TELLING TALES..AT LAST!

 At the beginning of the week I DID promise to post the first layout I managed to get completed from KIRSTY'S  new class, TELLING TALES. At long last I've remembered to photograph it:

Now I just need to try and get the others done....maybe over the weekend!!

Hope you have some good things to look forward to this weekend

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx

HELLO MONDAY

This week I'm saying:

HELLO to you all

HELLO  to a week which is fairly 'commitment free'...and which means I hope to have a bit more 'me' time!

HELLO to the first of our Christmas decorating...the Christmas Village is up!

HELLO to Kirsty's Birthday on Friday

HELLO to a trip to Barcelona for a few days, for said Birthday

HELLO to getting some Christmas cards made...and the ones that have been lying on the coffee table written!

I really hope you are beginning  to feel a bit of Christmas magic descending on you!

Thanks for dropping by!
Take care of you
Alison xx

SCAVENGING IN BARCELONA.....

......not literally, you understand.....but for RINDA'S  Summer Scavenger Hunt. 


One of Kirsty's friends was with us when we found the first two...she was totally bemused by my excitement, and Kirsty tried to explain about my picture-taking 'illness' as she refers to it! 


The first opportunity came totally out of the blue..and was one of the pictures I thought may be hard for me to get.......


NUMBER 16- A BRIDE

We were just walking across one of the main squares, when one of the Tourist Buses drove along, with a bevvy of brides on the top deck! Of course, I realise that they are not actually brides per se, but it was too good a photo opportunity to miss!

The second picture I HAD  been on the lookout for:

NUMBER 18- A MOVIE POSTER

Of course, no trip  to  Barcelona would be complete without the obligatory snap of LA SAGRADA FAMILIAR, which gives me NUMBER 6-a historical landmark.....I could of course, have used it for No.17(a church), but will use our local one for that I think.

Now I will concentrate on the items nearer home...I'm now thinking the maze, labyrinth or trail and the pier may be my greatest challenges now, but we shall see.

If you're playing along,which item do you anticipate being the most difficult to find?

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx

STORYTELLING SUNDAY.....

I'm a bit late to the Storytelling party today, but hopefully you've found plenty of other tales over at SIAN'S PLACE. If you don't already know, there's a whole bunch of bloggers who leave a story there on the first Sunday of every month...if you want to read a tale or two, or if you have one of your own to share, why not pop over?


My story today is not nostalgic at all..in fact it is VERY recent...it took place this very afternoon!

It took place in a Hotel in Barcelona...a meeting of two people, who, up until today had only 'met' in Blogland! 

It wasn't a long meeting (certainly not long enough for me!)..and it didn't go quite as straight-forwardly as planned...think four, wet (yes, they arrived in the middle of a thunderstorm!), lost travellers dragging their suitcases behind them and you have the picture. Much of the time was spent trying to locate the guy who had been supposed to meet them two hours previously, at the apartment they had booked....and eventually discovering that the address they had been given was not correct- Welcome to Spain, Rinda & Co.!!! 

It says everything about this lovely family, that they were taking it all in their stride...Rinda just  laughed and said it was part of the travel experience, and her hubby jumped in a taxi (cab) and followed Jose Maria (the very helpful, motor-cycling rep from the rental company they had used) to the correct place and then came back to pick up the family. In the time he been gone we managed to cover lots of ground, but all too soon DH and I had to go and fetch Kirsty ..and Rinda's two children needed convinced that they actually had somewhere to stay for the night!

It was the perfect end to a really special weekend. I am still smiling from our meeting...and hoping that we may get the opportunity to meet again one day..and hoping that you managed to find somewhere to join in the celebrations tonight Rinda & Co!!

Hope you've had a good weekend too...am looking forward to catching up with all your stories tomorrow!

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx

SHE GRADUATED....

....WITH HONOURS!!


We had no idea until she was actually presented with her degree,but our lovely Kirsty graduated 'CUM LAUDE'...she herself didn't know till five minutes before Graduation!

It was a lovely Ceremony, although as expected with Spanish timetables, it started almost an hour late!!

