Paperplay Challenges '11 - Week 38 - Autumn Leaves

These days I rarely get the opportunity to enter a card challenge, which is a shame because I enjoy doing things like that. Sadly between various work and social committments, plus the fact that I'm not as energetic as I think I am I get distracted and sidetracked. That should read as sucked into the great white box on the computer desk!

Anyway, it just so happens that Autumn or Fall is one of my favourite times of the year and I've been lucky enough to be able to take a few days off this week. The result is that while I seem to have done very little around the house or in terms of sewing as planned, my fingers have been very active elsewhere.

Amongst other things I've updated a number of blogs and websites that I'm associated with, caught up with correspondence outstanding, arranged radio interviews and telephone interviews with journalists in a last bid to save our gymnastics club (to put it bluntly we're being evicted!)

I've also attended two meetings with the dyslexia group here in town, a business networking meeting, made a load of cards for friends and generally taken life easy this week. The card went down so well with the young man who ordered it for his wife and earned him a few brownie points for the weekend!

My time had been tentatively booked to clean out and tidy up my 'studio.' At the moment it's looking more and more as though a bomb's hit it, but like I said earlier, I got distracted. Maybe that's why I couldn't find my PTI leaf prints collection of dies. It's bad enough that I actually broke my beloved Cuttlebug a couple of weeks ago, but this is ridiculous - they've vanished into thin air!

That of course led to fussy cutting of the oak leaves, which while it's not an arduous task is really juat a bit daft under the circumstances. For the rest of my card I've used WMS Blessed By You & Victorian and the PTI Leaf Prints stamp sets with Ranger Inks Big & Juicy Ink Pad in Spice on card from the PaperMill Shop, ribbon from my amazing stash of grosgrain and the DoCrafts Scalloped Border Punch...

I'm entering this into this weeks PaperPlay Challenges ('11 - Week 38) Autumn Leaves Challenge, I hope you like it!

Have a great weekend!

Polly

Polly's Four Stone Up & One Stone Down...

I recently received a comment from Mike over on The Wine Buff. Simply put, Mike was wondering if I was ever going to pull my finger out and actually post on this blog at any time in the future...? Oooops!

The simple answer to that question is errrr, yes, that is my intention! It has always been my intention, but sadly it's something I haven't been doing for a while. Thinking about this, it occurred to me that my waffley bad blogging schedule started sometime last May, around the time I returned to work! The truth is I've been doing too many things (or maybe not in this case) and to be honest I've been advised by more than one source to slow things down a little but surely that doesn't mean grind to a halt, does it?

There have honestly been times when that's pretty much what I've done. In the past year I've spent much of my time when not working resting either in bed, having off days or sitting in zombie like fashion infront of this very pc (actually, it's more likely that it was the one I killed or the borrowed laptop that went back when I resigned as secretary of the dyslexia group!!!) Alternately, I may have been working like a beaver to fill orders for greeting cards - as time is at a premium these days I have to slip this in in between scouting, etc...

Cooking hasn't exactly been high on my list of priorities either. I've cajoled 'the boys', any or all three of them to whip up culinary delights on my behalf, persuaded DG to bring home disasterous takeaways or worse still resorted to the occasional emergency bottle of readymade sauce! Yuck - at least that's what my conscience tries to tell me on these (bottled) occasions.

The boys really are quite accomplished cooks, the youngest concocts a presentable panna cotta from memory. Only the eldest one, ie the 40 year old is truly accountable for his actions though, he actually clears up afterwards. I shame when he arrives home after a long days work only to make dinner for four because the lady is out in the shed making greeting cards! I sometimes wonder if it's worth it, and I'm quite sure he does so regularly...

This said, there is perhaps method in such madness. The whole house has suffered in this past year, more than any other, to the extent that teenage boys have discovered the delights of bargaining and persuasion alongside those of vaccuming and lawnmowing. My partner in life has realised that maybe we do need a new cooker. The gas pressure steadily drops off while he's in the midst of something requiring crucial timing - ie it's got to be cooked by bedtime!

How many times have we slapped medium rare best Irish beef steaks (from our beloved Aldi) onto our plates only to have to whip them back off again, wash the plates and recook them under the ailing grill, while the veg stews? We no longer eat roast meats, roast potatoes or yorkshire puddings anymore, unless my Mum rushes to the rescue which is typically on a Monday evenings due to my involvement with scouts...

Okay, I did purchase a brand new microwave rice & pasta cooker recently. Actually, it was a freebie due to the fact that the blessed thing went missing in the post and then promptly arrived on my door step the day after the company had reimbursed my credit card. They insisted that I kept it by way of compensation for the extraordinary nine weeks in transit, which was mighty decent of them, especially as their promotion had promised free shipping, the cost of which was promptly added to the price after we'd reached checkout!

Ah yes, life in the Pierce household has been 'interesting' over the past year or so. My inactivity and penchant for fine red wines has led to me gaining an extra-ordinary four stone over the past five years. The last one has yoyoed horrifically. Each time I've congratulated myself on losing it I've celebrated this by adding to the fortunes of my local vintners (including Wines Direct) and master chocalatiers...

