Funny how things happen, isn't it?

You know what I mean. You are plodding along with life, ambling down the lane of fortune, quite happy that you know where you are going and that the picture you have in your head is correct. Then suddenly you turn a corner and something comes out of the blue and knocks you over. Well that's a bit like I feel this morning. Something really insignificant but totally unexpected happened last night which, to be honest, I shouldn't care about but I do. Must be my hormones! Never mind though I'll put my protective shell back on and get on with life once more.

On to happier things now........Daniel had a Bonfire party last weekend for a few friends and decided to make a Shepherd's pie. Now this would not be a problem as a rule but bear in mind that Daniel just does not cook well at all. So it was round to mum's to get advice. I must admit he did do it all by himself with me just telling him what needed doing. It was great fun and John even managed to get photos which were perfect for scrapping. What a well trained husband!


I managed to get the journalling about the whole 'cookery fest' done and as usual for me went with the 'hidden' option. The top photograph opens like a card to reveal my ramblings!


I'm hoping to get a few things completed this afternoon as everyone is off out so I can have a peaceful scrapping afternoon. I am still waiting for my kit from Scrap Room to arrive. I get so impatient when others have received theirs and mine is still 'out there' somewhere. Even more so this month as I managed to get some Jeeper's Creeper's papers added to the package and am now desperate to get the girl's 'witches' photos scrapped! So I am waiting for that ring on the bell from Postman Pat!

Anyway have a great day and I will be back later.

I feel suitably chastised!!

Well I really must apologise for not having posted for a week or so. I just don't know where the time has gone! All of a sudden I find it's weekend again and I don't seem to have done half the things I wanted to. That is no excuse my friend says. If you are going to start a blog then at least keep up with it, she says. So I have been told off and promise I will do better in the future.

I haven't been idle though . Plenty of scrapping has gone on, as usual with some playing about with ideas for the shop and my classes, which I will reveal later. My diary is already starting to fill up with dates for classes in 2008 so I am pleased about that. I'm doing a basic scrapbooking class this Sunday at CraftRange so if you want to come along for a bit of friendly chat and loads of inspiration please feel free to do so. I think there are a couple of places still left.

Remember I told you about the photo shoot Michael did with the girls? Well, I have got my disc through and the photos are brilliant. What a talented young man he is! I'm slowly getting round to scrapping them but I just could not resist this one.


Samhara has really got this 'pouting' down to a fine art! I used Bazzill cardstock for the background and Lily Kate for the scalloped sections, with a touch of Chatterbox for the letters and the top border. The lacing effect is very easy to do and adds some dimension and texture to the layout.I am trying my best to use up some of my older stash, but I feel it will be a long job as there is so much of it!

Well I must go and get everyone up and out. They are all still snuggled up in their warm and cosy beds. Time for a rude awakening I think!

Be back later.

What a difference 50 years makes!!

I have just been sent this by my best friend. I have been telling her that this is the way to look after your man for years, perhaps now she will believe me!! (Joke!) I hope you can read it all. Just click on the image to make it larger.It certainly gave me a laugh!

Tonight the clocks go back...

..so don't forget or your whole day tomorrow will be messed up!! It happened to me a couple of times years ago and I was totally out of sync!

I've managed to get a couple more of the first Disney holiday layouts done today. It's only taken me 10 years up to now and we are going again next year so that will put me even further behind. I loved the look on the boys faces when we were joined for breakfast by Mickey and Goofy.



As you can see the photos aren't the best but scrapping them really brought back memories of that amazingly fun breakfast very clearly. The boys had smiles as wide as their faces and their eyes were glowing with sheer excitement! What a memory! As you can see I have been using my Disney cartridges and boy... have I had fun. I thought they were a bit fiddly when I first got them out to play with but they are actually so easy to use. I can see them being very, very useful in the future.

Shoulder seems to be slightly easier today when the tablets wear off so I am optimistic about being on the road to recovery now. Yeahhhhhh!

