JYC 13th December

Journal Your Christmas - 13th December 2010

Today's journal entry is about a favourite Christmas song. I choose to write about Enya's

'White Is In The Winter Night'

 

Have you seen the mistletoe,

It fills the night with kisses

Have you seen the bright blue star,

It fills your heart with wishes

Have you seen the candlelight,

It shines from every window

Have you seen the moon above,

It lights the sky in silver

Green is in the mistletoe and red is in the holly

Silver in the stars above that shine on everybody

Gold is in the candlelight and crimson in the embers

White is in the winter night that everyone remembers

Have you heard the boys outside, when all the girls are skating

Have you heard their sweet hearts cry for all this time they're waiting

Green is in the mistletoe and red is in the holly

Silver in the stars above that shine on everybody

Gold is in the candlelight and crimson in the embers

White is in the winter night that everyone remembers

Have you seen the children playing, tiny hands are frozen

Have you seen them hurry home, when suddenly it's snowing

Green is in the mistletoe and red is in the holly

Silver in the stars above that shine on everybody

Gold is in the candlelight and crimson in the embers

White is in the winter night that everyone remembers

Have you heard that bells are ringing, ringing at their story

Have you heard the choir singing, Glory, Glory Glory

I also made this layout

This is a scraplift from a layout by Ronda

I used Machine stitches, Basic Grey Dasher paper and American Craft Thickers letters.

JYC11th December

Journal Your Christmas - Saturday 11th December

The prompt from Shimelle for today is all about Christmas Trees.

We normally get our tree up at the beginning of the month, but were delayed this year. We had been stuck in Suffolk due to the snow, and didn't return home until Saturday 4th December. Catherine came home for the weekend, we met her off the train and went shopping for a tree.

We love a traditional real tree and feel it's worth spending a little extra for a good quality tree with needles that don't drop before you even get it home. We spent some time picking a good shaped tree and came away with a 7 footer!

I have spent years struggling to get a tree to stand and stay upright, and shaping the stump with an axe to get it to fit into a plastic stand. So I was relieved a few years back when I discovered clamp type stand that copes with any width of tree trunk (within reason!) and holds water to keep the tree fresher for longer.

We made a few changes to our lounge this year and as a result the big tree would not work well in this room - not if anyone wanted to watch the TV! We decided to have the tree set up in the dining room instead.  Here it will be enjoyed at meal times and by those playing games etc. around the table. We spend a lot of time in this room over the holidays. It also has a large corner to stand in away from the radiators. On the same day we purchased the tree we got it up and decorated, and the wrapped gifts placed underneath.

As for colour scheme I love the traditional red, white and green decorations and purely plain white lights. I'm not a lover of tinsel but I have collected some lovely ornaments over the years.  Some of these I have received as gifts, others I have purchased and many I have made myself. So as Shimelle puts it, I have what she calls a 'sentimental' tree complete with bits the children made at nursery and school. 

I plan to tell you more about the decorations in another post. I also plan to make a layout about the this year's tree when I have some better photos.

JYC - 5th December

Journal Your Christmas 2010 - Countdown

Just 20 Sleeps to Christmas day.

Our family has used various methods of counting down to Christmas day. The advent candles each Sunday in before Christmas in church. Paper advent calenders with pictures behind each door.

The felt advent calendars I have filled for the children each Christmas for years. I purchased these just after Christmas one year from a garden centre in a sale. I always filled the little pockets for small gifts or sweets.  Last year I decorated this box of drawers set with Basic Grey Wassail papers, the draws take quite good size gifts.

This year being the first Christmas since Andrew, Catherine and Emily went to university I decided to send each of them an advent calendar through the post. It's always lovely to receive post when you are away from home, especially in this age of mobiles and emails. I spent sometime shopping around for something I thought each of them would appreciate. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures before posting them off.

JYC 4th December

Journal Your Christmas 4th December 2010
Perfection

Today's Prompt is about being positive and thinking about what would make the perfect Christmas. I think it would be perfect if everyone was well enough to get together and have a good time. It will also be great if the weather allows us all to travel to be together, and for all that's arranged to take place. So many events have been cancelled or rescheduled due to the snow recently.

Something that is going a long way to making my Christmas better this year is the unique opportunity for me to take time off for the whole of Christmas and new year. As I am involve with some project work this year I have been able to tag some annual leave onto the bank holidays and so I will not be working Christmas, new year or the days between. I am also not on call over that period. I am writing this on 22nd December as I have got behind and am catching up randomly with the entries to this journal, but as of another couple of hours I will have finished my last working day and 'on call' session for two weeks!  This will be the first time I have had a full break over the Christmas holiday since the children started school and I returned to work (something like 14 years).

For now I am pleased to say Andrew, Catherine and Emily all made it safely home from their respective universities, despite the weather and the cancelled trains. As this picture indicates - they are well and truly home!

JYC 3rd December

Welcome to Journal Your Christmas 3rd December

Today Shimelle's prompt is all about Christmas Greetings

I have not purchased my cards yet but will get them from the EllenorLions Hospices charity I work for. For  close family and friends I have made some cards which I cannot show on this blog yet as many of you follow this blog and you don't have your card yet! I love to give and receive hand made cards, but as we send over 100 cards I don't make them all!!

It's great to keep in touch with distant family and friends and so we type out a letter with all the years activities - a sort of round robin with photos attached. Then we add personal messages to individual cards. So I guess it's time to check and update the list and get organised.

We have received a fun Christmas card from our neighbours Amanda and Colin already and looking back I see they were first the last two years too!

I have made them a card and have just delivered it to them this evening.

I used Dasher papers from Basic Grey and the image is a new one from Penny Black called 'Gift of Giving'. 

