There's a revelation

And its over at Studio Calico.
Here is my contribution this month (I went a little mad and made 2 cards, 6 layouts, 1 tree project and one decorated bag and 3 beautifully decorated tags - even if I do say so myself). I have enough supplies to make tonnes more although that is because I got all 3 add.
Hope you love the music - it's one of my favvo's

Last of the sneaks

before revelation at midnight EST (5am Sat morn.....zzzzzzzzzzzzz, sleepy!). Studio Calico hits the jackpot again and I mean... more news to come from this amazing kit club :)






See you at the reveal (will be posting a video gallery of all my work at midnight EST (5am Uk sat morn!)

Dear Mark

You know how much I never really ask for anything and often go without. I usually scrape together my own money to buy my own things often selling old stuff to pay for new stuff. Well this plea is to make up for those times when I suffered the hardships of passing a bargain.
Below you will find three items of clothing I found at an America apparel shop and I simply have to have these babies to fit in my wardrobe. They wont ever date and should you feel generous and kind, let it be known that these clothes are timeless meaning they wont date which also means I wont harass you for a long while; for new clothes.

This grey cardi has a ruffled skirt thingy attached to it - so its like two for the price of one.
This will be great for casual or dress-up-to-take-me-out-somewhere lish
And this cos I just loves it
If you do want to buy me them, do it in code over dinner tonight (ie when you serve me dinner with a little love message saying "yes darling, go ahead and buy" whilst I put my feet up with laptop by my side to make the speedy purchase - he he heeeeeee).
I'll give you my last chocolate Rolo of you do.
Love
Kirsty x
PS: The postage is quite steep but Im sure that you will remember in our marriage vows we betrothed "cost knows no bounds where love is concerned".

Ovaries all a twistin - picture heavy, oh yeah!

Yelp, this bubba is the most beautiful creature I have ever clapped eyes on. Caitlin is a dainty little thing, all pink and scrunchy and crumply.
Luckily Im friends with the Momma, Rach, so it meant I could cuddle her all I wanted and kiss her and squidge her and borrow some of that hope right out of. I even got to have her all to myself for half an hour whilst Rach went to pick up her little boy from playgroup. I even sang the operatic version of "Ride a cock horse" (to her to soothe her) when she fretted. That was my song to belle when she was nursing. **Sob, the memories!**

I can't help but I ADORE babies.
So fragile and downy-ful.
I love downy hair and new, peely skin and I love the smell and I love their neediness.

I cried when I edited these pictures tonight because I attached my heart to that little bundle and I want to go right back to love her again. I almost stole her! Rach, you hold on to that little lady - she is ultra precious. **sigh**

Without further ado - here they are, Mother and Daughter. I have to say Rachel is stunning - her facial features are beautiful. It was a pure delight to do this shoot with them :)

Cameron wanted to get in on the action - he was so tender with her.....so this is for Cameron (He is a lovely little boy)

Kisses from Momma, hugs from Momma, adoring stares from Momma:

Sob!
Behind that fallen hair, there was a grin as wide as the M62. I love that she looks at me - see, Rach, when I come to steal her she will love me as much as she did in this picture. I'll take good care of her!

I have some more sneaks and guess what - more sneaks tomorrow for the reveal of this kit (click picture to take you to Studio Calico)Available at Midnight EST and 5am Saturday morning. This is the first time I have bought all 3 add ons because, well.......just well! Its a beautiful kit and I made 6 layouts, a bag o tags, a 3d tree and some cards PLUS more left over for dozens of other projects. SERIOUSLY.

More sneakage:


And finally.....
Do you like the look of these cards below? They are handmade by moi and are part of the growing love of the Patti Picklicious CD. I went to Stockport today to see the man dealing with the CD and I got so so excited seeing my CD in progress. Not long to wait now. To see the cards in full - go over here





Phewey Louis....Im off to my pit. Night all xx

Read this:

Im not scared of Becky Taylor.

I love that advert purely becuase my sister is called Becky Taylor.

The end.

Sneak time - AGAIN?

How it comes round so quick, I'll never fathom.
Any old how, this months papers from Studio Calico are so quirky and fun - in fact I love the kit so much this month I got all three add ons. Jenni Bowlin and Sassafrass come a close second the my Studio faves.
And Ill say this again, like I do every month - I LOVE THIS KIT. I know it chokes you to hear it time and time again but its true. If I hated it, I just wouldn't show it cos after all, this is my blog. duh!
With trying times, credit crunch and the exponentially eager wait for CHA releases, your best bet for that scrapbook fix is to get busy with a kit where Studio Calico excel in all the latest lines. My scrapbook budget goes on add ons for this kit and I need look elsewhere except one minor weakness when I visited Sarahs cards Ltd for a snag of the new My Minds Eye stuff. She has some great CHA stuff in.

Anyway,without much further ado - here we go:

Tha tha-tha-tha tha-tha-tha thats all folks xx

Pancake Flipping Queen

Goodness me, we ate shed loads of these little monsters tonight.

Pancake day (shrove tuesday) should be every day and not before some "giving it all up for lent" malarky. The only thing I could give up is sprouts and cauliflower which is easy cos I don't like/eat them anyway.

I made up my own mixture (which is pips as I am a Yorkshire girl and I make the BEST yorky puds and we all know pancake mix makes yorky puds) plus we bought some shake-a-bottle American pancake mix and all the gubbins that went with it. I was instantly crowned the flipping queen as mark was RUBBISH at it and Ellie laughed to see such fun that the dish ran away with eddy into the back garden somewhere.Ellie opted for just sugar where as Mark and I jiffed the lemon dry with sugar. I didn't crack open the golden syrup this year, too sweet if you ask me and it would only end up on my thighs at 2lb a leg. Not good.
The dog had just sugary ones and ate one and a half. Its not a bad thing to give dogs eggs and milk and yes, there is flour in the mixture but Im willing to suffer a bad toilet day tomorrow on our daily walk. Hmmmm, praying his tummy holds out.
Had a lovely pretty parcel today from Jo. Jo mentioned on her blog the other week that she loved working with this set of papers. And I felt a sense of pride rush through my little old bod because Id not seen them being used, let alone seen them in real life up until that point. Well, those pretty papers were made by somebody I know pretty well, for a card making company last year and they were released in January (I think). So until now as Id only ever seen them on a computer screen. I was really chuffed with myself when I got to hold them and sniff them (yes, I sniff paper....mmmmmmm) and only hope that card makers across the UK had fun playing with them. They are now classed as end of line so do look out for them in craft shops if you fancy buying the last of them. I even think they have stamps to match :)
In return I asked Jo to fluff up some Patti Papers and you can see what she did over here and at the same time, grab your self a little collecsh of pretty papers and a motif (wooooo) for FREE for your cards. All have the hallmark of my Patti style and will brighten your dull winter days. Download only available for 3 days plus I have a bonus blog background if you want to nick it (make sure you use Minima White or completely make your back ground white before you add the code!).

Sortin'

After a near death experience last night when I thought Id lost all my photos - AGAIN - I sifted through some old shots and binned a load of pictures such as snaps of the odd leaf, a sweety wrapper and some sugar on a table kind of shots. I found these pictures which made me happy (and Im sure Ive blogged them before) but look at how much we have grown. So, in no particular order:

This was taken in 2006 at Dyans studio. I never get to see Ellie looking so studious. I love the concentration in her face, her little shoulder on display through wearing an over sized painting tee and her little rosebud lips....oooh, Im going to kiss those on the way to bed tonight.
Look at that hair that I so evilly butchered last November. This picture was taken in early 2006. Another of my favourites.Summer 2006. I don't know why there are not many pics of the two of us. I suppose Mark never thinks to pick up the camera and snap as much as I do. In this picture you will see my freaky eye colours - the right being green, the other more brown. You might have to click on the pic to make it bigger.This pic was taken in 2007 and its of a Balloon that Belle fell in love with and we came to realise how funny it is now because its a dachshund, way before we ever thought of owning one!This was taken in 2007 - Belle and my momma.
Another 2006 picture. I love Belles hair in this one.Oh I hated the day when I got all my long hair cut off in Oct 2006. Its taken me two years to get it into a shoulder length bob. NEVER AGAIN. I was poorly when this pic was taken.WHOA! 2004, marks B'day in December. We had not long been in this house. Mark has hair!! Love it!
European championships in 2004 - Belle is so serious but cute in this picture. One of a number of faves. She was watching and waving the flag for England!
I think this is 2005, hang on.....yes, it was. Yeeks.
I made this for Jane Dean, one of my fave little altered projects ever. I think this was 2005?2005 at Marks parents caravan. Just look at that little dolly face!
My brush with fame at the "This Morning" search Craft contest. I met Alison who was the most humble, down to earth Celeb I have ever met - but do you see in the background, the man with bleach blonde hair? Mark Speight, remeber him? He committed suicide, sadly two years ago. I met him that day and he was very supportive of scrapbooking, let me tell you that! And god, I was thin there (well, thinner!)
Sing with me..........
Memories, at the corner of my, erm hard drive?
LOL.