Off to crack open the bacardi. See you tomorrow.

Fly Baby!

Well another week is nearly over again and don't forget the clocks go BACK on Saturday night / Sunday morning. My shoulder seems to be improving but has not yet recovered from whatever was wrong with it. A trip to the doctor was in order on Monday and I have had to go back again today.The painkillers, he prescribed, work wonders but they only mask the pain and don't cure the problem of course so I am still being very lazy and moving my arm but not using it with any strength or weight involved. I am resting it on my knee at the moment to type as that is the comfiest position....for a short while anyway!

I have managed to do a bit of scrapping finally but again it has taken me ages as I need to rest my arm every so often. Anyway here is today's effort.


This is Samhara playing 'aeroplanes' in the Castle Park earlier this afternoon. I had arranged for an amazing young photographer to come over and take some shots of the girls. Nothing posed just natural shots. I have had five prints emailed to be going on with and this is one of them. As he managed to take about 150 shots I am sure I will have plenty to scrap for the next few weeks.
The prints he has sent look great and I am sure the others will as well. So if you want to arrange a photo shoot with him you can contact him via www.michael-doyle.co.uk. He is a young photography student who needs the experience (and is saving up for a new and even better camera) so come on and encourage young talent. Give him a call if you live in the Preston area and if not why not give your local college a call. I'm sure there will be other students who would love the experience.

Off to rest the arm now. Happy scrapping!

My arm is so painful!

Well I don't know what I have done but my arm is amazingly painful. John thinks it is due to excessive Christmas card making and he may be right. The 40 I have made up to now have needed quite a lot of 'scissor' cutting so whether that has something to do with it or not I have no idea. I do know I am having to rest my arm on my knee to type this which is not the comfiest of positions but at least it is less painful like this. I did manage to get some scrapping done today though whilst the painkillers were at their most effective but I am certainly paying for it now!

Anyway today's offering is this cute mini book. It is a 4 x 4 size and as usual includes acetate! I just can't stop using that stuff at the moment.
The front and back are acetate pages and I added a border of gold leaf to the front just for a touch of elegance. There are a couple more acetate pages inside as well.
I love the effect of being able to see the patterned paper through the clear acetate. The adhesive ribbon on the back is from my ScrapRoom kit. I've never used it before but now I am hooked. I NEED to buy some now!
To make the album you need 2 pieces of acetate measuring 8" x 4" and two strips of double sided paper measuring the same. Fold them all in half and then fit them inside each other in the order acetate, paper, acetate, paper. Tear a 2" wide strip of paper and use to cover the folded edge. Use brads or eyelets to hold together. Then just decorate as you wish. I made some pockets on a couple of the pages and added tags for extra journalling. I always cut my photographs the same size so they fit back to back on the acetate with no messy bits showing. Anyway give this a try and just email me if you get stuck! You should end up with a really cute mini book which is a perfect little gift for someone special.

Off to rest the arm a bit more now. I hate not being able to scrap especially when the only thing on tv at the moment in our house is rugby. I should have had more daughters instead of sons! Anyway have a great evening what ever you are doing.

Goodness how time flies!

Well with one thing or another this week has just flown past. I have done plenty of scrapping and have even started my Christmas cards! How good is that? I've decided to use acetate on most of them this year and I have the main idea completed but just need 'something extra' but don't know what it is yet!

The demo at Hobbycraft went well last week end and lots of people were very impressed with the Cricut ....as they should be. The staff there were lovely. And even if they are not the 'craftiest' people in the world they were very friendly and helpful.

I ran a basic scrapbooking class on Sunday at Craftrange which was well attended as usual. Everyone managed to complete 4 layouts and they all picked up loads of ideas and inspiration from me and everyone else there. I do love those classes. There should be another one a week on Sunday if you fancy coming along.

My plan to scrap at least three 'older' photos a week of the children is still on track. I have actually managed to do 6 last week so that gives me a bit of leeway for this week!

