Lessons Learnt - 1 - Off We Go with Shimelle's LSNED... 2011?!?

Lessons Learnt in September 2011

Dear Scribblers

What one thing an elephant and The Crafty Scribe do not have in common?

I forgot!

(I won't tell you what I do have in common with an elephant. It could be a long post! By the way, how do you know if there's an elephant in your fridge?...................................... Footprints in the butter!)

Back to the post at hand, or at keypad, or touch pad, or mouse. Mouse? Ekkkk! We are back to that elephant in the room again.

Now I've that silliness out of the way.

Way back in September, I completed Shimelle's Learn Something New Everyday course for the third time, and it was just as enjoyable as the first... and the second.

I realised that I hadn't posted any of the photos of my pages for you on the blog. I forgot! I'm sorry. But never fear, I delved into my external hard-drive to recover a selection of my favourites for you to see. I'll be posting them over the next few days.

Here is the first:

As you'll notice, I went for something completely different last year... art journalling. It was the first time, I attempted anything like this so was a little tentative to begin with. This was my internal title page, using watercolour paints, stamps and letter stickers.

My forgetfulness shows itself once again as I can't remember names of products used. The majority of it was quite old stash. I'll list those that I remember as we move through the days.

The plain pale cream paged ring-bound book was approx 9 x 11 inches (23x28cm). Only the inside title and end pages are single sheets. Each day covered two facing pages, as you will see. The cover was plain cardboard which I also decorated.

I hope you stay with me as I show you around the favourites of my messy arty painty and scrapbooky pages from September 2011. Better late than never, right? I hope!

Happy Scribing!

P.S. Why did the elephant paint the bottom of his feet pale yellow?........................................................ So he could hide upside down in the butter in the fridge, of course! 

Wishing you all a fabulous day... and News!

Brand New Series Starts Tomorrow... 

Lessons Learnt 

(Better late than never)

Find out what an elephant and me don't have in common!

Happy Scribing!

The Crafty Scribe Communiqué - When you thought it was safe...

Communiqué... News Flash... Communiqué....

Dear Scribblers

Yes, when you thought it was safe to go back into the rhyme... 365? No, it's verse! (or should that be worse.) Now, it's 555!

Want to know what it's all about?

Please either check out my original blog or my brand new squeaky clean one here: 555 Days As A Poet by The Crafty Scribe.

I hope you'll come along and enjoy the fun.

Happy Scribing!

Communiqué Ends... Communiqué Ends

I'll be back!

Dear Scribblers

It's been a long time, hasn't it?

Don't worry, I haven't disappeared completely and I will be back soon.

I'll be posting pictures of recent projects and mumbling about scrapbooking, journalling and the rest of the general musings.

Please stay watching, and I'll post on my Twitter feed when I have a proper post uploaded and raring to be read.

As always, Happy Scribing!

Love and Hugs,
The Crafty Scribe xxx

I love my Kobo!

Dear Scribblers

Have you delved into the world of the e-book reader yet?

I must say, seeing as I like to touch and hold and feel, and adore the smell of books, I was a little skeptical of the lure of e-ink. Then I thought about it in the same way as writing, I keep a daily journal written with proper flowing ink, but I also blog, tweet and Facebook. I often make handwritten notes, but I also jot down ideas on my iPhone. I sometimes write out stories by hand, but also go great guns directly onto the MacBook.

This follows through to my crafting, I sometimes scribble my journalling, other times print out font. I even go the whole way and make complete digital pages. If I can be a hybrid-scrapper and writer, why not a hybrid-reader?

After checking out all the e-readers in the market place, I finally found my perfect match!

The Kobo Touch. It's a fantastic e-reader, with a responsive and easy to read touch screen, with only two buttons - on/off and home. Kobo Books is an amazing book store including plenty of free books and previews. You can even buy books elsewhere for use on it (drag and drop - including pdfs, plus Adobe Digital Editions), and loan e-books from your local library, if they offer that facility.

There's a whole social networking scene called Reading Life, including collecting rewards of virtual stickers as you read and then send them onto Facebook, and where you can also check your reading stats too.

The casing is very tactile and easy to hold, not to mention chic. Its quilted back reminds me somewhat of a very expensive designer handbag, that most of you will know is very close to my heart!