We have left her and her friends to party,and come back to our Hotel to breathe deeply and be grateful for a successful three years...and, in my case, to pray for her to now find a job!

You're a star, my daughter!!

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx

AND WE'RE OFF........

......on the 2012 SUMMER SCAVENGER HUNT organised by RINDA. In her latest post, there would appear to be about 40 of us playing along...I participated last year, and even though I had to cheat  be somewhat inventive with some of my entries, managed most of it. 


The items we are looking for are as follows:


1. A pier
2. A clothesline
3. A border
4. A roadside stand selling something
5. A train
6. A historical landmark
7. A person playing a musical instrument
8. A person dressed as an angel or a statue of an angel

9. A fountain

10. A horse

11. A shadow

12. A maze, labyrinth, or trail.

13. A library

14. A person playing with a ball.

15. Someone dancing.

16. A bride.

17. A church, chapel, cathedral, mosque or temple.

18. A movie poster

19. An outdoor stairway

20. A swing hanging from a tree (or a hammock)
21.  A picture of you standing with something that symbolizes your nation

It has been Fiesta in our village for the last few days, and when we went down to watch the festivities a couple of nights ago, I managed to get my first few photographs.

SOMEONE PLAYING A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT  (7)

There was actually a whole Marching Band of people playing musical instruments!

There were also stalls selling balloons and toys for the children, so this gives me A ROADSIDE STAND SELLING SOMETHING (4)

Now there are only 19 to go!

I am off to Barcelona tomorrow for Kirsty's Graduation, so am hoping to catch a few pics there...I'm also hoping to meet a special someone before I return home on Sunday..that might be a late entry for STORYTELLING SUNDAY over at SIAN'S BLOG! 

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx

FIRST CLASS SERVICE

Those of you who have ever received anything through the post from me, will know that I am always so relieved when things actually arrive..and that they haven't taken a month to do so! I am always muttering on about how unreliable the post is between here and anywhere, so you can imagine my surprise shock when, on having received a slip in the postbox today informing me of the arrival of a package, I went down to the local POST OFFICE and was handed a package that I had sent for only YESTERDAY!!


Admittedly, it had only come from Barcelona...but it was here, IN MY HANDS!!! Kudos not only to the Spanish mail delivery system, but also to the scrapbooking shop I talked about in THIS POST, CROMATISMES.


 I suddenly thought, yesterday afternoon, that the shop just might have an online store...and YAY!...I was right.  I enjoyed a very pleasant half hour or so, browsing through the site-I wasn't buying you know, I was just checking! Before I knew it, there was a little basket of goodies waiting for me, and my finger was being attracted to the ' submit order' button. That was at about 2.30pm yesterday...and as I say, my package arrived this morning! No complaints about service there!


And here's what arrived

The papers on the LHS are from a Polish Company which I hadn't heard of - I LOWE SCRAP

These are the other sides of the paper, and I just love them! I'll be on the lookout for more from this Manufacturer I think!

They also had a great supply of Washi tape..and after much humming and hawing I decided on these two!

I honestly don't know what I'm most impressed with...the shop's or the mail's service!!....I do know that I'm hoping to get some scrapping done with my lovely new stash over the weekend- once I've finished staring at it and stroking it!!

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx

BARCELONA DAY 2

The one place I DEFINATELY wanted to see on this visit was PARC GUELL, but Kirsty advised waiting till later on in the day as it was so hot. 


I apologise for the quality of some of the pics..I haven't edited them yet!


Taking her advice, I decided to get the bus along to the Scrapbook shop I found the last time I visited Barcelona, called CROMATISMES.  DH decided to accompany me, but wisely chose to go drinking coffee while I browsed. 

You have to understand that there are no Scrapbook Stores anywhere near we live, and my scrappy supplies are ordered online, so being able to walk in and actually SEE and TOUCH papers and embellishments is very exciting for me!

I was very good though, and really tried to curtail my spending...some paper, alphas and Washi Tape...

