And it's all over...

Christmas, that is! We had a quiet one,(busy-ness wise, not volume wise!!) with my mum & dad here for Christmas lunch, and then going to my mum & dad's on Boxing Day. Father Christmas was very generous and the girls loved their presents :)Lots of New Monn /Twilight stuff for Em and lots of Gogos and Hello Kitty stuff for Holly :) They were also lucky enough to get Rockband with the Beatles software from their other Nan & Grandy, so it's been a bit noisy round here! Em also got the Just Dance game which is great :)This present from Anna got an extra loud scream though ;)

This Sunday was my last official week at Pencil Lines.I'm sure I will be back now & again in the future :) Keep your eye on the blog for the announcement of the new DT.

This is my Lo, photographed very badly as the light was so bad :( Very simple, using Prima E Line flowers,Basic Grey brads and a mix of American Crafts and Doodlebug letters.

And as I have no idea how long it will be before I have any scrapping to share, I thought I'd be a bit self indulgent and share a couple of my faves from the last three years :)

Happy Christmas :)

Hope you have a good one :)
We have spent the day walking like penguins to avoid slipping on the ice we have every where!
We made it safely to the Christingle service though.Once home we delivered presents and cards before the girls sat and laughed their heads off at the panto on TV!
Snacks and letters have been left out for Father Christmas and we are now off to bed before anybody decides to wake up again!

One more day...

and I can't wait, I need a rest!
Sadly we may not get the much longed for white christmas, as it's currently raining and everything is turning very slushy :(
Anyway, while everything was still looking lovely, I took my camera everywhere :)









I still have a pile of wrapping to do, but the main part is done. I went to start on the final calendar I have to make this evening...only to discover there is no September page!!So now I am presentless for someone as there seems no point in doing it if I can exchange it for a complete one.
Yesterday Anna braved the weather and came over for for a pre-Christmas meet up :).We were treated to (yet another) show from the girls,ate cookies and rocky road and had crackers :) Sadly, I forgot about the hot chocolate sitting in the cupboard!

My eyes are closing so I am off to bed...I'm hoping for a lie in on Christmas Day!

Loving it :)

So the snow did settle, froze and then we had a load more last night :) so it's still looking gorgeous here.Keeping my fingers crossed some of the snow might last til the end of the week and Christmas Day as that would be just fab :)
Both schools were shut on Friday so once we were back home, we went down the lakes for some sledging fun.We are so lucky living almost next door to such a fab place :)By the time we got there it wasn't really that busy.We went back again yesterday afternoon as well as going for a walk round the lakes :)It was so cold though,and we went home with our feet totally frozen!

This is my Pencil Lines Lo for this week, probably my last 'official' one ,as I don't think I'm going to make it next week :
I used October Afternoon Very Merry papers (yum!) & stickers
May Arts ribbon
Heidi swapp bling circle
Pink Paislee letter stickers
Chatterbox felt heart
Tim Holtz tag


This week ...tomorrow we are doing some tidying up and some cooking :), Tuesday we are off to see Father Christmas and hopefully seeing Anna & the girls:) and Christmas Eve we will be going to the Christingle service.I also still need to make two calendars...so we're busy busy busy :)

White Christmas?!

So, outside it currently looks like this!
We've had weird weather all day, rain,sleet,snow and hail,with some blue skies and sunshine mixed in too.The snow started at about 8pm and is still coming down.Trouble is, it's also blowing a gale so it's like a blizzard out there!School finishes tomorrow, and I'm guessing if it carries on like this they'll probably close anyway!

The Birthday girl

Today I went to visit the Birthday Girl from yesterday :) Yes, Mrs Bowkis has finally caught up with us and had her big '40' :) Now I know she wasn't looking forward to it hence why I didn't do a blog post post about it before now.
Anyway, my pressies have now been delivered ,and although they made her both laugh and cry ,I think they were liked!I forgot to take photos first but hopefully Anna has come to share :)
It has been flippin' freezing here today and I have my fingers crossed that we will actually get the snow that we're forcast for tomorrow :)
Right I am off to bed to catch up on some much needed sleep, feel like I am running on empty at the moment!

