A room of my own.......

New blog

2012-01-20T17:32:00.000Z

I've decided that talking about Mental Health, including my own, is so important that I have started a new blog Life in pink pyjamas... I'm not going to close this blog down, but it is just going to be for my crafting, scrapbooking and art activities which is why I started it in October 2008.
Please click on the Time to Change link at the top of the page if you want to find out more about the Time to Talk campaign. Please follow the link to my new blog and say hello...it would be lovely to hear from you! :)

Myth or fact? 10 on the 10th.

2012-01-10T12:29:00.003Z

Yesterday, I signed a pledge to say that I would open conversations with friends and family about mental illness, to try and end the stigma and discrimination associated with the subject. My 10 things today are conversation starters that we can use to engage people in this important topic. They come from the website of the charity Time for Change who support people suffering from mental health problems. There were only 9 myths published so I added number 10 from my own experience of living with anxiety and depression! Hope Time for Change don't mind!!!! :)

Challenging the myths about mental illness can be a good way to get people thinking and talking...

1 Myth: People with mental illness can’t work.

Fact: Chances are, you probably work with someone with mental illness

2 Myth: Mental health problems are very rare

Fact: Mental health problems affect one in four people

3 Myth: People with mental illness never recover

Fact: People with mental illness can and do recover.

4 Myth: People with mental health problems are different from normal people:

Fact: We all have mental health, just like we all have physical health.

5 Myth: After experiencing a mental health problem, people are weaker.

Fact: Many people who have gone through this actually feel stronger

6 Myth: People with mental illnesses are violent and unpredictable.

Fact: People with mental illness are more likely to be a victim of violence

7 Myth: It’s best to leave people alone if they develop a mental health problem.

Fact: Most people with mental health problems want to keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues, it can be a great help in their recovery.

8 Myth: I don't know anyone with a mental illness

Fact: Someone you know or love has experienced a mental illness

9 Myth: People aren’t discriminated against because of mental health problems

Fact: Nine out of ten people with mental health problems experience stigma and discrimination.

10 Myth: People who suffer from mental illness are not suitable as friends.

Fact: People who struggle with depression, as I do, often possess deep reserves of loyalty, love and kindness that would remain 'untapped' if it weren't for our dear friends.

Thank you for reading this and I do hope you will start a conversation with family and friends just by asking ' How do you feel today?'

You will find lots more lists at shimelle.com

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!

2011-12-23T17:48:00.000Z

This free picture collage created with Smilebox

Welcome to Adopt a Word - unusual gift ideas and a great way to donate to childrens charity I CAN

2011-12-12T10:45:00.000Z

Welcome to Adopt a Word - unusual gift ideas and a great way to donate to childrens charity I CAN

Take 10 minutes on the 10th....

2011-12-10T18:28:00.000Z

Today is 'Write for rights' day, organised by Amnesty International. I have just finished writing a letter on behalf of the Women of Zimbabwe Arise group who have been subjected to all kinds of harassment because they long for better social, economic and human rights in the future. They have been denied their fundamental human rights of freedom of expression and assembly when their peaceful demonstrations have been targetted by the authorities. They are just one of the 10 causes that Amnesty International is encouraging us to support by picking up a pen and handwriting a letter. This kind of action can make an important impact on how these cases are dealt with in the different countries.

Afghan Women's Network in Afghanistan.
Jabbar Savalan in Azerbaijan.
Manolis Kypreos in Greece.
Filep Karma in Indonesia.
Hakamada Iwao in Japan.
Ines Fernandez Ortega & Valentina Rosendo Cantu in Mexico.
Port Harcourt Waterfronts in Nigeria.
Natalia Estemirova in the Russian Federation.
Fatima Hussein Badi in Yemen.
WOZA in Zimbabwe.

You can find out more information about the people and their causes here. So pick up your pen and a crisp new sheet of writing paper and make a difference to at least one cause from the list.
Thank you to all of you who have managed to read this far! Irene x.

I'll be back in 10.......

2011-12-09T14:33:00.000Z

Just writing some letters on behalf of Amnesty International. Details here.

Email to 'Life Squared' re: Buy Nothing Day.

2011-11-26T16:16:00.000Z

Being a pensioner, I don't have to go shopping on Saturdays. The trauma of trying to get a loaded supermarket trolley around the crowded aisles when 'the world and his wife' have come out to shop, is still fresh in my mind. In fact, suffering from depression means that I hate jostling through crowds and therefore I don't go shopping very often....it's just not really a hobby for me as it is for many people.

"What do you do then?" and "How do you shop?", you may ask.
My absolute downfall is ONLINE SHOPPING and I do as much as I can within my income! I buy art and craft materials, presents, books, clothes, music and even groceries online. It's just SO EASY especially with that little plastic, flexible friend and the payment service that starts with the letters PP! So you see, I'm just as adept at being one of the 20% of people who consume 80% of the worlds' resources as any seasoned habitue of the High Street!
"What are you doing for Buy Nothing Day, then?"
•Go through my inbox and delete all the *special offer* adverts that we are bombarded with at this time of year and then 'recycle' the 'snail mail' when that clatters through the letter box later on.
•Contact and interact with family and friends on facebook and twitter ie. all those who are not trying to sell me something.
•Chat with DH over soup and sandwiches for lunch. NB we didn't have to queue up with our tray in a crowded, bustling cafe!
•Chores :(
•Write an email to 'Life Squared' about what I'm doing today and post it on my blog.
•Make sure I DON'T SPEND ANYTHING ONLINE....pure willpower, of course!
•Catch up on some of my art and scrapbooking projects ie play around with paper and paint!
•Make Chicken Dopiaza for tea and drink ice-cold beer with DH.
•Watch TV...'Dads' Army', 'Casualty' and 'QIXL' are my favourites on Saturday night.
•Go to bed with a good book.....and DH of course!
So, not a very exciting day, but one I was able to enjoy without having to battle to the shops with other consumers ready to buy things they can't afford but feel they must have! Maybe next year we should have a GIVE SOMETHING DAY where one could give time or money or hold events for projects that matter to us in our own community?
"What do you think?"
PS. I've also been able to *think* proper thoughts today too....most refreshing! :)

You can find the 'Life Squared' website here.

Buy Nothing Day.

2011-11-26T01:03:00.000Z

Lock up your wallets and purses, cut up your credit cards and dump the love of your life - shopping.

Saturday November 26th is Buy Nothing Day (UK). It's a day where you challenge yourself, your family and friends to switch off from shopping and tune into life. The rules are simple, for 24 hours you will detox from shopping and anyone can take part provided they spend a day without spending!

Everything we buy has an impact on the environment, Buy Nothing Day highlights the environmental and ethical consequences of consumerism. The developed countries - only 20% of the world population are consuming over 80% of the earth's natural resources, causing a disproportionate level of environmental damage, and an unfair distribution of wealth.
Find more information HERE.

Didsbury Dabblers.

2011-11-14T22:40:00.000Z

Dawn and Lindsay busy with their Christmas prep.

Had a lovely time yesterday at the Didsbury Dabblers craft group organised by Dawn Cheshire . There are four members of this group so far and three of us attended for scrapbooking, nattering, knitting, drinking, eating lunch & biscuits.

Preparing some pages for JYC.

The hut with lovely trees behind.

The scout hut where we meet is rather basic at the moment, but it has received a grant for re-furbishment, which will take place after Christmas. From then on it will be available for community use so we hope to welcome more people to the group.
We made Christmas gifts and got some preparation time in for Shimelle's JYC. I made a birthday card for my SiL and then spilled silver ink on it....doooh! At least I have a template for the re-make!

The campfire circle in the garden.

While I was taking a break I took some photos which follow. Thank you Dawn for organising the day!! The next meeting is on December 11th so contact Dawn on the link above if you would like to attend.

A beautiful holly tree in the grounds.

Birch trees against a late afternoon sky.

Armistice Day. 11/11/11

2011-11-11T16:01:00.000Z

Here is a photograph of my Great- Grandfather, John Partington. He was killed on the Somme battlefield in France on 7th September 1916.

I shall be remembering him today and on Sunday and the sacrifice he and millions of others made and are still making to enable us to live a free life.

Other close relatives who have served but were not killed:-

James Hoolahan; Boer War, WW1 my other Great Grandfather:

James Hoolahan; WW1, WW2 my Grandpa.

David Hedley Howe; WW1 my Grandad.

Philip Hedley Howe; WW2 my Dad.

William Fitzpatrick; WW2 my Father-in-law.

Margaret Green; WW2 my Mother-in-law who still lives to tell the story.

I hope to travel to France one day and visit John's grave to pay my respects but for now I have this photo of his grave at the Quarry Cemetery, Montauban.

This photo is courtesy of the War Graves Photographic Project.

For The Fallen by Laurence Binyon.

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

BPS Research Digest: How walking through a doorway increases forgetting

2011-11-07T16:52:00.000Z

BPS Research Digest: How walking through a doorway increases forgetting

GS's 3rd Birthday!

2011-10-26T16:28:00.000+01:00

Create a free scrapbook design

Patterned Background.

2011-10-21T11:28:00.000+01:00

I loved the style of Julie Kirk's layout in the prompt today, so here is my version of it. I wanted to try the idea of writing on the correction tape but couldn't find any, not even the fluid, so I used labels instead. DGS has lots of toys for imaginative play and here are just two examples! Love the way he pretends to be Mr Potato Head as well. Am I imagining it, that at one time you had to have a REAL POTATO to play with this toy?

Paper Strips.

2011-10-20T17:40:00.000+01:00

My first layout for this class.... or party!..... uses strips of bold, patterned paper. Well not really STRIPS but chunks of paper from my scraps box. I enjoyed making this because DH thinks that Iggle Piggle looks like David Cameron and it made me giggle thinking about it! DGS loves his Thomas hat and likes being so much more independent now he is nearly three!

A lovely Dream by Suzi Blu.

2011-10-19T14:01:00.000+01:00

I've just started sketching my images for the tower. I love the chacopaper idea but decided to use carbon paper instead...of course I pressed on too hard and I suppose it will dis-appear under the paint and pencil. I will have to try and find some dressmakers' copy paper to do it properly so that the lines will go. For the owl, I remembered an old trick I was taught in Geography classes when you want to copy a map from an atlas to use in your work. (In the 1960s before we had computers in school !) To copy a map you need tracing paper and a pencil. You trace the map you want, turn the paper over and scribble over the lines with pencil. Turn it back, lay it on the space where you want it to be and then trace over the map again. When you lift the tracing paper off, you should have a faint image of the map. This is just enough to enable you to draw over the outline and 'Hey.....Presto'! your map/ drawing is transferred! I just printed out a photo from the computer and scribbled directly on the back to transfer the image of the owl. The face features and ivy I will sketch from photos. I've been looking through everyone's art and feel incredibly priviledged to be part of this group......wonderful stuff! Irene aka Calendula aka Britchick! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ice-breaker activity

2011-10-17T15:25:00.000+01:00

Today is the first day of PPP from Shimelle.com and our ice-breaker challenge was to post a photo of some of our patterned paper. I chose some sheets of paper that I LOVED when I bought them, but they never seemed to fit in with whatever I was scrapping! They seem a bit 'old school' now, but I hope that there will be opportunities for me to use some of them over the next month. Do you have any dreadful secrets among your paper stash??!!

A New Class!

2011-10-10T23:13:00.001+01:00

There's a new class at Shimelle.com and I've enrolled! It starts next Monday and continues for a month and at £12 or $18 is VERY good value. I'm really looking forward to receiving Shimelle's quality prompts and to seeing the videos. Just the thing for these darker Autumn evenings and to get us all in the party spirit! What will you wear? Party dress or PJs? x

10 things. World Mental Health Day.

2011-10-10T00:01:00.003+01:00

A scrapbook page I made about some of my favourite things :)

It is nearly five years now since I retired from teaching on ill-health grounds because of anxiety and depression. Since that time I have received help from various places and managed to claw my way back to being able to function normally, but it hasn't always been easy. The public view of mental health is still not all that enlightened so I decided that my '10 on the 10th' would be 10 ways to improve your mental health. They may seem simple to you, but believe me from the point of view of someone with depression, they may seem really difficult to achieve and the person might also feel unworthy of help.
The Mental Health Foundation has designated today for' Tea and Talk' and tea parties will be going on all over the country. Even if it's coffee you love, sitting, chatting and interacting with others is a good way to boost your mood! If you are able to organise a tea party this week, then visit the tea and talk page or if not, donate here.

Anyone can make simple changes that have a huge impact on their mental health and wellbeing. We've come up with ten practical ways to take care of yourself and get the most from life.
Mental health is about the way you think and feel and your ability to deal with ups and downs. Making simple changes to how you live doesn't need to cost a fortune or take up loads of time. Anyone can follow our advice.

1.Talk About Your Feelings

Talking about your feelings can help you stay in good mental health and deal with times when you feel troubled. Talking about your feelings isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s part of taking charge of your wellbeing and doing what you can to stay healthy.

2. Eat Well

There are strong links between what we eat and how we feel – for example, caffeine and sugar can have an immediate effect. But food can also have a long-lasting effect on your mental health.

3. Keep in Touch

Friends and family can make you feel included and cared for. They can offer different views from whatever’s going on inside your own head. They can help keep you active, keep you grounded and help you solve practical problems.

4. Take a Break

A change of scene or a change of pace is good for your mental health. It could be a five-minute pause from cleaning your kitchen, a half-hour lunch break at work or a weekend exploring somewhere new. A few minutes can be enough to de-stress you.

5. Accept Who You Are

Some of us make people laugh, some are good at maths, others cook fantastic meals. Some of us share our lifestyle with the people who live close to us, others live very differently. We’re all different.

6. Keep Active

Experts believe exercise releases chemicals in your brain that make you feel good. Regular exercise can boost your self-esteem and help you concentrate, sleep, look and feel better. Exercise also keeps the brain and your other vital organs healthy.

7. Drink Sensibly

We often drink alcohol to change our mood. Some people drink to deal with fear or loneliness, but the effect is only temporary.

8. Ask for Help

None of us are superhuman. We all sometimes get tired or overwhelmed by how we feel or when things go wrong. If things are getting too much for you and you feel you can’t cope, ask for help.

9. Do Something You're Good At

What do you love doing? What activities can you lose yourself in? What did you love doing in the past? Enjoying yourself helps beat stress. Doing an activity you enjoy probably means you’re good at it and achieving something boosts your self-esteem.

10. Care for Others

Caring for others is often an important part of keeping up relationships with people close to you. It can even bring you closer together.

You can download a printable version of these hints and there is extra help at The Mental Health Foundation website.

LSNED Day 10

2011-09-12T15:10:00.001+01:00

10th September 2011

LEARNING FROM MY SENSES: When I smelled the delicious cooking aromas coming from my Indian neighbour's kitchen, I learned that I could NOT resist raiding the freezer and preparing these curries for tea!

LSNED Day 9

2011-09-10T17:13:00.003+01:00

9th September 2011.

A LESSON LEARNED: I am grateful that you are there to love and support me whenever I need you. x

Photo taken July 2010

10 things on the 10th.

2011-09-10T00:01:00.002+01:00

From the website Life Squared a list of 10 books that might help you cope with the complexities of modern life. Which book would you add to this list?

LSNED. Day 8

2011-09-09T17:23:00.002+01:00

8th September 2011.

A LESSON LEARNED: I really miss my printer/ scanner when it's not just there on the desk....I EVEN MISS my washing machine now it's throwing up 'Error 99' and refusing to work! Well, at least there's no ironing 'til it's mended and I can continue blogging my LSNED thoughts here without having to print photos! Silver linings?

Photo taken August 2009.

LSNED Day 7

2011-09-08T20:48:00.000+01:00

7th September 2011.

DAILY OBSERVATION: Autumnal storms are approaching...how quickly the season has changed this year!

LSNED Day 6

2011-09-08T08:45:00.000+01:00

6th September 2011

NEW BOOKS: I LOVE them especially when they're as CUTE as this one!

LSNED Day 5

2011-09-06T11:40:00.000+01:00

5th September 2011.

TODAY: A long-handled broom and stout, rubber gloves are needed to clean up after a bird of ill-repute!

LSNED

2011-09-05T23:48:00.000+01:00

3rd September 2011.

Fact: If you plan an evening activity, make sure you have enough time to cook a meal beforehand!

4th September 2011.

NOTE TO SELF: If you halve the ingredients of a recipe, you could also halve the cooking time!

LSNED

2011-09-03T11:40:00.001+01:00

2nd September 2011

This I know: No matter how many years go by, I will still miss my Mum on her birthday. x

Annie Howe 1920 to 2005.

LSNED

2011-09-02T11:15:00.000+01:00

1st September 2011.

I needed to make some birthday cards for family members so I followed the instructions and links from HERE. Thank you Craftystylish!

A printable challenge

2011-08-14T17:27:00.001+01:00

OK! It is the last day of Shimelle's 'Proud to be a Scrapbooker' weekend and I've only just completed the second challenge! I think (hope!) I've got the rest of the week to ramble through the rest!
Thank you Mary Anne for the super printables and for the suggestion about using the circles for a scalloped edge. I opened the pdf in PSE, found a sample of the product I was using for the background and sampled the green and yellow so that the printables matched the paper. ( Toy Box Collection by Crate Paper) I've been shadowing Shimelle's 4x6 photo love and decided the March sketch would be ideal for an lo of GS playing out in the garden. Just right!
Irene x

Shimelle's Scrapbooking Sketch of the Week.

2011-08-12T15:53:00.001+01:00

Shimelle has a 'Proud to Scrapbook' crop going on all weekend and today started with a giveaway which you will find by following the link.

The crop started with a sketch challenge which is also her scrapbooking sketch of the week challenge.

I decided to create an lo of our train ride from Ravenglass to Dalegarth in Cumbria which we enjoyed so much that we travelled twice more to different stations. It is handy when sampling the locally brewed Cumbrian ales and the locally sourced pub menus. You get plenty of fresh air and enjoy walking to the various hostelries, without having to worry about driving! 'Let the train take the strain' as they used to say!

Irene x

10 things on the 10th......

