Nice...

So I finally got to have a go on the Wii Fit last night having not had a chance on Friday and been away since.And I am obese with a Wii Fit age of 48...nice!!I am aiming to become a muscle legend a la Annie (at 1am Sunday morning!!)In my dreams....
So, the retreat....well, most of the feed back has been good as far as I'm aware so hopefully that means I haven't been sacked and I get to help at the next one!
We carried on the tradition of having more than one one pudding,the food there is wonderful and I've probably eaten enough to keep me going for two weeks (not that it will!)It was great to spend time with Kerry and Louise as well as being able to put lots of new names to faces too :)We were also lucky to have the wonderful Debbie Jewell with us on Sunday too! Oh, and a special thank you to Carol & Julie who didn't mind me occupying their table evrytime they left the room!
The auction was a success gain too, but I'll leave it to Anna to share that news :) I won something that I really wanted and will share that next time I blog.
I am now the very happy owner of this gorgeous Momiji along with a funky Momiji bag ,which were a present from Anna (and hand picked by Peter-you have great taste ;)!)
I have a bag full of lovely new stash which I bought from the shop,sadly I have to go through the task of unpacking all my stuff bfeore I get to play with any of it :( And before that I have a heap of the dreaded housework to catch up on too...

And finally, here's my Pencil Lines layout for this week
I used
Cosmo Cricket Story Time papers
AC felt shapes
felt flowers from John Lewis
Heidi swapp letters covered in Doodlebug glitter
K&Co brads
Studio G alpha stamps

Home again...

...with aching feet and a very fat tummy after a weekend at the Scrapping Angels retreat :) As per usual I have hardly any photos but came home with a whole load of happy memories!
Thank you for having me Anna...when's the next one?!;)
I will be back tomorrow after a full nights sleep (the first for a while!)a proper post and my Pencil Lines layout which went live earlier this evening.

So, so envious...

of whoever gets to take home this sweetie at the weekend!I have a feeling there won't be enough pennies in my pocket to secure her a place in my home,so whoever wins her will be one lucky person!Verity has been very very kindly donated to the auction by Little Cotton Rabbits.Go and check out Anna's blog to see the other fab items up for auction at the retreat .We are hoping to beat last years amazing total of £700 for the very worthy cause of MS, in memory of Anna's dear Dad.So, retreat girls, empty out your penny pots and bank accounts and come with your purses full!I am waiting on a very special 'item' for the auction from an amazing person, fingers crossed it arrives by Friday.If not, I will take along a photo so the girls can bid on it and I will post it straight on to its new home when it arrives :)
I'm starting to get excited now, though as per usual I'm not at all organised!
Today I have made cookies for Holly's school year cake sale, and this evening made a batch of fairy cakes which I will turn into butterfly cakes tomorrow morning!I have also caught up o some hoovering as well as shifting lots of boxes out of the kitchen & living room - hurray, it's starting to look better by the day!
After the retreat I will be having a clear out/sort out of my stash and re-storing it all !Then maybe I will start using it more!
And to cap it all..it's been sunny and warm today!!
Still on my to-do list for this week are...make name badge, sort paperwork for the weekend,tidy house before I leave..oh, and dye my hair.Yep, I am going play it unsafe and do it the day before I go,will probably leave it on too long and turn up looking like a Goth! Nah, hardly likely...but if it goes wrong I won't have time to re-do it!

Phooey

I don't know why, but that is how I am feeling at the mo...phooey! This miserable weather isn't helping and neither is the fact that the house is still stacked high with shed junk & stuff.Tomorrow they are coming to take it down again (!!) and then put it back up on the right base,Talk about a waste of time & money! I will just be glad when the house is free of tools ,ladders & 'stuff'.
I have to make myself lots of lists of to do's this week before I head off to Anna's on Friday.This includes my PL layout for next Sunday and two CJ entries!
I am seriously unimpressed with the photo of my layout for this week -it looks so much 'zingier' in real life!
I used the Scrapping angels April kit,using Pink Paislee papers.

I also used Doodlebug sugar coated lettters
I love these old photos of Holly from three years ago,she looks so small!
Yesrterday we decided to brave the 21% sale at Ikea....never again will I trust RAC directions!! We normally go to Thurrock as although it's further away, it's the most straightforward to get to.But yesterday we thought we'd try the Edmonton store (22 miles away) as we thought we'd be in there a while so it was best not to have to drive too far.Let's just say we could have driven to Thurrock and back in the time it took us to find the place after a couple of tours of Enfield....!Almost two hours it took us!Once in there , it wasn't as busy crowd wise as I'd expected...but I've never seen so many people arguing whilst shopping! Oh and then we had to wait about 20 mins for a trolley....and typically we joined the queue at the till where there was a problem with someones payment...In future,we will stick to Thurrock...and will only visit at quiet times (That's if I'm ever allowed to go back again!)

A day out..

..or at least a trip 40mins down the railway line anyway! Today I went over to Anna's to work work work! Really we could have done with a few more hours but those things like real life and children get in the way!Anyway, we got a lot of kit packing done ,paperwork sorted and Galaxy eaten :) The weather was gorgeous so we ate lunch outside , a first this year! And on the one ocassion I actually managed to remember to charge up and take with me an Ipod shuffle -what do I do? (No, not just pick up the headphones like last time!) I pick up a 'spare one' (NOT mine) which only had three double albums of Christmas songs on...and the soundtrack to Dirty Dancing! I was not impressed!By the time I'd found the Dirty Dancing songs I'd almost reached Anna's...

Yesterday I finally got round to ordering a proper 8.5 x 11 album so hopefully it might be here tomorrow and tidy up the drawer where my Lo's and albums are (the small LO's are in ab ag at the moment!) I think I should be getting 2 cj's in the post too, making that 3 to do by next Friday...mission impossible maybe?!

This is the only photo taken today,a rush job as we dashed off back to the station!

Scratch that last blog post title...

