Wow wow wow!!

Just a quick update as I need to head to my bed to catch up on the sleep that I've missed out on this past week!
I've had a fab time at the Scrapping Angels retreat this weekend - fab venue, fab food ,fab company! I managed to get this LO done , my Pencil Lines sketch for this week. Photos are of Lilly, Anna's youngest.
All papers are Basic Grey Phoebe
New Angel Kiss hydrangeas
Karen Foster gem stone brads

Will update properly tomorrow!

Day tripper..

...yep, tomorrow I am getting out of here and going a on a day trip to Southoe :) to see Anna.Actually I am going so she can make me work at opening all the bioxes from Trish, maybe visiting ali and packing goody bags! Sounds like heaven!Cannot believe it's the retreat on Saturday, I have not prepared a single thing ! Then again, i have my 'helping out' head on, not my 'scrapping head'( though I seem to have lost that recently!)I'm still trying to check everything on my list for tomorrow...Lilly's birthday pressie, breakfast (!), last minute retreat finishing touches..oh and camera and needles! We will be having alittle sewing lesson too if we have time!
Not much else to share..seem to be running around after the kids non stop at the momnet from school to clubs etc.
Had a lovely evening with real live company as my friend Emma popped over for pizza , wine and chocolate brownies !(sorry Anna, I will stink of garlic tomorrow!)
Right I am off to wrap Lilly's pressie, change batteries in my camera and wash up, or it will be sitting there when I get home tomorrow afternoon!
No new photos so this is one of Holly after the party she went to on Saturday!

New Rainbow...

Yep, Holly finally started at Rainbows this evening! Although she said she was feeling nervous about going,once she saw the box of skipping ropes she grabbed one and was well away! Once home she carefully studied her handbook and started work on it already! I will be one proud Mummy at her Promise Ceremony in May!

So today I went summer clothes shopping for the gilrs...nightmare! Why do they no longer make 'nice' clothes for kids that don't skim their belly buttons and show off their butt cheeks?! My fave purchase is a lovely rainbow coloured seer-sucker dress from Asda for Holly.All we neeed now is the return of the sunshine!

Not much else to share other than this photo of Holly taken yesterday (and no, it wasn't warm !)

Bad blogger....

Whoops, haven't been here for a few days what with one thing and another...mainly horrible toothache and the dragging on of the never-ending cold!
Just remembered that I was tagged by Anna so let's get that out of the way....
Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. I don't like tea or coffee,
2. Really don't like Cadburys chocolate but love Galaxy
3. I love KI memories paper but dread using them incase I can't replace them!
4. I can't drive
5. I lived in Liverpool for four years and Em was born there
6. I used to work in Victoria Street London and often went out to eat my lunch sat in front of Buckingham Palace!
7. I could live on cerals and full fat milk given the chance!

Right so that's done...but I only have a couple of people to tag as someone else got to most of them first...!!
Pencil Lines new sketch is up and here's mine! I used
Flower stamps from Stamps Away mixed with other Sassafrass Lass stamps and Papermania swirls
Loads of ribbon!
Heidi Swapp chipboard letters
Stamps Away alphabet stamps
Heidi Swapp heart
Lots of brads!
Basic Grey paper
Love this photo of Em but I really am not the worlds best stamper! Especially not when I have two kids constantly going 'Oooh what's that?' and picking everything up whilst I'm trying to use it!
Feels very weird here tonight...Geoff has gone to Germany for training til Friday.I know there are many people who spend time away like this week in week out,but Em and Holly just aren't used to it .There have been a few(!!) tears shed and I'm sure there'll be some more before the week is out!

Tweet tweet!

Finally started work on catching up on Emily's prompts and have got this one done this morning for the prompt of 'birds'. I love all the bird stuff around at the moment even if I don't own any of it! Then I remembered these Sassafrass Lass papers. I completely covered the card with one of them and cut out the larger bird from a different sheet .

Good news on the weight front, I lost today when I got weighed! Going swimming with Lyzzy and playing badminton in the garden last week must be working!

Right, I'm off to tackle a pile of ironing!

Back to life...

...with a bump! The girls went back to school today...and Imissed them! The last two weeks have felt more like the summer holidays than Easter which such wonderful weather.Though this morning was grey and much cooler, the sun did come out eventually!

So I spent the day catching up on housework....boring!

Tomorrow I really need to start catching up on my cards for Emily's prompts too.I haven't had much time recently to do my usual blog surfing and am starting to miss seeing evryone elses fab creations!

Yesterday we got the phone call to say that Holly can start at rainbows next week , she is so excited!