2011-08-10T00:32:00.002+01:00

These people were marching through the streets of London yesterday. What were they doing......rioting?.....NO! They were trying to do something positive for their community by helping to clear up the mess left by the riots the night before. Some of these groups were organised by Richard Reynolds from Guerilla Gardening. Looking at the positive things that can be done to our streets by organisations such as this one, made me look into things a bit more closely, so my 10 for the 10th of August are connected with this idea. They are in no particular order:-

Guerilla Gardening Information site founded by Richard Reynolds.
The Eden Project Seed bombs! :)
The Pothole Gardener This is bound to put a :) on your face!
Farm in my Pocket Some useful information here put very concisely.
Irving Park Garden Club Based in Chicago. A gallery of their garden walk.
Wayward Plants Community gardens with unwanted plants on derelict sites.
On Guerilla Gardening A handbook on gardening without boundaries by Richard Reynolds
Seedbom by Kabloom. There's a giveaway on this one! Could be explosive! :)
Urban Physic Garden Plants with medicinal properties.
Allotinabox Boxes of GYO seeds available for urban growers who garden on balconies, window boxes or roofs.

After all the 'gloom and doom' of the last few days, it's good to know that there are so many positive ideas that city dwellers can use to improve their own neighbourhood. Thank you for visiting my blog.
Irene x

A wild rose in the native hedge in my garden.

Journeys, adventure, construction & perfection......

2011-08-05T17:19:00.001+01:00

My explorations on the creative journey this week started with writing two experiences on postcards and posting them to myself...cue for a song? Although I posted them on the same day, they arrived back a day apart and one without a postmark! Well, I suppose we've all had journeys ourselves like this!

It was great to follow the scavenger hunt and look at the links. We buy Ordnance Survey maps and tourist maps for all the holidays we go on, so we have quite a large collection of them! None of these can be cut into, so I printed out a few to make the collage and the circle embellishments.

Perfection.....no, I'm NOT a perfectionist! This reminded me of the EMBRACE IMPERFECTION class that I did with Karen Grunberg at Big Pictures. We vowed not to let perfectionism prevent us from recording the memories that our family will find fascinating and made this little book to put on our desks to refer to whenever we suffer from perfection stress. It is full of quotes about perfection.

I made a list of things that were just about perfect in my life at the moment.

Thinking about all these things, I decided to create an lo of a just about perfect family occasion....my family birthday celebration.

I really enjoyed the first week of Explore, especially the video by Shimelle which helped to make sense of my ham-fisted struggle to make circle embellishments!

Thank you for looking! Irene :) x

EXPLORE

2011-07-22T11:18:00.001+01:00

I have been enjoying this new class 'Explore' from Shimelle all week, so I decided it was time to report what I had been doing.

I made this playbook:-

I took this self-portrait and wrote a few notes to self about creativity:-

I thought about what being adventurous means to me and wrote two postcards about adventures I had had in the past. I addressed them to myself but I have yet to post them to get the post office mark and date on them.

I thought about the map as and its symbolism of a journey and added a cool contour map background to my blog here.

I'm now going to make a map page in my playbook, some circle embellishments and consider if I am a perfectionist. Just waiting for Prompt 5 to arrive!

I wish you well in your explorations and thank you for visiting my blog!

Irene x

10 Holiday Photos.

2011-07-10T18:39:00.000+01:00

I was recently on holiday at Ravenglass in Cumbria. Here are a selection of the photos I took. Hope they give you a flavour of the area.

Retro fashion at the Lakeland Car Museum.

The dunes & estuary at Ravenglass.

Whitehaven Marina.

The Roman bath house at Ravenglass.

The Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway engine at Ravenglass Station.

Quaint, country cottage at Boot.

Wreay Castle.

Maryport.

Muncaster Castle.

Sunset at Ravenglass.

10 things blogged on the 10th of every month.

2011-06-10T17:18:00.000+01:00

I've recently been renewing my garden and have created a little, cool, shady place to sit when I need to calm down or just enjoy the garden on a hot day. I often refer to my "Little Book of Calm" by Paul Wilson to help me to gather my thoughts. I hope you will find the following 10 thoughts from the book helpful and I've also included a photo of my shady place to help you get in the mood.

10 thoughts by Paul Wilson to inspire you:-

GROW YOUR OWN- Gardeners are among the most calm and relaxed people (while they're gardening) you'll find.
PAINT THE TOWN GREEN- Keep plants where you work, sleep and live and you'll enjoy more oxygen. The more oxygen you can get, the calmer you will become.
THINK CALM- Have calm thoughts, picture calm scenes, recall calm sounds.
SMELL THE BLOOMS- Certain scents stimulate the production of the relaxing chemical, serotonin, in the brain.Among the most effective of these scents are lavender and chamomile.
USE A SOFT VOICE- Have you ever noticed a calm person with a loud voice?
PRETEND IT'S SATURDAY.
REST IN A TUB- A leisurely, warm bath soothes like no other method. Lower the lights, add a few drops of your favourite oil, and you'll be transported.
GO ON, SMILE- A smile relaxes all the major facial muscles. It also sets off an emotional chain reaction that invariably helps you feel good.
RECOGNISE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HAVING AND LIVING.
GAZE ON SOMETHING BLUE- Or pink. Sometimes green. Each of these colours- one warm, two cool- has the ability to instil calm in a troubled mind.

There are LOADS more in the book and if you would like to leave a comment either just say 'Hello' :) or share something you do to help you stay calm. Lots of Love, Irene x.

Poor Kids

2011-06-08T22:01:00.007+01:00

Where did all the money go that was thrown at the country over the past few years?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b011vnls/Poor_Kids/
"Documentary telling the stories of some of the 3.5 million children living in poverty in the UK. It is one of the worst child poverty rates in the industrialised world, and successive governments continue to struggle to bring it into line. So who are these children, and where are they living? Under-represented, under-nourished and often under the radar, 3.5 million children should be given a voice. And this powerful film does just that.
Eight-year-old Courtney, 10-year-old Paige and 11-year-old Sam live in different parts of the UK. Breathtakingly honest and eloquent, they give testament to how having no money affects their lives: lack of food, being bullied and having nowhere to play. The children might be indignant about their situation now, but this may not be enough to help them. Their thoughts on their futures are sobering.
Sam's 16-year-old sister Kayleigh puts it all into context, as she tells how the effects of poverty led her to take extreme measures to try and escape it all.
Poor Kids puts the children on centre stage, and they command it with honesty and directness. It's time for everyone to listen."
Courtesy of the BBC

Seoul

2011-06-06T10:42:00.000+01:00

Wonderful time-lapse photography from this travel site tinywrld.com. I especially love the night time sequences. Enjoy!

