping up! On Day 6 I chose not to use a photo. Whilst I was at Burns we had chatted about this well known phrase but I had never heard the second half about there being a "me". After some discussion we decided that it illustrated the fact that although you all need to work together it is important to have an individual voice within that team, (well I think that's what we said!). As I have just returned to school we are having several meetings and I am lucky that I do feel that I am working in such a team.
And my craft challenge for this entry...."include a flower motif". Can you see the subtle flower?!

LSNED Days 4 and 5

Well a few more days to add..
Day 4 I went to a craft fair and happened to see some nice Christmas paper ready for my Journal Your Christmas album! I NEVER buy anything early for Christmas but I am a bit fed up of doing green and red Christmas books and I saw this set of papers that weren't for a change. There is an extra challenge on Shimelles Forum too where we can pick a crafting challenge each day too. They are things like use stripes for a background, or use ribbon and I have been trying to do them too. However I have cheated a bit by choosing my challenges rather than picking them blind from a jar! This time I wrote my entry in rhyme...(well Ken did!)

On Day 5 I went to see Burn and Linda in Burn's crafty cabin! We spent most of the time chatting and rummaging through goodies that Linda didn't want any more, but I did manage to journal my next lesson. I also managed another challenge which was to craft in a different place in your home. Well it wasn't my home but it was a different place so I think that will count!

LSNED Day 3

Had to do a bit of catching up already....Day Three was my birthday and Ken bought me a new watch. My last watch packed up just before the summer hols LAST year and as I never wear a watch in the holidays I was worried about how I was going to manage without one once I went back to work. However I soon learnt where all the public clocks were in the school and in the town so that I never missed my watch. Well now I have a new one I still keep going to where I know there is a clock when someone asks me the time! So todays lesson..."Having a watch again is going to take some getting used to!"

LSNED Days 1&2

So we are off and away with this now and already I am playing catch up! I also have not followed the prompts either! Day 1 I was back at school for and INSET training on ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) It was very interesting and one of the most visual images that I will take away was the idea that we all have an "anxiety bucket" inside us. We manage to keep ours at about half full unless we are doing something we are uncomfortable with, but generally we take these things in our stride and our bucket doesn't get to right full up. Someone with ASD has a bucket that is permanently on three quarters full....no wonder it doesn't take much for them to be overcome by anxiety and not be able to cope with changes. I hope that in the future I will be able to remember this when I am trying to help the children at school.

Day 2 and Jasper and Eliza, my youngest two, started secondary school today so I couldn't ignore this vital life moment! Needless to say they were less than obliging so I never did get a decent pic of them on their first day! Kids huh!