An Olympic BLOGATHON begins…

An Olympic BLOGATHON begins…

Hi there!
Thanks for popping in.
Tomorrow, the Olympic Games commence 
in Rio with the Opening Ceremony.

I for one can’t wait.
There has been so much controversy around doping, 
and dismal reports regarding the Athletes’ Village.

Apparently, the whole gig could cost Brazil over $20 billion –
money that could perhaps have been much better spent on their nation. 
But hey. They’ve made the host investment, 
so let’s wish them well and pray for a fantastic fortnight for them. 

Can you remember London 4 years ago?
4 YEARS AGO???
Seems like only yesterday

It was all very exciting.
Remember these two?

Supreme athletes. 
but also:
Usain Bolt (current net worth $30 million)
Mo Farah (current net worth a modest $5 million)
wish I could run…..

So the days when the Olympics were intended for amateur athletes are well and truly over. (Since 1986 in fact).

Maybe I should have a go.
I mean, I still hold the school record for the hurdles!

On your marks, get set – GO!!!

Usain Bolt, eat your heart out!

And you, Mo!!!

I have an idea…
Let’s have a BLOGATHON!!
For the duration of the Olympics, let’s have our own games!
Every day I’ll blog something sporty, Olympicky.
Everyday we’ll have a special offer, a competition, 
a game of some description. 

And throughout the Games, we will cheer for Team GB, right?
Let’s wave the Union Jack high,
let’s get the bunting out again!

We have a very clever unmounted Union Jack stamp set
which Jim designed years ago – probably for the London Olympics!

It really is brilliant.
Comes in 3 parts.

The Blue part,
(Blueprint Sketch is a perfect Union Jack Blue!)

Here we see first and second generation ink.

The Red part,

 (Festive Berries is a perfect Union Jack Red!)

And then comes the flag pole….

How simple is that.
(Helps when you can see through the stamp, I can tell you!)

So let’s fly the flag for Team GB!!
This set has been in the Members Sale.
Let’s extend that half-price offer to everybody,
and let’s run it for the duration of the Olympic Games. 

If you do have the flag stamps,
then I challenge you to use it to make a cool 
Team GB Olympic Card.
Email me a copy and we will pick a winner.
We will ask the winner to give us their card 
No! We will give them the handsome prize of £20 for it. 
And then we’ll send it to someone special, 
together with a £20 gift voucher. 

Must Dash, said the Mexican!
Must go, said the Russian (or not!)
Love & Peace,
Barb
xx

133 thoughts on “An Olympic BLOGATHON begins…

  1. Fantastic post! I have these stamps in my box too 😉
    Four years ago? Seems like yesterday. We had a Jubilympics party to watch the opening ceremony and I made 2012 paper glasses with my nephew for everyone and we played jubilee/olympics-themed games with prizes. Come to think of it, I stamped the napkins with your Union Flag stamps and my Mum took the spares home to show her friends! We all had a great time. I wonder if I can post a photo somehow…

    1. Afternoon dear family of blog friends sending you all lots of hugs crafting hugs to all on the blog xxx
      💐 To you morag left you a message this morning on yesterday's blog you are in my thoughts xxx

    2. Hi Sheila. Thank you so much for your good wishes. I don't need to leave until 4.15pm for my appointment. So I'm here trying to pass the time til then.
      I hope you get your scan appointment soon. Take care. Love and Hugs xxx

    3. Hello Sheila hope you've had a restful day and tomorrow is a better day. Fingers crossed the appointment will arrive soon. I've got some lemon drizzle cake spare, shall I bring some to the campfire 😀Xxx

    1. Hi Emma, I've got a wee parchment question, if you don't mind. How close to the embossed line should I be pricking holes for picot cutting? I've tried from right against to leaving a bit of space but I can't decide. Thank you. Hope you are well? xx

    2. Brenda, I am sure Emma or one of the other parchment team will give you the definitive answer, but till then, I go very close to the line but not touching. Remember that you actually snip with your scissors over what you are cutting away (the waste) with your scissors as flat to the paper as possible. Just take your time with it all and enjoy the process. Good luck. xxx Maggie

    3. Hiya Brenda, Maggie is right. Go as close to the line without piercing it. You will get nice neat Picot edge. But if you use a grid to pierce your holes then you can go a bit further away from the line. As long as you keep the point of your scissors, snips, at right angles to your line you will get a slightly larger Picot.
      It is a nice effect especially when using coloured parchment….. Makes it look like another layer.
      Hugs Xxxxxxxxxx

  2. Now those pics really made me chuckle and I bet Dave had a right old giggle taking them too. Lol. Love that flag can't think why I haven't got it. Best get a wriggle on and buy it quick. Can't believe London was 4 yrs ago either – how time flies eh? Xx

    1. Alarmingly Dawn, I didn't take the photos !!!! Questions will be asked and matters raised !!
      Mind your back Barb…oh and your neck….I will bring some pallets back from the warehouse, and build some hurdles, maybe I could even construct one of those water jumps….now that would be funny. xx

    2. Hahaha! I'm laughing nearly as much as when we played Chinese whispers in the spa hotel whilst we were down for the retreat!!! Xxx

    3. Hahaha Dave and there was me wondering what your neighbours must think – it's that mad woman next door galloping around the garden again! Now I'm chuckling at the thought of her using a self timer. I think you could have fun putting the pallets up at work and having Clarity hurdles!! X

  3. Barbara, you're soooo funny :-). I don't know about your running demonstration, looked good martial art moves though, Grasshoppgrasshoppe

    Yes please, lets have lots of fun, we could all do with the distraction and a bit of fun in our lives right now. What a generous and lovely gesture to send the winning card and a voucher to someone special. I don't have this stamp. Mind you, the time it takes me to get myself built enough to join in something the deadline would need to be well extended!!!!

    I can't wait for the Games to start, I'm sure they'll turn out to be good. It's about the people after all, both the participating top athletes in the world and all spectators, it's the people who make it special. And Andy has been chosen to carry our flag in 🙂 Let's see if he continues the recent tradition/internal competition of carrying it one handed!!! I remember London 2012 still, and of course the Commonwealth Games too, and my special memories of being allowed to experience those 2 days. One funny bit I remember from the London Games. When the teams were coming in, and the Czech Republic all came in wearing wellies as part of their official outfit!!! Brilliant. I thought what Danny Boyle did was amazing. Usually opening/closing ceremonies are the boring bits for me, but not that time, I loved his production. And the bonus for me, Rio is 4 hours behind, so perfect for my wall to wall live viewing fitting in with my body clock 🙂

    Hope you've not tired yourself out with all your world record attempts!!!
    Love Brenda xx

    1. Super post Barb. You do get up to some funny antics, needed a laugh today, thanks. Be great fun to have some games and competitions, you are so generous with your time and prizes, looking forward to seeing what you're planning as well as the Olympics in Rio. I don't own the stamps but thinking about getting them. Probably not in time for the competition though. Xxx

    2. Brenda, I still have the recording I did on the night of the London Opening Ceremony and treasure that. It was so beautifully done and gave me a real lump in the throat when that beautiful flame was lit. I hope the Rio event works just as well with good and fair competition, and I hope you get a lot of pleasure from watching it. xxx Maggie

    3. Hi Brenda. Buying the DVD would be a perfect idea for you. It's just over £5 on a certain 'river' site. So I'm thinking of doing the same. I hadn't thought about it before.
      I'll be thinking about your positive psychic thoughts at my appointment later. Love and Hugs xxx

    4. I got my scrap book out yesterday and looked at the photos (printed from the internet sadly) and journalling, brought back so many memories. I think I might like the DVD too, I think there may be a rush on that website. Roll on Rio! Xx

    5. Aye well leave one for me, I saw it first!!! I'm needing to order more food for Daisy but waiting to order it all at the weekend just in case they delivered super quick and it came when I was in the back garden on Monday. Glad Phoebe is recovering a lot quicker this time xx

    6. Hi Brenda, did you see the behind the scenes of the opening ceremony on tv the other day? It was brilliant and brought it all back. Can't believe it was 4 years ago! Xxx

    7. Hi Brenda,
      i cant wait for them to start either. Really looking forward to them. The behind the scenes programme is on i player and wel worth watching. The other thing i love is the BBC advert for the Games set in the jungle – it is so clever! Love and hugs Alison xx

    8. Thanks everyone xx
      I saw the Imagine programme on it, that's what made me think about seeing if they did DVDs of it. I really enjoyed that programme too. Xx

  4. Thank you for making me laugh out loud Barbara, you are a bit mad but all the best people are. I really hope that these games go smoothly, no terrorism, no drugs scandals.
    I don't have this set, but hey ho, I can enjoy looking at other people's entries x

  5. Barbara,your sense of humour is a real tonic, giving us all a lift in a troubled world. I love your madness and long may it last. As Dave said, watch out for that neck and back when you take the hurdles he is making for you. Can we have photos of that too, please? xxx Maggie

  6. Hi to all my lovely friends on here, hope you are all ok. Thank you for your messages yesterday. Wish you good luck at the hospital tonight Morag, praying it won't be anything bad, please try not to bottle things up, share it, we'll all be here for you, as you have been for all of us. Thinking of you Sheila, Donna and Brenda. Love and hugs to you all.xxx

  7. I live in America and I am so glad that I have found you. You are such an inspiration with all your knowledge and sharing of techniques and love your sense of humor and love of life. Look forward each day to your site.