...it seems summer isn't coming yet after all :( Today we have returned to it being cold and very wet again :( I'm now glad I spent most of yesterday afternoon out in the garden doing loads of digging,ready for the next sunny day.Whenever that may be.We dragged the kids over to B&Q (Holly was most put out at such torture...)where I bought lots of pansies, sweet peas.lobelias and some petunias.I admit to being stingey and generally buy B&Q value plants! Okay, so they may not look much at first, but they generally seem to grow perfectly well once they've been planted /potted up.The girls wore themselves out (again!) having space hopper races and setting up an obstacle course to manouvre!
We ended the day by settling down to watch Enchanted :)
A new sketch is now live over at Pencil Lines :)

I used KI Lace cardstock
Bo Bunny Teen Chic paper
Doodlebug sugar coated alpha & paper frill
Ac Velvet Thickers
Cosmo Cricket chipboard
Maya Road journalling sheer
Heidi Swapp brads & bling & ghost heart
Prima birdie

I really need to do more layouts of Em, so I made a start with this one! At the moment she is really revising hard for her Stats and spends so much time with her nose in a revision book! We're not putting any pressure on her but I'm surprised at much she's knuckled down as we've always had to nag her to do her homework in the past!I think she's just realised that by putting in a bit more time, she can actually make a difference to what marks she gets.
This week I am off to Anna's to help sort out retreat stuff...eek, it's come round quick!I also need to get the next couple of PL sketches done so I'm not running around at the last miunte right before the retreat!

Summer is a coming...

or it feels a bit that way anyway as I have done my first lawn mowing of the year!Actaually, I use the term lawn in the loosest possible meaning..it's like trying to mow the Himalayas it's so lumpy & bumpy.I finally resorted to using the strimmer after hitting a pile of stones half buried in the grass by Holly,thus snapping the belt on the mower...I'm hoping (weather permitting) to start digging out the beds in the front garden soon and begin planting up the hanging baskets ,plus putting in some sweet peas again.Funny to think that this last time last year we had planted all the seeds in the veggie patches! Might attempt them again this year but one of them needs to made a bit smaller first. With the weather being nice the last few days the girls have been spending lots of time out in the garden after school wearing themselves out.As a result Holly has been sleeping in til about 7.15 in the mornings - a miracle!
No scrapping being done here I'm afaraid..house is still like a tip with stuff all over the place :(
But..look out for these on a layout very soon! I was going to share these Maya Road sheers with Anna, but sorry hun, they're so gorgeous I think I'm going to keep them all to myself! I'll give you some Galaxy instead!
Tomorrow Holly starts at Brownies, she's looking forward to it as she'll be with several of her friends from school :)
Lots of boring house stuff to do this weekend ie food shopping, run to the tip etc etc.Geoff is working on Sunday so weather depending ,us girls will be going out for a walk or making cookies! I'm also hoping we'll be getting Enchanted so I'm sure that will be watched too ( anything to break the non-stop High school Musical marathon we seem to be stuck in at the moment!

But on a brighter note

Go Liverpooooooool!!!

It's official

Whilst I am eternally grateful for the roof over my head...there are days when I hate being a council tenant.I am off to eat chocolate and drink wine before I start crying out of pure frustration again.It's been one of them days....

More barmy weather

Today I should have be cropping over at Anna's,but after waking up to a couple of inches of snow I decided not to go as it's quite a long journey in dodgy weather and hopped back into bed for a bit longer!I missed seeing everyone though and having a bit of 'me' time...roll on the end of the month!

So after a quick trip to Tesco's, we all went out into the garden and built a snow lady called Emily! We used almost all the snow from the ground and the garden is now nice and muddy! It actually wasn't that cold out, though by the afternoon it was flippin' freezing!

The house is a tip due to boxes and bits & pieces of shed stuff all over the place. I feel like I haven't stopped all day..having cleaned the bathroom, hoovered everywhere,ironed and then slaved over a hot oven.Yep, I am desperately trying to find the domestic goddess within me so today I made Cottage pie for the kids tea (they were very suspicious as to why the recipe had celery on it!).And yippee, it went down well! Even Geoff sat and ate a plate full!

On Thursday Holly spent most of the day at a friends house so Em I had some fun in the kitchen making 'healthy' ice cream (well it's gone rock hard so I don't know when we'll ever eat it!!) and then making burgers :)

On Friday we finally had a lovely day for the Easter egg hunt - better late than never! Em went in a bit of a grump but I still managed to get the photo that I used on my PL layout this week:)


Talking of which,here it is.

I used papers from the Scrapmuse kit again as I have so much left!

I also added Rhonna Farrer swirl stamps

Maya Road felt bird

Angel Kiss blooms

Scenic Route chipboard letters

Tomorrow is finally d-day for the dreaded shed...I'll believe it when I see it!

*will add other pics when I can get to grips with new technology - say no more*

I saw a mouse...

...and I don't mean Holly's favourite Mickey Mouse either... We've noticed mouse pooh in the shed recently but never managed to find them - until today.As the weather was dry I decided to try and move out and re-pack into new boxes some of the stuff piled up in there.I moved a bag from on top of the kids old carrycot (it was being used to store stuff as it has a plastic base and keeps things dry)and oh yuck, I was hit by the smell of mouse wee!! They'd chewed a bin liner up and nested in there :( I dragged the carry cot into the garden and with being disturbed, a little furry face peeped out at me resulting in a very loud scream from me!With Geoff typically being at work when I needed him, I rang my Dad! Whilst waiting for him to arrive I thought I'd pull said cot into the middle of the garden...prompting one mouse to jump ship and run into next doors garden!When my Dad arrived he bravely moved the bag that was on top...and the second occupant hopped out and legged it back into the shed!!Yes, we'd forgotten to shut it! We eventually managed to chase it back out again and have now boarded up all the gaps until the whole thing is replaced next week - not a day too soon!I'm just glad we got them out, I really didn't want to have to kill them, as despite stinking the place out they were actually quite sweet looking and I am a bit of a softy!


