A to Z Year : November 19th - December 31st : letters X, Y and Z

And so, here it is, the last A-Z Year post, sob.

I’ll be genuinely sorry to see it go. We had so many wonderful alphabetical adventures in 2010 because of Nicole’s simple but brilliant idea.

I’m so glad we made it through the year without giving up along the way – to be honest that is most unlike me, I’m very much a starter-of-things and very rarely a finisher-of-things.

Our levels of activity did slow down towards the end, granted, with the colder weather limiting our opportunities for day trips, etc. But we did always make sure that we did do at least one thing each fortnight specifically for the A-Z thing. Many of these we would probably never have done otherwise.

So what did we do for the last 3 letters?

Well – for the letter X, we started our Xmas celebrations much earlier than we would usually do. I normally try to ignore Christmas until at least mid December :)  But X fortnight was during November, so we decided to head down to London, and find a Santa’s Grotto where the boys could meet Father Xmas.   (Well it was either that or learn to play the xylophone, and we don't know anyone who has one of those....)

This was harder than you might think. The most popular grottoes (Harrods, Selfridges) were absolutely impossible to get tickets for (apparently they sell out within minutes of release!), and many of the other stores and places (Kew Gardens would have been cool) didn’t start their Christmas season until December. But then we found out about a massive Xmas-themed fun fair / market being held at Hyde Park called Winter Wonderland. It had a Christmas circus, a giant ferris wheel, loads of good rides, plus, all importantly, a Father Xmas grotto.
 

On the way there, we stopped off in Camden Town and went to EXhibition #3 (I hope that counts as an X :)   ) at the Museum of Everything. One of the main themes this year is taXidermy – specifically the wonderful works of Walter Potter – so I’m counting that X too :D   And we also drove down the street where my Ex lived in West London :)

Once at Winter Wonderland we had a brilliant – but very cold – time. We did take a detour late in the afternoon to visit the EXtremely posh shop Harrods, but that was mainly to warm ourselves up.  Once cozy all through we went back to the fair and went on the EXciting ferris wheel before hometime.

What an EXcellent day that was :) Well, apart from the fact that I fell over and hurt my knee badly (as I type this over 6 weeks later it is still playing me up :(   ), and almost needed an X-Ray. That would have been taking the A-Z cause a little TOO far!  And apart from the fact that we never actually got to see Father Christmas in the end as the queues were ridiculous all day!
 

Our other participation in X fortnight was in the form of a geocache. We looked and looked for a local cache with the letter X in it for us to do, but with no luck. I commented that, given the nature of the activity (looking for hidden “treasure”), it was surprising that there were no caches for miles around called “X Marks The Spot”. So we decided to hide our own cache with that name. We didn’t actually get it launched within X fortnight, as it took a while to find the perfect spot for it, and a while to get through geocaching.com’s review process. But we did do all the prep during the second X week, including making this pirate map – arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

If you fancy going to search for the cache yourself, here it is: GC2K3KY – X Marks The Spot.

So that was X. It was a pity we couldn’t persuade Connor’s dad to give him his new X-Box a couple of weeks early, just in the spirit of the A-Z Year:)

We thought Y would be easier, but in the end it turned out to be rather tricky. We did have one big day out planned – to Symonds Yat, on the River Wye (geddit?). They have some lovely caves there, and you can visit Father Christmas in the caves. It looked fab, but unfortunately the bad weather (lots of snow and ice, which don’t make for great driving conditions) put paid to that plan :(

Then we thought we would visit the green Santa at Westonbirt Arboretum. The grotto there is very unique, Santa is in his original green robes, and it feels like a more pagan Yule celebration there than the standard commercialised red and white Christmas. So we thought Y for Yule would be perfect. Of course then it turned out that we couldn’t get tickets for the night we wanted. Sigh.


So – by that time just desperate to find a decent Santa’s Grotto for the kids - we ended up going on the Swindon and Cricklade Railway’s Santa Express steam train to the North Pole. Which was fantastic fun, the kids loved it, but there wasn’t a letter Y in sight!!!

One thing I did do, though, was apply for this fantastic Pummelvision video that takes the last 2,500 of your Facebook photographs and puts them together into a kind of stream of consciousness video – it’s like your life flashing before your eyes! And what does it have to do with Y? It loads up onto your Youtube account once it’s finished processing (which, after a few false starts, took a couple of weeks, but I did at least attempt it for the first time during Y fortnight). Here it is, brilliant isn’t it! I got quite emotional watching it for the first time, as apart from the first couple of seconds, it’s almost entirely made up of pics from the year 2010, and we have had such a fantastic year, to see it all fly past me in 4 minutes is really powerful!


Oh, and given the state of the weather, we took this opportunity to give the kids the ultimate bit of parental advice, that will stand them in good stead for the rest of their lives – never eat yellow snow ;)

So – after Y fortnight being a bit of a failure with no major Y event successfully achieved, we were determined to make up for it during Z – the last letter of this great journey.

Things were a bit busy for the first week of the Z fortnight, in the run up to Christmas, but as soon as the big day was out of the way we headed to Marwell Zoo. Well, where ELSE could we go for Z? Zambia is a bit far :)

There were Zs aplenty here, with lots of zoo-keepers, and of course zebras. And I made good use of my zoom lens snapping photos galore.

We virtually had the place to ourselves as it was a cold, very foggy day, not an obvious day to go zoo visiting. But I think because of the cold, and the lack of noisy gawkers, it was extra special. The big cats especially were a lot more lively than usual. In the summer they just tend to laze about and ignore you.

So once again (and for the last time, sob, unless we do it all again one time), we have the A-Z year to thank for a great experience. We have of course been to zoos before, but without the timing of the letter Z at the very end of the year, we probably wouldn’t have gone at this particular time and experienced a nigh on empty zoo with great views of the animals.

We also had fun playing zombie games on the Xbox <-------


And the very last thing we did? Very appropriate given that it’s the project that will replace A-Z Year as our main motivation next year. We finalised our list of goals for “Project Zero”, which was due to start (and in fact, as I write this, did start) on January 1st 2011.


Bye Bye A-Z Year!


We THOROUGHLY enjoyed you!

Project Zero - goal one ACHIEVED! whoop!

I know I haven't blogged properly about this Project Zero thing yet, I will write up the whole list of goals on here eventually, I just want to get the A-Z Year finished off first blog-wise (I have a mildly OCD-like need to do things in the right order :) )

But one of my goals is to start a daily art journal - which, as you know, because I've been blathering on about it all week, I did on 1st Jan - and it's still going strong - I haven't missed a day working in my journal yet, whoot!

I am planning to make a page in my art journal for every goal we achieve - so this is an art journal page about the art journal, which is slightly recursive (hence the page within a page within a page within a page theming, which was fun to do!)

This was the most enjoyable page to work on so far.  I had fun doodling the background with watercolour crayons and charcoal pencils.  And I also enjoyed carving the "Project Zero" logo stamp (down the left side) from an eraser.  I like the fancy sellotape border too.

So far this year I'm averaging one completed page every other day.  If I keep this rate up I'll have a full to bursting book by the end of the year :) :) :)

AJED : 8 / 365

It's a long time since I've been Crusadin'

A long while back, when the perpetually-bursting-with-talent Michelle Ward first started her GPP Street Team Crusades, I used to play along near enough every single month.  I was even lucky enough to win a FANTASTIC prize box once for participating.  I loved the challenge of each new crusade and the little community we had there.

Thanks to the Crusades I tried cutting stencils and masks, making hand carved stamps, paper casts, mail art and many other cool techniques for the first time.

But then my life got so horribly busy....and I just didn't seem to be able to make time to play :(

And would you believe they are now up to challenge number 47?!

And, what's this?  An art journalling challenge?  Hang about....I can actually do this one!!! in my precious 10 minute daily AJED slot!!  Result!

And the great thing is that I was thinking about doing a page to commemorate one specific amazing Christmas present anyway, so this fits RIGHT in :)

I love Michelle's idea of including the wrapping paper that the present was given in on the actual page.  I never would have thought of including this particular wrapping paper in an art journal as you can imagine, but I like that I get to keep a bit of the gift wrap with me.   And I like Michelle's use of the word "evidence" so I included that too (on some hockey tape of course, what else?)

The page is a bit OTT and not exactly fine art, in fact it's ugly as sin, but hey, it was fun to make!

So there it is, probably the only autographed (by the whole 2010/11 roster!!!) Canucks hockey helmet given as a gift this Christmas anywhere in the world in pink Hello Kitty giftwrap :) :)

This page came together over two evenings, so yes, I'm still Art Journalling Every Day! woohoo!

AJED: 6/365

I'm still Art Journalling Every Day!

Yes, I know it's only January 4th, but I've given up on daily commitments quicker than this in the past :)

The only thing I am failing dismally at is spending 10 minutes working in the journal, today it was more like 2  hours.

Hopefully I will get more efficient at this, otherwise the house will suffer - I have done precisely zero housework since getting in from work this evening.  Ooops!  :)

Not sure if I like this page or not.  I still like the zig zags from the hat out of the Christmas cracker.  And the doodled black writing with the white dots on is OK (that's a new thing for me, I promised myself I would try a new technique a week).

