I made class 3!

So chuffed to have got through to the next round at Bad Girls, about 40 people were cut out this time round so I know I'm lucky to have made it through especially when you have a look at what everyone has created in the gallery. There are quite a lot of entrants who are on DT's so the competition is very fierce and I think I'll probably get cut on the next round but I've learnt so many things about balancing pages in the first three classes that I'll be carrying on regardless.

Class three is by Sri Sams and is all about the use of white space and the less is more approach. More great tips about tying a layout together so do check the classes out if you haven't already, don't forget it doesn't cost a penny.

The girls all had a great time at the park on Sunday afternoon. I grabbed my camera and made the most of some nice natural sunlight which has been a bit of a rarity lately. Our local park has really undergone a miraculous make-over in the past 12 months. Before there was just a crappy slide and 2 swings and they were even so far away from each other...down one path, out one gate, around another! One thing about living in a fast growing town is that the kids facilities don't seem to keep up with the pace of development.


Finally though we do have a decent park with a football and basketball court to one side and a tennis court to the other. The park itself has some great little features and the girls really love it so I don't have to go for a seven mile drive now into Plymouth just for a few hours in the park.


I took a ton of photos so I'll share more tomorrow as I know family will want to see a few more but just didn't want to overload everything..........can't wait to show you my photo of a ghost whizzing around the park......(lets just say I overdid it a bit too much with an excessively long exposure!).


This bucket swing has to be the girls favourite though. Especially Natasha as at one stage she laid back and was on the verge of drifting off to sleep.......truly, when that girl is tired she can sleep just about anywhere. I managed to get a few pics of all the girls in the same spot. This doesn't happen very often as usually they are all chasing each other, running away from each other or just off doing other things. As for a posed 'together' shot, well you can see my problem.....can never get them to look in the right direction!

I love these little flowers which are dotted around there. You can speak into one at one end of the park and have a conversation with someone at the other end of the park, although trying to get the girls to synchonise when they talk and when they listen is another thing entirely. Oh, and don't ask me what's going on with the sky in this photo, I swear i haven't done anything to it, but the colour is really wierd......
So following on from the park we went to Burger King and stuffed ourselves with half a cow, literally in Freya's case. Not knowing quite how big an XL Bacon double cheeseburger was we ordered one each.....they were almost as big as our heads. Freya finished her meal, then ate about a quarter of my burger, finished off a few of my fries, Emilys fries and then Natashas drink. Bloody hell that girl can eat.

I didn't get round to scrapping last night, I'd bought the latest expansion pack for Sims 2 and once I'd installed it, the temptation was just too much. So tonight i'm going to work on my layout for class three and get it uploaded in plenty of time as it's going to be a busy week. It's my birthday tomorrow, which I share with Pete. I just wish I could say happy birthday to him, especially considering that it's his 40th. So to cheer myself up and make sure I don't mope around, I am off for a boozy night out on Saturday, my first in god knows how long and I'm really looking forward to it. Anyway, have a great day everyone and i'll be back tomorrow with some more photos and hopefully my layout.

Class Two - DONE!

Managed not to have to run around this morning finishing off my layout for class 2 at Bad Girls. In fact, I was done by midnight and only had to do the photos this morning to upload and that's completed and over in the gallery. The principles of the class were concerned with mixing patterns and using colour from your photos as the basis.

It was pretty obvious that the colours to pick out would be pink and blue for Freya's dress and her eyes. The background of the photos were a sort of beige which i thought would also lend a little neutral to the quite dominant shades of pink and blue. The ledger paper I found also had a blue trim....BONUS!

So then it was onto picking out the papers and bloody hell was THAT hard work. Going through six pizza boxes of random papers was not my idea of fun initially. Especially as I kept getting sidetracked and thinking 'Oh, I forgot I had these' and 'Ah, I could use these on...'. I was lucky enough to find some scraps I could use too. Most of the stash is from previous Bad Girls kits although I think the little heart on a chain came from something the kids had, probably a Bratz doll or something!


I have promised myself that I will start the next class earlier though. Class Three goes live tomorrow at 6pm UK time, so the aim is to have a good housework tidy today and tomorrow daytime and then get busy with the class tomorrow night once the kids are in bed. After having an about an eight month break from scrapping I've realised that I've become a rather slow and dithery scrapper but like all things I guess with a little more practice I'll be up to speed again.

It's been a beautiful weekend down here in Cornwall. The sun has been shining and making everyone feel happy again. Today promises more of the same by the looks of it so i'm going to take the little ones down the park this afternoon to let off some steam. This time I'll take my camera and try and get some much needed new photos as I've sadly not only neglected scrapping but also the camera lately.

Anyway, enjoy the rest of the weekend.

