A Very Merry Xmas!

Oh my word where have i been???! WEll, it's been a busy few months here at Farrell towers and i'm soooo sorry if anyone has wondered where i've been but with so many birthdays and planning for xmas, this time of year i don't get much time to myself. A very quick kind of update though.....

Pete has finally left Scotland and is now at Portsmouth until May. At the moment he's home on leave and comes home at weekends. It's nice to see him more often but i really wish he was home for more than 48 hours at a time as it feels like by the time we get everything done there's no time for each other which is really sad. I keep comforting myself that it won't be forever but with Pete not having any shore time for at least the next four years it's only cold comfort.

I haven't done any scrapbooking over the past two months which is a real shame. I've had the most fantastic stash delivered in the form of classes from one of Tracie's workshops which i couldn't make and a load of goodies from Bad Girls but it remains sadly untouched.

I haven't even been taking photos and have dropped out of the OU Photography course as i simply couldn't find the time. However, i will be giving myself a kick up the backside next week.

The presents are wrapped, well apart from the presents for myself and Pete. He's downstairs at the moment doing mine and i'm about to do his. Tomorrow morning Natasha and Emily will open their pressies and then Robert and Freya will be home later in the evening as their spending Xmas day with their other parents this year. It'll mean a relatively quiet xmas day, especially compared to last year when all four were ripping open their presents and i couldn't keep up! So we're not having a major xmas dinner tomorrow, just snacks and copious amounts of chocolate.

My dad is coming around tomorrow evening and Freya will be giving a little Xmas concert on her keyboard. She got her results for her first keyboard exam on Friday and the little sweetie got a distinction with 89%. It's a bit of a shock as she cried when she came out of the exam thinking that she'd messed up but obviously it wasn't as bad as she thought it was. She was also a stunner in the schools Xmas production this year. She played three different parts, all of them one after the other with less than a minute to change between each turn. It was amazing to watch and she really stole the show with one of her characters. She also sang part of a song solo which i was stunned about as i didn't know she was doing that. Now she sings all the time at home but not seriously and i was really shocked at how well she sang.....her tone was beautiful and i must admit to shedding a little tear when she stepped up to the mic.

Freya also attended the town choir service for the switching on of the lights. It was a chilly evening but at least the rain (almost) held off. Who on earth the organisers were i have no idea but it wasn't very well set out!

Emily gave a little carol service with her nursery which was lovely. So sad though that we weren't allowed to video it but i guess that's a sign of the times. I just hate Pete missing out on all these things whilst he's working away.

Natasha has had a wierd few weeks. She had to go to hospital a few weeks ago as she managed to get an unidentifiable object stuck up her nose. Apparently it would have been up there for at least two weeks as it had attatched itself to the nasal lining. I only noticed it after she had this disgusting stench coming from her. At first we thought it was from her mouth and we were holding her down flossing her teeth thinking she must have had something stuck in there rotting! The poor girl was beside herself. It took two hospitals, four of us holding her down and a lot of blood, but luckily we got there in the end without her having to have it removed in theatre.

We've had three birthdays in the last few weeks too. Robert turned 14, Natasha turned 2 and Emily turned 4. Where is the time going?

So that's about all i'll bore you with now. Off to get ready for tomorrow and do a quick tidy (in order to find two missing xmas presents!).

Have a great Xmas everyone and spare a thought for those that are far from home serving in the armed forces.

XXX

Not Dead!

Just thought i'd drop a quick line as people had been wondering where i'd got to. Things have been quite manic at home and there's been a lot going on. I will update properly by the end of this week but tomorrow I'm having my wisdom teeth removed....under sedation! I'm nervous as hell as i have a real phobia about it and feel really tearful even thinking about it. Strange cos i'm usually a tough cookie but when it comes to dentists, one particular one reduced me to tears when i was around 18 and ever since then i avoid them like the plague. Well i can't anymore and it's taken almost 18 months to get this far after them talking me out of only having it done under a general. I've been assured that i won't know what the hell is going on and won't feel a thing. Luckily my mum is coming to take care of me as supposedly i won't be very aware for the rest of the day.