Ooops!!

Yep, long time no blog...yet again! So I thought I'd better do a catch up just so that I can remind myself what's been going on!

Last weekend we went to the Christmas Tree festival in town,mailnly to see the tree Holly had helped decorate at Brownies.And also because we always go, I remember going when Holly was about a week old and wearing her very cute cow print fleecy body suit:)These days it's a lot easier without the big bulky pram!

Holly's school show took place last week for two evenings.After a few tears and lots of nerves ,she was fine (and she only one line!) The whole school then went to a pantomime the following day :)

Em has been busy with rehearsals for her house drama play,though we don't get to go and see it yet :( She also did a work shadowing day at the local hairdressers last week.Not sure that she is planning on being a hairdresser in future but trying to find her a work placement was a bit of a nightmare due to insurance !

I am all done on the Christmas shopping front - woohoo! Just need to sort everything out and get wrapping :) I also need to wrap pressies for a certain person's 'big' birthday tomorrow :) I am off to Anna's on Tuesday afternoon to deliver her birthday card and maybe a couple of other things...!

This weekend we have just hung around at home.I ventured out yesterday for the last few presents and this morning we went to Stevenage for a couple of bits & pieces.I came home with something that I have been longing for for ages.It's one of those things that you don't need, you just 'want', so perfect as a Christmas present :)

Our decs are all up and it's looking lovely and cosy in here :) I just need to put some more lights outside :)

This is my Pencil Lines LO this week, using the sponsorship from Kaisercraft :) It hasn't photographed that well, but my usual photo-taking spot is taken up by the Christmas tree at the moment!

All products are from the Kaisercraft Lilac Grove range.I used two old photos of the girls which are Geoff's favourites, hence the title :)

Right ,I am off to bed, very thankful that it's the last week of school for the girls !

Ist of December and first frost :)

Yep, December is here already...am I organised yet? Nope! Still lots to make and lots to order....
One job I must get done today though is the kids advent calendars :)
This morning we woke up to blue skies and a sprinkling of frost .I love this kind of weather, give me ice and snow over wind and rain any time!
Yetsrerday was Holly's birthday :) Her main pressie was a pair of much longed for pink roller skates ,and a matching pink crash helmet :) Other presents included LOTS of Hello Kitty bits and pieces,Having had her 'do' the other weekend, we had had tea and cake here with her Nan & Grandad.

So now Holly's birthday is gone, I know we are hurtling towards Christmas! Next week Holly has her school show for two nights and then a trip to the panto.This weekend sees the Christmas Tree festival taking place in town,so we will be off to the see the tree that Holly's brownie pack have decorated :) It's one of our traditions to go, I remember taking Holly when she was about a week old!
I'll leave you with a photo of our trees all lined up (not that mine has anything to go in it!!) These were from M7S and Tesco's a couple of years ago.I have bought one of the wooden tesco houses this year but I think I'll get round to doing something with it next year!

You may have heard...

that I am stepping down from Pencil Lines at the end of this year ? This means that along with two new DT members that have already been chosen, there is also a DT call out for another two members ,check out the details here .I am a little worried that having no deadline to meet each week may mean I never scrap again ! But hopefully I will still join in from time to time :) I have had a fab three years as a member of the team and will forever be grateful to Anna for asking me to join her when she first started Pencil Lines.Not forgetting the book too, which is now available for pre-order here.
Long time no blog, yet again! I seem to have lots to do, but nothing worth reporting on here!
Today we went to Milton Keynes to see the Christmas displays, this year being a Circus theme. Father Christmas was all booked up but the girls still enjoyed a go on the carousel and the helter skelter :) The other main purpose of the trip was so that Holly could do a bit of shopping in the Build A Bear Workshop with some early birthday money :) She came home very happy with a new dress,party shoes and slippers for her Hello Kitty 'bear' (??!) Didn't take photos of her goodies as the weather has been miserable,wet and dull here today :( We did stay a bit in MK but the shops were absolutely heaving and I got fed up of having to push my way round the shops! We came home and finished the day with a lovely roastfor tea - yum :)