But the inked background just looks kind of dirty.  And it was bloody hard work getting sharpie pens to work over the gesso and inks. And the handwritten dates at the top and bottom just look ugly.

But this is the beauty of this journal, I can try new things, and if they don't work out, it's no biggie.  I can experiment like I would never dare to in a circle journal or something else that wasn't for me.   And for every experiment that goes wrong, hopefully another will go right and I will learn a great new technique :)

Happy journalling all.

PS What's it about?  Oh yes - Project Zero....101 Goals in 1001 Days....started 1st Jan 2011....due to end 28th September 2013....watch this space! :)

AJED: 4/365

why Norwich, I wonder?

Blimey, posting date on the Take Ten CJ came around quick this month.  What with Christmas and New Year, time has flown, and I've found myself taken a little by surprise this time around.

The official post date was actually today, but I wasn't finished in time.  A mad scrabble this evening though has ensured that it's now all done, and will be on its way tomorrow.  Good, because I hate to be late with CJs, especially when I'm the host and should be setting a good example! :)

The inspirational prompts for this, Sonja's journal, take the form of vintage theatre posters.  The one I chose was this cool man in the moon.  He looks a bit like Willy Wonka, doesn't he?

I almost feel that it was a little lazy and predictable of me to pick this prompt, as I do night skies so often in my journal work.  And the page I've ended up producing is pretty much typical, almost stereotypical, me.

But I got to thinking - what I hope for when I get a CJ home, is a page from each of the other participants that showcases their own paricular individual style.  So hopefully Sonja will be happy to receive a page that is "classic Flo" :)

This one came together nice and quickly.  A background made from three shades of Glimmer Mist sprayed over embossed celestial images.  A treeline cut from textured card on the Cricut.  A moon face made from airdry clay coated with Pearlex mica powder.  And a title made from die cut silver letters and sanded Dymo'd strips.

The title itself is from an old nursery rhyme - which in full reads:

"The man in the moon came down too soon,

and asked his way to Norwich,

He went by the south and burnt his mouth

By supping on cold plum porridge."

I have no idea when he was supposed to come down, why he wanted to go to Norwich, or how he managed to burn himself on cold porridge.  But never mind, it's a nice little ditty all the same :)

10 minutes per day? Even I can find 10 minutes per day!

So - Santa brought me a lovely little pocket-sized Moleskine journal...

Well, that's not strictly true, Santa brought me some money, and with that money I bought myslf a lovely little pocket-sized Moleskine journal....and that's roughly the same thing isn't it?

So, I thought I'd use it to keep track of my 'Project Zero' goals.... more on that later....and also try my hand at regular art journalling, as I've only barely dabbled in it before.

My plan is to work in the journal every day - not necessarily to finish a whole page every day - some of my days are just too busy for that - but to at least do SOMETHING daily - maybe just prep some pages, slap down some backgrounds etc.

And then I saw a link on Nicole Maki's blog to Julie Balzer's "Art Journal Every Day" challenge, which basically said exactly the same thing - spend 10 mins a day working in your journal in some capacity - perfect!  Even I can find 10 minutes!

And so far this year that's exactly what I've done.

On January 1st, I gessoed up the first 12 pages in the book ready to work on.

On January 2nd I made the background for the page below.

And on January 3rd, today, I added the words, and the sun, and the little houses (I bought that new punch with Santa's money too :))

 

I'm really looking forward to filling up my little book over the year, in manageable bite-sized chunks.

Oh yes, and before I forget, I hope you all had a great Christmas (I did :) ), and Happy New Year everyone!!!

AJED: 3/365 

PS it seems that 10 minutes a day isn't nearly enough when you're having fun - I was just taking the recycling bins out and spotted an unused christmas cracker hat, purple, sitting on top of the recycle pile all unloved.... and well, I couldn't let it go to waste!  And so I've started work on page 2:

Watch out, the bogeyman's about!

It's time to work on the "Colours" CJ again - and this month's colour scheme is "lime and mint green".

When I told my other half what colour was coming up, he said "so, basically, bogey green?", and from that point onward I couldn't get rid of the urge to do my page as a tribute to Fungus the Bogeyman :)

I loved reading that book to my eldest boys when they were little - Fungus is the coolest!

The layout itself is fairly simple - Fungus was printed out on canvas:

There was liberal use (again, I used it last month too) of my favourite punch - the Martha Stewart "dripping goo" border punch, not just for Halloween, folks!

The background was made with Daler Rowney pearlescent acrylic inks (love them love them love them) and various stamps.

And Fungus's name was cut in a font called "shlop" on my Cricut, and covered with Diamond Glaze.

I pounced some dark olive ink through the stencil left by the Cricut before sticking the letters down, so that they would have a bit of a shadow, making them look a bit more 3D.

