Besides the seaside, besides the sea

I got back from my Mommas house the other day for an absolute break from it all with my delightful Belle and Marybeth. We have spent so much time inhaling the deepest breaths on the most crisp autumn afternoon walks to refresh the soul (that has gotten a little stale of recent times). My Momma lives on the East coast of Yorkshire and to say its bracing is probably an understatement. We all got wrapped up all toasty and cosy then paced the on-shore breeze with British vigour. Lovely.
Couldn't resist this amazing doorway for a splash of colour with the girls.
Saturday night was spent doing a little mooching around a travelling fair that had the usual hook-a-duck, hoopla, coconut shy's, rides, hot dogs, Ferris wheels etc. But it was so expensive compared to the fact that Bridlington has its own 365 day fair and amusements at the sea front anyway. But still, the girls had a good time and came back laden with the usual cuddly toys and junky stuff that will be chucked into the back of the wardrobe next week. Sunday was veg out day... hmmm, my fave.

Monday took us to the local petting zoo and flower gardens of Sewerby Hall. The skies were eerily dark on one side and bright on the other.We love this place, its beautiful and the walled gardens are just quintessentially British and pristine. I could never ever tire of going there and of course belle has visited here every single year and she never tires of it either. The trees are well established here and very autumny.
There are lots of little nooks where you can take shelter, especially for a photo or two.Running in the leaves is the best fun.Wherever Belle may be - pristine gardens or just my mums - she is sure to pop the Fuschias. This is her favourite little job of helping nature speed up a little.Marybeth feeds a tame squirrel - this was such a fun part of the afternoon.Belle tries her hand at running in the leaves without as much vigour as MB - but she had a giggle.A cute little baby Jack Russell came trotting by with its owner and these two were in dog heaven for a few minutes.MB - larking about and making us laugh as ever!After enjoying their their picnic they then went to see the best thing about Sewerby's petting zoo - watching the penguins being fed at feeding time. More leaf scooping ensure afterwards.And tossing them is just the bestest part after the scoop.MB catching a rare occurrence - me, in front of the camera!It was not too cold but not warm - so you can imagine our cheeks were very pink. The walk back home from the Hall is quite exhausting for the kids but Belle was in her chair anyway and promptly fell asleep from all the fresh air. the sun going down cast the most beautiful light on the cliff tops - It kind of took my mind off dying from hypothermia.Marybeth and I were in so much pain at one point from needing to pay the call of nature we had to stop, meditate and carry on without laughing. Oh it was hard work but so much fun.

I came back home to Wigan with just Marybeth as Belle wanted to stay at Grannies and be thoroughly ruined/spoiled/adored. I don't think its been much fun for her this time round as Belle is not here and I have to work during the day (boo!). To beat the blues we have taken the dog out twice on two uber massive walks (to which he has collapsed upon returning to the snugness of our home and fallen asleep for HOURS).

My lil boy.... just love him to death. he is stood here eyeing up the enemy (ie. someone who might take me away from him.... he is so loyal!) Can you see the mohican hairs on his back standing on end?I really love this picture of MB taken somewhere on a country lane on our huge walk.MB is so happy to have her picture taken. Im happy to take them and give them to my Auntie as a gift :)Lots of short burst runs is something Eddie can handle and MB is happy to oblige!Except when they slip in the mud and get all dirty yuk!

As Mark finished work yesterday until a new job comes his way (hope and pray to the greater beings that it happens soon) he has opted to entertain Marybeth with geocaching this afternoon. Poor kid must hate the feeling of being an only child (in our house) when she has grown up with her sister being at her side everyday and then she comes to our house and its like tumbleweed roaming the whole house until I have finished work. Still, its Halloween tonight and Ive bought a pumpkin to carve plus Ive made a paper one to help decorate the porch to keep us busy. Hopefully a hoard of sweeties will chase the blues away tonight with a shopping trip and a surround sound cinema night (at home) tomorrow might stretch out her wait to go home on Sunday.

Giveaway Closed

Winner has just been chosen and will be announced tomorrow.
Thank you for such nice comments :)

Studio Calico Kit: Fountain Square and GIVEAWAY!

Fountain Square went live last night amongst three new DT girls: Janine Langer, Kelly Noel and Emily Pitts. It was an awesome delivery of beautiful layouts too.
Here are mine :)

If you are a subscriber or wish to subscribe and you then sign up a friend to subscribe as well (bearing in mind you can now pay with Visa and Mastercard as well as Paypal) - you both receive an American Craft Kit to play with for your sound decision.

**Giveaway Alert**

I also am able to do a giveaway on a past kit (not sure which one yet) but if you leave your name here, one lucky person will receive a free kit direct from Studio Calico. Also do check out all the other Studio Calico DT blogs (links on the left here) and sign up there too - you have about 13 chances at this for free!

