sally's daze

My Personal Domino

2011-11-08T15:46:00.019Z

BEWARE: PHOTO HEAVY POST!!! I also apologise for the quality of the photos. There were taken on my Blackberry Playbook in not very good light. I can take better ones in more detail if required! You can click on each photo to see it larger.

So having posted about my pocket Filofax I have been asked to show how I use my Personal one along side it. I did promise to do this ages ago....sorry!

So I currently use a Domino which is a great basic Filofax at a really good price. I bought mine in WHS for about £18 I think. The things I like the best about this Filofax is that it lies flat the minute you get it out of the box, the elastic that wraps round it keeps any extra loose pages in place and the fact that it's a cheap binder means that I'm not too 'precious' about it. I will be transferring everything to my Malden soon but am so worried about it getting chucked in my bag and battered that I am a bit nervous about using it! So far all I have done is taken it out of the box, sniffed and stroked it and then put it away again! And I wonder why my family worry about me......

Anyway, I am here to talk about my Domino not my Malden (that will be another post). I use this Personal sized filo every day. It has my main diary in it which I need at work and if I'm not at work it tends to stay on my desk. You can see it open on the first page in this photo. There is a clear plastic wallet which has a photo of my three beautiful teens and my mum. The card pockets on the left have business cards, library card, school dates and a couple of souvenier cards. Nothing majorly important. The main pocket holds my CRB certificate that I need with me always at work as well as spare labels and a few notes I will need this month.

Turning the plastic pocket over you will find some more photos, my daughter and I and my OH and I. Then the wonderful Post It note holder. As soon as the yellow ones run out I will replace them with some fancier ones.

Onto the first lot of stickers. These ones are from Paperchase. Then there is the Filofax registration page (in case of loss) and 3 pages of credit card holders which contain rarely used loyalty cards and business cards. Then there is the world map....I have never referred to it but like it being there!

So onto the most important bit....the diary.
I am currently using a week on two pages. Definitely my favourite format. I put spare paper in the middle of the week along with the Today. The spare piece of paper houses my To Do list. I use the bic 4 colour pen and although I am not strict with the colours it seems to be that I use blue for work, green for Zumba work, pink for social and purple for anything else!

I made a series of monthly tabs so I can find the month easily. Downloaded and printed off a month planner from the fabulous philofaxy website and that way I have a very brief overview of the month ahead.

The next photo is a close up of some pocketed dividers I have made using double sided paper which you will see more of as we go along. The first one is 'To Do'....I tend to put my more long term To Do's rather than daily ones which go in my diary.

Here is the back of the 'Money' divider. You can see the pocket at the back of it.

Here we have the back of another divider in my 'Work' section. I have made various sized 'jotpads' out of coloured index cards which I use throughout and keep spares in the back. I often slip on into my diary if I have some important notes about something happening that week.

So the dividers in order are: To Do, Money, Zumba, Tempest, Craft and Contacts. My craft tab has ideas of things I want to make, wish lists, blogs that I want to look at and notes of things I want to look at online that I note down when reading mags. Under the To Do section are some extra tabs at the top that I have made using a tab punch. They are only temporary for the moment so are hand written. They are Recipes, Xmas List and another in the craft section for Stampin Up (which is company I buy from). They are punched out using the same paper as my dividers and stuck on with double sided tape.

At the end of my inserts are the extra index cards, a clear pocket with stickers and special notes I want to keep.

Then a ziplock envelope with stamps in. Tucked in the back pocket are my worksheets for work.

So that's it really. I am playing with using a week on one page diary with a page of notes opposite for my To Do list. I'm not liking it much though. There just isn't enough room and so all my writing is too close together and therefore too hard to see at a glance. I think in 2012 I will go back to week on two pages.

So there you have it, my current set up. It will change next month very slightly no doubt though when I move into my Malden. I will post again I expect! lol

Thanks for reading!
Sallyx

My Pocket Filofax

2011-10-06T16:35:00.008+01:00

So for those of you who follow this blog from my crafting days...I'm sorry, this may be a bit confusing for you! I have decided to blog now and again but it won't be dedicated to craft any more, although hopefully there will be the odd crafty post as I am just starting to make stuff again.

I have been asked by a few of my fellow Filofax addicts if I would do a post about the set up of both my pocket and personal Filofaxes so am here starting with the pocket one which I use as a purse and LOVE!!!

It is a very old black Kensington of the softest floppiest (is that a word?) leather ever. It will soon be replaced by my new pocket Malden (but that is another post!!). I bought this one on ebay for the grand total of 99p along with loads of inserts. I was then lucky enough to win a job lot of inserts and a punch to go with it...can't remember how much but it would have been at minimal cost :)

So here we go......get ready for a hundred billion photos. (I am prone to exaggeration, had you noticed?).

Click on the photo to enlarge it. All photos were taken on my Blackberry Playbook so not the greatest quality, sorry!

This first photo is as you open the purse/filo. You will see on the left are my most used day to day cards and in the pocket money off vouchers. Then there is a clear pocket that I have slipped a piece of double sided scrapbook paper in to 'pretty it up'. Also in that pocket is my Superdrug loyalty card which doubles as a mirror and on the outside of the pocket I have stuck some mini post it notes with double sided tape.

So turning over the plastic pocket you will see on the back the other side of the scrapbook paper with another card in and some cupcake post it notes. On the right is a credit card holder that holds 4 cards (my details are covered up by the pink post its....they are not usually there!)

Then we have some Filofax stickers and some of the gorgeous kraft paper from Paperchase (who stock some great Filofax compatible inserts). I use the notepaper to write my shopping lists, keeping them with my money means I never forget to take them!

The next section is my Year Planner which folds out horizontally. This is NOT my diary. My main diary is in my Personal filo which I will blog about next (if you want! Let me know in the comments section). So on my year planner I just note the days I am working (am or pm or both), my partner's shifts, my Zumba classes and anything else that means I'm not available. That way if I have to book an appointment I know if I'm free. All the details are in my diary.

Next is a section that I haven't photographed.It is a week on two pages diary. I just keep a month at a time in this Filofax and I use it to write our daily meals on. That way if I am out shopping and stuck for an idea for dinner I can refer back. I don't carry more pages as I don't want it to be bulkier. If I am trying to lose weight I also use this section as a food diary. I mark the week with the clear ruler.

Then there are a few sheets of coloured plain and lined paper for notes and random thoughts (I have many!). These get transferred into my personal if they are of any importance.

You may have noticed that although there are some dividers in there I am not really using them. I plan to make some (which I love doing and will show you how to make some with pockets soon).

So the next two photos show where my cash is stored. I will miss the huge coin section when I transfer to the Malden.

Here is the back clear pocket and some telephone number pages.

Last but not least the back of the clear pocket with my fuel receipts in. Also tucked in the back pocket is my lottery ticket.

Let me know if you have any questions, I hope this has been of some use to you and maybe inspired you to use a Filofax as a purse!

Thanks for reading.

Sally x

Here I am!

2011-09-16T23:01:00.004+01:00

Hello!

Not sure where I'm going with this but thought I'd give it a go and see what happens...something I tend to do in life anyway!!

Can't decide whether I should start a new blog or not but as I'd like to reconnect with all my cyber (and real life) friends I'll keep his one for a while.

So life has changed a bit since I last blogged. I no longer craft although I am dying to get scrapping again, it just takes so much time which as always is limited. I will definitely do some more soon though....watch this space!

New things in my life are that I have gone back to my dancing roots and am now a qualified Zumba Fitness instructor, I have renewed my Filofax addiction (will end up blogging more about that I'm sure!) and i am blogging this from my new toy.....can you guess what it is?

So what shall I blog about? Anyone got any links to blog challenges/prompts? May be worth a try?

Oh and the clue to what I am blogging from is at the top of this post ;)

Shall I?

2011-08-27T23:58:00.002+01:00

So I am seriously thinking about blogging again. It won't be craft related (well I don't think so anyway!), it will just be about day to day things that take my interest. I would love to start reviewing products too .... let's see where it goes!

So is there anyone out there reading this???

Busy!!

2009-08-08T23:07:00.002+01:00

What a busy week I've had. Lots of birthday celebrations at home, there is only a year and 9 days between Victoria and Mathew so this is always a busy time of year for us. Not only have we been partying at home I've also been doing the challenges and classes at Stamp With Us and for the first time ever I have actually done all of the projects on the day they were set! (I'm impressing myself here!!). I will be uploading the projects over the next few days (I've been so busy creating them often til 1.30am that I've not got round to blogging them!).

This card is for their blog challenge, this week it was a sketch which I have actually mirrored. You can find the sketch HERE.

I have used Certainly Celery, So Saffron and Night of Navy. Best Yet and Baroque Motif stamp sets and the FREE and totally lush ribbon which you can get for free by placing an order with me in August for £45 or more. Don't forget it's only available this month and isn't in our current catalogue. Email me at: sallyjh40@gmail.com for more details.

Hope you like the card, check back (subscribe or become a follower) this week for some more projects and BLOG CANDY!

Another card

2009-08-02T21:34:00.000+01:00

On Monday Monica came to play :) We had a lovely time catching up and she brought back my love of crafting so I have to say a huge THANK YOU to her!!!

My newest set of stamps (Bloomin' with Beauty) had never seen ink (in fact it hadn't even been mounted) so that was the one I decided to use. Monica is an expert at watercolouring and I'm RUBBISH so she gave me a few tips and this is what I produced!

It's not the best but I am quite pleased. I used So Saffron ink to stamp the flower on the So Saffron cardstock and I love how it looks. Mon had brought the cardstock and a tiny bit of ribbon and it was amazing that the three of us (Victoria was crafting with us) came up with a completely different card.

I am joining in with some classes at Stamp With Us during the next couple of weeks so watch this space....I will be uploading lots of new projects!

I mentioned in my last post about the FREE ribbon with your August orders. What I forgot to mention is that I have some FREE mini catalogues waiting for new homes. If you would like to receive a FREE mini catalogue and FREE Techniques Book send me your address to sallyjh40@gmail.com and I will pop them in the post to you. I love getting things for FREE!! :)

Thanks for all your lovely comments, it's great to be back!

Well what can I say.......?

2009-08-01T23:21:00.003+01:00

I guess sorry just isn't good enough! I had NO IDEA what a huge task moving house would be. It wasn't the actual move (although that was pretty mega) but all the bits that came after..... being a new build I had to put up all the curtain poles and light fittings as well as all the rest that goes with settling into a new home. I'm a dab hand with the drill now...anyone need a shelf putting up?? haha

So FINALLY I am able to start crafting again and pick up all my beautiful stamps, inks and pretty papers to play with. I'm a bit rusty though so will be taking part in challenges and scouting around for inspiration to help me get going again.

I have LOADS to tell you.... August is a great month at Stampin' Up! The offer this month is if you spend £45 or over with me you will receive 2 reels of the most beautiful ribbon in So Saffron and Certainly Celery. The ribbon isn't in the catalogue so this is the only way to get it. I will put the details in my sidebar on the right for you to see.

So my first card is one I made for my son's 12th birthday. I have to confess I wasn't 100% happy with it, I'm definitely rusty! I used the recipe on Stamp With Us just to give me a nudge in the right direction.
and a close up of the punch out:
Everything used is from Stampin' Up!

I may even be back tomorrow with another card!!

OMG>>>>>soooooooooo busy!

2009-05-16T21:09:00.002+01:00

I'm so sorry not to be blogging...it's mighty manic here!

My house move is happening in less than two weeks and I am SICK of living in chaos and tripping over boxes! All of my craft stuff is packed and I'm getting itchy fingers.....but there is NO time to scrap or stamp so I'll have to wait!

I had a lovely surprise the other day. Bridgette (one of my downline) asked Aimee (another one of my downline and very talented jewellery maker) to make me a watch as a thank you gift. I was so amazed and touched at her generousity (and deviousness......) and at Aimee's talent! I know Bridgette is going to blog about it so I hope she has taken a photo! Thank you so much!!!

You'll find Bridgette's blog here
And Aimee's designs are here if you scroll down to the 26th March you will see a watch like the one she made me!

Anna is offering up some great blog candy...you can find it here.

I can't wait to move and as soon as I'm sorted I'll start blogging more again!

Still Alive!

2009-04-21T22:38:00.002+01:00

OMGoodness...I've been sooooooooooooooo busy! It was a relief to go back to work this morning! I've finally cleared my garage and shed which were the 2 big tasks I needed to do during the Easter holidays (I have been up and down to the dump....the guys there are great.....you just open the boot and they unload your car into all the relevant recycling skips). Now I'm trying to clear at least one cupboard/drawer a day. I AM NOT taking any clutter with me to the new house!

I know I've been clearing out but I still can't resist entering for blog candy.... check out this lovely pile of stash on Debbie's blog!

and this on Bev's blog!

I'll just leave you with some little notelets I made a while ago....Just LOVE these stamps :) (email me at sallyjh40@gmail.com for details!)

Going to be absent!

2009-04-08T16:05:00.002+01:00

I'm so sorry I've not been blogging.....I've had some fabulous news and will have to take a break from my blog for a bit...

I will be moving house in May!!! I'm sooooooooooo happy you wouldn't believe, but the implications are enormous, there is so much to do!