This morning we went down for a walk by the lakes for a bit of fresh air and to give my camera a bit of use! As both girls were wearing their wellies they decided to go for a paddle in the river :) They had wanted to do it during the summer but it was always packed - today they had the place almost to themselves!It was ctually quite warm and summer like today at times - at long last!

Not much else planned for this week.Holly is sleeping over at my Mum & Dad's tonight and on Friday we're having a second attempt at an Easter Egg hunt with their cousins! At some point I guess I need to do some scrapping too...haven't touched anything for a week now.

The Scrapping Angels retreat is fast approaching too...I can't believe it's been almost a year since the last one!Am looking forward to seeing some old faces again plus the new ones too!

Yawn

Just a quick post before I head off to the comfort of my own bed!The one I had last night was comfy but the room as hot as a sauna and my pillow as flat as a pancake!I came home from Olympia with some lovely new bits to keep me busy!
Here is my Pencil Lines layout for this week.I realised after emailing it that I meant to add some journalling, so I need to do that still!Photos are of Holly's talking poseable Charlie & Lola toys that she got last weekend as an Easter present.They are currently tucked up in her egg collecting basket!
I used the box that the dolls came in on the layout,chopping it up to use the walllpaper pattern for the circle and the wide strip.The square C & L tag is from tha tag from the pyjamas she got for Christmas,and the hearts are C& L table sprinkles :) I also chucked on a load of random buttons .
Back tomorrow hopefully!

Ahoy there!

Yep, the pirate pictures are back :) This is the layout I did using the kit from Scrapmuse,crammed full of papers in red,white and black.I have loads left over and have a few more layout ideas in my head - just need to actually do them!

Half term has been fairly quiet so far.Hollly spent a couple of afternoons earlier in the week doing some scrapping :) She did three pages about her cousins ,using up some of my 'reject' papers that were stashed away in a 'give away' box of stuff!

Tomorrow we are going out to Frankie & Benny's as a late Christmas treat ! Yum !

The weather looks like being rotten till after the weekend so a trip to Willows looks to be off the agenda :(

I am off to help Anna at Olympia on Saturday and Sunday.I treated myself to a funky new overnight bag yesterday,a snip at £5! Let's just hope the handles don't break!

Mad weather....

Yesterday was the day for absolutely bonkers weather! We had everything, hail, snow,rain winds plus beautiful sunshine! The girls were pretty disappointed it didn't settle.They got a surprise this morning though when we awoke to a covering of the white stuff! I thought it looked a bit wet to try and build anything,so we had a family snow fight.Not impressed though as all my photos were pants (should I blame the camera or the fact that my kids cannot stay still or smile when I tell them too?!)
The planned Easter Egg hunt as my Mum & Dad's was changed slightly due to the girls cousins not being to make it due to illness and the fact that it was freezing cold (by that time, there was no snow left either :( )The girls hunted for a couple of eggs in the garden ,with Holly falling flat on her bum in the process,before going back indoors to find another couple (we're talking tiny mini eggs here by the way, not huge ones!)We tend not to buy the girls eggs as they're not huge sweet eaters and I usually end up finishing them off.So Holly was happy with her Hannah Montana t-shirt and Em with her copy of Stardust :)

We have a new sketch live over at Pencil Lines :)
This is mine.
I used
Papers by Scenic Route,Making Memories, KI Memories & Creative Imaginations
Queen & Co felt & brads
Doodlebug buttons & rub-ons
Scenic Route letter stickers
MM 5th Avenue Journalling page
Heidi Swapp flowers & block alpha stickers
The girls and Geoff are both home this wek so hopefully we will do some stuff in the afternoons - weather permitting of course!

Quick sneak..

..yes, yes,I know plenty of people hate sneaks...but as I have no other scrapping to share and I don't know when this layout goes live a sneak is all I can show :) And yes, I scrapped the pirate photos yet again...but they went so well with the papers in the kit!

School breaks up tomorrow and I'm feeling totally unorganised and unprepared ! Apparently we are forecast snow over the weekend,so slightly different from the Easter holidays last year when we had hot sunshine and the kids spent the whole two weeks out in the garden !

Plans for the removal of the 'damn shed' (that's it's polite name) look likely to be on hold....what a surprise! So having already made arrangements for the kids to go out for the day we could end up with a rare day to ourselves!

I doubt I'll be blogging tomorrow....Greys Anantomy is back on Channel 5 at 10pm...say no more....!

Loved it!!

The film Enchanted,that is!I love all the old Disney Clasics and used to watch them over and over before I had the kids (I don't get much of a look in on the TV these days...)Enchanted followed on from these, whilst totally taking the mickey out of them :)Plus it has Patrick Dempsey in it ;)So if you want to watch a 'happy ever after' film, this is one to watch.And guess what,the men enjoyed it too!It will definitely be on my shopping list in three weeks when it comes out :)
The weather here has been totally miserable today, yet more wind and rain:( So no going out for a walk anywhere as I'd hoped :(
A new sketch is now live over at Pencil Lines :)
I turned the sketch on it's head to do my layout.
I used
Dunhelm blooms,chopped down
K & Co brad
KI Lace cardstock
American Crafts foam thickers
Various ribbons
Heidi Swapp ghost butterflies
The journalling around the flowers reads 'I dream of one day owning a house with a porch and a swing.'It'll probably never happen as you don't really get houses like that over here...but I can dream!

Two Scoops

Just popping on to share a layout done with this months Scrapping Angels kit :) Not much other scrapping going here at the moment :( I don't seem to be taking many photo seither...roll on some decent weather!
If I am lucky, the postie may bring me two parcels tomorrow...I can't remember the last time I got some nice post! One parcel will hopefully be a Scrapmuse kit which I am looking forward to seeing :)
This weekend we are off to see Enchanted at the local theatre on Saturday morning,along with the Bowkis clan ! Be warned Anna, the girls have been making you all a little present each :)(yep,even Peter!)!Geoff is working on Sunday but I'm sure Holly will have lots of ideas to keep me & Em busy!
I have slowly started to wade through the stuff in the house (and shed!)that needs to be sorted, chucked etc.It's a slow and boring experience,believe me!There's a couple of big bagfuls on their way to the charity shop tomorrow with more to follow...

