setting sail....

.....well,I did it,I set off on my little journey on Tuesday-the rain poured,the wind huffed & puffed & the sea swelled,but I was not deterred from my mission.I knew it was a special day,a day I will always remember!So now I have started out on my chosen path,I shall happily reveal my destination.... 

....yes dear reader,here it is my hearts desire-a shop! My shop....mine,which means that I,yes me...I will be a shopkeeper!I will stand behind a counter,I will wrap things in tissue & put them in bags,I will stand on my doorstep & look up & down the street with my arms crossed-like you do when you have a shop....

.....just like Arkwright in 'Open All Hours',except my partner in crime will not be G-G-G-Granville it will my mama! This dear little unloved shop is in Marazion,a town which is just over the sea from the small island where I live-I pass it several times every day & have done for years-on several occasions since it was empty,pressing my nose against the glass & doing some 'shopgirl' fantasising! It is in a lovely spot,set back from the main square on the end of a row of rather splendid 4 storey town houses-next door is very posh,with splendid  pillars-we are a little shabby just now but some fresh paint & a shiny new door will soon help us to fit in! The building is over 200 years old,the landlord tells us back then it was a coach house & possibly a house of ill repute-fabulous-our little bit at the front would have been the bar I guess,in more recent times it was an estate agents & before that a denture makers! Inside we decided it was worth doing a proper job of things,so we ripped down the bobbly wallpaper with glee & Mr M ripped out a very dodgy sink which was lurking in an arched alcove,we also tore up the dusty carpet & of course made things look even worse! But after making a flying start,full of enthusiasm,things are looking much better already...

....this wall is in for a little treat,it is getting some Cath Kidston wallpaper-just 2 rolls,at that price!I have spent some time there painting today & I feel so at home,it is so sunny & you can hear the birds in next doors garden-you can also hear the old boys TV upstairs,football...loud football!This space has been waiting for me all these years & I didn't know it-how could I,yet it now makes up the third point of a triangle of some places in the town which have made up my history...I am always fascinated that four walls can mean so much,some places we will never enter & some we will spend many hours within.I will no doubt spend many hours looking out of this...

  

....ok,I have already spent a little time looking out of it,seeing the same faces passing by,several times a day some of them,nearby is the Post Office,corner shop,chemist & bakers (with pasties!)-also 2 pubs,so there is lots of spying to be done,I am already on waving terms with some of the locals!I also have several dear friends very nearby,so it really is the perfect spot-oh & how could I forget,the charity shop is a stones throw away,if I can just get there before my friend Louisa who is a regular!This promises to be a very happy chapter in my life,it all seems so right,I will try not to bore you with shop talk-but I will keep you up to date,we hope to open at Easter...for now,I am so very tired that I must to bed & dream some more of my pretty little shop,you see dreams do come true-sometimes...

 

....'you gotta have a dream,if you don't have a dream,how ya' gonna have a dream come true' (Happy Talk-Captain Sensible)! ....night night.x

snow day part deux!!!!

Now don't go passing out on me from shock that I am here, yet again, with another post!!!

:D

I think that naughty scrapping bug has bitten me, in several places, and now that I am no longer sleep deprived I am feeling like my old self...so forgive me for going all post-al on you...but who knows how long this will last!!! LOL!!!

I have some projects to share! Yep, some from the passion kit, which you really should get if you havent. Some teasers from buzz and bloom...one of my layouts are up on the blog! I need to get posts ready for the teasers I am presenting TODAY and hopefully that'll entice you to go over and chek the whole layout out. As soon as I can get them published, anyways. LOL.

SO my kid's fave thing...especially my son's....about snow days? Mommy now has time to make HIM his fave breakfast in the AM.

The kid was on cloud nine. Poor thing hates frozen pancakes/waffles in the AM.

take time to enjoy the view....this is what I take in right as I sit at my scrappy table.

what my poor runty toy poodle has to climb over to go do his thang!!!

what my awesome friend, Astrid sent over...YUM. Boy can she bake!!!! I can't wait to cut a slice and have it with some Cafe!!!!

now onto the peeks!!!

for AMM, using Buzz and bloom.

for the scrappiest, using more B&B

This is for sketch 53 at the scrappiest.

well, look at that, a photo heavy post. take care!!! and be very careful out there in the snow if it's snowing in abundance by you like it is here.

So today:

was a snow day. yep. we got lots.



I got some sleep. yay! got to sleep in. until 8:45.

I got DT work done and edited and emailed. Yay. now just need to work on getting the tutorial typed up. speaking of which, want to see another creation using Feb Passion kit?

