New Years Eve...

Apologies for my lack of blog posts.

This Christmas holiday has passed by in a flash.

Once the snow melted we managed to get out & about

catch up with close friends & spend time with family too.

The children are all very happy with their presents

and I think I've consumed my body weight in food !!

we would like to wish everyone a happy new year

Sx

quick & easy makes

I first saw this idea on Tracies blog

and it was an idea which totally took me over!

As if I don't have enough to do this close to Christmas!!

It is such an easy way to dress up inexpensive baubles.

Adhering run ons to spheres is not the easiest thing I've ever done

but with a little patience & cutting the rub ons into pieces

they didn't take very long to do.

These are using Fancy Pants Tradition rub ons.

But if like me you have a stash of rub ons

you will be sure to find something to suit.

The white ones are Basic Grey & the black Bo Bunny.

Why not give it a go.

Sx

Elementary my Dear...

I'm so loving this Scrapagogo kit.

Here's the first Lo I've made with it.

Go Karting

featuring some photos taken when Dan

went karting for his 16th birthday.

The studio calico stars are fab to use & here I've inked them

and used them as a mask by inking around them too.

The Maya Road number bingo markers

are great for highlighting an important number.

Sx

nice surprise...

Whilst being housebound due to all the snow,

I've spent my afternoon blog hopping which I love to do

I don't think of it as being nosey !

just keeping myself up to date !

Imagine my surprise when I

looked on The Studio challenge site

to find I'd won a prize for

a Lo I posted over there in November.

This certainly put a warm glow in my cheeks on such a cold day.

Sx

look what arrived...

on my doorstep

Scrapagogo's january kit

full to bursting with a great co ordinated mix of papers

& embellishments.

Can't wait to get started with it.

Sx

Madness...

On Saturday night Paul & I were lucky enough

to have tickets to see Madness

play at the O2 Academy in Birmingham.

I'd forgotten how many hits they had

& the noise was amazing as the whole room sang

My Girl, Our House,

It must be love,

One Step Beyond,

Baggy trousers...

Our tickets were for the stalls

so I was really pleased when some of the photos turned out ok

as it wasn't easy to get a good shot.

They were entertaining & the banter with the audience had us laughing & shouting.

If they came this way again I'd certainly go again.

Sx

on this day...

December 10th, 16 years ago,

my life changed forever.

I became a MUM for the first time.

The thrill of holding you in my arms

will never leave me.

The intervening years have seen many changes

and we have watched you grow and mature into

a wonderful young man

We are very proud of you son

happy 16th birthday.

love

Mum x

Winter warmers...

I realised I hadn't shared these Lo's from this months

amazing Scrapagogo's kit.

2009

This months stamp set is awesome & I used the fairy light one

to stamp lots of rows on the Create paper.

I glossy accented the bulbs to make them shine.

Modern Homemaker

The October Afternoon paper was the inspiration here,

to document my love of collecting cook books.

The cute little KI Memories pocket made a fab file folder

for my families favourite recipes

using the Maya Road tickets as tabs to separate the sections.

Slip Sliding Away

The Crate paper Sew brads in this kit are so lush I used them all

to create a decorative frame along with some of the coloured gems.

The white journalling pen was used for the faux stitching

and the title is cut from the printed hybrid sheet.

Sx

struck down by the lurgy..

For the past week someone has been poorly in this house &

and now it's my turn !

It takes a lot to knock me off my feet

but this virus is certainly doing that :(

just when there is so much to be done ...

I am just about managing to keep up with the

12 days of Christmas photography course,

here are some of my photos so far.

Sx

bit of scrapping ...

I saw a sketch challenge over on The Studio blog

& fancied having a go.

The challenge was to produce a monochromatic Lo.

I've stuck to that more or less

with these My Minds Eye papers

& picks of Harriet enjoying some cotton candy after a fab day at Wet n Wild water park.

This challenge really had me thinking about textures rather than colour

& I'm pleased with the result.

Sx

12 days of Xmas

I am guilty of using my Nikon camera on auto most of the time !

but by taking part in this course

I have learnt loads in these first few days already.

To take my festive SP, I used the automatic timer function.

Then we started to check out the WB.

I didn't realise these settings existed ! oops !

Then putting what I'd learnt into practise.

I feel more confident already when it comes to changing the settings.

I'm looking forward to tomorrows prompt.

many thanks CJ .

Sx

Grab it day x

Have you been grabbing today ???

Well over at Scrapagogo there are loads of fab kit add ons

up for sale today

but you have to be quick...

Tea Total !

I created this Lo using Decembers Winter Warmers Kit

and the amazing FREE downloadable hybrids

designed by Kirsty Wiseman.

With all the talk of Red Cups i decided to scrap my love of tea !

Other news

Yesterday whilst leaving our close I slid on some black ice in to the side of a car traveling at 40mph !

Luckily both myself & the other driver are ok,

but my car didn't fair as well :(

Sx

getting in the spirit !

It's been a busy weekend in this household,

I was meant to be away at a retreat with friends but a crisis on thursday

got me changing my plans & staying at home .

I was thrilled to find I had got a place on this

free photography course run by the lovely Cheryl Johnson.

I'm really hoping it will get me in the christmassy mood.

I'll share my pics as I go along.

Saturday we woke to snow

but it wasn't really enough to play in :(

just enough to coat my car !

Today, we continued a yearly tradition

of shopping for christmas decorations at our local garden centre.

As you can imagine we have loads to replace this year...

The garden centre has some lovely displays

& Harriet was drawn to this pink feathery one !

Can't think why !

We stopped for a drink

& I snapped this pic of Dan

I love the star burst effect behind him.

Many thanks for reading this long post.

I value your interest and comments.

Sx

Cold and frosty morning ...

We woke up to a heavy frost here in the Midlands today,

and with snow forecast for the weekend

I think it's now time for me to hibernate for the winter !!

This is my least favourite season temperature wise,

I'm one of those people that really feels the cold

& who has cold hands a lot of the time !

So it's lots and lots of layers, gloves and fleecy socks for me !!

Hope you are warm & snug where you are.

Sx

night out

Tonight we are all going to see the new Harry Potter movie.

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows part 1.

We are all so looking forward to this

& even though it's been an age since I read the book

I'm sure once it starts it will all come back to me.

Think maybe it would be a good idea to watch the previous

movie this afternoon to get us in the mood !

Reviews from friends who went yesterday are all good

so just need to organise the sweets to nibble

& we will be all set.

Sx

I just love this...

Whilst the wind is howling & the rain is pouring

I'm snug and warm inside

playing with Scrapagogo's December kit,

how lucky am I x

Just follow the link above to have a good look at all

the lovely kit contents & the add ons too

Sx

welcome break

At the weekend I was invited to join a

lovely group of Ladies at Toad Hall

a beautiful house in the Shropshire countryside.

I had a fabulous time with loads of eating, scrapping, laughing,

eating, knitting, TV watching...

did I say eating !! lol

Also I got to spend time chilling with these two wonderful friends

Jackie & Sam

who are very special to me.

They are planning a repeat of it for next & I just hope

I will be asked to join them again.

Sx

Hobbycraft Show

Just realised I hadn't shared a pic of my Hobbycraft Show purchases.

In theory I was only after a few Promarker pens

and some bits ready to start this years christmas journal.

Well that was the theory !!

I did get what I wanted plus

more knitting wool - think this could be my new obsession !

a couple of punches including this EK Success

edger with the big holes

some mist and masks

loads of strong DST

swivel blade finger knife...

Mum & I got there as it opened as that first hour or two

tend to be quite quiet & you can really get to see whats on offer.

Ideally I'd love to go to Ally Pally but having this show on our doorstep

I feel I just have to go !!

Sx

Sleepover...

We could not have asked for a better autumn weekend to hold our

Beaver Scout Sleepover.

We are very lucky as our local campsite

has a purpose built centrally heated cabin that we were renting.

The tent in the pic was for my eldest son

who just doesn't feel the cold !

We all had a fabulous time with the day full of activities,

ending with singing& the chocolate stuffed bananas

cooked in the campfire which were delicious.

We decorated the cabin with tea lights made by the children.

This is the view we woke to on sunday

from the veranda.

These events take a lot of organising

but seeing these children experience their first Scout camping experience is priceless.

Sx

What a weekend !

What a weekend we had at the GoGo Getaway,

This was the 4th I'd been to but the first I'd taught at.

I know you may think I'm biased

but these weekends just get better & better.

As always Lorraine & Janice had excelled themselves.

It was great to get together with the rest of the design team

and meet our newest member Sarah Youde in person.

I really enjoyed catching up with old friends & making loads of new ones too.

I taught these 2 classes

Tree top tales

On the flip side

To be honest I was more than a little nervous but the ladies were fabulous

and we shared lots of laughs during the classes.

I also met the amazing Kirsty Wiseman,

Id followed her blog ever since I'd starting scrapping

so getting to spend some time with her was wonderful

and she kindly took some pics of me.

This is my favourite.

I returned home tired but very happy.

Sx

been mad busy...

How lucky am I ?

I've been playing with ScrapaGoGo's November Kit

Attic Treasures & over the next week or so

will share my Lo's.

Also I've been getting really excited to be returning here this weekend.

Theobalds Park, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire

for ScrapaGoGo's retreat

GoGo Getaway

We always have an amazing weekend

& I know this one will be as spectacular

with brilliant classes in beautiful surroundings

shared with enthusiastic people.

Sx