Blue Skies

 

This is a page made up of a selection of pictures that I'd taken on a dog walk, and I'd chosen to experiment with layering different embellishments.

 

I don't actually remember the day that clearly, as we've had so many walks like it, but it's good to document the countryside and a pastime that we do frequently.



Of the Night: Chapter Six - Fanfiction Friday

Welcome back to Fanfiction Friday! I've started here with a set of drabble's, a drabble being a short story of 100 words exactly, no more, no less.

This story is called Of the Night, and can be read fully here. Each chapter is unrelated, and this story is continually growing. It is a Star Trek: Voyager story, and explores small moments that I believe could have occurred between Captain Kathryn Janeway and her First Officer, Commander Chakotay, if the show had decided to explore their relationship, rather than ignoring it as they did. They all take place either at night or in the early hours of waking. Enjoy!

Previous Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

“Put them down.” Arms folded, Chakotay glared across at Kathryn, who was sat at her desk in her night gown.

“But B’Elanna-” He cut her off mid-speech, circling behind her chair.

“Will understand that her captain needs sleep, too. If she doesn’t, I’ll talk to her.” He placed a feather-light kiss at the crook of Kathryn’s neck, sending shivers down her spine. In her distraction, he pulled the padd from her grasp and deactivated the monitor. She sighed, but chose not to resist. He linked his fingers with hers, and guided her through to the other room.

“Computer: lights out.”

Snow Dog

 

This was a really simple page that I created documenting my dog, Bramble, in the snow last year. He loved to run about in it, and this picture of him with the snow in his ears is so precious to me, that I didn't want to overwhelm it. I kept the colours simple, and just let that little puppy face do all of the talking!



Of the Night: Chapter Five - Fanfiction Friday

Welcome back to Fanfiction Friday! I've started here with a set of drabble's, a drabble being a short story of 100 words exactly, no more, no less.

 

This story is called Of the Night, and can be read fully here. Each chapter is unrelated, and this story is continually growing. It is a Star Trek: Voyager story, and explores small moments that I believe could have occurred between Captain Kathryn Janeway and her First Officer, Commander Chakotay, if the show had decided to explore their relationship, rather than ignoring it as they did. They all take place either at night or in the early hours of waking. Enjoy!

Previous Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4

 

 

“Kathryn? What’s wrong?” With her back facing him, she could still have been sleeping.  But she wasn’t. He could tell she was crying. Placing a hand on her shoulder, Chakotay gently rolled Kathryn onto her back and gazed into her eyes, brushing away the tears.

“Kathryn?”

“It’s my fault, I sent you on that away mission,” was all she could manage before fresh tears tumbled down her cheeks.

“I’m alive, Kathryn.” Ignoring the pain in his chest that remained from the blast, he pulled her towards him, allowing the sound of his steady heartbeat to soothe her back to sleep.

50's Swing

 

Firstly, this picture has been smudged as it had an address on it.

 

This was the next pair of pages that I created, showing another Birthday party! It seems that that's all I seem to be doing in my scrapbooks, doesn't it? This one was a 50's themed party in a Village hall, and it was a great night.

 

I experimented a bit with tilting images, which I am ultimately not fond of, but with the white space and embellishments in the corner, I will admit that it does work in this context. The solid line of washi tape at the bottom of the page also helps to ground it.

 

This is a gorgeous silver charm that I found in my stash, and I think it works wonderfully as a part of the layout.

 

The second page is a photomontage of crazy people, as well as some journaling. I used the same washi tape and buttons in order to organise the grid, as some of the images were smaller/larger than others. These elements helped to level that out and cover up those little mistakes.

 

The colour scheme is actually taken from the dress I was wearing, which is going to be another page, but I haven't printed the picture out for that one yet... But, as a double page spread, these two pages work well to gether to convey what a lovely night it was



Good news!

Well, recently, this blog became three years old! I think that in itself is a great cause for celebration. However, there are so many other things I think that need to be mentioned as this has been a very happy week for me.

 

Firstly: my three years blogging. It's been varied and a weird mix of so many different styles, and it's honestly embarrassing to look back at some of those first posts, but three years is a great achievement. I love seeing how my craft techniques have evolved, even my photography, and the wide range of subjects and topics covered here.

 

Second: I achieved 30 followers on bloglovin! I was so happy. I know to some people that's not a lot, but it is to me, so I would like to take this chance to thank all of you who follow this blog, it does mean so much to me.