I totally flaked out and forgot to photograph the journaling! well...my passion is music. Music consumes me...I always have a song stuck in my head. when I am sad, I turn to music for comforting. I never had the opportunity as a child to take music lessons, SO in this thing my DH & I are in agreement to sacrifice for. Music lessons for the kids. My passion  is to give my babies opportunities I didn't have, and I hope when they grow older they appreciate it. My son is excellent with the guitar. and my DD was an excellent violinist...we let her quit (I was not in agreeement...but she chose another instrument) as my 2 littlest terrors get older we'll  let them pick something out, too. for now they take Ballet & Tap.

got this picture off amazon....my son and I were sooo hooked to this series and am proud to say we finished it all!!!

you can check this out for more info.

I really wanna see the movie based on the 1st book. Maybe Bookworm terror and I can sneak off by ourselves....maybe.

Hubby got me this for my scrappy room, knowing how much I love plants. Unfortunately, since my scrappy room contains so many windows it makes it one of the colder rooms of the home as well...so I keep it in the other room most occupied by me...the kitchen!

this man is talented. Love his music.

Well, I hope you're all having a fantabulous evening. I will be scrapping and folding everyone's skivvies. oh, what fun!

TTFN

collections part 1.....

.....another afternoon,idled away in the sunshine....bliss!

(click on my flickr photostream-right- for descriptions)

the call of the sea....

.......another day,bathed in that magic light which heralds the coming of Spring,except today also brought a wild sea which threatened to engulf our tiny island! Sitting safely cocooned in my car waiting for the 'water-bus' to ferry me home I watched the angry waves,which seemed so at odds with the sunshine-the wind catching the top of the white horses created an ethereal sea-spray & the rushing sound-just like that from a pink lined conch shell. I am all too aware of natures powers,after all I am surrounded by the sea for most of my day- I guess an island cut off from the mainland for 16 hours in every 24 is not the obvious choice of home for someone like me who is rather afraid of the sea! After a visit here as a small child,I had a recurring nightmare of the place-always the same dream,standing at the entrance to the island I watched,helpless-with those legs you get in dreams,the ones that won't work (& the voice with no sound!)-as a giant wave engulfed me,my mama,the whole island! Terrifying & doubtless,highly significant.....yet as a teenager I was drawn back to this lifesize sandcastle in the sea,to take a summer job in the restaurant-(resplendant in a sailor top & deck shoes,much to the dismay of my 15 yr old demi-goth self!).So for several years,college holidays would find me here-serving cream teas & ice creams to the hoardes,never imagining that I would meet my husband here & make it my home one day! Given the chance to live here,those childhood nightmares were put to bed,the lure of this magical place was too strong to resist,rooted as it was in my romantically inclined heart-the roaring waves,craggy rocks,howling winds & isolation,straight from the pages of a classic novel! But still,my fear of the ocean never leaves me & I must confront it on a daily basis,on a calm day of course I am in love with its sparkling,glassy beauty-but on an angry day like today,it sets my nerves tingling knowing I am at its mercy,bobbing along until the safe harbour is reached on the other side.So today,I sat & watched knowing that in order to reach the home I love-so near & yet so far,I must first face the enemy....& here I am,I lived to tell the tale & make another cup of tea with shaking hand & pounding heart,it was a bumpy ride,but I've had worse-much worse.

Now,on to tomorrow & the start of a new journey on unchartered seas-no matter,I have a compass & a trusty crew,through the storms I will reach my safe harbour eventually & so,in the morning I set sail with a hopeful heart....land ahoy!      

The object of my affection

hi!

remember me? Arlene, the chick who was always posting here, showing off layouts or just chattering....

Yeah, I'm still alive...just running around like crazy. I have some layouts to show off! yes, even with the craziness going on. Believe it or not, it has helped me a bit to de-stress.

SO...this is the first layout completed using the Passion Kit over at SFTIO. ready to have a looksie?



You know, I had a hard time thinking about what I should scrap about? The kit in ityself I wanted to tear into...it's so beautiful. But really? What can I scrap about that I am passionate about? SO...I do what I always do when uncertain....look in the dictionary....

and yep...I love to scrap.

yep, I love chocolate.

and shoes.

BUT the object of my affection...is my hubby! and always will be, I'm sure!!!!

New Season Annie Blackbery Round 2!

eye candy 2....

.....I got nothing much done today but I had the loveliest time doing it!

dusty day.....

.....a  crisp,frosty day with the most glorious luminous light-perfect for photos without a flash.Also perfect for exposing a winters worth of dust,did I get out my feather duster? Did I heck I got out my trusty old camera instead! These were taken around my workroom,in the tidy spots! So many treasures....