2015 - goals and ideas x

Hello everyone, I know many people are back at school or work now and this week I am back to my routine too. Hope you're all enjoying the new challenges which 2015 is giving you so far.

For me, a new year provides the opportunity to set myself some new goals and to think about the year ahead. Primarily, these are blogging, reading and crafting goals as I have found from experience that other things can be negatively affected by my mental health. So I aim to make my goals flexible but achieveable because in 12 months times I want to be able to say that I did the things I wanted to do in the best of my ability.

So here goes with a few things I am going to be doing this year:

Goodreads challenge
Somehow I managed to read all the 60 books I set last year so I'm going to go for 65 this year. That seems pretty achieveable as I got to 62 last year. I'm going to try and read more broadly this year as I tend to lean towards crime and thrillers but I have treated myself to some different books with some money I was given so we'll see how we get on.

Blogging
My plan is to blog twice a week for definite and add in any extras as and when I get the chance. Again I feel that is an achieveable goal but obviously sometimes I may have some more interesting life events to share. I don't want to spread myself too thin and end up not blogging at all especially as I have been pretty well for 12 months now and there may be a depressive episode at some point.

I will be updating the blogheader as it's a couple of years since I made this one and I may alter a few other things so watch this space.

One Little Word 2015
I am going to do this project again this year as I loved it. I've chosen my word and will share it in a special post. Suffice to say I think I've picked a really lovely word this time, last years word - Rebuild- was so true for last year so I hope the new word will be equally appropriate.

Photoaday

I am joining in with Chantelle aka Fatmumslim on her daily photography challenge this year. The prompts come to Instagram weekly and there are lots of people, blogfriends included, who are taking part so there will be lots of support and ideas to share. I try to take picture everyday anyway so this will help me to focus my photography. Today's was ''I'm reading............'' and I chose a sneak of a lovely letter I got. You can find us on Instagram using

#fmsphotoaday

At the end of the day, Chantelle posts a collage of her fave pictures.


I am sure that there will be plenty of other goals to come but these are the ones I've made definite. I wonder if anyone else has made some goals so far and it would be lovely to hear what you're plans include.

Ideas on updating your blog - part 2 and a tutorial x

Hello again and welcome to the second part of how I updated this blog. In part 1 I explained about the course I completed with Jessica Sprague and how I came to decide on the colour scheme and moodboard ideas for the blog design.


The next phase was all about colour and involved us utilising some brilliant colour sampling sites to get our own colours perfectly designed for our blogs. The sites we were pointed to are free and simple to use. On some you can work out your own colour palettes using the colour wheel, on others you are able to pick colours from your own photographs to make a completely personalised colour palette. In the end I actually found a photograph online of three colours books and used the colour picker in Photoshop Elements to choose the colours and then add them to my colour swatches stored in Photoshop. This was so cool because it then enabled me to utilise those exact colours in my header and blog posts when choosing font colours. This is really easy to do once you know where to go to within your template for your blog. I'll show you.

Firstly you need to find the colours you want and open them in Photoshop Elements. So open Photoshop Elements Editor then click file and open. I then chose the picture with the book covers I liked.

Next point your mouse to the paint dropper tool and then click with the paint dropper on the colour you want to pick. The colour will now appear on the left panel as the foreground colour 



Next move over to the right panel and click on Colour swatches. This opens up all the colours in Photoshop. Clcik onto the little square next to the dustbin and you're square of picked colour with appear at the bottom of the swatches. This means it is saved as a colour swatch for your use in Photoshop.

Finally, and for this you need a pen and paper, come back to the foreground colour and click on the square you picked out. This will then open the colour menu for that colour from which you can make colours you want within that colour range. On the righthand side of the window you will see a long list of numbers. Right at the bottom is the final number which is what you need to write down on your paper if you want to use it in your blog. So now we can use our colour in the blog we are designing.

Now come over to your blog, I am using Blogger obviously as I only know what to do here I'm afraid. Come to Blogger and open your design template and click on Customise. This will open up this page...........

Next click on Advanced the following page opens...............

Click on Post title ..............

This opens up the page with colour and font options. If you want to change your font style then you can practise on this page. I eventually chose the handwritten styled ''Homemade apple''. The place to change your font colour is the next box where you a  # sign and a numbers with a colour in the next box. This is where we place the numbers and figures you wrote down when we were in Photoshop. So this is easy, simply delete the number in the box and type in your numbers but make sure you add a  # sign before those numbers/figures. Then your colour should automatically appear in the little box. Magic. Now click on the save button and all your changes are made on your blog. You can see how it looks in the panel below the template design menu.

If you want to change the font/colour on the gadgets on your blog you follow the same process but via the gadget title menu.