Pete has been tooing and froing from Scotland and is back on WEdnesday night for four days. It's his last trip before he finally leaves the boat and is moved to Portsmouth so at least then my life will have a little more routine than i've had to endure the last 9 months. Anyway, I'll be back from thursday or so with some delayed photos and updates. X

OMG!

Only another seven hours and i'll be leaving to pick Pete up from the airport. The house is upside down, i'm knacked and i've got so much to do in the few days that he's home that it isn't even worth thinking about. It's Natashas birthday tomorrow so i have to get some niblets in for a little family get together tomorrow night, I have to go and pick up her cake, i have four full bin liners of clothes to sort through and my bedroom looks worse than Freya's (and believe me that takes some doing!).


The girls were having their nursery photos done today.....or at least Emily was, i was just taking Natasha in so they could be done together. Cute little dresses (VERY unusual for my kids, it's lucky if they've got any clothes on at all half the time) hair all brushed, faces clean and i even put a bib on Natasha till we got there as give that girl 2 minutes by herself and she'll be black. Well when we got to nursery for some reason Natasha went mental. I've never seen a tantrum like it and i don't even know where it came from! Needless to say, i left Emily to say 'Twinkling Star (?)' to the photographer by herself whilst i slipped out with a screaming Natasha under my arm rugby ball stylie! Not pleasant!


Thing is we got home and she was fine, so i have no idea what the fuss was about. Emily has been prancing around in her dress all morning......maybe she is a girlie girl after all and it's just me trying to drum it out of her....if she tells me she wants a barbie and a skateboard, i'm more inclined to go for the skateboard every time! Wonder why that is?



So anyway, i have to share these pics with you. I am so loving these gorgeous puppets. I ordered them from Helen who not only sells the crotchet patterns but can also make them up for people who are useless like me at anything to do with needles, thread or wool!


It's such a shame that people don't think so much as puppets for toys anymore as i've seen the girls enjoy these sooooo much this afternoon.


Emily is an absolute animal nut and adores going to the zoo or aquarium. Last year we went to Knowsley Safari Park (excuse my geography but it's somewhere near Liverpool or St Helens?). She was so excited to see the Giraffes, especially as when we'd gone to Paignton zoo a few weeks earlier we hadn't heard of the fire that had killed the Giraffes there and when we got there and found out i couldn't tell Emily as they're one of her favourites (along with the Rhinos!).


So anyway, i digress. When the pair of them saw these puppets after nursery they squealed with delight (literally). Emily has already named the sheep 'Shaun', the pig 'Peppa' and the Giraffe is called something.....i don't know what because i can't understand what the hell she's saying!






It's so funny to watch Natasha putting the sheep on her hand and then cuddling it!. So i got these cute pics this afternoon, do you notice the matching split lips? NOthing to do with me i swear to social services! They both did them on Sunday. Firstly Natasha tried to open a plastic pen case with her mouth and scrapped all her bottom lip and there was blood everywhere. It still hasn't healed very well which i think is because it is fully on her lip.

Later then in the evening, Emily came running downstairs with a split lip after running into the bed post! Again blood everywhere.......and that's WITH her glasses on, can you imagine her without!

So we have a packed few days ahead, tomorrow is lots of shopping and the party, Saturday is Crealy, then Freya has a friends birthday sleepover, then she's going bowling with my mum on sunday, both pete and my teams are playing football on sunday, then pete has to work monday and tuesday before flying back on Tuesday afternoon. And in that time i have to squeeze in catching up another two weeks of OU gumf and taking a load of photos for the course. Wish me luck, i may not be around much this weekend!


One last photo of the birthday girl!

Well i don't know if i'll be able to play HSMS today as it's 'favourite spot' in your house. I HATE my house and i'm sure it makes me ill...there is so much to do, so many things that need pulling down, painting, papering, altering etc that not only does there not seem an end in sight....i don't think there is an end full stop. Doesn't help that your husband hasn't been based at home for over three years though does it?

Ah well, will have to think of something else and try and upload something later. WEll here is my album that i made with the September Bad Girls Project Kit. I still have the hessian bag to finish off (i did it once but it was massive and i didn't like it so i'm doing it again) and two pages still have to have the photos added so i'll save those until tomorrow.

All the bits used for the album were either from the Project kit or included in the October paper kit. It's quite a departure from my normal style (even though i insist i haven't got one!) But i'm starting to like this eclectic book and i particulary love the cover. I wanted to do a little Love Story album, just a beginning, a middle and a thought on the future so it is quite journalling heavy.

It's thoughts on how Pete and I met, our marriage and what the future holds for us. Quite intense but i'm happy with it. The album is so sweet and i never thought i'd say that about anything which has a giant orange butterfly on the front!

I'll definately be doing the lettering technique again. I used stamps with acrylic paint...painted it onto foam and then cut the letters out and i think it's come out well in the photos but it looks far better in real life.

I suppose another reason why there aren't too may photos in here is because although i'm learning to overcome it I hate my photo being taken. Because of this we had no photographer at the wedding and only have snapshots that other people took. I prefer all the ones where you can't see my face! It is something that i really regret now. But like i said, i'm trying to overcome it. Other than our wedding, the only time i've ever had my photo taken in the last five years was a Venture photoshoot (which we had when we decided not to have any more children and again there isn't a single head on shot in there of me) and some photos that i had taken at Butlins this year.

Workouts are bad for your health...

...at least they are when you haven't done one for a while....dusted off my cindy crawford DVD yesterday and now I can't feel every single muscle in my body and it hurts sooooo bad. Will have to skip today in favour of a radox bath instead and try again tomorrow. Fingers crossed I won't be aching so much then.

I'm having a bit of a time with the littlies this past few weeks and it seems to be getting worse. They've gone from being fine going to bed to being an absolute nightmare. The pair of them create merry hell when i put them down. Last night luckily it was only Natasha and i'd decided to put her down first...once she'd cried herself to sleep (on the floor in front of the bedroom door), I put Emily in and luckily once they were both tucked up they were fine...however they did wake up at 6 this morning and I could've banged their heads together at that time.

You see i've never been a morning person...even when i used to have to get up at 6 for work i was never awake until i actually got to work and even being a mother for the last ten years hasn't changed that. I stay awake usually til around 2 in the morning when Pete isn't home but if the girls carry on like this I think that's going to have to change.

So I said that i'd added some extra touches to the paperbag book that i did with Kirsty Wiseman at Scrapcamp and i've added the final photos of it here. I love this photo of Emily climbing up to the next level in the park. She became very camera shy on holiday and i don't have as many photos of her as the others as she would treat me like some pap and shout at me when I got the camera out so I managed to get these when she was engrossed by other things. I got the journalling label from a previous Bad Girls mini kit.

And here are Natasha and Emily enjoying the slides....They would spend all day in the parks and enjoying the rides if they could.

This was Emily enjoying the nightlife. There is a CI journalling card inside the pocket which talks about Emily's way of enjoying herself. She does her own thing and can sometimes look miserable doing it but you know she's enjoying it in her own way.

I absolutely adore this photo of Natasha. Her absolute favourite thing is the swings and she'd go as high and as fast as you could possibly get her! This girl has no fear.

And i love these pics that I managed to get of Pete and Natasha in their own little world. The journalling block here was just a piece of craft card which i masked with Heidi swapp and sprayed using my new colour washes.

Inside the back covers is just a reflection from the holiday

and finally the back cover!

Well done if you got through all of that...I actually have

another completed album to show you (My scrummy Bad Girls Project kit) but I think one half album is enough for today so i'll save it til tomorrow.

So last pic of the day is HSMS...I did warn you about this one!

Having a few problems with the girls.....or rather just Natasha at the moment. No matter where i hide pens she finds them, no matter where i put my tote, she gets into it, we've now had two sharpies and a slick writer ruined and as there isn't a local craft shop near by it's a real pain in the butt.