Digi Overlays

Oh its been a while but worth the fun making these during a relaxing evening!
Overlays can be used not on your digi work but also invitations, photos, homemade stationary and cards. Try making a 6x6 page with them and print them out at home. I think people forget you c an do that! I love them (but obv Im going to say that).Get Whipser HEREGet Ice Dance HERE

To colour them in PS simply open the overlay, go to layers, layer style, colour overlay and select a colour of your choice - then press ok!
Have fun!
Im just taking the kids to the travelling fair so we are wrapping up warm.
Its bloody freezing tonight!

Studio Calico Sneaks

This kit has so much in it - I have enough to make 3 million more layouts. Well, kind of, if they were 1cm x 1cm square. Put it this way there are lots more left overs for more layouts.
Its a beautiful kit, I was hard touched to cut into it but the evils of Tuesday night got me hacking it all to its pagely deaths.... and Im happy.
Its a kit that can be girl and bot too................. endless possibilities xx

TFL - have a super duper weekend.

Beacon of Light

Where one door closes........... you know the saying, right?
A couple of opportunities has come marks way including re-employment into the current firm that are making him redundant. Not a weird scenario these days really, but the firm have to tighten their belts in some departments and slack off in another so it may work out ok in the end. Phew! And to everyone that left a comment for us? Can I say thank you because this week has been an emotionally heartbreaking one and now its Friday, that beacon of light will keep us going for a few more days. And to Sharon who sent me a link to Acoustics Foo....... love you for that xx

Ive got some grotty pictures of my gammy leg to share to show you how much it is NOT healing that quick. It still wrecks and driving is practically suicidal. It turns out that my ligaments have been ruptured severely (fun!) but keeping it "up" helps the repair. These two picture were take exactly one week after the even - although I got kicked in the leg the bruising extended to my foot... mmm, nice

And this is two weeks after the event - still puffy, sore and red

weirdly my toe went black and as I type now, two other toes have gone black too. But its a good sign apparently so here for speedy healing :) Love that swollen ankle, adds to the glamour.

Ive got some sneaks to share later for SC - Ive not managed the full kit this month purely because there is a lot in it and this week has been marred with fraught. However, Im so pleased with the work I have done this month as I have tried a couple of new things to keep my creativity on an even keel.

Remain calm, think positive

Sometimes, when you are in an utterly foul mood, you just can't summon up the strength to think positive. If you think positive, lovely things happen. I believe in that and having read the Secret again recently one can only have faith in positivity. Im being brave and Im putting on a front but deep down Im a tad shakey. Mark, on the other hand, has been on the look out for more employment today and rang me (from his current work) to tell me he is on the "up" and riding the storm. His work actually said he could "go" when they announced his redundancy last night and be paid a weeks notice. But he wanted to stay because that's the kind of guy Mark is. He has always paid attention to detail and he puts his all into everything - his work, our family and our home. He is being positive but I can only imagine that deep down he is cut up.

We both couldn't eat last night for feeling sick so we went without a meal. I don't think Belle knows the full extent of what the tale is plus its not all that bad as I earn a little and we have savings to help ease the burden until he finds more work. He is not totally unemployable, there is work out there! You see - POSITIVE!

On a lighter note, I have two layouts to share from Design Objective commissions - this one is for Project of the Week over at the DO site and this one is for Challenge of the Month over at Creativity Life.

A festoon of creative energy belies me to help take my mind off the situation and with a challenging change in my lifestyle starting tomorrow morning (yelp!) - I need to keep myself uber busy.

Digi Moments

I've been beavering here at home with some behind the scene digital products which will be sold under a small title entitled ooooh, let me think of something eye catching.....erm, Kirsty Wiseman? LOL! . It's so exciting to be able to get paid for a hobby of which I take all too seriously at times. Its a case of needing the moolah as Mark was made redundant today. He kind of saw it coming, its no great surprise but still a shock if you know what I mean. Pah, credit crunch, recession and financial clap trap - who needs one anyway?

Part of the digi empire which is sweeping both the cardmaking and scrapbooking world takes me to QVC for a sumptuous 8 minute slot on 4th Nov with a supercool product from Lasting Impressions. Its mad taking a trip for an 8 minute slot but also worth the experience. I'm not sure what time it is on yet but Shauni, if you are reading this and its after school - would you like to come and watch in the studio? Answers on a Cypriot postcard please :)

And as my Digi Day continued in its pixelated roll (before said redundancy was vociferously announced) I managed to wizz this up using part of my Very Cherry cardmaking range (available soon in disc!)

Funny day really (not funny "ha ha"). Not sure what to make of it. Might go and cry under a little bar of chocolate. Or 10. Or 4,000.

