{ Week 25 - June 17th to June 23rd }

Here is Week 25.

Below is the two page spread: (This week I have continued to use my standard page protector layouts - one with (2) 3x4 slots and (1) 4x6 and the other page with (4) 3x4 slots.

 Left hand page:

Right hand page:

As I have been liking the large number cards in relation to what week it is, I thought I would continue to go with this theme.  I created this card in Word and then used a text box to put the dates inside the number two.

Rather then keep the weekly journal cards the same "This week..." I have been trying to change them up just a little bit.  This 3x4 journal card was created in Word and then I added a text box top and bottom with the title "Weekly Highlights".   Again, not a super busy week for me as I'm leading the life of leisure, if only!  Although in saying that I did start a temporary job this week and ashamedly I must admit, I only worked the one day.  I know, makes me sound like a complete and total flake, but I promise you I am not.  In the interview, they grossly misrepresented this job in its entirety, presenting it as quite a senior role.  Turned out this was not the case and with the way that I was treated on the first day, I thought, there is no way I can do this, especially when I don't necessarily have to at this point.  We can manage for a while if I tighten the purse strings.

For a while it was a regular thing that Sunday mornings were "American breakfast" mornings.  I would get out the recipe book and whip up a batch of pancakes along with some sausage or bacon, and maybe some hash brown potatoes as well.  As we haven't done this for a while, I thought it would be nice to go back to an old tradition.  I added the text on this 4x6 photo in Word.

I know Simon doesn't always like me taking pictures of him, especially when he is sleeping.  Yes, this is something I am guilty of.  But this time I just couldn't resist as it was too cute, the two of them laying next to one another completely oblivious to the world around.  I usually try to turn the flash off and the sound on my phone, otherwise I get him waking up complaining about me taking pictures of him unaware.  In all fairness, I suppose I probably wouldn't like it either.  But you have to admit, this is an adorable picture.

I created the following 3x4 insert in Word along with downloading a Pinterest logo off the internet.  In looking around on the internet this week (and yes, if you're wondering I do spend an exorbitant amount of time on Pinterest) I accidentally stumbled across the job board at Pinterest while actually looking for a topic on the Help board.  I was surprised to see that there was a job listed for UK Community Manager.  I thought, what do I have to lose if I don't apply.  Yes, it would be a dream job and my life would be complete but I know that it is highly unlikely that I will get it as I don't believe I have the "online presence" they are looking for.  However, in all fairness, with all the time that I spend on Pinterest, I SHOULD have a job there.  Now I know everyone makes that claim, spending too much time on Pinterest, but I am not kidding.  I literally eat, breathe and sleep Pinterest.  I suppose that's kind of bad really and also kinda sad.

I created the insert card below in Word.  I wanted something that would represent the way I felt about the picture next to it in the layout (of Simon and Rupert) in a simple way without words and I felt this did it!

The pic below is 3x4 and taken on a Friday evening walk in Cookham.  As Simon has only been working about 10 minutes from there I have been, on occasion, driving over to meet him just as he finishes work and then we all go for an evening walk in Cookham.  It really is a nice way to end the week.  Plus Rupert loves it so much more when Simon is there.  They truly are a boy and his dog!  I added the white text in Word.

That's it for this week.

Thanks!

{ Week 24 - June 10th to June 16th }

This is Week 24 of my Snap Life.

Below is the two page spread:

 

Left hand page:

Right hand page: (hard to get rid of the glare. A flash doesn't work so have to use the one window where there is good light as anywhere else in the house is too dark, but seems either way I end up with some glare.)



 

Week 24 Date Card:

Keeping with the theme of using big numbers to represent the week number.  Used pink to pull out some of the other colours in the layout this week.

  

This weeks journal card is 3x4 with a text box title in pink down the left hand side, reading "A little bit of the week".  I had a couple of interviews this week, so it was looking promising.  One was with a small local training company in Maidenhead.  They did not want me coming to the office so the interview was held at The Blue River Cafe at the Thames Riviera, which made it a little less formal.  I thought I did quite well and both the HR Manager and another colleague seemed to genuinely like me.  As well, they called the General Manager to come over to meet me. I thought we got along well and he even commented he liked my philosophy and work approach.  However, I was not selected.  Never mind, onwards and upwards.

