Catching up!

Yep, I have made the effort to start catching up on Emily's prompts rather than resigning myself to having another unfinshed project on the go!

This morning I have done the week 5 prompt which was to use Ephemera from that week.I chose to record the puchase of my first Dolly bead from Jaq.I used the photo from her site (with permission!) and snipped up the receipt and attched the part with the bead no. on it.I also used some of the confetti hearts that Jaq put in with the packaging as it was a limited edition valentines bead .This is the first time I have used one of my funky new see-through cards too so I tried to take the photo to capture the effect! Hopefully I can now start to do the other prompts now I'm back in the 'groove'!

Other news, Em will be getting removeable braces in a couple of weeks time following her visit on Monday to the orthodontist.Whilst I think she would rather have put it off ,we advised her to start the treatment now as it will hopefully all be finished before she starts senior school.She has decided to go for a funky lilac glitter colour (not that you see it, it's the plastic bit that goes in the roof of her mouth!)She has already asked me to take some 'before & after' pics for her so that she will have a record of the change for herself.

Holly has lost yet another tooth (at about 4.45am !!) , making it three in as many weeks!

Right, I am off as I really should be doing other stuff!

Week 21 is live....

Yep, you must be sick of this photo by now I'm sure!But I couldn't not use it !

This week I used

Bazzill

KI Memories ribbon,

various buttons

Ribbons from Anna

KI Memories rub-ons

Heidi Swapp letters

various brads

And sorry, more Angel Kiss blooms!

Today I went cropping in Huntingdon.Yes, I know it sounds a bit of a distance but I love hopping on the train for the half hour journey and I love our happy little group! I am also in awe of Kerry and Kerry who sit opposite me and create several gorgeous LO's whilst I struggle to do one! Thanks to Ali for wafting the brads under my nose too.....;) All I have to do now is unpack everything and put it all away again!

Tomorrow we have to take Em to the Orthadontist for her call -back appointment to see if she will need braces or not.She's not really looking forward to it but is putting on a brave face. And on the subject of teeth, Holly's other top front tooth came out yesterday so now she is well and truly gappy!

How come...

...I miss posting just one day, and it seems like ages since I last blogged? There hasn't been much going on to share really (is there ever?!) The girls were happy today, they both got a bag of scrapping goodies through the post from Anna :) Em is very impressed with all her Junkitz Teen papers so thank you hun!
Not much crafting going on for me...had a quick look at my Pencil Lines sketch and tried to guess how many more buttons I need to finish it!I've heard lots of different opinions on using sketches recently.I always said I didn't 'do' sketches.Then after a bad period of Scrappers block, someone suggested I tried using one to get back 'into' it. Believe me, it worked! So now, yes, most of my scrapping is done from sketches...and at the end of day, if I've got a layout that I'm happy with in my album then that's all that's important really.I'm sure in years to come people aren't going to look at my layouts and think 'Nice scrapping, shame it's from a sketch!' (Let's face it, they might not even think 'Nice scrapping!)I'm not here to start an argument , I'm just waving the flag for sketches a little bit :)!
Okay, so let's lighten up a bit! Anyone else watched the You Tube Dirty Dancing wedding video ? How cool was that? So wish I'd been brave enough to do it!(No chance of anyone lifting me though!
So this Sunday is finally cropping day - woohoooo!! Am I organised? Nope! Is my bag packed? Nope! Good...no change there then!
Nothing planned for tomorrow , though if the weathers nice (doubtful after today !) I might venture out with the girls and my camera!
Photo today is of Humphrey , my near that sits on the drawers next to my side of the bed for no other reason than he makes me smile!

This is what..