PS: The shoes are by American Eagle which I bought in Vegas for $8 - I know, SHUT UP! They are wedge heels too and are so fabulous that I only wear them for spesh because the day they die, I die.

Bomb site dumping ground

Yakkety yak, our house looks like its just been demolished. It feels grubby and stinky and everywhere I look there is stuff all out of place. Mark thinks I have an OCD and I might agree. I hate mess and most of all - I hate things that don't have a proper home in the house. And now Im scared because we are starting to split the lounge-come-diner into two separate rooms but before we even start to decorate we have had to install one new radiator and move another to an adjacent wall....... creating more mess :(
Mark had to get under the floorboards to re-arrange piping this morning. You wouldn't have got me down there, not even for a lifetimes supply of Basic Grey. Its chock full of spiders and webs and rubble and all sorts of disgusting creepiness.

The dog didn't care too much for it!

I was secretly hoping he'd find a cash haul of £2,000,000 but not even could he find a penny. When Mark went on the first run in creepy rubble land, his father suggested we nail him in there for good. I like my father-in-laws way of thinking, we clearly would be fabulous drinking buddies, if we both drank! It was so tempting, really it was.

But my lovely man does all the washing and ironing and Im afraid when it comes to the domestic front, I ain't going to go without clean undies on a daily basis. Ner!

Before Mark went to boring football (yawn) we went on the hunt for a new settee. Ours gets on my nerves as it has scatter cushion backs which annoys the hell out of me every single day. Because Im such a neat freak, every time Mark budges them or moves them to get comfy, I go up the wall. Can you imagine having friends around and them seeing a gap in the scatter cushions? What if there was a crease in a cushion and not up to plumpness satisfaction? The shame would finish me off. Everyday I have to fluff them, primp and beat them to look regimented and linear only then for the dog/daughter/hubby to come and dare sit on the sofa for a few moments relaxation and go and ruin the prestigious arrangement. Whoa! No way! For 8 looooong years I have had to suffer that daily routine and now - NO MORE. Hooray for me.
We have bought a new lounge suite to go with my dream colour range of Olive and Bark with a smidgen of Lime. These sofa's come in a lime in the picture but we bought it in Chocky brown with olive and lime accent cushions so that I can eat it when I fall asleep on it as I dream of foooooooood! But loook - no scaterring of 70,000 cushion. I can't tell you how many new sofa's come with scatter cushion backs these days. So now we have 5 weeks to get the whole dumpster of a house ready for that installation. Of course, Im on light duties which means tea making and fannying about for the next 5 flaming weeks so the legwork (if you pardon the pun) will be done by Marky boy who is my absolute DIY hero.
We also bought a small tin of tester paint to match the smallest rip of tester wallpaper (I would have taken a full 8 feet but Mark thought a 1 yd strip would suffice - NOT) but still I couldn't wait to get back and tack it to the wall and paint a swatch for a dummy run. Im now waiting for proper daylight to tell me how good it might look. Can you tell I'm excited? I love decorating and transforming and mostly I like doing that on a budget!
As prommed, I have some pictures to share with you from my cousins wedding and blessing. these are some of my 405 shots from Cyprus.

This is the full length picture of my second cousin Kay and her Daughter Joanna.

Here are the four bridesmaids together. My cousins Daughter Shauni, My cousins wife Julie then Joanna and Kay.

Shauni and I

My cousins son, Jake

Joanna and her boyf, Callum.My brother and his wife, Kerry larking about on the rocks at sunset. They are always playing around - they make ma laugh so much.

The vicar was delightful to allow me to take pictures during the blessing ceremony. During a wedding, however, flash photo is strictly not allowed. So I snapped my way through it the best I could bearing in mind the bounce flashing in a church is ridiculous as the ceiling are 15 miles above you so most of the pictures are pretty much face on flash which is not my favvo. Cranking the ISO up to 800 was not my idea of great photography neither.At the end of the blessing, the bridesmaid provide a thumbs up for a beautiful ceremony.My cousin, Marybeth and her Granda. You will never see such a loving bond between grandfather and grandaughter as much as these two. Marybeth idolises him. Isnt she beautiful?The night time venue was held in a local centre and Chris and Jane's fun approach to feeding time was a real hit. We enjoyed this fruit tree, do-nut tree, 5 tier choco fountain (which basically I tipped my head under, opened wide and allowed my gullet to be totally smothered in the creamiest chock this side of the Pennines) plus a fab champagne fountain from this company in Leeds. Absolutely everyone got involved with those sugary delights. Belle was in her absolute element and scoffed a bit of everything. I thought it was spectacular, I was buzzing all night!
A local band came and played and wondered if I might be their promo girl seeing as I was photographing absolutely everyone having a good time, which was my fave part of the night. With a name like The Measles, I can see it doing my reputation a great deal of good although their number one fan got the best seat in the house all night. They played some fab covers of Pulp, Oasis, Kaiser Chiefs and The Jam. They were a really good band in all fairness and you might like to book them if you are in the Leeds area, if ever I had a link. Doh!Belle went and collected all the pretty confetti and streamers. She didnt dance much but she was content.You can see remnants of chockky fountain on her lips here! Isnt her hair gorgeous?And as for Jake? It all got too much.

Tonight was the last instalment of my Design Principles course which I enjoyed putting together with instalments being beefed up with work from Anita Mundt, Maz Hawes and Paula Pascual. Covering topics from Rule of thirds to Continuance to Asymmetry plus other balance-a-riffic composition rules that help achieve visual and artistic championship. If you missed out you can buy the complete course for £20 to be delivered in one neat package if you email me HERE. Or read the special offers above.

Bed time calls, toodle-ooooooooooooooo.

She wore purple

Oh yes she did and she wore it well.

How rich is that colour? It almost matches the bruise on my leg ;)

How utterly dreamy was this setting?I have 5 weddings booked next year. I have room for 3 more if its your year to be matrimonially conjoined. I think 8 is my limit; weddings are HARD work!If you are also considering Christmas card shots like this one above, I have 2 weekend spare in November too :) Email is in the left hand links bar.
**sigh**

Just got back in late from the blessing of the above marriage (pics above were taken in Cyprus almost 2 weeks ago but the blessing was held in a wet and windy Leeds tonight). Deffo will sort out pictures of these events in full for tomorrow :)

Im off to get some serious zzzzzz's.

8 inches off

Im a maniac with a pair of scissors.

Not just with paper but with hair - her hair.

My poor little mite has cried every single day of her long-hair life (11 years in total) when it came to a morning brushes but everyone knows that beauty is painful. Recentl, though, her hair has started to look a little matted even after careful brushing so last night I thought Id give it a trim. Only I reckoned she would look so much more grown up with a really good trim. All 8 inches of it - when you unravel this it really does measure 8 inches!

Oh she did cry.

Not from pain but from the shock. And then I blow dried it and watched the curls bounce into a neat little bob. And this morning she felt good as when her hair was brushed there was not one knot. Her hair was tied back and she told herself that she wouldn't tell her buddies but two of them had noticed her neat little nobble and she came skipping out of school. Next week she will wear it down once she is used to it but so far so good.

I cant believe she hits 13 next month but having her hair cut has helped along the way to looking it :)

Every Autumn day is a gift

Well, when the sun shines it is.
I love it more than Basic Grey.
I love it more than Chocolate covered in chocolate sauce with chocolate sprinkles dipped in hot chocolate.
I love it more than clean bed linen.
I even love it more than I love my husband.
Oooops, did I say that out loud? **snigger** (kidding, o' course).
But I do lubs it.
As I am banned from driving with my gammy leg I took a hobble (my only mode of transportation) to our local flower park to which my hobbling is probably worse than driving. But I had to get out of this house. Im tearing my hair out with boredom. Belle was in her pushchair which provided suitable stabilisation and it gave us time to chat. I love our after school chats. Well, kind of.

I absolutely love this one:

An armstretched so far, i thought I might die from this self portrait with a damned fixed 50mm lens!

My little autumnal neck scarf, sigh :)Our chats go like this:
Me: What did you do today?

Belle: You know, same old, same old.

Me: What did you have for lunch?

Belle: Pasta, chicken, melon.

Me: You have that everyday Belle, do you never fancy anything different?

Belle: Nope.

Me: How is everything?

Belle: Fine.

I swear its the same convo just like groundhog day. One day she will say something different and I know I will have heart failure. Im not sure Im looking forward to it but I might like it all the same.

Then halfway through our little autumn shoot, though, she remembered something.

Belle: Mum, Beth fell over in school today.

Me: Oh my god, why.....how did that happen? (thinking alcohol should be confiscated in schools, clearly).

Belle: She was pushed in a crowd surge

Me: Was it on purpose?

Belle: Yes, but I went over to her to comfort her.

Me: Did any of the teachers sort it out?

Belle: No, I took care of it.

Me: How?

Belle: I told everyone to clear off and stop hurting Beths feelings.

Sniff sniff.

She really is a little trooper. I love her so much but for that I love her a little bit more, if that is at all possible. She then went on to tell me about the small group that she belongs to which means they are kept indoors at break time. This is mainly for children with phys issues (like Ellie and Beth) or have social issues such as being being shy or suffering with confidence issues. This week they have a new member of the group. Belle appointed herself as being Charlottes saviour. Charlotte is being verbally bullied in school. Belle went on to tell me that she is "dealing" with it. She has already given her verbals back to one of the kids responsible for Charlotte dismay. She has told "him" to stop it otherwise she would snitch on him. I mean, nobody likes a snitch, do they? But when there is a case of bullying, I think being a snitch is admirable.

Its a case of do or die.

Belle clearly would rather "do".

I just love her for it. She warms my heart and makes me smile from the very centre of my soul to the outers of my skin. I think its kind of beautiful that a child can do this to you. I have this pink glow about me and yet I cant help but think its also pride. I also find it amazing that you can be at your lowest ebb and then out of the blue, your children and indeed pets instinctively pick up on that and suddenly serve you the sweetest of medicine to perk you up and make you incredibly happy.

I, in my lowest pain threshold of pain tolerance, am regretting the hobble to the park because my foot has gone really chubbo with fluid. Yikes, looks like Im going to be using Eddy as my footstool for the rest of the night and snapping my fingers for tea and chocky nibbles.

Inwardly though, Im feeling so happy with my girly chat and that's got to be better than co-codamol ;)

**edited: OMG, Belles hair is at that stage where its so long that it needs a good cut. So I cut it in the bath tonight but erm, I went a bit scissor happy and lopped it off to above shoulder length. Belle was in such a state of shock that she cried (only because she has only ever known her hair very long). I blow dried it and er, its shorter alright! Ive left it so that I can scrape it into a pony tail but like, I pygmy's pony tail! LOL. I will probably take pictures tomorrow but that little girl suddenly looks older now and with her 13th coming up next month she needed the makeover. Still chewing my nails now wondering if I did the right thing but unlike Marks hair, it will grow back ;) !!**

Tunes to la la

Sometimes I hate it when a song just goes on and on and on in your tiny head.
But sometimes I lubbies it.
I love the Kings of Leon as it is and I heard this on holiday in a bar. I didn't know who it was by at first so when I came home I kept the radio on until I knew what it was. Nope, didn't come on so I had to rely on my detective skills and You Tube - oh yeah!

I took some co-codomol last night and within 20 minutes I was fast asleep - bloody great knock out pills if you ask me. Obv more dangerous if I am doing anything of importance which means that being important this week is going to have to be delayed. When I come to normalness, it looks like Im going to be super duper important to make up for it.
Reminds me of my favourite saying: Its nice to be important but its more important to be nice.

Wow - daylight!

Its been so dark up until 4pm today so I took the op to catch up on some project pics to share. Having come back from another 3 hours in A&E to which they didn't x-ray me but mildly examined my leg and upped my meds, I was in the mood to just get in with it, you know? If they are not concerned then why should I be? I haven't got time to be dithering.
First off here is one of my classes from the weekend using tinkering ink (a double LO - swit swoo, check me out!) and lots of cutting out! Ive blanked out my nieces face out of courtesy to my sister who requests this :)
Left page:
Right Page:
My Arctic Frog layout was kindly obliterated by the dog in the top right hand corner so Im not going to share that, the cheeky little sod that he is.
Suzanne taught two fabulous main classes and two off cut classes. These are my favvo's of hers.

This was a little bag decoration challenge. Ive yet to add Ellies name to it but she loves it!

Roz taught these two classes. The first one has a pull out tray and when you pull it out, 3 boxes spring up from its innards. Its fabulous! Then we decorated this deep box of which I have yet to add a photo to.

And finally here are some of my QVC projects that never aired because we ran out of time. I love the Acrylic albums but love them more as a single wall hanging too.

