Been cropping!

Today I finally made it to a crop after missing the last two months due to clashes with Geoff's work rota :) The trains were not on my side though...got to Anna's late having nearly missed my change over train due to my first train running late.Getting home was even worse...the train was 25mins late, meaning I did miss my second train....so I abandoned the train and Geoff came out to pick me up.Coupled with the rain it was a miserable journey home!


Anyway, I got a layout completely done (which is good for me!) I am so pleased with it but cannot share as it's for a Pencil Lines sketch in three weeks (go on, pick yourselves up from the floor at the shock that I have manged one in advance!! ) Also helped Anna pack kits for next month and ate yummy cake courtesy of Kerry! We also had a birthday lucky dip, I got a fab pink MM alphabet :)


Pencil Lines are live, this week we were sponsored by Fiskars:)We got kits packed to the brim with gorgeous embellies and paper.Sandie, the papers I used were Cloud 9, the Chocolate Chalet range :)(with added white doodling ;) !) I just could not find six small photos so I merged them into three larger photos.I also added rain dots to some of the flowers which don't really show in the photo.Fiskars have donated a fab RAK for the favourite from this sketch...make sure you don't miss out by emailing us your layout for the gallery!


The girls are back at school on Tuesday so tomorrow will be spent sorting out PE kits etc,finishing off homwork etc ! I need to start sorting through the huge amount of paperwork that seems to be hanging here at the moment and then the clearout in preparation for Christmas will begin!!

Doughnut anyone??

Hmmm...maybe not!! I was given a doughnut maker earlier in the week so I thought I'd have a go at making some for the crop tomorrow.But they taste more like yorkshire puddings (okay, so I haven't dusted them with sugar yet...) so I don't think I'll risk them on anyone else just yet!
Been a quiet day her today.Holly has been at a friends most of the day which felt very weird for a Saturday!
Yesterday we took a trip to Ikea to look at a bed/storage for Holly's room.Hopefully we have found one which will give her a bit more floorspace in her room! Anyone who's been in my house will know I have a thing for Ikea lighting....and yesterday was no exception! I got some fab christmas lights which look like snowballs.
I completely forgot to share the highlight of the pumpkin patch trip for Em....seeing Rupert Grint who plays Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films in the cafe just before we came home!At first I wasn't convinced so I went back for a second look...and yes, it was him :)

I leave you with a sneak of my Pencil Lines sketch for tomorrow evening.
Don't forget to put your clocks back tonight!

Pumpkins!!!!

Oh yes...today Anna and I finally made it to a place where there were pumpkins(Along with Geoff and the four girls!)!!Sad, I know but we have been hoping to make this trip trip since last year!!

After a slight delay stuck in traffic (made up for by High School Musical 2 blaring on the car stereo at full blast!) we made it to Willows farm park :) First off we went in to the animal villages where the girls happily sat and held guineas pigs and rabbits.Then we made a move for the Pumpkin Patch.We were a bit worried that there might be none left, but we weren't disappointed! Despite there being lots of squashy ones, we eventually found four huuuuge ones!! (lesson learnt though....the huge ones weigh an absolute tonne and it's a long way back to the car park!!).
Holly was happy to pose today...yes, I did arrange those pumpkins around her I'm ashamed to say!Geoff carried two of the pumpkins whilst Anna and I pathetically struggled with one each! After some lunch in the (very cold) fresh air we watched the Sheep Stake Trials, Daft Duck Trials , went for a tractor ride and spent time in the play area
By this time we were freezing cold and decided to head for home.Looking forward to next year already ;)!

This evening another sketch has gone live on Pencil Lines, all part of our 1st anniversary celebrations :) Here's mine,

I used

Doodlebug papers

Angel Kiss flowers

Poundland Halloween 3D sticker

Thoroughly spoilt...

