Altered Journal

I created this journal for Michelle who is only a small part of a large team that organises the Sizewell Women's weekend each year . She had squeezed me in at the last moment and was so helpful rearranging the rooms so I could share with friends. I just had to give her a little 'thank you'.

The paper has a lovely gardening theme and quotes several scriptures. I bought it at Capture the Magic last weekend and it was perfect for this project.

I'm Back!

Well I'm back from my weekend away with the girlies. The weekend wasn't a success in the way it was intended (the speaker didn't move us) but it was a success in the time we had sharing with each other and getting to know one another better.

This was home for the weekend - Sizewell Hall. It belongs to the Ogilvie family but was rented and renovated by a group of Christians with a vision 21 years ago and has been a Christian Conference Centre ever since.

Step outside and turn to the left and you find steps that lead down to a private beach.

This picture was the best I manged to get. I went out early the first morning and watched the sun rise in the sky, all golden and magnificent BUT I HAD FORGOTTEN MY CAMERA!!!!

I went out the following morning to an overcast sky and no sign of the sun but I did have a wonderful close time with God on the beach. I probably would've been distracted by the sunrise otherwise.

These were my 'roomies' for the weekend - Sheila (middle) and Angela (right). Hubby took the picture and since he almost never gets his hands on the camera this was the best he could do.



We got off to a rocky start by arriving 15 minutes late for dinner on the first night (got lost) and then after dinner we got stuck in the lift! One of us was panicking, one tried humour and the other nearly wet her pants (I'm not saying who) before we were finally rescued.

That set the tone for the weekend so we ended up late to breakfast, late to lunch and missed the auction on Saturday afternoon altogether! SHAME ON US!

Sometimes shared moments with friends are far more important than everything else. We reunited with a fellow sister Joan and met her lovely friend Mary too; taking a long walk, stopping for tea and cake, a long walk back just in time for tea and scones! The food team were amazing keeping 90 hungry women fed and watered.

The weekend mean't a complete break from anything crafty and I missed it (how sad am I?) and I kinda missed Dave too so I was glad to be back home on Sunday.

My Creative Space

I decided to add pictures of my creative space. It's loosley called my craft room but the truth is that the other side of the room (not in the pictures) is taken up as a spare room - bunkbeds for the grandchildren and the usual storage of bits and bobs that go into a spare room.

Yesterday was my day off and since I knew I was spending it with Eliza - our new curate's wife - I decided to get my housework done before I went out. I am also away at a women's christian retreat this weekend and I just couldn't bear to leave it as it was - a mess!

I don't get to see it looking like this too often.

I still think it's crowded and a bit untidy but it's about as good as it's going to get right now. All I want to do is play in it but I don't actually have any free time. I went to my daughters yesterday evening to paint and she now has a dining room thats a lovely shade of blue.

Dave bought these drawers on sale at a DIY store a couple of years back and brought them home to me - how nice was that.






My sister Sherilee bought me the square containers for Christmas one year. They have lots of smaller containers that all fit neatly inside. I am still getting used to the jars for my ribbon.

I keep several baskets on the shelves. This one's filled with punches but some of the others hold adhesives, more punches and specialty craft tools.

This is the typical view inside one of the cupboards. I DO TRY to be organised but it ain't easy!

I try to have basket inside the cupboards for organisation as well. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't

No craft space would be complete for me if it didn't have a trusty computer in there somewhere. I just love to craft using my PC.

I'm not crazy about these wire baskets but my daughter Jessica gave them to me. I guess because you can see through them which looks untidy to me.

This is how I choose to store some of my papers. I helped Dave make this rack!

I bought a rack storage system at a car boot sale for £3. They actually made cubes that stacked and clipped together but I wanted the wire panels to use as shelves for the paper. The entire underside of the desk was made from some nice beech wardrobes that were being thrown out.

I love to recycle if I can.