TFL, here's to brighter weather tomorrow so I can take some more pictures xx

Breaking our hearts

My girl got her splints yesterday but couldn't try them out until we bought new shoes tonight. She is a size 11 in her shoe but for the splints to fit properly she has to have a size 1 (three sizes bigger than the norm). And because her school has the most strictest of restrictions on footwear, we had to buy her black trainers and when I mean black trainers, I mean absolutely no colour flashes or anything. This means she has to wear boys trainers. That alone infuriates me. Its not as if the kid is singled out enough without standing out further with hideous boy trainers. No offence to the boys but a girl has gotta have some pride, right?
Im not going to apologise for being on a downer because our hearts are breaking for her right now. She has to learn to walk all over again to correct her valgus heels. We took her to JJB sports along with the splints which she had not walked in yet. I put the splints on which have been measured on her feet when they were not weight bearing. This non weight bearing mould will correct her walking and is actually a good thing for her, when all is said and done. The bigger picture tells a better story but then again, it always does. That positivity is light years away but its a plus and for that I am grateful.
However, when it came to walking in the splints, it was like she was walking on broken glass. I doubt the school are going to give her the one to one she needs for that major shock to her system so we are going to break them in at home for 5 minutes a night, then 10 minutes and so on. In the shop she literally had them on for 30 seconds before I decided that the shoes were suitable for the job. People stared as she howled and sobbed about the discomfort and then she went and tore my heart in two as she wailed "Its not fair, I just want to be like everyone else".
Ellie says this about 4 or 5 times a year to us when she is faced with physical adversity and every time its without warning and it catches my breath. As a mum I ought to be strong for her and in lots of ways I am. I try and keep it together for her; she is my cub, I am her protector. But emotions run wild in this camp and all I could do was wrap my arms tightly around her and cry with her. I didn't care less about the stares or the looks of pity. Right there and then I just wanted to trade physicality with her because that's what I want to do but no such magic exists so we face reality alone. Although, on a lighter note - she might not appreciate what feels like a flaming broken leg if we did make that switch!
So tonight before bedtime, we both went to soothe her into them. She was dressed only in her nightie so we put on some socks, the splints and the shoes and watch her take her first steps. Im not going to lie, she looked bloody awful trying to lift her tiny legs that ended with a massive shoe and ugly splint. Her gait was corrected but the whole affair shocked the hell out of me and mark and we gave each other that silent "Im scared for her" look. She sobbed her way through the short walk from her room to the bathroom whilst holding onto walls and doors. This is not going to be easy and sadly, the hospital didn't give us any advice on the physio of it all. Im so angry and hurt.
As for the hideousness that is the story of my leg, Ive now been advised by the pharmacist to go back to the doctors again as I was standing at the chemist counter tonight waiting for stronger pain killers when my leg gave way and I almost passed out. The pharmacist, who isnt even a flipping doctor, looked at my leg and said that fractures often go undetected. I mean, what made him say that? Plus, a kind girl on the Studio Calico forum even said check it out for DVT. Yurks! I swear to god, if there is anything untoward after all my toing and froing it might just finish me off. Not before I finish my deadline's of course. I have absolutely no time to fit in an injury or illness, thank you very much!

Oh the joy of feet and legs in our house.

Looooong post (grab 5 coffees and a cake)

I love them because I like to see everyone having a bloody good time.
I love the laughs.
I love the ideas.
I even love the way conversations go wild by the end of the night.
I love looking at other peoples work.
I love sharing ideas
and most of all I love being with friends.
Luxurious Angels' 1st retreat in England went off to a flying start with goody bags that went beyond compare. The retreat was nestled in the most stunning surrounds of Wychwood park, Crewe and offered 4 star excitement for a full 52 hours. I offered 2 classes with 2 mini classes making goodies with left overs plus a make and take. Alongside of which Suzanne Torr (my favourite scrapper ever) provided the most amazing classes I have ever, ever seen. I almost wept at how beautiful they were. Roz also ran a class making the two most delightful gift ideas I have ever seen too. One of the classes included these 3 jack-in-the-box, pop up cubes that sprang from a pull out drawer - you have to see it to believe it. I ran out of daylight to take those pictures but I will deffo share them tomorrow. I was having such a good time that I forgot to take lots of pictures. Im pretty peeved that I forgotted but here are a few shots of my favvo people although, to be fair, they were all such wonderful girls.
Sarahs Cards shop was there and as ever I managed to part with a small fortune to top up my increasingly stunning pile of stash that just seems to sit there, gathering dust but also many admiring glances. Leanne was there to help her and she is looking so gooood right now. Cal bobbed along too to show some support which, believe me, was much needed after struggling to cuttlebug through 250 micron acetate. Mwah to you, Cal. If I have forgotten any key names, be sure to smack me for it.

Ms Suzanne Torr.
My fave ever Uk scrapper.
I love her.
Always.
Tracy - the girl that saved my from dying live on air the other week. I owe her my life for taking the time and trouble to phone in on QVC day. She is such a hoot.
Louise wanted some nice pictures of herself (don't we all?). Its a job I love doing the most but rarely have time for these days. She was the best fun to photograph and I think she looks just adorable here.
Roz and I.
I don't think anyone knows just how much this girl can pack into a weekend.
Put it this way, the entire cost of the retreat would normally be what you would pay for a whole weekend in Wychwood park hotel. Do you wonder how she fit everything else on top despite that?! Me too! Roz makes sure you get the BEST classes and extras plus prizes without a hint of the organisation behind it - which was phenomenal. Her Luxurious retreats are not called Luxurious for nothing. So if you want a retreat that has no limits and more stuff to cram in your albums, look out for March in Scotland, next year and October in England too!

But where there is pleasure there is pain.....................
My leg has become inflamed again and by the time I got home last night, my foot had gone black. I injured my shin, not my foot and now my ankle is in agony as the limping has caused my ankle to ache as it over compensates the weight spreadage cos as you know - that's a lot!!! It is such a nuisance to be hobbling about when there is so much to be done. The inconvenience of it all upsets me more than the throbbing heat of my leg. So much so, that the Doctor has banned me from driving until the swelling goes down - believe me when I tell you this, my leg is on fire with pins and needles shooting up my left leg and arm I just want to reach out and kill. How can you get so much pain from one kick and be told by a doctor to "just take pain killers"?!!. My unsympathetic doctor won't be getting a crimbo card this year from us, that I can tell you! He had a jewish surname too which when coupled with my jewish surname, you would have thought he would have, at least, sent me off to some stunning health spa to recuperate. Damn him!