E numbers a -plenty...

Yesterday whilst it was raining the girls did a little cake icing :) Now I have to admit that we cheated.....I completely forgot to check the cupboards before we went food shopping and could not remember what ingredeients we already had.So as I was trying to stick to the shopping list as much as possible and not buy what we could live without,we grabbed a pack of ready make fairy cakes.And ready made icing.I hold my hands up and amit that I am no domestic goddess!But at the end of the day, the kids enjoyed themselves and love the cakes.Holly decorated one for her new teacher, which she carefully took into school today for her,bless!

Today has been spent sorting through paperwork (ie my wonderful system of carrier bags until I can be bothered filing it properly!) and shredding said paperwork,coupled with a little bit of housework (yawn!)

I took this photo (and several others) yesterday of Holly wearing her new hat.Love her attempt at an 'attitude 'face!And we discovered that the hat is reversible...black & pink stripes on the other side,very funky!

Grumpy & grouchy

Are the reasons I haven't blogged for a while! Not a brilliant week and I'm sure no-one wants to read my moanings,so generally when I'm in a grump, I don't blog!


Hmmm...so what's been happening...errr...mmmm...not much really! Today we went for a quick walk round the block between rain showers! Though once we were back home, it brightened up (as it does!) and the girls spent the rest of the afternoon having an 'adventure' in the garden, making soup and mud pies! Someone please reassure me that this won't all stop come September when Em goes up to Senior school....!
And you know what..I really can't remember what else I've done this week!
New Pencil Lines sketch is now up, with Corinne Delis as our guest DT this week :)

I have been meaning to scrap this photo of Holly for ages,though I'm still not sure I've done it justice!
I used
Scenic Route Loveland papers,stickers & die-cuts
Heidi Swapp bling
Large circle made by glueing diamantes on indiviually
Creative Cafe scalloped velvet
Queen & Co felt Fusion

Don't think I have anything interesting going on this week either,so who knows ,I may not be back till next Sunday again!

Ooh la la!!

Sorry, I couldn't think of a better title !
I was lucky enough to have a layout put up on a French Sketch blog ,Scrap Idees last night :)Thank you Michou for inviting us to play along!
You can see the original sketch and the design teams layouts here,This is my layout:).

I used
black Bazzill
Ki Memories Lace cardtsock
Ki Memories paper
Various brads
American Crafts Thickers
Heidi Swapp bling

Good news today, Em has got into her first choice of Senior school :)We were pretty hopeful that she would as it is just round the corner from us, but there is always a niggling doubt! Sob, can't believe she will be off to senior school in September :(

Back again :)

We have been away the last couple of days in Widnes for a family wedding.Although it was a small 'do' there were still a few last minute arrangements fort us to help out with! After a problem with the flowers ,I spent yesterday morning making a bouquet for the bride,one for the maid of honour and 15 button holes! Now, bear in mind we had one mixed bunch of flowers, two bunches of tulips and a bunch of flowers Geoff had bought for his Mum for Mothers Day to work with, I am quite pleased with what I made up,especially for a first attempt at this kind of thing! We ended up going out for supplies for the button holes yesterday morning, and whilst we were totally ripped off by one florist, we found another fab one just down the road! Although the weather stayed dry, it was blowing a gale so pretty impossible to get photos without people's hair all over their faces!
This morning we travelled back home again.Once the case was all unapcked and the washing machine was on (!!),the girls gave me my Mothers Day cards and pressies.Yep, two more Momiji Dolls :) I may be entering a lean period now though....no 'occasions' til my birthday in September!

New sketch is now live over at Pencil Lines :)

I used

Scenic Route paper

Creative Imaginations paper

Heidi Swapp tape,bling and ghost stars

KI Memories Lace cardstock

Doodlebug All Mixed Up rub-ons

Doodlebug buttons

American Crafts felt corners

letter stickers from ELC

I know ,I seem to be back in a green & pink phase, this looks similar to my layout from a couple of weeks back! I love how the photos look on these papers though :) The tiny letter stickers about the buttons say 'wannabe' !

Bargain hunt...

I love going shopping,especially when I come home with a little haul of bargains! I headed off to Stevenage this afternoon in search of something to wear for a wedding this weekend...nothing more depressing than clothes shopping when you can't find anything you like :( But despite drawing a blank for me, I picked up some fab bits for the girls.The coolest of all has to be a black hat for Holly with pink glittery skulls on, complete with matching black and pink stripey scarf,for a tiny £1.25 ! I will take a photo tomorrow :) I also got both girls really nice baker boy style hats in pale pink for £1.75,top & leggings for Holly for £2.85,cardigan for Em for £4 and a Holly's fave pink jumper in the next size up for half price too :)Got to love Tesco's kids clothes!

I seem to be all behind and out of synch with everything at the moment,lots of tidying to be done,rooms to be sorted ,a heap of ironing ...and then I have scrappy stuff on my mind too :) Looking forward to the retreat in April and also trying to get prepared too! I doubt I will get much scrapping done somehow!
My Pencil Lines layout is done for this week, though I am toying with the idea of chucking something else on it! Why can I never just leave them alone?! It just needs a little bit of jouranlling added but I'm tempted to add more!
I'll leave you with the layout I did at the retreat on Sunday :) The paper is by Making Memories,Lace cardstock by KI Memories and the brown flowers are hand cut and doodled on .This will be going up on the wall in a box frame hence no title :)Photo very kindly taken by Anna last April...probably the last time we had a decent family photo taken (apart from the one she took in October!!)

Cropping,packing and wii-ing

...and not a chocolate brownie in sight...*sulk* !!

The cold is finally on it's way out -amen!!- and my eye has cleared up a lot though still looks pretty yuk!