Third: I have 50 pinterest followers! I don't even know when that happened, I just noticed this morning. Thank you so much to everyone if you're following me on pinterest, it means a lot, especially seeing as so many of you allow my indulgences into Star Trek 'shipping!

 

Finally, but by no means least: I got into my first-choice University!!! I managed to pull out A-Level Results of AABB, including an A in History, which made me so delighted. I can't wait to go and study the past permanently! I am over the moon, and I've had a permanent smile on my face since I found out on Thursday morning.

 

So this has been a mighty good week! I hope to bring you more blog things in the near future, but who knows what this next year will bring - perhaps I'll go into a completely different branch of blogging all together? Who knows. I'm happy and that's all that matters.

Of the Night: Chapter Four - Fanfiction Friday

Welcome back to Fanfiction Friday! I've started here with a set of drabble's, a drabble being a short story of 100 words exactly, no more, no less.

This story is called Of the Night, and can be read fully here. Each chapter is unrelated, and this story is continually growing. It is a Star Trek: Voyager story, and explores small moments that I believe could have occurred between Captain Kathryn Janeway and her First Officer, Commander Chakotay, if the show had decided to explore their relationship, rather than ignoring it as they did. They all take place either at night or in the early hours of waking. Enjoy!

Previous Chapters: 1, 2, 3

Chakotay awoke sharply to a sudden, jabbing pain in his side.

“Did you just poke me?” He frowned down at the mass of tangled auburn hair beside him, amused as it stirred slightly.

“Stop snoring,” she mumbled blearily, tugging the covers with her as she rolled over. “I have the early shift in the morning.”

With a small chuckle, Chakotay pulled her slight frame towards him until her back was resting against his chest. Wrapping his arms around her waist and tangling his legs with hers, he brushed his lips across her neck and murmured in her ear;

“Aye, Captain.”

My TBR List

I'm really bad when it comes to books. I get given them, or I buy them in a charity shope, they end up on my shelf and then  forget to read them. Not anymore! This summer, I really want to start reading properly again. So here is by TBR (to be read) list:

 

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory: I am currently reading The White Queen, and I watched the BBC series in the Autumn. I love historical fiction, and when I found this in a charity shop for £1, I just couldn't resist. ( I also found The White Princess, but I want to read The Kingmaker's Daughter first).

 

The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory: In a similar vein, this is from Philippa Gregory's other historical series, The Tudor Court. This one follows Mary Queen of Scots in her imprisonment, which I think will be an interesting angle to look from.

 

Pompeii by Robert Harris: I tried to get into this one once when I was younger, but only got about 30 pages in for some reason. I'd like to try again as Pompeii is one of my favourite things to read up on, and has been since I was about eight years old.

Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James: I finally managed to read Pride and Prejudice earlier this year, and felt rather underwhelmed. I watched the BBC adaptation of this book, and enjoyed it more - I hope that that bodes well for this book.

 

Virals by Kathy Reichs: I've never read anything like this before, but my Grandma gave it to me because I like watching crime dramas, and as it has teenagers as its main characters, she thought I might be able to ease my way into crime reading... It looks a bit sinister to me, but I suppose that's sort of the point!

Labyrinth by Kate Mosse: I'm not entirely sure what this one is about, but it's another one that my Grandma gave to me. It's a chunky book, but the back looks interesting.

 

Heist Society by Ally Carter: I picked this up in a charity shop for 50p and don't really know what to expect. It looks like an easy read, which I will always appreciate in between heavier books. Plus, it's in pristine condition, the spine is unbroken and the pages still smell new. I couldn't resist.

 

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett: Despite being a fantasy nut for years, I have never read a single Pratchett book. I think that ought to change, so I bought the first book, and hope somewhere to start reading it.

 

Alanna by Tamora Pierce: I got given this entire series by a friend when I was about 13 and they have sat on by shelf taunting me. I tried to read this once, but got pulled away when a new book (I think it might have been Harry Potter) came out and was far more exciting. They're only small, and the font is quite large, so I should be able to get through them relatively quickly if I do start again.

 

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: I read the first two books last summer, yet I somehow have kept this one back. As a collection of short stories, it should be easy to dip in and out of, but I have yet to try. I love Sherlock Holmes, so this is one I'm looking forward to having time to read.

 

Magician: Apprentice by Raymond E. Feist: This was one of my Dad's books that I found on the shelf and thought looked interesting. I think bow I have built up the courage to read it, if I like it, I can inherit the entire series that we had downstairs!