Tomorrow is Holly's birthday, so I am off to wrap pressies (though she does know what the main one is as she tried them on yesterday!)
This is my Pencil Lines LO for this week :)
I used MME Whirly Bird papers,diecuts & brads
Doodlebug alphabet
Prima swirls

I scrapped :)

I managed to get my Pencil Lines layout done this week,woohoo :)
I used Jillibean Soup paper
AC foam thickers
Bella Boulevard cupcake paper
Bazzill Just The Edge
Polar Bear Press heart rub-on
ribbon from Micheals


I scanned the menu card from Lola's and resized it before printing it as the original was a bit big for the layout.Love this pink spotty paper and definitely need some more as I have another layout in mind which needs it!
So, what's been happening this week...
Tuesday the new washing machine arrived ,which was a relief! Think we need to get the pipes/drain looked at though as the washing still doesn't come out smelling 'nice' and there's a strange smell when the machine is draining...any advice?!
On Monday I decided to watch Twilight...hmmmm..really not keen!
Maybe it was because I love the book so much,but it annoyed me that things happened out of order,bits were missed out and I don't really like Robert Pattinson as Edward...*waits to have objects thrown at her!* So why do I still want to go and see New Moon?! Nope, I have no idea either.Em went last night and said it was better than Twilight.I might just wait til March when it comes on a cheaper cinema in town!!
Yesterday we had Holly's birthday 'do'.It was a week early ,but next week Harry Potter is on which she didn't want to see,so yesterday she and six friends went to see Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs :) I loved the colours in it,and the girls all went home with a carboard cut out from the display for the film :) I feel a bit calmer knowing that I don't have a party to worry about this week! It's that time of year when I start to panic a bit about everything I need to do, and end up doing nothing! So I'm doing a list every morning, and what doesn't get done, gets left on the list for the next day.
Today was crop day ,but sadly I couldn't go as it clashed with Geoff working :( Hope everyone had a good Christmas party though!Instead I got to interesting stuff like ironing and cleaning :(
I am off to start on a list for this week...!

Hello...

No, I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth! I forgot to blog for a couple of days and then the longer I left it, the less I knew what to say!
So, a quick round up of what's been happening...

Last weekend
-very hormonal,lots of tears shed!
-Holly took part in the Remembrance march & service in town with Brownies
- washing machine blew up

Last week
-Geoff home all week
-furniture move around in Em's room
-Meal out for my Mum's birthday
-Holly brought home the class flour baby
-Christmas shopping trip to Watford
- lots of online Christmas shopping!
-new washing machine ordered

This weekend
- overnight trip to Widnes to surprise Geoff's mum for her 65th birthday

And I think that's it in a nutshell....

This is my Pencil Lines layout for last week, I didn't get chance to do mine this week

I used Cosmo Cricket Nutmeg papers

The tree is cut from some MLS paper

Basic Grey buttons & chipboard letters

Kaisercraft pearls

I am not liking most of my stash at the moment as you can probably tell from the lack of embellishments !!

I am also currently back in the Twilight zone...! I still haven't watched the film,but with all the trailers for New Moon (during which I admit to shouting 'he's not supposed to be hairy!!' at Robert Pattison!!) I decided to read the books again.I thought it might not be as addictive the second time ,but nope, I am sucked right back in again!
I will try and come back sooner next time :)

It was Wicked :)

I have been wanting to go and see Wicked for ages so you can imagine how excited I was when Anna told me she had got us tickets as part of my birthday pressie :) So last Thursday we headed off to London for a bit of retail therapy, food and the show.
First stop was Lola's Cupcake Bar in Selfridges :)

The cakes were gorgeous, though sadly they don't travel well round London, even in the lovely cardboard carton :( These are the ones I bought the girls!