A mized bag

It's been an up and down week. Mostly up to be honest but today i've been seething with Freya. Let's just say that I'm close to burning down her bedroom before condemning it. You would have thought that the girl had already hit 14. It's been a struggle with her for a while and after months of idle threats on my part, she has now been banned from everything. So today, instead of the planned Stagecoach and sleeping at her nans, she's had to stay in. She is also now having to sleep in with Natasha and Emily. If she can't look after her bloody bedroom then she won't have it! Cruel, maybe......but if you knew me then you'd know i'm not a hard or stern mother...but there comes a time when it's either that or just ignore her and as it is literally becomming a health hazard in there, I've plumped for the former.

With Emily at School now, the house has been so different. I've managed to catch up on a lot of stuff that generally gets neglected and feel so much more relaxed. I've also grabbed myself a couple of early nights which have helped. The football however is making me bloody miserable! Just hoping for a win tomorrow.

Well I made it through to the next round of the Bad Girls designer. However, it's no big whoop as the vast majority did! The new class was posted on Tuesday. This class by Emilie Ahern is all about mixing patterns. There is some more great hints in class about the best way to mix patterned papers. Again i've left things a little late and have only just started.....well, i've printed out my photos! So in a few minutes i'm going to start my layout. Better go get busy.

Well I didn't get my butt into gear with this layout til last night and even then, after an hour and a half of staring, moving, readjusting, pulling everything out and putting everything away again.....I still hadn't gotten very far with it.


Well, it's my entry for the 1st class over at the Bad Girls Designer 2008 which has to be uploaded by 6pm today which meant in effect that I would need to get it completed this morning. Not the easiest thing to do on a Sunday when all the kids are running around like lunatics and I'm trying to wrestle prima bling out of the hands of my two year old. I did however, manage to refrain from stabbing them all with the vast array of sharp instruments immediately at my disposal; and as Gordon Ramsey would say.......DONE!

If you haven't gotten over to do the classes yet, registration has finished for the competition itself, but the classes are still live and free to all. If the next class (which goes up tomorrow) is anything like this one then I'm sure you'll enjoy it and learn something new. Class 1 was by Cari Fennell and was focused on layering.


It's certainly something that I've been doing more of lately, really inspired by the galleries over on the forum. Most of the stuff on the layouts has come from previous Bad Girls kits. I just love the chipboard tree on this.

Yesterday was spent trying to catch up on housework and the like. Although truthfully I didn't get very far. I did get a call from Pete though who was alongside for a few hours to fix a defect with the boat. With them now off again, it'll be another 8 weeks before I hear from him and sometimes it's easier that way.

Well, I'm off to pop some tablets for my stress induced migraine and sort some stash for tomorrows class. I may even have a play around after the girls go to bed tonight if I I've managed to at least clear the playroom out today.

It's starting to dawn on me......

.....about Pete being away. Yesterday was a bit emotional. With the anniversary of 9/11, I watched a couple of documetaries and I remember that day so vividly and watched in horror the live news on BBCNews 24. For me, the scariest and most brutal images were of those people who jumped to their death......the thought scares me even now. Thinking of New York made me think of Pete and our Honeymoon.


Although Pete had been before 9/11 and visited the Twin Towers, I hadn't. We were there less than 18 months after and going to ground zero was still a very eery experience. I looked back over our honeymoon photos and then started missing Pete more. Thing is if i don't think about him, I can kind of block it out. Sounds a horrible way to deal with it but it works for me. I just act like a single mum and get on with it.

I had hoped for a phone call but it looks like that won't be happening now. So by the time I speak to him, nine weeks will have passed and he should be about to fly back to the UK.

So tonight i'm gonna hit the scrapping as I'm trying to get a layout done for the first design class over at Bad Girls and I haven't made a start yet. On the up side, this is one that I finished on Monday although i'm not greatly happy with it. Oh well, maybe I'll have more luck tonight!

An almost empty house......

By 9am I was in my living room, staring at Natasha and trying to make head or tail of the quietness........ok, so it didn't last long as Tash can very easily make the noise of at least four or five toddlers, but just for a moment.......

Em couldn't wait to get into her uniform this morning and stick her oar in when I was making her first ever packed lunch. I'd let her pick out her own lunch box and she had to pick the only 'tin' one there didn't she. Yup looks lovely and far nicer than a plastic one but you just know that it will be dented with all the paint scratched off by half term, if not before. Ham sandwich, yogurt, a bowl of strawberries and a rice cake.....exactly the same as Freya apart from sliced peppers which Emily hates. So she was wearnig a uniform and having a lunch just like her big sister and you could tell she was happy about it.


There were lots of 'come on mum's' on the walk to school. She went into the classroom, found her peg, handed in her book bag, put her lunch away and then went and sat in front of teacher on the floor as if she'd done it before. I did have a wee smile on my face as I left. No tears from either her or myself. I guess you could say that both of us were really needed this day. I think Emily has needed school for a while now and I need a little more peace!


