A book! a book for us!

Today a slim brown paper package was pushed through my letterbox. It was a book, from Mel at I Speak Melsh She listed several books in her blog as part of her operation de-clutter and I put my hand up for one of them. This mean that I will be able to use the book during the summer holidays to give the divine Miss Em a project. We shall make some punched cards for her to give this Christmas.
I will register the book at bookcrossing and when we stop using it I will put it into the Official Bookcrossing Zone in town. Never heard of bookcrossing? well it is a wonderful way of relieving your bookshelves of books you will never read again simply by registering them with bookcrossing - here and then leaving them somewhere for someone else to find.

I heard the sharp intake of breath then, I really did. It is a very hard thing to do, release that first book "into the wild". I took a book out several times and was unable to just put it down and walk away. I made some labels that said FREE BOOK in quite big letters and then stuck them on the outside of the book with repo glue. I left the first one I ever released in a coffee shop and the buzz I got when I walked away was fantastic. I have released several hundred now and it is still a good feeling, try it!

!0 on the 10th

I have a huge amount of things to do on this 10th of the month. Tomorrow is the annual Open Day of the Gwent Family History Society and as Chairman I am the public face of the Society - at least until October when I finish my three years. Incorporated in this Open Day for the first time is a family reunion for the descendants of James and Mary GIBBON. As a member of the family and keeper of the family tree I have a list of ten things I simply have to take with me. For my first ten on the tenth I give you my Things for the Reunion list

1. My camera. This goes everywhere with me but I always put it on every list incase someone else loads the car!
2 Two folding tables. We don't know how many will be available at the venue and the needs of the Society come first.
3. Albums of family pictures, cuttings and memorabilia - yes there are at least ten of these.
4. The research folders - goes without saying really doesn't it? but.... that's right just incase someone else is loading the car.
5. Posters. These are A3 size sheets to tell the family where we are in the venue simply because they will stand about outside and mutter that they don't know where to go.............I could... no.
6. Laptop and scanner. Just incase they remember to bring the pictures and things I mentioned on the invitation
7. Basic show kit. Anyone who has ever done a craft fair or an agricultural show or the village fete will know that you have to have basic stuff like scissors, sticky-tape, blu-tack, drawing pins, dressmaking pins, safety pins, pens pencils rubbers, note pads, post-its, double-sided tape, glue-sticks, a small screwdriver, pound coins, a ball of string and a small plastic bag with elastic bands in it. OH and some paper clips.
8. Bottles of water in the cool-box. There will be refreshments available but from experience I know that having my own supply of water is essential
9. Portfolio with the family tree charts and the relationship chart plus the small trees for each sub group so they can find the mistakes and correct them with glee!
10. The Special Edition of the Gibbon Gazette. This is the irregular family newsletter that gets sent out to everyone for whom I have an address or an email addy. Trying to get stories for it is like finding hen's teeth but everyone seems to love it and will always ask when the next one will be available. The special edition is the story of my eldest grandson's Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme Gold Expedition, with loads of pictures. Perfect.

So there you have it. No pictures of anything because this is all preparation stuff. Tomorrow I will attempt to get pictures of everyone and also stories of their parents. I intend regaling them with the information I have found about The Real Uncle Charlie so we should have a good day.

How to use alpha stamps

I have seen a lot of how-to blogs with pictures and videos lately so I thought some people might like to see a special one.

This is called how to work with Alpha Stamps. You begin when Grandma buys two big sets of scrapbooking stuff from Costco and then gives you one of the alpha stamps sets for your very own.

First you get your Grandma to write the words with a pencil on her notepad so you can copy them. Then you stamp each of the letters across the top of a 12 x 12 piece of white paper - Grandma has a lot of these from her scrapbooks and she lets me use them for drawing and stamping and cutting out too.

 This next picture looks like I am banging the stamps onto the paper, but I'm not doing that. Grandma showed me how to ink my stamps properly and then how to press "firmly but gently" so that the letters don't smudge.

 Then you keep on inking each stamp in turn and making sure that they are lined up properly before pressing them onto the page. I like stamping and Grandma allows me to use her special clear stamps with the blocks you can see through. They are much easier to use than wooden ones and I am dead good with those. You can see the other picture in front of me. That is one of my Princess pictures. We had to use tissue paper and felt pens and a glue-stick. I drew the shapes and everything

 Now I have finished stamping I must make sure my stamps are clean so I use a baby wipe. Grandma has a big packet of them on the shelf and I am allowed to get one out as long as I make sure the funny lid is closed and then we turn the packet upside down to keep the wipes moist. I have no real idea what this means but it seems to keep Grandma happy when we do it.

The next thing to do is to put all the stamps back in their special container and then put them into my craft box.

Grandma gave me my own craft box when I was nearly five. I keep my stamps and my pens and my glue sticks in it and I have small containers with sequins and beads and flowers too.
I love to scrapbook with my Grandma and she says she likes to scrapbook with me too. I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial on how to use alpha Stamps.  Emily. age six.