 

Fego is one of our favourite cafes.  When I lived in Marlow we used to go to the one on the high street there quite a bit.  A nice casual friendly place that feels very homey.  You can stroll in there of an afternoon and they greet you like you are a friend coming for a visit.  Love it there. Ever since we moved over to Holyport though Marlow isn't so close to us anymore.  Simon finished work early on Friday so he suggested we go over to Fego's in Ascot (which is closer to us now) for a late afternoon lunch.  Always a nice surprise, Simon finishing early and also going to Fego's.  I created this 3x4 insert in Word, filling in the top of the journal card in brown, adding the Fego logo from the internet, typing the text in white and then adding an exterior shot of Fego's (that I took) along with a picture of a frothy cappuccino.

 

This picture makes me laugh.  I came into the bedroom to see where Rupert was.  As soon as I saw him I said "what are you doing?!".  He was just sitting on the bed (yes, he's allowed on the bed) and when I asked him what he was doing he put his foot on his ball.  So funny!  He carries that thing with him everywhere, even tucks it next to him in his bed, like a cuddly toy.  I didn't think I could capture the moment with a picture but I quickly whipped out my phone from my back pocket and took a few snaps.  This was the best one.  He's such a poser.  This dog has character! (The stickers are the Simple Stories Snap Alpha stickers that come in 8 different colours)

 

This week I had a second journaling card to add, simply because it wouldn't all fit on the main journal card.  Plus I felt it needed to be featured on its own anyway.  Tuesday night as we were getting ready for bed we were both certain we could smell smoke.  After brushing our teeth I turned to Simon and said "do you smell smoke?"  He said that he did.  It smelled like burning food. At first I thought maybe we had left the oven on, but still unless there was something in the oven it wouldn't smell like that.  It was quite late, past 11 o'clock and we didn't think Sylvia would still be up at this hour. (Sylvia is our landlord and we share a communal door between our kitchens.) She is like clockwork and is typically in bed by 10, 10:30 at the latest.  We just figured she had burnt something at dinner and then gone to bed.  Maybe we were just getting the lingering after effects.  However by 2:00 am I could still smell it and was very concerned now.  There was no way I could just fall asleep when it smelled this way.  We knocked on the adjoining door, as one I didn't want to just barge in at that hour and two, thinking may she had gone out and left something on the stove.  I didn't feel right about going into her flat, especially if she was there, but when we opened the kitchen door and found her living room filled with smoke, I felt better for doing so.  We could see the glow from the electric stove and the pan that was now burnt black beyond recognition.  I dread to think what could have happened if we had not gone in.  I took the pan off the stove and left it well away from the house on the back patio.  I wanted to check to see if she was alright because I wasn't sure if the smoke would affect her but felt funny about knocking on her bedroom door in the middle of the night. So I googled it just to be certain, didn't find anything alarming and then went to bed.  In the morning she came round to ask me all about it and we had a good laugh about it.

 

Wednesday afternoon I came home to find a bottle of wine, some beautiful tulips and a Thank You note on the kitchen counter.  Sylvia wanted to show her gratitude to us for being concerned for her well-being.  I created this insert card in Word.  Simply filled in the card with a pinky grapefruit colour, added text boxes around the outside of the box and then put the picture in the middle.  I gave the pic a white border to make it pop a bit more against the coloured background.  The "Thankful" sticker is from the Bella Blvd Thankful Alpha Bits.   

 

The 4x6 pic below is for a film called A Late Quartet that was playing at Norden Farm.  Simon and I don't always like to go to your mainstream blockbuster films.  Sometimes we like to see something that is a little off the beaten path or a foreign film.  We like frequenting Norden Farm Centre for the Arts (http://nordenfarm.org) - they have a lot of interesting and varied events there - films, theatre, classes (some of which I have taken), exhibits and various other.  Plus they have a fabulous little café there as well that serves up a great pre-movie meal.  As two of our favourite actors - Christopher Walken and Philip Seymour Hoffman were in this film, we didn't think we could go wrong.  I think the movie tag line summed it aptly - "No arrangement is more beautiful.... or more complicated."  We enjoyed the film and found it very moving for a film about a classical quartet.  (I have hidden the ticket stubs behind the picture).

 

 That's another week done!

 

Thanks for looking!

  

{ Week 23 - June 3rd to June 9th }

Hello All!
 