I will still be doing my ScrapaGoGo designs and of course still working with Stampin' Up! but everything else will be on hold as I pack my life into cardboard boxes. The house we are moving into is beautiful and brand new.......but I will lose my craft room :( I'll have to make a special corner in my bedroom just for craft!

Off to dance a happy dance and I promise I will be back!

Blog Candy Winner!

2009-03-24T10:46:00.002Z

Thank you to EVERYONE who entered, I'm so sorry there can only be one winner. I'm amazed at how many people visited my blog, thank you! I'm sorry I'm a day late announcing the winner, I had forgotten that I would be out yesterday at a Stampin' Up! Training event.

Congratulations!!! Please email me with your snail mail addy and I'll get the candy in the post to you asap!

Yippeeeeee, Blog Candy!

2009-03-22T00:00:00.004Z

CLOSED.
Winner was announced on 24th March 2009.

Well, I've been threatening to do some Blog Candy for a while so here it is! I realised that not only have I just passed my first birthday as a Stampin' Up! Demo but have also gone over the 10,000 hits on my blog (I really should have done this a month ago!!).

So what will you get if you win?
You will receive:
~ 2 fabulous sets of Stampin' Up! stamps, Yummy and Polka Dot Punches. Both are Sale-A-Bration stamps and no longer available!
~A pack of Making Memories page pebbles
~Bazzill Stitch'z granny stitches templates
~Riff Raff Designs chipboard tree
~Scenic Route chipboard embellishments
~Some lengths of Stampin' Up! 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon
~7 Gypsies cardstock stickers

What do I have to do?
Leave a comment on this post and put a link on your blog to my candy!(if you have one, if not make sure you leave your email address so I can contact you if you win!)
You will receive a second entry if you also become a follower of my blog (you can do that from the sidebar>>>)
Do this by midnight (GMT) the 22nd March (which is Mother's Day here in the UK) and I will announce the winner the next day.

Good luck!

A Fabulous Weekend!

2009-03-19T10:47:00.003Z

Have you ever had a social occasion that makes you smile (or laugh) every time you think of it? I'm still giggling when I think of the weekend I spent with my fellow GoGo's!

Lorraine and Janice from ScrapaGoGo organised a Team Building weekend for us in a fabulous 600 year old house in Saffron Walden. What they didn't know at the time of booking is that the house was haunted.....I think there would have been a change of venue had they known this before! The house was CERTAINLY spooky and we all became very close as we were to scared to go anywhere {like the bathroom} alone!!
Here we are:
Unfortunately a few members of the team couldn't make it...hopefully at the next one! These ladies are seriously talented. I was so inspired watching them work that it made me want to join in and scrap again (it's been a long time!). I hadn't taken much with me (knowing how rubbish I am at scrapping in company...I talk too much!) but Janice gave me some bits from the September Kit and I made this:

{click on the image to enlarge}

I'm ashamed to say I've not done any more since I got back despite my good intentions to scrap some more, in fact I have set a challenge to my SU downline to scrap using Stampin' Up! goodies...I really should take more notice of myself!

Don't forget there are only a few more days left to enter for my blog candy......

Card Patterns #5

2009-03-09T22:02:00.003Z

I do love a good challenge and am pleased to have found a relatively new challenge blog called Card Patterns
Here is my entry for challenge #5
I used Kraft cardstock as a card base stamped with the HUGE Stampin'Up! background stamp Friendly. Some Real Red, Always Artichoke and So Saffron cardstock. The large chipboard square is part of the offer this month (25% off) and I left it raw, stamping directly onto it with Always Artichoke ink using my favourite Baroque Motif stamps. The small scallop squares are punched out with the square scallop punch and stamped with the Level 1 hostess set.

I just love the colours of this and you will certainly see them again!

Don't forget the offer this month for signing up to be a demo with me....I'm around for a chat if you'd like more info. Email me at: sallyjh40@gmail.com

A FABULOUS Offer!

2009-03-07T22:30:00.003Z

Before I start I just want to say a HUGE thank you for all the lovely comments on my videos. It has given me the confidence to do some more so watch this space! I have been using the handcream and trying to get back in the habit of using rubber gloves so let's see if there is a difference. I was truly horrified at the state of my hands....many years ago (when I was 18) I was signed up by a top London model agency as a hand model. I didn't actually do a lot of work because it was when I was at the Royal Ballet and just didn't have the time. I used to really care for my hands but with the daily routine and ENDLESS washing up that there seems to be in my house I've not been so careful so the video has shocked me back into my routine! Anyway, I digress......

What I REALLY wanted to show you was how I store my Stampin' Up! cardstock. I've been asked a few times and have only recently reorganised and it's working really well for me so thought I'd share. I have some of that square cube shelving (mine isn't from Ikea but is near enough the same as the Expedit shelving) and I have two 'cubes' of cardstock.
At the moment I don't want to be spending much money on storage (would rather spend it on stash!) so I bought some cardboard magazine files....they cost £1 for 3 from Poundland!!! I can fit 3 on each cube with a little extra space at the side.
I store my cardstock in each colour family and made the tabs using my Stampin' Up! Round Tab Punch (one of the best £12.50 I ever spent, I use it so much).

I also bought some clear file folders from Instore (£1.49 for 25) that I used to separate each colour and I store my scraps in those.
So very cheap and cheerful but I find it works really well. Whenever I need the cardstock I can see exactly which colour I need and I use my scraps before cutting into a full piece. I also store my scraps of Designer Series Patterned Paper in with the correct colour too.

I hope this has helped you and if you have any questions you can email me at sallyjh40@gmail.com or leave a comment on this post for me to answer here on the blog. My punches are all stored on an expandable curtain rod which I have screwed into the shelf unit and I extend a bit each time I get a new punch (the rod cost me £1.99.....I LOVE a good bargain!).

Before I go I must tell you about a fabulous offer from Stampin' Up! As well as the 25% you can get off the chipboard during March they have just announced another fabulous deal. From the 12th to the 25th March inclusive there is 10% off the Starter Kit if you sign up to be a Demonstrator. So if you were considering it please contact me asap to discuss it. It is such a fabulous opportunity to either turn your hobby into a business or just to become a hobby demo which means you just order for yourself (and friends/family) to take advantage of the demo's discount. So during this promotion period you will be able to buy the starter kit for £125 (instead of the regular £139). For this you will get over £240 of product (you can change the stamp sets and colour family of the inks and inkpads to suit your needs) plus a host of business supplies....including a pack of the NEW MINI CATALOGUE. What a fantastic time to join as not only do we have a fabulous catalogue to work from there is also a MINI which has loads of gorgeous NEW products in. As a demo we can preorder now, as a customer you have to wait until the 1st April. If you sign up with me I will offer you my full support, you will receive an extra starter gift from me which will help you on your new venture be it as a business or hobby demo. You will also have access to my downline forum where we share loads of ideas, challenges and competitions. So what are you waiting for? You can contact me on sallyjh40@gmail.com and we can chat a bit more about it. Look forward to hearing from you!!!!

Video time!

2009-03-06T13:04:00.005Z

OMG.....watching back these videos made me go out and buy this:
...my poor hands look so old, so I am going to start looking after them a bit and we'll see if you can see a difference next time I make a video!
The first video gives a couple of ideas on how to use chipboard and the second is what I actually did with the chipboard! I hate the sound of my own voice so please appreciate that it is very brave of me to upload these for you! Please excuse me waffling on!

Kristina's Colour Inspiration

2009-03-05T12:28:00.005Z

I LOVE Kristina's blog and particularly love these colours so had to have a play! Here's my effort:
And a close up:
I have done a quick video to show how I decorated the chipboard so I will get that edited and uploaded tonight. I've used Close to Cocoa cardstock, Chocolate Chip Desiger Series Paper, Whisper White Cardstock, Pretty In Pink Taffeta Ribbon and Pocket Silhouettes stamps . All products Stampin' Up! (and of course available from me!!). The chipboard is also SU!, decorated with ink, heat and stick powder and dazzling diamonds glitter/whisper white cardstock and part of this month's offer, you can buy it with 25% off until the end of March.

Don't forget to enter for the blog candy (I will post internationally too!)
Thanks for looking!!

Doesn't time fly

2009-02-28T23:26:00.004Z

....when you're having fun?
Well this past week (or so) has FLOWN by. I spent most of it buried under a sea of the most wonderful Stampin' Up! ribbon! I did a ribbon share for some of my customers and downline and had to cut and pack 400 metres of ribbon and 672 sheets of paper!
Here are the four stages of the ribbons:
and the Papers:
I ADORED having all that lovely product in my hands (even if it was only temporary!) but it was extremely time consuming!

A couple of my fellow SU colleagues have set up a new challenge blog using PaperTrey Ink products. I don't own any so Steph kindly sent me some goodies to try so I had a play tonight and came up with this:
and the inside:
Thank you Steph for letting me play along!

Sale-A-Bration has now finished and we have a new promotion on chipboard....a fabulous 25% off! So if you'd like to try the Stampin' Up! chipboard just get in touch and take advantage of this fabulous price!

Blast from the Past

2009-02-17T12:51:00.003Z

OMGoodness I've been having such fun.......Been getting in touch with loads of friends from my dancing days over on Facebook....been some rather embarrassing photos uploaded too. We had such fun and are again having fun catching up on the past 15-20 years!

I've been quite busy in between all the chatting too, making a welcome gift and card for the latest member of my team. I ran a competition over on my forum to choose us a name. Dawn was the winner and my team is called Sally's Sparklies! A bit camp but I think it echoes the fun we have as demos. So if you would like to become a 'Sparklie' email me at sallyjh40@gmail.com and we can have a chat about it. Sale-A-Bration is only on until the 28th February so if you want extra stamps you need to contact me asap! So enough of business....here is the card:
It was inspired by a sketch over at a new challenge site called CardPatterns which I am following with interest. I have used the now retired but still available Fall Flowers DSP along with Kraft Taffeta ribbon, Really Rust cardstock and ink. Faux stitching done with my White Signo Gel Pen ...all products Stampin' Up!

This is the CD mailer which was inspired by one in the first round of UStamp.
Petals and Paisley paper with Taken with Teal cardstock and ink. Old Olive cardstock and ribbon. I won't tell you what is inside as that is a surprise for the recipient!

Racing off to do a workshop now. I've got loads to share (including some blog candy) so keep checking back!

Another Challenge

2009-02-13T18:37:00.005Z

So as promised I have done another challenge.....this is a sketch challenge over at Mojo Monday, I have kept to the sketch without really changing anything. I suppose I was thinking Valentine's thoughts when I created this....now who to send it to>>>>>>???

I have used Pumpkin Pie and Bashful Blue Patterns Designer Series Paper, Brilliant Blue and Whisper White cardstock (these colours where for a challenge I have posted on my downline forum). Bashful Blue Double-Stitched Grosgrain and a Jumbo Pewter Eyelet along with Loads of Love stamp set which I have paper pieced with the Bashful Blue paper. Quite a manly card I think.....apart from the very camp flowery truck!!!! Oh, the flowers were coloured in using my blender pen and Brilliant Blue ink taken off the inkpad. All of the products are by Stampin' Up! and available from me. Hope you like it!

I also promised to share a picture of the gift I received from Lou yesterday....
and look at the little cupcake made from shrink plastic:

Aren't I lucky!!! I love it Lou, thank you so much.

BTW there is only ONE place left in my Ribbon Share so let me know if you want it to be yours!!!!

Sale-A-Bration Ribbon Share

2009-02-12T23:03:00.000Z

This is now full. If you are interested in doing another one please email me at sallyjh40@gmail.com and I will add you to the waiting list.

One of the things I adore about Stampin' Up! is the colour co-ordination.

The inks, cardstock, markers, Designer Papers, brads, buttons and ribbons are all grouped into colour families and all co-ordinate perfectly.

The ribbons are sold in large reels so I am offering you a chance to buy a smaller amount and have bit of each.

I will send you a metre each of the 1/4" and 5/8" Grosgrain, a metre each of the Taffeta and Gingham ribbons. 90cm each of the 1" Double-Stitched Grosgrain and 2 metres each of the Gold and Silver Elastic Cord. So for £20 with FREE p&p you will receive the whole range of Stampin' Up! ribbon.

I would like this share to be filled asap so that we can take advantage of Sale-A-Bration. There will be four sets of SAB stamps that I will raffle off so you have a VERY good chance of winning a set (there are 10 people in this share.....I'll leave you to work out the odds!!).

So please email me ASAP if you are interested in this......sallyjh40@gmail.com

I would like to do a papershare as well with all the beautiful papers, so if you are interested in this too just let me know and I'll get the ball rolling!

Lou's party

2009-02-12T16:24:00.005Z

Today I went over to Louise's beautiful home to do a workshop. Lou is part of my Stamper's 10 and this month is her turn to be the hostess with the mostest so she invited some of her friends round for a demo which will boost her sales to get a fabulous hostess set. She will also get an extra Sale-A-Bration set as her party went over the £300 mark....anyway I digress. Louise is an EXTREMELY talented crafter, I was in awe of her beautiful work and she made me a fabulous gift. I haven't taken a photo yet because the snow is falling heavily (again) and the light is RUBBISH (can you tell I'm bored of the snow!). I will take a photo and upload it soon. I don't know if Lou has a blog (I don't think so) but if I can persuade her to start one I will link you to it. I *heart* her work!