Dog was absolutely wasted today. After yesterdays hot doggy rudies which lasted all day (ugh, I know!) he was literally shamoolah-ed. With that it meant I could get on with important stuff like brain sorting, tidying and finishing off projects with little touches here and there. Ive also got the opportunity of a life changing career (absolutely nowt to do with the craft industry) on Wednesday which I am pursuing whole heartedly but will still commit to DT's and Magazine work as usual. I'll also be able to fit photography and my CD work in between too (on my days off!) but I wont be doing as much graphic work; more is the pity. Im so excited about it but also not holding out great hopes because, as you know - ever the pessimist! Heeeeeeeeeee.

Going to go and finish reformatting an old laptop and reinstate it for my Father in law to tinker with and then Im going to get a little crafty for my own pleasure. Its weird not having the dog asleep by my feet as I work as he is flat out on his back on the sofa with mark as I type; legs up in the air, all his crown jewels resplendent to all who greet him. And I spy some drool and a tongue gaping to one side too. Picture perfect!He makes me laugh my head off, that daft old thing.

And so does the dog! LOL.

Doggy Loves

Ugh, my dog loves my brothers dog.
Like - REAAAAALLY loves him.
They are both boys and have been in a fit of snoggy doggy all day.
Im not sure I can cope with this oddness but one thing is for sure - gay boys are great to go shopping with and so Eddy and I shall shop in style from now on.
Lots of people wouldn't tolerate this behaviour but so what, they are only pooches. Plus it wont stop us from studding Eddy out as he has such a great temperament, providing of course he can do the biz when it comes to it... he he heeeeeeeeeee. Little minx.

When my bro came over this morning they brought my sweet belle back who I have not had in my arms for 5 whole days. Boo hoo. My little angel was swept up in my arms for smooches and hugs before she devoured a bacon butty and a grand old cup of home brewed coffee. Then when the boys had gone off to football to watch Liverpool v Ma n City - Kerry, Belle, myself and the dogs went for a good old sunday walk. It was a gorgeously mild day and we hoped it would settle those two doggy lovers out or perhaps cool them down. They were so good being fussed by my dog walking friends - Eddy is quite the star when we go for walks. And Ozzy became a star too. But Ozzy lost his gold certificate the moment he found a pile of horse manure and decided to
a: Roll in it
b: Eat itWhat is wrong with our dogs?
Then Kerry went and picked him up to tell him off and she was covered in horsey plop too. Ozzy must have passed 4 or 5 horsey droppings and every time he did, he rolled in it and ate it. And they came to the park in MY car. UGH! It was vom worthy and not pleasant but slightly funny. Needless to say they both got a hosing down when we got home and not long after, they were at it again. Those doggies need some female companions and quick! He he heeeeeeeeee.

Belle and I, pardners in crime..... best buds. Missed her so much :(
Kerry takes a leap with the sex mad dogs. Eddy looking at me for reassurance and thinking "Momma, this scarey flying woman might make me turn heterosexual - save me!"
Belles hands got cold so I kissed them warm. I had no idea Kerry had zoomed in on that moment (and my roots that clearly need retouching!)I know you cant see faces but I love this picture of us three.The views on our walk, we spent 2 hours mooching and chatting and laughing.
We rounded off the day with home made pate, pizza and left over chocolate torte from last night. I had to say farewell to my bro as he is off to some far flung posting near Qatar for a few months, so I was a little sad.

Just finishing off saving all my data from one nearly corrupt hard drive to new hard drive and for a few hours, I thought id lost all my photos from 2004 to the present day. Thats a huge 94,000 pictures I will have you know. Luck was on my side and I promised to the great heavens that if they could save these pictures, Id never moan again.

Yeeeeks...will try my best.

Ow, eeek, durzzzzzz

God, my head still hurts and Im spinning like crazy here.

Yest:
It didn't help that I had been tied to the Mac all day doing some logo work so I had to dig out the old spectacles and pretend to look studious as I suffer with burned retinas from the monitor.
I went to the quack this morning and this old fella is a gentle old soul. He doesn't muck about but is quite sincere if not a little eccentric. The long and tall of it is that I have Labyrinthitis. I mean, when I think of Labyrinth - I think of David Bowie in a freak Tina Turner wig and Jennifer Connelly running around in a 1980's adventure film. I asked my Doc what the hell it was (and more to the point will I die, because I really haven't got the time or patience to die right now). He said not to fear and that it ought to clear up in 8 weeks. Oh fabulous I thought, like I really need this on my plate.
The minute I get back I google it, as you do.
It seems its a sort of Vertigo and judging by the way he pushed and shoved me in his clinic, I'm not surprised - I almost fell over from a slight prod. At least it wasn't the brain tumour everyone else kidded me with. Cos that would have been an inconvenience, I seriously have so many lovely things planned for the next 3 months including a top secret community operation that I'm looking into (absolutely nothing to do with crafting whatsoever). Dying would only just get in the way. Plus I haven't sorted my will yet and who exactly would I leave all my BG to?

So I spent most of the day experimenting with Twitter whilst fiddling between Illustrator and Photoshop. Man, that thing is annoyingly addictive. I'm not sure I could keep it up though. Time will tell. (Borack Obama sure has a biiiiiiig following and he doesn't even have the grace to update it neither.).

Anyway, before long it was almost time for Mark to arrive home and this darling pooch sat patiently for him to give him some luuuuuuuuurve and when he did get home, we set about going for a walk although to be fair, it wasn't a good idea as I almost passed out all the way round - Mark literally had to prop me up. This head spinning lark is NOT funny and makes me wanna vom all the time.Hopef the medication will set in over the next few days and I can get back to a non spinny world and hopef stop the feeling of wanting to upchuck every 30 flaming seconds.

Today:
Well today was all about prepping a meal for my in-laws. My MIL is a great cook and I don't profess to be one and am unlikely ever going to be Delias major threat. We wanted to impress them but also wanted to enjoy their company without actually poisoning them. Mark and I planned a Garlic and Chilli prawn starter (our very own secret dish of which I will take to the grave with me - soz), we enjoyed this little bugger for main (no pic of the main course but I did take pics of our sweet potato and roast veg ensemble with pretty sprigs of thyme which, I admit, I picked up and thought was rosemary and it sure as hell didn't even look like rosemary but my brain is mashed from medication and it turned out to be a good herbal choice in the end - so hurrah for mashed up brain cells), we ate the it all before I remembered to take a pic of the pork dish but it was blummin scrumpsh and I secretly added extra naughties to the ingredients by form of a tablespoon of brandy....hic) and then this crazy pud which I mentioned last week (and is easy peasy to make and you can't even burn it). It really is the best pud in the world. I even melted some Green and Blacks Maya Gold in a piping bag to make these stylish chocolate stars to decorate. Go me.I was more chuffed with those babies than the entire sweat on over the whole 3 courser. Had to laugh at Marko as he turned the potato rosti, he dropped half on the floor. Normally its me that screws up over dinner. So therefore I am a little triumphant at my non burnery-ness and butter fingers.

The rest of tonight has been spent butchering my Studio Calico kit to within an inch of its (and my) life. Im pretty mojoless right now as my head is spinny dizzy woo but it doesn't stop me cutting the paper up into pretty little thingies to make something delectable with tomorrow.

Going to bed now to feel safe in the horizontalness and hope the nausea subsides.