This is Week 23.
Below is the two page spread:  (I used my usual 3x4 page with 4 slots and a page with (2) 3x4 slots and (1) 4x6 slot)

Left hand page:

Right hand page:

Week 23 Date Card.  As I had limited space, having already used all of my other slots for my pictures I included my journaling on the actual date card this week. I didn't want to create an additional insert simply for journaling.  This was a fun card to create and I played around a bit with the week number and the date.  I wanted to give it sort of that old time feel with the font for the numbering and the two tone blue.  This has been a quiet week for me.  Have been enjoying the nice weather, which I know I have been saying is a rarity but doesn't look that way based on all the sunshine we have been getting.  Trust me though, sometimes summers here can be a complete washout, literally.

As I mentioned that we have been getting good weather and so warm, I thought it only fitting to include a screenshot of the local weather. Rare to see a week where all the weather icons are a sun symbol!

Starting to see that a lot of my pictures are pictures of Cookham.  As funny as it sounds I almost didn't realise how much time we spend there.  As well, I hadn't really noticed until I've been looking back at some of my layouts how green the UK is much more so than when I was living in LA.  You just don't realise it until you see it in pictures.

This 3x4 insert is a picture of a virtual book I am reading online, published by an old childhood friend, who actually was more like a big sister than just a friend.  We have recently got back in touch after too many years with no contact simply due to losing touch after many moves and life changes. At the time I was surprised to find out that she was publishing a book!!!  So of course I was going to purchase it and become a big fan!! Make sure to pick up a copy for yourself.  I created the tag using ledger paper from the Snap Life 6x6 Basics Paper Pad.

This picture is simply of a fruity cocktail I was enjoying one afternoon while sitting in the garden, soaking up the sun, reading my book and playing with Rupert.  Starting to see that my pages are quite simple, maybe I need to get a little more creative.  I added the title using hot pink alpha stickers, not sure on the brand.

A picture, of course, of Rupert.  Starting to see that he features in most of my layouts.  I suppose if I had children, that would be the same, so hopefully I don't sound like a crazy dog lady! I quickly snapped this picture when he returned his ball to me for it to be thrown.  He is OBSESSED with this ball and I don't know why.  He has many toys and as well many other balls, but for some reason, this is the one he plays with.  This is actually a replacement ball.  The first one like this we brought back from a trip we went on last year to San Francisco.  He ultimately lost the ball as sometimes he wanders out the back gate onto the lane, puts the ball down while he is exploring something and then forgets where it is.  So this one I brought back from my trip to Minneapolis, where I just happened to find it in a pet store there. The tag on this picture was created using ledger paper from the Snap Life 6x6 Basics Paper Pad. 

  

And finally, as I have been enjoying many a lovely afternoon in the garden this week, I thought it only apt that I take a picture to represent that. I added the text in Word.

That's it for this week.

Thanks for looking!
Bye now!

{ Week 22 - May 27th to June 2nd }

This is Week 22.

Here's the two page spread:

Left hand page:

Right hand page:

Week 22 Date Card:

 

 

One morning I looked out the kitchen window to find this. I found it quite comical, it was like the kitchen table scene from Poltergeist.  I guess the gardener has a sense of humour. 

 

My weekly journal card. The title for this weeks journal card is "and then this happened...."

Another insert card that I have seen everywhere online that I really like.  As well as I am in the UK and this phrase was coined by a Brit I thought it was appropriate to use.

A photo of Simon's Mini as it was taken away by the car carrier to the local garage.   On Thursday Simon came home to pick me up and run me down to the garage.  As he was waiting  for me to come out of the house, the Mini started to smoke and eventually caught fire.  Quite alarming!  I ran out of the house just in time with a fire extinguisher in hand to help put out the flames.  When he pulled up I thought this might happen as there was smoke coming from the tailpipe so I had dug out the fire extinguisher from beside the wardrobe just in case. Lucky too!  Thankfully once the garage looked at it there wasn't any extensive damage. 

 

The insert card that I created to represent the Mini catching fire. 

 

On Wednesday I had lunch with my friend Sarah.  We met in Twyford, the village where she lives which is only about 15 minutes from our village Holyport.  We decided to have an economical lunch and met at Sebastians, a little café on the Twyford High Street.  It really was nice to see her as it has been a while since our last visit.  She is so genuine, thoughtful and introspective that she is always able to give me another perspective on whatever I may be dealing with or dwelling on at the moment.  Plus she is such a lady that she his just a joy to be around.  I do so enjoy our visits. (For the 4x6 picture below I just added a text tag down the left hand side of the pic with text that is similar to the Sebastian signage).

Well, that's my week!

 

Thanks for looking.