..I made last night.Told you it wasn't huge! Papers are Basic Grey Gypsy , they look more pink IRL,Angel Kiss flowers and Dovecraft brads.Simple but sweet! I think I might put it in Holly's room and make one for Em once I get some pics from Anna from last week.
Cannot believe we are finally cropping agin on Sunday...it's been too long!Need to sort out some stuff and make sure I travel light (ish) Or I could just sit and chat and eat the nibbles and forget the scrapping stuff!Anna, don't get too excited about me having a haircut - it just means I will be able to see what I'm doing!
So on to today...I have spent ages searching through every pile of paperwork trying to find our Tesco hotel vouchers so that I can book us a night away next month.They've still not turned up and I'm not happy!
So, our 'Hone & Dry' unit has been fitted (yep, you're enthralled by this aren't you?!) and so far.....totally dry windows - I'm impressed! The real test will be tomorow morning and whether the windows are dry then.
Next week I will hopefully be meeting up with Caz , who has deservedly made it through to the Top 50 of MM Idol! Congratulations hun!
I leave you with a pic of Holly's new boots that I got for her last week for a bargainous ...£4!!

Weird Day...

...y'know when you have one of those days when you just can't get going?Yep, been one of those! Lots of stuff going round in my head (and that's where I'm leaving it!).Wasted loads of time on the phone chasing up various jobs that need doing to the house.Sorted one of them so tomorrow I have to stay in whilst they fit a Hone & Dry unit in the loft.Apparently this will prevent us getting any condensation thus preventing the ever increasing mould.I'll believe it when I see it!

So yes, I did venture up into the loft yesterday....wearing a hoodie with the hood firmly on! No way was I risking any spiders in my hair! We managed to clear out a load of stuff.My box of photos albums was found but put back with the 'to be sorted' stuff...so I'll get them next visit!

Booked myself a haircut for Friday - hallelujah.I look a serious mess at the moment, I think my fringe is probably down to the bottom of my nose if I pull it straight!

And tonight...I made something! Just a little thing but I'm pleased with it.Don't feel kike doing something big just now but this is quite cute! I'll get a photo tomorow when it's finished .

Photo today was taken on Sunday.Em had such fun posing for Anna on Thursday that she wanted to do the same again on Sunday!

Week 20 Having a Duvet Day.....

Here's my Pencil Lines layout for this week,based on a sketch by Digi Guru Katie!
I used Basic Grey Urban Couture paper, Above Board letters from Clevercut (painted and dotted!), Angel Kisses, various buttons, Bazzill Polka dot brads and some of the gorgeous ribbon Anna gave me from the US.Photos are of Holly when she was off school ill and I'd taken the covers of her duvet to wash them.She took it as a sign to bring the duvet downstairs and wrap herself up in it!
Holly had a party this afternoon so while Em was doing homework and dancing(!!) I tidied some of my stash up so that it's less likely to fall out on top of me! Em willingly took some papers that I decided are no longer 'for me'!! Now what to do with the rest of it.....
We went for a trip to the playground this morning.I'd promised as when we were supposed to go on Wednsesday with Anna and the girls we had to return home due to some seriously wet & muddy trousers! It was really quiet and I got some fab photos of the girls, this one being my fave.I remembered to get Holly to take her hat off too for once!
Right, I am off ! Tomorrow we have to tackle the mess in the loft before we have a hone & dry unit fitted in it.I'm hoping to find my photo albums of Em when she was small so I may be gone some time!!

Quiet day!

Well apart from having to make sure we were all up early for the arrival of Em's friend! I get very lazy during the school hols and get out of the habit of getting up 'early'.However Em had a friend over this morning and her mum dropped her off on her way to work so we were all up and decent! To give them a bit of space I went round to my mum & dad's to see my sister and nieces, with Holly.Don't worry, Geoff was still here, I didn't leave them home alone!
Holly had great fun digging huge holes in her grandad's garden, followed by lunch during which she wolfed down most of the fruit salad!
This evening I have done my Pencil Lines Lo ,yes...early!Thanks for the emergency supplies Ali ;)
So not much to report here really!
Off to find a couple of pics....one from yesterday and one from today!

Have a good weekend!

Fun day!!

We have had a good day here today! Anna came over to visit with Izzy and Lilly, we had lunch, took loads of photos and had fun!

I was lucky enough for Anna to bestow me with some of her ribbon from her trip to LA.I am in ribbon heaven....!It's so lovely I can hardly bear to use it!(No change there then!)

We spent the morning gossiping while the girls amused themselves, something they are very good at when they get together!

