My Holiday's Almost Over

I've had such a lovely time off work and I'm really not forward to going back to work tomorrow :(

On Friday I met up with friends for coffee and then, because the weather was so gorgeous, I decided to cut the grass.  Two lessons learnt: Doing the jobs you least like can sometimes be the most rewarding and If the blade on the lawnmower isn't sharp is there really any point in cutting the grass!

Yesterday didn't turn out as I had planned.  Paul went to work on Friday, parked in his usual place and then got clamped.  In fact five of his colleagues also got clamped yet the clamping company say the signs have been up for ages, doesn't sound like it.  Anyway, they've towed his car away and the man I was talking to couldn't understand why we weren't going to pay £370 to get the car released when the car only cost £130!  I love a cause, a fight and helping others so I'm going to contact all the other companies on the industrial estate he was parked on to see how many, in total, got caught out.  I have a couple of witnesses to say the signs were only put up the day the clamps were put on so I'm going to try and find a few more.........I'll keep you posted.  The lesson learnt: Private clamping rules and regulations are fascinating.

Today I managed to cut my pages for my Learn Something New Every Day album:

I've decided to go for autumnal colours and I'm hoping to decorate the cover and the first couple of pages tonight.

I also managed to get the Starting Point layout done today, not the new one posted yesterday but the one from a few weeks ago.  It's a challenge I really love and, if you're stuck for time, it can make a layout come together really quickly:

Now I'm off to sort out more parking stuff and then have dinner with my mum.

Hope you've all had a good weekend
Jo xx

Every Day's A School Day

Well yesterday kicked off Shimelle's Learn Something New Every Day class and I'm signed up.

The first day was great, I'm off work this week so had the luxury of reading the prompt when it arrived.  After that I went for coffee with a good friend and, yes, I did learn my first lesson of the day.  We went to a lovely coffee shop that also sells a range of sweets from bygone days:

The decor was beautiful and everywhere I looked there was a reminder of my childhood:

The lesson learned ~ I am much happier when I'm a lady of leisure :)

Later that evening I went off to a crop.  I had a layout with a deadline, a scraplift.  The only trouble was I was uninspired by the layout I had to lift.  I thought long and hard and, with the help of the Gotta Craft crop kit I'd just bought, came up with this:

Lesson learned ~ Push yourself and you'll get there.

I also added a bit of texture to my layout:

Lesson learned ~ I love my crimper again.

Now on to my album.  Another thing I've thought long and hard about and this is what I've come up with.  I have an old Sizzix die of a pocket and, as I only intend to do a sentence a day and maybe include a small photo, I'm going to make this into my album.  I'll cut the pages from cardstock, add some patterned paper and embellishments to the front and write my sentence on the back.  When I'm finished I'll bind it together with ribbon and, voila, I'll have my pocket book :)

Probably won't be using yellow cardstock but just wanted to make sure the pocket would be big enough.  I may even stick some together so I do have an actual pocket to put things in :)

Can't wait to blog hop later and see what lessons everyone learnt yesterday but, for now, I'm off for another coffee morning :)

Have a good Friday
Jo xx