By the time we picked her up, her shoes were scuffed, trousers under the back of her shoes and worn, crutch of trousers covered in yogurt and a nice big unidentifiable stain on her jumper! So the uniform is in the wash after day one. Now I'm thinking how stupid of me to only have bought one sweatshirt.

It seems I may get a call from Pete in the next couple of days....unexpected to say the least, but most welcome. It's been 10 days since he went and luckily I'm still quite chipper. Throwing myself into other things anyway. I'm going to settle down now to watch the England match and play with some papers for the first Bad Girls design class. The first one is on layering and it's something that I've tried to do a lot more of recently so I'm attacking this one with gusto.

Will leave with one photo of Natasha that I took today before it gets a little 'Emily heavy!'.

Feeling Good!

Oh yeah so Freya went back to school on Monday and Emily starts tomorrow. I had a great weekend, even though the house was overrun with over excited kids! Everyone had a great time and on Sunday, the sun even made an appearance which meant the kids all got kicked outside to let off all that pent up energy. I feel so much more relaxed and chilled than I have for ages and that's with Pete away. So I thought i'd share my current fave video with everyone. I came across this late one night on MTV and fell in love with the video. Maybe I'm getting prudish in my old age but I get hacked off with all the videos these days which seem to have some unwritten rule about having scantily clad women in the video.....it seems almost soft core porn sometimes....(Jealous? Of course I am!). So I was wetting myself with this video......go the whole hog and strip off! I've always loved a bit of Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim) and his new project delivers another fab video.



I've just signed up for the first class over at Bad Girls. Lucky really cos I didn't realise that I had to sign in for each class and would have missed it if it hadn't been for a shove in the right direction (cheers Tracie!). So tonight after whisking the girls into bed for an early night, that's what I'm working on.

A hard day's night.....

After less than a week I've hit the 'brick wall'. It's the place I get to after Pete has been away a while, lack of sleep and over enthusiastic behaviour of the girls. It normally takes a couple of weeks to get to this point, however, with the girls home from school and the weather swinging from one extreme to another......well, lets just say that Pete is probably not experiencing cabin fever as high as this. I'm pretty shattered, the house is even messier than usual and I'm thinking....'I really can't be arsed!'.

The young ones are at nursery today so I'm going to try and get the house back in some sort of order, just to have it wrecked tomorrow when I find myself surrounded by five hyperactive kids to deal with until Sunday lunch time. Yup the niece and nephew are staying over as my little sisters birthday and she's going out with her fella. I'm trying to get her to bite about the fact that she's just hit 30 but she doesn't seem to be that bothered. For me, it was a huge thing. It's not that I got really down about ageing or anything, but I think i hit an early mid life crisis. It was, for me at least, a time to take stock and get to grips with things. I'm still a way off being 'there' but it's slowly happening and at least I've put things into perspective a lot more now. So thinking about my sisters birthday I decided to finish do something that's been sat on the back burner for some time now.


The project was a very personal album. The class was from Maria Grace Abuzman. I hadn't actually heard of her before she taught a class at last years Scrapcamp. She is (or at least was) one of the garden peas girls at 2peas and her classes were certainly different than anything else I'd done before. This was a journal class using the bind it all but unfortunately I didn't get time to do anything other than some painting and inking at the time so it's been sat in a plastic baggie in the cupboard. Well, Wednesday night I was up til 4am finishing it (and haven't caught up with any sleep since!).

The concept of the class was to make a very honest journal about how you felt on certain aspects of your life at that moment using prompt words all starting with 're-' such as re-member etc.......as it's a snapshot I was kind of glad that I hadn't started any of the journalling so I could make it relevant to now. The covers were painted with acrylic and decorated with fontworks stickers, rub ons and some papers which I'm not sure of, in fact I don't know much about the supplies apart from some jenni bowlin rub ons, scenic route chipboard sentiments and lots of heidi swapp masks and ranger spray inks.

I love the concept and the album was very different from anything I've done in the past. I'm not someone who uses mixed media a lot so all this inking and painting was a bit baffling for me but I'm really happy with the results. I've never spent so much time thinking about the journalling. I mean I've religiously kept a diary since I was about 11 and it's always been very frank and honest...but to document on prompts was very different for me. It's given me the push I think I need to finally start work on my BOM though.

The prompts (spurred on by a few glasses of wine) certainly had me thinking. I suppose I'm in a place right now where I'm still looking for some answers, but I've stopped questionning every bloody thing that goes on and just accept things more without looking for hidden meanings and agendas. I am less tolerant of people though. If they piss me off, I'm not as afraid as I used to be to let go or at least let them know about it. Believe me, if I had learnt that a lot sooner than I have my life would have been very very different.
The regret section was a hard one to do. I don't feel like I can truly regret things, as to regret something would mean that you hadn't learnt from it. There are things I wish I had done differently or at least had the courage to go through with, however if I had done then, what I would do now then maybe I wouldn't be the person I am today.......I could be even worse! LOL

I really do have to get some more family photos done though......think a trip to the woods is in order, try out taking pics of the girls together for the first time in ages now that they tend to be a unit a lot more often than when Freya was off to her dads every weekend.