This is one of Kim when she was about 4 and uses papers from my monthly Scrap Room kit. I look at the papers and embellishments when they arrive and think 'Where am I ever going to use those?' But to be honest I usually do and it definitely takes me out of my comfort zone. Most of the papers are double sided which is perfect as you then have even more of a choice. I can't wait for this months to come.

On the home front everything has been pretty quiet this week. William got news that his Business Studies paper which the school sent to be remarked had been graded A instead of B. Seemingly a whole question had been missed and not marked!! So he is a happy bunny.

On Wednesday evening I stood as Godmother for my best friend's son. He has decided at the age of 13 that he wishes to be baptised into the Catholic faith. What an amazing young man he is to make such a decision at that age. I am honoured to be asked to support and help him along this spiritual path. The sacrament was carried out in the chapel at St Mary's Hall which is the prep school attached to Stoneyhurst College. The occasion was made all the more special as it was very much a small family 'affair' with wine and nibbles provided by the college afterwards and then we all went out for a meal. A lovely evening and very special. Thank you, James, for letting me be a part of it all.

Anyway jobs to do! I'll be back later.

Paper, paper everywhere.

Well that's what it has seemed like today. I really should stick to doing one thing at a time. I've managed to be quite productive though. I've got most of my samples ready for the demo at Hobbycraft on Saturday. I just have a few others to finish off. The Cricut really makes card making so easy. Perfect for quick and simple cards.

I've also been finishing off a couple of layouts. I have been determined to do at least two layouts a week using photos of the children when they were young. I have so many new ones that I seem to forget about the ones lying hidden in the box. So these are the two for this week.



Of all the things we bought for the twins this was one of the best!! I had never had a playpen before but someone advised us to get one. It was a boon in more ways than one. Thomas eventually learnt how to use toys and his brother as stepping blocks to climb out though. Sometimes I used to abdicate responsibility and get in there myself with a brew so that I could escape their clutches for 10 minutes. We also put the Christmas tree in it one yet to stop that being destroyed within minutes as well!


Having two carry cots on the pram made it heavy and cumbersome to push but it was wonderful when they were tiny as they could lie down and sleep flat rather than in a sort of 'bent' position. As they got older it converted to a double push chair which made it a bit easier to deal with. Those were the days.

Well time to go and scrap some more. Hope you find a bit of inspiration from my layouts and don't forget to leave a comment!

Scrappy Saturday!

That's what I like. A day to myself where I can just scrap whatever I want. And today is one of those days. I have managed to finish off a sample of the non-hanging version of my calendar. These have gone down so well. I am not surprised though as they are really cute and fairly easy to make. As you can see the mount board is just laced together using ribbon. Although fibres would be just as good. I have packs of 6 pre-holed mount board pieces for £2.50 so just get in touch if you want some.

I am also hoping to do some of the classes from the cyber crop on UKS. I think there have been about four posted up to now. I absolutely love the memory box and have managed to make a start.


The box is now complete using papers from my monthly 'Flavours of the month' kit. I am going to base it around all the memories from this year. The first insert, I have done up to now, is the boy's prom night. I have another couple ready to start but I thought I would have a break first!

On a non scrapping note John and I went to Fleetwood Freeport yesterday to make a start on the Christmas shopping and can you believe it...I didn't buy one present. Perhaps I just wasn't in the mood. I did buy some Peter Rabbit china for a Christening gift and some Wedgwood for a wedding gift which puts me ahead as these events are not for a couple of weeks yet! I also bought myself a new outfit for the Christening. I am really hoping not to buy anything else for a while as I have plenty of stuff in my wardrobe all of which I am desperately trying to get back in to. However the Thornton's shop was too much to resist and thinking it would be rude to leave without buying anything I found their Buy One Get One Free chocolate packs too good an offer to refuse. I am therefore living off lettuce for the rest of the week!

Well, brew over.....time to get back to the scrapping.

A little 'Sunshine' Book.