Lergy legs aside, Ive managed to process these from my camera to share. As the wedding photos cannot be shown for another few days (because the blessing takes place on Saturday and most family members haven't seen the wedding outfits, so best I dont spoil it for them on here until then) I have some aceville pic-a-roo's of my immediate fam. Oh we did have a good holiday. My sister and I just laughed the whole time, even at the most silliest of things. I guess that not having our children with us and the added weight of our delightful other halves meant we could unleash the children within us and just run wild. We also got to bond with our cousins who we generally see at family gatherings for 3 hours here and 2 hours there. And even then you don't spend the whole time with them as you mix and match your conversation and time with aunties, godparents and great uncles etc. Our Christopher and his brother Andrew really are the closest of brothers that I have ever known and their infectious personalities added to the blend of comedy. Andrew's two kids were wedding party peeps and it stuns me that I have to miss out on these two gorgeous kids growing up.
Shauny is an absolute angel but is incredibly shy which will no doubt break a ton of hearts as she gets older. And Jake? OMG, my sister and I just wanted to break him in two and take a part of him home with us both. He was an absolute delight to spend time with - he is funny, charming, cheeky and energetic. We both fell in love with impish behaviour immediately. Another family member (2nd cousin once removed!!) is our Kay and her daughter Joanna. Oh when us 4 got together it was ridiculously hysterical. Kay is completely tiny - in all proportions. A UK size 4 (US size 0), size 1 shoe and at 4 foot 9 inches, well - you could just pick her up and put her in your pocket and save her for a midnight snack....lol. Joanna came along with her boyfriend who my sister and I gave the green light to marry provided that we could ogle at him all holiday. He is a little bit delish, wouldn't you say! My brother and his wife, Kerry, were an absolute hoot too, in fact its their 1 year wedding anniversary today so congratulations to them both too.
Me at the wedding - check out my feathery ensemble. It was so fragile that I had to wear it on the plane and no, I couldn't care less that I did. It felt magnificent!
My bro and I at the wedding as he lovingly carried my D200 for me.
But wore it like a flaming girls handbag!
My sister at the wedding, fake crying for effect. How I kept the camera still, I shall never know. She made me howl the whole holiday....loves ya, bex.
My bro and sis. A very rare pic indeed (having them stand together, that is. We live so far apart to have these chances).
My sister and I before a wild night out. Eyes already blood shot from a balcony aperitif (or two).

View from my sunbed one day - sigh.

Coming back with lots of freckles makes Ellie wonder "will they join up to give you a proper tan, mum?". Cheers, babes.And finally (as if I haven't blethered on enough, sorry!) here are my layouts from last months Studio Calico plus other past months kits. It was one of my absolutely favourites (I say that every month but I always mean it!). I couldn't make enough layouts with it so I made 2 mini books to catch the leftovers with. Its their sneak night tonight for the Nov kit.....GOODY!

Im off to go and put my gammy foot up, nibble on some strawbs and demand that mark cater to my every whim until I am back to normal. That will prob last 20 minutes but if I can squeeze one cup of tea out of him, it will be worth it.

Virgin internet sucks - or does it?

My Internet has been down all weekend and just this second come back up.
I just can't bloody live without it.
I shop.
I bank.
I communicate.
I laugh.
I learn.
I read stuff I won't like but do it anyway.
Without the Internet, though, I CLEAN!!!!

139 emails to read.....if you are waiting, I will get back to you tonight.

Moving along

A&E is so boring.
I can't believe I have had to wait 3 hours for someone to tell me what I already suspected.
No. Broken. Bones.
I mean you just know when you have a broken bone, don't you?
I knew I didn't have one, it just felt like I had.
But I was ordered to go and Roz kindly took 3 hours out of her schedule to assist me.
Within 10 minutes of arriving, the triage ordered me to have an x-ray. the 2.5 hours after that x-ray was spent waiting for someone to tell me I hadn't fracture my Tibia.
Can't they appoint someone to just say "Nope, no fracture. Go home and get your washing done, love".
Incidents and accident ey?
Pain in the rectum (and Tibia).

So Im now free to go to the retreat in Crewe this weekend with a bunch of eager scrappers ready to make stuff that shows off our memories. Im teaching two classes and a fab and quick make and take. Im beyond excited; it kind of rounds off my holiday a treat :)

Just don't ask me to run down the stairs for a few days as rolling is my only option right now!!!!!!