Today was the first day at school since Em missed the trip to York.One of the teachers was kind enough to buy both her and the other girl who missed it (due to chickenpox)a gorgeous bracelet as well as a pen & notebook each out of her own money, how thoughtful is that?I'd asked them to buy Em something with her pocket money as that had already been handed in the week before, but that was returned in full.

Leave you a picture of Holly trying out Em's old roller skates that she has been begging to try for ages....

Oh...my...word....

...that hat suits her so much you'd think she was born wearing it ! (And yes, she's in a swimmig cossie....in April!!) Cool or what?! I'll try and remember to share the pic of her in roller skates tomorrow...she looks like she should be in LA!

Pencil Lines went live again tonight.

Here's my effort this week, I say effort as I don't really feel happy with it but feeling rough will have to be my excuse!

I used

white Bazzill

Junkitz Spring paper

Cherry Arte chipboard arrow

Doodlebug letter rub-ons

Maya Road ribbon

KI Memories flower rub on

Feelin' grotty....

My cold that's been hanging around since the beginning of the week decided to kick in big style today! Woke up feeling like I needed 12 more hours sleep and it hasn't improved much since.

Luckily, I've had a fairly quiet day.The girls went out with my Mum and Dad in the morning and didn't come back til late afternoon. That gave me time to do the hoovering and mopping, as well as my PL sketch for tomorrow plus some time to sit out in the sun too :) Still cannot believe how fab the weather has been for the whole of the holiday.

Yesterday we took the girls to Willows Farm park.Although it was busy, it never really gets crowded as it's so big! Anna and I (plus four girls and two cameras) have a date there in October to get pumpkin photos...haven't we Anna?! ;)

Right, I am off to bed with the aim of not waking up feeling and looking half dead tomorrow morning!

I leave you with a pic of Holly's new summer hat....

Clumsy scrapper strikes again!

I was trying to do a layout of Em last night and managed to cut the cardstock down to 8 x 11 instead od 8.5 x 11 - grrrrr!!
Anyway, here's the one I managed the night before...and yes the cut out flowers cover ink smudges!
Holly is at a friends for the afternoon and Em is waiting for her friend to arrive...I swear if I have to listen to the High School Musical soundtrack again I'm going to go mad!
Hopefully I might get a bit of time to start sorting some of my stash out.I'm in the mood to scrap and it would be easirer if I could find what I'm looking for!

First ice cream...

...from the ice cream van this year! Normally he comes round this way too close to tea or right after lunch, today he went past at just the right time! I never seen Holly run so fast in fear that he would drive off without seeing us! The ice cream man himself was really nice and polite too, prompting Geoff to ask 'Was he a looker?!' as both Holly and Em told him how nice he was!!

Just been hanging around the house again today.Both girls have been out in the garden all day - the less Disney Channel they watch the better! I got some stuff in for a babecue, but by tea time the weather had gone much colder so we gave it a miss!

This evening I scrapped....without a sketch! I have got really bad at scrapping anything other than my PL layouts.This is mainly due to the fact that my stuff is all over the place, I can never find what I'm looking for and I have nowhere to leave stuff out 'mid scrap'! So this evening I have stayed up late to finish a layout done just for me! I just have to suss out how to scan it so that it resizes okay on here! Anam...I may be calling on you for help!

week 27 is live!

This week our guest is Anna Sigga.


Here's my version of it!
I used
Basic Grey papers from the Phoebe, Stella Ruby and Gypsy ranges
MM florish stamp
Stamps Away alphabet stamps & Friends stamp
Heidi Swapp jewels
Primas
Dovecraft brads
Zsiage chipboard letter
Cherry art chipboard flower
Doodlebug spotty button

To explain my comment yesterday about not being allowed to use stamps & ink near a layout,see the Prima under the corner stamp? Yep, that covers a large splodge of ink where I dropped the corner stamp! I have lost count of the amount of times I've done this, I really should have learnt my lesson by now! And if you're thinking the L is a slightly weird shape...you'd be right" It's actually an upside down J! I originally thought it was the L even though I knew it didn't look right...it was only when I laid all the letters out in alphabetical order that I realised my mistake...and of course by then I'd already stuck the photo down and the 'real' L would have covered half the photo.And I was all out of repo herma this week.....So there you have it, an upside J for the L, ink splodges and very wonky stitch stamping too!

Loads more sunshine again today! As Geoff has done something to his back I went into overdrive, even venturing into the loft to get all the cushions down for the summer chairs!