I love these little card stock books from Cosmo Cricket. They are so easy to make up and just the perfect size for popping in your handbag. I made this one for a friend who occasionally feels a bit blue and I filled it with little photos of her grandaughter. She absolutely loved it and has shown it to everyone she sees. Such an easy way to make someone happy.


My friend Chris is on her travels over the sea again. Her last email was telling me all about the scrapbooking classes she was going to. She sounds to have been doing some exciting projects so I can't wait for her to come back with all her amazing samples and great ideas. I will make sure I pass them all on to you as well!

The hanging calendar kits have been really popular these past few days. I finally managed to get the chipboard sorted and complete the kits. I have put about five different colour ways on the site so there is something for everyone. The 'male' one is a bit less fussy with only a couple of different ribbons but look just as effective.

Don't miss out if you want one of these as they are fairly limited. I know the postal strike has put a bit of a block on posting things off but all orders will be ready to send on Wednesday. They will all be going recorded as well just to be able to track them slightly. I imagine there will be a massive build up of parcels to get through so I don't want any orders losing in the backlog!

Well I'm off to get some scrapping done before 'Who do you think you are' and 'Greys'. These are two of my favourite programmes. I love Thursday nights!

See you all soon.

Too much bacardi, I think!

I need to report that there has been no weight loss this week.....no weight gain either....just stayed the same. I have a couple of ideas what could have caused this issue and the biggest culprit I feel is the bacardi. I think my measures may be slightly out! I have decided I need to get a 'shot' glass to keep me on the straight and narrow! Hey ho, never mind. I'll just get my head back into gear and hope for a loss next week.

I seem to have a problem uploading photos today so I will have to leave the layouts I wanted to show you for another day!

Have a good evening.

Another Sunday over with!

Yes, tea is over, everything is tidied away, we have discussed what the week should hold for all of us (the boys are helping out at the open evening on Thursday, I'm off to Fat Club on Tuesday, John has a new starter tomorrow.....) and now it's time to relax for the evening. But before I curl up on the settee there are a couple of things I wanted to share with you.

One of the girls in the cj I am hosting had a gorgeous baby girl yesterday. So it's welcome to Ruby Alice. I dashed round and made a card for her so I can send it off tomorrow.

It's a DL sized cream card covered with some paper from BG Lily Kate range. The letters are triple cut from pale pink Bazzill using the Cricut cartridge Tear drop and there is some cute cream ribbon threaded through a couple of holes and tied in a bow. Quick and easy but filled with love and hugs!

Another bit of scrapping is a 6 x 6 double layout for one of the cj's. The theme is : 'Something you have saved'. This layout shows my dancing pumps which I have had for years but can't bring myself to throw away. You never know, I may be fit enough to go back dancing again sometime!


The pocket at the top holds the story behind the pumps. I will get this posted off tomorrow with my orders as with another postal strike looming, (and this time for 6 days!!!) I want to get as much out beforehand as possible.

Anyway have a relaxing evening everyone and I will be back later.

I've been tagged!

Well I am certainly having a lot of 'firsts' this week!! Now I have been 'tagged'. From what I can remember this is a bit like being tagged in the playground at school.......so I am 'it'. The lovely Karen from Charmed Cards and Crafts tagged me and it's all the fours. So let me think.........

4 Places I have worked......

Tesco. Started as a part time checkout operator and rose quickly through the ranks to become Out of Hours Trading Manager. I loved that role even though it meant working nights and would go back to it in a shot if I was younger, fitter and healthier.
Ladbrokes. Another great job though this is going back (quite) a few years. This was another Saturday job which suited me down to the ground. I ended up running my own shop although on paper it was someone else. In those days you had to be 21 to run a bookies and I was only 19. I don't know if it has changed or not now.
The Mill. When I left school my first job was as a weaver in one of our local mills. That was an experience! I worked with a great bunch of people but it was not my sort of thing and I think both me and the looms were please to part company!
Loads of craft shops! Being a tutor and demonstrator I get to go round lots of different shops and on top of that I am privileged to play with all the new toys which come out!