Last posting dates for Christmas are:

1st Class - Tuesday 21st December - 41p

2nd Class - Saturday 18th December - 32p

Special Delivery - Thursday 23rd December

Standard Parcels - Wednesday 15th December

This years Christmas postage stamps:

JYC 2010 - 2nd December

Welcome to 2nd December! 

Shimelle's prompt for today is about Christmas weather. 

In previous years I have journalled about lack of snow at Christmas, but this year we have had snow since last Saturday here in Suffolk. I came here with my friend Linda on Friday night.  We planned a few days crafting over the weekend including spending Sunday at The Big Event Crop at Henley. Alan and Robert came up to join us on Sunday after the crop and we had a lovely meal out in Orford on Sunday night. It didn't actually snow on here on Sunday.  We woke to a very snowy scene outside on Monday morning, so Linda and Robert set off home. I had an appointment here on Tuesday, and I have the week off work.  I made my appointment by walking there and back through the snow. We were not able to return to Kent on Wednesday as planned but keep listening into the weather and traffic reports. We can't get through Essex to the Dartford Bridge / Tunnel due to the weather and resulting problems with the M25 and A12. Just as well I am on annual leave! We have managed to get out each day either on foot or a short distance by car, to then walk around. Thus we took photos in Snape and the Tunstall Forest (already blogged). Today we made it as far as Woodbridge for lunch in the pub, sitting by the open fire, after walking around the town.

This layout was made with photos I took in the Tunstall Forest as they show this winter's weather perfectly.

The papers are all old ones from the Basic Grey 'Dasher' collection. I used an EK success border punch, lace, charms, flat backed gems and ribbons. The Gem flourishes are from Prima's E Line.

For the title 'Winter' was created with letters cut on the Cricut using the Plantin School Book cartridge. 'Wonderland' is American Crafts Black Tie velvet alphabet stickers.

The journalling block and snowflakes were also cut on the Cricut using the Storybook and Christmas cartridges.

  

JYC 2010 - 1st Decemeber

 JYC Declarations - Welcome to 1st December 2010!

I am following Shimelle's 'Journal Your Christmas' project again this year.

On 1st December I always remember my grandmother, Winifred May Holder nee Humm as this was her birthday. She was born in 1900, so was always the same age as the century during the 20th century. Sadly she died in December 1974, when I was 14, but I remember her very well.

December will be different this year as the children are away at university and so no longer at home  However they will return later in the month (weather permitting!) for a few weeks over Christmas and new year.

JYC MANIFESTO

Starting today I intend to blog daily following the prompts, and where possible use various crafts to illustrate my entries. Some of these will be scrapbook pages, others will be decorations, cards and calendars etc.

For Next Year

Better late than never, several years ago this calendar was purchased from B and Q in a sale with the intention of altering it for that Christmas. Well I found it in the loft when getting the decorations out this year and finally got around to altering it.

The original box:

I used Wassail papers form Basic Grey - I love the colours of this line.

Then cut numbers on the Cricut.Decorated the doors with stickers, glitter, gems and pearls.

All ready for next year!

Innocense

Day 33 JYC - Innocence.

For Shimelle's Christmas Journal project today we were asked to think about innocence she challenged us to use white in our project. I created this layout of my three children dressed for the Christingle service, they were five years old here. They had grown out of the first costumes I made them when they were three, so I had to make a new set. They were only involved as shepherd / angels for one more year as they joined the choir after that. They look so pure and innocent here - butter wouldn't melt! I used white bling for the background and the My Mind's Eye papers from December's Scrapaholix kit. I added some gems, pearls, ribbon and used my Martha Stewart border punch.

From 2007:

Happy New Decade!!

Day 32 JYC - Happy 2010

I'm not one for new year resolutions. But as usual I need to loose weight!! A new year does make me want to clear up and sort things out. Well I already started with the craft stash by sorting my blossoms a few months ago and made a start on the ribbons last week. I would love to take down the decorations and restore the house to normal, but won't do it today as I'm 'on call'. I can just imagine getting everything half done and having to go out, then not having time to get back to it. I will play safe and save it for another day. I'm sure I will have the tree down and the decorations neatly stored away before 12th night, knowing me!

My first photo to show you for the new year is a picture of this fantastic calendar made for me by Anita.

I have hung it on my new, not quite finished notice board. I wanted to make a very large notice board for special treasures, letters, bits of art work etc. The plan was for it to fit in my hall way in an area where I have taken some old pictures away recently. I bought a 100 x 150cm canvas from Hobbycraft and painted it magnolia. The I used 24 metres of brown gingham ribbon and nearly 100 brads! I will be inking the edges and finishing off securing the ribbons with more brads when I can get some more. Have a selection of goodies to display on it and will post another photo when finished.

My page from New Year's Day 2008:

Time off

Day 29 JYC - Looking Back

Most people are back to the world of work today, but I have some time off as I have to work 'on call' on Friday, which will be a bank holiday for the new year. Today is a chance to catch up, or make the cover of your Journal. Well as my journalling this year is on this blog rather than a book, and I already made a festive header, I was wondering what to tell you about today.

Then I remembered a small album I made a couple of years ago at our Blossom Babes Crop at Debden. I used pictures scanned from slides of my childhood. There were many pictures among them of my family Christmases during the 1960's.

My page from 2007, showing a photo f my great niece and nephew, Jessica and Jamie. This was the photo on their family Christmas card that year.

Mid Way Between

Day 28 JYC - Indulgences.

Today's prompt for the mid way between Christmas and New Year is the subject of indulgences. I discussed food last time so thought I would look at something else this year.

I had some cash for Christmas and as I had already been given my Cricut early, back in November, I thought I would treat myself to a couple of cartridges for it. I have selected from the new ranges. I'm looking forward to Paisley and Heritage.

.... and my page from 2007: