Eat Breathe Sleep Create

Poorly sick :(

2011-11-29T11:19:00.001Z

My cold from Sunday turned into a full-blown monster illness that has wiped me out and kept me off work for the last two days. I haven't even been able to scrap or knit, which totally sucks. I am bored stiff here!

Oh well, it has given me time to surf the web and look for inspiration for Christmas crafts and gifts. This year, as well as making some of my Christmas cards (see picture below) and gifts, I want to take part in Instagram Your Christmas (#iyc) which is something me and a few friends in the photo iPhone app Instagram are taking part in. Each day in December we will take and choose a photo, print it off and include it in an album along with a small amount of embellishment, journaling, etc. I don't ever scrap Christmas, maybe because my photos are usually sub-standard, or I've never liked Christmas patterned papers or I'm always too busy. But the boys are old enough now to really enjoy the festive season and I think I'd like to put in the extra effort and record this lovely time as a family.

So my lovely Kraft ring binder album has arrived from Paperchase, I have page protectors to match and I have already prepared numbers 1 to 31 to go with each photo using my Cuttlebug and punches. I also have bought snd set aside some Christmas-themed papers and embelishments ready to go. Each photo will be printed 4x4 inches and used either on a 4x6 space with a blank strip for embellishing or journalling and the feature photos will go on A5 pages with more room to include more pics, journalling etc. I'm not going to pre-prepare my pages as although it would save time later I want to match what I have to the photo after it's taken and also I want to decide after whether to use a smaller or larger page for it. I'm hoping to do a bit each day, or most likely a few every few days. I'm hoping as I have all the bits I need ready in their own box it will be a nice quick project and not an over-commitment in an already hectic month! I'll pop by regularly to keep you updated.

If you're on Instagram, why not give this a go? I'd love to see links to your feed or album pages. Or, if you'd like to take it further, Shimelle hosts an amazing class every year called Journal Your Christmas (#jyc) that gives you a whole load of prompts, inspiration and help to create a Christmas scrapbook album to treasure - see www.shimelle.com for more info :)

xXx

Two more

2011-11-27T12:58:00.001Z

I have only managed two more layouts since yesterday - probably due to the fact I wasn't feeling creative yesterday and today I have the most painful sore throat and stonking cold. :(

Saying that I'm particularly pleased with the Kraft layout. I had been struggling with how to do this photo justice and this lovely paper I bought very recently turned out to be a perfect match to show colour but still allow the bright photo to be the focal point. I really like the result. The other layout was a struggle, but I'm happy now it's finished and it's another picture done for the albums (if they arrive, don't ask!)

Despite me feeling rubbish today, I am having a good day. The lovely Laura arrived with her hubby and their beautiful new baby daughter, who is just adorable. Shame I can't have a cuddle, but I do not want to pass on my illness to a defenceless little one.

And we also got to open our Secret Santa gifts, squeal! I totally adore mine, I absolutely love, love, love it! I'm a lucky girl! I think my recipient liked hers too (we are remaining secret), so job done!

And now for the ridiculous drive back home, which should be all kinds of awesome while feeling this rubbish.

Hopefully be back with more weekend photos once I'm home.

Crafty at the Cottage

2011-11-26T16:07:00.001Z

Well kinda. I have managed 3 layouts since arriving last night - after a mammoth 7-hour drive. Bah.

We (9 other fabulous scrappy girls and I) are staying here...

Well that's the view from my bedroom window, I haven't been out yet today lol!

So here's what I've mustered so far...

I must admit I'm struggling somewhat. Maybe my scrapping juices may flow better after our meal out tonight, including, hopefully, my own body weight in wine lol!

I did get to take part in a little something exciting - but more on that later ;)

xXx

Knit Night - Special Edition

2011-11-22T23:10:00.001Z

Just back from a lovely evening with the knitting gals - and this week we were lucky to be hostessed by the lovely Hannah at her very nice city centre apartment (oooh the view!)

It looked a bit like this...

That's Hannah using Steph's yarn winder and swift to transform her new skein of yarn goodness into a neat little yarn cake ready for knitting with.

And everyone else got busy clicking away, chatting and nibbling on the much-too-tempting nibbles (thank you Hannah, I had a great evening).

Right, bed time. I haven't slept very well the last two nights (I blame Christmas crafts taking over my every thought - but more on that later). And with a long day at work tomorrow (including trimming up for Christmas - the place looks like tat central, don't ask!) and a packed scrappy travel away weekend with the girls planned (squeal, I so can't wait!!!) I really could use a good, full night's sleep tonight. Here's hoping anyway.

xXx

WIP Friday - and a happy birthday too

2011-11-11T09:00:00.009Z

Just popping on to share a FO from a couple of weeks ago, that I finally got round to taking photos of and sharing.

This is a quick soft toy knit from the 'getting started/progressing' guide included in the fabulous first issue of Let's Knit magazine. This mag is fab, not only bursting at the seams with patterns in the main magazine, but it also came with another smaller supplement full of patterns and a free circular needle. Plus a feature on my local yarn shop Baa Ram Ewe. So far I am very impressed and have taken advantage of their special offer subscription (I have a feeling I'll be keeping this one!)

I don't where or for whom she is destined yet, I was just itching to take a break from Lauriel to knit something fast and cute. This only took a couple of short evenings and I love the fact it involved not only knitting, but hand stitching and pom-pom making to finish off its cute little features!

Talking of Lauriel (ssssshhhhhhh! *whispers*), I have finished! Finally! One cuff is slightly slimmer than the other, but as it's not noticeable to the eye (and you can barely tell to wear it) I'm leaving it. I just need to block it and I'll hopefully share it with you next FO Friday. :)

And in the meantime, don't forget to check out all the other FOs at Tami's Amis.

xXx

P.S. A very happy birthday to my youngest son Alex for today! I can't believe he is three! Eeeeeeeeek! He hasn't been very well this week, but hopefully he'll still enjoy his special day. And to commemorate the occasion here are a couple of pics, then and now.

Love you baby boy!

Last, but not least!

2011-11-07T12:08:00.001Z

Oooops. I forgot to post one final layout from the Sarah's Card retreat, and given the class teacher this is not acceptable! Apologies!

This was a class called Flying the Flag by my good friend Rachel (often better known as reward - check out her blog at http://rewardingmemories.blogspot.com ) and I just totally love the finished result!

Rachel's class was easy and quick, but looks amazing. Despite not having taught a class before, she was confident and explained everything so well, and was excellent at continuing to walk round with her layout to use as a guide as well as help with our questions.

Big congrats to you Rachel, you were fab and I really enjoyed your class - well done and thank you :)

xXx

Scrap til you drop!

2011-11-06T23:41:00.001Z

That was certainly the motto at this weekend's Sarah's Cards retreat in Warrington.

And what a fabulous weekend it was! Not only did I get to catch up with some wonderful friends (Rachel, Sally, Ali & Trina) but I also finally got to meet some long-time online friends (Nat & Carla), which was brilliant.

I'm also so chuffed that as well as coming home with so many yummy goodies (man were we spoilt!) but with six amazing classes and two very late nights scrapping I completed a grand total of 11 layouts. Wow. Think that's a new record for me (not like you Sally, you scrapbooking ninja you! Lol!)

And here some are...

Sketch challenge

Awesome class by Jen

Another class

One of my own

Another class (I will add more details as I unpack!)

One of mine

Fab vintage class

One of my own

Fab class by Natalie

My own again

Last minute make and take

I had a brilliant time, I'm still literally in fits of giggles thinking about some of our conversations and antics!

And the food, well all I can say is droooooollllll!

Massive well done and thank you to Sarah, Lianne and the DT team for an awesome weekend.

Sadly I can't make the March retreat and there may not be one next autumn (sob!), but I won't be too sad as I'll be doing it all again in 3 weeks time with another bunch of fabulous ladies. And I can't wait!

xXx

Too excited!

2011-11-03T23:50:00.001Z

Just a quick post to show you a picture of my little monkeys on Halloween as promised:

Aaaaaahhhh too cute!

I'm supposed to be asleep because tomorrow I have a very long, very tight to-do list of stuff I need to do before I head off for the Sarah's Cards retreat in Warrington. I can't wait! This will be my first SC retreat (though not my last I'm sure!) and the sneaky glimpses I've had of the hotel and the shop (oh my, the shop!!!) are just too tantalisingly amazing.

And I'm very much looking forward to arriving, chilling out, scrapping, and mostly, of course, catching up with the girlies (Sally, Rachel, Jen, Ali) and finally meeting some I have known very well for very long online.

I'm so excited! I know it will be over in the blink of an eye, but hey, that's ok, I'm doing it all again in 3 weeks time and again in January with the knitters. Lucky girl, aren't I?!

Will report back once on location! :D

xXx

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T09:59:00.001Z

Just wanted to stop by and share our Halloween prep photos.

First it started with pumpkin gathering, as explained in more detail in my last post...

And then on Saturday we got busy carving designs into them...

Five pumpkins and some free online templates later it looked like this...

Yes I know there are only four there, the fifth was done later as my hands hurt so bad!

And today our fireplace looks like this...

The skeleton garland was a bargain 89p at a local home bargain-type store, the sign too.

Sadly I'm working til 9pm tonight, so hubby is taking the boys Trick or Treating. Hope he takes some photos of their outfits for me!

xXx

Pumpkin patch picking

2011-10-22T21:11:00.000+01:00

Today hubby and his brother (visiting from Bath) decide to take a hike (quite literally) up to Bolton Abbey, leaving my sister-in-law, my two boys, her two girls and I to our own devices. So we went pumpkin picking!

We went to a place called Copleys Farm, near Featherstone, West Yorkshire, and it was fab! Apparently this is the first time they have had a pumpkin patch, which didn't surprise me as I have been trying to find one locally for the last few years and always failed. Then this autumn, this place finally turned up during a Google search.

The rule was, if you could lift and carry it, you could take it home - hence the six pumpkins we bought not being too huge lol! But still big and heavy enough to need to borrow a wheelbarrow!

We wandered around the amazing farm shop, and had lunch in the Moo Cafe first, and then after picking our pumpkins stopped by the cafe again for coffee and cake- and free bambinocinos for the kids. It's basically a mini cup of the warm frothy milk they put in adult hot drinks, and they definitely went down a treat!

We also stopped by the farm...

and the indoor children's play area...

... and met up with the men folk at Junction 32 shopping outlet on the way home for a playground trip, new shoes for my niece Nancy and a new PS3 for hubby (groan!).

Oh, and how rude of me, I have not introduced you to this lovely little lady yet...

This is sweet baby Iris. And she is totally gorgeous! Today was the first time I met her, because of the distance between us and my stupid work shifts, but she was worth the wait.

So, if anyone is bored this weekend, or next week during half term, and the weather is reasonable, I would highly recommend a visit to Copleys - click here for the website. It has a corn maze too (I think that would require a day to visit in itself knowing my sense of direction lol!)

Oh, and if anyone has any good pumpkin recipes, let me know, because I'm gonna have a whole load of pumpkin insides to use up!

xXx

How did that happen?!

2011-10-03T10:16:00.000+01:00

I didn't realise I hadn't blogged for three weeks until I logged on just now to share this post. Time has flown, although I'm not surprised it has been a while, I've barely had time to craft anything lately never mind actually blog about it thanks to the insanity that is September at my work place.

But, it's a new month (hello October!) and seeing as I missed all the sunshine, and it rained on my only day off yesterday, I got some scrapping (and some knitting) done. Here are the recent layouts I have to share with you...

This was done using Shimelle's most recent sketch. The idea was to use a photo strip, which was my original intention, but once I'd stuck down the papers this picture just seemed to work better. I'm so pleased with the title and the fact I could actually be bothered to machine stitch around the border and to matt the photo.

This was another Shimelle inspiration - started using her new 'starting point' feature, which I am really loving as that's the part I always get stuck on! And I just love this photo of the boys, it's going to have to go in yet another frame on the landing!

This layout is of our summer visit to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. I had wanted to go see Jaume Plensa's work there for months, and finally we went - and it was just amazing. This piece, entitled 'Twenty-nine Psalms' was my total favourite, probably because not only could you look at it, but you could also touch and hear it too. If you live near the park, you have to go see it - and best of all entrance to the park is free (you just pay a small amount for parking). This was also the ideal layout for diving straight into my new Studio Calico kit (not that I really needed any excuse!)

And finally, this quick vintage-inspired layout was done using photos I was allowed to take home from my grandma's 90th birthday party on Saturday. My granddad was a keen amateur photographer, and I just love all the photos he took of her and their children throughout the decades. She was so smart and glamorous, and pretty, and the photos have a lovely vintage feel to them. This one ended up being first because the papers caught my eye while rummaging through my most recent SC kits, and I knew they would match up with this photo. It's not very often I scrap old photos, but I just couldn't resist this.

Right, better get sorted, get Alex to his childminder and me to work - yep, I'm on the late shift yet again. But I don't mind too much as I'm only working 4 days this week, and have Wednesday off to finally get to knit night and catch up properly with the girls, yay!

xXx

Love Wool - yes I do!

2011-09-11T22:56:00.001+01:00

Just popping on quickly on my iPhone to show you what I got up to this weekend...

On Saturday I met up with knitting group friends Naomi, Kate, Hannah and Jenny at a Love Wool UK event in the stunning Leeds Corn Exhange, where fellow knitter Steph was selling her fab stitch markers and Rachel was helping teach visitors to knit.

Aren't they just fab?! I have a couple of her sets, including one gifted for my birthday (yay I'm so lucky!) and I adore them.

There were other fab stalls at the event, including the fabulous Baa Ram Ewe at Headingley and Armley Mills - a visit there is actually really long overdue, and more so now I have discovered they have a Saturday knitting group!

It was fab to catch up with the girls - something I haven't been able to do lately because of the extra hours I have to do at work this month. Rubbish. And it was also fab to eye up all the pretty items for sale, as well as sit and knit while ooohing and aaahhhing over everyone's works in progress and finished items too. Inspirational as always.

(these pics are borrowed from
rachel's brilliant blog post over at http://rewardingmemories.blogspot.com - sure she won't mind, I'll sit on the naughty step if she does lol!)

And later on, we saw the awesome, amazing Leeds' very own Kaiser Chiefs at another historic city location - Kirkstall Abbey.

To see them live finally at one of my favorite childhood places to visit (we lived just around the corner til I was 16) was just absolutely fantastic and I loved every minute of it.

(stage is right, historic medieval ruins to the left!)

Not amazing photos as they were taken on my iPhone but we were about 4 people short of the front and it was Just wow, wow, wow!

And today we just chilled out, visited my grandma and I ploughed on with my Lauriel - I'm on the first sleeve now having knit the border already and yay, the end is finally in sight! Hope to show you soon :)

xXx

All work, and no play...

2011-09-07T09:26:00.000+01:00

... makes Natalie a very unhappy bunny. But that's the way it is this month at work, I'm either working (crazy long hours) or trying to make little bits of time here and there for my poor neglected boys. It's pretty rubbish.

Despite this I have managed to make some progress on Lauriel, not as much as I would have liked or thought I would have by now, but it's certainly not to be scoffed at. So I thought I'd pop on and share with you all, seeing as once again, already, it's WIP Wednesday!

Colour most accurate on this last photo - rhubarb not purple!

As you can see I have cast off the whole body section, hurrah! I'm going to knit the border next, and then I can use the rest of the yarn left to knit the sleeves, hopefully as long as I like them. I'm a bit nervous about knitting the border and sleeves, as picking up stitches and knitting in the round is not my best skill, and I really don't want to muck this up (again). At least I wouldn't have to frog back the body this time I guess. I think I might wait until I can get a quick pointer from my friends at knitting group, although it's likely I won't be able to go until October because of my long work hours. :(

So in the meantime, to keep me busy and out of trouble, I have cast on my Tembo. This is a gorgeous autumn winter cardigan that I hope will knit up a bit quicker than Lauriel, seeing as it calls for aran yarn. It's so blumming cold here in the UK already, I actually neeeeeed it right now!

So that's me, I better get ready for another 10-hour shift at work, groan. Can't say when I'll be back with more updates, but hopefully I'll have something more to show you soon. Thanks for stopping by as always.

Natalie

xXx

P.S. I finally remembered to randomly pick a winner for the lovely Olivia Rubin scarf I promised to give away for my birthday - sorry for the delay. And here's the winner... (drum roll please!)...

Sarah (Crafts From The Cwtch) said...

Lovely FO! It would work with a long sleeved t-shirt in the cold too - very nice!

My favourite fragrance..? The smell of rain on a hot day!

Have a lovely weekend
x

11:29 AM

Congratulations Sarah! If you could please e-mail me your address I'll get that out to you asap - although I'll try get in touch this evening in case you don't see this.

WIP Wednesday - Lauriel (again!)

2011-08-24T10:53:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone,

just wanted to return with news of my Lauriel second attempt. Well. Third actually as the second time I tried to knit the yoke pattern it still didn't look right. So my lovely friends Hannah and Jenny came to the rescue with an emergency knitting meet-up and set me straight. It turned out I should have been cabling every few rows, and I had just simply been knitting the stitches in brackets. Next time I will read the instructions better!

So, now I'm well on my way again and it's taking shape. And best of all, the yoke section is finally perfect, yay!

See? A million times better! Thank you everyone for all the encouragement to rip it out and start over - I needed that push and I'm so glad that I did it now as I'm finally happy with it :)

Also, thank you for the birthday wishes yesterday, I had a brilliant day. I had a yummy cooked breakfast served with cards and gifts, followed by shopping (for gorgeous new shoes no less!), followed by bowling - and yay, I won this time!

Then the day was rounded up perfectly by a lovely family meal with both parents, their partners, one of my sisters and my boys too.

And then I got sang to and served cake (oh the shame!). Here I am with my shameful cake lol!

Best go get ready for work - late shift AGAIN. Groan. Back soon!

xXx

Sssssshhhhhh!

2011-08-23T01:07:00.001+01:00

*whispers* it's my birthday :)

So, another year older, another year wiser?

Older? Yes, 29 now, next year will be the big 3-0 {hides}. Wiser? Doubtful lol!

Which reminds me, I'd better pop back on later today and pick a winner for the giveaway I offered in my last post. There's still time to enter, but not much time so don't hang about!

xXx

FO Friday - and a big thank you :)

2011-08-19T00:05:00.000+01:00

First of all, a big thank you to everyone who left me a kind comment on Wednesday's WIP frog or not-to-frog dilemma post. It really helped to read all your lovely comments, and you'll be pleased to know I did frog the Lauriel and I have now re-started it from scratch. It was hard to do, but it was never going to be right in my head, and I wanted it to be perfect or not be anything at all - plus getting to use my new yarn winder certainly helped soften the blow a little.

From this...

I had a little moment when I almost threw it across the room again yesterday, as the pattern just wasn't knitting in properly, again. But my lovely friends Hannah and Jenny came to my rescue with an emergency after-work knitting meet-up and I now know what to do, and it's looking a hundred times better already. Phew! Thank you girls!

... to this (can you see the continuous lines? Yay, me too!)

Can you tell I'm feeling a little better today? Maybe it's because I realised I'm lucky to have what I have, and to also have some good friends looking out for me - and I'm ready to say a big "screw you" to everyone and everything else. I'll find my own way. Ok, it might take a bit longer, and it might not be the scenic route, but I'll get there, just you see, and when I do it will be fabulous darling!

Anyway, the reason I'm supposed to be here is to share my latest FO with you. This one was a quick and very easy knit called Sophia and had two aims - using up some very cheap and easy wash yarn (Super Saver Solids I think) and to make a nice autumn-friendly top. Yes, I said autumn, it's in the air already I can just feel it.

And talking of garments, and washing, that leads me nicely on to my giveaway. The lovely people at Bold have launched a new 2-in-1 floral fragrance - Rose Blush & Peony. Oh my, it is absolutely lush! I have the powder (you can also get liquitabs and gel) and thanks to its unique scent-release technology it leaves my clothes smelling so summery all day long (I'm making the most of it before autumn really does set in!)

And to celebrate, for a limited time only, Bold are giving you the chance to win a lovely, exclusive floral print scarf by the London fashion designer Olivia Rubin. For your chance to win one, and get yourself a money-off coupon, simply visit www.supersavvyme.com/Bold

And to thank all you lovely followers out there, you can also grab a second chance to win this one right here simply by leaving a comment on this post telling me what your favourite fragrance/smell is and why. Closing date is next Tuesday 23rd August (oooh that's my birthday, but I'm giving you the present!) at 23.59, and I'll announce the winner as soon as possible afterwards. Entries welcomed from any country - I'm happy to post wherever. Good luck :)

xXx

WIP Wednesday - Lauriel

2011-08-17T12:08:00.000+01:00

It's Wednesday, so that means time to share another Work in Progress over at Tami's Amis.

My current WIP is Lauriel, from my recently-acquired and already much-treasured copy of Ysolda Teague's Little Red in the City.

This colour in this picture is more accurate than the two photos below

I had chosen some lovely yarn - Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk DK - which cost more than I would normally spend on yarn for one garment, but I wanted this to be really lovely. And although it was knitting up slower than I thought/hoped it would, I was pleased with how it was coming along. Note the word 'was' there.

Yesterday, during our weekly knitting meet-up, I noticed the yoke pattern on two of my friends' WIPs was a lot more defined than mine. I thought mine looked a little different due to the wool variation. But now I know it's not right, and I've realised why. I thought I was being clever by using the eastern style of stockinette stitch right from the start of the pattern, as Ysolda suggests to use as it makes your gauge more constant and the work neater. But unfortunately, this also means that the action to 'KBL' or knit through the back loop is cancelled out by the fact the stitch was already back-loop forward facing. Does this make any sense?! Anyway, it's not right.

This has really disheartened me. It took me hours to do the yoke and I really took my time to ensure every stitch of the pattern was perfect, and I was so proud. But I wasn't totally happy with it, and now I've seen how it should look it's just going to bug me forever. But I've spent hours and hours and hours getting half way down the body and I really don't want to frog it and start over now. I never complete anything as it is, getting so little time to knit, and I'm not sure I'd ever find it in me to pick it back up or finish it. Sigh.

So, a question to those more experienced knitters out there. If you don't mind? Please? Would it be possible to go back later, un-do the cast on edge, frog the yoke section and either re-knit it upwards? Or knit the yoke separately and re-join it, perhaps using the three-needle bind-off technique on the wrong side? Or am I just kidding myself? Maybe I was kidding myself trying to take on something so pretty. Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

Sorry for the negativity. Just having a bad time right now, nothing major, I really should be grateful for what I have, my gorgeous boys and husband, but silly things like this are just the straw that broke the camel's back, everything is really getting to me and upsetting me - I really didn't need this. :(

Oh well, going to try and enjoy my last day off before a run of seven days at work tomorrow and head to Yorkshire Sculpture Park and hopefully forget my worries for a few hours. Or try at least!

xXx

P.S. I've scheduled a FO Friday blog post for Friday - and there'll be a giveaway too. Hope to see you then :)

Three of a kind

2011-08-14T22:59:00.001+01:00

Here's another layout done, scrapped thanks to the challenges Shimelle has been posting on her blog this weekend.

This layout was done for the '3 is a magic number' challenge - to use three of the same thing on your layout. Can you guess what I have used three of? Well done if you got it right, I used three banner stickers (two across the top, and the blue diamond one below the main photo).

Here's the challenge link.

Oh, and I've finally found a way of scrapping without having to listen to the angry shouts of hubby on his stupid PS3 (yes, I am one of the millions of Call of Duty widows out there!). I have borrowed the computer headphones, plugged them into my iPhone and I'm blasting out my own tunes to scrap to! I'm having my very own silent disco in here, lol! Tonight I've been listening to Adele's latest album - man I love her music and song-writing. And it's helping my scrapping. Yay!

So, I might go to bed now... or I might go see what Shimelle's next challenge is. Hmmm. Well, I do have another three days off work, so it's not like I have to be up early lol!

xXx

Half and half

2011-08-14T20:42:00.000+01:00

I thought I'd blog as I went along this evening, while taking part in the challenges Shimelle is posting on her blog this weekend. That way I get to share them in the link under each challenge post. :)

The challenge was to scrap a layout that uses only half the page, with the other half left as 'white space'.

This photo is another taken on our recent holiday, of the boys playing in the water fountains - oh dear! - and the papers and embellies are mostly (if not exclusively) from recent Studio Calico kits. I think I just added a cloud, and oh of course my beloved washi tapes, ahhh sigh!

And here's the link to the challenge. Hope it inspires you to have a go too :)

xXx

P.S. Sorry about the weird colour on the photos - 8.30pm at night is not the best time to take outdoor shots of layouts. Lesson learnt.

I like a challenge :)

2011-08-14T19:02:00.000+01:00

This weekend I have been trying, when possible, to take part in Shimelle's weekend of scrapbooking challenges and the two I've managed to do so far have really helped to get my creative mojo working...

This layout followed a challenge to start with three sized pieces of paper as a base - an almost sketch if you like. after that you could complete the layout any way you liked. This layout details a knitting workshop I attended recently with the fabulously talented Ysolda Teague at our equally fab local yarn shop Baa Ram Ewe in Leeds. I had a great afternoon learning lots, trying on some sample garments, catching up with friends and trying to decide which pattern to knit first and which yarn to buy for it! I also came away with my lovely new book signed, yay!

This was the original starting point (picture from shimelle.com) - and you can see the original brief for this challenge here.

This next layout was scrapped in response to a late-night challenge to scrap using primarily the colours turquoise, red and white. Well, these being my favourite combinations of colours, and with these holiday photos freshly printed that very evening, that wasn't too much of an ask!

The photos are of me and the boys posing in a photo prop at Butlins a few weeks back - the boys loved jumping behind and grinning while shouting "cheese mum!" it every time we passed by!

Here's the link to the original challenge.

I wasn't planning on taking part, I didn't think I'd have time to, but I'm really glad I have and as it's just turned bedtime o'clock for the boys, I'm planning on getting to it again pretty pronto - can't wait! Thanks Shimelle for getting me scrapping again, the break had been a little too long again and I hadn't realised just quite how much I missed it. :)

xXx

Summer loving... or should that be loved?!

2011-08-11T11:17:00.000+01:00

As much as I hate to admit it, summer is almost over isn't it? I don't want it to be, but with day after day of clouds and rain lately I have to admit it.

BUT we have had an amazing summer, me and my boys. We've had a fab little holiday and some great days out together. Now I've finally managed to find a USB lead and upload the photos from our camera I thought it was about time I shared my favourite with you.

First up we met Alex's favourite cartoon characters, George and Peppa Pig at a local children's festival.

Then the boys enjoyed a male-bonding-kinda day out at Fairburn Ings.

Then we had a fab family day out at a bird of prey centre and stately home. This is me holding an eagle - oh my gosh was he heavy!

Then we had hubby and father-in-law's birthday weekend to Scarborough, no photos from that at the moment though (the weather was so rubbish I think I only have a few on my iPhone!)

And finally our fab family holiday, which was just amazing, I loved every single minute - so much so that we booked to return next year before we'd even left the site lol!

I hope this hasn't been too photo heavy - I wasn't able to shrink these photos down and they took ages to upload! And I haven't yet edited/re-touched them yet either. Sorry!

I also hope that we do get a few more days like these before summer really is well and truly out. Fingers crossed :)

xXx

Meeting Ysolda Teague

2011-07-30T16:24:00.001+01:00

Just popping on quickly to share my excitement and delight at meeting the fabulously talented Ysolda Teague this week.

I joined in a fab short workshop at the brilliant Baa Ram Ewe shop in Leeds and she signed my copy of Little Red in the City (which is amazing!). We also had lots of fun trying on her test knits of all the beautiful patterns from the book - and I want to knit them ALL. NOW!

I think Cria will be first, seeing as I may have indulged in some gorgeous Fyberspates sport-weight especially for it. Just need my ball winder to arrive in the post now - me thinks Royal (pain in the arse) Mail may have lost it. Sigh.

Oh well, me and the boys are on our holidays this weekend, and we are having a fab time, so I promise lots of lovely pics when I get back :)

xXx

All new

2011-07-21T14:45:00.001+01:00

Two new things in particular have made me happy this week.

Here's the first, our completed dining room. I don't have photos of it before as it looked too hideous, but here it is looking all pretty, fresh and much more spacious...

I just love it so much and we've been making a big effort to keep it looking so good - fingers crossed it lasts, then I might try take some better photos on the DSLR!

And then there's this little sweetheart, our new niece...

Too cute!

I can't go travel down to meet her this weekend as I have to work, but I've made this to send with the boys...

I'd seen some similar on Pinterest and it just took a quick bit of Photoshop, my new printer and a frame - quick, easy, inexpensive and special. Hope the new parents like it.

xXx

Scrapped it!

2011-07-19T12:08:00.001+01:00

I was a very lucky girl yesterday. My lovely hubby bought me this fantastic contraption...

Not just a printer, but a wireless printer that allows me to print any photo straight from my iPhone4 at the click of a button - no Mac/PC required! So now it has become much easier to scrap, I can match papers to the photos on my phone and quickly and easily print one off. It also scans and copies. But the best thing is that it's on sake for just £30 at Argos. (Don't rush off to buy one just yet though, I have a layout to share - I know, gasp, right?!)

So last night I got to this...

You might recognise the photos from our recent fruit picking adventure, and most of the papers and embellies are from Studio Calico kits (which I'm loving so much).

So what else is new? Oooh we finally decorated our dining room at the weekend. Here's a sneak peek but I'll share a full reveal once the blinds arrived and we've hung them as well as the new mirror :)

Hope you like!

Best get on, today is a day off and I'm trying to juggle tidying with entertaining Alex - I'm looking forward to going out for knit night too and catching up with my girlies :)

xXx

WIP Wednesday - and the big 3-0!

2011-07-13T10:11:00.000+01:00

Just popping on to share my latest WIP with the regulars at Tami's Amis...

This is the start of Sophia, an open weave, slouchy neck top that I thought would be great for late summer. But the yarn I'm using is quite thick so unless it softens a lot after washing/blocking it might be better for early autumn - but whatever!

I really wasn't sure about how this was knitting up, or even if I was doing it right, but after seeing the photos I just took to show you guys, I actually think it might be ok so I'll persevere. It's a really easy, quick knit, a bit boring almost, but easy tv knitting so hopefully it shouldn't take me too long to complete. And it should help finish off a bit of this huge ball of cheap yarn I got in the US when I didn't know any better!

So, on to the big 3-0! No, not me, my husband, it was his birthday on Sunday (and his dad's as well! Happy birthday both of you!). So me and his mum took us all off to Scarborough for the weekend. The rain was somewhat of a hindrance on the Saturday, but Sunday was fine and sunny so the big boys took themselves off to their beloved cricket match and us girls and the little boys went on a train to the Sealife Centre.

Our weekend looked a lot like this:

A bit photo heavy there, sorry! Although I had to stop myself from sharing a whole load more as well lol!

Right, better finish getting ready for work - I'm on a later shift today, which is handy for morning blogging, but I won't be too grateful when I'm still at work nearing 8pm this evening. Groan. Oh well, I had a really good day yesterday, fingers crossed for another today please!

xXx

Fab family day out! (photo heavy!)

2011-07-03T21:54:00.001+01:00

Woweee, what a scorcher it has been today!

We decided to use a recent Groupon voucher purchase and head up to North Yorkshire to a beautiful stately home to see some birds of prey. We saw an amazing display and I even got to hold a fully grown eagle - boy was he heavier than he looked! The boys had fun watching the birds and visiting their homes (Harry wanted to buy his own owl and take him home lol - a boy after my own heart!), as well as enjoying the bouncy castle and trampoline and running through the picturesque grounds.

On the way home we stopped to pick some strawberries at a local farm, and ended up with two big baskest of both strawberries and raspberries for the bargain price of just over £6 (once we found where all the lovely red, ripe and juicy strawberries were hiding!) The boys had loads of fun doing this, and I, being in a short dress, had more fun taking lots of photos lol!

Yummmmmmmmmy!

And finally, exhausted, we stopped for salad and pizza on the way home, more yummy!

That was the leftovers, which we took home (I blame the diet me and hubby are on, we just can't eat as much anymore - but we have both lost weight, exactly a stone between us in just two weeks, which is fab!). And once I'm no longer stuffed full of stuffed crust pizza, I'm going to think about baking a raspberry crumble and serving up some delicious strawberries and cream, droooooooool! I have tomorrow off work (no Monday blues for me this week!), so I think a spot of baking and crafting is called for ;)

xXx

New Scrummy Yarn Goodness!

2011-06-30T12:06:00.000+01:00

I promised I'd be back with details and photos of my little Woolfest haul, and so here it is...

This is my favourite (I think!). It's Laal Bear Bounce Extra in Twiglight colourway (not sure if that should be twilight, but it says twiglight on the label!). I just love the mix of purples and blues {heart}, although I did not love the 5 hours it took to untangle the thing. Impatience and inexperience do not mix when winding skeins into balls I have learnt. Sigh. Oh well, I did it and it has now been cast on as the start of my Travelling Woman, yay!

This is the lace skein I told you about, in a lovely silvery grey but with little flecks of turquoise running through. It's Natural Born Dyers BFL Silk Laceweight in mudstones colourway. Luckily for me Naomi wound this one and didn't have any problems until right at the end, but my lovely husband sat and de-tangled it for me last night, bless him! I forgot to take photos of these two before I started winding (told you I was impatient!). I know I was going to use this for the Travelling Woman, but I forgot about the above skein and so this will be used for something similar but a little more delicate I think.

Another scrummy Laal Bear purchase, a little last minute before the coach headed back to Leeds as I had been trying to compare various shades and I did love this one the best. It's Laal Bear Razzle Dazzle (no link for that). Not sure what this will be for yet, it was just so pretty I just knew I had to have it!

This was a steal (no, not literally!) from a lady who will soon be closing her business {sad face}. It's Artesano 100% Alpaca 4-Ply in a lovely purple colour that matches the Laal Bear yarn I'm using for my Travelling Woman. The plan for these is to knit a matching hat and mitts for winter. And boy are these soooooo soft.

And some more alpaca (I know, bit of a theme going on here, but it just feels so lush!). This is UK Alpaca Alpaca Sock Yarn in a lovely slightly dusky pink colour (not as bright as in the photo). Again, no project lined up for this yet, but it was too much of a bargain to pass up. This was my first purchase of the day and actually, I must confess, these are the first skeins of wool I have ever bought. I know. I blame lack of choice and availability where I live and not yet appreciating the difference between these and cheap acrylic balls (I have been educated now, don't worry!)

And other than a couple of cables for my Knitpro interchangeable needles, these are the last of my goodies. A beautiful fat quarter of this cute Russian doll fabric which I just adore, and sweet matching buttons. I was going to use this for bag lining, but now I think I might make this into a little project bag so I can carry my current project without lugging my big bag round.

So that's it, I've probably waffled for long enough now, time for lunch and a spot of knitting me thinks. Back soon :)

N xXx

WIP - or at least it will be later today!

2011-06-29T10:54:00.000+01:00

It's another WIP Wednesday with the regulars at Tami's Amis.

I was hoping to be able to share with you my new yarn purchases from the fabby Woolfest (see last post), and maybe even a new WIP using said new goodies, but as I have not yet got them back from my very own (and very lovely) personal transportation and storage assistant Naomi (lol!) this is not possible. Fear not, I will be getting my sticky mitts on them later this afternoon *squeal!* and I shall be casting on asap. And in the meantime I shall show you the first project I have lined up.

So I present to you the gorgeous Travelling Woman:

pictures by feministy on the above linked page

Beautiful, right?! I have been wanting to knit a shawl/wrap for a little while but had been waiting to find the right pattern and the right yarn. And I think now I have :)

So I'm thinking of knitting it with this, which I'm pretty sure is the exact yarn I bought at Woolfest on Saturday - I know it was this exact colourway, grey with cute little turquoise flecks *heart*. I saw it, but didn't think I could ever even think about taking on a lace-weight project. But I just couldn't stop thinking about it, so I decided what the heck, went back and to my delight this single skein was still there waiting for me, and so of course I snapped it right up.

picture by simplethings on the above linked page

Isn't it just so pretty?! I so can't wait to share my other gorgeous purchases with you tomorrow!

N xXx

Mega weekend

2011-06-26T18:10:00.001+01:00

I have had such a fantastic weekend!

Saturday started very early to catch a coach from Baa Ram Ewe to Woolfest in the Lakes with Naomi, Rachel, Heather and a large bunch of other knitters. I was excited to this year have a decent budget and couldn't wait to invest in some quality skeins of wool and yarn. Squeal!

Love those sweet alpacas!

I was planning on sharing photos of my lovely purchases today, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait until later in the week because I let Naomi take them home - no I haven't list my mind! I was going straight out into Leeds and didn't want to carry my haul around city centre pubs and clubs lol!

And after we had a quick bite together at Wok In next door to Bas Ram Ewe - man we were so hungry by 8.30 when we got back!

And after a fantastic day shopping for scrummy yarn I went out with my crazy but fun group of friends to celebrate another big birthday - most of them are turning 30 this year (in fact it's hubby's turn in a fortnight!). I had a bit of catching up to do on the drinking front by the time I arrived but it wasn't too hard lol! I had a fab time and danced all those stir fry calories right off, finally getting home to bed about 4.30am - yikes! I had been up since 6am the day before! Hard core lol!

Here's hubby and his best mate getting a bit merry (and a bit bromantic if you ask me lol!)

And today we slept til noon (not surprising!) and went for a scrummy 2-4-1 lunch at Ask and a nosey round the shopping village in the glorious sunshine while the kids lived it up at the seaside with grandma and grandad - bliss!

Thank goodness I'm not on the early shift tomorrow, still an early night for me!

Promise I'll be back ASAP with a more crafty-related post - hope you all had a rocking weekend too :)

xXx

Dangermouse!

2011-06-15T11:27:00.001+01:00

I was hoping to make enough progress on my new knitting project - the Arbor top (a free Ravelry pattern - to have something worth showing you for WIP Wednesday today. But Alex, my two-year-old stuntman had other ideas Monday evening and gave us an experience I never ever want to repeat (but fear we will several times over, sigh).

We put the boys to bed Monday evening, just after I'd got home from a long 11-hour shift at work, and straight away we heard him run into our bedroom. I knew he had climbed on to my dressing table stool and pulled open the drawer to grab my make-up case again, so Gareth made his way up to move it out of reach and put him back to bed. But before he could get there, there was first a bang, then the sound of Alex crying hysterically - the sort of cry that drives absolute terror into you (you mums will understand). Alex met us at the top of the stairs and at first I thought he'd cut his tongue or mouth as I could see blood in there (anyone of a squeamish nature might want to skip a couple of paragraphs here) but I quickly realised the blood was pouring out of a wound in his forehead, at the top of his nose right above his eyes. And I mean pouring, I've never seen anything like it. So I grabbed the nearest item of fabric and applied pressure while telling Gareth to phone for an ambulance. I feel awful thinking about it now.

The paramedics took a little while to arrive, during which time Alex had stopped crying and the wound had stopped bleeding as bad, and I could have a look - relief washed over me as I could see it wasn't as bad as we'd first feared. But he'd split the skin and taken out a good little chunk, and it was clear he would need it stitching or glueing.

So the paramedics arrived, checked him out, bandaged him up and off we went in the ambulance to be put back together in A&E (me and Alex - Gareth does not deal well with blood, so kept out of the way by attempting to scrub the carpet, which resembled a crime scene by this point. Last thing we needed was him fainting on us!)

By now Alex had perked right up and loved his little adventure. He had great fun watching out the ambulance windows, then playing with the toys in the A&E waiting room and charming all the nurses as usual despite it being way past his bedtime (and no, this wasn't our first visit and I'm sure it won't be our last, he just has no sense of danger that child!)

Here he is waiting to be glued up (doesn't look too fussed does he?!). He was more bothered about his PJs being covered in blood - amazing how much there was, both of us were covered. I had changed him before taking this pic:

So, we finally got him glued and steri-stripped up and we were on our way home.

And that's the story of why I got no knitting done Monday as planned. He must fallen from the stool and hit his head on the open drawer. And yes he hasn't learnt his lesson, trying the same thing again last night - luckily I was one step ahead of him (plus I have now moved my make-up - not that there's any left, grrrrrrr).

And he is two days later. I'm not sure this is the neatest patch-up I've ever seen, but if it does the job I guess it doesn't matter. Just have to keep it dry for another few days, then let it dissolve.

Managed to make it to knit night last night for a much-needed catch-up and cake and to surprise a much-deserving friend, although I only got a little bit done. The Arbor seems to be quite slow because of the chart pattern. Hopefully I'll have enough to show you next week - toddler permitting!

P.S. Blood does not clean out of carpet it seems and I hate the stains being a permanent reminder of something so awful, so now a new staircase/landing carpet is on the agenda. Which is fine as I hate the current one and had been trying to convince Gareth to replace it anyway (just not this way!)

xXx

10 things

2011-06-10T17:53:00.001+01:00

Today I'm taking part in 10 things with www.shimelle.com - simply post 10 things every 10th of the month. Here are mine:

1 - day left until I go back to work, thank goodness. I love my boys but five days of just me Vs the two of them is more than enough!

2 - pairs of Lee Cooper jeans that arrived today by courier. Well, I live in my jeans, can never have too many jeans lol! And at £5 per pair they won't break the bank. :)

3 - weeks it has taken me to knit my lovely summer Razor Cami (see previous post), and probably the number of times I've stropped over finishing it too!

4 - number of Kaiser Chiefs tickets I snapped up today. They launched dates at a beautiful abbey just down the road, right by where I grew up. Two are for me and Gareth, two for my parents-in-law for their birthdays. I can't wait already!

5 - months until both the Sarahs Cards retreat and our next girly retreat to the lovely little cottage in the country - counting down the days already and just praying it doesn't snow like it did last November!

6 - months until Christmas! Am I allowed to mention the 'C' word yet? Oh, I just did lol!

7 - weeks until our little family holiday away. I'm all about the countdowns today aren't I?!

8 - days until pay day, can't come quick enough. Fingers crossed for an early Friday transaction!

9 - pages of items I want to knit in my Raveley queue. At the rate of one per month if I'm lucky, and several added each month, I fear I may never finish!

10 - the number of scrummy little toes I can see on Alex, who is currently asleep on the living room rug, bless 'im!

xXx

FO Friday - my Razor Cami

2011-06-10T12:47:00.000+01:00

It's finally finished!

Sorry for the poor photos, it's just me and my iPhone today :(

Looks a lot better in this photo, but the first pic is more colour accurate.

I pretty much stuck to the pattern, except for the straps, which I knit using a fellow Ravelry member's mods (I didn't want thin spaghetti straps or too thick either).

Must replace these with better DSLR photos quickly, the top is not really this salmon!

Love it!

Right, best get on, got a string of errands to do and have two kids in tow, so they won't be getting done very quickly, sigh.

Don't forget to check out Tami's Amis for more FOs -------> here.

Bye for now :)

xXx

WIP Wednesday

2011-06-08T13:18:00.000+01:00

Not taken part in WIP Wednesday for a little while, but it's half term, I'm at home and it's bouncing it down with hail (I kid you not, it's June and we have hail!) with a sprinkling of thunder and lightning for good measure. Sigh. But that means I have time to join in this week, hurrah!

So, here's what I'm working away on right now:

(Poor photos, sorry, but you get the idea)

This is my copy of the Razor Cami - a cute summer strap top, which hopefully I might get chance to wear if the weather brightens back up before autumn's back again. Although it's more peachey pink than shown in the photo (bad weather = lack of proper daylight and poor photo results).

It looks really long in the photo, but it isn't and needs to stretch sideways to fit - I really hope it does. It has taken so long to get all that done in 4-ply cotton yarn (especially after I had to rip out the first few inches of pattern as it just wasn't working properly). Saying that though, this is my first 4-ply project EVER and once I got going it did work up quicker than I expected.

I just have the ribbing at the back to do and the straps to add now. Hopefully I might finish in time for FO Friday - if so, I'll be back then!

P.S. Don't forget to visit Tami's Amis for more lovely WIPs :)

N xxx

Thank you :)

2011-06-01T00:04:00.000+01:00

Just wanted to say a big...

for stopping by Shimelle's blog and helping to raise (at last count) more than £500 for Plan-UK's Because I Am A Girl campaign. And a massive well done and thank you to Shimelle for such kindness and generosity, and hard work. You are all awesome :)

And for those of you who bid on my eBay items, thank you too. I kept my promise of donating 25% of the total proceeds to the charity, and my donation of £25 has already been sent to Shimelle to top the fund.

I can't wait to see what worthy projects the money goes towards helping, and the opportunities it might bring to girls in the world's poorest countries.

Night all :)

xXx

Special assignment

2011-05-31T10:30:00.000+01:00

I'm delighted to be able to show you this layout, which I scrapped up pretty much as soon I got an e-mail from the lovely Shimelle yesterday.

As I'm sure most of you will have already seen on Shimelle's blog today, she is featuring an ideas post about scrapbooking girl-themed layouts, with a few others, including me and the fabulous SJ and Sally, joining in by showcasing examples on our blogs.

My example is another photo taken on our recent girly getaway to the country, and I finally managed to sneak in lots of my lovely new washi tape, yay!

Better still, all the layouts are inspired by a campaign from Plan-UK called 'Because I Am A Girl', which aims to build schools in Africa and to help girls in areas where women are not educated or given any choices in life. Makes you realise how lucky we are huh?

And for 24 hours, Shimelle is generously going to donate 100% of her class sales to the charity - so if there's a class you have been eyeing up or meaning to buy for a while, well now there's no better time because your fees will help give disadvantaged children in the third world a better future. Win win!

You can also join in by bagging a bargain or two in the first batch of my eBay craft listings, which will be ending just click here to see what's on offer. And for shamelessly pimping this on my blog, again, I will donate 25% of the sales to Plan-UK. :)

xXx

Photo love

2011-05-29T16:22:00.001+01:00

Hi y'all,
Hope you are enjoying the bank holiday weekend. We are having a lazy Sunday, mostly because the weather can't seem to make its mind up, so we are mostly alternating between tidying and chilling.

Thought as I had a spare moment I'd pop on to share a couple more layouts I've completed this week:

This is another shot taken on our recent girly weekend away, and another I just love.

This is of Alex playing at a friend's house last year. I love this photo, although I can't believe how much he has grown since then!

I also found time to make a quick photo montage for the landing wall, it's looking lovely and bright up the stairs now, happy happy :)

Ok, gonna pick up my knitting seeing as there's not much else going on round here! I've started a cute little summer top and I really want to finish it soon so I can wear it while it's still warm. It's 4-ply though and the first time I've used such slim yarn so we will see!

xXx

Spring Clean-out

2011-05-24T13:16:00.000+01:00

A clear-out of my hoard of craft stuff was long overdue. I have accumulated far too much over the years, and a lot of it has sat unused and even unopened for too long. So, I thought, with it being spring and all, and seeing how Alex was having a very rare afternoon nap, it was time to shift it and so slowly but surely it's all working its way onto good old eBay, where I hope it might make me a few pennies for our holiday spending money when we go away for a few days in July.

Here's a peek of some of the items I have listed:

You can find all these listings and more by clicking here - most have 99p starting prices, and make sure you keep watching as I have loads more items to add including lots of lovely clear stamps :)

P.S. Sorry for the blatant pimping, normal service will resume shortly lol!

2011-05-22T21:07:00.001+01:00

Just a quick blog post from my iPhone to let you know I'm still here and to apologise for my absence. No change there then I guess.

I also wanted to share a layout I scrapped the other evening. It's of one of the cute group photos taken during our girls weekend away in the country cottage. I used mainly the contents of my latest Studio Calico kit on this, with some other bits and pieces, and I'm quite pleased with how this turned out, particular with the mix of bright colours and use of pink, which is something I don't get to do very often having only boys!

I can't wait to get scrapping again now that these little gems have landed on my doorstep. These were such a bargain at £1 each, plus one free with this my first order, and I'm itching to use them on a layout having seen my good friend Sally's nest examples. These are available from www.washitapes.co.uk (which is the bit you really wanted to know, isn't it?!)

Hope you've all had a good week. I've been mad busy at work, lunching with my lovely gran, mum and sister and last night was girls night, which meant dinner, drinks and a karaoke booth - oh yeah! I can't sing for toffee, but it didn't matter and we all had a blast!

And now it's back to reality, so a spot of knitting, an early night and back to the daily grind in the morning. Ho hum.

xXx

Best of the rest

2011-05-08T20:32:00.000+01:00

Just popping on quickly to share the last remaining layouts that I scrapped during our girly weekend away.

This is of me and Alex, enjoying lunch while shopping on one of our weekdays off together. I'm loving my new shifts that allow me some one-to-one time with him at this gorgeous age.

This is another layout born out of the blissful day me and hubby spent together last month, as I detailed in yesterday's post. I spent a while capturing some 'us' shots on my iPhone, including this one of my reflection in his sunglasses. I think I'm going to add a little journaling to this one, to make the title make sense if nothing else!

This one's of Alex playing on the slide in our local park - his favourite past-time!

I don't seem to like these ones as much as the layouts I shared yesterday, I'm not sure why, but I guess you can't win them all eh?

Hope you had a great weekend. :)

xXx

Layouts galore

2011-05-07T20:23:00.000+01:00

Ok, so it seems quite apt that on (inter)National Scrapbooking Day I log on and show you some of the layouts I created while staying with 10 fabulous scrappers at this gorgeous country house last weekend.

I'd actually meant to share these photos, and my layout photos, much earlier, but technical difficulties put a stop to that - just don't even ask!

Ok, so here are the first half (the second half I'll share with you tomorrow, otherwise this post may be a little too photo heavy!):

I love this layout of Alex playing with the hose pipe and watering can at my grandma's house - it's mostly made using the April Studio Calico kit, which I just adore!

Another Studio Calico-inpsired layout. This one's of Alex playing in the school yard while waiting for his big brother.

And this last layout is of a photo taken during the fab free day me and hubby had recently, with the kids spending the day at their grandparents' house and us heading straight for the nearest beer garden, Chinese buffet and park for a blissful day together, just the two of us. I loved that day, it was a very rare but much-needed treat.

I'll be back tomorrow with the other layouts - in the mean time I think a little scrapbooking is in order. My Photobox order has arrived and with it being a special occasion, well, it would be rude not to wouldn't it?!

Catcha soon :)

xXx

Country cottage weekend

2011-05-02T19:36:00.000+01:00

What a fantastic bank holiday weekend it has been!

Three days I spent partly travelling but mostly having a ball with ten fabulous ladies; scrapping, chatting, lounging, eating, drinking, socialising, walking, taking photos and enjoying the gorgeous weather. Here's a sneak peek of some of the group's photos, and one or two from the house website to help build the picture lol:

Lots of fun had as you can see! The cottage was absolutely lovely, so homely and it was so good to have separate spaces to scrap, eat, socialise, chill and sleep. Oh, and indoor toilets and hot, bug-free showers, always a plus! I had an amazing time and can't wait to go back with these lovely girlies, very soon I hope.

Check out their blogs here for more photos and gossip: Laura, Leanne, Shimelle, Rachel, SJ, Sally, Katherine, Chloe, Jen and Katy (no blog to mention, but didn't want to leave her out!) :)

And if you're reading this ladies, thank you for a wonderful weekend and for inviting me again, I am so lucky to have you all as friends :)

Everyone else, I shall be back very soon to share some photos of the layouts I made during our weekend away, so stay tuned.

xXx

Summer fun

2011-04-23T15:11:00.001+01:00

Ok, so technically it's not actually summer yet - but the weather has been very summer-like and I for one definitely am not complaining!

So in between the little bursts of scrapping (the results of which I can't show you yet, but soon, I promise), here's what I've been up to:

Me and hubby enjoying an extremely rare day off from the boys.

Alex playing at watering the garden (and himself!)

Alex and his cousin during a family picnic in the park.

Alex munching on the picnic!

Harry on his bouncy castle.

Harry playing in the garden:

So, lots of fun in the sun being had as you can see! I have a week off work after Tuesday, so hopefully there will be more of this to come. I'm also ridiculously excited to be going away with some fabulous ladies for a weekend of pure unadulterated, in-interrupted scrapping on Friday, so watch this space for lots of layouts here very soon!

Oh happy day

2011-04-10T21:23:00.001+01:00

With the boys staying at their grandparents' house this weekend, me and hubby enjoyed an absolutely blissful weekend.

First up, after finishing work yesterday, was drinks and food in Leeds to celebrate Rob and Rachel's engagement, ahhhhh, so happy for those guys! And we had lots of fun too before heading home and enjoying a film (Due Date in case you wondered, and it was pretty good).

Rachel and me

Sat in the pub beer garden in Millennium Square

The lovely Rob and Rachel (taking photos!)

Then today we made the most of our day off together with a lovely lie-in, then a drink in a beer garden, a fab Chinese buffet lunch and time chilling out together in the park followed by an ice cream - all things that we can't really do with the kids in tow. And we loved every single minute. I was glad to get the boys back too though, I did miss them.

I also managed to get some scrapping in this week - I used the living room floor and it was so much easier. Well, it was until my foot went dead lol! But it will be good practice for some secret but exciting scrapping I'll be doing in the next few weeks. More on that later. But for now, here are the results...

Love this layout of Alex playing in the park, just needs a little something else, I think. Not sure, what do you reckon?

This layout is pretty much a scraplift of a beautiful layout done by the very talented Leanne for the lovely Shimelle's inspiring blog. Check it out here.

Those two are layouts I've done and shared previously, but much better, clearer daylight photos this time. Much better.

Right, work again tomorrow and then two days off with hubby and number two son (poor number one son is still in school because his school has different Easter holidays to the rest of Leeds, scowl.)

Back soon!

N xXx

Quick little visit

2011-04-05T22:33:00.000+01:00

Just hopping on over to Blogland to say a quick hello. Sorry for being absent of late, life has been getting in the way again (isn't it funny how that does tend to happen eh?!) Work is mainly to blame, but also this gorgeous little fella, my new nephew, ahhhhhhhh.

Can't wait to get some gorgeous baby boy layouts done on him *heart*.

I have also just submitted my work for consideration to design for the fab new Sketches2Scrapbook iPhone app, eeeeep exciting! If you have an iPhone, but don't have this app, and you do scrapbook or make cards, then go, go right now, go to the app store and check it out, it is amazing and totally awe-inspiring. By far the best money I have spent on an app so far!

In other news I did manage to find time to squeeze in a little scrapbooking, although I'm not sure as to whether I'm entirely happy with it or not. Regardless, it was lovely to just find an hour or so to have a go during what was otherwise a hectic week. April should be a fair bit calmer, so with any luck I'll have much more time to spend on scrapping, and me!

This reminds me, I have a day off Thursday and I really must get all my recent layouts out and re-photograph them in the natural daylight, iPhone in the dark just doesn't cut it!

Oh well, I did say it was a quick little visit, I shall be back soon and I shall try to do much better next time,

Hope you are all having a good week, catch you real soon :)

WIP Wednesday

2011-03-15T22:15:00.001Z

Today (or in less than two hours anyway, as I'm posting in advance) is WIP Wednesday with Tami's Amis.

I'm currently working in this sweet baby vest, which I started only in Sunday for my nephew, but am having to knit up quite quickly given that he is now 9 days overdue. Lazy boy lol! I knit one a few months back for a friend and this was meant to be similar with stripes, but it didn't somehow work out that way, so instead there's a chunky band of blue across the middle. I hope my sister likes it. I just have the arm holes to complete and it's a race now between me finishing and baby being born!

Here's a sneak peek so far:

Thanks to all who voted on my Heather or jade wool post. I think jade won by a vote or two and that is what I have gone for. It's a different wool, a Jarol chunky rather than Cygnet, but the colour choices were the same. I just hope I like it as much in the flesh and when I've knitted it up into my next Owls jumper - else I'm blaming you lot!

And on a final note, a huge congratulations to my good friend Rachel (blog link to the right --------> ) who has got engaged to her lovely fella. So exciting! Now I just need good baby news too and I'll be a happy Natalie :)

Xxx

xXx

Help me decide!

2011-03-12T23:30:00.000Z

Ok, so following the enjoyment and success of my Owls jumper (see previous post), and my disappointment at how bobbly and matted it's likely to become very fast, I want to knit another.

I have already decided to use Cygnet Grousemoor Chunky, I think. I would prefer to see it in real life before buying but alas I can't find anywhere local that stocks it. So order online I must.

This is where you come in. I still can't decide between thistle (purple) or jade (turquoisey). I love both equally. Sigh.

images from www.hcscrafts.co.uk - where I'll be ordering from :)

Hmmmmm. What do you think? I'm going to leave it completely up to you. Leave me a comment and whatever the majority of you say goes!

Also any experiences of using this yarn would also be fabby.

Ok, so go! I'll check back shortly, and thanks in advance :)

xXx

FO Friday - Hoot Hoot!

2011-03-10T23:10:00.000Z

Yay! It's FO Friday! And I finally finished my Owls jumper and I love, love, love it! It fits beautifully and feels lovely.

Hmmm, not such a great photo (lack of natural daylight, camera battery dead, yada yada) but stick with me, I will return with better ones this weekend when I don't have long days at work and dark evenings to contend with. Oh and I have now grafted the underarm in case you were wondering what the gaping hole in the photo is! Now, I'm still in two minds as to whether or not to add little grey buttons for eyes or not? Or leave them off? What do you think?

I used Lion Jiffy yarn, which I bought while in the US last year, and although it knitted up fine I am a little worried about the potential for it to pill or bobble with wearing and washing so I must take good care of it. Easier said than done though, right?!

Anyhoo, I'm already tempted to knit another in either a purple or teal colour in a different yarn - please help me decide which colour!

But for now though I really must get on with my nephew's little knitted top - he is already four days overdue so I am cutting things a little bit fine! Luckily, it's a 6-9 month size I'm knitting so that should give me a little bit of breathing space!

Back soon, well hopefully, although I make no promises as you know what I'm like!

xXx

Getting my scrap on (and loving it!)

2011-02-13T22:17:00.000Z

Had a lovely day today at Rachel's fab new house, not only getting a special guided tour of all it's cuteness (seriously Rachel, please come and make my house look even 1% as nice as you have made yours and I will love you forever!), but also scrapping. And I'm delighted to report I not only got three layouts done, but three layouts I really really like. Yay me!

This one was made using photos taking with Pocketbooth, a fab iPhone 4 app that I love and use so much to snap passport-style photos of me and the kids. And of course I couldn't resist using my cute new Martha Stewart butterfly punch too.

The butterfly punch also came into play with this, my second layout (not that I need to tell you that, it's pretty obvious lol!). This one was made using my fab new Studio Calico kit, which I recently subscribed to after seeing so many fab layouts made using them, and was my first attempt at using an ink spray - I think I might be in love, I'm so pleased with how it turned out, using more butterflies as masks.

The colours look a bit strange on this one, as I used an Instagram (another fab iPhone app - a bit like Facebook, but just photos) filter thanks to a lack of daylight after finishing it, but you get the idea. This was made using mainly my Studio Calico kit, and without any sketches, inspiration or thinking, I just put it together. I must have been on a roll as that rarely happens. And I love it. And apparently so does Instagram as I had almost 20 likes in an hour (I don't have many followers so that was a bit unprecedented - maybe it got featured on the 'popular' page, I hope so but shame I missed it if it was). Anyway, I shall post a better daylight photo asap.

In other news, we got a new addition to our family yesterday. A hamster called Sooty - aptly called because he is all black, except for a hint of brown in his whiskers and a white stripe down his chest and tummy. He's quite cute but very strong and mischievous. Oh I meant to say, he is Harry's birthday present, or one of. We only went to our local garden centre for a fence panel, to replace another one broken in the recent strong winds, and came back with Sooty after Harry begged for him and said he really wanted his own pet. And of course I melted!

As well as my lovely new Studio Calico kit, I also collected from the local Royal Mail office a certain little Valentine's present for hubby - an Amazon Kindle. He'd wanted one for Christmas but with me out of work all his spare money was going to supporting me and helping to pay bills, which made me sad, especially considering the fab birthday gift he got me last year (car CD player). So now I'm back in work and we are much more comfortably off, this was my way of saying 'thank you' and 'I love you' all in one. We exchanged gifts last night over a lovely dinner at home, and he was like a cheshire cat! I'm quite impressed, it really is like reading actual text on paper. And he is addicted already!

Got to go, this week is my most important last week of training and we have a big test tomorrow, plus we are taking our first real live calls on Tuesday, eeeeeeeeek! So I better get some last revision done and get an early night. I'll let you know how I get on, wish me luck please!

xXx

Falling behind and catching up... sorta!

2011-02-09T22:39:00.000Z

Working full time again is leaving me absolutely no time for crafting and/or blogging. Rubbish. But the good news is that once I 'graduate' from training, I'll be starting my chosen shifts, which will leave me a couple of days free during the week. One of which will be a Wednesday, every week. So soon there'll be no excuse for not taking part in Tami's Amis WIP Wednesday every week.

And talking of WIP Wednesday, here it is again, so soon! My photos are lame, but here goes nothing.

This was after just a couple of hours, it's much longer now!

I started the famous Owls pattern from Ravelry a couple of weeks ago having admired it from afar for about 18 months. I love how it's turning out, and how quickly the body knit up, but my oh my the sleeves are taking forever and are leaving me very bored. I must keep going though as soon it will be too warm to wear it and I really want to wear it this winter.

First sleeve done, finally!

I've also just been and bought the wool to make another baby boy's V-neck vest top, this time for my sister and my little nephew who is due to be born in only a few weeks time. Yikes. Where has the time gone?!

What else have I been up to? Not much really. I've either been working or trying to make up some quality time with the boys. We had an action packed Saturday last, which saw us all getting a long-overdue haircut each, visiting family, lunching and seeing Tangled at the cinema (which totally rocked, I absolutely loved it!). I also spent a couple of hours knitting in the company of this gorgeous little fella...

Such a lovely, beautiful baby. But blink, and very soon he'll look like my baby...

Gosh, he's looking so grown up!

Right, better get some sleep, I'm hating these early, dark mornings, and late nights don't help!

Chow for now.

N

xXx

Mixed bag

2011-01-30T16:01:00.000Z

Got a mixed bag of projects to share with you today...

Seem to be getting my scrap on a bit more recently, and the odd little stash order is certainly helping. I'm so pleased with these two layouts from yesterday. The above was inspired by a recent guest post on Shimelle's blog, and the one that's coming up was inspired by a recent layout shared on another blog I subscribe to.

So, what else is new? I have also been getting crafty with wall decor projects, mainly for the new white landing and staircase. This is what I've done so far...

These look so wonky in the photo, but they're not up close lol! Need some more frames before I can get Harry's finished, poor Harry!

This was inspired by another recent guest post on Shimelle's blog, this one by my very talented friend Leanne. I love, love, love it. And it was surprisingly cheap - just a £4 frame, a sheet of cardstock and some scraps of patterned paper.

A close up of the frame I made recently, now it's hanging on the wall.

Couldn't resist this, I've had it ages but now it's finally hanging in our hallway (and of course the day after I'd hung it I saw it about five times cheaper in a local store, typical!)

Some better shots of the layouts I shared last time, including close ups. I actually remembered to grab the camera and get them photographed before it got dark this weekend.

My new job is going well and I got 97% on my first test, yay and phew! I also got my new shifts, which are designed to free up some weekdays in return for working a few longer shifts and Saturdays, saving me a fortune in childcare and giving me more time with the boys, yay to that. And my car finally got recovered, repaired properly and delivered back to me thanks to my insurance company. I don't know why I didn't just do that in the first place. They took care of everything and I just had my reasonably low excess to pay (my NCD is protected, so I shouldn't have to pay too much more next year either, fingers crossed). So tomorrow, I'll finally be back on the road and able to drive myself to and from work, and I'm no longer worrying about a massive repair bill I couldn't afford. All is happy again in my world, and I really hope it stays that way for a bit longer this time please.

P.S. I know I have missed a couple of WIP Wednesdays and FO Fridays, but I promise I will be back this week to show you what's on my needles now - it's a goodie!

xXx

Still alive!

2011-01-19T22:05:00.000Z

Sorry, sorry, sorry! I know I haven't posted in 11 days, I have been so busy decorating, sorting, knitting, scrapping and packing in as much as I could before I returned to full-time employment two days ago, yay!

Here's a rundown in pictures of what I have been up to...

Looking after these two little monkeys (my Alex and a friend's little girl while she was also job hunting - she too has had interview successes this week, yay!)

Painting these (and more) gorgeous laser-cut wooden letters, made and sent by the super lovely Sally. These will be going on my staircase wall, which I'm now considering painting a vintage paler khaki kinda colour and hanging black and white frames plus these monograms on. I have just painted the entire area white, but after a blog post I saw today from a very talented decor designer I'm having a little re-think.

A sneak preview of my (very almost) finished bedroom, only eight months after I started. I'm just waiting for some drawer handles and to hang the second blind and pair of curtains and it will be done. But in the meantime I'm enjoying it being clean, tidy and organised, which is very handy with me now working and requiring clean, ironed work wear at very early hours in the morning! I will post more photos of the finished bedroom as soon as it's done and when I can take some nice daylight-lit pictures.

I was itching to scrap a few days ago, so made use of these lovely pictures taken at Bristol Zoo during our New Year trip to see family in Bath. This was inspired by a layout on the Sketch2Scrap iPhone app (a must if you're both a scrapper and an iPhone owner!)

I was obviously on a roll as the next day I scrapped this picture of Alex - and before you ask, no, he is not eating his toenails (gross!), he was kissing his foot better after catching it on his chair. Bless 'im! This was inspired by a Page Maps layout from November I think it was. The paint was sprayed on using a mixture of acrylic paint and water and using an old body spray bottle. It didn't come out as fine as the gorgeous Mister Huey mist paints I have spied on friends' layouts recently, but I simply can't afford their lovely Studio Calico kits or to buy a single mist paint at about £22 for one to be shipped to the UK just yet - more on that in a mo.

Taken at knit night tonight. I am loving working in the city again, I love my new work place, the people I'm training with (even if they are all younger than me by 5+ years!) and the fact the shops are just minutes away if I need or want anything (I work near enough to go in if I need something, but not too close that I'll be tempted to shop my entire wage packet away lol!) Oh and being just minutes away from knit night after work is a major bonus!

In other, bad, news, that little knock to my car wheel in the snow a couple of weeks back has gone from being a £60 replacement tyre job to a HUGE mega expensive repair to the gear box and clutch, probably not caused by the bump, but as my car is only recently out of warranty and I haven't worked in two months so am not exactly flush with cash right now I am not very impressed. I don't yet know the exact damage money-wise, we're talking £250 for just the labour involved in getting the gear box out and back in, plus repairs / a replacement (oh no, I'm going to cry again). So guess where my entire first wage has gone, plus a whole lot more that we can't afford (that's it, I've gone). I need my car to get to work, pick up the kids, take the kids out for the day on my days off, etc etc, and I'm still paying the finance, so there's no option but to somehow find the money, but in the meantime it's causing me many sleepless nights. And that's probably the reason I haven't blogged, I haven't felt able to come on here and be all cheery about crafty stuff - although I realise I have only partly done that before pouring out all my troubles on you guys. For that I apologise.

Anyway, if you're still here (well done and thank you if so!), I will now stop moaning. I have a lot to be grateful for, it's just a piece of metal, there are more important things in life I know.

I will keep you posted, but hopefully I will return shortly to share not only bad news car-wise, but pretty well-lit photos too :)

xXx

Bad day Friday

2011-01-08T00:32:00.000Z

Today started off like this...

Yet more snow. Joy. I'm not sure if the few more inches of snow we got in under a couple of hours oput me in a bad mood, or if I got out of the wrong side of bed, but then came the last straw. I managed to smack my car against a high kerb on the snow and ice and now my wheel is a complete mess. Thank goodness for the AA being so fast and helpful and my good nearby heroine friend Frances for also coming to my aid. It could have been worse, the bodywork could have been damaged, or worse still me or Alex, but I really could have done without a repair bill in the same month I have to shell out for full-time childcare but haven't yet got paid. Sigh. So looks like my car is off-road for a few weeks, which isn't so bad as hubby was going to drop me off and pick me up during my new job training anyway. Just next week to get through first.

So after spending my Christmas vouchers online (well my planned trip to the shops was foiled by the afore-mentioned incident), including buying these gorgeous winter mitts (because I can't yet knit fingers - only a thumb lol!) here's what I cracked on with tonight to cheer myself up...

I have been feeling really inspired lately by the super talents of certain scrapping friends and finally was brave enough to dig out some supplies and have a go at some wall decor. I picked these fab deep coloured frames up for just £1 each in my local new B&M store and I just love love love them. Definitely off back for more of those, I want them EVERYWHERE! Once all finished (can you ever be finished with photos and frames / a project like this?!) they will be hung on my new hallway/staircase/landing walls, which I am hoping to get painted from that awful buttermilk colour to clean crisp blank canvas white this weekend. I say 'hope' because I can feel my throat getting sore like I'm getting ill - now that really would be the icing on my cake today. Sigh.

xXx

Home sweet home

2011-01-03T01:31:00.000Z

It was nice to get away for a couple of days and see family over new year, but it's good to be home. Nowhere quite compares, does it? There's nothing like the comfort and warmth of your own bed and your own pillow.

We did have fun in Bath & Bristol - here are a few snaps of time spent in the castle grounds and at Bristol Zoo.

Think this might become a framed print one day, I just love the colour and rustic textures.

So new year and enjoying being back home has spurred me on to get our home decluttered, clean, tidy, smart and full of pretty things. Today I transformed the kitchen and as a reward treated myself to this...

I got another set, that spells 'cook' in black ceramics, and that's sitting comfortably on the other side. Some cute cupcake tea towels might also have accidentally fallen into my basket too lol! These latest purchases were all from a new homeware/bargain shop that's just opened two minutes away from our house and is open seven days I discovered today. Dangerous! I also popped to B&Q and picked up the accessories I needed to finally finish the home-sewn blinds in our bedroom and have ordered some lovely (hopefully) matching curtains in an online sale. See, I'm making progress!

And continuing on my mission to improve, tomorrow we are travelling out once more, this time to buy a replacement cooker hood bulb, finally, as well as some under-unit lighting to brighten up the kitchen. Then I want to paint the hallway, stairs and landing white. It's a huge area and a big job, but I just can't stand it that awful standard new home buttermilk colour any longer, it matches nothing grrrrr.

Hmmm, not sure I'm going to get everything I want done by the time I start work in two weeks, time and finances are in short supply, and i have two cheeky monkeys under my feet, but I'm going to give it my best shot! Here goes nothing!

xXx

Reflections and resolutions

2011-01-01T18:48:00.000Z

Happy New Year to all my lovely blog readers (assuming I have any lol!)

This post is a little late, which I blame on the fact we have been away for three days over new year and I couldn't write the post I wanted to on my iPhone, not without losing my sanity anyway. So here it is, better late than never - a reflection on 2010 and a few hopes and dreams for 2011 (warning, this post is long and photo-heavy!)

So last year wasn't particularly great for me. It wasn't horrid, or even bad, it was just, well, boring. Nothing particularly great happened. We helped other people celebrate some wonderful events, mainly weddings, and births too, and enjoyed ourselves in the process, but nothing so happy or wonderful that's worthy of a mention happened for us - maybe it's just because we have passed the whole engaged, married, babies thing, and before our time, which means we're witness to all our lovely friends doing those things now. But we were very lucky to have no major bad times either, other than a change of career that didn't go so to plan and a few weeks of being out of work at the end of the year (and that's probably what has clouded my judgement of the whole year to be honest, being at home bored and stony broke in the run up to Christmas, it does kinda put a dampener on things!), but nothing devastating happened, and for that I'm thankful.

Anyway. I am hopeful that 2011 has to be a better year for us (it's probably 50/50 but you have to be optimistic, right?). In a fortnight I'll be starting a new job, which I'm hopeful will enable me to embark on and actually progress along a career path of some sort one day. And just being back in work and back into our usual routine, meeting new people and having adult conversation, and hopefully having a little spare cash again, will be just lovely. Harry is due to have his grommets fitted next week, which I think will make a huge difference to his life, and all our lives, as the poor boy is actually "quite deaf" in the words of one specialist. So for just those two reasons hopefully 2011 is due to get off to a good start.

So, looking back, here are some of my highlights from 2010 - crafty and otherwise:

February - We had a wonderful family holiday in Florida. It was cold, and short-lived, but we loved every single minute of it (which is a good job as it will be a long time before we can afford to go back). And Harry turned five just after we got back, no longer a baby, or even a little one, but a fully-fledged, school-going boy!

March - A fun day out to the Thackray Medical Museum - actually, maybe fun isn't the right word considering one member of my family is squeamish, one very scared by absolutely everything, and the other very young lol!

April - I made these, which I love and hang on our upstairs landing. They were so quick, easy and inexpensive - I really must do more things like this.

May - Oh dear. I started re-decorating our bedroom, changing everything from the carpet, furniture, decor, accessories, everything. And it's still not quite there. Better add that to my growing 2011 to-do list.

June - A gorgeous hot day out at Kirkstall Abbey, picnicing, sun bathing, playing football and just generally larking about!

June - Wedding number one, a cousin of hubby's and a lovely weekend away.

July - Woolfest! What an eye-opener that was! Loved it and the nice day trip out with friends.

I don't look my best, but this photo from July is one of my favourites from 2010 - actually, I was really lucky to get some lovely photos last year (that sounds so strange saying 'last year'!)

August - wedding two, brother-in-law's, and a hell of a lot of bunting sewing in the weeks and days beforehand! Followed by a lovely weekend trip to Bath.

My first knitted top. Ok, it's dinky-sized, but I still did it and I'm still proud. This just got gifted too and went down very well I'm so pleased to report.

August - THE mother of all hen days, my best friend's in London, organised by yours truly - knowing nothing about the capital and living a good 200 miles away! But it totally rocked!

Still August - My 28th birthday. Not much to say about that, was very boring really.

Yep, STILL August! August was a good month, and was topped off with our 6th wedding anniversary.

September, hmmm, nothing much happened, but October was another good month, with us staying in this pretty windmill for my best friend's wedding. And I got to be matron of (dis)honour, lol! Loved that weekend away.

October again, weekend away with the girls, scrapbooking inside a cute little cabin in the woods at Halloween. I had such a fabulous time and got 11 layouts done - probably more than I had all year up to that poing (shameful!).

November - Alex's 2nd birthday. My how the time has flown, it seems like two minutes since we took this picture just a couple of hours after his speedy arrival.

December - I loved decorating the house for Christmas, and we enjoyed some really nice relaxing family snow days in (and out!) plus some good family time over the festive period.

Hmmmm, not such a bad year when I look back on the highlights really. Which brings me to my hopes, or resolutions if you like, for 2011:

1) To make more time for fun. To instigate fun events and activities with the boys and with friends, and to record them through photography and scrapbooking more. I don't think you can ever have too much fun, right? I also really need to get back to producing more layouts and using some of my stash.

2) To complete more larger, more tricky or more time consuming knitted projects, even if this means knitting fewer finished objects. There's only so many hats a girl needs and I would love to be able to wear a cardigan or wrap or other pretty item of clothing that I've made myself. I also really want to learn fair isle properly, complete a jumper and cardigan I've had on my Ravelry queue for ages, along with lots of others, and also take on my first project using 4-ply or thinner, gulp! And use up (or re-home) some of my yarn stash before buying more!

3) To get more active, and healthier, and lose just a little weight. It's starting to creep on, about a stone at the moment I reckon, not enough to take me up a dress size, almost but not quite, but I don't like it. And so if that means dieting and exercising for the first time in my life, then so be it. I want to nip this in the bud now and it will be good for me. I'm hoping that just being back in work and back in the city centre, where I have a lunch hour free of little people will help me no end, I can eat a decent healthy lunch and have a good walk, or maybe even visit a gym before, during or after work. I might even dust off the Wii Fit we bought and never used. I'm hopeful anyway.

4) To stop biting my nails. This is actually a bit of a cheat as I stopped back in October when I had fakies on for being matron of honour at my best friend's wedding, but I have very almost fallen off the wagon a few times and the cold winter air is making them so weak and brittle that it's so hard not to nibble the splits right back down again. I want to spend more time looking after them, growing them and manicuring them to make them look nice, like they did when I got married.

5) To sort this tip of a house out. Well, it's not a tip, just really cluttered, and while the two little whirlwinds I call my sons are partly to blame there has to be something I can do about it. So that means more time tidying, putting away, being stricter with the things we keep/hoard and have to find storage for, and carrying out all those little odd jobs that keep piling up. Including finishing our bedroom, which we started seven months ago and haven't put the finishing touches to. Like making the blinds and finding and hanging curtains that match. That is my first job. Plus a massive clean out of all the clutter and tat from everywhere (skip hire anyone?!) And getting the boys to take responsibility for the state that is their bedrooms and the mess they make as soon as we've finished tidying. Sigh. If only. And once the house is looking better and I'm earning properly again I want to treat myself to a few pretty things to make it look nice, make a few more pretty things to adorn the walls, and make the rooms downstairs my own, rather than ones we just moved into and bunged a couple of random old things in/on the walls.

So those are my five for now. Not too ambitious I hope, and fingers crossed I might stick to at least one of them!

So here's to 2011, may it be happy and healthy and full of good things. :)

xXx

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T15:02:00.000Z

It's Christmas Eve at last! I love how busy and exciting it is, squeal!

It's also FO Friday with Tami, and this week I have a couple of things to share :)

This is the Lupo beret that I was recently knitting for my youngest sister, at her request. I finally finished the decrease rounds using magic loop and got it blocked and wrapped ready for Christmas Day.

Next up is this lovely baby blanket for my sister and soon-to-be nephew. I started this yonks ago as a bed runner, but it was taking so long I decided to make it into a blanket for my then niece or nephew. It turns out he's a he, but the pink stripes are fine as he will be sharing a bedroom with his big sister.

And finally, a couple of last photos of my MIL's scarf now it has been blocked and has the brooch and gift tag attached.

Going back to the subject of babies, look at this handsome little chappie that I got to have squidgy cuddles with!

He is the beautiful son of my lovely knitting friend Naomi - hence the lovely knitted blanket. And soon he will also be wearing this knitted gift from me, which I finished a while back and was a really good and easy first top project.

Congrats Naomi, he is just gorgeous, well done.

And so all that's left to say is to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hopefully I'll be back before the end of 2010 to wish you a Happy New Year. Enjoy !

xXx

Randoms on the countdown

2010-12-22T00:10:00.000Z

Eeeeeek, only three days left til Christmas! Are you ready? I thought I was ready and had been wishing it was here already, but this week my to-do list just keeps on growing and now I'm starting to panic. At least I have now finished the Lupo beret for my sister, and thats the last knitted gift done (except for blocking a few things) thank goodness! I do not enjoy the decreasing rounds in the Lupo pattern - good job I love the finished item!

That's it blocking on a dinner plate and waiting to go in my airing cupboard. I want to keep it! I won't though (I think lol!).

It is so cold up here and I'm sure it's getting colder, so we're bound to be in for a White Christmas (can't see the snow we've had for weeks now vanishing before the big day). Look!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Our heating is making some funny noises trying to keep us warm, which is bad news for our first real Christmas tree. It's really starting to wilt now and feels a bit dry, despite us watering it. I blame the nearby radiator, but we had no choice but to put it there and actually I don't think it's doing too bad considering we bought it almost four weeks ago (where has the time flown?!). And if it totally dies I'll just have to haul out the trusty artificial one lol!

One thing that is lasting (fingers crossed it doesn't get stolen!) is my wreath, which came all plain and has been decorated to look, well, a little prettier.

Right, bed time me thinks. I have a million things to do tomorrow so might not be able to make a WIP Wednesday post, but i will try to get some better daylight shots of the beret for a nice Christmas Eve FO Friday post.

xXx

WIP Wednesday already?!

2010-12-15T09:32:00.001Z

Yikes, I haven't got much more done since the last time I made a WIP Wednesday post a whole week ago. Where has the time gone?! To be honest I have been so busy with family, sorting Christmas and seeking jobs to knit (shame on me I know).

So last night I cast on my next project, the From Norway With Love hat - another superb creation by the massively talented Anna and Heidi Pickles. This had been in my Ravelry queue for ever, but having seen the two my good friend Rachel has made recently and how gorgeous they are I just had to bump it up to the top and cast on finally.

So far I am loving the colours (the blue is more greeney-blue in real life, darn you wintery lack of daylight), and the yarn is lovely too (I'm using up some lovely but sadly discontinued Rowan pure wool dk that I got at a steal price during a closing down sale earlier this year, plus a couple of random leftover balls for the pattern). I just hope it turns out the right size and that the fair isle is flexible enough to stretch to fit my head (this is only my second attempt at fair isle, the first being a but more miss than hit - but I have been carefully watching YouTube tutorials this time so fingers crossed it pays off). In the meantime it's fun and quite therapeutic to watch the pattern gradually emerge round after round.

Anyway, that's pretty much me for now. Hopefully I'll be able to show you a FO or two on Friday, if I can grab an hour or so to finish them in between the crazy week of interviews and Christmas events I have scheduled! It never rains eh?!

xXx

xXx

FO Friday

2010-12-10T10:51:00.000Z

Today is FO (Finished Object) Friday with Tami

And today I have a lovely FO to show you... my MIL's Juliet scarf, at long last!

(Apologies for the poorly-lit iPhone photos, getting nice pictures in the daylight is tricky in winter - I will re-take them once blocked this weekend with some natural daylight)

Actually, it worked up quite quickly once I really pressed ahead with it. I had been putting it off because the 12-row pattern was so intensive and required a lot of concentration - not ideal for TV knitting at all, which meant I kept losing track and going wrong. And it was so difficult to undo.

But now it's completed (just needs blocking before wrapping and placing under the tree) I'm really pleased with it. It's so soft (I used Louisa Harding's Kimono Angora Pure, which is luscious) and the pattern has turned out well despite some hiccups. And I actually managed to finish something that took me longer than a hat, hurrah!

So, what's next? Just my sister's beret to finish and then I think I'm done on the Christmas present front. I could think of another gift, but it's not vital and I don't want to be under pressure to finish in time, and possibly fail miserably! So I think I might cast on my own cabled fingerless gloves, just for me. :)

Back soon.

xXx

Getting sidetracked

2010-12-02T22:07:00.001Z

With only 23 days left to go, and us stuck at home again today, I should really be getting on with knitting my last two Christmas presents. But instead I have been out playing in the snow with the boys. Here's the result:

And yes, I've also been scrapping, shock horror, two nights in a row now! I have the new Sketch2Scrap iPhone app to thank for reviving my mojo. It must be good as I even scrapped a Christmas-themed layout for the first time in a long long time, if not ever and used up some old supplies in the process:

I have vowed to get some layouts done this month, not only to document Christmas now the boys are both old enough to really get into and enjoy it, but also because they are growing up so fast and these huge breaks from scrapping are missing out chunks of it. Not good.

I probably won't be completing a 12x12 layout every day this month, even if my life were so interesting I think my mojo would have run out long before the end. But if I can even get a handful done I'll be more than happy. But for now, well I better get back to my needles!

xXx

Snow WIP Wednesday

2010-12-01T15:51:00.002Z

The snow here refuses to stop and we are now snowed in - both cars are stuck and the schools/work are closed. This was earlier (it's even worse now!)

So, I thought we might as well decorate our Christmas tree - my first ever real one. I'm so excited!

It's a bit on the small side, compared to our usual 6ft fake one, but actually it's nice to be able to see the tv without having to crane our necks lol!

So, it's WIP progress Wednesday, and currently I am working on another lovely Lupo beret (a fab and free Ravelry pattern). My sister, having eyed up my raspberry-coloured version, now wants a cream one. And with both her birthday and Christmas coming up, well I couldn't refuse could I?! It's not one I particularly enjoy knitting, the seed stitch is annoying and I can't seem to keep the yarn over swirl pattern going properly, but the result makes it worthwhile. Here's mine.

And here's another Shroom (another free Ravelry pattern) I finished just in time for the snow.

Catch you soon :)

xXx

And the winner is...

2010-11-29T09:57:00.004Z

Thank you for all the comments/entries into my fab prize giveaway. One of you lovely ladies has won a £50 Mothercare voucher and a month's supply of Fairy goodness.

And that winner is......... (drum roll please!) ...........

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:5Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Danni...

Danni said...

I love your knitting, I wish I had the patience, when I go on maternity leave I think I will give it a go. I really enjoy reading your blog, I am creative but usually struggle to find the time for projects like these. I look forward to your future posts.

Please enter me for the prize draw. xx

9:23 PM

Congratulations to you! Please forward your address to me and I will contact the lovely people at Fairy, and hopefully your prize will be winging its way to you very soon :)

And that's not all, there's a runner-up prize that's not to be sniffed at (actually it is, because it smells lovely!). Another entrant will win a month's supply of Fairy products.

Here we go...

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:2Powered by RANDOM.ORG

P.S. I don't know why it keeps reading max 100 as I definitely entered max 5! So please kinda ignore that bit, it's not showing accurately when I copy and paste!

Jo said...

Oh I love the wrist warmers I like the black ones especially, bet they will keep you snuggly in the bitter cold.

I would love to be entered into the giveaway please

10:56 PM

Jo, please let me have your address and I'll make sure your prize reaches you shortly. :)

Congratulations to both winner and runner-up, and really sorry to those of you who didn't win this time. I will try and sort another little giveaway of some sort very soon.

And I'll be back later on with a little crafty update.

xXx

Keep calm (holidays are coming!)

2010-11-26T10:02:00.001Z

Hi again all, and a (slightly belated) Happy Thanksgiving if you are reading this from the US. I expect by now many of you are trying to snap up some Black Friday bargains in preparation for Christmas. Me too lol! I normally try to have most of my Christmas present shopping done by now, but this year I am failing miserably. I'm meant to be knitting a few, but that's going slower than I'd hoped and I'm just out of ideas for the usual suspects. What do buy someone who has everything? And what on earth do you do if you know several of these people?!

Anyway, in between the Christmas knitting and the job hunting I managed to steal an hour and make these replica Second World War poster prints, which I'm happy to share with you. I want to re-decorate our downstairs toilet in a similar theme/scheme and I'd love to get one of these printed up, framed and hung in there somewhere - or even a few smaller prints hung in a row. And they were so easy to do, just a free Photoshop brush, a free font and a background colour, each in their own layer.

Then I altered the wording to get these. Oh how I wish I still had my own craft room, sigh.

They also make great gifts if you order them as photo products - like my favourite mug here. The image was made for me by a friend earlier this year, then I ordered it as a photo mug.

All the files I've shared in this blog post are about 1 meg each, so should be suitable for right clicking and saving and printing at up to about A4 size - go ahead, they are yours if you want them. Or if you're desperate for a particular colour just shout and I'll see what I can do. :)

Back soon.

xXx

P.S. Don't forget you only have two more days to enter my fab giveaway to win £50 of Mothercare vouchers and free Fairy goodness. See here.

WIP Wednesday

2010-11-24T13:30:00.003Z

Today is WIP (Work in Progress) Wednesday, as titled by the fabulously talented Tami.

So I now share with you my current WIP, which is this Juliet scarf, knit using a lusciously soft Louisa Harding dk yarn. This, if I get it finished in time, will be my mother-in-law's Christmas present, but I'm finding it really hard going. It's knitting up slowly (it's really not as long as it looks!) and the 12-row pattern is so demanding of my concentration - and there is zero chance of learning it. It's not one for tv knitting that's for sure. I also fear the pattern isn't showing through as well as it should, even though I'm using the specified yarn and needles. Maybe blocking will sort that out? Either way, I really must press on with it, only 31 days until Christmas, yikes.

In other news I have this morning finished the Cabled Fingerless Gloves I had on my needles for my sister-in-law for Christmas. They are so soft and well fitting, I really want to keep them - but I won't as the yarn I ordered in my favourite grey colour has arrived waiting for me to cast these babies on for myself. First I must cast on my next Christmas project - to help break up the tricky scarf knitting - and I think it will be either the Mustard Scarf for a friend or the Lupo Beret for my youngest sister, hmmmm decisions decisions!

I have other stuff to show you, but I can't, as they are for my middle sister and I know she will be reading this, so you will have to wait until a) after Christmas and b) after her baby is born, hopefully around her March due date. Sorry!

This week I have also been playing with the fantastic new iPhone app for scrapbookers - Sketches2Scrapbook. It's from the creator of Twisted Sketches and provides dozens of sketches and layout examples to kick start your inspiration while on the move. It's so simple but so handy and I love being able to find ideas to start off my layout while flicking through the images on my phone. Find more details about downloading the full version here, or simply search on the App Store on your iPhone. There's also a free lite version of 12 sketches if you'd rather try before you buy, but it's inexpensive and definitely worth it.

Last of all, don't forget to enter in my prize giveaway this week. You have until Sunday night to grab your chance to win a month's supply of Fairy goodness and the overall winner will also receive £50 worth of Mothercare vouchers (just think of the January sales!). More details here.

Stop by soon for some Photoshop play-around goodies. Bye for now :)

xXx

Giveaway time!

2010-11-22T15:48:00.000Z

If you read my last post, you'll know that I promised a fab prize giveaway thanks to the lovely people at Fairy. And here it is - just the thing to cheer up an otherwise boring Monday...

Fairy Non Bio has won Gold in the Best Baby Friendly Detergent category and Fairy Fabric Softener has also won Silver in the Best Baby Friendly Fabric Conditioner category at the Practical Parenting Awards 2010.

To celebrate, Fairy would like to offer a month’s supply of Fairy Non Bio and Fairy Fabric Softener as well as £50 worth of Mothercare vouchers to one lucky reader of my blog, along with a month’s supply of Fairy Non Bio and Fairy Fabric Softener for one runner up as well. Caring for your baby’s clothes by washing them with Fairy leaves you assured that they will be soft and gentle next to your baby’s delicate skin.

To be in with a chance of winning one of these two fabulous freebies, simply leave a comment at the bottom of this blog post and I'll randomly select a winner and announce back next Monday. Good luck everyone!

In other news, I have been poorly (boooooo) but now I'm better I have been knitting like crazy to try and catch up on my Christmas gifts. I have just finished the first of the most lush-feeling wrist warmers ever, knit using RYC Cashsoft DK and this Ravelry pattern. I'm so gutted I have to give them away, but as soon as all my gifts are done I'll be using the grey version of this lovely yarn that I have ordered and as long as it's in stock and reaches my letterbox I'll soon be knitting my own pair. For me. Just me. All mine. Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.

They feel sooooo soft on my skin, I really want to keep them (but won't as they are for my lovely sister-in-law).

That reminds me, 'me' left a comment on a recent post to ask where she could find the pattern for these mitts I recently completed.

The pattern is called 'Ritzy Stable Mitts' and can be found on Ravelry here. Hope that helps! I will try and remember to link back to patterns every time from now on, sorry!

Right, off to knit another mitt, be right back soon and don't forget to enter that giveaway - you have to be in it to win it!

xXx

Terms and conditions:

· To enter, simply leave a comment in response to this blog. This free prize draw is open to all residents in the UK over 18 years, excluding employees of Procter & Gamble UK, any affiliates or agents and the families of such employees and any other person connected with this promotion.

· All entries received by midnight on Sunday 28th November will be entered into a Free Prize Draw, the first entry randomly selected by an independent person will win two bottles of Fairy Non Bio (18-wash size) two bottles of Fairy Fabric Softener (750ml variant) and one £50 Mothercare Voucher. The second entry randomly selected will win one bottle of Fairy Non Bio (18-wash size) and one bottle of Fairy Fabric Softener (750ml variant).

· In the event the claim for a prize is not received by the Promoter within seven working days of such notification, the promoter reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Please allow 28 days for delivery of prize.

For more information on Fairy, visit www.softeningyourworld.com

Last but not least

2010-11-19T10:18:00.000Z

As promised, here are the last of my weekend away layouts. Hope you like :)

This seriously needs something. I really shouldn't start a layout at 1am. Zzzzzzzzz.

I love this layout. It's a slight scraplift on one I saved from I-can't-remember-where but had in my iPhone picture roll. I love the instant photo of (almost) us all, which is courtesy of Laura and her fab collection of instant, vintage, retro and funky cameras, and I love the colours. The title was inspired by what I reckon was the most used phrase of the weekend. True story. Lol! I love it!

And this last one I completed just before we left to head all the way up the M1 home. Well, I say completed, it still needs some fab little ink drops all over if I am to stick to the scraplift by Rachel, who scraplifted from Shimelle I think it was. Both totally gorgeous layouts, which I think might be on their respective blogs to enjoy in all their glory. Oh and a big thank you to SJ for the tutorial on making the fab pleated paper rosette thingy-ma-bob!

It has definitely been nice catching up on some much-needed scrapping. I find it so hard to do at home - by the time I have got everything out and taken forever to decide which photo, papers, embelishments, etc to use it's time to pack it all away or I risk the boys trashing it all in the morning. Sigh. I miss my scrap room.

Saying all that though, hopefully this will encourage me to get more done - I think somehow I will be doing :)

Before I go, I just wanted to let you know I will be running a fab prize giveaway on my blog, which will start this weekend and remain open for one week. The runner-up will win a month's supply of Fairy non bio and fabric softener and one lucky winner will receive the same as well as a £50 Mothercare voucher - thanks to the lovely people at Fairy. What a fab early Christmas present, *jealous*. More details and t&cs when I return, watch this space so you don't miss out.

Oh one last thing. Just to answer a question for Emma, who asked about how I felted my slippers. Basically I put them on a 40 degree wash and cancelled the wash, drained the water and fished them out after about 10 minutes to check them, and kept doing that a few times until they were ready (a bit time consuming and annoying but hey ho!) Next time I would probably just leave them on for almost the full cycle as they still came up a little too roomy and I'm sure I read that someone had successfully done that, but the pattern comes with instructions so give them a read and go with whichever you feel more comfortable with.

xXx

Next and next

2010-11-16T17:00:00.000Z

Just popping on to share a few more of my weekend away layouts, definitely think these are better than the last ones. I hope you think so too.

Hmmm, well that one isn't too bad - next!

Not quite 100% on this either, but I love the photo and my black title and journaling, hurrah for journaling!

That might well be my favourite from the weekend, or possibly joint favourite with another, which I'll show you next time.

That one is me and my best friend at her wedding a few weeks ago. I was meant to be taking on the challenge of scrapping using a vintage-looking sanitary paper bag from the cabin toilets, and wasn't feeling it at all so I did this instead - and then cut out the vintage-looking lady and added her on anyway lol! Job done!

Right, that's your lot for now, sorry. I will be back really soon to share the last three (yeah, I know, that doesn't add up, but there are actually 11 in total, not 12 as I thought!)

xXx

At last, some layouts!

2010-11-14T22:30:00.000Z

I promised, so here they are, the first of the 12 layouts I think it was that I completed the weekend before last while on a scrapping weekend with the girls.

I'll post them in order so you can see how much I progressed!

This was the first of a few layouts where I scrapped my lovely new Hipstamatic photos, love, love, love that app!

Can't help thinking this next one is too much like an autumnal layout I did a couple of years ago - please tell me I have improved even just a little bit since then?!

Oh dear, I'm not sold on that last one, I think it needs a title, or journalling, or just a lot more, erm, something? Sigh.

Oh well, I promise there will be much better to come in the next post - keep your eyes peeled for it!

xXx

My baby is (very nearly all) gone :'(

2010-11-10T20:50:00.000Z

Yep, my baby will tomorrow no longer be a baby, he will be a toddler, a two-year-old, strapping, cute but often stroppy toddler, sob.

Where has the time gone?! It seems like only yesterday he looked like this...

and now he looks like this...

Awwwwwwww. Love that little man. Both my little men. And the big one too. Lol!

That toy he's clutching so lovingly is George, from Peppa Pig. He is obsessed. And so his birthday card, presents and wrapping paper are all Peppa Pig, even his cake, which my friend baked and I spent all last night decorating...

I hope he likes it, it was so hard to do (I think he will though!)

I've also been busy with these, of which I have finished one so far - I really need the pair finished though, it has turned so cold...

And did I show you my slippers, which I knitted and felted in the washing machine? If not, here goes...

That's me caught up... oh, no it's not, I still have a baby blanket and all my layouts from my weekend with the girlies to show you. Hmmmm, I will blog those across a few posts and post in the next few days - so please do check back.

And for now, a big happy 2nd birthday to my gorgeous little man Alex, love you baby!

xXx

Finishing what I started (for once)

2010-11-02T23:14:00.000Z

Ok, admission time. I keep casting on projects and never finish them. There, I said it. I'm a horrible person, wail!

So I even surprised myself when yesterday, instead of stealing the interchangeable needles from one hibernating project to start another, I actually vowed to finish first then move on to something new. And so far so good.

This was meant to be a runner for the bottom of my bed, but I've now decided to stick to the actual pattern plan of making a baby blanket. And who better to become the lucky recipient of all my hard work (and not to mention lovely, now discontinued yarn!) than my sister, who is expecting my first nephew, yay!

And once the blanket is long enough to fit the bedside crib I have for her, cast off and perfectly blocked, I will be able to cast on the luscious Bella's Mittens pattern on Ravelry. Yeah, I know I should be knitting Christmas presents fast and furiously to be in with any hope of finishing them all on time, but I think a quick 'me' project as a little reward for all my hard work is ok, don't you agree? :)

xXx

November already!

2010-11-01T21:45:00.000Z

I cant believe it's November - that means my baby will no longer be a baby in a matter of days, sob! Yes, Alex is nearly two, can you believe it?! No, neither can I!

Anyway, just wanted to pop on with some photos from my awesome weekend scrapping with some fabulous girls in a cute little cabin in the beautiful autumnal woods. These were taken on my iPhone 4, as my Nikon D80 battery died half way through our group photo session, doh.

Not to worry though, as SJ and Laura completely put me to shame with their amazing photography/camera collection. These are courtesy of SJ.

And then we had some fun staging some interesting group shots (again, kindly shared by SJ)...

Yes, we all had iPhones/an iPhone on order!

And then this...

turned into this...

(Shimelle, Laura, Sally, Rachel, Natalie, SJ, Katy, Katherine, Leanne.)

SJ, you are a clever lady!

So, apart from a few bugs and a stonking cold, and an awful lot of scrapping, and driving, that was my weekend!

Day off work tomorrow, so I shall be back to show photos of the 11 layouts I completed over the course of the weekend (11, yes, I know, that's more than I've done all year!)

xxx

Bye bye October

2010-10-31T23:26:00.000Z

Another month gone, oh yikes.

Had a fab weekend scrapping in a cute little cabin in the woods with some fabulous girlies - but for now I'm so tired, so more on that later.

Oh, and Happy Halloween!

xXx