4 Places I've visited......

Anglesey. What a gorgeous place. We have spent many a happy holiday on the beaches of this amazing little island.
Holland. My scrapping home. Although flying is not my favourite thing to do, in fact I am terrified, I manage to get over to Holland at least a couple of times a year. I love Scrap-a-ganza. The atmosphere, the people, the teachers....they all make it a fantastic experience.
Devon. I first went on the amazingly long journey down to Devon when I was about 8. There were no motorways then and it was a long, long drive. We travelled overnight and I found it just so exciting. My dad was not as impressed as he was shattered with being the only driver. We stayed on a farm but I can't remember exactly where. The weather was scorching for the whole two weeks and I got really badly sunburnt. We didn't 'do' sun cream much in the early sixties! I stayed in a room in the eaves with really sloping ceilings and you had to bend down to look out of the window! I will never forget it.
Florida. Mmmmm well this has got to be my favourite place on earth especially with unlimited access to the theme parks. I just can't wait to go back next year.

4 Favourite foods......

Lots to choose from here as my weight will testify but I think I will go with chocolate, bread& butter pudding, honey roasted cashew nuts and a roast beef dinner.

4 Places I would rather be.......

This is easy......Disney, Holland, Anglesey or Devon! But preferably Disney!

Now I am suppose to 'tag' four other people so here goes:

Sam,
Natalie,
Jemm
Angela.

Weekend again.

I just can't believe how the weeks are flying by. I'm sure it must be something to do with getting older. When I was young some days just seemed to go on and on and on. But now they fly past faster than a speeding bullet! And so we are back to another weekend!

We are off out tomorrow night for the first time in ages and I'm really looking forward to it. As we are having a meal as well as a few drinky poos I hope I don't blow my weight lost from last week. I may not have told you but I have joined our local Slimming World group. A lovely girl called Vicky runs it. I spent last week stuffing my face with all sorts which did not seem much like dieting to me. So I was ready for a bit of a downer last Tuesday and I told Vicky that I didn't think I had got the hang of this red day / green day lark. However a loss of 6lbs shows I must have done something right. So there I was 'Slimmer of the Week'. I have never ever been that before! So I have done the same this week and will wait and see what Tuesday brings. You never know, this could just be the way forward for me to shift this weight!

Anyway I am sure there will be plenty of time for crafting this weekend despite the odd bit of housework which needs doing. I also have a couple of orders left to pack tomorrow morning before the post office run. I've a couple of projects I want to work on this week so they should keep my mind off food.

I must tell you, I have had so much interest in the calendar which I put on here the other day. Loads of people have been asking when the kits will be available. I am hoping that the chipboard will arrive this weekend so they should be on the site by Monday. I have also taken orders for some from a few of our 'non crafting' friends.

I've been scrapping some photos of Samhara with her new nursery uniform on. She was so excited to start on her first day and seems to have settled in smoothly. I used some of the papers from my Scraproom kit for this layout and I also managed to fit in a hidden place, for more photos or journalling. You know how much I like my 'hidden' bits!




The letters were cut on the Expression and rather than use chipboard I cut each letter four times and stuck them on top of one another. I really love the effect it gives. It's not as prominent as chipboard but still manages to give a smashing 3d feel.The journalling, which hasn't shown up too well, is a short poem about going to nursery for the first time.

Anyway off to scrap some more. See you all later.

A Year of Smiles!

Well, it's finished! An idea I got from my friend Melanie Heaton, a very creative lady, was this gorgeous calendar which is just right for doting grandparents! Melanie used bookrings to join the months together but I thought ribbon would be better. The whole thing is double sided showing just 6 months at a time.


Each 'month' measures 6 x 4 inches and I have used thick mount board covered with MM papers and added a small calendar. It is really then up to personal taste how much and what embellishments you add. The months are linked with a strip of ribbon which is then tied over with loads of other coordinating ribbons! This one is for my daughter's mother-in-law who luckily does not read my blog! I am in the process of making up a 'boy' one as well so I will show you that as soon as it's completed.