Ooooh before I forget...............
Patti Picklicious blog has the full unveil of the collections right here

Cards for Heroes: Cards are coming in thick and fast (thank you, lovely kind peoples xx) - if you still want to send me some cards for soldiers to send back home to their loved ones (I believe Get Well cards are much requested as they send their fellow colleagues them often due to injuries etc) - email me here for my address and at the end of April, I will stop collecting them and we can get them out. Remeber, you must leave the inside of the cards blank. The main reason is that these soldiers dont have access to shops to buy pretty/nice/funky cards to send home for birthdays, anniversaries, congrats etc.
Also, a dear sweet friend of mine (Anita Brooks, mwah - kisses) is collecting locally at this address - if you live near by and want to drop them off, the address is: Berkhamsted Arts and Crafts, Lower Kings Road, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, HP4 2AB

Coupla things.....

before I try and sleep this dizziness off (well after watching Greys anyway and even then after Ive downed a dihydrocodeine and two paracetamols with a pint of ribena):

• Patti Picklicious blog has been updated :)
• Can't believe Mark has forced me to watch almost 15 hours of cricket and even then, we bloody drew in the end. I actch got quite excited at one point but then one of the bowlers is a bit fit (not Flintoff, ugh...gone off him). Mmmm, those white trousers..........he he heeeee
  
• Tomorrow is Friday. Fridays are officially fabulous.
• Gots me a twitter feed (look left). As I work on this damn machine all day long, I thought Id twitter (like erm, Boris Johnson) and try it out for a week. Im also on Facebook where my twittering will help update that as well! Look me up if you want to nosey at my old school pics - Kirsty Kinroy Wiseman is my name :)
  
• Got my Studio Calico kit but have lost my Mojo due to feeling ick.
• Go and send some love to Dy here, she has had some very sad news :(

ciao xx

ugh

I do not feel good.
I stand up, I feel dizzy, my head aches, want to cry and really, I have no time to be ill.
Why is it that when you are under the weather that it comes at a time when there is so much to be done?
This month is all about new beginnings and not vommy sicky yack.

Go away Vertigo, me no likey you.

Ice dancing - 80' styleeeeeeee

Did you watch the Bolero story the other night?
We did and we loved it lots.
You often find me, on the odd occasion, staring dreamily at these you tube archives of my favourite ice king and queen form days of yore.

Care to zip back to the 80's with me?

This is my favourite dance The Paso Doble- I love it more than Bolero

Mack and Mabel comes next

Then Barnum

And finally Bolero.... the only couple to get straight 6''s in technical merit and artistic impression - EVER.


Just got back from Mums where I did absolutely nothing but sleep and catch up. Im still not feeling cracky now....must be the menopause as Mark delicately puts it.
Cheh! Thanks love!

P.O.S.H

Do you know how this word came about (posh, I mean?)
Well years ago, when gentry and the aristocracy sailed to India, the best cabins had rooms that overlooked the land as you sailed away. This would have been on the Port side. And then to sail home the best cabins would be reserved on the Starboard side thus the acronym of Port Out, Starboard Home (POSH) was born. I love that I know that bit of Trivia. Although saying that, when we sailed from Hull on Sunday night, all the cabins faced seawards as we sailed directly east; leaving the land at the rear.

My sister, her family and Belle and I set sail for Bruges in hopes of having some half term fun. Embarking the ship was a real kerfuffle because when P&O state you have to be ferry ready at a certain time - they lie like cheap Japanese watches. To entertain ourselves during the wait and to prevent the kids going stir crazy, we all sang to my sisters 80's pop music CD; bringing life back to T'pau and Hue and Cry. How her 4 and 2 year old know all the words is beyond me because I struggled to remember the words myself. Good job that la-la-la's are acceptable in this day and age. When my niece and nephew sing, my god, they sing like they are taking their last breath - I couldn't see for the tears in my eyes from laughing so hard.

When we got on board, the kids were so excited. Harry said he wanted to go home but then he says that 30 times a day even when he is in his own home! We got our cabin keys and went to drop off our belongings before exploring the ship. The first port of call (if you pardon the pun) was the kids play area. Its not exactly a huge place but the kids didn't mind and they always make the most of what they have, don't they? We let them run wild for half an hour before Charlotte screamed "We are sailing". We hadn't noticed that we had set sail, bang on time at 7pm. Eating on board is a very expensive affair so we settled for hot snacks which the kids shovelled down their necks with more excitement. I love to see kids enjoying their food more than I do having to eat it myself. Id rather go without to see them devouring every mouthful.

My brother in law, David, ushered their kids to Bed whilst my sister, belle and I hung about to scour the duty free. With £20 birthday money I was sure to get a bargain and I did. Radley purses had been reduced from £40 to £19.99 and I was delighted I finally joined my friend Rosie's little appreciation society in ode to the doggy bag.

As the ferry was a bit rowdy in the public places, Bex and I decided to go back to Belle's and my cabin to play cards. Bex bought a bottle of champagne to enjoy the trip with and Belle settled for diet coke. I love spending time with my sister, she is the funniest person I know and every moment with her is precious. We have had some fall outs over the years and we have both decided that as much as we often don't like each other, it doesn't stop us loving each other - so we make the most of the little time we do have. She is currently based at an RAF unit in Lincoln and has a very important subordinate within her command right now. Lets say he is a very red headed royal family member - but would she part with any juice? Not on your nelly, she wouldn't....dammit. Anyway, we quaffed the champagne and played various card games that I found easy to play (snap for starters) and went to bed. Swell, rock and groan went the ship and by the morning, my sea legs were still quivering.

We all got up to disembark the ferry in good time and drove to Bruges. We parked up really easy and got there in time to sample continental breakfasts. The cafe we went to was typically European only serving croissants and rolls with ham and cheese plus teas and coffee's. Now we have those as a treat but the Belgians have this everyday but sadly no Pan au Chocolat. The kids loved their croissants and belle gorged on ham, ham and more ham. To go with it, she drank Looza milk, I mean....come on!!!
When you order tea here you get alittle pot, a little bicky, two chockies and loads of sugar cubes. me thinks they likes it sweet over here! As we sat and enjoyed our breakkies, we kept on seeing horse and carriages go by. The kids were screaming with more excitement (can these kids get anymore excited???) and I could see the want in Ellie's little eyes.

We hoovered up our munchies and set about exploring the city. Now when my mum told me Id love Bruges, I thought "yeah well you are old and you love that kind of thing". To be honest, a day out in Bruges was more about Belle getting a stamp in her passport and fun memories for her. But my mum was right (Mums are always right, right?) and the more we went deeper into the city, the more we all gasped at how beautiful it was. We ended up in the city square which was huge and quite busy. the weather was cool but not cold and the kids were able to run around in fleecey tops which they loved. As we hung about taking in the views we could see the horse drawn carriages picking up and dropping off tourists. And I wondered. I thought about how much Ellie would love a trip on one of those but Belle and I were on the tightest of tight budgets and I could see her trying to catch my eyes (and heart) because the want in her eyes was so desperate and pleading. We didnt have to discuss the impending disappointment but I bent over to her and said that when we go to London in the summer, we could go on one then. And she didn't whinge and moan or get a cob on.

Little did I know that my Bro-in-Law had approached a carriage about the price and it turned out to be 35 Euros for a half hour trip around the city. So with that in mind I suggested to my sis that they go with Ellie in tow and I would forfeit a place just so that she could devour that treat. So I paid a portion of the fair for Ellie and off they went. It was like I had given Ellie the world and I was so so happy for her. So whilst they trot around the city, I went to find little nooks and crannies to take pictures. They were happy and I was happy. Job done!
When they got back they told me that there was much more to the city than the route we had trod on so we retraced their trip by foot and it was just the best thing that they took that trip because we would have never have seen all this:
My little Charlotty-loo-loo-laa-laa-fifi-trixabelle
Belle - grinning like a little bear......probably thinking ...ugh, I touched a boy (namely little harry to her right!)
La ferry!Beautiful houses in BrugesThumbs up Belle - for a treat horse ride around the town!My sister, clowning and making me laugh as ever.

We will live here, I know it!

Me and my schwester xxBruges is packed with beautiful walkways like this.My sister chatting with her kiddies at the end of these lovely railings.Me and La Belle on the brow of a bridge - thanks David xxHe he heeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.... we were tempted to leave them there!

Little nooks and crannies always please meBex and the H-meister :)I dont know why I took this but I like the geometrics, I suppose.Belle nestled in a corner of some beautiful walled gardenNow these freaky little bronzes of the 4 Horsemen of the Apocolypse looked kind of intriguing from the front but when you took a side profile glance at them, they had rather jaw dropping rudeys that would make your eyes water....know what I mean? I swear to god, these Belgian sculptors are not shy.No wonder Bruges is called the Venice of the north - its stunning canals makes you feel all "Just one Cornetto!!"