 

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson: I bought this about 3 years ago as the cover and blurb enticed me. It's a long heavy book though, so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to commit to it... It may be left unread for a little while longer...

 

A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin: Speaking of long, heavy books... I read A Game of Thrones last summer, just about, and while I enjoyed it, it did take an awful long time to complete! What I find funny though is that I was given both copies by a chaplain! I'd love to be able to read the entire series, but something tells me that it's going to be slow going.

 

The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore: One my sister's favourite series, she also has the fourth book that I also need to read. I find these Lorien Legacies books really interesting, and I was disappointed with myself that I didn't read them in keeping with when they were published. Well, I have time now to rectify that! 

 

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell: This is probably going to be my next book to read. When my sister read it, she shoved it at me completely and said 'it's you'. So, I'm going to read it.

 

So yeah, just a small TBR, but these have accumulated over about 5 years... I'm not sure a summer is going to be enough to slim it down! But I can try.

 

I am currently reading: The White Queen by Philippa Gregory and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (on Kindle).

Catching Fire

 

You've already seen a sneak preview of this page if you read my post on 'How to Scrapbook without a Scrapbook', but  I thought I'd give you a close up shot as well.

 

This layout is one I'd like to share as it is an example of what to do when you don't have any photos to scrapbook an event. I went to see a film with some of my friends and we had a great time, but because we were in the cinema, no pictures were taken. So, to get around this, I took a picture of one of the film's promotional posters and combined tat with my ticket and some journaling. The colour scheme is based off of the image, and ties everything well.

 

Tickets, receipts, postcards, doodles  and your own writing are all great for those little moments that pass by without a camera. So, never despair, just get a bit creative!



Of the Night: Chapter Three - Fanfiction Friday

Welcome back to Fanfiction Friday! I've started here with a set of drabble's, a drabble being a short story of 100 words exactly, no more, no less.

This story is called Of the Night, and can be read fully here. Each chapter is unrelated, and this story is continually growing. It is a Star Trek: Voyager story, and explores small moments that I believe could have occurred between Captain Kathryn Janeway and her First Officer, Commander Chakotay, if the show had decided to explore their relationship, rather than ignoring it as they did. They all take place either at night or in the early hours of waking. Enjoy!

Previous Chapters: 1, 2

 

“You could have been killed, Kathryn. It’s my job to keep you safe.”

“No, your job is to make sure that the ship is safe when I’m not onboard.”

“I wasn’t talking about being your first officer.” He reached for her hand but she pulled away.

“If this is clouding your professional judgement, then we shouldn’t be here.”

“Kathryn...”

“Goodnight, Commander.” The doors swished closed behind her.

That night, both were restless and couldn’t sleep - not until she slipped back into his quarters and under the covers. As he wrapped his arms around her protectively, she murmured:

“I’m sorry.”

Bowling

 

The second layout that I created was from when I went bowling with two of my other friends, both of whom were very suspicious of cameras, so it was quite amusing to snap an odd few of them. I kept the pages quite simple, as It was quite a simple afternoon, plus the pictures were dark anyway and too many embellishments would have overpowered them.

 

I really love the photo of our scores - we gave each other strange names, and it's the little things like that that I love to document. I've also got another photo strip here, with images of each of us as we threw the ball. Overall, I think it works quite well.

Of the Night: Chapter Two - Fanfiction Friday

Welcome back to Fanfiction Friday! I've started here with a set of drabble's, a drabble being a short story of 100 words exactly, no more, no less.

This story is called Of the Night, and can be read fully here. Each chapter is unrelated, and this story is continually growing. It is a Star Trek: Voyager story, and explores small moments that I believe could have occurred between Captain Kathryn Janeway and her First Officer, Commander Chakotay, if the show had decided to explore their relationship, rather than ignoring it as they did. They all take place either at night or in the early hours of waking. Enjoy!

Previous Chapters: 1

 

He heard the doors to his Quarters swish open and her feet pad softly across the floor, trying not to wake him. Unsuccessfully.

“Don’t tell me you’ve been in your Ready Room all this time?” She smiled at his groggy voice and sat beside him, running a hand lightly up his arm.

“I had work to do,” she whispered, her breath dancing across his ear. He grunted in protest and rolled over, but she hushed him, planting a soft kiss on his tattooed temple.

“Go back to sleep, my Angry Warrior. I’ll only be a few more minutes, I promise.”