After lunch we headed off down to the lakes armed with our cameras...and the girls! Yep, two scrappers, two cameras and four children...add in a deep muddy puddle and a game of Poohsticks and you get the picture! The promised trip to the playground was postponed after Lilly and Holly got very wet and muddy in the aforementioned puddle! We then went home for hot chocolate and muffins and the girls settled down to do drawing and watch Babe!I love how they get on so well together.

So inevitably my photos today are all our trip out to the park!

As promised..

...photos of my memo pads! Thrilling huh?!Just a quick post tonight as I am heading off to the land of nod!
My beautiful Dolly bead arrived today.I did try and take a pic of it on my wrist (on the chain) but my hand came out looking like 50 yr olds!!So I won't be sharing!
Pray for sunshine tomorrow! We have Anna, Izzy and Lilly visiting us tomorrow and we're hoping for a trip to the park after lunch!Managed to do the CJ have here to hand over to Anna .I should be getting Caz's from her..which I can then pass on to ....Caz!!
I leave you with a pic of the Valentines card I made for Geoff.

I'm back!!

Did you miss me?! I was going to update while we were away but I couldn't suss out how to add pics on the laptop so I gave up!

We got back this afternoon , the journey home was pretty easy, luckily! Both girls aren't too hot though :(.Em seems to be coming down with a cold and Holly coughed so much in her sleep earlier she made herself sick....:(.As you can see from the photo we are awaiting a visit from the tooth fairy tonight.At last Holly's first top tooth has come out! She woke me this morning at 6.45am to tell me the good news! It's a relief, it's caused sooo many tears the last couple of weeks!

So what have I been up to....did a little shopping yesterday! I went to Costco and got a pack of two (nice) 12 x 12 albums for about £10 !! Plus a fab pack of Sue Dreamer memo pads for each month of the year.I am going to use them to make a Lo for both girls each month, with dates of when they did stuff and photos.I will take a pic tomorrow.Also got a bargain pack of playing cards from Borders which are clear!! I thought they were £4.99, got to the till and they were £1 !!I'm going to use them for my Emily prompts, it will save me painting so many! I have two to do this week!

Tomorrow night I also neeed to do my CJ entry in Jo's book so that I can hand it to Anna on Thursday .Pencil Lines Lo for this week is planned in my head but I'm bound to change my mind at the last minute! And on the subject of Pencil Lines Lo for this week! Apologies for the not geat pic, the light was really bad on Saturday morning.I still can't decide whether I like it a 12 x 12 or as A4 (without the lilac cardstock) best....

Oh and is it possible to scrap with nail extensions?! I had my nails done whilst we were away (BIL's girlfriend wanted to practice on me!)...and I'm having enough problems doing the simple stuff (like opening a can of coke!), I don't know how I'm going to pick up brads!!

Slush...

...is what our snow is turning to :( We've had rain this afternoon and everything looks dirty and slushy now.

The planned pub lunch went ahead as planned today after mum & dad stepped in and offered to look after the girls and their friend! Hallelujah!!Yet again I went for scampi followed by chocolate brownie...I know...so predicatble!

Finally finished my Pencil Lines lo for this week, can't wait to see everyone else's ! At the moment I can either use it as 12 x 12 or A4...still deciding!

Tomorrow we are off to visit Geoff's parents for few days ( weather permitting) in Widnes.Hopefully my SIL should be able to do me a chain to wear my solitary Dolly bead on when it turns up next week!

Anyway, I'll leave you with more pics of yesterdays fun! Don't know if I'll get chance to post while I'm away so if not see you soon!

Let it snow let it snow let it snow!

Guess what my post will be about today then :)!!

The snow finally arrived and a decent amount too! The girls school was closed (and will be tomorrow too) so by 8.30am we were out having a snowball fight with the rest of the street! After that we headed over to the park to go sledging.A fab time was had by all and I even got a go on the sledge too, despite Holly thinking that I'd break it! By the time we came home it was still only about 10.15am! We spent the rest of the morning warming up again before going out into the garden after lunch to build a snowlady and have another snowball fight!

Tomorrow school losure changes a few plans...including a pub lunch! And my scrapping time :( Can't see me getting my card done for Emily's challenge done til next week now.Spent ages sorting my pics for Pencil Lines this week but still need to finish it tomorrow.