Seoul Time Lapse 2011 from Oh Choong Young on Vimeo.

Five ideas for scrapbooking with girl power

2011-05-31T20:06:00.000+01:00

Five ideas for scrapbooking with girl power

7 days in May

2011-05-30T16:54:00.000+01:00

Our last challenge of the week was to produce a hybrid card (that means some cutting & sticking involved as well as digital) from this template:

Here is my interpretation of the challenge:

This is the second year I've completed these challenges now from Jessica Sprague and I really enjoy it because I get a chance to practice my digital skills. Hope you have enjoyed this series of posts!

Irene x

7 days in May

2011-05-30T12:44:00.000+01:00

This is my contribution for day 6 with the title 'true story'.

Thought for the day.

2011-05-29T11:47:00.000+01:00

7 days in May

2011-05-27T22:56:00.000+01:00

Our fifth challenge was a 'song and site' challenge by Liv. The first prompt was this song:

Listen and enjoy! It's all about love and peace and getting along together....not bad for a Friday afternoon!
The site is 1man.org and Liv used an image from the site as the inspiration for her template today:

This is my layout about the love of my DD and SiL and how it brought family and friends together:

7 days in May, Day 4.

2011-05-26T22:42:00.000+01:00

Linda, our challenge setter for today, admitted to being a bit of a 'fashionista'! The inspiration she used to design the lovely template today, was from surfing the internet and seeing all these pictures in different sizes displayed in white frames.

I decided to use this photo of DS which I shot with my camera phone yesterday. I've been longing to use this set 'Camera Bag' by SJ Musings & Shimelle Laine, so I think they go very well together.

7 days in May

2011-05-25T22:49:00.000+01:00

Our Challenge today was to create a layout using this colour palette from Paper Source:-

I used the little MONSTER quick page by Jen Martakis @ 2peas and some of P Knox's Wonderful World elements from Wacom pen scrappers. I thought the big eyes of the monster went well with this photo of GS wearing DD's sunglasses upside down!

7 days in May

2011-05-24T17:14:00.000+01:00

Our second challenge was inspired by this photograph and the possibilities it presented for journalling.

Liv also gave us a lovely, new template to use if we wanted. I loved it and thought it would be ideal for a wedding photograph.

7 days in May

2011-05-24T00:03:00.001+01:00

The first challenge of the week was based on a template which was a freebie from LivE designs.
I thought the template was ideal for a series of photos, so I chose some of GS investigating some salad tongs. Future Scientist or Chef?

She Art - Namaste Yoga Girl

2011-05-22T12:09:00.002+01:00

She Art - Namaste Yoga Girl, a photo by sparks-in-dark on Flickr.

I was looking at all the she art girls on flickr from a recent class I took and this one really stands out. It's such a fresh take on Christy's instructions. Love it!

T-shirt & Tunic Tuesday!

2011-05-17T15:54:00.000+01:00

These are the new t-shirts and tunics that came from my online shopping for items in the Spring sales. They didn't have all the colours I liked in my size and I was especially wary about the red because I don't wear it often. After trying them on and being relieved about not having to return any, I think I shall enjoy a bright, cool summer. That is if the weather improves over the next few weeks! Well, it will be cool anyway!

Welcome to the Colour Combo Blog Hop!

2011-05-14T11:07:00.000+01:00

I hope you enjoyed your time with the lovely Alysse in California! Welcome to a sunshine and showers day in Stockport, UK! If you are completely lost, then please refer to the list of links for the blog hop below this post.

This is the colour combo we are using courtesy of The Inspired Bride.

I have been hoarding and drooling over some papers by Melody Ross for some time now but when I saw the colour combo, they just screamed out "Use me, use me!" Well at last I gave in and thought that they would be appropriate to use for this layout 'up in the air'. I also loved the Scrapbooking Sketch of the Week over on Shimelle Laine's blog. I particularly liked the faded effect on the large photo graph, so this is my interpretation of it.

We have recently celebrated the Royal Wedding and activities such as street parties went on all over the UK. My daughter and her family and friends held a garden party in the communal garden behind their homes. They hired a bouncy castle for the day and children and adults alike enjoyed bouncing away the lovely sunny afternoon! We had a buffet lunch and finished off the day with an evening barbecue with a toast of Bucks Fizz after the Duke and Duchess were proclaimed 'man and wife'!

A lovely memory of a happy day!

Hope you enjoyed your stay! Now on to someone who only celebrated their own wedding eighteen months ago! 'Bye!

Blog hop list:-

http://amysoto.blogspot.com

http://scrappin24-7.blogspot.com/

http://scribblesstickingstitchingstroking.blogspot.com/

http://throughthecameralens.typepad.com

http://digipage-blog.everything-digital-scrapbooking.com/

http://blog.mshanhun.com

http://alyssephotographs.blogspot.com/

http://www.calendulafitzpatrick.blogspot.com

http://spud-pickle.blogspot.com

www.scrappingmojo.blogspot.com

www.MichelleRoycroft.blogspot.com

http://handmadebykirsty.blogspot.com

http://www.vsws.typepad.com

http://scrapyourlife.net

http://sugarandscrap.blogspot.com

http://snapsandsnippets.blogspot.com

http://craftygoodies.blogspot.com

http://adriennefalzon.blogspot.com

http://airbs.blogspot.com/

http://1200somemiles.blogspot.com

http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com

http://www.curlyscrapbooker.blogspot.com

http://xnomads.typepad.com/

Happy Scrapbooking Day:)

2011-05-07T18:12:00.001+01:00

Hello and welcome to my blog, if you haven't visited before! I've decided to celebrate the day (..weekend...week?) by joining in the party at Shimelle's blog and the crop at Big Picture Classes. I don't think that I'll be able to do everything, but I'm hoping that it will fuel my enthusiasm, as I haven't been doing much actual scrapbooking over the last few weeks. Shimelle's first challenge was to use patterned paper, so I've used her lo as a sketch and produced an lo about GS.

