was that Christmas?

well since my last post Christmas was just on hold in definately. I fianlly sucumbed to the many virus that were about. As many will know coughing is something I have had plenty of practise of in the last few years so no surprise really
I made very few Christmas crads and all the new designs are still in drawing mode and need to transfered to electronic files so lost of work to do then.
I am still not quite back to fignting fit but I am going to venture out to meet a few folk on Saturday 10th January.
If you feel like coming to see what I have managed to do design and techneque wise I will be in Springdale Farm shop and Cafe ( so plenty of hot drinks available) from 10am. If you have any stamping problems feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer them.
need more details email me at lynnda@oakhousestudio.co.uk

Christmas Starts Here!

Well Christmas is well and truly under way for our household.

It is hard to think about Christmas until Ben has had his birthday and we have celebrated that this week. Then on Saturday we were able to go as a family to the lighting up event.

Ben was Bertie Beaver last year and he was hoping someone else would do the job this year. Someone was found but they were not well at the last minute and Ben agreed to step in at late notice. At least this year he knew what to expect.

He was as popular as ever with the younger children, however we did get stood next to a couple of youngsters who were not keen on such large furry things but by the end of Once in Royal David's City they were playing with his tail and had to be persuaded to be more gentle.

The other "Star" this year was a girl from the same school who has been in a film recently she was very good and spoke well when it was her turn to speak. Ben of course didn't have to speak just wave a lot and nod his head

Once he was changed and back to normal we walked back through the town to have some tea. We decided to go for fish and chips at a local shop which is always a treat. I am so proud of him when he does this job, everyone seems very pleased with him and always asks if he will do it again next year. It makes me such a proud Mum. It was great that Martin could come along to watch as before he has been left looking after the shop when I have been involved in the sorting out the Children's competition.

After our meal we went back into the town to look at the lights, I haven't been as involved this year and somehow they looked really special.

Christmas can really get started now and this week I hope to get the decorations up around the house and I am having a couple of crafting sessions one with Hazel and one with Denese. I really want to get some new drawings finished and organise some new stamps ready for the new catalogue in February.

By the way I have just about got the new website sorted if not finished pop along www.oakhousestudio.co.uk and watch what I have been doing, another job this week is double the number of pages on there, hmm I'm going to be busy then.

I am back

Well we are back from the NEC I can't rest yet though. I am busy trying to get work completed for a couple of magazine submissions PLUS and the real hard bit for me GET THE NEW WEBSITE SORTED.

Why is this hard? because as always I am doing this myself (something about needing to be in control of everything and thinking no one else understands what I am trying to achieve).

The problem arises because I do something and it doesn't always work straight away (you get notes like this COULD take up to 72 hours), which anyone who knows me will realise I don't do now wait for up to 72 hours, when computer doesn't respond immediately I click again and again...I KNOW!! it doesn't help but I can't stop myself.

I have tried getting my IT co-ordinator to do more but he turns 16 next week so he is very busy resting up. To be fair he was at the NEC with us and even did a bit of painting for me at the demo table, if anyone saw him I hope you know how proud I am off him what it took for him to do that. I have been trying unsucessfully to upload photos for the last two days but then if was too easy it wouldn't be a challenge would it.

You can check out my work at http://www.oakhousestudio.co.uk/

this is a new address and EVENTUALLY this site should be available from either address ( but it could be up to 72 hours!!!!!)

It has been made on a template and you will spot some content (mainly images) that have nothing to do with Oak House Studio and when I have finally sorted out uploading images I will substitute more photos that mean something.....

in the mean time here is a card to keep you going.

Sorry and big Thank Yous

Sorry I haven't been blogging recently, things have been more hectic than usual. Just to make sure I eventually slowed down I managed to have a fall and do some damage to my foot and knee, mainly my left leg but my right leg is pretty sore too. This has meant a lot of my commitments have been left undone SORRY!

It has also meant I have had to rely on others even more this last few weeks. So I have some huge Thank You to send round
Firstly to Karen who took me to the hospital and stayed with me whilst everything was sorted. To Jane who took over the sewing part of my job list. To Elisa and Elaine who took over some sample making. To Martin and Ben who have driven, cooked, washed and generally nursed me.

It has left me desperately trying to sort out the internet situation and http://www.oakhousestudio.com/ could be changing anyday now. If there is nothing coming up at this our usual address check out http://www.oakhousestudio.co.uk/

As soon as I have thing settled with the website I will send out emails to everyone to let them know and will probably add on some great offers too.

If you are coming to the NEC I should be there on stand L09 I will be the one with a left foot that is a very interesting colour propped up under the demo table!! Pleas ecome and see me as I am not likely to be doing much trotting around the show myself.

Lynnda

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.