After a really busy and intense week working hard on finishing off War Ditches history, fiting in makeovers and coping with lots of family stuff, especially my lovely granny who is still in hospital I managed to get a llittle break at the weekend. I went to London on saturday afternoon with Russ, we stayed in a hotel right next to the Tower of London and in the evening we went to Somerset House on The Strand to see one of my favorite musicians - Neil Hannon of Divine Comedy doing a solo Divine Comedy live show. It was fantastic, the music and performance was just brilliant topped off by the lovely surroundings of the great courtyard of Somerset house which was all lit up pretty :) We drunk Pimms and took some nice pictures. The next day we got buses down to Knightsbridge and went to Harrods where we looked at the little puppies in Pet Kingdom and I brought some Hello Kitty things for my girls from the Toy Land. We then walked round all of the food halls and brought some chocolates to bring home for the kids - We only got 8 single truffles and I won't tell you just how much they cost!!! I nearly fell over! ;) We stopped off at Trafalgar Square on the way back to the train station and got some lunch, it was such a nice warm summers day, I really, really needed that :)

Nominet Internet Awards 2010
I am so proud to reveal that our very own amazing Cambridgeshire Community Archives Network (CCAN) was shortlisted out of many applicants for the prestigious Nominet Internet Awards 2010!!!! It was well deserved and I am so pleased that we have got recognition for our wonderful network. Thanks are due to all of you who have been involved in helping promote, use and contribute to Cambridgeshire’s biggest and best community archives website. Last night I attended the Nominet Internet Awards ceremony at One Whitehall, London along with our partners from Cambridgeshire County Council, represented by Steve Capes and Matthew Hall. The shortlisted applicants were requested by special invitation to attend the awards ceremony which was a spectacular evening of fine wine, champagne, incredible food and exclusive company.  Well done for all your hard work with the Cambridgeshire Community Archives! If you would like to know more about CCAN and take part or get a group going in your village/area please do get in touch!

shortlisted:

Cambridge Libraries and Learning Centres

www.ccan.co.uk

The Cambridgeshire Community Archives Network (CCAN) is a unique community-based project that has created a

cross-searchable network of digital archives. Staff from Cambridgeshire’s Library Learning Services team have assisted towns, villages and organisations in learning IT skills and recording and developing their own online

community histories.

CCAN is built around a specially created web site www.ccan.co.uk and now consists of 50 active groups. In just over two years, the site has grown to contain over 14,000 records that include photographs, stories, oral history recordings and videoed memories.

This project has enabled rurally isolated communities to join together in a common bond, to preserve their history, customs and heritage in a unique online format. This has

in turn enabled them to share their gathered history and culture internationally.

 

The Nominet Internet Awards Promoting UK Internet Best Practice The Nominet Internet Awards is an annual competition which is aimed at UK individuals and organisations who are helping to make the Internet a secure, open, accessible or diverse experience for everyone who uses it. These awards promote UK best practice and celebrate achievement and innovation on the Internet.

This year's winners include a variety of world-class projects from SignTranslate, a small organisation that has created communication tools that enable medical professionals to communicate with non-English speakers, to the British Library, which has developed an interactive timeline allowing users to explore history.

When we launched the Awards in February we set out to recognise and reward the organisations, groups and individuals whose work is helping to ensure that the Internet offers a secure, open, accessible and diverse experience for all.
Nominet went looking for examples of British creativity and
innovation in the use of the Internet and discovered a wide
spectrum of people and organisations that have tackled a diverse
set of challenges for the benefit of Internet users in the UK and
beyond.
This year we were delighted to receive a huge number of high
quality entries, across all five categories. Narrowing these down
to a shortlist, and subsequently selecting the winners was a
big challenge. Indeed I want to congratulate all the shortlisted
applicants. In a very real sense you are all worthy winners.
Now, I am proud to be celebrating so many examples of best
practice within the UK Internet industry and look forward to
highlighting their good work at the Internet Governance Forum
in Vilnius, Lithuania in November. The winning entries are sure
to spark lively discussions and add substance to the
international policy debate.

Rt Hon Alun Michael MP,

Chair of Judges,

Nominet Internet Awards 2010 Read more at:

Winners Brochure
 
There is an eminent and independent panel of judges Chaired by the Rt Hon Alun Michael MP.

Why does Nominet run an Internet Awards competition?

• To promote and develop industry best practice
• To learn from others and share our knowledge to help shape the future of the Internet
• To reward UK organisations or individuals who work to ensure the Internet offers a secure, open, accessible and diverse experience for all
• To recognise UK creativity and innovation in the use of the Internet and showcase these to the international community in the United Nations Internet Governance Forum

 Nominet is the Internet registry for .uk domain names. We operate at the heart of e-commerce in the UK, running one of the world's largest Internet registries and managing over eight million domain names.We maintain the register of .uk domain names. We run the technology which locates a computer on the Internet hosting the web site or email system you're looking for when you type in a web address or send an email to an address that ends in .uk.