Yesterday afternoon I went over to the Great Ashby crop with Anna as she was teaching a class there.I also managed to do a little bit of shopping while we were there ;)

We then headed back to Anna's as we were supposed to spend the evening pricing up all her odd bits of shop stock.In reality we sat and went through all her DT stash, sorted it, listed it and put it all away again! I was treated to a fab tea of spaghetti carbonara and garlic bread - yum! I was also entertained by Lily wiggling her bum and Izzy giving us all a lesson about World War 2!! After falling into bed at some late hour I was awake bright and early this morning.Anna came downstairs to find me playing tennis on the Wii with Izzy,still in our pyjamas!

Then we went off to the Buckden crop where I got my traditional one layout done :) The rest of the time was spent munching biscuits, chatting,packing up next months kit and pricing up all the stock.

Two layouts to share today :) The first is one I did for the Scrapping Angels monthly kit,using Scenic Route papers.I have loads left so I have a couple of other things planned to make with it .I also used KI Memories stamps,MM stamps and Scenic Route stickers. The flowers made using the hearts cut out and curled and then mounted on 3D foam pads.

Second layout is this weeks Pencil Lines layout.

I used

Heidi Swapp block alphas

Basic Grey Blush & Lucky papers

Creative Cafe velvet trim

Various buttons

Heidi Swapp ghost heart

Doodlebug rub ons

Don't forget to go and see the other DT's layouts and the sketch :)

Am off to bed to prepare for another week of school and tidying the house!

Bleurgh

I didn't realise it was that long since I'd blogged..but I do have an excuse,I am struck down by the lurgy.My nose and head have been totally bunged up for two days now:( I think I got about two hours sleep last night...and although I am shattered here I am wide awake at almost 1am .I think this is mainly due to nthe fact that as well as the cold I have now have the dreaded conjunctivitis...great :( So tomorrow I will keeping my distance from everyone and making a Dr's appt for the morning .Depending on how quickly it clears up I'm guessing this could also mess up my weekend plans of cropping and staying over at Anna's - pooh :(


Today I have literally done just what had to be done and then flopped on the sofa with a bar of Galaxy hazelnut (just a small one!) and a girly chick flick for company.I love this film, more each time I watch it :)
I am off to see if I can cram in a few hours sleep....

New Momiji :)

Forgot to say that I got a new Momiji doll from Geoff for Valentine's Day...here she is! And if you see them going for a bomb on ebay,don't be tempted...go to your local John Lewis instead,they sell them there :) I cannot believe that a Momiji Snowglobe has just sold for ,wait for it...£65 on ebay!! I'm keeping hold of mine!

Good news on the Pc front :) Peter dropped off Anna's spare one today and Geoff has managed to put our hard drive in it and everything is still there .Everything has now been transferred safely over to the external hard drive.I just need to spend tomorrow checking my old emails for anything I might need and getting stuff like my MSN ID written down! I might also put a load of photos on a disc so that I can get some printed for scrapping as I'm cropping this weekend and if I don't go organised I will get nothing done!

Still kaput...

Still without the main PC...which has it good and bad points! Good that I'm not spending anywhere near as much time as usual on the PC ,bad in that I can't get to most of my photos,my fave sites (unless I can remember them or find someone else with a link!) or anybody's email addresses! The photo thing is my biggest downer though! Am going to try add some to this post though that I've taken this week :)*added photo of the girls with their tree warden badges from Tuesday :)

So, half term is done and dusted and it's been a pretty good one :) The weather has been gorgeously sunny for the most part, if not a little chilly the last few days! On Friday Anna,Izzy and Lilly came over.Being full of cold Anna was not in the mood to venture outside for our usual trip to the lakes so the girls made do with bouncing about on the trampoline whilst we stayed inside in the warm!

Yesterday morning Em and I went to see Stardust as well as popping into the library to collect a book she had ordered.

This morning the girls and I went for a walk down to the lakes as Geoff was working.I tried to perfect the art of taking a photo of us all holding the camera at arms length...in the end a very nice passer by offered to take one of us together :) She must have heard the peals of laughter at my attempts! We had a quick go in the playground and a traditional game of Pooh Sticks at the bridge before returning home to warm up.

Although it was cold today, I managed to get all the washing dry and having emptied the ironing basket, I promptly filled it again! Did manage to get it empty again though whilst the girls amused themselves in the garden :) I also finished off a layout that I started last night ,whilst watching them from the kitchen window.So all in all a pretty productive day :)

Our guest DT over at Pencil Lines this week is Sarah Youde ,and we were sponsored with kits by Scrapmuse.I am just using photos that I have already printed off at the moment,and this layout uses photos that are nearly two years old :)Everything I used is from the kits, except for the American Crafts foam thickers.

And here's a little sneak of what I've done with this months Scrapping Angels kit

Sun filled two days :)

So I'm guessing summer has come early again this year?!
Yetsreday our road had a street party to celebrate the planting of new trees.The sun shone,the kids had a fab day playing out and they helped plant the trees too :)The road was closed off to traffic and taken over by kids on scooters, a game of volleyball,Twister..you name it, it was out there! Holly did her own take on grafiti...writing 'I love Mummy,I love Daddy, I love Emma' on the pavement...finished off with 'I love everyone' wriiten on our doorstep!!I have loads of photos but can't upload them whilst on the laptop :(
Today the girls and I went to Whipsnade Zoo with my Mum & Dad.Yet more sunshine and by the end of the day a very sleepy Holly! I love going there, it has so many memories from when I was a child and went there with my Mum & Dad and sister (back in the days when we wore identical outfits!)Lots more photos taken...I am going to bore you rigid once we are back to 'PC normal' !!
Tomorrow will be spent tidying,ironing and cleaning in preperation for a visit from the Bowkis clan on Friday :) I am predicting a fair bit of dancing, laughter ,High School Musical and Hairspray will prevail amongst the kids!! And if Anna remembers her memory card...it'll be a miracle!!

Kaput....