After that we entered the hell hole that is Primark...the Oxford street store has to be the worst I have ever been in! We still managed to grab a few bits and pieces though :) Whilst wandering back down Oxford Street we were tempted by the smell of waffles from the Gourmet waffle bar..yum!Though believe me, there is nothing gourmet about trying to eat a waffle off a polystyrene tray with a plastic fork!
We carried on down Oxford Street and went down Regents Street where Anna had her first experience of Hamleys...hmm, maybe half term wasn't the best time to go there?!It was even worse than Primark! Enough was enough and we headed off to Victoria to pick up the show tickets and go to dinner. Dinner was at the very lovely Chez Gerrard restaurant in the Grosvenor Hotel. After that it was finally time for the highlight of the day :)
When we realised our tickets were in the stalls there was even more excitement ! All I can say is wow, the show was amazing and I can see why people go back to see it more than once.There is so much to take in, the scenery,the amazing costumes...I kept getting distracted and missed a few bits of the 'plot' so I think I need to read the book now!Thank you Anna for such a fab day :)

Whoosh...

So where did half term go?! I can't believe the girls are back at school again tomorrow & Tuesday and that we're in our mad month for family birthdays and heading for the countdown for Christmas already...time certainly seems to go quicker the older you get!
This is my Pencil Lines layout for this week.Thought I'd better strat scrapping the pumpkin photos straight away as I have so many I love :)

I used Scenic Route Salem papers & die cuts.Love love this paper,having used it on a couple of layouts a couple of years ago.It is so perfect for pumpkin pics :)
I will be back tomorrow with the rest of last weeks goings -on (including Wicked and very squashed cup cakes!)

I love Lyzzy :)

Because she told me where there was a pumpkin field!! Okay, so it was two years ago and this is the first year that I've remembered to ask her for directions before she headed off her for her hols!
We did have a trip to Willows planned ,the picnic was all packed ,when I realised that the kids go free vouchers all expired at the beginning of October -oops!So after a quick phone call to check we could actually go on to the pumpkin field ,we headed off to the PYO & farm shop :)I absolutely love pumpkins,don't know why ,they just make me fell really Autumn-y :) So, apologies to Anna, but photo overload of orange-ness coming up!







They had loads 'ready picked' but were happy for us to go round the field to hunt for our own...we came home with the smallest one on the field ,as chosen by Holly! Luckily the people working there had already coveniently arranged the picked pumpkins in big piles around the filed, perfect for getting the kids to sit on!! We will be heading back there next year :)
Tomorrow Em is off to a freinds for a sleepover and Holly has her friend coming here for a sleepover...it's like musical houses!
And Thursday I am so looking forward to as I'm off to London with Anna for a cupcake in Selfridges,dinner at Chez Gerard and then to see Wicked....I'm so excited !!
And Friday afternoon will be spent carving our pumpkins ready for Saturday :)
I'm off to scour the net for pumpkin papers....:)

It's half term :)

Woohoo!!
Today we have been on a pumpkin hunt but I'll share those photos later :)
This is my Pencil Lines Lo for this week, we joined up with The Next Step this week and also used sponsorship from May Arts ribbon.I used
My Minds Eye Breaking Free paper
May Arts ric ric & ribbon
KI Memories lace cardstock
Pink Paislee letter stickers

Prima crystal swirls

Sunday was crop day and as per usual I got very little done! Most of my time was spent talking to Karen and Kerry and eating brownies...ooops! I got two Lo's almost done though which is better than nothing!

Be back later with pumpkin pics!

Yum :)

I forgot that I said I'd add photos of Em's 'cake' display from Saturday :) Now, I am no domestic goddess, and believe me there was an awful lot of cursing whilst I made these cupcakes! The recipe said to use an electric mixer ,(which I don't have) or a whisk ,so I used the small handheld electric whisk...hence lots of flour floating around the kitchen and gunged up mixer blades once the mixture was thick!I'll be looking for an easier recipe next time!I decided to use some ready made icing for them and then stocked up on lots of different toppings, my favourite being the Waitrose 'balls' in really bright colours :)Once in the lovely new cupcake stand, I added a 13 birthday candle, no 13 sparklers and then added some other indoor sparklers as well.It looked really good and even her friends were impressed :)

Em is still recovering from her cold/flu whatever it was,having spent most of yesterday asleep :( She's been a bit more lively today and this afternnon we chilled out and watched Sleepless In Seattle together,she's normally more into Harry Potter,Twilight etc so I need to introduce her to a few chick flicks ;)!