He likes the song 'Jelly on a plate,' so I was really tickled when I actually saw him trying to chase some very wobbley jelly round a plate with his spoon! Usually, he insists on saying 'cheese' and makes very funny faces when I try to photograph him but, he was concentrating so hard he didn't even notice the camera! The photos were taken at DD's garden party to celebrate the Royal Wedding.

Royal Wedding Garden Party. 29th April 2011

2011-04-30T01:16:00.000+01:00

This free slideshow personalized with Smilebox

My Day in Photos.

2011-04-27T11:27:00.000+01:00

See more days here.

Everything for a reason

2011-04-19T21:30:00.001+01:00

This is my 'picture post' for prompt 02...hope you can read my points! I printed out my blog with just the 'Reasons' post and it took 16 pages!!!! Good job I used greyscale printing! I then stuck them on the back of the door behind my desk, stood back and had a good look. Several things occured to me so I scribbled them on the pages.Click on the photos to get a better view. Here they are:-

This is now my 'work in progress' for the next three weeks and beyond.What do you think?
NB. The blog design class is at Jessica Sprague.com and it's only for Blogger.

Reasons

2011-04-18T18:08:00.000+01:00

You: "Why did you start your blog, Irene"?
Irene: "I was inspired by my newly acquired hobby of scrapbooking and wanted to write about myself and my family in that context".
My blog began in November 2008 with this short post and really began to roll with Journal your Christmas 2008. I really enjoyed the giving and receiving of comments and the fun that was to be had just joining in! The amount of expertise needed ie. in taking photos, uploading them and inserting them into each post meant a steep learning curve! Some people preferred to comment on the class forum, while others preferred to visit my blog or look at my photos on flickr I equally enjoyed all the variety of input from other bloggers and their comments. I now use twitter and facebook as well to communicate my passion, all rather a 'hotchpotch' but I do love the multi faceted approach and basically I'M NOSEY and love to see what's going on!! Ultimately, all the other media refer back to my blog, which is my favourite medium of all.
My blog is a zany mixture of favourite funny/inspiring videos, family history, scrapbooking, mixed media art and family news. I am just coming to the point where I would like to know which kind of posts you like to read on my blog. Have a little look around and kindly leave a comment on which posts you most like to read, and/or cast your vote in the little poll below. Thank you for visiting my blog! Please come again!!

What kind of posts make you interested in my blog?online survey

Time lapse photography

2011-04-17T15:22:00.000+01:00

This is SO beautiful! Make sure you watch it on full screen! I know I'm feeling a bit down at the moment, but this made me weep:( Wonderful!:)

The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

Census 2011- looking back.

2011-03-29T00:21:00.002+01:00

My first task of the day was to submit our census form for the 2011 UK census. I had soon filled in the information online and submitted my form showing who was resident at our address on the night of 27th March 2011 and other details the government need to plan for the next few years. In 2001 there were four of us here, but now the family have 'flown the nest' and are embarking on lives of their own. How proud my parents and grandparents would have been to see the life we lead now! I started to think what life would have been like for us 100 years ago and decided to look back through my genealogy files at some of my family in the 1911 census.

The 1911 census document shows that my great-grandmother, grandma and her sister were all cotton weavers in the local mill:-

Here is a photograph taken in the mill in 1911 celebrating the coronation of King George V on 22nd June 1911.

Left to right: Hilda, my grandma's sister; Bertha, my great-grandmother; Annie, my grandma. There is no record of the names of the other ladies but I expect they all worked on the same section of looms. My grandma and aunty Hilda always shouted at one another because they had been deafened by the noise of the machinery! In 2011, they would have to wear ear protectors and breathing masks because of the dust from the cotton. What a fascinating window on my family history this is!
NB. Click on the photos for the whole version!!

Portrait of a Princess

2011-03-21T10:31:00.001Z

This is not suitable for children, but very funny! Enjoy! Lol!:)

i. Scrap

2011-03-20T12:12:00.001Z

Here are some los from 'i. Scrap' an 8x8 album project by Stacy Julian at 'big picture classes'. I haven't included the journalling pages because it's a private, introspective album.

The first page.

i know that I am happy living here.

An example of a journalling page.

i once ate a fried Mars bar!

i am glad that I have more time to relax and enjoy my hobbies.

i wonder what adventures I'll have now I'm 60!

i went on a beautiful holiday to the Cotswolds.

i was delighted when Ben first called me Grandma.

i believe that I can do more activities to relieve my depression.

i love John and my family very much.

i will try to visit more beautiful gardens this year.

The She Art Workshop

2011-03-18T14:37:00.000Z

This is my second girl made from Christy's pattern. She has wings rather than arms.

The third girl with a dress and old style pantaloons.

I've just finished week one of this class and will now go on to create more girls with a different style of background and more complex clothing.

The She Art Workshop

2011-03-10T14:38:00.001Z

I've been trying some mixed-media art this week in the form of these pretty little girls. This is my first effort from The She Art Workshop by Christy Tomlinson. I am quite pleased with her, although I think the background is too dark and I've cut the dress with too straight lines! The workshop has been great fun and the videos that Christy produces delight and amuse me at the same time because she has such a funny turn of phrase. She also had to stop the filming at one point to put the cat out, as it was meowing on the sound track! She has designed two other girls for us to work on for which I have also done the background canvases, so I'd better go and get them finished!

International Women's Day!

2011-03-08T11:25:00.001Z

More information fromThe Guardian newspaper.

Got Paint?

2011-03-06T12:05:00.000Z

Yes! I have got plenty of paint, but I never use it on my layouts for scrapbooking, well not recently anyway! So I signed up for 'Got paint?' by Emily Falconbridge at Big Picture Classes. In week 1 she encouraged us to produce an 6x6 art journal using the following paint techniques as a background to each page. We could use any subject for the journal, so I used some photos of a pleasant afternoon spent with GS at DD's home. I wrote the painting technique used on the back of each page as a reference guide.

The cover : dry brushing using two wet colours.

Dry brushing using one colour.

Gesso with pattern scratched on and highlighted with a layer of paint.

Masking.

Dry brush then wipe surface with a baby wipe.

Acrylic wash.

Acrylic glaze.

Etching into a thick layer of paint.

My painter's pledge!

Words to live by

2011-02-23T20:55:00.001Z

I found this lovely poster on the blog Shrimp Salad Circus.You can download it HERE. Enjoy!

