sweet sixteen

This is a very moody and grainy photo of Elaine and I aged 16. She included it in a BIA book she made for my birthday. I was going to write about how life seemed very straight forward for me at that age. My brother had got married the year before following leaving college to become a teacher. Here I was just about to start my A level and go on to be a teacher ( training at the same college). I expected I would leave college and get married, I expected to live the sort of life my parents and the rest of my family lead. I didn't expect it to happen the next day but I just presumed it would all happen.
However much I could at that point, imagine Elaine and I still being friends and creating a design business that included us both, I don't think I could imagine being as old as I am now, and probably as old as my parents are in the picture ( I have edited them out).
Just as I logged on to blogger to add this post, my son came upstairs and popped into my office to see what I was up to, it came as shock to realise he is just months away from being the age I was here. Having teenage children didn't come into my imagined life either, I guess I always wanted children but who sets out in life to have teenagers?
Having said that I have a son I am very proud of and if anything he is the grown up in our relationship. I do have trouble accepting how responsible he is, but if I think how I was in this picture, on this holiday I guess he is grown up now.

I guess in the long term we are best not knowing what the future has in store for us but if only we knew some of it.

Like many people since I took up scrapbooking I want to re run my life and get some photos for the scrapbooks, but perhaps it is just as well!! Oh and Elaine not many more photos to go now, Did I tell you I have bought a slide scanner so I may have a new stock soon!

old passions

Those who have known me any length of time will know one of my early passions was volleyball. I see this sport as the ulitmate sport for all, we play indoors in the winter and outdoors in the summer, all ages and sexes can play on the same court if the competition isn't too serious.

I began playing on caravan rallies in the early 70's and went on to play at college and after when I first started teaching. I qualified as a referre in 1976 and subsequently reffed matched up to divison one, and lined or scored at over 40 international matches.

I kept playing in various forms until we opened our first shop, At that point I was 42 and playing against people half my age, that said more about the team I played in than me, my husband still plays this glorious game and last night I turned out to watch their first game of the season. As chairman of this newly formed club, I thought I should turn out in case I was needed to score etc.

I did my usual diplomacy bit greeting the away team and liasing with the refs, until the game started when I found myself on the bench shouting out advice!! hopefully I didn't upset our young stars too much. It was an untidy game but our team won and we went to the pub to "bond". more matches to come this season and I am not sure what my role will be but it has awaken my old feeling for this marvellous game which gave me a social life for years and found me my husband....another long story

Here is a picture of me from them old days taken in 1975. Elaine and I are on the front row far right. We were playing for Nottinghamshire in a final against North Lancs. The guy immediately behind us is called Paul. He lives in Essex but Elaine and I bump into him most spring bank holidays at the same event. We came second by the way, which I think was the way of things for many years.

whoopse!!!

Papercraft Essentials hit the news stand yesterday, with a free stamping supplement....and there I am on page 16!

the story behind this whole page is quite a long one, so here are a few edited highlights. I after struggling to decide if to do Christmas or something more general, I went with floral frames as they are very versatile, only to discover very late the booklet had a Christmas theme and had re submit on a very short time frame. I had to send the advertising copy three times not change to the words just a bit more on the image side,

I got two proofs back weeks later with only a day or so to return and I looked at the new layouts and thought great.

Imagine how sick I felt when I proudly showed Martin the project in print for him to tell the advert has the wrong website address!!!

So if you know anyone trying to find us at apollo-studio.....PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD the items can be bought at http://www.apollo-office.co.uk/

For those of you interested in the technical details I created the co ordinating papers using glimmer mists, in olive green and hollyberry red. You could use two paper from a Christmas collection or you could paint your parcels.