Little side street restaurants looking forlorn yet inviting.That water did not look inviting for a swim though.Architecture on the main sqaure was stunning.This little side street bistro was gorgeous, I want to own it.He he heeeeeeeeeeeeeeee - she is such a dolly :)

Man eating chips - mmmmmm, okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayThe best, of course.......I love this alley wayBikes, the best for of transportation ona land as flat as Holland.Another alley way.Her carriage awaitsDetails, details, detailsNon of the Belgian shops and cafes had removed their Valentines hearts....which was a bonus as the whole place was bedecked in redness.My sis and her kidlets who are my fave little peeps on the planet right now.More architectural gorgeousnessWe had a lovely lunch in a cafe where they spoke excellent English and served yummy food (Ellie couldn't shove this fast enough in her gullet) and the kids enjoyed crepes, sandwiches and fruits a plenty. Belgian lunchtimes are yummy!

Soon time came to get back to the car and time was of the essence shall we say. We bought some waffles and nutella with cream to finish off the day with and got back tot he car to head back to the ferry. Oh no! The Belgians failed big style on the road markings and I didn't want our trip to marred by anything and up until that point it was perfect. Panic, 24 minutes, panic, 18 minutes, shit, oh no, dammit and beads of sweat including stoppage of breath was all that could be seen or heard in that car (adults of course, the kids couldn't give a damn and Harry was fasto as it was!). We had practically gone full cricle on the ring road before we saw a sign for the ferry terminal. We made it to the gate with seconds to spare only to actually embark the ship at 6.15 instead of 5.30 as requested......... P&O are big fat fibbers.

We got aboard and back to our rooms and this time a few of us went out on the deck to inhale the brine and enjoy the views. Then the kids did play area thing again and hot snack tea with squeals of delight from the kids. These kids are the best kids ever! It was an absolute dream of a trip. When the littlies had gone to bed, Belle, my sis and I found a quiet corner and played cards with Ellie and talked about our day again and again and again. And as much as the road marking were dire, we loved Belgium and their hospitality and beautiful city and of course chocolate. Talking of chocolate, I forgot to mention one little thing. Im not sure if any of you know but the Europeans are not, erm, inhibited in the least. Beaches are packed with half nakeds and shops are full of nakedy rudeys at the best of time. And one particular chocolate shop had mens rudey bits (made out of choc) in the window even with unsavoury attention to detail on the confectionery. The kids looked in the window oggling the chocolate display and Charlotte piped up "Oh look Mummy, chocolate bones". Yeeeks, quickly we usher them away but she did not shut up about those choclate bones all day long. LOL. Kids are the best medicine, you know.

We landed in Hull this morning and were a little late getting to the car (which meant almost 50 cars behind us were waiting to disembark....oops) but you know, we were not going anywhere fast as clearing customs took forever anyway. David dropped me back off at my car and we said our goodbyes. It broke my heart to be torn away from my seriously cute niece and neph but that's the way a good trip should end! We then set off to go to my Mums where I sit and type after spending most of the day in bed (I was a bit icky and not sure if it was sea sickness.... put it this way, I can feel the swell now!). But after a belated birthday cake from mum after my tea, Im feeling a bit more together and ready to hit the hay again to dream of Bruges but not bones ;)

Im back tomorrow, on form with more samples from my new CD. The DT have been superb by making up the most loveliest of cards. Even my mum has had a go tonight and she gave me a gratefully received thumbs up. Phew, Mums know best ;)

Someone found here moaj

The last time I made something creative (other than for classes and kits) was flaming weeks ago. So with fresh wind in my sails I set about making Vally day a bit spesh.
This is a house full of love as it is even though grumpy knickers Marko doesn't show it that often. He has this secret little knack of showing it now and again, just when i need it and to prevent me becoming complacent. I think its works, you know?
So I got my fingers well and truly grubby last night and made these little babies. Im chuffed to bits with Marko's card that I made and even he **liked** it. Heeeeeeeeeee!I made this for Belle. She has never had a valentines day card from a boy before; she is just not into that malarky (thank the lord). Plus we have never really sent her one before neither.Her face this morning when I gave her it was priceless, a true bottle-it-up moment. I made that card with the leftovers of this layout that I made at roughly 2am. I was purging my papers for the millionth time since I started scrapping and came across these two "my minds eye" papers. I had two small pics left over from large images that i used last month so technically I have scrapped these pages before (who cares?). Lots of the beautiful embellishments were part of an embelly swap I did with fruit suet.....Suzanne, I miss you :(.

She made us this. She claims an ingenious moment with turning her heart into a butterfly which I loved to bits but I secretly loved the message on the back the mostest. Her handwriting is still pretty poor (she uses an alpha smart at school to get by). She still spell phonetically but I don't care, I lub, lub lubs it more than I love my own creations.Mark and I went shoppin' today to spend the last of my b'day money. We didn't buy any vally day pressies because we are having to MAJORLY tighten our belts. And to be honest, as much as flower are beautiful to receive, they die and chocs make you porky so whats the point in depressing yourself with the outcome of each token gift LOL!!!! So to make my money stretch I went to cheapy little stores to pick up these Boots (£15...a steal) and some trinkets.The butterfly necklace was only £2 and Ill butcher it to make embellies for my layouts etc. A bit of sanding and inking will make those a real treasure for my projects.

we came back and made a yummy carbonara and Belle and I whizzed up these lovely chocolate mousses made from this recipe here (its DEAD easy and again, we used Sainburys own cheapo choc at 25p a bar)Meant to post these pictures the other day of our little tadpole! She got herself another certificate this week for swimming a width in backstroke. I mean - come on!!!!!! It took me frikkin weeks to get into backstroke after learning the doggy paddle! And she also was commended on holding her head under water too. this child screams her head off to this day when I wash her hair. So if you are reading this Mrs Cowley - we **heart** you xx
And belle, we are so so proud of you and she is, of course, very chuffed with herself too!

And finally, Ive updated my new blog with images from my Cd with samples (plus a new sample from one of the DT. Do have yourself a sneakaroo right here

lovey love love

We are not so sloppy in this house, well I refer to the royal "we" as in Mark and I.
Mark is manly and proud and does not wear his heart on his sleeve where as I am the polar opposite. Its always been like that and you know - its all cool.
Belle and I, on the other hand, are always professing our love for each other - that includes the dog and I.
But today we are making a concerted effort with meals planned and time together. Im even testing my culinary skills on my gang again (poor sods, I feel for their bravery) by making a chocolate mousse (a la M&S advert without the price tag; we are on a major budget in light of financial constraints - but I tell you what, its all good fun shifting the budget and making it stretch).
I made Mark a beautiful card even if I do say so myself (Tim Holts stylee - my nails are minging this morning). I made one for Belle which she delighted over and I even made a layout.....just because, I mean, I NEVER DO "JUST BECAUSE" these days.
Mark and I are off into town to get some Euro's as Belle and I are off to Zeebrugge tomorrow with my sister and her family on a majorly cheap weekend getaway. We catch the ferry from Hull tomorrow evening, sail to Zeebrugge overnight, land in Zeebrugge Monday and spend all day just mooching (hoping David will zip us over to Flanders field) and then catch the ferry back that evening for an overnight sail to Hull again. The on board facilities for kids are fabulous which helps plus we get a outside cabin which means we get to have a sea view (how funny?) P&O do the best deals this time of year so go and check them out!
Im going to pop back with pictures of cards and layouts because I haven't got the time right now as I have somebody's feet are tapping and is time watching! And I don't want to move as the dog is perched half on my lap top and half on my thigh and is deep slumber.

Inky, grungey, messy - YEEKS!

Dyan has been trying to convert me for years into this boho, earth lovin', ink embracing crafty momma.
"Yes, but you make it look so effortless, dear" I say, whilst breathing hot breath on to my CLEAN nails and polishing them on my bosom.
For I am a paper girl at heart, through and through. I rip it, tear it, cut it, scrunch it and occasionally dab a little ink on the edge. Emphasis on little.
I even replicated a great whopping grungy gunky project when taking one of her classes a while back and Im still finding bits of black ink under my nails.
And as much as I love her, I set back into my old boring paper loving ways before the ink had dried on my artwork. That's the thing between Dy and I - she does her thang and I do mine.

Then comes along TH.When you look at his signature, don't you think he is called Jim?
He looks like a Jim.
Not a gym......god, whats one of those? I forgot!

Anyway.......
Jaws dropped when he got dirty this afternoon - like, really diiiiiiiiiirty.
I now understand why people are awe inspired.
He commands this "shut your gob, Im demoing in my most brilliant fashion" presence.
And nobody talks over him because they are taking in this genius.
And in turn, I went grunge board crazy.
And ink bonkers.
And distress mode mad.

I mean, fair credit to Dy whom had planted the "get yer fingers mingingly filthy" seed some 3 years ago but never did I revel in the mystery until today. Plus, she has taught me some ACE techniques over the years (after all, she is Senior Educator for Ranger, Europe) but I see Dy as more my friend than mentor. She does her thang, I do my thang....yadder yadder yadder.

Whats weird is that Ive seen Tim in action a ton of times before at CHA, Stitches, NEC and on TV. But today, at Art from the Heart, he demo-ed 3 intimate sessions with 25 gob dropped crafters who left on a creating high. And I just wanted to get all diiiiiiiiiiirty too. So I went and did some damage on my mothers credit card (thanks Momma!) for my birthday present and I'm sat here at home, surrounded by Rangertastic goodies to hopefully make something spectacular when the hands feel they can quantify a good beating.

The day was surrounded by cuppy cakeys, ink, teas, coffees, pizzas, ink, lovely people, ink, grungeboard, dabbers, distress stuff and more ink. I met new freinds (Sue for starters - hello Sue!) and old friends (Sue, another Sue but an old friend Sue - the Pasta Sue!), good friends, sworn enemies and would be lovers....did I really just type that? Heeeeeeee! But serioulsy, I met some great people whose crafting spirit had evolved into a new love. I spent the entire afternoon (between sessions) talking to people and getting involved, setting the world to rights, talking about the dog and belle and life. I just wish I lived nearer to Dy's shop coz she has the best chatty customers ever. Jane and I couldn't help but go around the shop and paw over all the 7 gypo's stuff as well as the entire TH range as we mingled and got mangled amongst really happy customers - why did today have to be over so soon?

I got back home to a very excited pooch, a little lady who needed a love and gratefully received a foot massage from "his nibs" even though Id been standing on my size fours all day and were sniffing a bit wiffy.

Here are the pics from the day and to add rather hastily, TH news CHA 2009 release stamps will be in at Dy's shop next week. She is the first to get them (before any US shops I hasten to add) but they are in limted quantity. The samples below depict some of the new range and even I am a little bit excited!

How bloody brilliant is all this?
This is actually machine stitched grunge paper, embossed through a cuttlebug and dabbed and inked...like a quilt. FABULOUS!
Another look at that brilliant layout!
Oh yeah, in my mouth and on my thighs!
Paul is such a sweetheart...secretly I love him more than Tim!
Jane is my non lesbonic love of my life :)

And finally Ben.... you need to master digi photography my love. But I loves these all the same :)

Don't forget, I'm still putting out a call to collect greetings cards for Squaddies out in Afghanistan. I am thoroughly overwhelmed by the emails pouring in but will not stop until I have received sack loads! Those poor sods out there deserve some love! (see post from two days ago for more details)

**new samples are up on my new blog :)**

So along came Patti

And she took 3 months.And she had a makeover and costume change, literally a billion times.
Each page and pattern on the CD took an age to create and was put together by my own fair hands. I lost sleep, Christmas was a daze and I almost lost her for good wen my PC cwashed last week. But now she is in production I can reveal her and show you our new blog and revamped website. To be honest I did the website on the Mac which is a pain as the website is best viewed in internet explorer - so lord know if it looks screwy. My PC is all but dead so I'm having to rely on some of you to help pick it apart so I can perfect it!

Priced at £13.99 (plus p&p) she will be available direct from myself for now. Trade enquiries are of course welcome and her major debut will be at the Harrogate show on the weekend of 28th-29th March. On the CD you will find almost 190 print outs with collection packs of papers streamlined in beautiful cardy colours with printable templates, tags, motifs (like stamped images, to colour in) and greetings. You simply open the CD on your PC, open a folder, pick a file and print ....there is no difficult software to master. Once printed, you cut them up and you pop them on a card. And whats more the papers have been designed to never date so the CD becomes an investment for all your cardmaking needs.

I couldn't make it a download as the files amount to almost 6oomb - that's a complicated download, even in 4 batches. But I think with the packaging on the CD itself, it will be worth the wait in the mail.

You can sign up to our mailing list to be in with a chance of winning a CD or if you follow the blog here, you could be in with a chance there too.

Im delighted, exhausted, happy, relieved and doubly giddy about this CD, I hope you are too :)

**Erm ok - regards card making for Soldiers (yest post). I have answered over 80 emails today about it - its all so exciting, so thank you. Please continue to donate a blank card for us to send on to some soldiers/airmen/marines/para's etc out in Afghanistan so he/she can send something pretty to his/her loved one. If you read my comment from yesterdays post, you will note that someone had a brother who used anything he could to write on during the first gulf war; sometimes reverse of ration packs, old catalogues - anything they could lay their hands on. I asked My hubby if he endured the same thing and sadly yes, he had to make things as pretty as possible out of the little they had - just to take away the monotony of blank paper! Im going to burst into tears in minute. Please do take a look at yesterdays post and help out in anyway you can! Thank you xx**

2 years too close to 40 - long post, may induce sleep

Aye, aye, ayeeeeeeeeeee.
Im two years closer to the big 4-0.
I don't want to be forty, I will try to remain forever in my 30's (with the help of lots of moisturiser, of course and few fibs on my CV).

So - Saturday:
Twas spent at Craftwork cards. The women there make me howl with laughter - I often don't feel like I am working when there is so much fun conversation going on. I used Sue's shimmery collection to make these pretty mini pizza boxes, the sliding widget card (Thanks to Monica's inspirational tutorial HERE) and a surprise wobbly flowers gift box.
You can watch this quick demo of the card in action here but I do not talk because I was shy for about 4 minutes - which is a first...mwahahahahhaha!
This box concealed a little wobbling flower which made everybody giggle - maybe they were thinking rude things like me!
This is the pizza box and card combo:

There is not much scrapping going on at these workshops but I think the girls are open to mini photo projects which might ease them into the big old bad world of the scrapper. I'm there again on the 7th March if you are at a loose end (its in south Leeds, near Stourton).

Sunday:
I woke up to a cup of tea from Dy, which was lovely but I can't drink tea that early (much to her disgust) but the thought was appreciated all the same.
We got to the studio for 9.20 to round up some odds and sods before my class started at 10.
As if my PC issues on Thurs/Fri were not enough, they were actually enough to prevent me from printing out the class papers in full until Dy had gone to get me a new cartridge. My Mac had died from lack of energy (plus I didn't bring my charger) which meant I had to load my printer on to Dy's laptop also feeding the images I had desperately salvaged to go with it which meant I didn't have a second to stop and think about it being my birthday for some time.
As I taught the workshop, each project had to be done in "bit" form and not until the last minute did they all come together. It was such a palaver, to a certain extent and fortch I had very understanding and very good fun students with the patience of angels. We used all my printables which the girls ooh'ed and ahhhh'ed over; I was grateful for that response as you do worry about other peoples expectations. Again we made the spinny card and mini pizza boxes with a layout and some more cards and a suprise box gift (you get 5 hours of goodies at Dy's workshop!) See how the flower shifts from side to side?
I couldn't even sell any CD's as they are 2 weeks away from coming off production however I will be demonstrating them at the Harrogate show on 28/29th March so look out for more on that laters. But I actually might have them on sale next week.
**I cant believe the 3 months its taken to make all those images and brand the packaging with all my love and devotion whilst trying to fit Christmas and CHA in amongst other commitments along the way (which, as you know - I almost lost all tha data last Friday which just about saw me dead).**
Anyway.
The girls were so much fun to be around and then at about 2pm Dy comes out with little cuppy cakeys with candles on them and everyone sang Happy Birthday - yummy...thank you :) Also Dy had bought me a beautiful bunch of roses and lilies which are currently residing on my sideboard and looking very springful :) Im at Dy's again on the 7th March and its a class you won' want to miss. Im doing a textured canvas (held up by a huge, funky peg) which will look elegant in any room as we are using mono chromatics. I think a sneak of that will be ready by Thursday :) Im even creating a beautiful paper which can be printed to compliment it.
I had to leave as soon as the classes dispersed as I had one excited little lady at home wanting to make a fuss of my birthday celebrations plus my bro and sis in law had stopped by to enjoy a yum lasagna that Mark had prepared.
Belle bought me the best present ever; these lovely funky heart earrings with the most subtle wee diamonds set in the erm, septum?! LOL My in laws had bought me a cooks blow torch which I have been hankering after for moons and moons. Perfecto for creme brulees and singeing hairs on arms, hands and faces. Plus I gots some beautiful tulips from them too. I was thoroughly spoiled :)
Marks gift to me was giving me £100 to spend when I went to CHA which was spent in Target and the duty free ;) I even came home with spare dollars which will come in handy as we **might** have to go out to the USA again with Belle. I also got these babies too........ I do love my shoes. Shoes fit no matter if you are porky or slinky........ shoes rule.
Mark bought me a cake but we didn't have the fanfare of candles in this house (bah humbug) but everyone sang Happy Birthday and we tucked in.
I love this pic of belle with lasagna all around her chops!


I ate so much sugar that it was no wonder I was buzzing! Then when I checked my emails I had gazillions of well wishes from facebook buddies and blog readers alike. Honest to blog, it was overwhelming - Thank you xx

All in all it was a super duper weekend even if I did turn a year older. Not counting down the days until the next one - I'll just let that bugger creep up on me!

Monday was spent catching up and coming down. Belle was off sick from school (and believe me, I know when that kid is faking it because there was no way she would miss food tech classes on a monday) Little love vegged on the sofa watching all sorts of kiddy brain mushing crap. I had some digi work to continue with which meant i could sit in the lounge with the dog on my half dead mac. He is such a good companion with very little needs except for a good old walk once a day and lots of love. He spent minutes with me and minutes with Ellie all throughout the day.... he was spoiled for choice on the loves and he couldn't make his mind up on who he wanted attention from the most. I secretly hoped he would pick me for the whole day but also loved that he shared his gaseous backside with Ellie too.

Today I went into domestic overdrive. I feel really guilty about slacking in the house recently because of the tight schedule of making up the CD. Ive neglected the cooking and some cleaning which Mark remarked upon the other day. So yes, it was totally a guilty conscience that set the domesticity on. So I went shopping for ingredients to make a roast chicken dinner tonight (check out Ellies cabbage face made with a savoy leaf and carrot peelings). She did this to cheer me up as I try to manage 4 gas rings, an oven and a steamer without spontaneously combusting!and a Chocolate velvet torte (TO DIE FOR!). The recipe is here and you will be pleased to know I didn't burn it (like I did the Yorkshire puddings) because there is no baking involved. You have to try this recipe and when you do, buy Tesco or Sainsburys own BASIC dark chocolate at 25p a bar because you would never know that you didn't use proper cooking chocolate. I, ahem, may have slipped with the brandy too ;) Plus the chill time for mine was only two hours and it was perfect.
If you are tee total, switch the brandy for 2 tbs of liquid coffee. Im feeling so wifey that I did the 50's thing and tonight I shall go to bed guilt free because there is enough pud left for 2 more nights; that is, of course if Mark doesn't troff the lot tomorrow for his lunch pack up.

Whilst eating our dinner we watched Doctors and Nurses at War. Why did I do that? It was all blood and gore and it made me feel sick. Not because of the blood and gore but because of what the poor bloody soldiers are going through in Afghanistan. Its still driving me mad that it all goes on without anyone giving a hoot and instead, complaining about the credit crunch. We are all going through money worries (including marks work again and who all have had to take a pay decrease :() but when you see the state of what those men and women are going through, it beggars belief. I commented last week that if you are game and if you are that way inclined, perhaps some of you may know someone who may consider joining up to serve shoulder to shoulder with those guys; as now is a good time to join up. It got misinterpreted on the way by one person claiming that I was basically condoning people to join up and become cannon fodder. It riled me because that goes to show that these people have no respect for the guys already out there doing their job - and doing it well.

My friend Steph has her husband out there in one of the worst parts of Afghanistan and I admire her patience and fear whilst he is away. Whilst I complain about being publicly slated for anything I say or do - its nothing compared to what she gets on the US version of "that blog". Women on there treat her pretty bad and even wish her husband dead. All i can say is that I am grateful that communication isn't like that over here, yet. Can you imagine that, though? It makes me want to vomit.

In light of that and in light of what she has arranged for her husbands company I would like to extend to some of you readers an invitation to make blank greetings cards to send to our own soldiers so that they can send them on to their loved ones. The soldiers out there have no access to shops to buy such things and if you get a moment or two - would you be able to send me some blank birthday and "love you" cards plus any suitable greetings so that they can be dispersed amongst those lonely hearted soldiers to forward on to there loved ones? My sister and brother have great connections to get your cards posted out in bulk (as they are both serving right now) so your donation will get to some deserving squaddy who would love to send something pretty to his miss/mrs/even mr!!!! When my husband served in the first gulf war, he would have LOVED this kind of thing - so lets make it happen. I know lots of other groups who collect cards for certain Batallions/Squadrons so with that in mind Ill check with my sister to see if there are any corps that are lacking from donations. Email me for my address and before you post it to me, you might want to take a picture (and mail me that too) which I promise to share on my blog to help with the effort **ETA - thanks to Max for reminding me about a cut off time - perhaps End of April to get them to me, please?** Everyone who donates a card will go into a prize draw to win something scrappy/carfty lishus :)

**Tomorrow I have more sneakers of my new CD and the link to my new PP blog :) ...... I can't believe it's all finally happening :)**

A celebratory chicken

Nothing was going to stop me having a beautiful day today after lasts night "I lost almost all my life" PC meltdown.
So the reward to myself for not spontaneously combusting from stress?
Well both Dyan and I bought a whole cooked chicken EACH - and set about scoffing the lot...EACH!.
Happiness is:
One whole extra tasty chicken
One bowl
One fork
One heartburn
One heart attack
One happy personage.
As I have been publicly denounced that I am obese this week, I was somewhat relieved because I seriously thought I was anorexic up until that point....thanks!
PS: In the end, I ate a balanced amount of chicken as I only scoffed the skin and half a breast (half fat/half healthy).
PPS: Its my 38th birthday in exactly one hour and 4 minutes............ Happy YipSkip Ick Vee.

Heart attacks, brown paper bag moments

I have no time to blog properly today because I have been salvaging what is left of my PC - I think the little bugger was about to blow! My fave external hard drive lost 5 folders which I am heartbroken about and Im having to rely on my half dead Mac to get me by. The blood drained from my face when I saw system corruption file on a reboot of the machine. The feeling is worse than losing a limb. Ive spent the best part of 3 hours tinkering on my PC whilst surfing on half dead mac for the solutions. Then when I sort of repaired it, I grabbed my spare external hard drive and backed the whole frigging lot up.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BACK UP YOUR FILES TODAY.

My heart has never raced so much in all my life - the thought of losing almost 10,000 photos and files and music nearly finished me off. So now, when I get some more spare cash (hmmmmm, yeah right) Im going to buy another external hard drive (cheap as chips here) so I can have double back ups. I still feel sick, completely sick. All my photos be it of Belle, the dog, Mark and the fam or just a small memory from a day out are very very special to me.
Anyway
**sighs of huge relief**
Im going to leave you with a sneak of a paper range from my new CD of printables due out in two weeks. You will, at first, see it being sold on my website and then slowly as it filters into shops (perhaps make it a down load but its a hwopping 450MB!) and then (if it passes quality control - QVC!... woooooot!)
This range is called Sunybrooke Orchard and has a vintagey feel to it. With over 160 papers, 5 templates, 80 cut outs and motifs there is no end to the mix and matchability of these card making delights :)Going to sleep like a baby now that I have backed up my precious files....... Hearts still beating like a bloody athlete though!

Its a dump

Im sick and tired of re-arranging my craft space to try and get it to look:

• Respectable
• Organised
• Neat
• Co-ordinated

Ive purged about 10 times since christmas and gave a massive (and I mean massive) stack of goodies to a girl who lives local to me (Hi Marie xx). And my room still looks like a dump. Im torn between sorting into colour order or like order (ie flowers in one box, chipboard in another, ribbon in the next). Stacy Julian claims that colour order is best but what about grey chipboard with a little pattern on it or two tone flowers etc etc - where do you put those? Its getting on my proverbial chestnuts.
So Ive started what will be the longest haul-out of my life in order to get rid of the "ugh" feeling every time I walk through the damn door. Im opting to keep my fave pretties because Im not really anal if its old supplies or not. Some papers do date with regards to pattern and style but papers with spots and stripes will last a lifetime in the desirable stakes. I refuse to throw any left over used paper away because, you know when that nuclear attack strikes, I aint going to be bored of nothing to do. Well, what I meant to say was, I will prob make cards with the leftovers. Cos If I managed to use it on a layout, Im more likely to love it on a card too.
My ribbon jars look pretty but lets face it, they are not practical. Im going to turf the lot out, bag them again and store them in a box as I don't use them every second of the day. In the ribbons place I think Im going to fill with chipboard, jewels, tags, embroidery threads, flowers etc. Eeeeek, just typing all of this is sending me in a right tizz because I know its going to take hours - hours I don't have.
AND........
Im teaching this weekend and Im wanting to get straight before I leave. If you are at a loose end on Saturday and live in Leeds, pop over to Craftwork cards where I will be making mini pizza boxes and spinning cards (2 hour workshop). And if you are free on Sunday and live in the Harrogate area and want to play with my new product (weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!) we will be making layouts and cards with it - you will be the first to play/see/touch it too (5 hour workshop - oh and it s my birthday on Sunday too!...cake, cake, cake! ) The phone numbers are at the top of my blog post - do pop along.
And finally I can't go without making a fuss of the lovely emails and comments today. Sometimes things come to boiling point and although I worry about venting (you know, the recrimination/repercussion/ramifications of doing such a thing) it actually cleared my choking feeling and refreshed the soul. Thank you so so much. I was honestly expecting to wake up to a barrage of unappealing questions and of course was pleasantly surprised.

**Ok added this as its doing the rounds on blogs right now - 25 things you might not know about me.

1. I am very freckly in the summer and I love them - I think they look cheeky.
2. I hate watery veg/fruit like melon, cucumber, celery etc....vom. Don't get me started on sprouts (I know they are not watery but still - they are the devils footballs.
   
3. I often scrap my layouts without photos, I add them last thing along with the title.
4. I even scrap 5 at a time (I can fit 5 in a row on my work top) so I don't get bored as Im going along.
5. I only shoot in Manual even though AV mode can be better at times - I HATE ISO over 100. Even if properly exposed. And I doubly hate using my flash....gruesome.
   
6. I can turn my eyelids inside out and make them stick for a few moments.
   
7. When I need some serious me time or indeed time out, I go up to bed and hide under the duvet even if I can't breath under there.
8. I love peanut butter on toast - the crunchier the mix the better.
9. I am last minute dot com. I thrive on deadlines but one day I will get my head around about being "previous" and deadlines will be a thing of the past.
10. I go to bed late. On my way to bed I always stop by Belles room, tuck her up like a Burrito, kiss her and often make her talk to me, like "I love you darling", "are you dreaming nice things" etc only to secretly laugh at the random things she comes out with. I love sleepy child talk.
    
11. I am picky about toilet cleanliness - you could eat your dinner off ours, even lick it; it's that clean.
12. I recently (like in the last 2 years) became the queen of pastry making. My secret? Half fat and half butter and never use my hands to rub in the mix. I use a knife to bind the fats with the flour and only when it comes to rolling out do I run my hands under very cold water. Perfect pastry needs very little handling and this is why its my king dish.
13. My hazel eye colours differ a little. My right eye is more browner than the left eye which is more greener - freak, I know.
14. I desperately wanted a little girl when I got preggo in 1995 (was one of those unplanned, out of wedlock numbers = shot gun wedding! Romantic I know but when I talk about weddings and babies - you can see people adding up the time difference!) When Ellie was born we knew she would be called Ellie, however if she had been born with red hair we would have actually called her Amber (I have auburn streaks under that fake blonde!). We fought over boys names - I wanted George and Mark wanted Leigh. And even though Mark has had a vasectomation, Id love it if I got preggo again.
    
15. I love the skin off a roast chicken. I know its a heart attack waiting to happen but I loves!
16. I am the oldest out of my siblings. My sister is next and then my Bro. We all joined the RAF and my bro and sis are still serving. I am pro the armed forces and still think this country should bring back National Service.
    
17. I grew up in England, Scotland and Wales - Wales being the last place I spent my childhood.
18. I hadn't been on an aeroplane until I was 18. And then that was when I got posted to RAF Ascension island in the mid Atlantic.
19. I have conquered Ben Nevis! I cried all the way down as I was in agony.
    
20. My dream holiday would be to go to Kenya/Mozambique to watch the sun set behind acacia trees. Tony Hudson pictures take me there for now.
21. Sometimes I wish I could give up photography and crafting to go back to office work with teams of people. I am very much a people person and working on my own at home drives me mad. However, with the amount of time Belle has in hozzy, no employer would take me on for the amount of time off I would need so I continue to work from home.
    
22. I have a tattoo, on my right botty cheek - its a little birdy and I had it done when I got wasted on my 21st birthday. My dad went ape!
    
23. I like sparkly pretties and most recently I have grown to adore victoriana supplies such as Melissa Frances products, Jenni Bowlin, Webster Pages and Primas antiquey flowers.
24. I have a carft robo and still don't know how to use the damn thing properly
25. I like baths - scalding hot, lots of bubbles and candles and always have half an hour snooze on my bed when I get out.

So there you go, that's 25 yawnable things to mull over. Link me if you do a list so I can have a good old nosey.

Doggy Cookies

Belle was fraught with horror at the mere thought of missing Food tech yesterday just in case something happened on her hozzy visit. These things were on her mind:

a. She always thinks she has to give blood (8 times out of ten, she does)
b. She might have to get undressed which she is not entirely happy about, even in front of female doctors
c. The session might over run which might mean missing her cookie class at food tech.

Well thankfully she didn't have to give blood, she didn't have to get undressed and the session did not overrun. And we were more perturbed about potentially being told to go home because the usual routine visit was just a quick hello, get weighed and measured and "see you in 6 months" (like always). The Doctor was such a sweetheart as she talked over my sudden coughing fit and all I managed to understand was that Ellie's case for growth hormone injections is being reviewed in the next 4 months. This is like, erm, a result?
Something concrete meaning somethings happening.
Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
I was most surprised at this because one doctors says yes to them and one doctor says no. Apparently a child needs some bulk to withstand the side effects of the injections, something Ellie doesn't have. Belle could well do with growth hormones as being 4ft at 13 is not fun. She is far from the hitting the maturity level for her age and the growth hormones will help strengthen her up, give her some height and some peer group maturity. As I was trying to digest all of this rather welcoming news, my chest went into convulsions and I was choking on my spit. The doctor urged me straight away to go down to A&E as I was having an asthma attack? Now I only get asthma in the summer when the pollen is high. But today, I think the smells of the hospital chemicals brought it on so we left the discussion at "come back in 4 months for hormone injections" and I went down to A&E. It's a children's hospital and I was really bothered about that and as I got there it was over run with seriously injured children. I thought "bugger it" and head home. I knew the attack would subside as soon as I got into the fresh air. Only when I got home half an hour later, Id discovered that my ventolin was 3 years out of date but took it anyway. And hey presto, clear airways. My chest is still in agony, so Im off to the Doc s tomorrow to get fresh ventolin. Joyous.
Anyhow, since calming down and dealing with Ellies tears from this really frightening experience it seems that the hormone injections will be a year trial and Mark and I will have to administer the hormone injections everyday into Ellies leg. We have sat down with Ellie and although the thought of the odd injection or blood draw from time to time freaks her out, we explained that this will be a good thing for her. She is currently having quiet moments (eerily quiet moments) and looking at us with puppy dogs eyes. This is going to take time for her to come to terms with and lots of re-assurance. We have, for the sake of some very hateful readers of my blog, also sat down and asked her how she feels about me expressing our views and her journey through my blog (again, because she knows I do this but you know...you question yourself when people spurt out their ignorance about it). And for the record I would like to make it clear that Ellie does not have a problem with this.
There are many personal things in addition to what you read on my blog that Ellie has to deal with and Im very careful not to expose those for people to pick up and twist at their sickening delight. So my very mild thoughts you read here are just the tip of the iceberg and I urge you to please leave us alone when it comes to your misjudgments as we try and reach out to many other parents and carers who need that lifeline. Its not just scrap smackers who read this blog, there are gulf war veterans and families, Muscular Dystrophy groups and SWAN members too (Syndromes Without A Name). People who have a purpose and share experiences about their sick kids too and this is my soap box in which to do that.
I also want to invite any of you (anonymous or not) to ask any questions you may wish to know about Ellie, her condition, the fund raiser we did for her sponsored walk etc and if I can't answer them, Ellie will. She is happy to do this and hopefully our experiences may enlighten those with those undying questions. You can let rip, like the smack blog does and hopefully we can clear up any concerns that most of the smackers have without it being twisted into something more devious. No matter what I write about our daughters journey, too many people read far too deep into it and turn what is generally a positive passage into some weird notion that I write coded, unkind and evil judgements on other people. I do find, though, that if you like somebody you will read with a keen, non judging eye but if you have pre-conceptions of a negative nature about somebody, you will cast public aspersions before the true message reaches your thought process. So if you really want to know something, please ask. We have 13 years experience in our child's journey and know all there is to know about her. Obv.
On a plus note, Belle eventually got to take her food tech class and made chocolate chip cookies. Only she went one step further and fashioned each biccy into the shape of Eddy's head. Taking a bite of them was hard as I imagined noshing on Eddy's head for real. Belle seriously has a wicked sense of humour. The teacher applauded her ingenious as other kids in her class used heart and star cutter for their efforts. In some small delightful way, our daughter has the most sweetest side to her which makes up for her lack of development. She won't eat them as she says they are too cute. So you know where they ended up, don't you? Burp.
I hear most of the UK has had heavy snow these past few days whereas we had a light smatterill dusting amounting to one lousy inch. Im desperate to take Belle sledging and see her enjoy the joys of freezing half to death and then cosying up on the sofa later with coffees and bickies. I remember when I was 9 or 10 I contracted chill blaines from being out in the snow from 9 until dark and then coming in and warming my feet in front of the fire. Not that I encourage you all try it out but those fun days were worth the pain! I remember putting socks on, then a freezer bag on each foot, then another pair of socks before putting on my wellies to prevent getting said chill blaines but of course it was the fire that did it all along. Im not sure if, like scarlet fever, that chill blaines are a thing of the past. Must Wiki that.