Got a really early night again last night which is so unusual for me but it's made me feel a lot better. Emily enjoyed the zoo and Natasha has now taken the Farrell family crown for mischievious behaviour. Although Freya did get into trouble at the weekend at her dads for not being good with her homework again.

The new challenge is up at PCJ and the theme is 'Time'. Here's my offerings in the gallery this week. This first layout is something very unusual for me....not only the style of the layout but also that it doesn't contain any patterned paper. I'm loving the Melissa Frances Vintage Ribbon / Lace on this. It's also the first time i've used cardboard on a layout and i'm pleased with how it's turned out....obviously i've used photoshop to blank out the necessary on this but these were beautiful shots and i've even had one blown up to get it framed.



The second is one from the archives and it's one that got a lot of comments on my UKS gallery. I think mainly it stood out because of the shaped cardstock. I have to give some credit to Liz Cotton for this as it was based on a layout which she had done, but I love the rub ons.



HSMS today is Indigo and this was a struggle so i hope this counts.....(have a guess what i'll be doing for PINK tomorrow then...LOL!) As I recall there is another connetation with Pink and Indigo as i'm sure P!NK sang some of her songs on her last album with the Indigo girls. So there you go....connections all round.



WEll spurs are on the tele tonight (and likely to get another pummelling) so i'll be dragging my sorry arse in the living room with the coffee table to finish my Bad Girls project before Natasha gets hold of it again and ruins it completely. So that and another project for PCJ should be finished tonight. I've already done two for next week so i'm being a busy little bee. Right off to wait for my mate to pop round for a coffee and see what Natasha has managed to wreck in the last 10 minutes.

X

SOS

Well i've been a busy little girl the last couple of days, done a layout, finished adding bits to my paperbag album, in the process of completeing my September project kit from Bad Girls and last night went to bed at 4.30! Was a pig getting up this morning though.

Emily is currently at the zoo with my mum, Freya is at her dads and so it's just me and natasha who has so far this morning managed to cover the living room in blackberry smoothy (buggar to get off) and wreck a Dora The Explorer DVD (i'm sure even if i attatched everrything to the ceiling she'd still find a way to get up there). So i'm off to finish said album and do a bit of housework before the girls start arriving back home and i'm hoping tonight i can catch up with some OU work.

Don't forget that the new challenge will go up tonight at 9PM on PCJ so it'll be great to see some more new faces over there. Will have lots of work to share with you tomorrow.

Will leave you with my SOS for HSMS. Not a technically good shot but it's so difficult to get Emily and Natasha caught together like this on camera and it's a nice one for my Mother In Law to see (Hi Rosie) as she hasn't seen the girls in a while.

The delivery I'd most been waiting for arrived yesterday afternoon....my BAD GIRLS KIT! I was so excited to see this one here and really didn't think it would be here before last weekend but it has and I can't stop stroking it.

Just look at it all...what more could you possibly want! It was a joy just to see it in real life as the DT girls over there have done such an amazing job with this.



These prima notecards are gorgeous and you got a whole box of them too! There are a hundred of them.



I'm a real sucker for a CI swatch book too so to have this in with it was fantastic. It's gorgeous, the bad girl blooms that they made up were lovely too especially with the little pins in it. And look, we even got 'bad girl' sweeties in a cute tin!



And what a gorgeous find is this parcel tape too! And there's loads of it. I can't wait to get stuck in but first i'm going to finsih a couple things and make my September project kit. That's on my scrap list tonight as i'm hoping to pull an all nighter tonight.



So onto HSMS and a break from the Rainbow as it's back to SPS and so here i am today, tired with scarecrow hair (hence the hat) so that's all you're getting!