I am hoping to make some kits up of the mountboard, papers, calendar and ribbons along with full instructions and get them on sale early next week. So watch out for them appearing! These are really fun projects to do and you end up with a stunning gift for someone special!

Some people are really nasty!!

You find this in everyday life anyway but within the crafting community you would expect us all to be a pretty friendly bunch really. But not a bit of it! As usual there is always someone slagging someone else off for some reason. The latest craze which has come across from the US, (do we really have to copy everything they do??) is something called scrap smack. This is a blog where people can go to discuss anything related to scrapping and not have to give their name.

Now, I myself, do not agree with everything which happens in the crafting world but am strong enough to publish my views under my own name. However I can appreciate how some people may feel safer going under the cloak of anonymity. Unfortunately some 'people' use this cyber safe haven to be positively nasty and vindictive about other crafters. I was sent a link the other day and I honestly could not believe the rubbish I was reading. Along with foul language and downright viciousness some people have really hit the depths. I'm sure their parents would be so proud of them!

The (can't you guess?) anonymous person who started the blog also needs to take some responsibility for any hurt/harm caused. It is a total cop out to say 'I will not moderate this blog as I want you to be free to express yourselves' (or words to that effect). That is a quick way to find yourself in a court of law facing 'conspiracy to slander' charges! One thing to remember is that people are only anonymous to a certain extent. Once the law gets involved Google, Yahoo and everyone else will have no option to give the authorities the necessary information.

Anyway back to crafting! I have just finished a lovely project which I will photograph and put on here tomorrow. I am really pleased with how it has turned out.

Bye for now!

I didn't think I would but I do.

Love using acetate in albums, I mean! I just couldn't get my head round the idea at first but now I really enjoy using it. I've just finished this mini book about my Scrap-a-ganza weekend earlier this year. Funnily enough the first page I ever did in an album using acetate was the Scrappy Cats class in 2006! I never thought 12 months later that they would be all the rage. I must admit I love the effect of how a picture appears to be just hanging in space!









The papers are from a kit I bought from Jillybean's Scrapyard which was in the sale. Gorgeous papers and at a great price as well! I have only used a few for the book so there is plenty left for other projects. I used the acetate to make a 'shaker' style front to the book and then added both acetate pages and plain pages with inserts for all my journalling. I also put a couple of smaller pages in to add variety. I'm really please with the overall look and I hope it inspires others to have a go. I can't keep up with the sales of the acetate packs at the moment but have just managed to get some more back in so get in there quick if you want some!

I'm off to have a go at a real special project now. It may end up being my next kit release but I will have to see how it goes first. Have a great Sunday everyone.

The resurrection................

..........of my blog! Yes, it's back. My old blog is lost in the eons of time so this is the phoenix rising from the ashes. I had a lot of requests to keep up with my blog but unfortunately there were too many things going on in my life at the time and none of them were really worthy of blog space. Hopefully I will do better with this one!

There are lots of things I want to chat with you about... both in my life and the crafting world but I will go into those in more detail later.

However one thing I must say is........SCRAP-A-GANZA. Yes, Helen and I are off there again in November. I really cannot wait. I just love having a whole weekend just for me with no 'home' interruptions. Helen has overloaded herself with classes again and is now trying to decide which to drop! I am doing the 4 part album and am really excited about it however the classes are early Saturday morning and early Sunday morning. This is not good for someone like me who likes to take their time in a morning especially as I will probably be up most of the night scrapping away and imbibing the odd bacardi. Helen really is a bad influence, you know! Anyway if you want a great weekend which is full of the most creative teachers around, inspiring classes, chatty friendly peeps and at a stunning price as well get over to www.scrap-a-ganza.com and save your place now. Honestly you won't regret it!

Anyway off to scrap now. I am in the middle of completing a mini book which I will show you later. It is so cool!