After a bit of lunch, we went back to meet Kirsty and she and I headed to Parc Guell.  We took the Metro and it was only when we got off that I realised how hilly that particular part of Barcelona is...AND how far we had still to walk! When Kirsty said it was a climb, she wasn't joking

Coming from this direction, there are two sets of escalators and an almost 'upright' hill-as well as another couple of 'ordinary' hills-and yes, we were heading right for where the trees meet the sky!!

It was SO worth it though..the views over the city were wonderful

and then of course, there were the fabulous mosaics

This is the actual entrance, but we started at the top and worked our way down..much easier in the heat-another perk to visiting with Kirsty..she knows these helpful little tips!

After getting the Metro back to the City Centre, I knew I needed coffee and ice-cream..and when in Barcelona, there's no better place to go than one of the many 'FARGGI' CAFES!

My favourite...... 'DULCHE DE LECHE' ice-cream, along with a CAFE CON LECHE

We met DH and went for a fab Mexican meal before heading back to Kirsty's to finish packing up some of her 'stuff' to take home with us.

Without a doubt, Barcelona is one of my favourite places..and I'm so glad Kirsty ended up studying there, as we have seen more than we probably would have, had we visited in the 'normal' tourist  fashion....if you've never been and are within travelling distance, I reckon you wouldn't be disappointed!

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx

BACK HOME!

Kirsty and I arrived back from Barcelona earlier this afternoon, having dropped DH at the airport at 9.30 this morning and finding our way back on to the motorway heading south.


I have to say that we managed to squeeze quite a bit into our two days!


We headed out on Monday morning...our planned destination being BARCELONA CATHEDRAL (NOT La Sagrada Familiar) which, Kirsty had informed me, had no scaffolding on it- the first time in all the time she's been there- so that HAD to be a photo opportunity!


We took the Metro into the city centre, getting off at the stop just beside the building Kirsty's Uni moved to, just at the beginning of this year....

As we were walking to LA RAMBLA, we almost got caught up in one of the student demonstrations

The beautiful main square in the city centre (Placa Catalunya) is full of protesting students at the moment (against Education cuts and the economy in general), including pitched tents in the garden areas

We stopped of at the huge indoor market- La Boqueria- which has the most amazing array of fresh food I have ever seen in one place!

Eventually we actually made it to the Cathedral.....

....where, would you believe?.....my camera battery ran out!!!!! 

To say I was mad at myself (for not charging it!) was an understatement. Kirsty and I DID go for a walk around it, but I just got more and more annoyed at myself and we soon gave up and went to  meet DH- who had adjourned to a Cafe, as Churches are not his thing at all. 

After getting lost a few times (as is Kirsty's wont) trying to find the place she wanted to take us for lunch...and then discovering it was closed for refurbishment(!), we ended up at a little place  very near the seafront and had lovely salads and pasta..yes it was Italian, but that is a very nice change for us!

The funniest thing was that the waiter spoke English, but had learned to speak it in Benidorm.... (for those overseas readers who have never come across the name, Benidorm is a coastal resort, much-loved by the British and totally over-run by them in the summer months)...and he spoke with the most amazing mix of accents! One minute he was Scottish, the next broad Yorkshire, then a real south East accent- you name it, they were all there...we couldn't help but laugh!

After a little bit of shopping, we went back to the apartment (to rest our weary legs), before heading out at night......we had decided to go the Cinema, as there is much more choice in Barcelona, than there is here! ......'THE LORAX' has been the only film on in English here, for the last six weeks!!!

We opted for 'LOS VENGADORES' (The Avengers), which I must confess was much better than I expected! 

You may remember in THIS POST , I mentioned that in the Cinema nearest to us, we have to wear infra-red headsets to enable us to hear the film in it's original language. In Barcelona, the film is actually shown in its ORIGINAL version, with Spanish subtitles...which is great until you come to a part in the film where Russian/ Japanese (or whatever) is being spoken...and the subtitles are STILL in Spanish!!!..oh well, you can't win them all!

Well, I think that's enough for one day...the rest of the sightseeing will have to wait till tomorrow.

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx

IN GOOD COMPANY

This month, SUSANNE over at SNAPS AND SNIPPETS is challenging us to scrap using SASSAFRASS products, for her IN GOOD COMPANY challenge.