Fabulous!

I wrote last night about nursing what feels like a broken leg.
The incident happened during a dance listening to "new york, new york".
You know the dance, you kick your legs from side to side.
And Im in the middle of a group of 20 wedding revellers.
A drop or two of champagne is in the mix, Im not going to deny I was giddy but I wasnt wasted.
Legs kick higher and higher.
Knickers and thighs were on show - it was quite the scene. But at least all the legs were tanned and shaved!
Except my little legs dont kick as high as my cousins son and his gigantic, atheletic leg crashes down on me.
Oooooooooo - that hurt I as I sat out the last of the night... still sipping champagne and having so much fun watching everyone party like there was no tomorrow.

The joke of the night was me complaining to everyone that I had broken my leg even though I was hobbling on it with party excitement. I even mentioned to our Kay that I had broken it in 73 places and it didn't stop me having a 2am swim in the sea in my under crackers. It was at this point that our Kay (my Mums cousins daughter) was frightened that she was going to get eaten by a shark. I mean - come on, this is the Mediterranean - its the most dirtiest water in the world (having only the Gibraltar straits to flush out the yack, which is a small inlet when you look at the bigger picture). No sharks are going to want to venture here! And besides, she is so skinny that she wouldn't even compare to a twiglet or even a canape. My sister said that the liklihood of being eaten by a shark would revert to her as she compared herself to a suet pudding and custard to which I quipped that if she was that then I must be an all you can eat buffet. I laughed so hard I thought I might die from it. And still my leg was throbbing like bloody mad, if I am honest and throughout the night I was petrified to move it as actively as normal.

To cut a long story short I went to the doctors this morning for some pain killers as I am working this weekend. Flying horses are NOT going to stop me going to the first Luxurious Angels scrapping retreat in England. I need a little something to get me through this. So the Doctor examines my leg which looks like raw meat right now. And the little sod only went and touched the centre of the bruising and I shot off my chair and yelped like a dog.

The result lies in a trip to A&E with Roz (the most brilliantest bundle of energy I know) with a suspected hairline fracture.

The joy of this adventure is immense as it gets me out of washing my holiday clothes for the afternoon. So Im off to go and pack a picnic, I could be in for the long haul as A&E in Wigan can take up to 10 hours. Will someone tape Corrie for me?

Back to reality

I have just spent the best week of my life with my sister in Cyprus in the lead up to my cousins wedding (which was yesterday, in fact). I can't breathe without coughing after excessive laughter - more than I have laughed in a year but all in the space of a week.
I spent tons of time with cousins and second cousins for 7 fabulously hot days where as normally I see these family members for a few hours at a time at family get togethers such as Weddings and Christenings.
The weather at this time of year is exceptional for the Med too and I came home with a dusting of colour. I read a great book (Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult....she is amazing), went on waterslides that almost split me in two, ate halloumi in massive chunks, bronzed my wobbles to a crispy finish and laughed so hard that I feel that even pelvic floor exercises may not repair the damage. Talking of wobbles, I came back slightly wobble-less considering we ate scrummy food all day. It really must have been from running up and down water slides all day long and laughing which can actually burn calories!!!!
I have some lovely pictures to share but will save the wedding ones until after the UK blessing next week (don't want to spoil the surprise for my family who couldn't make it to Cyprus - sniff sniff). As I am nursing an almost broken leg, I shall upload picture-oonies tomorrow.

Thank you for some lovely emails and comments in my absence, it was lovely to come home to them after being cuddled senseless by my gorgeous girl at the airport.

QVC - could you tell I was petrified?

Oh goodness gracious me.
He was tall, I have - like, zero heightage.
He is lanky and Ive never, ever hidden the fact that I am a chumba wumba chunksville!
But - Sheesh! Those cameras are mean to the human body and exaggerated those curves I currently posses.
Watching it back tonight I was horrified compared to this UNTOUCHED picture taken just 5 minutes before the show went live. I love that top.... but it clearly doesn't love me. I just don't think Marks and Sparks are supposed to do that to you!

I loved every minute of the show even though I was shaking like a leaf. I knew there would be good and bad critiques but to be honest, Clare and I were there to sell products and we exceeded the quota QVC set with the fab range of Papermania products - so......... job done!

It was the greatest fun working with Clare and Im going back in November to show something really nifty for Lasting Impressions. Hopefully a little lighter on the old chubs. Although I am going to Cyprus in 10 minutes and what with Meze's being the food of the island (ie 24 course snacky meals) I guess Im going to be a little more rounded when I return! - Bummer!

Thanks to the lovely emails, text messages on the show and the phonecall from Tracy which helped calm the nerves immensely. You guys do not know how much support was needed in light of the after events of the show. So thank you so kindly.