Birthday Blog Hop winner

Okay, I have got my girls to pick a winner :)

Kazuko said...
Happy birthday Pencil Lines! This is so fun!
10:35 AM



Thank you once again to everyone for taking the time to join in the blog hop and for leaving so many comments:) I will try and get round as many of your blogs as possible in the near future!

Party on!

Thank you so much to everyone who's stopped by my blog during the blog hop and left such lovely comments :) You still have a couple of hours to leave a comment on the post below to be in with a chance of winning the My Little Shoebox goodies :)Tomorrow I will get one of my girls to pick a winner and post their name on here :)
So as well as the birthday cyber crop,we've still had time for a new sketch for you this evening :)This week we were very generously sponsored by Cosmo Cricket -swoon! I had planned to use Early Bird but in the end the the photo which jumped out at me went perfectly with Earth Love :)I can honestly say I am so pleased with this LO, though for some reason the colours don't look so great in the photo,it's much 'warmer' in real life.Anyway, this Lo basically tells the story of how every year I try and get the perfect leaf throwing photo and each year I fail! I have so many photos of the girls with their eyes shut, not a leaf in shot or just a huge blur!

All supplies from the Earth Love range.The leaves are cut out and raised up on foam pads.I also used American Crafts felt thickers.
Last night Em had her birthday sleepover.Just before her friends arrived she started to feel a bit flushed and dizzy.Although she made it ok through the night ,she promptly went back to bed once everyone had gone home this morning and has felt pretty rough ever since :( Looks like she will home tomorrow ,which she is not happy about as it will ruin her 100% attendance record at school, bless her! A valuable lesson was learnt last night though, twelve and thirteen year old girls cannot be trusted with popcorn...we spent ages this morning hoovering it up and picking the stuff off various throws and cushions!Yesterday I made proper big cupcakes to go in the fancy cupcake stand that we bought a couple of weeks ago,we added indoor sparklers and Em loved it :)Will share photos tomorrow :)

And make sure you check out Anna's announcement over on Pencil Lines too,below this weeks new sketch :) This is part of my contribution :)

I'll be back tomorrow with my RAK winner!

Birthday party blog hop :)

As part of our pass the parcel blog hop ,I'm ofering this RAK of My Little Shoebox goodies and a few co-ordinating flowers:) All you have to do is leave me a comment and I'll announce the winner on Monday:)

*blog comments now closed *

To unwrap the next layer of the pass the parcel over on over to Ania's blog :) Happy blog hopping!

Come and join us for the Pencil Lines Birthday blog hop :)

It all kicks off at 8pm GMT on Friday 16th :)

Check out Pencil Lines for more details!

Teenager in the house!

Yep, our oldest is now a teen...I've no idea where those years went! Her main present was a new mobile which she has been longing for for sometime now, definitely takes after her dad! Her other presents seemed to follow one theme...Hello Kitty! We're talking t-shirts, lip balm, bag, playing cards,passport holder,you name it they do it in Hello Kitty! This weekend we will be descended on by her freinds for a sleepover,we'll be taking refuge upstairs while Holly gets to escape completely (to her disappointment!) for a sleepover at Nanny & Grandad's house :)

Not much else going on,the weather has turned really damp and chilly today :( Not even much scrapping going on,even though I have lots of lovely paper waiting to be used!