It can sync via your computer (PC and Mac, which is a bonus) or via WiFi, up to your own account at Kobo Books. If you've got an iPad or iPhone, you can app it to sync to that as well.

There are a couple of options I would like added though. These include being able to access the dictionary and notes sections directly, not just via a book, and also a crossword solver would be nice. There is already a sudoku game, plus sketchbook and internet browser in their extras section under experimental functionality.

In my opinion, it's so much better than anything that the other companies offer in the UK.  

I know this sounds like an advert, but it's not! I'm in no way connected with Kobo, nor am I getting any payment for writing this post. It's just I love it! I'm hooked on the free classics on my e-book reader.

It won't replace all my lovely books on my shelf, but it's a brilliant way to carry books with you, plus I've downloaded some of my long-term favourites which I can have with me at all times.

Happy Scribing... and Reading - however you do it!


NB: The extract shown on screen is from the free preview of 'The Eyre Affair' by Tom Fforde.

NaNoWriMo over and Christmas is coming!

Dear Scribblers

Where did the month go? I'm so sorry for neglecting you, sometimes time has the habit of whipping away from you. I hope you've been following the daily prompts on Twitter as an alternative.

NaNoWriMo, as is November, is over, and I'm pleased to report I hit my 50,000 word count before the end of the month. I'm a winner!

I still have more to write before my first draft is finished, then the process of editing and re-editing and re-editing and... you get the idea!

So, it's almost Christmas and winter celebrations, who can believe that it's the end of another year? There's that time doing it's busy again. Are you ready? To be honest, I haven't even started! Not one present bought, no tree up and - hangs head in shame - no cards made! Not written, not even bought. Oh, the horror! I've had a strange few months which has meant that thoughts of holidays have been quite far from my mind, but never fear. I'm pushing forward, and I know that I'll get it done in time. Although, as a naughty crafter, the cards will be coming from a shop this year.

Projects of the Day: 

1.  If you are one of those lucky people who are all sorted for Christmas, don't forget to take photos of all your wrapped presents, cards on display and tree. It will be something to add to your Christmas layouts.

2.  If you still have your holiday shopping and chores to do, remember to take photos as you go along. Make a list of all the things you need to do and include that in your layouts. Have fun with your tasks.

3.  How about gathering together some of your favourite photos from previous years, and making a collage.

4.  If you are a writer, take some of your favourite memories and put them together to create a 'Christmas through the ages' memoir.

NB: Please substitute the word Christmas, for your own festival if you follow a different religion. Enjoy your winter celebrations!

Happy Scribing!

The Crafty Scribe Communiqué - NaNoWriMo, LSNED & Tweets

News Flash... Communiqué... News Flash...

Dear Scribblers

So, autumn is here again, which means so is NaNoWriMo!

Once again I am subjecting myself to the terrors of trying to write a 50,000 word book in the month of November.

Second day in and just over 3500 words completed. As soon as they make the word counter available, I'll embed it on this blog, so you can watch my progress... or lack of it.

Why don't you join me? It's inspiring, it's nerve-wracking, it's creative, it's stressful, but mostly it's fun!

You've still got plenty of time to jump on the trampoline of typing, typos, titles, tales, tears, tantrums and titters. Dive onto their website, and see the full detail.

Now, onto apologies, it's been quite a while since I posted on my blog, as you can see without me telling you. Various reasons, but I'm glad to say I'm back.

For those of you who enjoyed my daily scrapbooking and journalling prompt series here on the blog, you'll be glad to hear that they are still available to view, starting from here to all the way through to number 160 here. Plus if you would like to receive ideas every day, please follow my Twitter account, as I tweet a new prompt every day.

Over the month of September, I joined in with Shimelle's Learn Something New Everyday course again, along with many other scrappers. However, this year I decided to do something different. I art journalled through the month! The first time I've ever tried anything like this.

Over the next few posts, I'll show you a few of my art journal pages for you to see, it was an interesting experience and I loved having a go. I'm not sure how successful they were, but I'll leave that to you to comment.

I'll be back soon. Have a great day. Carry on crafting and writing, Scribbers.

Happy Scribing!

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