  8. Reckon you would be a real tonic to the Olympic team, Barbara Gray flag bearer, move over Andy Murray. This is one set I have not got amongst my vast collection of stamps. Will enjoy seeing what someone who does have it produces. xx

  9. Oh Barbara, you really do know just how to brighten our days! I was laughing so much at your antics. I thought all you needed was an Indian headdress cos it looks like you already had the totem pole behind you!! Mind, it seemed to me that at the end you should have changed into a white suit. A feminine John Travolta suddenly appeared!!!
    What a great offer. I'm looking forward to the Clarity Olympics. I take it that your antics were in fact your own Opening Ceremony. Hugs xxx

  10. Your so funny! Love your garden by the way! Don't have the stamp set but I'm sure those that do will come up with some beautiful designed cards. Good luck to team GB and happiness to all xx

  11. Hello my friends. I keep looking at the clock, but mainly thinking aka 29th June. "This too shall pass". Regardless of the outcome, I will just be able to 'get on'.
    I'm off to do my Tesco shop now…without moving of course. Then it will be time to get ready. So I'll catch up with you all later. I hope you're all having as good a day as possible. Love and Hugs to you all on the blog. xxx

    1. Hi Morag, read your news yesterday, I'm so sorry. I am thinking of you and sending hugs. Let's keep our collective bloggy fingers crossed for positive news from the hospital. Xx

    2. Hi Morag – I too have just read yesterday's blog. I was so very sorry to read about what you are going through. I am with Donna, and keeping our collective bloggy fingers crossed for good news from the hospital! Please keep sharing how you are feeling with us all, Much love and many hugs Gilly xxx

  12. Oh Barbara…. You be careful!!! You'll be doing yourself an injury!!! Very good blog today!!! Made me laugh out loud and also made me think….
    Good luck to team GB.
    Love and hugs xxxx

  13. Oh Barbara…. You be careful!!! You'll be doing yourself an injury!!! Very good blog today!!! Made me laugh out loud and also made me think….
    Good luck to team GB.
    Love and hugs xxxx

  14. Afternoon bloggy friends, hope you are all doing well. Saw 'Finding Dory' yesterday, so good! Phoebe is progressing well much more her normal self now which is a relief. I know she is loving all the attention! Let me know who is ready for the next bit of colouring. Xx

  15. I didn´t knew that you are a SPORTY BARBEE.
    I would like to see the openning ceremony but I´m not in the mood to watch between 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.
    Rolf xxx

  16. I'm sure the games will be great and every venue has things that maybe aren't the best but good luck Team GB, and a wonderful idea to have games of our own right here too Barbara. Love the photos. x

  17. It doesn't seem possible 4 years have passed! Time goes so fast as one gets older, A year is a quarter of a four year old's life but a MUCH smaller proportion of mine!!
    Looking forward to you scaling the heights on the blog with special events for us all xx

  18. Haha that was great brightened my Thursday afternoon think you could cheer the Uk team up. That's one set haven't got yet wanted the flag but never got around to hit so must be time. Well had productive day taken up the new lounge curtains and all hung up even one ready for front door feels good to get things clicked of list have a great evening thanks for my daily tonic love and hugs Joy & Katie xxxx

  19. Oh Barbara you did make me smile , I'm sure if anyone is watching you will be snapped up to take part in the games!!!!!!!the flag stamp looks good , looking forward to seeing what you ladies come up with x

  20. How could I forget the last Olympics! My son a fire-fighter was on duty at Dorney Lake. He met a policewoman who was also on duty. They were married on 29th May this year! Lovely wedding. Marriage made in heaven – both on shift work!! Babies to come.
    Thank you for a wonderful retreat. Looking forward to Sunday
    Lots of love to everyone out there
    Anne (Reading)

    1. Anne, my son was also on duty four years ago. As a police diver, he was part of the team patrolling Weymouth Bay for the sailing events. One of the good parts of that job. What a lovely thing to happen for your son. xxx Maggie

  21. I don't know what that toothache did to your brain Barb, but I love the effect!! Thanks for the laughs, and the memories of 2010, and the inspiration you faithfully manage to impart so regularly. You have a gift which you are generous enough to share with us, so many, many thanks xxx