And now you should have a beautifully styled colour for your blog post titles and gadget titles. I hope this has helped you learn a little bit more about what you change on blogger and also how Photoshop can aid in your designing adventure. If you have any questions then why don't you send me an email.

and everything stops for tea xx

or so we say in jolly England. I haven't blogged for ages and so I was scooting through my friend's blog posts when Abi's caught my eye. She's inviting us all to sit down and share some tea and story telling with her.

So welcome to my humble abode which today is jolly chilly. I am sitting writing this with a fluffy cat curled up beside me. She will probably give you a look and maybe purr if you tickle her chin. I would offer you tea, you can choose several varieties at the moment - Earl Grey from Fortnum and Mason's (a gift from a friend), Red Bush tea, Lapsang Sushong, Darjeeling -  we like variety. I might even be able to find a herbal one if you're lucky. I would offer you a biscuit although they're not all that exciting.

As I have my laptop on I'd ask for you opinion on my new blog developments. Do you like the header, can you contact me through my new banners? Do you like the background design? I'd ask you what else you'd like to see on the blog and how user friendly it is/isn't.

I might share with you my mental health issues today which are getting better. Everyday is very different. Only five days ago I was having panic attacks and scaring my parents to death. But today I feel happier, less tired and certainly not a panic attack in sight.

I would tell you I have been making some crocheted bits, a granny square which is turning into a blanket and some jam jar covers from Attic 24. I would tell you I love the repetition and the colours I have in my basket.

If it is warm enough and yes the sun just came out, I would take around the grounds so we could look at the spring flowers which are coming out and check how the fish in the pond are. I would then bring you home for more tea and biscuits, well who's counting calories today honestly?

I might tell you about the books I've read recently and the fun I am having discovering new authors. Or of the new blogs I'm enjoying and the fun I'm having reading Julie Kirk's blog posts on blog posting. I might show you Bright Bazaar where colour and blogging mix together with travel, DIY and life and I'm getting slightly addicted. I'd tell you how passionate I am about supporting The Friend Movement a campaign to end bullying. I might tell you my bullying story.

Friend Movement was created to help show positive anti-bully images through art and media. Images of people of all ages, race, gender, sexuality, and spirituality that invoke inspiration & conversation. Friend movement inspires people to prevent bullying by enabling them to be a better friend.

I would show you my new craft room where there used to be a guest bedroom and the new desk and shelves that have been made from Ikea. Mine has beech draws instead of white like the one below. I would show you how I have begun organising my crafting supplies and that I am hoping my scrapbooking mojo returns really soon.

I might ask you what plans you have for crafting and what you have planned for the Easter holidays. You might be travelling like Abi is or you might be at home with family and friends. We might chat about going to church on Easter Sunday or in my case perhaps the Cathedral.

Whatever happens during our time together I will gain joy from our friendship and meeting and look forward with anticipation to our next one which I hope will be at your home so we can share your plans.

Hello again hello!

Oh my goodness, having dropped over to see what Lizzie was up to on her blogiversary today I thought I'd see when I last blogged myself. Nearly 2 months ago!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whoops and sorry.

So what have I been doing in those weeks away?

1. I have returned to work as a health visitor after nearly 6 months off sick and I can honestly say I am soooooooooooo pleased to be back. I feel so well, confident, love my work and the new and inspiring team we have got. Altogether things are great work wise
2. I have been on a diet using Slimming World partly for my blood pressure and also myself worth. To date I have lost 1 stone and 5 lbs in 7 weeks. Awesome. People are starting to notice the change in size and I am feeling so much better. I was carrying my friend's baby the other day and realised he weighed as much as I had lost. He was really heavy and I thought to myself, wow how did you carry that extra weight around.
3. I have joined the gym under the GP referral scheme and have been going twice a week. Not being a gym bunny at all I have to be perfectly honest and say I am feeling really motivated and glad to go. It doesnt hurt that the instructors are easy on the eye.
4. Luke came down to visit and we went to see The Feeling in Bristol who were brilliant as always. He has his graduation ceremony in 2 weeks and I feel so proud of him. I've made some new friends in Bristol one of whom is an artist and performance artist, very talented and more on him another time.
5. I have been bad with the crafting, not done much at all. But excited to meet some blogfriends at the end of this month in Coalbrookdale for a weekend of fun, relaxation, skyping, blogging and craft.
6. Watching Downton Abbey..........................how will it end? Please let M and M get together.

 What have you been doing?

The news we've all been waiting for.