Pencil Lines

That was an imaginative title wasn't it?!
This is my LO for this week, and the sketch is mine too...for the first time ever (only took 3 yrs...!!)Love these photos and these papers,they have stashed away for a couple of years now just waiting for the perfect photos :)
The trees along the bottom of the big photo are raised up on foam pads.
I used
KI Memories Grateful papers
Jenni Bowlin letter stickers
AC puffy thickers
KI Memories chipboard
Basic Grey Offbeat sticker
Yesterday we went conker collecting again, and have got heaps more again for the squirrel who is currently burying them all over our garden! Just as well we're not too 'garden proud'!
I'm off to blow up balloons and put banners up as tomorrow we will have a teenager in the house (now how did that happen?!)
Don't forget, we are on blinkie patrol again over at Pencil Lines this week!

Roald Dahl Day

Today Holly's school finished their Roald Dahl week with a day dressing up as characters from his books :) There were so many fab costumes in the playground this morning,lots of oompa loompa's,fantastic foxes and Willy Wonka's :) Holly wanted to go as Sophie from the B.F.G (there were a few of those there too!). We used a pair of cinema 3D glasses ,minus the lenses,and added few freckles :)


Tomorrow morning we are off the see the movie Aliens In The Attic,though really I just fancy a lie-in! In the afternoon we are off to my mum& dad's for a pre -birthday tea for Em as my sister is visiting with her girls :) Sunday is food shopping and most probably a pile of ironing - nice! And before I know it willl be Monday again :(

I know, I know...

I keep promising to get better at blogging,but I seem to be getting even worse :(

Anyway,let's see what I can remember....!

This is my Pencil Lines LO for this week.Our birthday month was kicked off with sponsorship from May Arts ribbons :)

I used the chunky ric rac,the reverse side of some green spotty ribbon, and the flower is made using the leaves of the suede effect trim :)

I keep promising to get better at blogging,but I seem to be getting even worse :(

I also used AC felt thickers

Bo Bunny paper

MLS letter stickers

On Friday last week I came down with a rotten cold so spent most of the wwekend with my nose in a tissue :( On Sunday afternoon though,Holly and I went up to Ayot for some more conkers and then walked back home through the woods as the weather was so gorgeous:)

This week Holly has had Tudor day at school ,as well as it being Roald Dahl week :) Tomorrow she'll be dressing up as Sophie from the B.F.G :) Amd whilst I would have loved to have sent her as a rich Tudor, we settled for the servant look!
I seem to be geting no where fast at the moment, loads to do and nothing getting done! So don't be surprised if it's a few days before I return!
Don't forget our Birthday blinkie blog hop is still on over at Pencil Lines!

Another weekly round-up!

Because I never seem to get round to updating this more than once a week :(
So, what's been happening....
Last Wednesday we went to the library so that Holly could collect her Quest Seekers reading challenge certificate and medal.I didn't bother trying to take photos whilst we were there ,so just for Lyzzy, here's another hedge photo :) (Don't worry ,the wall will come back into use soon now the BBQ's been put away for the winter ;) )
Saturday was spent doing the boring stuff like food shopping,and Holly and I cycled into the town to get some new storage boxes for her room.We also collected all our runner beans from the dried out pods (is that what they're called?!),ready to dry out and plant next year.Don't think we'll need all of them some how,as we got loads of beans from just two beanstalks this year :)




Yesterday morning ,as Geoff was working,the girls and I went for a walk down to the lakes.It was so warm we didn't really need our winter cardies!Although the leaves seem to have come down from most of the conker trees round here, the others don't really sem to have turned yet.So I've plenty of time yet to try and get a decent leaf throwing photo!



This is my Pencil Lines LO for this week.We were sponsored by EAD this week :)



I used
Bazzill Kraft
October Afternoon paper
Petaloo flowers
beady flowers from John Lewis
Jenni Bowlin letter stickers
Kaisercraft pearls
All the pink swirls are by EAD
And yes, I'm aware of how wonky I managed to stamp the date!

Tomorrow is Harvest Festival at Holly's school (it seems early this year!) After that I have to come home and venture into Holly's room and start a big clear out...
This week I also have a heap of scrapping to catch up on,I can't believe we're almost in October already...who stole this year?!
Pencil Lines turns three next month too,make sure you join us for our birthday celebrations!