 

and that's about it.

I really enjoyed putting this one together, can't help having fun with bogey green :)

First time I've made jewellery in ages....

Two blog posts in one day????  I might need to sit down for a rest in a minute :)

So, anyway, I asked my middle son what his girlfriend would like for Christmas.... and a week later, I asked him again....and then again, repeatedly....until he finally came back with "she said you can make her some earrings or something".

"What sort of earrings does she like?", I asked him.

"I dunno!  NICE ones!"

Thanks Darbs, very helpful.

So, with that incredibly clear brief in hand, I made these - small sterling silver hoops that she can either wear on their own or with the 4 sets of interchangeable "dangly bits".  With any luck these will count as "NICE ones"!

(and don't worry, she doesn't read this blog :) )

Dangles #1 - black & white glass beads on coiled silver wire

Dangles #2 - purple chain mailled moebius balls

Dangles #3 - green glass pillow beads on wire

Dangles #4 - Tibetan silver leaf beads on handmade 2 by 2 chain

I think the last ones are my favourites

And with those made and wrapped, I am now officially 100% ready for christmas, tree up, all pressies bought and wrapped, stockings ready, woohoo!!! :)

I probably won't blog again before the big day, so have a good one, won't you :)

A to Z Year : October 22nd - November 18th : letters V and W

And so we reach the last few letters of the alphabet, just XYZ to go after this little update.

What fun this year has been!

I must admit that as the winter months have kicked in, our A-Z activity has withered somewhat – we haven’t had the same opportunities for themed days out etc as we did in the warmer parts of the year. But we have tried to do at least one major activity for each letter.

For the letter V we started with a visit to Avebury Village, to see the very old stone circles.

This was part of our attempt to find various varieties of geocache in one day – including a virtual.

We also had a delicious pub lunch and snapped proof of the kids eating their vegetables:

Later that same evening, we watched our Swindon Wildcats claim a (rare, this season) victory, versus the Bracknell Bees.

And we ate some very expensive, but sadly not as delicious as I thought it would be, Venezuelan chocolate.

The next day we went to see a great movie – Despicable Me – in 3D vision! This was especially chosen for V fortnight, as it is all about super villains, and one of them was called Vector, and he has a big V on his house. Loved this film very very much, so funny.

During this fortnight I also had the rare treat of a Vancouver Canucks game being broadcast during waking hours, as they played over on the East coast (meaning face off at midnight our time instead of the usual 3am) – so I got to see my boys play live for once. I can’t even remember who we were playing now, but I’m pretty sure it was another victory, as I remember going to sleep happy :)

We had one more hockey related V moment when my friend’s nephew’s junior hockey team visited the Link Centre to play the Swindon under-12s, and we went along to see him play. And why is it V related? Because they are from the Isle of Wight of course….known in Roman times as Vectis! ( If anyone accuses me of grabbing at tenuous connections I’ll deny it vehemently :P )

We topped off V fortnight with a fab weekend away in Lincoln, where we spent Halloween. There were plenty of people out in the town in costume, so we saw more than a few vampires.




Onto two weeks of W:

We started with a visit to Coate Water – we had a nice walk around the lake in the cold, and then went on the train – here’s me going “woo wooooo!!” on the choo chooooo :)

And then we tried Waymarking out for size. Waymarking.com is the sister site to geocaching – it is similar in as much as it provides GPS co-ordinates to follow to a place of interest, and when you visit said place, you can log your visit and get a “point” – but there are no actual physical containers to find.

I decided that W fortnight was as good a time as any for us to find our first waymark, so I did a search around the Swindon area only to discover, well, not much of interest really. It seems that, with the exception of the benchmark/trig point category, nobody has set up many waymarks around here.

One did jump out at me though – in the category “Wikipedia Entries” – the Swindon Wildcats! Yes, it turned out we could claim a Waymarking point by going to a Wildcats game :) Not exactly a chore as we are season ticket holders and go every week anyway :) :) :) So that got us a triple W whammy :)

The following Saturday while Connor was at his dad’s, the rest of us donned our walking boots and waterproofs and went for a nice long walk in the wet.

And then on the Sunday, we had our main W-related activity – a day out to Wookey Hole in Wells – sooooo exciting! I haven’t been there since Ethan and Darby were tiny, and I love the place.

It was great to have the alphabet as an excuse to go down there :) Plus I got the tickets for free via Tesco loyalty card points, which saved us having to pay the exorbitant entrance fees – result!

At the caves we of course saw the famous Witch of Wookey Hole, and the wishing well (and the "witches" and "wizards" toilets :) ). And we had a whale of a time!

 I'll be back soon with the very last A-Z Year blog entry.  Sob.