Yesterday I treated myself to a brand new copy of this months "Weight Watcher's Magazine" and a double decker! And yes, my intentions are once more GOOD...

Polly Says: Come Waltz With Me...

This is the moment I've been waiting for sooo very patiently. Having checked out the WMS forum this morning for instructions and in the hope that Claire would be opening the blogwaltz early, I busied myself doing a couple of things which I put on the long finger a couple of weeks ago.




So, finally having drawn up the proposals for various schools in the area, whom I hope will be eager to host next years dyslexia workshops, I logged into Facebook for a moment. Surprise! She's already opened the links and I'm behind as usual...

Here goes then! First of all I must apologize for the ghastly photo quality, but I figured that even this is better than forgetting to photograph my cards altogether which is what I normally do.

This card was made for a Mum's birthday using one of my favourite all time stamps from last months stamp release 'Roses In Bloom' by the ever so talented Ms Brennan, hope you like it...

Personally I think it just comes alive with the 3 dimensional touches to the petals and the leaf. It'll never quite replace a bunch of the real thing, but it'll sure last a lot longer!

Much Love,

Polly

Polly Pierce - Vinca Cards

ps Claire, I hope your Mum's on the mend!

Polly Plea(d)s...

Regular readers of this blog will by now be aware of the fact that I love hats! In fact, I have so many hats that it's difficult to manage them all at times...
When I refer to hats, I mean metaphorical hats, you know the type that you wear at certain times of the week depending on which occupation you are following at the time. Examples of these would be chef's, cook's, night cap, hike hat, scout hat, gymnastic's hat and finally dyslexia group hat, not forgetting Mummy hat and chief bottle washer hat too!

Last year the Educational Building Society Community Fund donated funding to 150 worthy causes around the country. Two of my hats were the lucky beneficiaries, #1. The Offaly Dyslexia Group (aka The North Offaly Dyslexia Association) and #2. Tullamore Scouts. The point is that now is the time for me to take my hat off and hold it out to you for donations. Well, it's a bit simpler than that even! For my Irish reader's this will be of particular interest...

All members of The EBS are eligible to nominate one local charity for funding from the EBS Community Fund 2009. Applications may be downloaded from here and must be submitted by 5pm on the 5th June 2009 either by post or to your local branch office.

The reason for the speel about the hats is that I am too involved in each of my own volunteer groups to be able to choose which one to promote. Each of them is a worthy cause and each needs financial help as much as the other, to allow them to further their good deeds!

So Ladies and Gentlemen, this is where you come in; I am calling upon your good will to make the choice for me and to promote this fact to all your friends, relations and colleagues. Ask them if they have an EBS account and then suggest whichever of my favourite charities appeals to you the most, please? Pretty, please?

#1. Offaly Dyslexia Group

• We have recently formed, ie 2009.
  
• We are continuing to provide resources for the group.
  
• We run workshops to help children with Dyslexia learn how to read and how to interact with others.
  
• The workshops which we run are great for the kids self esteem as well as on a more practical level. Just knowing that they are NOT alone makes a tremendous difference.
• We provide support and advice for parents.
  

#2. LSG Supporter's Club

• We raise funds and support our coach in teaching children gymnastics.
  
• This is great for kids with specific learning disabilities such as dyslexia as it improves their co-ordination, self esteem, concentration, social skills, etc.
• One of our ex-coaches/members Geoff Rellis was also a member of the national squad. He is now furthering his studies and working within the sport in Canada.
  
• Last year we had 7 medal winners at The Men's Irish Gymnastics Championships. This year we had none, because we didn't enter the competition. This is due to inadequate funding for this sport and the high cost of entering events such as this...
• We need equipment, coaches and a permanent base to call our own. At present the Irish Army is generously renting its gymnasium to us on a temporary basis. Storage and access can be problematic at times.
  

#3. Tullamore Scouts

• This is a VOLUNTARY youth group formed over one hundred years ago by Robert Baden-Powell. Scouting is a world wide activity.
• Funding is raised locally.
• Scouting helps in the development of young lives and provides children with life skills which will help them at times of crisis and in the work place.
  
• Scouting encourages young people to take responsibility and to help others.
• Activities can be expensive. Insurance is vital. Leaders are volunteers and pay for themselves.

Each of these organisations needs your help. Whether this be in terms of financial donations, nomination for the EBS Community Fund 2009 or in terms of time each of these groups does need your help badly. Please choose one to support, if you are unable to support all of them.

Please enlist the help of your spouse, children, co-workers, friends and family. If you are unable to help us yourself it is possible that someone you know can help us, it may be that they are one of the 440,000 EBS customers who is eligible to nominate one of my charitable groups. If you don't ask, you will never be able to tell them about this crazy woman who lives in a bog, makes cards and loves hats - or indeed her favourite charities!

Thank you for taking the time to read this most unusual post.