...is what I have been this weekend gone :)

Saturday morning we left bright and early to make our way to Oxford.The weather was gorgeous all weekend:).Saturday was spent shopping,lots of Christmas and birthday presents plus some treats for me.In the evening we had dinner in the restaurant...I guess the rugby was a good excuse for people to stay home...we were the only people eating there! Sadly , the hotel has gone downhill a bit since last year but we still made the most of it.It was nice just to have time to ourselves.On Sunday we nade our way home via Milton Keynes for a little bit more shopping...yes, our purse and wallet are now very empty!Geoff bought me a Momiji doll as a pressie, the new Pixcie one holding a cupcake :)


Last night Pencil Lines went live with a sketch from the very talented Lucy Folch.

I used Scrapping Angels October kitScenic Route Salem papers
MM clip
Doodlebug Hopscotch letter stickers
Queen & Co felt
Primas
Queen & co brads
Sassafrasslass stamps



Today we had a flying visit from Geoff's sister, the girls were so happy to see her & her husband!

Right, I am off as I'm sure there are other things I should be doing!

Yum!

Just popping on quickly to say cheerio before Geoff and I go away tomorrow morning :) Yep, a whole day and a half being away from my two sweeties...missing them already! (they are at mum & dad's tonight as we are hoping to leave early in the morning)
I will share with you a pic of the yummy ribbon I got from Ribbon Oasis yesterday.Swoon! The photo really doesn't do the velvet ric rac justice,it is gorgeous!

And here is a sneak of my Pencil Lines sketch for Sunday.We have multi talented guest with us this week who does some amazing work - you don't want to miss it!
I'm off, see you Sunday!

How fab is my friend??!

I received very happy post today , from the wonderful Annie!! Look at this wonderful box of goodies,can't wait to start using it :) Thank you soooo much!That along with my delivery of the new Scenic Route Salem papers put me in a very happy mood!
We have had another mid week sketch go live over at Pencil Lines,you can check it out here.Have to admit that mine really isn't my best work, but I tried!These pages will eventually go in a mini book of our day in London :)
Not much to report here, though looking forward to half term next week - woohoo! Actually I am looking to the weekend first as Geoff and I are going away on our own for the night,same place as we went last year.Hoping to do some Christmas/birthday shopping (lots of birthdays in November in this family!)and having a nice meal at the hotel in the evening.Then next week we will be going to Willows farm with Anna and the girls - fingers crossed it doesn't rain and that there are some pumpkins left for us!
Earlier in the week we had the girls consultations with their school teachers, no problems at all , they are both doing really well :)This week we have another assembly, this time Em's year, doing a Midsummer Nights Dream (well not all of it obviously.....!!)

All over....

Phew...so Em's birthday celebrations passed off without any hitches :) On Friday we had tea at home with her Nan & Grandad,then last night she had three friends over and one stayed for a sleepover.Then this morning we took her & friends bowling.I think a good time was had by all! There was lots of lughter and lots of playing on the Wii! Em is now the proud owner of three Momiji dolls,lots of earrings and yet more books (you can never have to many!)

On Friday it was also my favourite school assemby of the year, Harvest Festival :) I love everything about it- the songs, the huge pile of food all the children donate...it just reminds me being a school kid again!

Pencil Lines is live with a new sketch tonight.This week we were lucky enough to be sponsored by 3 Bugs In a Rug .I used the Blossom collection, though I think maybe my photos were a bit big...you can't see much of the paper! They are lovely though and I still have lots left to play with.All papers, stickers and tag are by 3Bugs and the scalloped paper is Bazzill.The stamped part of the title is done using Penny Black Liquorice stamps.The photos are of Holly modelling her bargain (£1 in Primark !)Sharpay (from HSM) style sunglasses :) Huge thanks to Anam for photoshop-ing out my refelction from the sunglasses!

Today we had planned to go out in search of pumpkins but where we were going closed at 1pm...I rang up to check they were open at 5 to 1 !! Maybe another day.....