Single Woman?

2011-02-23T11:48:00.000Z

If you have a cat, this could be the reason why!

Fast Lane - The Slide

2011-02-21T22:36:00.000Z

I like this, but not as much as the piano stairway!

Embrace Imperfection

2011-02-21T17:58:00.000Z

A super class taught by Karen Grunberg at Big Picture classes! I've just finished this class and it has given an enormous boost to my confidence! I always seem to get things crooked or dirty or hate the colour combinations I choose, so I thought this was just my style. I always spend ages pondering over papers, layout, journalling, etc and this was spoiling my ability to scrap the things that really matter. With Karen's help and some lovely comments in the galleries I've actually managed to achieve something without to much ' blood, toil, tears and sweat'! The materials for an album charting GSs progress has been mouldering away in a box for two years......the papers, embellies, etc are all there and all the photos are on my computer. Why haven't I done it... the urge to be perfect every time! This class had a really good motto-'REMEMBER! IT'S THE MEMORIES THAT COUNT'. So I set to work and did the first page of the album to spur me on to get started on the rest.

For the second week, Karen challenged us to make a mini-book containing quotations about 'perfection' to keep on our desk.

The coasters joined together with a chain to make the mini-book.

Here is the book on my desk, ready to refer to in times of 'perfection' stress! Thank you Karen!

Letter to the Future

2011-02-16T11:35:00.000Z

Letter to the Future from The RSPB on Vimeo.
I signed the letter to the future and wrote to my MP about the budget for the environment.

Monday's Magic Moment: Pucker up! - Notes on nature - The RSPB Community

2011-02-14T10:40:00.001Z

Monday's Magic Moment: Pucker up! - Notes on nature - The RSPB Community
Happy Valentines Day everybody!

RSPB

2011-01-28T17:35:00.000Z

Yes, it's that time of year again!! What for, you may ask.... THE GREAT GARDEN BIRDWATCH! Find out about it HERE

Wedding Cupcakes

2011-01-24T17:39:00.000Z

These are just two of the yummy cupcakes we had for our DDs wedding. They were part of this gorgeous tower of cakes.

The elbow you can see in the bottom right-hand corner belongs to one of the children who were trying to eat the lovely sugar hearts before the wedding breakfast began!! Thanks to Oh Crumbs Cupcakes for such a tasty confection!

ALL THE WAY TO FIVE

2011-01-24T12:25:00.002Z

Please make a donation and pass this on, if you can!

Mr & Mrs Shimmans

2011-01-23T18:25:00.000Z

The wedding was lovely and Jenny and Stephen were a delight! They were married at Salford Register Office in Swinton and we had a wedding breakfast and evening reception at The Willows, Salford. It was lovely to meet together with friends and family. Congratulations and all the best for your future life together!

Wedding Day!

2011-01-22T11:01:00.000Z

Jenny, Stephen & Ben with Daddy. December 2010.

My DD and her partner are getting married today! Love, hugs and kisses to both of you and to GS! Wishing you all the best for your future lives together!! Love you!!!!!

French & Saunders Madonna Interview.avi

2011-01-21T13:01:00.000Z

Global Action!

2011-01-18T23:06:00.000Z

Let’s do something positive to reduce the hideous number of plastic bags being used - 1 million are consumed per minute globally - of which hundreds of thousands end up in the oceans.

The idea is to get together with people in your local community, drink wine and make reusable cloth bags (from old duvet covers, curtains from charity shops etc) and hand them out to the unsuspecting public for free on specified dates outside different supermarkets.
Meet new people, do something marvellous for the planet and beat other pods (groups) of baggers with your morsbag tally.
Go to www.morsbags.com to be a part of a wonderful thing!
P.S. non-commercial/ non-profitable - just full of beneficial things for everyone, especially whales!

Living life to the full

2011-01-10T14:16:00.004Z

I'm starting to get some more help for my depression from this website. If you feel low or depressed, go and talk to your GP about it and take all the help you can get. You really need some extra help when the days are so short! Subscribe to this newsletter if you are recovering and feel ready for self-help. Love, Irene X

2011-01-08T14:12:00.000Z

Hurrah! I'm actually catching up with JYC after my illness!
Here's my album so far.....

Happy New Year!

2011-01-05T22:42:00.002Z

At last I have found the energy to post this on the blog! DH and I have been suffering from coughs and colds from Christmas Eve onwards. Even though we had been good, little pensioners having had our flu jabs, we were still very ill. I managed to cook Christmas dinner and meals on Boxing day but then things took a turn for the worse and it was leftovers, leftovers, leftovers....! This meant that although we managed to entertain DS on Christmas day, we had to postpone other events planned for New Year. We missed our DD's 21st birthday and DS coming for New Years day lunch. My 'Journal Your Christmas' class with Shimelle also had to be 'put on hold', although I did manage to keep up until the 16th December.Hot toddies, tissues and paracetamol were the order of the day.
Gradually we began to feel better and had a family celebration yesterday for DD's 21st and New Year. Guess what we had to eat...leftovers of course!!
It's so long since we've been shopping for fresh food, that the Sainsbury's delivery driver offered to give us a list of his days off, so that we could choose those days for our next delivery!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2010-12-25T00:13:00.002Z

Greeting generated with Smilebox

Thursday 9th December

2010-12-16T22:36:00.000Z

We enjoy the paper crowns, jokes and gifts we get in our crackers. They were invented by Thomas Smith in 1846.

Love this twitpic!

2010-12-14T16:38:00.002Z

The Simpson family welcome a celebrity guest to their sofa!

Wednesday 8th December

2010-12-14T14:26:00.000Z

Today, I went for my weekly shop to Morrisons. 'It's beginning to look a bit like Christmas' in the store!

These are the first photos I've taken with my Nokia phone, that I've used in my scrapbooking. Apologies that they're not very clear!

Tuesday 7th December

2010-12-13T10:59:00.001Z

My 'to do' list! Trouble is, each one can be split up into several tasks and then there's always the unexpected!

;Template: resketches JYCsketch7 reduced to8.5x11; PiP christmas treasures mini; k pertiet christmas memories.

Monday 6th December

2010-12-12T15:30:00.000Z

Great excitement on Christmas morning 1991. Andrew was 4 & had a Thomas the Tank Engine toy.Jenny was nearly 2 and had a lovely dolls pram. We opened our last Advent Calendar door.