  22. Hi Barbara – or should that be Brabra, according to the email that I have received regarding Sunday's shows! Great ideas and great pictures on today's blog post – Hugs Gilly xx

    1. Hi to all of my lovely blog friends – sorry that I was missing last night – yesterday was a bad day for me. I passed out from the pain in my back, in the morning – luckily Neill was able to guide me to safety before I lost consciousness. I improved after another round of painkillers and muscle relaxants – but yesterday evening the muscle kept going into spasm, which was really bad. However, I am much improved today, but now having problems keeping my eyes open, due to the drugs – so, I will bid you all goodnight! Love and hugs Gilly xxx

    2. Oh! My goodness Gilly. What a good thing that Neil was with you at the time. Please take care of yourself. Love and very gentle hugs. xxx

  23. A quick hello to you all. I've had some really good news. Tonight I saw the Consultant at the breast clinic. He examined me then sent me off for mammogram. I then needed an ultrasound. It was found that I had a cyst, thanks be to goodness. So it has been drained. I'm a bit sore but oh my, sooooo relieved. Thank you so much for all of your positive thoughts xxx
    I've had my eyes open tonight. The University Hospital's clinics were full, and as I'd been referred under the 'two week rule'. I was given this appointment for the Spire Hospital in Washington. I never even new it existed. It's a private hospital and WOW!!!! It couldn't be more different from anything I've ever worked in or been in as a patient. It was exactly like a top class hotel. It was absolutely fantastic. Definitely a case of 'how the other half live' for me anyway! hahaha! Love and Hugs to you all xxx

    1. Oh so relieved for you morag you get rested up sending lots of healing hugs oh yes I've been to our spire and yes it's an eye opener how your treated and looked after so pleased you got the best treatment goodnight xxx

    2. Hi Morag, oh I'm so pleased the news was good and the cyst has been drained. Hope you sleep well tonight, mind you I doubt if you've slept properly for a few days. The private hospitals are lovely aren't they, I had Bupa cover with my job once and used it when I needed my tonsils out, it was like a posh hotel rather than a hospital! Sending you a big hug xxxx

    3. Hi Morag,
      Oh, i am so pleased and happy for you. What wonderful news! You have been in my thoughts all day. Really hope you can get a good night's sleep and be really refreshed tomorrow. My Mam and Dad had adjoining rooms at St John of God Hospital in Scorton years ago when they were both having knee replacements. It was a private hospital that also took NHS patients occasionally. It was fabulous. My Dad used to be a radio and television engineer and repaired their tvs and radios when i was about 6, so the Brothers (monks) knew him and gave him the room that overlooked the interior of the beautiful chapel as they knew he was a church warden. The only trouble was that when he opened the curtain to look there was one of the Brothers lying in state!! They had forgotten to tell my dad! He shut the curtains rather quickly i can tell you! Once again, so happy for you, love and hugs Alison xxx

    4. Good morning Morag – I am so pleased to hear your fantastic news! I have kept my fingers crossed since reading about what you were going through. These private hospitals are amazing – Neill went into one when he had his knee replacement, as an NHS patient. Take things easy now Morag so that your mind and body can heal. Love and hugs Gilly xxx

  24. Bless you gilly hope you sleep through the pain heartfelt hugs for you and Neil hope tomorrow is a better day for you both good night xxx

  25. Hi Barbara
    What a laugh, you are as mad as a box of frogs but you have a heart of gold. What a brilliant idea and such a generous offer too, stamp price wise and gift voucher wise. I'm looking forward to the daily events. Thank you for cheering us all up.
    Love Diane xxx

    1. Hello all my lovely blog friends, hope everyone is ok. Don't forget to do gentle warm up stretches before taking part in the Olympic activities on the blog! I've got spare cake from afternoon tea in the garden, lemon drizzle cake anyone? Sending hugs all round xxx

  26. Hi Barb, your blog posts always bring a smile to my face, and very often a laugh. I am sure that if anyone heard me in the mornings, they would wonder what was going on. Looking forward to seeing what everyone produces with their flag stamps. Have a great day all. Bx

  27. Hi Barb,
    Sorry this is so late. By the time I'm got through everyone's comments and finally got to the point of writing mine, the flaming battery in my tablet died & I couldn't be bothered to get out of bed to find the charger – sorry! Great blog, I really had a laugh and as others have said, it's a good job the neighbours didn't see you!! Really looking forward to cheering on Team GB – love the Olympics. Also looking forward to all of the Clarity competitions too. Have a good day, love and hugs Alison xxx

  28. Late on parade also! Great pics, made me smile. I haven't got the union jack stamp but it's a very good one so might just go and look! Look forward to the other competitions too. xx

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