Polly Pierce

Polly's Dyslexia Plea

Not that long ago, when I should have been outside in the shed making Christmas Cards I received a copy of an e-mail from the Dyslexia Association of Ireland which had been forwarded to me by a friend. I will be attending the Annagharvey Farm's Christmas Food Fair, so it is imperative that I get this job done and don't let the side down. I was invited by the managing director of the company; which in my book is something of a priviledge!

The importance of my relationship with the DAI is that I work as a volunteer adult youth leader with Scouting Ireland. As one might imagine I come across children of different ages and abilities in the course of this work and have been lucky enough to have encountered one or two children who have been diagnosed with dyslexia. One of whom is my youngest son LB.

Since his diagnosis, thankfully it is a mild case of Dyslexia for which he has been able to compensate extraordinarily well; my not-so little boy has grown in many areas. He hasn't just become longer, although without a doubt this is true; but he is generally better rounded as a person and has become much happier within himself.

Having struggled to read to an acceptable standard and found himself to be extraordinarily poor at spelling this child all of a sudden took off; like a bullet. He's always loved books and has looked after them well from a young age; confident in the knowledge that his parents and Grandmother would delight his imagination from the myriad of entangled patterns held on each printed page.

Earlier this year he started to read what should have been a very exciting book, sadly in the five months preceeding the month of May he'd struggled to read barely a quarter of the book he'd received at Christmas. By the end of the same month He, himself and no-one else had digested each and every word of the remaining three-quarter's of the volume and started on the next in the series!

What had kick-started his interest in reading for pleasure no-one really knows; although I suspect it was sheer determination and the relief of knowing that he is not stupid. Dyslexia is not something that affects the stupid, but it doesn't prevent someone with undiagnosed dyslexia from feeling stupid. While a diagnosis is not always easy to obtain, an understanding of the different types of learning can be imparted from an early age; that is assuming the primary teacher's in the childs life are able to recognize this need.

Unfortunately, in today's modern and affluent society it can be virtually impossible to attain a diagnosis of this different style of learning. The National Educational Psychology department are overstretched and underfunded resulting in up to three children receiving assessment a year; dyslexic children often don't fall within the appropriate parameter's.

LB is one of the lucky one's. Having recognized the signs early on I pushed every button until eventually I was able to manipulate the system in LB's favour; the result is that we attended a psychologist for the best part of a year. What made us super lucky was the fact that coincidentally her speciality happened to be Dyslexia!

I truly believe that LB being lucky enough to be assessed informally and formally by this professional is what has made the difference to his life. In a variety of ways she was able to instill into his tortured soul an enhanced sense of self esteem which in turn made it easy for him to accept the fact that his learning needs are slightly different than his peers. Last term he excelled himself in completing his term papers and despite some amusing phonetical spelling errors came second in his class.

Unfortunately though, LB is the exception to the rule. Not all children with Dyslexia have been recognised as such, those that have have been held back by the disbelief of their primary teacher's and care giver's or maybe their condition is much more pronounced than LB's. Regardless, The Dyslexia Association of Ireland need your support to make special teaching resourses available to these children.

Currently; the four years teacher training offers just ONE HOUR's tuition on the subject of one of the most common special learning needs diagnosed in this country. Our children deserve more than that; they deserve to have access to specialised teaching suited to their individual learning needs at a pace that they can sustain.

Please support The Offaly Dyslexia Group in our quest to secure these services. If you are able to offer support, in terms of time or financial help please contact me to discuss this as soon as possible. However, if you are unable to do so there is still a way that you can help us get this group up and running so that these services do become available sooner rather than later and that is to purchase DAI Christmas Cards.

• Patrick Kavanagh - a snowy scene of Kavanagh canal-side.
• From All of Us - a fun and modern greeting with Santa and snowmen.
• Magical Christmas - a fairy sprinkling magical Christmas wishes.
• International Greetings - children holding hands around the world.
• Silent Night Around the Tree - children singing Christmas carols.
• Merrion Square - an artistic snowy impression of Merrion Square.
• Christmas Tree - a colourful Christmas Tree with greetings in many languages.
• Ha'penny Bridge - an artistic snowy scene of Dublin's Ha'penny Bridge SOLD OUT
• Merry Christmas - Santa Claus with a star-light Merry Christmas greeting.
• Christmas Cheer - Christmas greetings from a group of lovable penguins.
• Peace - a simple colourful card, with a peace dove and Christmas star.

There are 12 cards and envelopes in each pack.

Cost: €7.00 per pack.

Postage: €1.50 per pack.

DAI Christmas Cards can be purchased from The Offaly Dyslexia Group; there are some lovely designs which can be admired by downloading the PDF catagalogue.

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view PDF Files. If you do not have Acrobat Reader, click on the icon below to download a free version from the Adobe site.

There isn't enough to go around within the state education schools and without funds we will not be able to put on regular tailored workshops suited to each child's individual needs. With funds raised that's where the DAI and The Offaly Dyslexia Group will be able to help, but if no-one helps us; we won't be able to help these children who are currently being ignored by the state.

Please let me know if you're interested in helping us provide the necessary help that these children so badly need; leave a comment in the comments box or send me an e-mail.

Thanks for sharing your time with me!

Polly Pierce