Everything all at once....

I really should know by now, but everything else also seems to happen in the week of Em's birthday ie school trips, harvest festival etc etc.
So my 'baby' is tomorrow.....and I still have to make a cake, that's tomorrow afternoon's job!On Saturday she is having a few friends round and one staying over and then on Sunday morning we're going bowling.
We've had another sketch go live over at Pencil Lines since I last blogged,I actually managed to make a card this time!
I used
Scenic Route Laurel papers
Doodlebug paper frills
Stamps away alpha stamps
Angel Kiss flowers
Tomorrow night I will hopefully get another CJ done as I've been really bad and got way behind with them :( Here's a sneak of one I did the other night (won't show it all just in case Chelle sees this!)I'm really pleased with it, just wish it hadn't taken so long for my inspiration to materialise!
Yesterday Anna came over to deliver me some gorgeous sponsorship goodies for Pencil Lines plus the latest Scrapping Angels kit.We headed over to Stevenage and indulged in a bit of girly shopping in Primark :)It was lovely to see you hun,must do it again soon!
This weekend , other than Em's birthday celebrations, we will hopefully visit a farm shop in the quest for pumpkin photos!!

Sniff....

...I have been buried under a pile of tissues for the last few days thanks to Em passing her cold on to both me and Geoff! Don't feel quite so rough now but I had a couple of early nights last week!Hence no blogging!

This week we have a very special guest over at Pencil Lines (actually, they are all special!) so pop on over and check us out :)

This is my layout,using photos of Holly from last week.

I used

Scenic Route paper

Scenic Route journalling die cut

Stamps Away journalling stamp

Angel Kiss flowers

Bazzill from Scrap Studio kit
Sue Dreamer letter stickers

Ribbon from Hobbycraft.

Can you tell I'm in Autumn mode and going through a brown and orange stage ?!

Very quiet round here...Holly and I went for a walk down to the lakes this afternoon where I managed to trip over in a rabbit hole! Daft thing about it was that I was just remembering Anna doing the very same thing in the summer when we went down there ,when over I went !

Not much planned for this week...lots of scrapping to catch up on and on Wednesday Anna is popping over :)

Party on...!!

Oh yes...we have a mid week sketch go live for you tonight :)

Our wonderful guest is the gorgeous Annette :) I actually made a mini book last night (even Anna was shocked !!) and have done these two pages to the sketch.I am going to fill the rest of it with other pictures and 'rituals' from our autumn walks and outings! This is my fave season and this little book will be a perfect way to save some my memories :) And it's a good way of using my Mellow Basic Grey scraps left from my Autumn Fun layout.

This evening we have been to another senior school open evening with Em. Saw lots of people we recognised...these evenings seem to kick up an awful lot of memories!

The weather report says we will have sunshine for the next two days...which makes me feel very happy! You just can't beat a bright crisp autumn day!

Gotta go, have a date with Channel 4!!

Paaaaarty!!!

Yep, we at Pencil Lines are celebrating our first birthday ! :)Which means I can proudly say that I have done at least 50 layouts this past year (I missed a couple of weeks somewhere along the line!),something I am quite gobsmacked at and proud of! Considering it used to take me about two weeks to do one layout when I first strated scrapping it's a major achievement!
Anyway, back to the celebrations! We had a new sketch go live last night provided by our very own Anna :)I made mine as a single layout.

I used
Basic Grey Mellow papers
Angel Kiss flowers
Bazzill spotty brads
Hobbycraft ribbon
Scenic Route chipborad
Prima Birdie
Penny Black Liquorice alpha stamps
Making Memories stamp
wooden buttons from a stall at Ally pally
Doodlebug paper frill,inked brown
Love Elsie border stamp
Photos of Holly were all taken on Sunday, at the Lakes and while we were conker collecting.I absolutely love these papers and am going to have to get some more!
We have lots of goodies to give away this month so keep checking in!