..is what the PC has gone...:( Don't think we will lose everything from it,apparently the mother board has gone and can be put into another PC.I hold my hands up and admit to not having a clue how these things work so I just trust what Geoff says!
So I am typing this from the laptop...which I hate! I'm also not happy because I did a layout for Anna using the Feb Scrapping Angels kit last night...and I can't send it to her - grrrr!And of course I can't remember anyone's email addresses either...doh!
So if I am quiet for the next few days, you know why! I did get lots of cleaning and tidying though today instead of surfing...who knows my house could be spotless by the time we get another PC sorted....anyone seen a pig flying over recently?!

Glorious Sunshine

The weather here has been beautiful today :) This morning I popped into town to stock up on vapour rub, cough medicine and Nurofen for Em.She is bunged up with a sore throat and very little voice poor girl.I also had a wander round John Lewis and fell in love with most of their Easter decorations! I think I may pop back soon and buy the girls the felt egg baskets and a few other bits :)
After lunch Holly and I went for a walk down to the lakes whilst Em had a long soak to bath to perk herself up a bit (don't worry,Geoff was here,I didn't abandon her!).It was so warm, though not quite warm enough for shorts and a bikini top like one person we saw!Is it my imagination or do some people go a little bit mad at the first sign of sunshine ?!Anyway, the camera came too and Holly was happy to pose,smile and jump!It was just nice to be out in the fresh air!

It's Sunday so that means a new sketch is live over at Pencil Lines.
After a change of plan (no change there!)I used
Autumn Leaves French Twist papers
Ki Memories gel stickers
Doodlebug sugar coated heart
Heidi Swapp ghost butterfly & bling
MM stamps
Creative Cafe felt trim
Doodlebug Simply Sweet letter stickers
MM Noteworthy Journalling pad

We also have a little competition running until the end of February.If you fancy joining us as a Guest Designer one week, check out the details here

The girls are on half term hols now so tomorrow they are off to my mum & dad's for the morning.I'm hoping I'll have time to get my Monday house clean done before they come home! Fingers crossed that the good weather holds for the rest of the week!

One I prepared earlier...

It's been a lovely sunny day here for the most part, there were no 'urgent' jobs to be done around the house...so I got my stash out ,spread it all over the floor and eventually made this layout.Now if your thinking it looks a bit Anna-ish..you're probably right!The good thing about having a scrapping friend is that you get to share stash...so Anna has half of my brown Queen & Co felt and I have half of her Maya Road felt birdies!So excuse us if you see the same stash appearing on our layouts!
I know I said I would do my tags ,but it will have to wait again as I've spent too long gabbing on MSN and I need to go to bed!

Meet Bubbles..

...this is Bubbles , my new paper puppy as made by Holly yesterday! Bless her ,she spent ages yesterday sticking and gluing and made us all our very own paper dog!Her imagination and some of the things she comes up with never fail to amaze me...or make me smile!
Here is my Pencil Lines layout for this week...which I did like until I saw everyone else's stunners! Oh well!

I used
Scenic Route background paper
Heidi Swapp bling
Love Elsie ribbon
Creative Cafe scalloped velvet ribbon
Bazzill spotty brad
American Crafts Daquiri Thickers
Scenic Route papers

I have a couple of tags to do thanks to Sandie, Lyzzy and Beth so I will try and get them done tomorrow as I have a thumping head at the mo (See Anna, I am trying to cut down on my Diet Coke and look what happens,my head hurts!;) )
Half term is fast approaching and hopefully I have enough planned to keep the girls occupied! So far we have planned a visit from Anna and her girls,a trip to the zoo (weather permitting),a street party to celebrate new trees being planted plus a couple of mornings at Nan & Grandads - phew!
Right, I am off to rest my head!

Still here!

Haven't been snowed in or blown away...I just kind of forgot to blog! Not that much interesting has been going on anyway!

Yesterday was one of those days the mums at school dread...dressing up ,this time for National Reading Day.The kids were given guidelines that they should dress as characters from traditional fairy tales ,nursey rhymes,myths & legends or stories passsed down by generations...hmm, since when Spiderman became any those I really don't know ,but there were plenty there! Em's was a last minute choice after I deemed most her of her ideas as pretty unsuitable for the weather at this time of year! She settled on the witch from Sleeping Beauty...and dressed in black! Holly was slightly easier after a friend lent her a red cape and she went as Little Red Riding Hood,complete with basket of plastic cakes. Apparently they have to dress up again in about a month for World Book Day...I guess I'd better start thinking up ideas now :) Holly likes the idea of Lola..so I'll be on the look out for Lola style pinafores!

Today we went for walk over to the library followed by a visit to Costa Coffee for hot chocolate :) The weather has been lovely, bright and crisp but with no sign of snow...:( Whilst the girls ate lunch I finished off my Pencil Lines layout for tomorrow .I wasn't sure about it when I started it last night but it's grown on me now it's finished :) I'll leave you with a little peak (mainly because I have nothing else to show you!)

A Little Bit of Loveland...

...yes, my adoration of Scenic Route continues with Loveland!

This is the layout I did at the crop yesterday ,featuring Holly wearing her two favourite Christmas presents- her Minnie Mouse ears and the pink jumper from Izzy & Lilly :)

The black background is the table runner as mentioned in yesterday's post - thanks again Louise! And thanks to Kerry too for the title help! See, I am no good at this lark...I have to get other people to help me! The close up shows the Heidi Swapp giant ghost heart which doesn't show up much in the big photo.I didn't realise when I ordered these that you get an 'outline' as well as the solid heart,fab added bonus! Papers are Scenic Route and Making Memories Noteworthy,and I added a pile of Angel Kiss blooms,various brads and Scenic Route letter stickers for the title.I did sit and push a couple of other photos around on various bits of paper yesterday but they haven't materialised into layouts yet!

Sandie, I haven't forgotten your tag, will try and do it tomorrow!

Been cropping....

