Christmas Club - 2 x

Wow it's time for another edition of Christmas club with the lovely Sian. Every Sunday until Xmas, we are joining in by telling tales of Xmas past and present, and maybe the future, who knows. So this week I hope you have been busily preparing for Xmas. I know I have. What with shopping, making, cooking and generally looking at pretty lights, it is certainly feeling alot like Christmas.

So strangely, today is all about Xmas making. I was having a chat with The Mother recently when we talked about childhood Xmases and I remembered all the things we used to make as children. I am sure if she looked hard enough in the loft, my mum could find the odd thing my sister and I had made to go on the Xmas tree or to hang on the wall.

One of my strongest memories is making paper lanterns at school. Such a simple crafting make, but full of fun and possibility. I remember them being hung in the classroom at Xmas times and then brought home to hang on the wall near the Xmas tree by my parents. I'm sure lil sis and I made them every year for many years and they always looked lovely made from shiny coloured paper and with gummed stickers in all different shapes to make them look like Xmas.

If you want to make some, and I can certainly recommend it,  here is a great post explaining how to make your own lanterns

The other thing we'd make at home was paper chains. Mum would buy a few packs in the local shops and lil sis and I would lick the glue part and stick them together until the floor was covered in linked chains of paper shininess. Dad would hang them up from each corner of the room ceiling and where they met he would hang the big paper decorations which came out every Xmas, and which sadly over the years fell apart and had to be replaced.

These days, there are templates for making chains of snowmen, angels and other amazing choices. What a fun activity to do when the children have finished school and you have a spare hour to sit and get them making.

Making is still going on in my house today, where the Xmas cake has been baked and frozen ready for decoration nearer the day, a Xmas wreath has been made and hung on the door, sewing of gingerbread men and crocheting of birds, and making of Xmas gift tags occurred. I suppose I will always be a maker. There might even be the odd handmade present under the tree.

However, you decorate this Xmas I hope your home is filled with beautiful colour and Xmas spirit.

More tea Vicar?

or should I say ''More tea Bishop?'' This weekend has been filled with lots of lovely events, some planned, some unplanned. So I thought I'd blog about them today as a weekend roundup.

 So yesterday dawned, not as warm as predicted but neverless sunny. It was arranged that I would meet the parents in town as dad was involved with a charitable event raising funds for Save the Children and Help for Heroes. They had openned the Bishop's Palace Gardens and private chapel for the day and there were teas and coffees provided by Inner Wheel. So me and mum went off to support these 2 excellent causes. The first person we met was the Bishop, hence the quote, who my parents know well as my dad used to be church warden, all very ladeda. Anyway he was really lovely, and welcomed everyone as they came in. The gardens were beautiful, all the daffodils and trees were in full bloom and as the palace is part ruin and part lived in is really well cared for.

 Here is The Mother modelling dutifully under the magnolia, she does it beautifully dont u think?

 This is one of a number of unique statues in the gardens, this one depicts the banishment of Adam and Eve from Eden.

 This is the cathedral from the back

 This statue is beautiful and depicts the sins we have to carry, but each sinner is a child. Each child is meant to represent something terrible affecting children eg AIDS, infant mortality etc.

As you walk around, you can see the cathedral and also the moat goes all the way to the back and the only way to see it fully is to come inside the palace grounds. As my mum knows loads of people it took a while but I got some beautiful pictures. We also had some fab cakes.

Last night I stayed up well past my bedtime to watch the last 2 episodes of ''The Killing'' which I blogged about earlier this week. It has been such a brilliant series however I felt the ending just happened too quickly with too many questions left unanswered so I felt really let down. However, there is a second series at the end of the year and I will definately watch again.

Today, I slept in oops and missed church but spent sometime sitting in the gorunds here chatting to a new neighbour. Then my friend's son came home and we did his homewor, I know I'm a fab person. We had to do literacy and also he had to design a vehicle and build it which had to transport a cream egg, I got to play with Lego for the first time in ages. It was brill.

 This is the literacy homework in progress.......................

 Of course everyone had to complete their census today and here is m ine ready for posting. I love that in 100 years someone in my family can look back and see where I lived and what I did. I have found the census so helpful in investigating family history and identifying where my ancestors lived.

 I thougt I would also share with you my minibook I started making at crop. It is a class my good friend Cleo taught. We started off with chipboard, paper, some pieces diecut and were asked to bring lots of Tim Holtz style recycled items and photos. I decided to do it about the night I went out with Luke for his 21st. We were also given three 45rpm singles which I caused gr8 consternation with as I only wanted decent ones, of the three 2 were fave bands back in the day OMD and Tears for Fears. The idea was the minibook would be grungy and made very much in our own style. Cleo had brought denim and canvas and cotton fabric plus lots of additional bits and bobs to use. It was gr8 fun. These are the pages I have completed so far.......

 I had the key in a kit and it is perfect for turning 21................

 Here is the record used as an album page.

 On this page I stuck sticky canvas on the chipboard and coloured it with distress inks.

 This is a collage of offcuts from papers and also some corrugated card from a pizza box. I used some teal paint on this page.

This page is stuck onto calico and coloured. The ties at the top are denim ripped and tied through holes in the record.

Not bad for one weekend dont you think. So off to cook and eat tea now. See you this week for more blogging for scrapbookers. And Shimelle is back in town so I'm sure we'll hear all about her mammoth trip.