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.