There was NO CHOCOLATE in the Advent Calender either yet, they're still smiling!!

52 New Things - Christmas Day TV

2010-12-08T23:12:00.000Z

Proceeds go to the Alzheimers Society if you download the tune for 79p.

Sunday 5th December

2010-12-08T22:36:00.002Z

Bingo card; Jenni Bowlin, Template; Shimelle Laine, Digikit; Christmas Memories by K Pertiet.

This year I have a new 'toy' to count down to Christmas! This adorable, little snowman has number cubes that I can change every day. I'm not sure about the spelling of 'till' though.....wonder if it should be 'til? We still have our advent candle which we light during our evening meal.

Saturday 4th December

2010-12-06T17:18:00.000Z

...dream...a tidy, welcoming hallway...a lovely, warm, wood-burning stove!

Photos from 'Your Home, Christmas made easy'.

Friday 3rd December

2010-12-03T23:17:00.002Z

The Wallace and Grommit stamps issued by the Royal Mail this year, add a real touch of fun to the Christmas card envelopes.

I usually design one card and then print out a batch for all our family and friends. I've got all the stash and the stamps, but still haven't started. I think I'd better hurry up!

Stamp photos:Royal Mail; Papers:Chris Ford 'too much egg nog'; Alpha/elements:K Pertiet 'Christmas Memories'; Tag: Sepia Lane.

Thursday 2nd December

2010-12-03T16:50:00.000Z

The country has been in the grip of snow and freezing weather for over a week now so, unless you choose a topic of your own or live in Australia, the topic for today must surely be snow. I did venture out for the weekly shop that included Snowman kitchen and toilet rolls which I shall put out on Christmas Eve. Just a little thing that amused the children when they were at home....I think they longed to have decorations in every room when they were little and that included the bathroom and kitchen! After being so brave out in the freezing cold, I realised I had forgotten my camera, so I ended up taking a photo of the roof tops from my craft room window! Wrap up warm everyone and take care!!!!

Wednesday 1st December

2010-12-01T17:33:00.001Z

This is the time of year when the nights draw in and we need something to cheer us up on the long winter evenings.What better to do this than a festival of Peace, Love and Joy. This is the reason I like to keep my daily journal until the 6th January. I like to keep all the lovely things and my family in my thoughts for the whole of the season. A daily visit to my journal helps me to celebrate the joy and wonder of it all!

Template & journalling tag Shimelle; kit, JMS Christmas Treasures.

Inspiration Everywhere

2010-11-30T17:31:00.000Z

On day two, we were asked to design a dedication page for our art journal and write the dedication to pop into the little pocket. My journal is dedicated to trying to put some creative ideas of my own on to paper and developing them.

2010-11-30T16:21:00.000Z

Wonderful goodies arrived with the postman today, in the form of the kit from Shimelle! I already have my album, so I'm ready to start JYC 2010 tomorrow!

I still have to sort out JYC stash from previous years, so I expect I shall be doing that later today. Shimelle has two posts on her blog today, this one and a lovely date tag tutorial here. There's plenty of festive furore about even though there's still eight hours to go 'til the 1st Dec. The forum is a super place to visit if you're signed up this year, with plenty of chat and some wonderful covers and preparation by JYCers! Must go and finish my preparation now! Happy journalling!

Inspiration Everywhere

2010-11-29T16:22:00.000Z

This class from Jessica Sprague started today. There are five projects introduced over the ten days. This is the cover I've designed, from a template, for an Art Journal. I haven't used one before, but it will maybe help me to hold together some of my own design ideas, rather than taking others' ideas and adapting them. I will see what tomorrow's prompt brings!

Christmas Pudding

2010-11-24T22:29:00.000Z

I've been so busy for the last week, that I haven't had time to report on my pudding making! Using a good, old-fashioned Mrs Beeton recipe, I managed to make two 1lb puddings. Actually making the pudding mixture was relatively easy, but they each had to be steamed for a couple of hours in a pressure cooker.....the recipe says six hours boiling in an ordinary pan! I do posses a pressure cooker but haven't used it for many years, so I had to dig out the instructions first and make sure it was in working order before I started. Things ran pretty smoothly and I now have two wonderful puddings stored away for Christmas and New Year. Time to 'feed' them and the Christmas cake this week with a little brandy! Can't wait to taste them!

Free picture slideshow made with Smilebox

Journal Your Christmas

2010-11-16T11:52:00.003Z

This lovely class by Shimelle Laine begins on 1st December 2010 and lasts until 6th January 2011. This is the third year I will be producing a Journal and I love the friendly and helpful JYCers! There is advice on stash for paper and hybrid albums. Wonderful digi-goodies are also provided so that all kinds of scrapbooking are included! The subjects of the daily prompts are the same each year, but Shimelle always caters for this in her suggestions and showing examples of past years. Come and join us this year!

Alfie Boe warbles a bit.

2010-11-13T15:03:00.001Z

I'm not really an opera fan, but when I heard this, it made me shiver with delight! I love the dog at the end!!

Baking for Christmas

2010-11-12T17:15:00.001Z

Create a photo slideshow

It's years since I made my own cake, so yesterday I decided to have a go. I have looked through all my Mum and Grandma's old papers, but cannot find any of their delicious recipes that I remember from my childhood. A few weeks ago, I was looking through some recipes online and saw some of Mrs Beeton's stuffing and bread sauce recipes. I can still remember my Mum making these at Christmas time and the recipes seemed similar to the one she may have used. I noticed an updated version of Mrs B's book on Amazon which contains her Christmas recipes. They seemed much the same as I remember, in fact, my mother's cake was not as dark as the ones you can buy ready made, so they seemed ideal. I've banished the shop bought cake and packet sauces and stuffings this year, so I hope the family enjoy them! Next week, I'm going to have a go at Christmas Pudding! How did the cake taste? Watch this space!

Inspiration everywhere.

2010-11-08T10:04:00.001Z

Be Happy

2010-10-31T17:04:00.000Z

True Stories

2010-10-25T00:05:00.001+01:00

You can find out about this new class by watching this video. Class starts ~~tomorrow~~ TODAY (!), so grab your notebook, pen and/or pencil and join in!