I had a bit of a nightmare last night, I went to pull out a bit of white bazzill and to my horror it was all warped and mouldy on one half......in a state of terror i pulled out the cropper hopper and half of the bazzill in there is the same which amounts to about 100 sheets! I could've cried...but i didn't. I really don't know how this has happened...i have three others right next to each other and those are fine so i can only assume that the water (which has now all dried) had got into it when i had the flood come in through the kitchen ceiling. It must've only been a bit of water, but i hadn't noticed it and in the warmth of the cupboard it's all warped. So thats all my black, white, grey, pink, purple and red bazzill knackered now. I can probably rescue portions of it, maybe cut it all down to 8.5x11 may work, will have to try that later but for now i am soooooo peed off with it.



Had so many plans this morning but after going shopping and ordering a cake for Natasha's birthday next week the morning has run away from me and the girls will be back from nursery at 1. So to try and get me organised i'll include my to do list which may shame me into pulling my finger out (actually i always have my finger pulled out there just aren't enough hours in the day!)

• PCJ Week 11 Project
• PCJ Week 12 Project
• 4x4 Layouts for scrapcamp swap
• Return of the Winter warmers CJ
• Finish scrapcamp projects
• Modules 1, 2 and 3 photos for OU Course
• Module 3 reading for OU Course
• Bad Girls September Project Kit
• Sarah Youdes CC class from last weekend

So that's my immediate concerne....lets see if i can knock at least one of those off the list by the end of tonight!

It seems most people have kids home at half term next week. Why is it in Cornwall we have to be different! It's very annoying especially when Freya's half sisters are also half term next week so when she goes to her dads for a few extra days they'll be back at school. I don't get it....WHY?

OK so not much but ranting this morning but i've not had a good rant for ages and i deserve one (after all not only did Natasha pull over all emily's plants yesterday so that there was compost and sweetpea seeds all over the playroom floor but she also managed to climb onto the kitchen table and take down one of my colour wash inks and now looks like a giant cranberry despite two showers).

Rant over.......HSMS prompt today is Blue. Although most people think RN Subs are black.....not all are.........hubbys is blue! You may not be able to see it too well in the photo but trust me....this is Petes first home as he's there far more than he's here (another rant over!)

I have things to share!

So boxes have been opened. I now have some more of the colour mists which i can't get enough of at the moment: Thanks for Linz at Crafty Pastimes. I also recieved a new order from Craft obsessions for some of the new Autumn Leaves stamps. Unfortunately one of the stamps i wanted was gone by the time i rang in the order so i have to wait for that one but have you seen these new stamps....I really love the autumn leaves ones.

I've got the postmark ones nows and the ticket ones are on back order. They remind me of the jenni bowlin kits i was getting early this year, loved the tickets but i felt the kit was getting a bit samey so i've ditched that now in favour of the Badgirls kits. Oh i can't wait for that delivery to turn up.

I also bought a new alphabet one which is really cute from the new AL stamps, oh i wish i could have them all!

I still have two other orders that i'm waiting on from last week. Seems the RM have sent deliveries into chaos and now it's all arse about face. Stuff that i ordered the beginning of this week has arrived, stuff that was ordered on the 9th hasn't. The thing is one of the parcels that i'm waiting for i really need to be able to do my projects for my Papercraft Junkies challenge so i'm sooooo hoping that it's going to be here by saturday so i can get going as one of the projects is a bit 'involved'!

I do have a new thing to add to my stash wishlist though.....i'm desperate for a dymo...not the new printing ones but one of the embossing ones so may have to scour the net for one of those later. Plus i've seen the new Queen & Co Felt ribbon on the latest Craft Obsessions update and it looks lovely. I had some of the flower one in a Scrapstudio kit earlier in the year and loved it but look at the variety there is now!

The flowers are gorgeous anyway, but theres is a whole range of autumn ones like leaves, pumpkins and bats. There are also gorgeous hearts, scrolls, stars and xmas ones which are snowmen and snowflakes.

I've never really been someone that's into ribbon, i always seem to struggle a bit knowing what to do with it (i remember in the first layout i did i used it to frame a photo!) but this felt ribbon is something else.....may have to place another order at the end of the month (even though i have three kids birthdays and xmas coming up!)

So i actually finished two projects last night. One is for the Papercraft Junkies challenge which will go up on Sunday night so i can only share a peak with you. There's still very few scrapbookers on the site so i thought i may encourage some cardmakers to have a go by doing a layout with NO patterned paper. Boy this was harder than i thought it would be as i've never done it before and i do like to stroke and play with my papers but after much faffing I finished it last night. It's very different from my usual layouts so i'll be interested to see what people think of it once I've uploaded it in it's entirety.

I've also finished the paperbag book that i did with Kirsty Wiseman at Scrapcamp. So i've included a few pics of that too although i think i may add a bit more to it over the next couple of days. We used Scenic route papers and i've added various bits since i came home including cutting some heidi swapp stencils from some gorgeous green velvet paper that Tracie gave me (wink and a kiss for that one.x.)

I'd never made a paperbag book before but i think i'll make another like this as the pockets are lovely just to add extra photos and journalling. I love the little tabs on the top aswell. Apparently kirsty hates scraps so one of the challenges at scrapcamp was to make something with the leftovers but unfortunately i didn't have time to do it so i'm going to make something with mine tonight.

I used the album for a little book about our recent trip to Butlins concentrating on each of the girls experiences and why it was a special holiday for each of them. I've used a L'il Davis journalling stamp inside the chipboard cover and added a few stickers from a Jenni Bowlin kit to the above page.

For Freya this was a big 'coming of age' journey. Even though she's only coming up 10 this was the first time she'd ever asked me if she looked nice before she went out (with a mountain of lipgloss on!). It's hard sometimes to get to grips with the fact that my little girl isn't such a little girl anymore. As a family we've had a pretty difficult couple of years with Pete away so much and having a new baby and Freya has bore the brunt of that on several occasions. But she's always helped out and done whatever i've asked of her and that's why this holiday was special for her as she could just go off and do her own thing with Shannon.

The journalling ta on this one was my first use of my colour washes and a heidi swapp mini heart mask. There's tons more to show but i'll save that for tomorrow as i have tons of other stuff to catch up on. Have fun playing today. X

Green!

OK so a quick HSMSprompt of green and then it's back downstairs to two parcels that have just turned up (yippee) and then off to pick Em up from nursery.....will update properly later. X

Ooooh Goodies!

I recieved an order from artcards today. when i first put the order in I did think the the delivery was a bit pricey (having been spoilt by many of the sponsors on UKS when it comes to free postage) but it was ordered on Saturday night, despatched yesterday and arrived this morning (well it turned up with the posty who for some reason decided to tap on the door with a limp wrist so i didn't hear him....doesn't he KNOW ihave a herd of elephants living here....so i got it after dragging said elephants to the sorting office!).

I now have a cropadile which i decided to buy after almost giving people heart attacks all day on Saturday at the crop with my top edge technology fiskars eyelet setters! My fave though is my ranger colour washes. I only picked up the parcel an hour ago and i'm covered in ink already; unfortunately i used the yellow one first and now have hands which make me look like i'm a 30 a day woman...oh wait, i am! These colour washes are lovely though, i used them on a class at scrapcamp and it's got me well and truly hooked on Heidi Swapp masks and mister inks!

I had one of those really blank moments last night where you stare at a layout for hours and just nothing happens but i think i know what i'm doing with it this morning...it's for next weeks Papercraft Junkies challenge which will go live on Sunday. If you haven't had a look at this weeks challenge you still have time. The theme is Autumn and you can makes layouts, cards, ATC's or altered art so there is opportunity for everyone. We're trying to get more scrappers involved as there are so many cardmakers over there and the winner will recieve a 15% discounted order from Crafty Carrot. As i've only just joined the DT there I didn't really have much time to make something specific for this weeks challenge but managed to use a previous layout i'd done for Scrapstudio.

Talking of which, Mandy has a great competition running over at Scrapstudio...there's a chance to be the next Guest DT on the kit ....... check the website for details. There are still a few of the September kits up for grabs which i just haven't had time to do anything with so far so it's going to be used this evening.

JUST LOOK AT IT ALL! Me thinks i'm going to be a bit busy especially as i have the add on kit aswell. This months kit looks lovely too so i'm going to be inundated with stash if i don't get my butt into gear.

So today is YELLOW over at HSMS.....this is a yellow i adore! Chanel No. 5......it's my little corner of luxury...actually i have 2 little corners as i've got a set in the bathroom too...I have the mini misters, 2 pure perfumes, one eau de perfume, one sensual elixir, one hair mist, one body lotion, one velvet body creme, one body satin spray, a soap, a bath foam and a pressed powder! Like i said, my indulgence......apart from my stash of course!

Orange!

Well i'm with orange for my mobile so was going to take a pic of the sim.....but can i find my phone? can i eckers....and the reason for being so fed up that i can't find my phone even though i hardly use it? We had to get a new pc for the kids yesterday as the last one went pop (and believe me trying to share one pc between six just ain't happening!) So i go off, come back with pc, everything starts beautifully....i'd already set up a similar model for my sister a few months back with no problems and raved about Vista.......however my sis was just happy with everything new and shiny to discover.

Me, on the other hand, wants things just the same as the main pc which is running XP and can i get the file sharing to work....erm...NO! Found that there are differences in being able to see files on other pcs if they're running XP and have a huge list of things i have to do....another to be added to my 'to do' file. Kids want to get on the pc and i won't let them til it's set up correctly. God give me patience!

I didn't get any scrapping done last night cos i suddenly remembered i still had to place a photobox order before i lost 300 print credits and i managed to upload everything and only dip out on two credits with one minute to spare! So i have hundreds of photos on their way, not all of them edited how i wanted and loads of copies of certain ones just to make up the numbers! Oh well will have some greatful family members then!

Pete flew back yesterday and for some reason when he's home the house seems to be like chaos. Wierd because he's the most laid back person you'll ever meet, maybe that's just it......he's laid back whilst chaos goes on around him. So i have the mother of all housework days ahead of me. Think i'll just tackle downstairs today cos i'm determined i'm having an indulgent scrapnight tonight.

Oh and in answer to some of the comments on my blog......the roses are from just outside my front door....they are on a trelis but are growing out of control (neither Pete or I can garden to save our lives) but they do smell gorgeous. That's what i don't like about shop roses....they just don't have that scent do they? And the cupcakes last week, well they were lovely too although eating both made me feel sick and i wasn't well for the rest of the day....serves me and my fat arse right!

Well onto todays prompt, looks like its colours for a while over there and today was orange. Well i don't have much orange so you have to look closely at this photo.......Instead of where's wally or waldo or whatever his name is you're trying to spot NEMO! (oh just noticed there's a bit of orange on Emilys jumper too!)

RED!

Well as i am a spurs supporter and Pete is an everton supporter, boths rival teams sport red and therefore we have very little 'red' in our space so off to the archives! This is a photo of Natasha at the park, soaking wet as she'd just been through the water sprayers....and yes as always we forgot to take a towel ....DUH!






Only a few hours to go til my print credits at photobox expire and i'm desperately trying to upload another hundred photos! I think i'm going to have to stop trying to fart around in PSE and just get them uploaded instead. Pete flies back this evening so it's just me and the girls for another week and a bit..........just can't wait til he goes to Portsmouth as at least i'll get to see him every week.

Got a lovely parcel from craft obsessions this morning, loads of American Crafts Thickers which i love. I've only had the foam ones before so i got some of the felt and chipboard ones. I also got a delivery from Box of Treasures who i'd never used before and they were so good. I'd certainly recommend them for a bit of retail therapy. I got a couple of the big Heidi Swapp Masks after falling for them at scrapcamp.....now awaiting the Ranger Ink Mister thingy's so i can have a play with those.

I also got a parcel from Tracey at Crafty Carrot of bits and pieces for the design team at Papercraft Junkies. It included the exclusive Smoochie Manoochi stamps which are really cute. So tonight after Pete leaves i've got a load of scrapping to catch up on as i've done little since getting back from Camp. Hope you all have a good Monday. X

What a great day for England!