At last the news we've all been waiting for has arrived, I start my brand new job on Monday. Yippee!!!!!
I will be working at the William Budd Health Centre in Knowle as a health visitor. I will be working full-time so need to practise getting up early!!! ;-) The first 2 days are Staff Induction at Southmead Hospital and then I go to Knowle after that for my first day in the office. It will be really strange working again after so long waiting, but I am so excited I am Snoopy dancing again in a very silly way.
I just want to thank all my bloggy friends who have listened, sent supportive comments and emails for all that support. It has meant a great deal to me to get that from people I have only met in cyberspace. If I could organise it, I'd have a big party where we all met up and had a lovely meal and drink of vino to celebrate our new found friendships.
Anyway, I'm off to catch the last few rays of sunshine I can before I start work. Back soon

I am 200!!!!!!!!

Yes it's true, I have reached the grand old blog number of 200 posts. Now many of u will say that's pitiful but to me that is a cool number. I feel the blog is hanging in their despite the recent Internet problems and I have developed from 0 followers to 28, and had over 1,800 visitors. Very exciting. So what shall we do to celebrate? I have already pampered Curlyscrapbooker with a facial and some Oil of Olay to keep her looking spick and span and I am looking for some new things to do. There might even be some cupcakes and beer later as it is so warm. The bunting and balloons are ready so come on in and take the weight off ur feet for a while.


I am having a hot air balloon look cos being 200 is pretty good these days!!!!!!!!


Anyway rather than do a giveaway or anything like that I thought I'd share some new information I have found about some free clesses coming up as pass the parcel pressies, and no you dont have to do any forfeits.
Firstly if you follow Cathy Zielske's blog you will know what an amazing teacher she is and she does digital/hybrid video tutorials. Today she has a fab video showing how to do exactly that with a digi-template and there are downloadable instructions to keep all for ZILCH!!!!
Secondly, Jessica Sprague is 3 years old, well her site is so she is holding a free class on digital development.
What I love about Jessica's classes are that not only is she a g8 teacher and explains everything clearly and simply, she uses videos and also supportive handouts to explain everything. The classes are available after u have finished for life so u can come back and watch the videos over and over. She also has the most amazing digital kits and gives you loads of freebies and wonderful ideas. Give it a go.
As you know Shimelle is doing a new class but she hasnt blogged about it yet today so watch this space. As of 10pm Shimelle has put up details of the new class.........photography at a reduced rate til the end of the week, plus another class for later on.
Abi from Creating Paper Dreams has finished her exams but informs us she needs to do 100 hours of intelligent reading over the hols to get a chance at Oxbridge!!!!!!! Scarey. Do u think crime thrillers count or children's books as I read alot of those.
I actually read Alice in Wonderland the other day in one sitting as I have never read it and wondered what all the fuss is about. I loved the Cheshire Cat.......................isnt he aWESOME! he can disappear, cool.

and the croquet match with flamingos and hedgehogs but most of it I have to admit I found quite silly. Shame on me I suppose. I also have Through the Looking Glass which I will add to the list. There is an awful lot of Alice around at the mo isnt there? Shimelle went to an Alice inspired party if u check out her blog. Are there any books u've wanted to read and then been disappointed? Do tell!

Anyway hope u have found some interesting places to visit and maybe sign up for a new class or just ruminate over one for the future. Thanx for following my blogging so far and please do come back again for more curlyscrapbooker blogs in the future.
Now go home with your party cupcake and enjoy.

Sunday.............

Arrived home safely from my sister and her BF this pm after our family outing to their bungalow. We spent time drinking, alot!!!!!, eating again alot................and watching some TV which was Dietmar's fault. He wanted us to check out the new dance talent show on BBC1 so we watched the highs and lows and now are all hooked!
So have been checking out everyone's blogs this evening and finding out how everyone is doing after the holiday period. I have found a great new blog I am loving for a lady who makes the most amazing things in felt here She has had all sorts of products featured in magazines, blogs etc and has a fantastic talent.
I have also been reading Dolly's latest challenge for her 52 in 10 project which started officially today. She has reached that certain age this year and wanted to make a momentous scrapbooking project and has invited us to join her. The first challenge is to look back over the past 10 years and see how you have come on. Well 10 years ago I was a neonatal nurse and since then things have changed so dramatically that I don't recognise the person I was then. It will be interesting to see how Dolly's project progresses over teh year.

Have you got any specific projects you are planning on taking part in or are you planning a more relaxed year? Would love the hear about them. Anyway, to end I am putting up some pictures of
some digital JYC LO which will be hybrids............

Tomorrow I have a list of jobs to do primarily taking the car to the car hospital and finding out the full extent of the damage. I am off to bed to read my book and have 2 swaps coming by post.

Tomorrow, tomorow, I'll see yah tomorrow, it's only a day away............Annie.

OK, I am sorry to all readers who have been joining on my blog for the lack of recent activity, however there will be more things happening here from now onwards, I promise.