One thing I'm still not particulary fond of though is the butterfly.....just dunno about that bit!

I enjoyed using different sized pages, different types of papers including the transparencies, library cards and ledger paper. It just made the album more interesting. I really didn't think I'd enjoy the end product, but before i managed to massacre the covers at the end, I really liked it when I finished.
I did however, manage to completely balls up the bind it all. By the time I'd completed the covers, they were really thick to try and get in the bloody machine. I just about managed it only to find that the bind was crap and then i ballsed up the wires aswell. Think i may need a bit more practice with it! (By the way I have no idea why this is underlined and can't work out how to change that either.....I'm not great at this blogging lark am I?)

I do have another layout on the go at the moment which I'm hoping to finish tonight and then two books aswell. I want to make up most of the book for Emilys first term at school. Freya goes back on Monday and Emily starts on Wednesday. That just leaves Natasha who attends a nursery for one full day and one half day a week although that will be bumped up after xmas when she starts to get a funded place.......I may even be able to do a little housework then!

Emily went into town with my mum on Wednesday to get her nice new school shoes which she is forbade from wearing.....she wants to wear her uniform every day. She also got a nice new pair of pink boots which she picked out herself.....will have to take some photos of them before she wrecks them. The two little ones also have new coats each. I'm not usually into getting them the same clothes but my dad picked out such a nice coat for Emily that I had to have the same one for Natasha. However, she just will not part with a pink jacket that her cousin gave her........wait til it really is pissing down with rain and see if she swaps then.......on reflection, she probably won't do it then either.

PM post!

The ceiling has fortunately dried out although the bathroom carpet is still damp. All the windows are open and fortunately it's a lovely day (although we had the meanest downpour which lasted all of five minutes and then buggared off again).

But the joy was short lived after the garage called about the MOT. It's gonna be a couple hundred which we can ill afford at the moment after the nightmare of the corsa....(long story that i REALLY don't want to go into or I may lose the plot completely.) Upside though is that the car should be ready for tomorrow so I can get Emily's school shoes which will then see everything bought and ready for tagging over the weekend.

So I said I was scrapping last night, well I finished this layout which I'm not entirely happy with but if I stare at it anymore I'm likely just to scribble all over it so I'm just going to put it in the album. I can't believe how much Rob has changed in the last six years.....pretty scary that he's now onto doing his GCSE's! The papers are various scraps that i'm using up like a good girl.....Prima paper for the background and the Love Elsie Journalling card were from a Bad Girls kit as was the lace ribbon. The other patterned papers are all Scenic Route. I used the rest of the scraps on the following project.

This Lippy Chick book has been sat in my cupboard for over a year, infact, I have another two in there and I'm going to start another tonight. This one I've done for me and Pete. We've had a pretty hard time the past couple of years and I won't share all that I've done as it's deeply personal but the general gist is that love and marriage is hard bloody work and especially so when you see each other less 4 months a year. But you have to work hard and remember what brought you together in the first place.

Inside the flaps are mostly journalling because there aren't that many photos of us together. I'm starting to get to grips with being in photos now but it's always me behind the camera, really must get some shots of the two of us.....just to prove we do spend SOME time together.

Right off to kick the kids out to play before they glue themselves to the Wii, do a little housework (only a little though) and get my bits and bobs ready for a night of scrapping.

And it's all gone wrong again!

Well I should have taken it as a sign, on the day Pete was supposed to have sailed and didn't last Thursday, the toilet backed up. The toilet didn't back up this morning, but we have a bathroom flood as natasha turned on the tap and left it running in the sink. The water is now dripping through the ceiling in the kitchen and I'm taking a break from the clean up operation to take a deep breath. This is the second time it's happened in the space of about two years. Luckily this time it doesn't look as bad and at least the ceiling (which all had to be redone after the last time) isn't bulging plaster this time so I've opened all the windows and doors, mopped up all that I can and now I just have to keep my fingers crossed. Doesn't help that we have a carpeted bathroom floor.

One saving grace is that last time this happened I'd be up scrapping til the wee hours and had left all my stuff on the dining table, directly under where all the water came through and lost a lot of stuff that I then stupidly forgot to claim for on the insurance. Although I was up last night, after learning from the last time I now clear the table at nights and the only thing I leave out is my whopping great craft mat. And now I have to drop the Bongo in for it's MOT, so the day could possibly get worse yet........watch this space!