Another Precious

Well it's the first Sunday of the month so that means just one thing, it's time for Story Telling Sunday! Head over to Sian's at High in the Sky for more details about picking something precious for you to tell your story about.
My story begins with my Great Uncle Vic. I didn't know Vic, he died at Pegasus Bridge during World War 2, I did know his mum though! I was lucky enough to know my Great Nan, Rose Coppin until I was 17 years old and she was a remarkable woman. I have so many stories to tell about her because we were so close but this is just one of them.
A few years ago my mum took my nan, Vic's sister, to the the graveyards for the fallen soldiers in Normandy.They looked through the book of remembrance until they found something written in my Nanny Coppin's beautiful handwriting.
This is what she wrote for her son Vic:
"You may be one to all the world but you were one in the world to me"
It made us all cry.
Fast forward a few years and I was going through a terrible time in my life. My husband had left me for a women he met on the Internet. I was in hospital having a miscarriage whilst worrying about how me and my 5 year old daughter would cope. When I got out of hospital and back at home a friend came over to cheer me up, she arrived with a Chinese takeaway. I really was at the lowest point in my life and didn't know how I would survive.
At the end of the meal I opened a fortune cookie and found this:




I knew then that my Nanny Coppin was with me and that everything would be ok.
It's something that I carry with me all of the time, without fail and I think it's one of the most precious things I own.
Thank you for reading my story, don't forget to head on over to Sian's to share your story too.
I'm away this weekend but I promise to comment on all of the stories when I get home.
Take care
Jo xx

Changes

This week I had a bit of a change around at home.
I have a lovely craft desk in my bedroom but I never use it. I prefer to be in the living room with Maddie and Alfie and not shut away in another room.
This meant I was taking over the dining table and the pile of 'few essential bits' I needed in the living room to scrap was eventually over running the whole room!
In one corner of the living room I have this:




My computer cupboard and some of the over running stash!
Now I don't use my desktop computer now, it's old, slow and not that convenient so it was time for it to go.
I decided to swap things around and move the cupboard to my bedroom and use it for storage and to move my craft desk to the living room.




I love it and I'm hoping that I'll be far more productive now!




And here's my beautiful assistant, I couldn't have done it without her because that cupboard sure was heavy!
So, after years of dreaming of my very own craft room I've decided it's just not for me. To be creative I have to be in the heart of the home with my family :)
Today I'm looking forward to going down to Paul's for the weekend and this Sunday is Story Telling Sunday!
Thanks for stopping by
Jo xx
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

This Weekend

I'm kicking back my heels and relaxing with Paul.
The weather's on our side:




We've been for a lovely walk to the beach.




Watched the world go by while enjoying a coffee.




And dreamed of owning a beach hut.




Before enjoying a bottle or two of fizz :)
This weekend has been a good one so far.
I hope you're having a good weekend.
Thanks for stopping by
Jo xx
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Week Two

I am a little bit behind on Project Life, currently halfway through week three, but I'm not letting myself get stressed by it because I'm enjoying the process so much :)

Here's week two, side one:


This was a busy week which started with some gorgeous cakes to celebrate my friend Sarah's birthday. Car parts had to be purchased when I forgot to replace the cap on the water bottle! I learnt, after owning one for 15 years, that Money Trees flower! It was our first full week back at work after the Christmas break and Maddie found it difficult to muster a smile. My beautiful niece Alice Rose was born :) and I wanted to document that I'm the only one who ever makes the tea at work!

Side two:


Cute cuddles with the dogs (this will probably be a weekly feature me and Maddie will never tire of) I read My Animals and Other Family by Clare Balding and she replied to one of my Tweets!!!! I baked a birthday cake to take to my monthly crop and spent a fab day with the girls at the crop, actually did two whole layouts! Finally there is Lily, my neighbour's cat, who loves to join me in the garden for cuddles…when the hounds aren't around!

Already I'm loving going back and looking at the weeks that have passed.

Well another weekend is over and a new week is about to begin. I am so excited for the week to start because I'm going down to see Paul on Thursday and, apart from 30 minutes on New Year's Day, I haven't seen him since 1st December!

Have a good week and thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Jumping on the Bandwagon!

Finally, after years of thinking shall I, shan't I, I have given project life a go. And I have to say I'm loving it.

I now know that if future generations look through my albums they won't just see the major, fun stuff that happened in our lives, they'll see the every day things too.

Without further ado here is my front page:


A couple of pictures of me and Maddie from last year and a picture of us together taken at midnight on New Year's Eve.

Week One:


The tradition of meeting Paul at a motorway service station to wish him a happy New Year, he always works at Disney on New Year's Eve so it's the only chance we get to see each other then. Decorations came down (always makes me sad), bargains in the sales, happy crafty mail, back to the gym, cuddles with the dogs and getting back to the diet. A nice start to the year.

I'm using this for my version of Project Life:


My scrap basket! So not only am I recording our everyday lives I'm also stash busting, win win!

I'll be back to share week two soon with its slightly more exciting moments :)

Thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

My Oh So Precious

So today it's time for the second Story Telling Sunday of the year, head over to Sian's at From High in the Sky to join in!
Well let me show you my precious, come on in and make yourself at home.

Actually, you've just walked straight past my precious.  It's something so plain though so I'll forgive you for not noticing.  It's something that hangs in my hallway and nobody notices or understands the relevance of but, to me, it's one of my favourite and most important things.  It's my Dad's coat:

After a twelve year battle, from the age of 58, with Alzheimer's my dad finally passed away just over five years ago.  This coat was the one thing I took from my mum's after he'd died and I love it.  My dad did have jewellery but I never saw him wear it, I wanted something that really made me think of dad.  It reminds me so much of him, of when he went out to walk the dog or when he went to his club.  It's not a shrine and it's not morbid it's just one of the little things that makes me think of him and smile.

Every morning when I go out to work it's the last thing I see before I open the door and every day when I return it's the first thing I see, it makes me happy and it lets me know he's with me all the time.  All the silver and gold in the world wouldn't make up for this very precious item in my home.
Head over to Sian's now and show us your precious.
Thank you for stopping by
Jo xx

Naptime Cuddles

Last week I did a layout for the weekly challenge over at UK Scrappers.
Part of the challenge was to use this sketch:

To use five of something and to use new stash.  As part of my New Year's Resolution was to use a kit as soon as it arrived this challenge was great for me.  My brand new Studio Calico kit had just arrived and I couldn't wait to cut into it to create this:

I'll often walk into the room and find these two snuggled up like this :)

I used these cute little velum arrows for my five things.
We are currently in the middle of a terrific hail storm so I'm going to snuggle on the sofa and watch a film with Maddie.
I hope you've had a great weekend.
Thanks for stopping by
Jo xx