...twice!!And I still didn't get much done! Am coming to the conclusion that I am rubbish at crops ! I can't take the whole house as I travel by train to Anna's so I end up half doing things because I 'know I have something at home' that will go with it! Every time I tell myself that next time I will go prepared and organised..I never quite manage it! It was lovely to see everyone though and huge huge thanks to Louise for that gorgeous table runner! And guess who forgot the memory card for her camera ...again !! So if she forgets to credit me, the photos of Anna's Pencil Lines layout this week were taken by me ;)!! On Friday I went cropping with Lyzzy & co, and mananged to do my Pencil Lines layout...and spend money in the shop!


Talking of Pencil Lines, new sketch is now live! And a very rare occurence, I actually did a double layout...only the second one I've ever done I think!

I used the Scrapping Angels January kit plus Autumn leaves Journalling stamps,Queen & Co stamps, AC Thickers and Heidi Swapp bling and photos of the big snowfall we had last year.
I am off to unpack my scrapping bags!

Ta Da!

Woohoo, I scrapped! And not only that ...I scrapped without a sketch and manged to cram 10 photos onto one layout :) I feel much better now...I've seem to have got so used to using a sketch that I find it difficult trying to scrap without one! Anyway, this is a layout I have been meaning to do for ages ,before I forgot the whole 'feeling' of the day. Once I had all the photos down, the journalling came quite easily...something else that hasn't happened in a while! I am really pleased with how it turned out...I wasn't keen halfway through doing it but by the end I was more than happy! So this is my little tribute to Anna and her amazing race last September...

Click on the picture to see it bigger!

Just mooching...

Yep, we have spent the weekend just mooching about due to the rubbish weather here at the moment!
I was treated to my breakfast in bed by the girls this morning though as Geoff had gone into work!Em also decided that she was going to 'do everything around the house' today...she did do her and Holly's tea anyway!
Holly was hoping to go for a walk down to the lakes this afternoon 'to walk in the mud' but it was raining again by then so we gave it a miss! Probably just as well as I'm sure one of us would have ended up on our bottoms in it!So instead the girls did some painting whist I waded through the ironing! And I suddenly realised how they are growing up too fast...Holly used to churn out loads of 'big handed' people paintings...today she did just two paintings ,but took ages over all the little details on them.But at least I didn't have to spread them all over the floor waiting for them to dry out!
Pencil Lines is live with a new sketch! Our GDT this week is Sasha who is an amazing scrapper and a regular contributor to the readers gallery:)
I had a set idea in my head of what I was going to scrap this week, but all the photos turned out pants so I had to change ideas yet again!I still plan on doing my original idea at some point,just need for wait for better weather !

So I used
Scenic Route papers (yet again!)
American Crafts felt Thickers
Doodlebug Simply Sweet & Loopy Lou stickers
Heidi Swapp block alpha stickers
Angel Kiss blooms
Bazzill/Imaginesce rub-on
The photos are of Holly last year during one of our many trips to the small park near us :)

Huge thanks to Annie for the little package of scrapping goodness that arrived on Saturday - thanks hun!
I have just ages resizing and printing lots of photos for a layout so hopefully I will be scrapping tomorrow night!At last we have sussed out how to print different size photos out at the same time on one sheet of paper!

bang bang thud

Yes, that would be the sound of me hitting my head against a brick wall whilst trying to get the council to sort out the never-ending problem of my garden shed.I am sick of nothing being done unless I ring up and chase them and now just as it was getting close to being sorted we have gone three steps back again.Yes, I know there are worse things going on in the world but I am still allowed to get annoyed about it. Thank you and good night.

Make your own sunshine....

This is the sight that greeted me this morning when I came downstairs,Holly 'sunbathing' under the 'parasols' with Mickey...love her imagination.And I love her Charlie & Lola pyjamas :) She makes me smile on miserable rainy days like today !
And it's just as well I'm not superstitious about umbrellas being open indoors isn't it?!

Cool feet....

Are these cool wellies or what?!These are Holly's new boots...a snip at £3! Yes Lyzzy, we do still need wellies...what do you mean summer is round the corner, have you seen the weather forecast for this week?!
The trip to the Orthodontist went well and Em is brace free for the next four months so that they can see if there is any movement - she is one happy girl!
Other than that, not much to report here!

Oh...my...ears!!

So this afternoon Geoff discovered an 'on demand' karaoke channel on the TV....ouch!! Now I love my children to bits, but they really don't have the best voices sometimes! Anyway, much wailing and dancing followed this discovery...so I took myself off into the kitchen to prepare the roast for tea and start on a CJ!!

Bit of a quiet day here...I'm sure I won't sleep tonight as I've not even stepped out of the door today! I still seem to be lacking any get up & go...I'm not ill...just feel ..flat for want of another word!I think I just need some sunshine...shame there doesn't seem to be any on the horizon!

Tomorrow I have to take Em for an Orthodontist check up to see how her brace is getting on,and whilst over there I need to go wellie shopping or Holly!

Let's have another go at showing my layouts...!! There's no point in showing the sneak of my Pencil Lines as it's now live! The layout was done using a sponsored kit from Fresh Pages...so I have a good reason for using Scenice Route again this week - I had to!The photos are of Holly a couple years agao after she'd been told off (I have no idea what for!).I love them because she has her'summer hair' - it dries really wavy when she gets it wet in the paddling pool!

It's the weekend!

Well, okay it's almost halfway through now as I'm posting this so late!
I have been so bored this week and grumpy,it was nice not to have to do the schoool/work routine today.And the added bonus was that it didn't rain...well not while it was daylight anyway!
Today we went out for a walk to the lakes...lets just say it was ....muddy! Luckily no-one slipped over but I'm pretty sure one of Holly's wellies has a hole in it somewhere...
We've almost spent a bit of time of the Wii :) The girls (well Holly mainly, she adores this game!) have unlocked all the extras (Ithink!) on the Olympics game so we have been doing a bit of skydiving along with some dream fencing!
Yesterday when the sun made another brief appearance I scrapped...I forced myself! *no photo as Blogger won't let me upload !*I always take ages finding photos so I just pulled out one from some spares I had printed out at Christmas.I used Scenic Route Loveland papers...I am so in love with Scenic Route at the moment (does it show?!) and end up buying mot of them twice so I can use both sides! The only other thing I used was some pink Heidi Swapp bling.I couldn't think of a title but I like it without one.And if I do think of one,there's still plenty of space!
I also got my pencil Lines layout done last night too :)
This morning I picked up two CJ's from the PO depot.They are both absolutely gorgeous so I hope I do them justice!