On rifling through my stash, I discovered all of one sheet of Sassafrass (Woodland Whimsy),so tried to be a bit creative and use both sides, plus the scalloped bottom edge, as well as some fussy cutting. I also 'gutted' the sheet, so that I had the outer blue border, and attached some Bazzill CS to it. The doily shape under the flowers is the cream paper cut on my Silhouette, and inked a bit.

I have just realised what a dreadful picture this is...apologies!

Please consider joining Susanne's challenge, as she is threatening to call a halt on it  due to lack of interest, which would be a real pity. It has made me  much more aware of what products I actually have in my stash...and use them! I had had this particular sheet for a few years, and hadn't been able to come up with a way to use it until now-thanks Susanne!

I am abandoning COVER TO COVER for the moment...tomorrow I'm off to Barcelona for a few  days, as this is Kirsty's last half term there and this will be the last time I won't have to pay for a hotel!!

Kirsty will come back down with me for a few days, and then I have a friend coming over for five days...I'm hoping to dip in and out of COVER TO COVER, but certainly won't be participating  in the way I was expecting to!

Hope you're having a good weekend

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx

Just One Sketch....mirror image!

MISS SMITH'S third prompt urged us to use the mirror image of our original sketch. If you remember, this sketch, by TRACY over at A SCRAP AT A TIME is the one I working with

and this is the LO I've come up with

These were taken last September, while I was up in Barcelona with DD...I'm not convinced the photos actually do this beautiful building any justice, but I'm quite pleased with the LO itself....and I used mostly old stash to make it!

I'm off to write my story for STORYTELLING SUNDAY over at SIAN'S BLOG tomorrow...why not come and join us?

Hope it's not TOO cold where you are...still colder than we're used to here, but the sun's shining brightly!

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx

It's the Holiday Season.......

....and I have officially started the Christmas decorating! The Christmas Village is twinkling merrily

and the first prompts are through from the lovely Shimelle for JYC.

I have pulled a  kit together

and shall, hopefully, start to put it together over the next few days. My papers are mostly ECHO PARK 'Season's Greetings' with a couple of 'Holly Jolly Christmas' and some old K&CO 'Peppermint Twist' thrown in the mix as well.

I had a lovely few days with DD in Barcelona (and she loved the NYC album!), though student hours definately don't suit me these days! She has good friends and they all look out for each other...which ALWAYS makes a mum happy, no matter what age her children are...so I have come home a happy bunny!

I DID find the scrapbooking shop in Barcelona, which is owned by a very nice lady who just happens to love Scotland, so between 'scrappy' talk and 'Scotland' talk I spent a very pleasant 45 minutes there...and of course picked up a few 'lovelies' too. It was SO nice to be able to see and stroke all the papers, instead of having to wait until they arrive in the post, as I usually do!

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care for now

Alison xx

Finished....and Started!

The finished project is DD's NYC album, for her Birthday next week. I scrapped the last few pages yesterday

and finished the cover today!

Now all that's left is to wrap it up and take it to Barcelona with me on Sunday! I do like to see a project finished.

That being finished, I was able to think about my next project...my JYC album! I'm going with a modern American Crafts 8x8 again. I have most of my papers and cardstock picked out, but am waiting for the last of them to arrive....I'll take a pic when it's all here.

I have, however made my date tags

I used my Silhouette to cut out the scalloped circles, hand cut  the numbers from grunge-board, primed them with white paint and used Stickles to cover them  ....and I have to say I don't like them at all!  It's unlikely though that I'll change them, due to time constraints.

Thanks to you all for your encouragement about the Varifocals! I'm still trying to find the right part of the lens when using the laptop...my head is constantly on the move!

I'm off to Barcelona on Sunday, to spend a few days with DD. Before I left last time, I discovered the scrapbook store which DD had assured me existed, but couldn't find again(!), so I intend having a mooch around there, as well as trying to get a bit of Christmas shopping done....mainly for DD herself, as the rest has been done online. I also hope to find something to wear with black trousers, over the Christmas period!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx