Lots to tell...

Firstly, though i'm gonna share these with you... :)


I love this pic so much. I could scrap it over and over... it makes my heart happy.

This one I worked on yesterday while watching Criminal Minds and finished up today. I love Cosmo Cricket. IMO there is no better paper range (for now!) I don't think i've not liked any of their ranges. I've had 'em all and used them too :D

Their papers just call for ink and tearing and using. I hear the gasps *what we're supposed to use our paper?* YES!

I have to share that I have a whole heap of classes coming out. I have my house class this weekend which is full to busting. I have templates to make and kits to put together. I then have a short break due to Ally Pally... although I suspect that I may be demo-ing so please say hi to me :)

I then have my family tree LO, which I think has one/two spaces if anyone wants them ;) I then have cards! (lots of them) with acrylic, acetate and buttons... I have the box class running again, a totally flowery layered LO class. I can admit i'm aprehensive about it all. How busy things are right now. I can tell you I am totally loving some of my ideas right now and how bloomin' special a few of my classes will be (even, if I say so myself!). I have one of *the* best classes I think I will ever do coming up. It has me so extra pumped and happy. I am hoping with all hope it gets taken up again and again because it just has my heart totally joyous. That sounds so corny. But I love paper and I love sharing it with others. I just wanted to share my excitement with you. Ha ha. God, I really am loosing it.

Happy Mail

Yesterday I had a re-delivery of happy mail that had been attempted to be delivered on Saturday, however we were all out! So last night (and this afto) I sat down with wine, the apprentice (wasn't that Mona RUDE!) and Desperate Housewives (I am just loving the gay blonde guy more and more)... and my happy mail :D


This one took on a life of it's own. At points I was ready to bin it, I didn't like it. I felt the colours just didn't go ~ even though they are all from the same range... But it's grown on me. The more I doodled, the happier I became. I'm not sure about some of it. Although I loved the fact that all the circles were from one sheet of pp, they are layered within an inch of their lives. And there is enough buttons to open a haberdashery shop on there. Happy? Kinda.

I started this last night but finished it up the afto while both kiddos slept. Yes. Both! Emily had a tiring morning at school and Ben loves snoozing ;) I glimmer misted this chipboard flower frame with turquoise (*yum*) I just need every colour glimmer mist going. They are so cool.

Again I just had to doodle alittle as stickers just look so 'sticker-ish' without alittle more.

And the wire was a freebie from Marion... I have used it so much. Wire is so easy to make into anything!! Bend it into swirls and add to a felt flower *dah-dar*! Perfect embellie.

Pick out a few flowers on the pp with a black pen too :)

Add altogether and its finished. If Emily looks abit hamster-ish in this pic, it's cause she was storing garlic bread in her chops when this was taken! Edited in photoshop and just her eyes are kept brown, not that its very noticiable.

This i'm not sure of, it was thrown together during the last few minutes of murder, she wrote. Before the kiddos were wakened and before I went back to Mum mode. Maybe it's just too simple?

Work tomorrow and I plan to be a mad, crazy class planning fiend. Along with the odd impossipuzzle that always happens when i'm in at S&S.

Ok, so it's not the sketch...

... I cannot follow sketches, I guess. This is what happened to the twiddley sketch... I guess though it did it's job and gave me alittle inspo for this LO... :)

I used one of those cool twiddley mirrors *yum* and my studio calico stamps... This alpha set really is worth its $. I have used it soooo much!

And this paper, which I got from here I have used so much too!! I just love houses and pink :)

Quiet a simply LO but one documenting happy times back in our old house... back on Emily's first birthday.

Twiddling!

Over at our Twiddley Bitz blog we have a challenge going on... to win a heap of new goodies!! This time it's being hosted by Sherry and she has set a fabby sketch challenge here. I for one will be joining in with the sketch... it's a great way to get your juices following :)

TTFN! I may be back later with stuff to share but right now Jeremy Kyle is calling me... :D

Heart Warming.

These were the beauties I took to my sisters on Saturday. They really were beautiful.

And this I have worked on today... I am very miffed that I have no bind-it-all wires in the right size :GRRR: and so I will have to take it apart and wait until work on Friday, when hopefully I can get some which will be bigger! I made this baby with heaps of patterned paper, card and acrylic. I have also added heaps of pages which are just photos... Some pieces are 5.5" x 6" some are smaller. It's all very random but very yummy. It's a mixed album too. There's gonna be some very random pics in there and it will be full of little stories. Which I wanted it to be...!

On a very happy note... today I found out that an old employer, my favourite and most fondest boss has joined facebook :D I am so happy! This lady was so special to me (and still is) even though we had grown apart, due to me flitting all over... she is there now! I lived with her and was accepted as one of the family for over two years. I had the most amazing time with her and her family, it's so cool to see how happy her family look! It's warmed my heart so much this afternoon. Facebook is a GOD. It's so cool to see the little boys I nannied for as men now. They look prety much the same but stretched! It's also pretty scary and makes me feel damn old ;) A(coincidentally in the top pic of the flowers, is a bowl one of her boys made me as a leaving present... it sits on top of a plate they made me too)

What a weekend... :)

Firstly, there's a few more Studio Calico kit LO's below... just have a scroll down and you'll see!

This weekend I wasn't working at L/C and was off to visit my Sis in Leicestershire... I have a heap of wild piccies but i've not uploaded yet and so can't share right now. The weather was glorious. Emily and I made good time there (and back) and nipped to the cemetary to pop some flowers to mum. Emily was pretty teary and that made me blub. It was a pretty difficult time. All the times before she has been accepting but this time we had lots of questions. It was hard and she cried, then I cried... We got to my sisters and she blubbed. I guess it's tears all round! I had got her a beautiful bunch of flowers, choccies, gifts and stuff which she opened over a much needed cuppa. Emily settled straight in running around and playing with George, Jessica and Abbeygail, as usual. It's like she never left. We ate lots of party food. Emily demolished at least four mini choccie cakes... :D We palyed lots of party games and then we had to leave. It was a fab day and I got to listen to trashy music all the way there and all the way back.

On Sunday I taught all day and so was very busy. I saw some nice new faces and some old lovely faces too. I am of course now thinking of new class ideas, I have a few. It's just choosing paper, making a sample and getting it all out there. We have Ally Pally soon, which will mean that we'll be busy in the shop from now on in!

Here are the few LO's i've been working on....

See I used the rainbow drops on here...! They are pretty cute to use. And I am loving the new puffy thicker font!

I scrapped this old piccie... seems they are all oldies atm! :) The ones that make me happy! This pic has such fond memories. My mum looks so happy.

And of course, after promising my self to journal much, much more... this one has a crazy story to go with it too...

And then this!!! OMG. Look at those cute thickers (again!) And I have this thing for yellow right now. Again, using old pics and making the most of my memories. This baby was made with my chiffon Studio Calico add on! Oh my. I just loved it soooo much. I cannot tell you how much this kit was by far my most fave to date.

There's a whole heap of journalling under those pictures. The Dr.Seuss quote just seemed very appropriate for it all. And I just love trees. The little maya road ones are cuter than the big ones :) And of course I just had to use the effervescent punch again... ;)

I also heard from a friend today, she says she has quit working and so won't be working with me again. :( I'm sad about it. I will miss her. She makes me laugh and makes a stressful job very bearable. Hmm. I'm hoping I can convince her to stay. It's a work in progress.

It goes something like this...

...while I was sorting out a huge stack of ironing this morning... I think Jeremy Kyle was on (yes, I am one of those sad ones who watch him :) anyhoo) I was sorting out a huge stack which had been growing. And I mean actually sorting. You know, the odd socks and stuff that just migrates to the bottom of the basket and is left forever. Well, I got a text from this lady here. I was wondering what she was on about! It read 'OMG! Is it true about the love of your life?! x' I was like What??? It turns out, rumour is Danny Dyer is joining Eastenders. Really? I hope so. It seems a whole bunch of friends think so too :D I never realised rough was the new black.

So I smiled as I did a whole heap of ironing. And washing. And general household duties. That was my day. I have managed a few new LO's but I haven't had time to take some pics... and they look naff in 'fake' light. I promise a whole heap of goodness on Monday.

My second lot of Studio Calico came today! Oh my. I just wish I had more time to use it. I WILL make time tonight, despite having a whole mini to make for my Sister (still).

I wanna be rich and I want lots of money...

... I don't care about clever, I don't care about funny :)

I am so busy this week. Surprisingly I have a day off from work on Saturday but that means we're even busier :D It's my sisters 40th birthday and so early on Saturday morning Emily and me are whizzing up to see her and her littlies. Emily is so excited. She is planning on listening to her fave song... 'puppy love' all the way there and then taking it to play there which i'm sure Jill will be happy with as she used to have the biggest crush on Donny.

So really this week, i'm just playing catch up. So much in the house needs doing. I have a million emails that need sending. I have a whole pile of ironing that needs doing. I have a little boy who is into pinching right now and it's driving me nuts! I have a mini to finish up for my sister too, wrapping paper to buy, biscuits/cakes to bake. OMG. There just isn't enough time in the day.

This week it'll be short on pics. Sorry. It's short of scrapping for me too :(

P.S. for those of you who have facebooked/emailed/commented on your love of lily allen :) it makes me happy. Each night I have been falling to sleep with 'are you mine, are you mine... cause I stay here all the time... watchin' telly, drinking wine-ne-ne...' So take that ish. Yet so cool. I am really seriously thinking I have a Lily Allen obsession. (along with paper, facebook, food, alcohol, sleeping... need I go on?)

Studio Calico Yummie~ness!

On Thursday I had my first box arrive :D Whoooo hoo! I am so happy. I managed to snag an effervescent punch. OMG! This is beautiful. Slightly harder to line up that the scallops or threading water but A-Mazing!

I got the main and a few extra stamps. The bicycle one I just needed. I am now waiting for my two add ons :D I am esp. looking forward to Chiffon with the yellow thickers *yum*. It hasn't stopped me from creating with my main though. I have managed to complete three LO's already... I started on Thursday night and then finished them up yesterday evening as I worked all weekend...

Work at L/C was pretty cool on Saturday. We had a pretty easy night, as nights go there. I managed to actually get some stuff done for Sunday, rather than just working on the here and now which is what it's usually like there. I got home at just gone 10pm.

Sugar and Spice on Friday was the impossi-puzzle. New papers, new flowers... (lots of petalloo) and yummies had come in. I managed to squeeze them all out, somehow... i'm not sure how but they're out and gather up stuff for my class on Sunday. The all day class on Sunday was relaxing... yes, really. Slightly hairy when it came to squishing our boxes and chopping up our piccies but all in all a fabulous day. I am deciding new classes, so keep an eye on your inbox as no doubt Marion will be tempting you soon!

We have set up (or rather we both set up different blogs!) for our Twiddley bitz DT blog.... you can find it http://uktwiddlers.blogspot.com/ here... come and say hello! We have heaps of new stuff in the shop too :)

CSI. I cried. Which probably means I am ultra sad. I am so happy that Danny and Lindsay have got back together :) I cried when he asked her to marry him. I cried when he said no. I cried when she talked to Stella about her 'friend' who was preggo. I cried when they told Mac they were back together and gonna be parents. I just blubbed through the whole episode. I cannot wait for next weeks now. If not for nothing more but to blub.

And lastly. Lilly Allen. My newest ipod edition. I guess after singing along in the car to 'the fear' and getting those weird looks at traffic lights... I downloaded from itunes. LOVE IT. Some of it makes me feel ancient. The majority makes me laugh. One track sounds abit take that-ish. Did you think Lily Allen would or could ever be compared to take that??? Love 'Him'. And tbh the whole album surprised me. On the outside I never actually thought she was so, hmmm, so philosophical (sp) on life. Fabby you need this one. Esp as you love teenagers.

Ok. So Words. They inspire me.

For those of you who know me or have read here for any length of time, will know that journalling really is why I scrap. I have kept diaries since I was 11 and scrapping is just a pretty extension of this. It's also easier for the reader (not that i'd ever feel comfy with anyone reading my diaries!) to understand the person, place, time, event if there's a piccie to go with the story. Do you not agree? So I have really been looking into what I should be scrapping and what I want to scrap. You know I have a couple of albums filled with pretty pages. Yes, they are pretty but they mean so much less that the ones with the story... and usually the crabby photo! ;)

So, just to make sure I remembered. I did this LO. I have bags, boxes, albums etc... filled with old photos. Film photos. Not digital ones. Ones which if they ain't scrapped eventually they will get crumpled, damp, ruined... *shudder* So I guess i've gotta get going and put all these piccies in albums along with the memories. I found this pic which made me smile. Alot.

There's a whole heap of journo'ing about this person. Not exactly about the pic but then I think that you are able to take a pic and journo about them but something not about the piccie you're looking at. Do you get me? So my journo'ing here isn't about the actual pic. Ok, some is. Like how it's my eighteenth party and this guy I worked with on my weekend job for like nearly two years. The pic just says so much more.

I'm not even sure that when i'm no longer here my kiddos or thier kiddos will even bother with all the pretty albums I have. I'm hoping they will. Everyone is curious about their past, right? I'm hoping they will find the little pockets, flaps and notes I have documented over my life. The little books and little stories that have mattered to me. EDITED TO ADD: And can't you just tell he was a farmer? Since when does anyone go to an eighteenth party in a fleece???

It really is so much more.

This, however is one of those pretty LO's. The ones that mean less but you stick and add sparklies to make you happy. It's creating with no thought and no therapy.

And it's using the new yums I got at the shop the other day :)

This is very heartfelt. This place was where I lived for after my mum died. In 2002, every Sunday night during the summer months I went here. I had some of the best and funniest times here. I made some discoveries about myself here. And during the drunken haze of my youth... (that makes me sound ancient but looking back at this pic, I seriously feel like it!) ... I learnt some of the most important of life's lessons. I can do whatever I want to do. If I believe in me. Maybe I should've journo'd that underneath the flap. I didn't. I guess I should write it down somewhere. To remind myself when times get tough.

Underneath I jotted down why this place is special, the music that takes me back to that time, the peeps I went there with. The fact I used to be able to fit, quiet easily in the back of a tigra ;) and how blue diesel was a drink of choice.

This came about after a funny convo I had last month with Kev. Yes, his words were 'not another box!' When my Feb Studio Calico arrived. (Guess this pic tells you more too, as you probably have gathered the whole storage solution hasn't been resoved!)

I whipped the sticker off the box and plastered his mouth shut to stop the moaning. It made a cool pic, despite his protests! It sums up our house right now. The paper is taking over!!! ;) But paper makes me happy and it's free therapy.

I want to continue making the pages that matter. That tell our kiddos about us right now. Warts and all. Hell, everyone knows kids tantrum! I wanna document the cute little convo's I have with Emily. The same convo's I have with Ben on the way to Em's preschool. The fact that three days a week, he contonually natters on about the box (an electric box on the next street on from ours), the birds (which he calls third and birds) and how, now he's aloud to walk on 'the lead' (a wrist strap) all we hear is him chirping 'walk, walk, walk' as soon as we're out of the preschool gates. These little things I might forget but I know I don't want to.

*Breathe, breathe*

Well, after lots of stress and lots of 'issues' over the past month, I feel back on form... kinda ;) So here is just a few LO's i've been 'making'...!

This one I made over at Nina's while we gossiped and set the world to rights :D And ate yummies...

It's a piccie which holds lots of fond memories and it was a pre-digi pic so, yes a film piccie... can you remember film??

This one really sums up how I am right now and how i'd like to be. I'd like to not be quiet as sensitive as I am, I guess it makes me - me. But I know I get easily upset or feel hurt/betrayed when actually alot of the time peeps don't realise how insensitive they are. I go through periods of feeling like this and thought i'd document how sometimes it can be a good thing and sometimes a bad thing...


I hate feeling as if i've been set up to fail. Maybe I shouldn't wear my heart on my sleeve so much. On a more positive note, nearly all of these goodies were from Sugar and Spice :)


I have been wanting to use this maya road thingie for ages...! I hadn't found a suitable LO and I have one to use for a page for Emily but still haven't found 'that' page yet...

I wanted to document how I know my little-est will grow and is growing but no matter how big he gets, how independant and how much of his own life he will have to lead... he will still always be my little boy and my baby... And in any case do boys ever grow up???

I stamped on this one using a little rubber from the end of a pencil. I read about the technique in a mag and thought I use it... :)

I am also loving silver pen atm...

And clouds which can be made into many things...

Well, I will be back tomorrow with a few more makes... and I will be much calmer and happier.