OK well i still don't believe that there's any passion left in English football and although we won 3-0 yesterday i'm becomming completely disillusioned with our national football team, however...even though i'm not a great rugby fan and Pete has to explain everything that's going on for my....every few seconds....i did watch the rugby last night and was loving it!

OK, not only the fact that we beat France which many thought we couldn't but just sensing the passion in the players...the way that every single one of them sang the national anthem...and not only sang but BELTED it out. I wouldn't call myself the most patriotic person on the planet but last night was very moving. Now i have to see if i'm able to watch it again next weekend without too many interruptions from the girls.

So I thought a photo of a rose was a pretty appropriate subject for today.....not technically great but it's one of the first pics that i took with my DSLR in the summer. Off to cook a lovely roast pork and enjoy our last full day as a family before Pete travels back tomorrow. X

What a great time....

unfortuntaely i didn't manage to take any photos today but i've been to the Plymouth crop and i had so much fun. I really didn't get too much scrapping done but more than I usually do at the crops. It was just fun to see Tracie and Sarah again and catch up, reminisce and look forwards to some things coming up.

Loads of parcels haven't arrived that i'm waiting for which i'm a bit gutted about but obviously i know why they aren't here. Just wish RM would sort themselves out.

So Sarah's first UKS CC class went live this morning and i've seen it and it's lush! I hope you did the class, and if you didn't take a look at it over on UKS. Look for this mornings paint party class by monroegirl. It's a great class to do with lots of paint and masking! I'm going to have a go tonight and upload mine. I'm also going to finish my paperbag book and tomorrow i'm going to do my 4x4 swap squares from scrapcamp. Monday i'm hoping to finish my Maria Grace Album and start work on next weeks Papercraft Junkies challenge. So i have lots to do, better go off and do it then!

SPS today: have a great weekend. X

So how is everyone? Autumn has well and truly hit......unfortunately here in my street it just looks grey...no majestic autumnal colours or anything just grey and drab...thing is it's still warm which means i keep getting the odd fly bothering me...now why don't the spiders in this house do their job instead of scaring me silly...just eat the blighters.....anyway random dig at spiders over!

Thanks for so many comments on DH's legs.....i do have a thing about a man with thick set legs......one of the first thing that i liked about him really! He used to play both Rugby and football so was well built, i don't think i could ever have gone out with a guy who was tall and thin.....i like short and broad! But then even 5'10 or 5'11 is gigantic to my lil 5'1.

So Pete came home very late on Wednesday night and the girls were overjoyed to see him on Thursday morning. I spent yesterday having a quick catch up on the forums, a massive shop at Tesco, a look on the internet at Wii deals and MP3 players for xmas and then a mammoth catch up on my Open University course which i really have to concentrate on over the coming weeks. I've caught up with module one so i'm aiming to get all the module two reading done tonight and then go out and have a very long photo session on Sunday to do the final assignments for each.

Of course tomorrow i have the Plymouth crop and knowing that Tracie will be there along side Sarah makes me smile. I can't wait and hope i get some scrapping done. Sarah's class goes live tomorrow on UKS's birthday bash Cyber crop so i'm hoping she'll bring the instructions with her and i can do it at the crop. So tonight i must remember to unpack all my stuff from last weekend and get together my projects which need finishing.

I'm also taking along this gorgeous package of wonderment which is the September Bad Girls Project kit. If i get a chance i'll have a little play with this tomorrow as the project is an album in a hessian bag.....just waiting for a password to get on the site for the instructions though! But having a very bad girl DT member in Tracie at the crop tomorrow should help!

So heres my pic for todays prompt on HSMS....it's a photo i took of freya a couple weeks ago at Butlins hanging upside down on some bars in the park.

I got loads of shots like this with her and her best bud and they just make me smile seeing how happy she was.

And don't forget to pop your noses in at papercraft junkies as i'd love to see some new names over there. Another challenge goes live on Sunday night so be sure to play along.

Right off to try and upload some more pics for photobox......this is taking me hours so far so wish me luck!