Lots of pics of the snow today!

Look what I got!!

Yep...I got me a Dolly bead!And a beautiful one too!I sat patiently refreshing the page whilst leaving the kids to get themselves ready for bed - shame on me!! Sadly I have nothing to put the bead on yet but I will look after it carefully until I do!
This morning I went for brisk walk down to the lakes to take some photos while it was still frosty and icy looking.Then I went to Slimming World (lost 3lbs!!)before walking home again.
Hopefully we will have the promised snow in the morning, I have dug my wellies out from the shed in preparation! The girls are hoping the school will be closed so that they can have a day to play in it!Either way, they will be out in it first thing!
Still no scrapping done and I only have a couple of days before we go away at the weekend - eek!

The best sort of post...

...is unexpected post! Look at the fab box of goodies I got from the lovely Ali today! Totally unexpected but very much appreciated hun! And I have something in mind for that 'Friends' stamp....

Today has been the usual routine ...phone call to Anna (good to have you back!) then on with the Tuesday cleaning session! I even washed the girls wellies shock horror!

No scrapping done but lots of ideas whizzing round in my head.Trouble is, I just don't feel inspired in the evening and I have too much other stuff to do during the day!

Another pic , this time of some long searched for paper! You know when you know what you want but no where seems to have it? Well, I finally found somewhere that had this Sassafrasslass paper in at the beginning of Jan. But I had to wait til the end of Jan when I had some money. Luckily there was still some in stock! Trouble is I really don't want to use it now as I know I can't replace it !

Em finished her First Aid course today and will get her certificate and badge tomorrow. She has really enjoyed it !

Apparently we are forecast snow for Thursday morning.If it happens, I'll be throwing the kids out into the garden before school again to make the most of it!

Tomorrow morning I am off to be weighed.Have been pretty much back on the wagon this week and am looking forward to a treat of peanut butter on toast when I get back!

Week 18...Cathy Z !!!

Oh yes...we have Cathy Z as our guest designer this week on Pencil Lines! How cool is that?!
Here's my layout for this week.
I've used

white bazzill
Heidi Swapp chipboard alphas, inked in orchid pastel cats eye chalk ink
Angel Kisses
stitched ribbon
Karen Foster gem brad

Today we went for a walk down to the park/lakes by us.It was really misty down there , having been really frosty and bright yesterday when we went down there.Hence my second pic of the day.I will post some of the bright ones later in the week.
A quiet day here.Out for the walk this morning, I did my layout this afternoon and then a roast dinner.
Emily has posted her prompt for this week and it's looking tricky!
And lastly...welcome back Anna!Though I will be sad to see an end to Peter's blogging days, I have missed you hun!Can't wait to rummage through your ribbon! ;)

Week 4...at last!

Finally got this done this morning! Photo isn't great as the photo on the card looks really grainy :( This weeks prompt was about a symbol.I interpreted that as my rings as they are a symbol of our committment.There are times when it would have been easier for either one of us to walk away, but 13 years later and we're still here!Only problem is...note there is no wedding ring...because I've lost it! The colours of the flowers represent the colours on my wedding dress.Yes, I know that may sound hideous but my dress had lilac and pink pansies embroidered on the arms and bodice.Honestly, it's not as bad as it sounds!
Right, have to go the Post office to pick up a parcel but i will be back again later!

Just blogging along....

..doing nothing in particular today! No new photos to share so here's an old one of a canvas I did of Em last year. It's one of pair which hang in our hallway.

The weather has been beautiful here today as well as mild.Holly even walked home from school without her coat on!

I have just been doing the usual bits around the house, yep the dreaded housework!

I haven't done my card for Emily's challenge yet, but I've taken the photo to use on it and I will get it done tomorrow :) I deliberately haven't looked at anyone else's yet so that I don't feel like I' ve been influenced by anyone else! No doubt I will spend a couple of hours checking out all the links once I'm done and uploaded!

Holly was fine today and I managed to have a word with her teacher too.Not sure how much notice she took but there you go....

Tomorrow morning Em has her year assembly which I will be going to.They have to dress up as their hero...so she is going as Geoff ! How sweet is that?!

Right, I am off for now.I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with a more exciting post!