Greetings From Gatsby

I think I was born in the wrong time. I was meant to shingle my hair and put on my pearls and dance all night. I can't wait to go and see The Great Gatsby.

There are some gorgeous boards full of Gatsby glamour on Pinterest at the moment: I've been having a browse whenever I get the chance. And I've been inspired to take the look and turn it into a couple of cards. There's a line or two I love, not from Gatsby, but from an F. Scott Fitzgerald collection of short stories called Flappers and Philosophers...

I made it into this

and then I did this

The prompt for the 52 card challenge this week was The Printed Word. Covered that one, then. And yet, I'd like to do more. I'd like to do a fabulous story. How about you?

Our Turf

Sometimes I scrapbook because I want to record; often it's simply because I want to cut up paper; but very occasionally it's because I wanted to be soothed. I went to a funeral on Saturday. For the Dad of one of my oldest friends. I travelled back home and we clung to each other outside the church we've known since we were little girls. He was a much loved father: one of those men who do big things, but also have a hand in the little things which often go unnoticed.

Recently, since I pulled my Guide shirt out of the wardrobe for Storytelling Sunday, I've been thinking Guiding thoughts. Take the time our Captain carefully explained that we would be taking part in a Campfire Competition..

...which would have been exciting if any of us had actually known how to get a fire going. (Or maybe that was a good thing? Who knows?). We had to learn. We had to teach ourselves how to select exactly the right patch of fresh green turf, how to carve out a square with a knife, light, cook, eat, and then put the square of grass back without leaving a mark.

And it's funny: as I sat in that church at the weekend, listening to stories about a man who loved his garden, I remembered a man who loved his daughter more, so much more that he let her cut up his lawn. He stood there and watched us keep going until we could cut the perfect sod. A Girl Guide doesn't forget a thing like that in a hurry. So this one's for you, Mr. H. With thanks.

Girl Guide clippings from a Plundered Pages pack by Julie Kirk on Etsy

Title? Who Needs a Title?

"Sooo.." said The (Not So) Small One. "I know you've been working on some stuff you aren't ready to blog about just yet, and I know you had a really busy weekend. Does that mean you are a bit - stuck?"

"Well," I said "If I had managed to make a start on your fox hat I could have written about that. Or if I had finally finished off the neckband on your Dad's sweater, I could have taken a picture of that. But I haven't. So I can't. BUT  that does give me a great chance to show a couple of Scrap365 layouts

For an article on an alternative viewpoint. I journaled a dream house. The text is under the two flaps. This layout was used to create last month's Sketchbook365 challenge.

which is also a good way of telling everyone to look out for the next issue..

For the series PDQ Pages about layouts you can make in under an hour

..and of asking anyone not in the UK - where have you seen Scrap365? Where can you get hold of it? I'm intrigued..

ps..It's lovely to see that the swaps are starting to arrive already. Thanks, everyone!

Turned Out Nice Again

We talk a lot about the weather here in the UK. We have to. It's all around us all the time: changing every day, but almost never in quite the way we'd been hoping for. I read somewhere once that blogging about it - the rain, the clouds - was A Bad Idea, to be avoided except in extreme cases of hurricane and tempest. I'm ignoring that.

A no photo page..the sun didn't stay out that long

I've been moaning for weeks now about how cold it is. But on Tuesday everything changed!

flowers from a Quirky Kit by Crafty Templates

Just for a few hours. But at least we can say we have seen the sun this year. And that has to be a good thing.

Here's the Latest

Fast news from a fast week..nothing here seems to be standing still even for a minute...

• Latest Favourite Waste of Time: trying to pull jammed paper out of the shredder with a pair of tweezers. Kind of fun in a challenging paper-y way, but ultimately useless. The shredder is still broken.
• Latest Favourite Emergency Text Message: Mum, teachers not liking non-uniform thing. Pls bring trousers and tie to school. Now. That was last week. Course I helped him out.
• Latest Favourite Creative Kick Start: a desk in a new place. Downstairs. The only problem is that everyone else is fancying the change now too. I'm booking time slots.
• Latest Favourite Way to get Out of Cooking the Dinner: Volunteer to keep The (Not So) Small One company while she rehearses her Home Economics Practical Exam. I knit, she cooks,; and I'm not even allowed to help with the washing up because that's part of her test and she's timing herself.
• Latest Favourite Item of Clothing: new blue and white gingham shirt with slightly puffed sleeves. A little bit like my school summer dress when I was six. I'm saving it up for the right day.
• Latest favourite TV: The Century That Wrote Itself with Adam Nicholson
• Latest Favourite Craft Book: Boyfriend Sweaters by Bruce Weinstein. Great classic patterns; and he tells a lovely story at the end about wearing and losing his Father's sweater. Be perfect for Storytelling Sunday. 
• Latest Favourite Thing to look Forward to: Seeing Stockholm and returning to Norway.
• Latest Favourite Family Observation: I don't actually have any strong feelings on the subject of lop sided badgers. From The (Not So) Small One, on being forced to watch The Century..

and

• Latest Storytelling Sunday: Don't forget, you have all week to add your link! I know some of you have been away over the Bank Holiday. We have a great collection of stories ready and waiting for you right here - and if you only have time for one, how about hopping over to Mitra's and helping out with a neat school project?
• Latest Swap News: It sounds as if the swapping has begun! Some of you have let me know that your parcels are in the post. Thank you. Some of you have also noted that you haven't heard from your partners yet. Everyone, please do get in touch..we want to take this thing right round the world.

Let's Swap!