Firstly, some personal stuff. I have not been at my best for several weeks now and this week has made matters wose as I had a meeting with my manager on Wednesday and she told me I had kind of lost my job. Kind of becasue I am a bank nurse which means I only do shifts as and when required which up til now has been about 30 hours a week. Well as from tomorrow at 19.30 hours there will only be shifts for me if anyone goes off sick. So effectively I am out of work!
Thursday I had to go in and work 9-19.30 and no-one was allowed to know and tomorrow I have to do the same. It's very hard to do that especially when you really enjoy your job. Anyway, it does mean I'll have loads of time to craft and hopefully sort out the other problems with my health, but it eon't resolve my financial problems, in fact they will be getting worse. Anyway enough sob story, now for something lovely which is happening tomorrow at around 4pm while I'm working so I have to figure out how to blog in advance.

So tomorrow afternoon at 4pm, 19 individuals are going on a journey in a special machine which will lead to who knows where. Mine will be showing highlights of these lovely stamps.....


this gorgeous young man

and the raising of this beautiful lady.

Any ideas? Come over tomorrow afternoon when all will become clear.

Another award!!!!!

.........one of the nice things about having a blog is that you get to meet some truly amazing people who genuinely enjoy crafting and also the things you may have to say and do. I have met on cyberspace some really g8 people and one of them, the lovely Lizzie has given me an award for.......

Jo "Curlyscrapbooker" for amazing Christmas Cake recipe and lesson, and being a generally cool blogger!
.......isn't that sweet of her? A great BIG thanx to Lizzie for being so generous! As you readers will know, I have been going through a really rough time lately and about the only thing keeping me from leaving this Earth has been this blog and the people who have been kind enough to visit it and support me. So a huge, heartfelt thankyou for that. You have truly been lifesavers.

So according to what Lizzie has said, I need to tell you 7 interesting things about myself. Ok I'll try:
1. I have 2 degrees a BA and a BSc plus a postgraduate diploma.
2. I live in an old mental hospital.............truly, converted into apartments.
3. I once sang at the Purcell Rooms in London when I was a young singer.
4. I can play the piano and the flute.
5. I have met Shimelle Laine and she makes the BEST cupcakes ever!!!!!
6. I would like to travel to loads of places but particularly India.
7. I trained as a nurse at The London Hospital in Whitechapel and the first few months we were there they were bombing the docks making the film Full Metal Jacket. If you went on the top deck of the bus you could see the bombed buildings and imported palm trees to make it look like Vietnam. We also drank in The Blind Beggars where The Kray twins shot one of their gang.

So now I have to choose 7 other wonderful bloggers to join in the fun:

Firstly I choose Scraps, the city and me cos she has amazing stories to tell and brilliant LOs,

Next Abi a young talented scrapper who is new to blogging but is excellent at it and a very artistic scrapper.

Third, I have chosen Kerry who has just been chosen as a Two peas in a bucket design team member and designs her own yummy digital scrapbooking elements,

Then the wonderful Katy from Dotty Divas who also has the most amazing blog as well,

Fifth, Melissa from All about me challenges who writes so eloquently about life, faith and scrapping and introduced me to the challenges and the Faith sisters site,

Sixth, Sian cos not only is she an inspiring scrapper but she writes so brilliantly and hilariously

and finally Clair because she's just amazing.

Please check out the girl's blogs because they are fabulous and inspiring and we all need abit of that to help us along the way.

Wow..........

So here I am randomly bloghopping/training this am and I find I have been awarded the same blog award by Katy asnother lovely blogger. How sweet is that? Twice in one week.
Anyway, as I have done the questions already I'm going to choose some other bloggers to send the award to, just need to have a think who. In the meantime please go over to Katy's blog Dotty Diva's, a. cos it's ace, b. cos they're are all cool, c. it has challenges and d. they're doing a bloghop this weekend for .........PRIZES.............

Teaser 2!!!!!!!

Here is teaser 2 in time for tomorrow am/sunday pm!

Blogging classes.

I know I have already blogged this picture before but I am so proud of it! It is the most difficult digital page I have done so far. So yesterday Shimelle's class on blogging got into full swing and I have to admit my best laid plans of scrapping everyday have gone out of the window. Mainly because I went to work yesterday and had to stay on as a colleague was unwell. I am often so tired after work as we do 9-7.30 shifts and they are exhausting.
Anyway we are meant to be pledging to keep our blogs as regularly as possible. I think to be honest I will have to go for every 2-3 days as if I work 3 long days in the row the last thing I have time for is blogging, which is a shame because I find it quite therapeutic.
I don't ever blog anything too overly personal because that's not my style. I began this blog to show some of my LOs and look at other people's. I love learning new techniques so I'm hoping that I will see loads of new inspiration while learning over the next few weeks.