The make and take was a card that we made at a Training event at Stampin' Up! HQ the other week. A fabulous card in my favourite colours, Close to Cocoa, Bashful Blue, Whisper White and So Saffron (you could change the So Saffron for Barely Banana).

Sara suggested using the Perforator tool (from the Cutter Kit) to perforate the Bashful Blue cardstock as a RSVP and using the design for an invitation....just fab!

I need to get the lighting for my photos sorted...... ROLL ON SPRINGTIME and decent natural light!

Other products used on this card include the Polka Dot Stamp set (free with Sale-A-Bration), Close to Cocoa ink, Certainly Celery ink, Wonderful Words, Bashful Blue Taffeta ribbon and a silver brad.

Thank you Lou for opening your home to us. Thank you ladies for making the whole experience such fun......I do hope you all came away having learned something new. I certainly did, I learned that you girls can't half CHATTER!!!!!

I am just about to add details of my ribbon share. I will leave the post at the top of my blog until it is full. I want to do one before the end of February so we can take advantage of Sale-A-Bration and I will raffle the SAB sets. Can't believe we are halfway through February already!

Bridgette....

2009-02-11T09:37:00.002Z

The lovely Bridgette is offering up some fabulous blog candy, it's worth you hopping over there to enter!

Bridgette has just joined me as a Stampin' Up! demo, I know she's going to be brilliant! If you'd like to find out more you can email me at sallyjh40@gmail.com

For You

2009-02-10T23:06:00.003Z

It's so cold!!! I've had enough of this rubbish weather now.....bring on the Springtime, I really need some sunshine! We had a few days of snow but not nearly as bad as some parts of the country. The children only missed one day of school and I spent that day putting clothes on radiators, finding more dry gloves and providing lots of hot soup and cuddles. They had such fun out in the snow but were bored of it by the next day!

Over the weekend Scrapitude had their Cardathon. I only managed to make one card, the weekend just disappeared on me! I love the colour combination of this one. Whisper White, Bashful Blue and Kraft paper and ribbon. The Kraft paper is from the 6x6 pack you can earn by hosting a party or by putting in an order of £150 or more. It is a level one hostess gift and the papers are divine. I have punched out the flowers using the Boho Blossoms punch after stamping with the One of a Kind set. How fabulous to stamp the flowers and then be able to punch them straight out. I embossed some of them with white embossing powder, I think they look fab! I used my Scallop Edge punch on some more of the Kraft paper and then pierced the holes in it using the Mat Pack out of the Crafter's Tool Kit.

I am so excited to add two new members to my team, Aimee and Bridgette have joined me this week and I hope they enjoy their Stampin' Up! journey. It's so exciting when that starter pack arrives, I kind of wish I can do it all over again just to receive that huge box of goodies! I think it's great the way you can choose your stamp sets and colour families so you can personalise the kit to your tastes. You are getting over £240 worth of product for £139 and no obligation after that! (although who can resist ordering more especially with the extra 10% discount during your first 40 days). If you would like to join us or find out some more about becoming a Stampin' Up demonstrator you can email me on sallyjh40@gmail.com.

I'm off to bed now, my electric blanket is on and I can't wait to go and get warm!

Watch out for some blog candy coming soon!

Challenges

2009-02-07T09:50:00.003Z

Lately I seem to have found less and less time to stamp or scrap which is silly really because my working hours aren't long....I'm just NOT very good at time management and can easily waste a day just faffing around {I'm sure I'm not the only one!!}.

I have decided to try and join in a few online challenges so that way I will always have something to share here too. Over on Scrapitude this weekend there is a mini 'Card-a-thon' so inbetween all the normal weekend activities I am hoping to have a few productive moments ;) I am in the process of changing my dining room into a permanent craft room. I have been using it as both but more and more I am not getting round to clearing the table for dinner so had to make a decision. My children all know how to sit and eat properly at the table and I don't feel it is the 'hub' of our family....we live in each other's pockets as it is so don't feel that it's a mega important time to get together and catch up on the day. I may re think that when the children are all teenagers and out of the house more. I'd better stop rambling on and carry on with the organisation of the room so I can do some stamping! (why do these jobs always end up so much bigger than you expect!!).

Here is a card I made for the Mojo Monday challenge. I have used Cutie Pie Paper which is actually now retired but still available (at the moment). The photo is a bit rubbish I'm afraid...we are still full of snow here and I refuse to take my card outside to photograph!
Along with the paper I have used Rose Red cardstock and ink (which are exactly the same colour as used in the paper). A Rose Red marker to doodle (don't you just LOVE how all the SU colours match) and the stamps are Wonderful Words and Polka Dot Punches. The Polka Dot Punches set is FREE if you spend over £45 in the catalogue and co ordinates with some of our punches. In this case I stamped the flower and then punched it out with the 5 Petal Flower punch. There is a Bashful Blue brad in the centre of the flower too :) If you are interested in any of these products you can contact me at sallyjh40@gmail.com. Sale-A-Bration finishes on 28th February so if you are wanting to get your freebies or to sign up as a demo and get an extra stamp set what are you waiting for???!

Thanks for looking!

Sale-A-Bration

2009-02-02T23:03:00.003Z

Ok, you can pick yourself up off the floor now, your eyes are NOT deceiving you, this really IS another post in just a couple of days! Impressed?

As you may have heard me mention before, Stampin' Up! have the most fantastic promotion going at the moment, you get a free stamp set for every £45 spent. The four sets in the Sale-A-Bration catalogue are really gorgeous so I thought I'd better start using them and share with you before the end of February when the promotion ends. Be warned, they will not be available again after 28th February.

So this card is made using Botanical Blooms, a set of 7 stamps which you can use the Two Step Stampin technique with.

It's a very simple card that I have made using limited supplies for a challenge that I have set my Stampers 10 group. I have used 5 stamps for this card, I love the simplicity of the look. In contrast with the card in my last post!

As well as earning free stamps with your purchases you can also choose an extra set when you sign up with me during the Sale-A-Bration event. For details on how to become a demonstrator email me at: sallyjh40@gmail.com. You can be a demo without ever having to host a workshop....ask me how!

You ca

Sketch Saturday

2009-01-31T19:29:00.004Z

Yesterday I went to a training event at Stampin' Up! head office in High Wycombe. It was great to see some of the other demos and there are some exciting things coming up this year to keep us all on our toes! Julie came to my house in the morning and I drove us there. Unfortunately on the way back we got stuck on the M25 and then the M1....an hour and a half at a standstill :( It took us 5 hours to get home and we were exhausted! Julie told me about the SketchSaturday blog so I thought I'd play along today.

For this card I used Tea and Crumpets Designer Series Paper, Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon, A Rose is a Rose and Sincere Salutations stamp sets, Silver Hodgepodge, Whisper White and Chocolate Chip cardstock. All products are Stmapin' Up! This was so out of my comfort zone but I love the result. It is for my mum's birthday and I am now on the hunt for a fabulous verse to put inside.

Victoria (DD age10) had a go too so we had a lovely afternoon crafting together. This is her card:
I love the fact that Victoria and I share a hobby, she's counting the days {years} until she can be a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator!

Talking of which....(did you see what I did there?)....Now is a FABULOUS time to join my team. We are still in Sale-A-Bration which means that when you sign up not only will you get the best value Starter Kit around but you will also be able to choose an extra set of stamps from the current Idea Book & Catalogue. On top of that I will also send you an extra gift and you will have access to my private forum where you will get the chance to win prizes and meet other demos. How fantastic! If you would like any more information just email me at sallyjh40@gmail.com and I'll get straight back to you.

Thanks for looking!

ooooops.....

2009-01-20T23:31:00.004Z

I did it again! Or should I say 'didn't do it again'. I have left it far too long between blog posts again and I must apologise to all my loyal readers who still have the patience to click on my blog!

I've had huge upheavals at home. I always get energised at the start of a new year and this year has been no different. As soon as Christmas was over I completely re-organised our bedrooms which turned into a much bigger job than I anticipated. We all swapped rooms which involved dismantling and moving wardrobes and beds. I was able to get rid of a bulky cabin bed and replaced it with a lovely 'girlie' bed for Victoria and I finally chucked my cast iron bed and replaced it with a wooden one. I have been up and down to the tip and donated a TONNE of stuff to the charity shop. I just need the rag and bone man to come round to collect the old metal beds. Phew, so glad that's over with! The next huge task is the garage sort out.....

I am also desperately trying to get fit this year. I really miss exercise. All the years I spent dancing and now I do nothing, it's so wrong. So I joined Jive Fusion (couldn't face the gym yet) and now go dancing once a week. I LOVE it. So good to be dancing again even though it is something COMPLETELY different to anything I've done before! I was lucky enough to get a CrossTrainer free from Freecycle so am trying to do a bit each day on that.....OMGoodness it's hard! I'm ashamed to say I've not managed more than 5 minutes in a row on it....how bad is that! My aim is to be able to workout while I watch tv so I will be celebrating the day I can do it for a whole programme!

I haven't been crafting much lately and consequently my mojo is on holiday. I have very itchy fingers though and am dying to get inking! I made a card for my son who turned 14 at the weekend (gulp...that really makes me feel old!). It took me ages to make and I'm not even too pleased with the result.

The colours aren't showing at all well. I can't wait for Spring to come so we can have a little sunshine. I used a Chocolate Chip base, Apricot Appeal and Kraft along with the Kraft Designer Papers which are a level one hostess gift. You get a whole pack of lush 6x6 papers (not available to buy). The stamp set is In the Stars stamped in Choc Chip, Apricot Appeal onto Whisper White and Versamark onto Kraft. I'm sorry you can't see the colours well. I inked the edges with Choc Chip.

Sale-A-Bration is in full swing so if you want to earn some free stamps just drop me a line at sallyjh40@gmail.com. I would also just like to welcome Dawn to my ever expanding team of Stampin' Up! demos. I can't put her blog link in my sidebar at the moment as Blogger can't find the feed. If you would like to come and join us you can email me with any questions you may have and I'll get back to you immediately. It's a really good time to join with the freebies offered during Sale-A-Bration!

I promise NOT to leave it too long til my next post! Thanks for reading :)

Helloooooooo!!!

2008-12-31T00:00:00.003Z

Warning: Long post ahead!

I am soooooooo sorry to have been AWOL again. I spend all of October and November moaning about how Christmas starts too early and declaring loudly to anyone who will listen that I NEVER do anything until at least the 1st December. So come the 1st December and I put my Christmas hat on and by the 7th my lovely Christmas spirit has disappeared and I go into full panic mode and realise there is FAR too much to do in 2 weeks. So next year please give me a kick up the derriere in November and point me back to this post. Anyway, here I am again, just in time to wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

So I haven't anything crafty to show you today, I've been doing some DT work for ScrapaGoGo (check out the January kit it is just FANTASTIC) and have made quite a few Christmas cards....I'm a bit late to show those aren't I! I'll be along later this week with some bits to show.

In the meantime I have a couple of REALLY exciting things to share.....

Did you notice the addition on the top right of my blog? We are getting a Sale-A-Bration!!! I am happy! We can earn LOADS of fabulous freebies :) (and we all like something free don't we!).

Promotion Dates: 1 January – 28 February 2009

Promotion Details:
For more than ten years, the Sale-A-Bration promotion has been one of Stampin’ Up!’s biggest promotions of the year. That’s why we are very excited to offer Sale-A-Bration in Europe for the first time ever. With rewards for customers, hostesses and new recruits Sale-A-Bration gives everyone a reason to celebrate!

For every £45 spent in the main catalogue you will be able to order a special stamp set from the Sale-A-Bration catalogue. So if you order £90 worth of product you can choose two sets and so on. Have a look at the catalogue in my sidebar and you can see how gorgeous the stamp sets are. If you host a workshop that reaches £300 in sales (easily done!) you as the hostess will be able to choose another set along with all your usual hostess benefits (you can also do that with an order of £300 without actually having a workshop). That's a lot of free stuff. Do get in touch if you'd like me to give a demo in your home. Last but not least, if you sign up with me to become a demonstrator during January and February you will be able to choose a free set of stamps from the regular catalogue (and of course with your first order you will be able to take advantage of the Sale-A-Bration offers). I will also send you a rather special introductory gift which will help you on your way to larger sales!

So what are you waiting for? Email me for a catalogue, to place an order or to find out more about signing up with Stampin' Up! sallyjh40@gmail.com

I did say I had a COUPLE of exciting things to share with you. The second is a fabulous course I'll be taking with the lovely Bekka.

Pop over to her blog to find more details on her year long course it sounds so good!

I'm sure I won't blog again until next year *giggle* so I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy and Successful New Year! Thank you for all your support (and your patience with me for being such a bad blogger!). See you in 2009!!

Something Different...

2008-11-22T21:33:00.004Z

I did something really different for me today and really enjoyed it! I downloaded and printed some papers/sentiments from Pink Petticoat and made a card without using anything else.

Being a Demo for Stampin' Up! I obviously use their products a lot! In fact since starting with SU I am gradually replacing all my inkpads and tools with Stampin' Up! goods because I love the product so much. I also love the fact that I can still design for ScrapaGoGo because it means that I get to play with all the most recent releases, they really have the most fantastic kits that always inspire me.

BUT that doesn't mean that I don't dip into other things now and again.....

Yesterday I saw a competition that inspired me to investigate Pink Petticoat. I have looked at their downloads before but haven't really had the chance to play. So I downloaded their One in a Melon kit to see what it was all about. What fun! I printed off the patterned paper onto textured cardstock and then put it back into the printer to print the inside. I then enlarged another pattern so I could use the heart which I covered in Stampin' Up!'s Heat and Stick powder and Dazzling Diamonds Glitter (the H & S powder stops the glitter from shedding). I was inspired by the shape of some of the sentiments in the kit so decided to shape the card in the same way and pick up the doodling to accentuate the shape. The ribbon is some I have had in my stash for AGES and the heart and melon embellishments were printed out from one of the downloaded papers.

I just think it made such a fun card and I love the colours! So thank you to Pink Petticoat for making me step out of my comfort zone!!

Reminders...

2008-11-19T15:40:00.002Z

Just to remind you that there are still a couple of places on my ribbon share. Please get in touch asap as I would love to get this sorted before the Christmas rush....(it's always a rush in my house because I don't start thinking Christmassy things until December arrives!).

If you want to be a bit more organised for the great event than me you could email me your wish list and then get your friends and family to contact me and I'll sort out the rest. There are going to be some very happy crafters on the 25th December!

I've just found some gorgeous blog candy over at Passion for Crafts.....I've always wanted to try Copics so it would be great to have some for free!

Bye for now!

Just a quickie....

2008-11-16T20:30:00.004Z

Just popped in to share a project I made this afternoon....it was such fun to do and I love the result.
I used a tutorial that you can find over at SheetLoad of Cards

I made a few little thank you cards and envelopes to go inside:

{click on images to see a larger view}

Nothing else to share at the moment except that there are still some places left in my ribbon share so do get in touch to reserve your place or maybe ask someone to buy a place for you for Christmas!

Thanks for visiting!

KW Colour Inspiration

2008-11-12T00:14:00.004Z

I am a huge fan of Kristina Werner and love to do the colour inspirations she posts weekly....such a shame that there aren't a few more hours in the day!

I actually managed it this week and am going to post it tonight before I change my mind...this card started out COMPLETELY different to how it ended up!

Word window tutorial

2008-11-10T21:43:00.004Z

OMG two posts in one day! Unheard of!!

I've been asked about the Word Window punch which unfortunately hasn't yet made it over to Europe. I just thought I'd share with you a quick tutorial on how to get the same effect using a small circle punch. I quickly did these photos whilst cooking the kids dinner so please excuse the quality!

Step One:
Punch out a small circle in your cardstock (I used the 1/2" circle from Stampin' Up!)
Step Two:
Draw guidelines
Step three:
Punch your second circle within the guidelines

Step four:
Cut along the guidelines
And voila! Here is your word window:

I really hope that's been of some help!

New offers

2008-11-10T15:42:00.005Z

Wow....the ribbon share is proving to be very popular. There only only a few places left so email me asap if you are interested. Today is the day that the Rub-ons and Textured Cardstock come up on offer. Spend £20 with me and receive 20% off all textured cardstock packs and also 20% off the rub-ons.

Item #	Page #	Description	Regular Price	Discount Price
113659	77	Hidden Garden Blossoms Rub-Ons	£7.50	£6.00
113660	77	Cherished Memories Rub-Ons	£7.50	£6.00
113634	68	Bold Brights 12” x 12” textured card stock	£9.25	£7.40
113635	68	Earth Elements 12” x 12” textured card stock	£9.25	£7.40
113636	69	Rich Regals 12” x 12” textured card stock	£9.25	£7.40
113637	69	Soft Subtles 12” x 12” textured card stock	£9.25	£7.40
113638	67	Neutrals 12” x 12” textured card stock	£9.25	£7.40

Life is rather busy at the moment and sadly I haven't had much time to do any stamping...it's so frustrating but it won't be long until I'll be uploading a lot more :-)

I just wanted to share a layout I did using October's Scrapagogo kit. If you hurry to their website you will see a photo of the glorious November kit which is still available to buy singly.

{click on the image to see it larger}

I must add that I am NOT the only one drinking Baileys....I was being the hostess with the mostest and adding Baileys to everyone's coffee....yum!!!

Thanks for looking and please don't forget to email me about the ribbon share
before the places fill up.

Ribbon share/Christmas wish list

2008-11-07T14:52:00.003Z

A huge smacked wrist for me for not blogging. I'm so sorry I have been AWOL again for so long, it's my busy time at work and you can tell by my lack of online action! Thank you to those of you who keep on checking to see if I've blogged and to those who nagged me back into action! I've got a few things to share but will try and post over the next few days otherwise I'll waffle on for hours.

Firstly I'd like to tell you all about my ribbon share....

One of the things I love about Stampin' Up! is the colour co-ordination. The inks, cardstock, markers, Designer Papers, brads and ribbons all co-ordinate perfectly. The ribbons are sold in large reels so I am offering you a chance to buy a smaller amount. I will send you a metre of each of the 1/4" and 5/8" Grosgrain, a metre of each of the Taffeta and Gingham ribbons, 90cm of each of the 1" Double-Stitched Grosgrain and 2 metres each of the Gold and Silver Elastic Cord. So for £20 (including p&P) you will receive the whole range of Stampin' Up! ribbon.

On top of that with each set of ribbons I send out I will enclose a ticket...I will draw a ticket out of the hat (or tupperware container) for you to win a Stampin' Up! prize to arrive in time for Christmas!

If you would like to take part in the ribbon share please email me: sallyjh40@gmail.com
Places will be limited so let me know asap!

I am also offering a wish list service.....email me over your wish list and then pass my details onto your friends and family. I will liase with them to choose your perfect present for Christmas. You will know for sure that way that you will get something you really want! I will wrap the gift and send it to them with a handmade tag for them to fill out. So get sending me those wish lists as the last orders will be the 5th December!

Now I can't go without sharing a photo....this is the card I demo'd at Bridgette's workshop (thank you for a wonderful evening Bridgette!). I ADORE Bashful Blue and Chocolate Chip :-)

Colour Inspiration

2008-10-10T23:55:00.006+01:00

I don't know if you read Kristina Werner's blog (if not, why not? it's fab!)...she posts a Colour Inspiration every week and every week I aim to do the challenge. I managed last week but I think I missed the deadline. I've just done this week's one but am unsure of the time difference so don't know if I've made it or not. Here's hoping next week I'm a bit more organised!

Here are this week's colours:
And here's how I used them!

Not a great photo as it's nearly midnight here. I've used the new Baroque Motifs stamp and embossed with clear embossing powder. The sentiment is from the Fun and Notes hedgehog stamp. I inked it with my Ruby Red marker. The ribbon is Certainly Celery.

Thanks for looking!

And a few more....

2008-10-05T21:51:00.006+01:00

...cards to share.

I have so enjoyed this weekend. We spent yesterday just chilling out at home and then today we went into town to get some warmer clothes. The temperature has really dropped over the past couple of days and the children have all grown so much since last year (unfortunately so have I but I REFUSE to buy bigger clothes!). So each time I had a quiet moment I was able to pop into my craft room (which is really the dining room but at the moment you can't quite see the dining table and we are doing Japanese style meals sitting on the floor round the coffee table!) and play with my stamping supplies.

Kim did a fabulous and very easy to understand tutorial on her blog using bleach so I had a play with my favourite Garden Silhouetts stamps. I am so sad these aren't available any more although I equally adore the Pocket Silhouettes in the new catalogue which have a similar style. I quite like the bleach effect and will be using it again.

Creamy Caramel cardstock for the card base. Chocolate Chip cardstock, Chocolate Chip marker to outline the bleached image and Chocolate Chip ink to stamp the solid image. Ruby Red cardstock, marker and ink. Chocolate Chip 1" Double Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon. Ruby Red buttons and flowers and pearl from the Pretties kit....I dyed the top flower using my Ruby Red Marker.

I then made some little treat pots using the pots that the Dazzling Diamonds and embossing powder come in (I promise I washed them out well!!). The kids are already fighting over these (any excuse), I won't say how many of the sweets (called Millions) I ate :(

And last (but hopefully not least) is a card I CASED from Dawn
She makes loads of videos and is so generous to share her many ideas! Here I used our recently retired (but still available) Secret Garden Simply Scrappin' kit. These kits are so versatile and the cardstock stickers are divine to work with. The top circle moves around the top of the bigger circle....I'm still trying to think of a sentiment to add.

My first Stamper's 10 club is now full and therefore closed but I already have a waiting list for the next one so if you are interested in joining the second group just get in touch at sallyjh40@gmail.com

Off to take some Disprin and Strepsils as I've got the sorest throat and a very busy week at work. It's going to be very hard photographing toddlers if I have no voice!!!

Thanks for reading :)

World Card Making Day

2008-10-04T22:57:00.004+01:00

So today is World Card Making Day. There have been loads of different events all over the world....apart from here! I wasn't able to hold an event so decided to have a day at home playing with my new stamps instead. I joined in a couple of online challenges but only actually made two cards! It was cold, wet and windy outside so it was lovely to be inside for the day. The only drawback is that the light was so bad for taking photos of my work so please excuse the dreadful photography!

Both cards are taken from challenges over on ILWS the deadline for uploading your work is not until tomorrow evening (Sunday 5th) so hop on over and join in!

My colour inspiration for this card is from the Color Inspiration #24 over on Kristina's blog ( I LOVE her blog!). We had to use Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Very Vanilla and Old Olive. I also took inspiration from challenge#2 on ILWS. I used the divine True Friend stamps (new in the catalogue!)

The next one is using the glorious Season of Joy stamp set with Dashing Designer Paper for Sketch challenge #1 on ILWS. I just love this combination. Again I'm afraid the colours are rubbish, I used Real Red and Very Vanilla.
Now, I have done the video for the basket tutorial but can't seem to add the music to it. When I play it the audio slows down and breaks up. I'm using Windows Movie Maker and am getting SERIOUSLY annoyed with it! Not sure what to do now because it's rubbish without some audio!

Just to let you know that there is only ONE PLACE left in my Stamper's 10 so if you are thinking of joining please get in touch asap so I can send out your free catalogue in the next post. I am currently making a little gift for all members of the group so if you're reading this watch your letterboxes towards the end of the week! :)

Thanks for stopping by!!

Editing the video....

2008-09-30T22:29:00.003+01:00

So as promised I have made the video tutorial for the paper basket....as yet it's not ready to share. Making the video is no problem at all. The difficulty is editing the flippin' thing. I've already spent a couple of hours on it and it's still not finished :( I'll upload it as soon as it's done, if anyone has any hints and tips please let me know!

As you may or may not know, tomorrow, October 1st is the day the new Stampin' Up! catalogue goes live! I'm so excited to share it with you all, there are some GORGEOUS things in it. If you would like to receive a catalogue they are available from me right now at a bargain price of £3.50 (including P&P). Or of course you could receive one free if you place an order of £35 or more.

Of course the other way to get a free cattie is to join my Stamper's 10..... details in the post before this one!

In the meantime I'll leave you with some REALLY quick cards. Using Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip and Really Rust cardstock I stamped in Creamy Caramel using the lushious swirly stamp out of the new Season of Joy Christmas stamps and the flower from another new set called True Friend. These were super simple and quick to make but I love how they look. I sent them out with the new catalogues so a few of you will be receiving them tomorrow :)

I just love those swirls...you will be seeing a lot of them appearing in my cards!
Thanks for looking :)

What a week!

2008-09-27T22:59:00.003+01:00

I am soooo glad it's the weekend (although unfortunately it's proving to be a busy one), I've hardly had time to take breath this week. I promise I HAVEN'T forgotten the basket tutorial. It really has been a manic week and I just haven't had time to lift my stamps let alone make a basket. I will try and get it done for you this week. I will have to try and do it without eating any choccies though as I have joined Slimming World again. I was so devastated to see the photos from the Field Training this month that it's kicked me into action. Weigh in is Tuesday so keep your fingers crossed for me!

We are SO close to the launch of the new catalogue and we are all so excited! I can't wait to get my hands on the new Scallop Punch *another sneak peak alert* so much so that I am actually going to sell my Fiskars Threading Water one! In fact I will be gradually selling off a lot of my stash to make room for all the new Stampin' Up! goodies that I just HAVE to have!

I still have a few places left in my Stamper's 10 club starting in October. What's a Stamper's 10 you ask? Well, with the new catalogue coming out I am positive that your wish list will just get bigger and bigger and having seen the fabulous new hostess sets I just know that you will want to get your mitts on them! So by joining my Stamper's 10 you will get the chance to do just that!

The club consists of 10 people that simply make a commitment to purchase £15 (before postage which is set at £3.95) worth of SU! products each and every month over a 10 month period.

Because the monthly club total qualifies as a minimum level workshop (£150), the 'elected hostess' will get to pick a free level one hostess set and at least £15 to spend in the catalogue. If you would like to commit to spend more each month you could take two places (meaning a monthly purchase of at least £30) and that way you would be the hostess twice, so twice the benefits!

You will also get:

A FREE copy of the 08/09 catalogue.
A guaranteed Level 1 hostess set and at least £15 to spend in the catalogue during your hostess month.
A make and take or handmade gift from me on a regular basis.

If you are interested in joining my Stampers 10 or have any questions please email me at sallyjh40@gmail.com Get in touch as soon as possible as October is fast approaching!

I do have some other things to share with you but blogger isn't playing very nicely (I've already lost this post once tonight) so I will have to upload those tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by!

Thank you Scrapagogo!

2008-09-22T22:14:00.005+01:00

Firstly I must thank you for all the comments on my basket. I will try and do a video tutorial this week, thanks for all the interest!

As you know I'm on the Design Team for Scrapagogo. In August they merged the two DTs and I had the chance to work with the Create kit as well as the usual Greetings. It had been sooooo long since I had scrapped that I was actually starting to get scared of trying again. So I want to say a HUGE thank you to Lorraine and Janice for making me scrap again. Unfortunately due to work commitments I have decided to stick to just designing cards at the moment although I will still have a play with the goodies and do at least one layout each month for them. Here I am sharing some layouts from August and September. I will post the cards later in the week. I have to say I am AMAZED at the amount of kit you get for the money and there is always an exclusive clear stamp too. I have October's kit at home now, I will share my designs with that next month. The kit is full of brand new stash from CHA......wow, it's FABULOUS!!

From August's kit:

This one was made with September's kit:
*click on the image to read the journaling*

And last but not least I will share with you a little gift I made today for a special (but neglected) friend. If you pull up the ribbon it reveals a gift. I won't spoil the surprise by telling you what the gift is, she may come on and comment when she receives it!

All products used are by Stampin' Up! and available from me.
~Close to Cocoa cardstock and Designer Paper.
~Bashful Blue and Whisper White cardstock.
~Bashful Blue taffeta ribbon.
~The pin was made with goodies from the Pretties kit.
~The image is from the NEW *sneak peek alert* Season of Joy stamp set, stamped in Bashful Blue and 'prettied up' with a pearl from the Pretties kit.

Email me if you would like to order any products or to PREORDER the new catalogue out on October 1st!

Who ate all the chocolate........?

2008-09-20T22:27:00.005+01:00

Actually, when you look at a recent photo you will think it was ME who ate all the chocolates and you are half right! When I made this basket the temptation to eat the choccies as I went along was far too great, I adore mint choc!

So before I carry on sharing my latest work (but not the choccies :)) I must apologise for my lack of blogging. I am being moaned at and nagged by some of my friends so am going to try and be better and update more often. If I leave it too long it gets so hard to catch up. I'm not going to share everything all at once but will try and add something at least twice a week. You have permission to tell me off and kick me if I don't!

There is SUCH a lot of Stampin' Up! news for you......last night I went to the Field Training in High Wycombe. There is lots of news to share and will do it during this next week. The first bit is that we SAW THE NEW CATALOGUE!!! OMG it's gorgeous and there are some amazing products in it. My packs of catties are on their way to me now so if you would like one please email me. It goes live to the public on 1st October and you will LOVE it.

We were asked to take a project along with us on the night for the Demonstrator's Choice Contest. I made a basket of chocolate which didn't win but I was thrilled to receive LOADS of compliments about it. I was inspired by some baskets I saw over on SCS and if you like I could make a video tutorial on it....let me know if it's worth me doing? It is also the Arty Girlz first birthday and we were asked to make a gift, what better than chocolates!

Here is a close up of the chocolates:

And the basket itself:

Here is a close up of the weaving:

and a shot of the top:

There were a lot more chocs in it at the beginning of the evening!

I'm not sure who reads my blog but I want to say a big HELLO to all the lovely ladies I met last night. I'm sorry I didn't get to speak to you all. I can't wait for the next Stampin' Up! event!!

A lot of GoGoGoings on!

2008-08-06T11:29:00.004+01:00

Scrapagogo will be 3 this month! Congratulations to Lorraine and Janice on 3 years in business! To celebrate there will be some online celebrations and challenges starting on the 12th August in the Clubhouse.

Taken from the newsletter:

GoGo HQ News

We Are Three!

August see's ScrapaGoGo celebrating three years of supplying inspirational kits. We couldn't let this anniversary go by without marking the occassion and we really want to share this with our members.

Therefore we would like to invite you to join in the fun.

WHERE - GoGo Clubhouse

WHEN- 12th-31st August

Come on over and take part in 3 challenges, 3 classes and have a chance to win one of 3 prizes - 3 being very much the theme:)

First prize is a chance to win a place at one of our 2009 GoGoGetaway's - worth in excess of £300!

Full details and timetable of events will be posted on the Clubhouse later this week.

Mark the date in your diary and if you have not already registered on the Clubhouse now is the time to do so:)

What a fabulous prize to win! I am setting a little challenge on the 17th. I really do hope you'll pop over and play :)

I've a few cards made with the July Greetings Kit to share. I love Crate paper, beautiful subtle colours and so good to sand down and ink. This kit was FULL of fabulous diecuts which made it so easy to make a quick card:
There are also some really cute reusable templates in the kit. The 'celebrate' in the card above and the 'love' in the card below are done using them. In the card below I made a bit of a mistake using the template so to disguise the smudge I moved the template slightly and did it again in a contrasting ink. I love the effect and feel like I should put on some 3D glasses to appreciate it more!

The next card is actually a bookmark too. The green piece just slips out, the distressed paper is reinforced at the back with cardstock.

As well as all the celebrations this month Lorraine and Janice also made the decision to merge the two DTs. It means that I also get the chance to design with the Create kit which is fantastic as it's kicking me back into scrapping (it's been a while since I scrapped and was starting to get scared of it!). So watch this space towards the end of August as I'll be sharing LOADS of August designs with you (and I have to say the kit is absolutely GORGEOUS!). In the meantime I'll leave you with a naughty sneak peek.....I made a video of me making a card with the August Greetings Kit. What a laugh......I can't believe how much paper shuffling I do! (I did speed it up so you hopefully won't fall asleep!). It's set to music so turn up your speakers and have a giggle!

Not sure if that will work or not. You can see it on You Tube by clicking HERE

Pretty Paper :)

2008-07-31T23:57:00.004+01:00

I love pretty paper so was really excited to see August's offer. Choose 3 packs of Designer Paper from the current Stampin' Up! catalogue and get the fourth free. Each sheet is double sided and beautiful quality (I don't like flimsy papers!). You get 12 sheets of double sided 12x12 per pack (2 of each design) and they are perfect for both scrapbooking and card making. I've used Fall Flowers in the examples below (for regular readers of my blog you will have seen these before :))

As with all Stampin' Up! products the colours will coordinate perfectly with the cardstock, inks, markers, buttons, brads. Don't you just love that?

You can email me at: sallyjh40@gmail.com with any questions or if you would like to order. This offer runs the whole of August.

Crafts Beautiful

2008-07-30T21:41:00.000+01:00

I've just heard that the September issue of Crafts Beautiful magazine is on the shelves and in some shops it comes with a FREE Stampin' Up! Catalogue! How cool is that? So if you haven't bought a cattie yet I'd get along to Tesco, Morrisons, WHS or the Co Op to get yours :) If you find it on sale in any other shops with the free catalogue could you let me know?

I took the kiddos away for the weekend.....it is absolutely EXHAUSTING trying to entertain 3 children alone, especially 3 who have quite different ideas in what they want to do. We had a great time but I'm happy to be home :) What is completely unreal is that I didn't take my camera out of the bag the whole time we were there!!! How shameful :(

Only Two Weeks Left!!!

2008-07-15T23:32:00.000+01:00

I am such a TERRIBLE business woman.......I've had a fantastic offer in my hands for the past month and I've not even bothered to share it. If you have ever considered signing up for Stampin' Up NOW is the time to do it. There is only 2 weeks left of this offer (ends the 31st July).....if you sign up you will get a free stamp set of your choice. So you can choose ANY stamp set in the current UK catalogue....potentially worth £41.95! And guess what? If you sign up with me before the 28th July I will match that offer!! So as well as the £265 worth of products you get in your starter kit (you pay £155) you can get 2 free sets of stamps (one from SU and the other a gift from me) so your kit could be worth over £348.90!!!

Contact me asap if you are interested or have any questions.

Such a good day

2008-07-11T18:28:00.000+01:00

I popped over to Monica's house today to 'play'. Jenny was there as well which was great.....lovely to meet another GoGo girl :)

So the idea when we get together is to make something....a card or a layout, by rights we should have loads of fun crafting together. So that's the theory. In practise it never happens. Monica and I just end up chatting and ooohing and aaahing over whatever new stash we have to share. Today wasn't much different, Jenny, Monica and I had a half hearted go with some embossing powders but we didn't actually make anything. Jenny left just before lunch and M and I sat and stuffed our faces with bacon and cheese sandwiches (Jenny you should have stayed, they were delish!!). I HAD to leave at 3.30 and at 3pm I challenged Monica that we should both make a card before I left. WE decided to take our inspiration from the colour combo on Kristina's blog:

Racing against the clock we both succeeded in finishing (I did leave a little bit late though!). Here's mine:

I just hope I've managed to upload it in time for the challenge. It was such fun and I will certainly be doing it again!

Happy 4th July!

2008-07-04T17:07:00.000+01:00

Happy Independence Day to all my lovely American friends :)

I'm feeling really positive today....I haven't scrapped for ages and am now scared to try in case I can't do it any more. I had a bit of news earlier which has made me really enthusiastic about getting going again. Am going to spend a bit of time re organising my photos to help the process a bit :)

Got some more cards to share made using the June Scrapagogo Greetings Kit, it is a fabulous kit to work with and came in very useful as Mathew had a few parties to go to this month.

The {Happy Birthday} is stamped with the kit's exclusive stamp and heat embossed with clear embossing powder:

I made the inside of this one a bit different :) :

And a very quick and simple Thank you card using the gorgeous felt flowers:

I'm still waiting for the photos from Monday night to be emailed to me....will post them as soon as I get them :)

Thanks for looking :)

Video

2008-07-01T23:03:00.000+01:00

If this works ok it should be a video from last night's Stampin' Up! tour.....

So ashamed......

2008-07-01T22:04:00.000+01:00

OMGoodness....I'm so ashamed that it is nearly TWO MONTHS since I last blogged....and do you know what's even sadder....the fact that I haven't really got anything to share!

I've been very quiet on the crafting front. Work and life seem to have got in the way recently and when I have the chance to scrap or make some cards I have been too tired. I'm still loving everything Stampin' Up! but am spending much too much time just looking at the catalogue rather than actually using my stamps! Only a couple more weeks until school ends for the summer so fingers crossed I will recouperate and get more productive then!

Last night I went to the Leed's Stampin' Up! experience tour....what a FANTASTIC evening we had. The drive was a bit exhausting (and a little stressful when we hit Leeds) but it was well worth it. We made 4 projects and learned some new techniques....I might actually try and make a tutorial to share what I learned (but not until school ends so don't hold your breath!). I took a little video while there but not sure if I know how to upload it. I'm waiting for Julie and Jayne to send me the photos they took so I'll share them when I get them.

In the meantime I'll leave you with a slide show of the work I did for the ScrapaGoGo April and May kits. I'm currently working with July's which is gorgeous! June's kits should start landing on everyone's door steps from tomorrow and I'll upload my creations on the 4th.

I must just send a message to my good friend Monica...BOO!!!!! She'll know what I mean :)

March ScrapaGoGo

2008-05-04T21:24:00.000+01:00

I never got round to uploading my work done with the March ScrapaGoGo Greetings kit. Can't believe I didn't share because I loved working with this kit. Look quickly because tomorrow or the next day I'll be sharing what I made for April!

Just a littlle bit more....

2008-05-04T20:37:00.000+01:00

Ok, so I didn't manage to upload anything else yesterday! I did manage to do a little bit more though, if the weather had been bad I'm sure I would have done at least another two layouts. I have spent the day cutting the grass and washing the car......don't you just love suburbia!!

Here are the other projects I did this weekend, a card using a transparency:

Then Kimmy challenged us to put 5 photos on a layout. I did a 6x12...I love that size but have yet to buy an album, anyone know which is the best make in that size?

And then another 6x12 for Sandie's handcut flower challenge:

I must also say hello to a special friend....hi CaroleW!!! I didn't know you read my blog....how about updating yours too!

National Scrapbooking Day

2008-05-03T11:40:00.000+01:00

Today is National Scrapooking Day and fingers crossed that I'll actually manage to scrap LOADS! There are a few challenges uploaded already on Scrapitude and the beauty is that there are no manic time deadlines so life can actually carry on as normal just with a bit of extra scrapping thrown in.

Kimmy had set a precrop challenge of making a layout and then a card and tag with the leftovers. I decided to stop stroking my gorgeous Stampin' Up! papers and actually use them......

and the card:

All the products used are from the current Stampin' Up! catalogue, it's so good to actually use them rather than just look which is what I usually do!

A Day in my life.....

2008-04-27T00:21:00.000+01:00

I'm sorry (again) for being a bad blogger....I really don't know why I find it so hard to keep updating. Will try harder (sounds like school......they always said 'must try harder').

Just thought I'd share a few piccies with you...Shimelle has set us the task of making a book about a year of our lives. I think it's a fab idea. We take photos of our day on the 25th of each month for a year. I will make the book that they are to go in when I get a chance. In the meantime here are yesterday's photos

Actually although the day was just a regular sort of day there was one exception...do you see those 2 wine glasses? The mum of one of Victoria's friends popped over for a drink. We had a fab evening full of chat (and a bottle). I have taken her photo as well which will find it's way into the journal but I didn't think I should upload without permission.

I promise to try and upload something crafty soon :)

Thanks for looking!

There's No Place Like Home

2008-03-26T20:46:00.000Z

I don't think I had mentioned before but I have signed up for another one of Shimelle's classes. I couldn't resist at only £10 for loads of different projects all based around where you live. I've decided not to put ANY pressure on myself (due to my absolute utter and complete loss of mojo) and to scraplift at every opportunity.....it's not something I would usually do, in fact I've only ever scraplifted for challenges. It always feels like cheating to me! Anyway...I'm rambling.... Our first prompt was just to get organised ready for the class and to answer a questionnaire to use later. Prompt 2 was to do a layout and mine is almost an exact copy of Shimelle's (except hers looked better than mine!)

Left hand side:

Right hand side:

And both together:

I've spent the afternoon preparing make and takes ready for my first Stampin' Up! workshop....I'm really looking forward to it. I need to get a few more cards prepared for my display board so hope to have a few more bits uploaded soon.

I'm starting to feel a bit better, just left with total exhaustion. I've heard a few people have had the same sort of reaction to the flu this year, must be an extra nasty bout of it. Feeling a bit happier now though....especially as there's some fab TV starting up again....Desperate Housewives, Dirty Sexy Money, The Apprentice....I only half watch them though, am usually online or crafting at the same time!!

Still ill!

2008-03-16T00:09:00.000Z

I can't believe that I'm STILL ill! This flu has really taken hold and everytime I feel a bit better I seem to have a relapse. Today it's all moved down to my sinuses and I really do feel rough :( Think I'm going to have to get myself to the docs this week.

I've made a few cards so will leave you with those...not much else to share....please just send get well vibes to me, I hate not being 100%.

This first card was made following a tutorial I was linked to here. It's so cute and so easy to make.

This was made using the Paisley background stamp. Stamped onto Whisper White cardstock with my favourite Cameo Coral ink. The heart and sentiment are from the Simply Said set of stamps. I stamped the heart in Versamark and then Cameo Coral. Used the Heat and Stick powder with a bit of glitter all heated with my heat gun. The sentiment is stamped with Close to Cocoa. Thanks to the fabulous Monica for that idea! Finished off with Whisper White grosgrain ribbon......I just love the effect of the paisley stamp! As always all products are from the current UK Stampin' Up! cattie.

Sorry for not being chattier.....hopefully I'll be better soon!

Really poorly :(

2008-03-13T20:32:00.000Z

The cold I've been incubating all week has finally come out in full force. It's moved right to my chest and nose and I feel ROTTEN...a bit of man-flu I think ;)

Mum picked up the kiddos from school and got them some fish and chips for their supper so I didn't have to cook, I'm just waiting for them to go to bed so I can relax. You only realise how much noise children make when your fever makes your head feel like it's about to explode!

Here's a card I made the other week. I am SO in love with the Cameo Coral ink pad...the colour is DIVINE! I even dyed a piece of Whisper White grosgrain ribbon using the inkpad and am really pleased with the result.

All products are from the current UK Stampin' Up! catalogue. If you have any questions or would like to find out more about ordering the products or becoming a demo just drop me an email and I'll get right back to you! I am loving all the SU products so much that I'm not wanting to buy anything else so I suppose I'm saving money!

Products used:

Seeing Spots stamp set

Cameo Coral Stampin' Pad

Whisper White 1/4" grosgrain ribbon (dyed with my ink pad)

Sahara Sand cardstock from the neutrals set

Chocolate Chip cardstock from the Earth Elements range

Scallop punch

1 1/4 " and 1" circle punches

Spot on Jumbo wheel stamp using Versamark on the background

Whisper White cardstock to stamp on

Thanks for looking.....off to blow my nose AGAIN!

My creations with the Scrapagogo February Greetings Kit.

2008-03-12T22:33:00.001Z

I don't understand why I can't add a slideshow by copying and pasting the code provided....doesn't make sense. In the future instead of messing around for half an hour I'll just do it the easy way straight away!!

Sorry!

2008-03-12T22:15:00.000Z

I'm sorry I haven't been blogging......During the day I think of lots of things to blog about and then when I'm on the PC in the evenings and the kids have gone to bed I just can't be bothered to do anything. I've got a really horrid cold that has gone straight to my chest so that's probably why I've been feeling so crap lately!

I've actually got lots of things to share....I'm just going to have to do it bit by bit. Firstly I want to thank Jane for giving me an award! (My first one, thanks hun!!)

I'm meant to pass it on to anyone who makes my day....well there are so many people who make my day that I'm not sure where to start! If you leave me a comment it always makes my day so reward yourself with this award!

My layout was published in Scrapbook Inspirations so I can finally share it. It was for the sketch challenge which was a sketch by my friend Jane Dean so I really wanted to do it justice, I hope I did!

And last but not least for today...My cards for the Scrapagogo February Greetings Kit were uploaded this week. Their kits are just getting better and better and such fantastic value for money. I've put February's work in a slide show that yet again blogger won't let me upload. I'll try again in a new post.

I've been making some more cards using my Stampin' Up! products which I'll try and share tomorrow....don't hold your breath though!

Slimming World

2008-02-29T22:45:00.000Z

I've gone ahead and joined Slimming World again. I hate being overweight and can't believe I've let myself get so huge. I've calculated that I've got 2 stone to lose (I'm actually 3 st over my normal weight but would be happy with 2). I could easily have that done by the summer IF I stick to it. I know the diet works and it's relatively easy to follow......just don't really understand why I keep falling off the wagon! I welcome any good hints and tips to stop me snacking especially in the evening when the kids go to bed and I'm alone (apart from all you lovely cyber friends of course :))

I haven't been doing much craftwise at the moment.....I've been incredibly tired in the evenings and although I'm thinking craft thoughts they just haven't made it to paper! I made a card for the Artsy Girlz challenge though (link on the right>)....we had to use a circle and how could I NOT do this one after receiving my fabulous circle punches with my latest SU order. I'm in love with my scallop and circle punches and won't rest til I have them ALL!!!!

I made this using Certainly Celery, Pale Plum and Not Quite Navy cardstock, Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon, my Jumbo Wheel with the Spot On wheel and Versamark, the Scallop and 3/4" circle punch. I used the Seeing Spots set of stamps. I'm not sure how well it will show in the photos but the little flower with the thank you stamp are stamped inside the card. I used the Stampamajig to get them positioned correctly (what a great tool that is, I've used it loads already). The scallop frame is stuck on using the Dimensionals 3D foam pads. I also inked the edges of the Certainly Celery Cardstock with Not Quite Navy ink. Everything used is from the current Stampin' Up! UK catalogue....if you have any questions you can leave them in the comment section or email me.

If everything goes to plan I'll be back tomorrow with another card...I'm playing with my Cameo Coral stampin' pad at the moment....I'm so in love with the colour so hope to have something to share later.

Off to bed (although it's soooooooooooo windy here I'm not sure I'll sleep.......although it's better than the earthquake we had this week....the epicentre was only 15 minutes from here!)

School Trip

2008-02-25T21:27:00.000Z

I waved DS2 off on his school trip this morning. He'll be away for the rest of the week....the house is SO quiet without him! He's made 3 really good friends at school so is really excited to be going away with them. I'm so glad he's got those friends, there were a few teary eyed children today and they seemed to be the ones who didn't have good established friendships. I can't wait to see how he gets on. I did take a couple of photos with my phone (forgot the camera...oops bad mummy) but can't find the cable to upload them to the pc grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I've made a couple of cards for challenges this week. The first doubles up for the challenge over on Arty Girlz to use green on your card and also for the Card Diva challenge #7 on Scrapitude to

use flowers and ribbon for Spring.

Again I used some of my scrummy Stampin' Up! products. Certainly Celery cardstock from the Soft Subtles collection with the leaf stamped in Versamark. Sahara Sand cardstock from the Neutrals collection with the edges distressed using the Cutter Kit. The leaves and flowers are stamped using the Shapes and Shadows set with Really Rust, Old Olive and Not Quite Navy Stampin' ink pads. I stamped the flower and leaves and then cut them out. The flower is stuck on using Stampin' Dimensionals for the 3D effect. The ribbon is Certainly Celery 1/4" grosgrain. I punched the corner using the Scallop Circle Punch....it makes me think of a caterpillar on it's way to eat the leaves.....I know, too much time on my hands!

I'll share the other card tomorrow.....

As always....thanks for looking :)

Soooooooooo cold!

2008-02-19T21:51:00.000Z

I can't believe that my outdoor thermometer read MINUS 7.5 last night! I have never known it so cold. We've had a thick frost that has lasted all day and freezing fog. It's so eerie as well, the fog seems to muffle all sounds. I did take a photo (which I seem to have lost somewhere on my computer!) of the kids walking to school......they disappeared out of sight the fog was so thick!

I've got a painter in at the moment painting my kitchen and utility room. Unfortunately my craft table is now full with the contents of the kitchen so there's been no crafting for the past couple of days. I managed to do a CJ entry (which I can't share as the owner may read this) but I just haven't got the room to do much else.

My Stampin' Up order should hopefully be here tomorrow (yipee!) so will HAVE to make room to play :)

For the past two weeks I've been trying to add a slide show of my January DT work for ScrapaGoGo.....I adored the January kit and haven't yet shared all my work with you. It's still not working......I'll edit this post if I ever conquer it! Edited to say......"Yay! I did it. My DT work is now over in the column on the right. I'm not sure how I did it but who cares it's there!!"

It must be love!

2008-02-15T17:44:00.000Z

Happy Valentines for yesterday! I received some gorgeous goodies from my not so secret Valentine's Swapee over on Scrapitude...check out the lush stamps and 7 Gypsies papers. Thanks Elaine!!

I sent to Sandie and she guessed straight away who I was as she'd seen her present on here! She didn't know at the time that it was for her though :) I also made a little bag of choccies for her:

I used Stampin' Up! Real Red and Pink Passion cardstock along with another of the stamps from Simply Said. I stamped all over the red card with Versamark as well but you can't see either the detail or the colours very well on this photo.

Today I took part in a challenge over on DCM. Again the products are from Stampin' Up! A few more stamps from the Simply Said set (and I still haven't shown them all!), WhisperWhite cardstock and Grosgrain ribbon. Cardstock is all from the Earth Elements collection; Chocolate chip, Close to Cocoa and Cameo Coral. I stamped the little flowers with Versamark and the bigger stamp with Stazon and then coloured the flowers with my Stampin' Pastels and Blender pen. all finished off with my sewing machine.

I've also been working on my DT projects for Scrapagogo.......OMG there is SO much in the March kit and I love what I've done with it so far (very rare for me to say that!!). Unfortunately I can't share them yet.....hopefully by the time I can I will have fathomed out how to do a slideshow as there's loads!

Our new library has just opened in the village and it's fab. We spent a couple of hours up there today, it was heaven, the kids read some books and had a go on the computer and I just sat and read....in peace! I never read in the daytime, I always feel like I'm neglecting something. There is always the risk that I'll get so stuck in the book that I'll just completely forget to feed the kids or something! The children all want to go back tomorrow......it's as if there are no books or computers at home!

Off to do some washing up.....I've just cooked us a curry so I'd better clean up otherwise I'll never get rid of the smell!

Grungeboard

2008-02-14T00:15:00.000Z

The kids are on half term at the moment, it's sooooo nice not having to set the alarm in the morning! I had fun on Sunday getting inky.....I'm normally a clean and tidy scrapper, I rarely get the paints out and generally only use ink to stamp or distress the edges of cardstock. Over on Splitcoaststampers there is a challenge to use Grungeboard and on Arty Girlz another one to use Stamping so I was able to get RELLY mucky! Although I've had some Grungeboard for a while I'm ashamed to say I hadn't even opened the box apart from to smell it. I'm sure it's made of the same material as the soles of ballet shoes because as soon as I opened the box I just whizzed back in time! I had such fun getting inky (especially with that wonderful smell to accompany me). This is what I produced:

Not my usual style at all but I quite like it :)

The weather has been fantastic the past couple of days, cold but sunny. I was hanging out some washing yesterday accompanied by the Red Arrows practising their heart ready for Valentine's Day.

And then again this afternoon at the park with the children the RA came to say hello again!

How cool is that!

Blog prompts

2008-02-10T18:01:00.000Z

Last year (or was it the one before?) Sarah Jane gave us all a blog prompt on Sunday to remind us to update our blogs (in fact I think it was that that started me blogging). I am very guilty of not updating enough so am hoping that someone will start up the prompts again. In the mean time I posted one on Scrapitude:

With the Euromillions Jackpot being so huge on Friday (about £95million I believe) here is the question. What would you do if you had won the lottery on Friday?

So if I had won that enormous amount of money after a lot of celebrating I would firstly go on a mad shopping spree. I'm not talking about fast cars and mansions. I would literally go into town and just buy whatever I liked (including a visit to an estate agent to get all the paperwork to buy a bigger house). I really wouldn't want a mansion or a sports car. Just a normal family house will do me nicely thanks :) I would spend some time deciding which charities I would want to contribute to and would see my close friends and family right. I'd spend the summer in Disney flying my friends over too. (getting excited now.....as if it would really happen!) And then I would love to organise a scrapping retreat or cruise for all my online friends. We often talk about a retreat but it is so difficult to organise but I'm sure with enough notice and all expenses paid we would manage it :)

So what would you do? If you are reading this pop right over to your blog and consider yourself 'prompted' :)

I've been quite busy crafting. I had a few more goes with my froggie stamps.

The colours unfortunately look a little washed out (I took the photo at night) but really pop in real life. All the products used are from the current Stampin' Up UK catalogue. Again I used some of the Unfrogettable stamps from page 33. The cardstock is out of the Bold Brights collection 'Real Red' and 'Gable Green'. The dragonfly is stamped with Versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder (the stamp is also part of the same set). I pierced the paper and drew in the white lines using white Signo Gel Pen and the ribbon is the 1/4" Whisper White Grosgrain. This time I coloured the froggie using the Blender Pen with the Stampin' Pastels (never thought I'd use chalks again but the blender pen has given them a new lease of life!).

Thanks for looking.....now go and blog!

Simply Said

2008-02-09T19:42:00.000Z

Today it felt like everything was against me.....but it all turned out ok in the end :)

I had to wrap a present and for the past two weeks have been eyeing up some lovely decorated tissue paper in the local newsagent. Typically when I went to buy it today it had all sold out :( As there are only a couple of shops in the village where I live I had to be a bit inventive...in fact I love the result and will be doing it again:

Once I had made the wrapping paper and tags I couldn't find the string. I had a go with some ribbon but wasn't happy....so off I went to the shop again. It ended up a bit expensive as we all just HAD to have a bag of sweets and a mag to read while the kids had a play at the park!

Don't you just love brown paper :)

Again I used all my Stampin' Up! goodies. The stamps are part of a set called Simply Said (page 39 in the UK catalogue) and I used both Versamark and the 'Close to Cocoa' stampin' pad. I also stamped onto the Whisper White cardstock which I then cut out and mounted onto 'Close to Cocoa' cardstock from the Earth Elements collection. I stuck the two little tags together and then used my Cropodile (also stocked by SU! in black) to make a hole and add the eyelet.

Just to finish my play session I stamped on an office tag and inked the edges.

What does Sally mean?

2008-02-08T14:28:00.000Z

Found this online.....I've no idea how true it is *U* perhaps someone who knows me will let me know!!

What Sally Means

You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong.
You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know.
You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do.

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection.
You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive.
You have the classic "Type A" personality.

You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow.
You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily.
Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.

You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in.
You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising.
You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care.

What's" Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Froggy Fever!

2008-02-07T16:04:00.000Z

I spent the day playing with all my new goodies. The actual making of this card was really quick but I faffed around making colour swatches for ages and then spent about two hours learning how to do the watermark on Photoshop. (I really MUST learn more about photo editing!).

I kept this card really simple...isn't the frog a cutie :)

All products are in the current Stampin' Up! catalogue. The stamp set is called 'Unfrogettable' and I coloured it in using the 'Old Olive' stampin' pad and Blender pens. I'm in love with those pens.....I just squeezed the ink pad lid down a bit so that some of the ink transferred onto the inside of the lid and then picked up the colour with the pen. The background cardstock is 'Really Rust' from the Earth Elements collection using Versamark and the Jumbo Wheel with the 'Spot On' Stampin' Around Cartridge in. I used another one of the stamps on the inside of the card:

I'd happily use this as a Valentine card instead of the traditional red hearts.

Products used:

Cardstock: Whisper White, Really Rust, Old Olive

Stamps: Unfrogettable

Jumbo Wheel and Spot On Stampin' Around cartridge

Versamark

Old Olive classic Stampin' Pad

Blender pen

1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon in Whisper White

I think that's everything, seems quite a lot for such a simple card!

and finally.....

2008-02-06T14:24:00.000Z

I've meant to update here everyday and the longer I leaveit the harder it gets....I'm going to try and post every day this week from now even if it's just to say BOO! I need to get back in the habit again.

My starter kit for Stampin' Up! arrived....it's sooooo lush. I've spent this past week trawling the internet and finding LOADS of SU inspiration. I'll be posting more later on. If any of you would like to see a catalogue you can email me HERE. I'll be adding more links and info over the week ahead.

I can share now what I did for my first DT assignment for Scrapagogo. The January Greetings kit was so gorgeous (as is February and March.....but I can't share those yet!). Although it's a card kit I'm always inspired to do a bit more.....this month I did a 6x12 layout as well as a few cards. Please excuse the quality of the photos.......the light was rubbish (roll on Springtime!). The title for this layout was cut on my Cricut. The journaling spot was stamped using the centre of the stamp that comes with the kit.

The centre of the flower on this 'Just to say...' card was made by pushing up a button from behind the ribbon through the centre of the chipboard flower.

This scallop was stamped using the rest of the kit stamp and then hand cut out of the front of the card.

Why am I so bad at blogging?

2008-01-28T21:55:00.000Z

I don't know why it is that I'm such a rubbish blogger. I obviously have such a boring life with nothing to tell!

I had a fabulous day today with fellow DT member Monica. I went to her house which is only an hour from here (so I'll be going again :)) and had a play with some of her craft stash. She was so lovely :)

I have decided to sign up to Stampin Up! to become one of their UK demonstrators. I *heart* their products and can't wait to get going with it. So watch this space for details on how to order :)

Will be back VERY soon with pictures of some of my DT work with the January Scrapagogo Greetings Kit.

Cardmaps

2008-01-04T00:20:00.000Z

I've just made this card for my neice using one of Becky Fleck's Cardmaps over on Cardvaarks. It's the first time I've done one of their challenges but it won't be the last! Everything I used (apart from the mini rikrak) is from ScrapaGoGo's December Greetings Kit which I've barely been able to open.....Christmas got in the way! I scanned the card so you can't see the 3D effects very well. The swirls are felt so are raised off the page and the rikrak adds texture which again you can't see. This week I've been making a lot of DT stuff which I can't share just yet but will do very soon :)

Happy New Year!

2007-12-31T23:50:00.000Z

Just wishing you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2008!!

Christmas/calendar

2007-12-28T16:53:00.000Z

Well we had a wonderful Christmas. The kids got me up at about 6.15am (which is a bit better than the usual 4am!) We had our stocking from Santa (opening all in bed together) and then headed on down for the presents under the tree. The kids were really pleased with their presents and so was I ! Got spoiled rotten and have enough smellies to keep me bathed for the next year :). We headed over to my mum's in the afternoon and had a rather riotess time (is that a word?) there with my brother, SIL, sister, 2 neices and their partners. We had such a great time and laughed until my jaw ached!

Just before Christmas I bought a calender kit from Kimmy {here}. Spent last night making it up. I loved doing it but don't quite know what to do with it now!! The photos below are of the front cover, back cover with one of the inserts that go inside and snaps of the pages (no detailed photos as the light is rubbish!)

Merry Christmas!!

2007-12-24T23:38:00.000Z

The children all went to bed at 10.30pm and seemed to have gone straight to sleep.......shhhhhhhhhhhhhh shouldn't speak too soon!

So I just wanted to wish you all a fantastic Christmas. I can't believe how quickly it's suddenly come around......

Well I had some really exciting news last week. I received an email from Lorraine and Janice at Scrapagogo inviting me onto the GoGo Greetings Design Team. I couldn't believe it...what a fabulous surprise! It's a fab kit that is quite new to Scrapagogo and I have been subbing to it since it's launch earlier in the year. It is classed as a card kit but really there's so much more you can do with it. I've just received January's (MM Noteworthy YUM!!) and can't wait to get going with it, I intend to make quite a few cards and a couple of 6x12 layouts with it....watch this space!

Can you tell I'm excited!!

Off to check on the kiddos and hopefully go to bed myself, it'll be the first time EVER to go to sleep at a reasonable time on Christmas Eve!!

Happy Christmas!!

Gingerbread Latte

2007-12-19T23:54:00.000Z

There is always a lot of talk about Starbucks Coffee, especially the Christmas limited editions. I have to confess I have never tried one! I just think that paying £2.70 for a coffee is just stupid!!!!!
That all changed today...I went into town to buy my last presents and decided to treat myself. OMG how fabulous, I would love to say I'll have one each time I go into town but I still feel the cost is just taking the p**s. I will certainly try the eggnog version before it disappears again though :)

The dentist yesterday was fine....for some reason they hadn't even booked me in so there wasn't time for my treatment (shame...lol). My aching tooth now doesn't hurt so I'm so glad he didn't rush to extract it. I've got another prescription of antibiotics in case it flares up again during Christmas and am back to check it out in January (if they actually managed to book me in this time!)

On a crafty front......check in tomorrow because I've got a super duper TOOT to share with you (not allowed to yet).

No photos today as blogger won't let me.

Nervous.....

2007-12-18T10:43:00.000Z

I'm so scared....just about to go to the dentist. Why do we all hate the dentist so much? I feel physically sick at the thought of having my teeth prodded with that metal stick let alone what'll come next......keep your fingers crossed for me!

I've decided not to upload ALL the bits and pieces I've done the past week (I don't think blogger will let me anyway!). I'll just leave you with one layout done for the 10th day of Christmas challenge..... We had to take inspiration from this ad:

I turned it on it's side, took inspiration from the M &Ms (yum) and the dotted line. It's a 6x12,I love working that size and really muct invest in an album!

A few of you asked me what the font is for the title....it's done in some fab stickers that I bought in a craft shop in Whitstable (dirt cheap too!). They are by Provocraft, 'Large Vowel Alphabiggies'. Brilliant value with loads of letters. Thanks for looking.....can't put it off any longer....off to the torture chamber I go :(

I won!!

2007-12-17T20:48:00.000Z

I'm so sorry I've been such a rubbish blogger.....I will get better at it again soon....

Just wanted to post to say that I haven't forgotten you!

Oh...and to say I WON THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS CHALLENGES on Scrapitude! Yay!!
So a lush package of Rusty Pickle goodies should be on it's way to me very soon :)

I AM still doing my Christmas Journal, just not taken any photos of it yet, I'll update soon!

Rainy and cold.....

2007-12-09T23:37:00.000Z

What rubbish weather we've had this weekend. None of us have had any desire to go out so I've been so grateful to have the Scrapitude challenges and my Christmas journal to do! I know I know....I could have done some housework or written my Christmas cards...but hey, I never do what I should! So here are yesterday and today's entries to the journal:

I really enjoyed thinking about our Christmas traditions. I know I'll be adding to this as I remember some of the quirky things we do. The journaling reads:

My Christmas has been roughly the same since I was a child, there were a few changes in my adult life when I lived abroad, but since having children the same traditions continue.
Christmas Eve is a family meal and lots of TV watching. The idea is to get the children to bed at a ‘decent’ time so that I can do all the last minute preparations. In reality they end up going to bed quite late as they can never get to sleep straight away. We all hang up our stockings by our bed and leave some sherry and something to eat for Santa.
Christmas morning…..I would love to say that we get up at 7am but it always ends up earlier. Once I have made my cup of tea we all gather in my bed to open our stockings. This is our favourite part of the day (even though the presents are tiny token gifts). We all open the gifts at the same time and try not to rush ahead; I love to see the children’s reactions to the gifts. Santa even brings a stocking for me!
Once we’ve finished the stockings we all head downstairs. The idea is to get washed and dressed and eat a special breakfast before opening the big presents under the tree but sometimes the excitement gets the better of us. The day is spent playing with our new presents, eating too much, watching TV, playing games and generally having lots of fun. Sometimes we have visitors, sometimes not. Lunch is eaten at around 2pm and then a spread of cold food at around 7pm. There is always an extra present on the tree for us all as well that we have around tea time.
This year will be a little different as my brother, sister-in-law, sister and 2 nieces are coming to visit so we will all be heading over to my mum’s for lunch. It’ll be the first time we are all together since we were children!

I've also done another two challenges over on Scrapitude. It's so good to be back crafting again, there's nothing like a cyber crop to get your juices flowing!! This hanger made from coasters was inspired by a horizontal version made by Trace. I made that yesterday and funnily enough today I opened my Secret Santa parcel from Chris and it was a wooden coaster set to alter! I'm so inspired I'll get doing that one soon because this looks great on my wall! I'll upload my other challenge tomorrow as blogger doesn't seem to want to play anymore!

Thank you!

2007-12-08T09:36:00.000Z

Just want to say a HUGE thank you to Mel, Wendy, Chris and Tracy. These wonderful ladies, my teammates on UKS have all sent me some presents to make up for the loss of my advent parcel. How fantastic is that. It means that I can join in with all the excitement of the daily present opening

Nothing will make up for the loss of the original parcel from Mel mind you, she went to so much trouble (and expense) and I will never forgive DHL for messing it up.

So on the first to the sixth day of Christmas my Not So Secret Santas sent to me......some I Kan Dee market tag alpha thingies (never seen them before!), a mini bottle of wine (hic), a mini Christmas cake, christmas cookie, a Lindt chocolate Santa and some lovely Doodlebug gingham :)......it was great fun playing catchup!!

On the 7th day of Chistmas my Not So Secret Santas sent to me.........some lush Paperloft sticker alphas.

On the 8th day of Christmas my NSSS (you get the jist....) sent to me......a selection of fancy brads .

Thank you Santas!!!!

I didn't do my Christmas journal entry yesterday (norty!) so will have to play catch up today.... I did do the 7th Day of Christmas Scrapitude challenge though. This one was set by Kimmy and it was to use our ugliest paper. I have a pile of what I think is K & Co that came from an early QVC kit.....I hate it all!! Victoria looked at this picture of me and said "Mummy that's shameful!"....where did that word come from????

So I'll leave you with this:

Catching up....and a toot!!

2007-12-07T19:37:00.000Z

The past couple of nights I've finished scrapping, journaling and chatting on MSN really late and just haven't had the energy to blog too....sorry! I meant to do it during the day but Victoria has been off school and I've just not got round to it.

So here are my last couple of entries for the Chrismas Journal. The 5th December was about how we count down to Christmas and the 6th were about our best and worse Christmas memories.

I didn't actually write about my worst ones, too depressing! The 'tree style' entry was inspired by a LO I was shown on scrapitude by the lovely Charrie. She had seen it on the Scrapbooks Etc gallery. As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to use it for my entry. So thank you to Ihabis for the inspiration!
Over on Scrapitude Trace MADE me emboss....grrrrrrr to Trace! It's never something that has appealed to me but the challenge on the 5th was to emboss something. She gave some great tips in her tutorial and finally I got an image vaguely like I imagined it to be. I definitely need to practise a bit more though (and not in the presence of the kids as the air was a bit blue...especially when I burnt my fingers and stuck something to the table!!)

On the 6th Day of Christmas Sandie asked us to do a sketch challenge. I haven't scrapped for such a long time and I'm not entirely happy with my effort. Sandie's LO was gorgeous!!

I was thrilled to receive an email from Shimelle asking me to do the sketch challenge in Scrapbook Inspirations magazine. She had spotted my work in the Christmas Journal and like it! How cool is that! Of course I accepted the offer :) The only problem is I have to send it by the beginning of next week.....hope I find my mojo by then.

Sorry for the long post....serves me right for not keeping up to date. Off now to do today's creations!

Just a quickie ;)

2007-12-05T00:02:00.000Z

Just popping in to upload today's 'work'. Had a bit of an upsetting day really....DHL told me that they had 'lost' my advent swap parcel. I'm so upset. They will be phoning tomorrow (supposedly) to 'confirm' the loss and to instruct what we need to do next. Grrrrrrrrrr.

Today's journal entry was to describe our perfect Christmas. I suppose winning the lottery would be a good one :)

On the 12 days of Christmas challenge Kimmy challenged us to make some tags. Nothing can match the tags that she made, they were beautiful. I was going to try some fancy ones until I started working with this paper.....didn't want to add to much too them as I love the paper so much. Might buy some more to make next year's Christmas cards (omg that sounded quite organised didn't it!!)

Day 3 and still going strong!

2007-12-03T23:02:00.000Z

I am LOVING doing the challenges over at Scrapitude and the Christmas Journal...I spend the day thinking about what I'll do (while I'm doing the boring everyday stuff) and then once dinner is sorted and the washing up done I'm right there in my craft room*....my ideas change completely once I start doing them.

*It's not really a craft room.....just the dining room with a set of shelves in that I've taken over with stash

So my journal page has on one of the cards I have made for this year which opens out and I will be writing a card list inside.

The challenge for the '3rd Day of Christmas' was to alter a lolly stick......my tree got a new decoration!

Mel and I have been on the phone to DHL non stop today. Mel is my 'now not so Secret Santa'. She posted my parcel of 25 advent pressies on the 28th November....they were scanned at the depot on the 29th and haven't been seen since. I am SO disappointed not to have them here and I know Mel feels awful about it. *so if you are reading this hun, don't feel bad, it's NOT YOUR FAULT!!* Everyone keep their fingers crossed for me that it arrives tomorrow!

Yawn....

2007-12-03T00:49:00.000Z

I really must try and get into bed before 1am....the problem is that I have got into the habit of crafting when the kids go to bed (around 9) and then by the time I've finished and taken the photos and uploaded it to the relevant places I realise that I should really have been in bed at least an hour ago!

This reindeer food envelope was made for day 2 of the 12 Days of Christmas Challenge on Scrapitude. It's all glittery in real life. That's a little torch there with Victoria's name on so she can see in the dark when she goes out to sprinkle the reindeer food.

And this is the 2nd entry to my Christmas Journal. I

was pleased to scrap this photo, it's one of my favourites of the children.

A quick message to those of you who read my blog.....THANK YOU :) I love it when someone comments that they had popped over, I love it when you leave a comment too. Just wanted you to know how much I appreciate it :)

Yay!

2007-12-01T23:54:00.000Z

Yay! I actually did the first page on the first day! I'm talking about my Christmas Journal. I was so excited to get up this morning to see the first prompt and then the first challenge on Scrapitude....only to find my internet was down AGAIN!!! (It was sorted quickly though and an engineer is coming on Monday to see why it keeps going down).

Anyway, this is the first page of my journal

I also managed the first challenge over on Scrapitude.....this one is for Toni and is already on the tree. I now need to make 2 more before the green eyed monsters take over.

We put the tree and decorations up today as well
but will post the photos tomorrow....right now I need to
get to bed

Thanks for looking :)

It's been one of those good days :)

2007-11-30T23:59:00.000Z

I took my last set of photos today for a couple of months :) As much as I LOVE my job I am ready for a break. My house needs attention, my kids need attention (from a 'not tired' mummy) and last but not least....it's December and Christmas can start!

We went to the Christmas Fayre at M and V's school tonight (well looking at the time I'm writing this I guess I should say'last night'). I picked up a couple of lovely bits for my Christmas journal:

The stars, trees and angels are made from felt (and apparently available at Lidl)

The kids came back with loads of goodies and prizes and then to top it all we won the raffle! Just look at this lovely hamper:

Over on Scrapitude Kim and some of the other 'norty elves' are preparing a set of challenges...The 12 Days of Christmas. I'm really hoping it willkick start my mojo and get me scrapping again. What with that and the Christmas Journal it could be a crafty month!!!

SJ has also just set the first Card Diva challenge also

on Scrapitude.....inspired by my felt stars I did this

one immediately!

I've made it especially for someone but won't say who just in case she finds her way here :)

Looking forward to tomorrow (actually as it's after midnight it's today).....we're putting up the tree and decorations...loads of Christmas music too :)

Oh and of course it's also the first day of the Journal Prompts......so watch this space for my first entry!

Christmas Journal

2007-11-28T22:39:00.000Z

OMG I haven't scrapped for absolutely ages and am missing it like crazy. I've been quite busy at work and too tired in the evening....or should I say 'too distracted'....I always end up browsing the internet, chatting on MSN or catching up on MBs and then it's just too late to start anything remotely crafty!

But that is about to change.........

I've signed up for Shimelle's Christmas Journal and hope that this year is the first of many! I love Christmas and the traditions we have and hope to record them for the children to pass on to their children. I still continue the same traditions that I had when I was a child and my favourite thing is opening the stocking with us all in bed together :)

Everyone on Shimelle's forum seems to be very organised and have already started their covers and page preparation....me....? Well, I've been shopping and bought lots of lovely scrummy papers.

I did have some of the papers already........

I've also got about 50 Christmas stamps which will come in useful. So this is all packed in a box just waiting to start on Saturday. I have decided to do exactly what I feel like at the time so pages will be completely varied in both size and style. I will bind the journal at the end. I'm really looking forward to making a start and hope to do it all......

Don't you just hate it when that happens......

2007-11-25T22:35:00.000Z

We went into town today so the kids could buy some Christmas presents (let loose in Poundland with their saved pocket money!). I was dead proud of them, they all chose really well and came home and spent the next hour wrapping.......now they're nagging to get the tree up but I REFUSE to do that until December!

So this afternoon we set to and finished the jigsaw.......but look

:( Initially there were 5 pieces missing but after scouring the area I found 4. Keep your fingers crossed that tomorrow when I clean up I'll find this last one!

2007-11-24T22:27:00.000Z

My internet connection went down again last night.

When I was with Orange I had the same problem and spent over a week of endless phonecalls to them trying to sort it. Unfortunately it was never fully resolved by them and I ended up really losing my rag on the phone.....at the same time I was offered the gift of free Broadband with BT by my SIL (she works for them and it was part of a deal offered to her that she was able to 'gift' to someone else.....lucky for me!). Obviously I wasn't going to turn that down and it was a relief to tell Orange where to go (very politely of course ).

So on Wednesday everything arrived and I was up and running with BT and it seemed fine......until last night. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. So I tried again this morning with no luck so called them up fully expecting the same problems I had experienced with Orange. After all the normal checks on my connection here they ran a line check....found where the fault was and fixed it all within 2 hours. They even phoned me back and followed up with another call to check it was working ok. Impressive! So fullmarks to BT for resolving the problem so quickly!

I took the kids to a jumble sale today....what fun! They came back laden with books and games to keep them entertained for the weekend for under £1 each....cheap weekend's entertainment! I got some bargains as well.......

This is just crying out to be altered.....not sure when I'll get round to it but at 10p who cares!

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--------------------------------

And check out the fabby felt flowers on these slippers. Another well spent 10p I think!

I got a few other bits as well but won't bore you with them all! It was a bit manic there and I was dying to wash by the time I got home!!

Just leave you with a photo.......I suddenly realised that I haven't taken any photos of the kids lately and thought I'd start trying to snap them each day. Here's today's moment of peace.....not a great photo but I just love it when they are involved in things together (and in harmony!)

Boring!

2007-11-20T21:44:00.000Z

I have had absolutely NOTHING to blog about! Life has been a tad boring these past couple of days :) It's jsut been school runs and work really.

I can finally upload the card I made for new baby Finlay as they've received it:

I got the images from Word Clipart, the fabric and ribbon are from the Elsie range and the letters are....wait for it......Papermania!!! They're lovely but the one fault is that there is only one of each letter......bit rubbish that :( There's a bit of doodling on there too but it's hard to see with the rubbish scan.

Anyway, won't prattle on as there's nothing much to say! (just want to show willing :))

I did it!

2007-11-17T22:53:00.000Z

So I'm not sure how I should be reading Kimmy's comment...."You should dye" I'm so glad I read it and didn't hear it!!

Well I did it! What a bloody palava though. It said on the pack to use ALL the dye, surely that would depend how much hair you have? There seemed to be LOADS. so I eventually got my head covered and set the timer for 20 minutes. Didn't really want to walk around the house and drip (rather purple looking) dye all over so thought I'd stay in the bathroom and clean instead. I should have jsut read my book because by the time I'd finished I'd made more mess than ever......I ended up smearing the colour all over the tiles as I brushed against them with my head. Then I looked up too quickly and flicked dye all over the window, carpet and loo roll.....oops!

And after all that I don't even think it was worth it.........I don't think it looks very red at all, in fact it just looks about 5 shades darker than normal. What do you think? Does it look red to you?

I spent this evening making a card for baby Finlay which I guess I'd better not share until they've received it!

Wow.....3 days in a row!

2007-11-16T22:02:00.000Z

Well I still haven't dyed my hair. I'll probably do it tomorrow (bet I regret it!). Baby Finlay was born yesterday evening, I'm so pleased for SJ and Ben, such an exciting time :) Congratulations!

I'm so glad it's the weekend, I've had some great photo shoots this week but I'm really tired. I think it's due to the sudden drop in temperature. I'm rubbish in the Winter, I need the heating on ALL day and up high but truely all I want to do is stay on the sofa with a duvet and a laptop and do nothing! I think I need to go into hibernation!

I know I always say that I don't 'do' Christmas until the 1st December and that I hate the way it starts so early (especially here in the UK where the shops put their decorations up in September!)....well, I have to confess I went back on my word and bought a decoration today. I couldn't resist these wooden reindeer, stars and bells. Not sure if I'll keep them on the string or do something different with them....bargain at £2.97 from Tesco (of all places!!)

To Dye or Not to Dye?

2007-11-15T22:27:00.000Z

I've always been blonde....well, with a bit of help ;) I've got mousey brown hair with a glimmer of red *if I'm under the right light :)* which has always been highlighted. Due to finanaces being a little tight (understatement) I haven't had my highlights done for about 2 years and have just had my hair cut into a short bob so am back to my mousey natural look......YUK!

So today impulsively I bought a red dye....should I or shouldn't I? It can always be shoved up in a ponytail if it goes wrong can't it :)

And before I go........can't stop thinking of Sarah Jane whose waters broke this morning (the day before her due date). Hope it's going well hun :)

Hello again and thank you!

2007-11-14T21:33:00.000Z

So I've decided it's about time I blogged again :) Not sure why, just that I feel like it and that's good enough for me :) Just hope I stick to it this time!

I'm not going to write much now as I've got to have a browse around blogger to see if I remember what to do.....but I couldn't not say a HUGE

THANK YOU

to Sarah Jane for designing my blog banner, blinkie and the whole blog actually! What a talented lady she is. Thank you so much SJ!!!!

Off to have a play.....if anyone has a link in their blog to my blog you'll need to change it (if you still want it that is ;)). Although the name is the same the url is a bit different.

test post

2007-11-14T19:33:00.001Z

test post