http://www.nic.uk/

I've been editing my final draft of the historical background for War Ditches and am very pleased with it, I will be even more pleased when I have actually handed it in and I can take a break from it to concentrate on some other exciting work and spending time with my lovely family and friends for the summer break  :)
We now have a new addition to the family! We got a dear little cocker spaniel puppy last week, she is brown and tan and we've called her Willow :) so as I sit here doing some work I have a dear little, soft, furry puppy nuzzled against my arm :D
This week has been busy as always but I am pleased to finally get some closure on a nasty bit of business caused by someone who has harassed, tried to bully and tried to publicly humiliate me since last October. Everything has been dealt with so professionally by my brilliant colleagues who have also had to put up with trouble from this person and I would just like to thank all my friends and family who have supported me and helped me through it all. I am so glad it seems to be at an end now. The Police and the Hate Crime Group and my solicitor have been fantastic and I am confident in how to deal with anything like this again (which I hope I never have to!). I would encourage anyone who ever feels threatened, bullied or harassed in any way to always speak out. Bullies want to frighten and intimidate you, you must not stay silent and hope it goes away. Tell someone! Your true friends and family will support you and there is a fantastic network of professional organisations out there to help you too.
I went out on Friday night for a little 'new start' celebration with my lovely crowd of sisters and friends. We had a lovely evening finishing off with everyone coming back here to see and cuddle puppy at about 12.30am. On Saturday it was Charlotte's 8th birthday, so we had another nice day. Sunday we spent decorating Charlotte's bedroom which now looks really nice. The next room to tackle is my office; I actually have a whole room inside the house (rather than the outhouse/store) to have just for my office! I can't wait, it will make such a difference to have all my work stuff in one room, where I can also go to work rather than sitting in the front room on the computer where I am really having to fight the temptation to watch Neighbours and Murder She Wrote in the afternoon ;)
Exciting event to go to on Wednesday in London, more on that soon!

I've had a busy couple of weeks doing bridal makeup trials and pamper sessions, I've been all over Cambridgeshire from Hilton to Soham, Kings Hedges to Ely. It's been lovely to give makeup advice and reassure ladies (especially brides) that just because I am a makeup artist it doesn't mean that they'll get plastered with thick makeup. I always work with my clients to make sure I understand what they have been used too, what they would like etc. Most brides, for instance want to look natural. They would just like any little imperfections covered, skin to look healthy and makeup that will make them feel special not caked! Many of the ladies I see say they'd love to know how to put makeup on properly, most people just give it a go and do the best they can. How often do you spend time, like a kid, playing with your makeup and seeing what works best. The majority of us just don't do that or haven't for years. Many of us just get out of the habit of putting it on - especially when kids come along and life gets really hectic! But knowing how to gently enhance out faces (which is what everyone sees first!) without going overboard is all it takes. A bit of makeup can work wonders on self confidence and poise. Just think, during the War when you'd think the last thing anyone thought about was makeup, lipstick sales shot through the roof! It was known as the lipstick factor. This is because putting on that lipstick had a positive effect and made the women feel good. In my archiving work I have had people tell me that their grannies would always wear their lipstick during the war - even if they were just hanging some washing up. You'll notice in my makeover gallery that most of the makeovers are natural looking ones, now don't get me wrong, I can do glam, goth, drag, theatre and over the top art house style makeup (I went to see Priscilla Queen of the Desert last Thursday at the West End - incredible drag makeup) but most of my clients request a natural look. If you would like some free advice, a makeup party or perhaps you would like a one-to-one or 2 person makeover please do get in touch. We can have a cup of tea and you can play with all the different colours and styles and I will show you how to put it all on to suit your face shape and colouring :) For the month of June & July 2010 I am offering FREE makeup parties (that's where you have up to 5 people max. round your house, I come along and teach you all step-by step how to apply your makeup, you each get your own sets of makeup and brushes to use and will get full makeovers)
For the month of June & July 2010 I am also offering individual makeup lessons for ONLY £25 each! (normally £45) and this includes a FREE £10 makeup voucher for products!!!
If you would like to book in for one of these offers please use the contact me page on this website or give me a ring on 07999 853907. I am mobile and come to you and work daytimes, evenings and weekends. Check out my other makeup & skin care services too!

Well, it's been about a week since my last blog which is all down to half term taking place! Charlotte my youngest (7 years) needed constant entertaining and it was almost impossible to work at the same time, my son Iain (16 years) came down from his care home in Shrewsbury for the week to look at various places he might move into over summer - it will be great to have him back in Cambridge :) He also visited various education placements etc. so it was all very positive. In between all that my 17 year old daughter Sophie kept popping in and out (often with her washing to do) I don't think I've ever seen the food in the house disappear so quickly! I did manage to get down to London on Thursday for the very exciting launch of History Pin, which I shall blog about further soon. But my family come first and I have enjoyed the intense but happy week spending time with them all :) We all went to a friends wedding on Saturday which was held at Whittlesford Church (great medieval wall paintings in there!)  and finished with the reception at Bedford Lodge Hotel singing on the kareoke.
My lovely granny (94 years old)  was back in hospital on Thursday which was sad, she is in good spirits though and she's sitting up in bed and may even be home by the end of this week. It seems she's had a very tiny stroke - but was has emerged is that she may have the beginings of dementia which will give us a new challenge as a family on how to support her best. She seems so normal 95% of the time but is also happily telling us how at night in the hospital little animals keep coming in and eating her grapes, she says they're little black and white creatures, she's also told us how a lady keep bringing her baby on to the ward and putting her baby in a tiny tin... so it is very sad, sometime the things she says are very funny but it is also sad as we know things are changing, as a family granny has always held us all together, cousins, aunts and uncles etc. but it is all changing and it is just part of the cycle of life, we will all pull together to help each other through this time and most importantly help dear little granny.