Still here..

..but not much to share!

Today I went over to Anna's ,alas not to play today but to work instead.We got the January kits packed up(helped by Lilly!) and rather nice they are too :) I have some ideas whizzing round my head as to what to do with it .Which is good as the last week or so I have had trouble scrapping.I just can't and I don't know why! Also sorted out some of the retreat admin and the next kit too - which is very nice :)

The girls are now back at school but Geoff has been home off sick the last few days so normality has not quite returned yet!

Hmm, so no scrapping to share I'm afraid so I'll share a pic of Anna's kit!

Almost over...

Yep, the girls have one more day of their holidays left before they go back to school on Tuesday.Whilst I will miss them, I'm also itching to get on with some serious sorting out around here! The Christmas decs were all taken down and put away today (yes, I know we are a day late but we were otherwise engaged yesterday!)so whilst I am so glad to have daylight back in here again it does look a bit bare and empty....
So yesterday...hmm...what did we do? Oh yes..went to the Bowkis's...:)Poor Anna apparently had lots of kitchen disasters before we arrived,not that you'd know though by the most edible chocolate cake,sauce-to-die for and strawberries she dished up!If that's what she calls an accident Lord knows what she'd call my baking attempts!We sang tunelessly along to High School Musical on the Wii (yes, even me & Anna...I think we probably curdled a few pints of milk;) !! We knackered ourselves at the Olympics and yes, the Deacons narrowly beat the Bowkis clan at tennis...don't you love the Wii?!At one point the kids went upstairs leaving just the adults fiercely competing against each other...do you think they got bored?! Anyway, with so much excitement I kind of forgot to use the camera (plus the men complained that Anna's flash was putting them of their stride whilst they were Wii-ing it!)We had such a good time but sadly we had to come home...cannot wait til the next time!Thank you so much for having us!
So today has been spent tidying up the final traces of Christmas etc and Geoff doing some nifty improvemants in the kitchen :)

Pencil Lines has gone live with a new sketch (well, it's Sunday!)If you like multi photo layouts go and check out this weeks GDT!
Here's mine :)
I used
Creative Imaginations paper
Rhonna Farrer swirl stamps
Doodlebug sugar coated chipboard alphas
Doodlebug Simply Sweet alpha stickers

I need to catch up !!

On everything!

Thank you for the comments about 365 journal :) Sadly I haven't got any further and it's still lacking a title! I am keeping up with making my notes though and will start filling the journal in next week once the girls are back in school.The fab thing about this is that you can do as much or as little as you want :) I doubt I will do a layout every week but I am hoping to put photos in the journal along with my notes.Todays prompt is about a normal day...well my normal day consists of lots of Diet Coke and at some point a phone call to Anna!So photos will addded of a can and the phone! It did make me think though...a normal day is full of routine,which I admit I get bored with.But then we have the holidays, after a while I start to miss that routine ,and the guarantee of two walks in the fresh air doing the school run.So maybe I should maon less about the routine days?!

Tomorrow we are off to the Bowkis residence to be wined and dined by the Domestic Goddess herself ;) I have a list of 'to take's which includes Mario & Sonic at the Olympics and a rather gorgeous red metal cake stand...I'm sure Anna will post pics once she has assembled it (which she will probably do five minutes after we walk through the door!)

No new photos to share I'm afraid as the weather is just so dark here the last couple of days, so I'll share one of Holly using her Golden Coin maker last weekend (a much wanted Christmas present!)

So after feeling a bit down and grumpy yesterday today has been a bit better :) I must admit that the kids were driving me slightly mad this morning so I shut myself in the kitchen and did some ironing.They got to make as much noise as they wanted for half an hour and I came out of the kitchen much calmer so peace all round!

This afternoon we met the lovely Lyzzy and Beth for hot chocolate at Costas.As Beth had Christmas money burning a hole in her pocket we also took a trip to Toys R Us and Dunelm Mill, which saw both Lyzzy and I buying new duvets!

I also got a book to start my 365/366 journal in.I have decided I definitely won't be doing it as self portraits.If I try and look serious in the photos I end up looking gormless and if I smile I look false! So I give up! This evening I've made a start decorating the book,though it's not finished and I'm not sure about it.I haven't even dared to look at what everyone else has done with theirs yet,which would probably make me condemn mine to the bin!

It's getting colder and colder here and the girls are hoping for snow tomorrow.We're forecast light snow so I've warned them not to get their hopes up.Wouldn't it be fab though?!

Happy New Year!

Now,if I'm honest, I don't really get that excited about New Year...today doesn't feel any different from yesterday!
But I will admit to setting myself a few goals for this year, which I won't bore you with!I've also decided to have stab at Ann's 365 day challenge.I'm not doing it the self portrait way - I hate photos of me and am rubbish at taking them!I don't have my book yet either , so today I have just made some notes which I will keep safely somewhere!
Last night and today I have done something quite refreshing...I read a book! I used to read quite a lot but it's kind of fallen by the wayside in recent years.Then last night I was fed up of watching the film Geoff had put on and remembered a book a friend had lent me a few weeks back.I started last night and finished it this evening,all 410 pages! Incase you're wondering, yes, I am a fast reader and no I haven't had my bum glued to the couch all day!
Tomorrow we are meeeting Lyzzy & Beth in town for a hot chocolate , before the diets kick in for this year!
Oh , and out of curiosity....I've had loads of hits on my blog today....anyone know why and want to enlighten me?! (And no, Lyzzy, I don't want to hear your theories!)
No new photos from today so I'll share this one of Holly from Boxing Day, wearing her favourite present on her head!