I took the dog out tonight and most of the snow had cleared but it was wet and the little sod jumped up at me and got me all mucky yuck. I took my 10-20mm lens out to try and fall back in love with it and although I like these following pictures, I just can't get on with it.Its a Sigma 10-20mm Nikon fit if anyone wants to make an offer on it :) Anyway, he was filthy when we got back and after a good old mopping down, he fell asleep on his back and was zonked out for hours.

Ok, got a PC to hoover out. The dust in there is chronic and maybe the answer to why it keeps shutting down on me. I cant afford a new one and Ill be well cheesed off if I lose anything on there so Im going to back up on my external hardrive tonight, just in casevilles.

Secret Life of Bees

Is quite possibly the only movie where tears, snot and sobs could be heard from my little old self between Cali/Georgia. I didn't care that Little Miss Moody "I need the lavvy 50 times" Knickers next to me had to endure my pathetic wailing. Perhaps her incessant lavvy trips were to escape me!
Internal US Delta flights means you have to pay for on board movies (Rip off) and as I didn't want to die of boredom I paid 6 bucks to watch it over Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.
Jeeez, I wasn't expecting that.
Sniff, sniff
I know loads of people have raved about the book but reading isn't something I have patience for at the mo so I cheated and watched the movie.
I was heart brock.
And I thoroughly recommend it.
But then on my flight from Georgia to Manchester, Delta showed the movie for free - the little buggers. I ought to have asked for a refund. But I loved that I watched it twice.
Watch the trailer here and rent it when you can :)

Two beaches, one week

Mark, Belle, Eds and I decided that it was about time we blew out the cobwebs yesterday, so we tripped over to Formby point. The beach there can be fantastic when the tide is out and when it is out, its out for miles. The tide was in when we arrived but I told mark that it would quickly ebb away. No sooner had we walked 100 metres, the tide had gone out about 30 metres. Freaky quick if you ask me. The beach was, obv, a stark contrast to this baby only a few days ago in So Cal. Paddling in the Irish sea was not an option today unless I wanted to contract chill blains, pneumonia and frost bite.
Getting to the beach from the car park with a pushchair is a nightmare and belle thinks this is the funniest thing. Mark has to drag her backwards; she really is the Duchess of the manor. You can hear whispered giggles as she is pulled out of the mire and down to the slope of the beach.
Pushing her on wet sand is the only option but in parts we got a little swamped. I hate that she has to use it and in a few weeks its being replaced by a wheelchair :( How are you supposed to push a wheelchair on a beach? Things will only get worse with her in the new few days as she will have to wear her splints for permanent. That is not the prettiest sight as she walks with tears in her eyes and arms flaying all over the place to catch balance. But we have told ourselves its for the best and it ought to correct her gait. Doing it, though, is one of the hardest things Ive had to endure for her. We no likey this part of her journey.
Still, the dog had the run of the place thinking he was top dog only to be beaten down by some savage monster Labs where he dove under the pushchair for respite. Daring he might be, at times and big he may think he is, but when it comes down to size he really is a little dot of a sausage. Belle was in her element all snugged up and enjoying the fresh air and Mark and I were just glad to be spending precious family moments together.

Today I spent alternating between some recipe websites and baking in the kitchen. Belle went through a dry run of making cookies (she is baking tomorrow in school - on her own...yelp!) so I took pics to go into my recipe mini book that I want to make for her so she can pass our favourites on. She asked if I could write notes from her and her thoughts and not to forget that she makes a great washer upper. I mean that kid totally gets why I love to make scrappy things. Whilst baking we had a visitor of whom Belle was so majorly excited to see. Roz.
I haven't seen Roz since October and she is looking so good. We have a friendship that means we can talk for months on end, have a break for whatever reason and pick up from where we left off with no questions asked. It was great to see her again as she passed through on the way back to Scotland. She tried one of my cookies which was, hum...... ok. I think I didn't like the fact we are using vegetable oil in the recipe which I might replace with butter next time. The recipe is from an American website and I actually used US cup measurements as opposed to our pounds and ounces. All I can say is that at least Roz didn't die, thankfully. I mean if the dog ate it, it had to be a bonus. The only time you ought to worry is when a dog turns its nose up at your cooking. Well, that's my excuse anyway.
I finished my culinary skills on meat and potato pie for tea as the outlaws were here. As my pastry is my king recipe I was looking foreward to shoving that down my gullet followed by crumbled ginger cookies, strawberries and ginger cream. It was delish of course and as yet, nobody has died. Hark at me being all domesticated; something fabulous must be happening to me. Either that or its a one off thing and then its back to beans on toast tomorrow. Tra la la la laaaaaaaaaaa.
Ive finished the night off with watching two ace tv programmes - Being Human and Ross Kemp in Afghanistan. Ross Kemps programme was awesome in every sense of the word. Im slightly aggrieved that most people sit at home not giving two hoots for what our soldiers are enduring over there and with Mr Kemp giving us a raw insight to the horrors of daily fighting, I only hope that some people sit up and give thanks to those men and women. Whether you agree with whats happening there or not, soldiers go regardless of politics to do their job. And with the credit crunch affecting everyones pocket, the sudden surge in signs ups to the armed forces has reached an all time high; even if they end up flying to war zones 2 seconds after training. I can't fault the armed forces, I served 9 years and the wages are exceptional. You pretty much have a job for life, hot food 3 times a day and decent accomodation thats costs next to nothing from your wages. Ok, I never served in a war zone because the RAF are not exactly front line (unless you are in the regiment or are a pilot). So if you are considering joining up try the Navy or the RAF if you want to be involved indirectly. If you wish to get right into the heart of the action then the Army, Para's and Marines will get you a ticket right to the talibans front door. And the age old addage of "you can't join if you have flat feet" is old wives tales!

**edited - LOOK -> SNOW!!!We havent snow this thick in YEARS thanks to the Siberian chill we are experiencing! I see snowball fights, sausage dog freezing his crown jewels off and crisp foot prints in the garden tomorrow!

Which reminds me, Hospital visit 3 million tomorrow morning for Ellie. She is seeing an Endocrinologist tomorrow (I think, not sure - she has so bloody many) we are telling them that this will be her last visit. She has four more Doctors to see this next few months and we are telling them the same thing. Its obvious there is nothing that can be done for her and we are tired of it. Belle hates missing school, we hate having to take time off work for such unnecessary trips (well necessary but unfruitful, shall we say). It kind of feels like we are making things so final but when we look over the years of heartache, tears, painful experiments, knock backs, shrugged shoulders, ignorance and despair it all makes sense to do this. Unless someone comes to us with something concrete and absolute - we shall let ourselves get on with our lives and enjoy being us and let Ellie be the darling girl who is what she is :) Im a bit frightened that we have made this decision but Ellie is happy and is non the wiser for what she has or what will be and that's a beautiful thing, right?