Also manged to strim half the lawn before the strimmer ran out of strimmy stuff, and plant my sweet peas at the base of the wigwam.The girls have been happy enough playing in the garden, enjoying the space hoppers, hula hoops and bubble mixture,gotta love this weather! I leave you with one of my favourite photos from today (and believe me, I took quite a few....)

Gardening, Wii's and haircuts!

Yep, that title just about sums up what's been happening here the last few days!
We've been making the most of the gorgeous weather and spending a lot of time working on the garden.The girls veggie patches are just about sorted , and even Geoff has one too!
We have got caught up in Wii watching the last couple of days , knowing that Peter was looking for one.And guess what Geoff just managed to buy in town today....!! So Peter hot footed it down the A1 as fast as he could to pick it up! He also came bearing gifts of wine , chocolates and the cupcake book that I left there the other day! Anna, I hope you haven't become a Wii widow!
I spent the rest of the afternoon potting up hanging baskets (with some help from Holly!)to go on the front of the house.It's only taken us 3 yrs but we are finally getting the place looking nice on the outside!I've also got a box of Sweet peas and one of those wigwam things for them to grow around.
Yesterday Holly had a haircut, lots came off and she is back to having really cute bouncy bunches! The only downside was we discovered an outbreak of the dreaded bugs...She has been so good though and is happy to have her hair combed through which makes dealing with them so much easier.
Haven't done my EF card this week as I tend to do them whilst the kids are school , and with a full house this week I just haven't had a chance. Pencil Lines sketch is all done and emailed over though! I have decided though that I really shouldn't be let near stamps or ink when scrapping...
On Thursday Em had a friend over for her first sleepover! We were expecting a late night....but when I got back from swimming at 9.30pm all was quiet.Apparently they were both asleep by 9!!
Right, I think that's everything caught up with from the past few days!
Have a Happy Easter!

Who nicked the sunshine?!

Absolutely pants weather today - it's so cold!!
Pants weather meant not many photos at Anna's today, it was too cold to stay outside for long! Here's one though!
Had a fab time , girls all got on so well yet again :) I came home with a little bag of goodies too...Geoff looked at it and said 'Hmm..can see why you like going there'!! Sadly I forgot to bring home the Cupcake book I was going to borrow...probably just as well, I really fancied the sound of the chocolate peanut ones!
I am off to bed now as I am cold and tired!

Bring me sunshine....

Another day of beautiful weather here.We went shopping this morning for garden stuff and then made a start on it this afternoon.I somehow don't think Holly has yet discoverd the difference between weeding and digging a hole though...!Had to share this photo of the cute wind chimey, sparkly Welcome sign that will go in one of their veggie patches! I don't expect it will look as bright after a few rainfalls but for now it's great!
My other pic is of the rabbit we watched on Saturday down at the lakes.Love the zoom on my camera! This was taken through the wire fencing around the old swimming pool site.The girls love watching the rabbits when we go down there.
No other news to share, so just a quick post tonight. Off to Anna's tomorrow and will be bearing gifts of a smoothie maker!In exchange , I will raid Anna's scrapping room and nick all her best stash...whoops, did I just say that out loud?!

Round round baby right round!

Yep, we have gone all round at Pencil Lines this week! And I admit that I had to dig an old 12" LP out from under the bed to cut round for this !! (Music for the Masses by Depeche Mode on clear vinyl no less, how much would I get for that on EBay?!)Our fantastic guest designer this week is Lee Woodside.
So, I used
KI Memories papers from the Garden and Ice Cream Parlour ranges
Heidi Swapp tape
Felt flower (bagged from Louise at last weeks crop - thanks!)dotted with permanent marker
Ki Memories Garden ribbon
Title cut from KI Garden paper
Karen Foster gemstone brads

I cannot believe just how painful it was cutting up my beloved KI papers!! Other brands, no problem! But my KI is precious and pretty much irreplaceable and I am always reluctant to take the plunge and chop it up!
Other news, so chuffed to see that Anna is on the front cover of Scrapbook Inspirations this month...and even happier that pics of my girls are in her article!!
Other news...finally Jo has blogged - yipee!
Yesterday I took the girls out to the park after realising that I haven't used my camera in ages other than for my EF cards or PL layouts. I have resigned myself (almost!!) that I will never get the pics I long for...because my kids will just not stay still long enough!The camera got a good work out though anyway!
The kids are off school for two weeks now so we're hoping for dry weather! Tomorrow we are off to buy stuff for their vegetable patches and on Wednesday we are off to visit Anna.No doubt the camera will have a work out then too....;)
Enjoy your week whatever you're doing!