It`s Snow Joke......

God that joke is awful but I always think of it when I see snow...

...and we have snow in Warrington...OMG...

...just a light dusting but it is there none the less and the kids couldn`t wait to get out and play in it!!!

Look at them bless...moaning their hands are cold and then picking up snow then wondering why I have no sympathy with them!!!

So it is the last day of 2008...what on earth happened to this year, I must be getting old because it seems to have flown by, I have had a bit of a crazy year this year with regards to work and am starting two very exciting new jobs next year so I am really looking forward to what the New Year brings, apart from a distinct increase in spending money!!! I have met some fantastic people this year too and had some fabulous and funny times, had some low moments too, who doesn`t, but I often find that family and friends are always good to pull you through!!!

Just to proove that I have not just ate and drank over Christmas, I have been on Wii Fit too and lost 3lb...shocking I am supposed to gain weight over Christmas...I have also done some scrapping...12x12 layouts no less, not done these for a while but just fancied something different, will be completing more layouts this size but will have to go and buy another album first ;-)

Can`t wait to scrapbook some Christmas layouts but my printer decides to have a festive fit every time I try and print anything arghhhh!!! Maybe I need a new one...oooh and the sales are on too!!! Got myself some fabulous bargains in Liverpool on Saturday...only took us an hour and a half to find a parking space too...then we got lost on the way home and ending up driving through Toxteth in the dark...with the doors locked!!!

So I am off to town now to buy Harry a coat...he may think he is too cool to wear a parka or a duffel but MUM is putting her foot down and HE WILL WEAR A COAT...there I have spoken...muwahahaha!!!

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year and all the best for 2009 xxxxx

Happy Happy Christmas

I hope everyone has had a good Christmas.

Mine has been great, so chilled out and relaxed so far, too much to eat and probably far too much to drink, although My Mum and Dad bought us Wii fit so I have been working off all those extra mince pies, wine and brandy on the Hula hoop....and I am still the ultimate reigning champion in our house!!!

My bloody stomach muscles hurt today though, think I clocked up an hour and a half yesterday and I can feel it today, at this rate I will have a six pack in time for new year!!!

Just got back from the Parents house for Boxing Day Dinner...mmm... so good, my Dad is an amazing cook and I am stuffed, in fact not sure I will ever be able to eat again...or drink, wine, coffee and Brandy...good combination but feeling slightly sluggish now!!!

Had a lovely day yesterday, spent chilling with the kids, taking loads of photo`s, opening loads of presents and seeing family.

Here are my favourite photos from yesterday and today:

Me and the Parents...

My (not so)Lil Guy and me...

Look what Santa bought me...

Look at that face...

Chilling at the Parents house today...before the large quantity of food and booze...

Kids and Grandma...

Ella giving Grandad a lesson on the DS...not sure Pink is his colour though...

My Lil baby boy and me...

The Pre-teen and me...

Grandad gets all arty with the camera...

Off to check out how many more units I can safely drink this week, and how long I will have to hula on the wii to work off the dinner I ate today!!!

Its the night before Christmas...

...and I finally feel festive...why...because I have just taken photos of my girlies with a mince pie, a carrot and a glass of wine!!!

Simple things eh!!!

I know its Christmas Eve...it has been all day!!! But It hasn`t felt like it today if truth be told.

Okay the kids are excited, I have the decs up, the tree is bursting with presents, Santa`s stockings are ready in my bedroom to be delivered, all the food that can be prepared and cooked is sat in tin foil in the fridge but although I felt giddy this morning I really didn`t feel like it was Christmas, until I started taking photos

My girls are both firm believers in Father Christmas and also believe that their Dad has been called up on Elf duty tonight...god I am wicked sometimes with my sense of humour...I told them this this morning, explaining it by saying that every year somebody gets chosen to help Santa deliver all the presents, all Mia was worried about was where Daddy was going to get a costume from and that his ears were not pointy enough to be an Elf!!!

This was after I had unsuccessfully tried to tell them it had been on Sky news that Rudolph had Reindeer Flu and it was looking dicey as to whether Father Christmas was going to get all around the world...to which they replied there are other Reindeer Mum!!! Kids!!!

So here are my girlies patiently waiting for Santa...I sent Harry out for a carrot earlier and he came back with one big enough to feed Bugs Bunny for LIFE!!!

And it has been said that my girls look like me, I always say that they are far prettier but these photos have me convinced they are more like me than I thought!!!

Luckily that's not Pinot they are trying to sup but some god awful freebie that Santa is stuck with, will be pouring that down the sink later to clean the drains with!!!

Merry Christmas everyone xxx

And on the Night before the Night before Christmas.....

...I can finally relax....because Its all done!!!

Christmas that is, I mean the preparations, finally wrote my last card today, wrapped my last present and have all the food in...crazy really I spent three times as much in Asda yesterday as I normally would on a weeks shopping and the shops are only shut for one day...ONE DAY...we do it every year don`t we...panic buy sixteen pints of milk and thirty loaves of bread...figs and dates...when else do normal people eat figs and dates...and nuts with shells on...Jesus by the time you have actually found the nutcracker you carefully put in a safe place last year, cracked your nuts (excuse the pun) removed all the shell fragments and actually eaten them you have probably lost the will to live...oh and then you spend the rest of the evening digging your teeth out!!!

And then there is the recycling issue...Jesus dont even get me started on the amount of packaging toys come in...I manage to break at least five nails a year opening Bratz dolls, can never find the batteries I knew I bought and then you always need a bloody screwdriver to get the battery compartment off something, and that's before I have even had a drink...Christmas is probably high up on that stress list I remember from Psychology lectures at university...and if it isn`t it bloody well should be...!!!

I do however love Christmas day, the fact that whatever day Christmas falls on you can start drinking at 10 in the morning and no one bats an eyelid...if that was a Monday in March there would be serious issues, I love that you can eat your entire body weight in mince pies, chocolate and Christmas pudding...olives, blue cheese and pickles...mmmmmmmmmm!!!

But most of all I adore the looks on my kids faces when they come downstairs and Father Christmas has eaten his mince pie and drunk his glass of wine, and Rudolph has taken the carrot we have walked ten miles to find because I always leave it to the last minute and nowhere has any carrots left!!! I love it when they see the "magical fairy dust" at the front door...we do not have a chimney so Father Christmas has a magic key and I especially love the expressions on their faces when they open their presents. I love the fact that they love to give as much as they love to receive and take great pleasure in watching me open presents they have chosen for me. I love time with my family and friends with no time restraints or pressure and the fact we can watch total shite on TV and it is accepted.

I can imagine that everyone else is feeling stressed too and no doubt this will be my last post before Christmas, unless something outstandingly funny or creative happens tomorrow, so I would like to wish all my family and friends, near and far much love and happiness and here`s to a great Christmas!!!

Never mind Britain...My Kids have Talent!!!

God its been a while since I blogged but I have been so caught up with Christmas preparations!!!

Spent the Evening in the Pub tonight with a couple of friends and our kids

...totally sober on J2O before anyone makes a comment, at a kids talent show...

My girls, being the little drama queens they are insisted on entering...Ella performing one of her various dance routines that she usually makes up when I am trying to sleep, and Mia singing along to Girls aloud!!!

Unfortunately neither of them won but it is the taking part that count and they are winners in my eyes as they actually got up in front of a pub full of people to perform.

Ella "feeling the music"

My little Girl Aloud!!!

And a great shot of my friend and I taken by Harry.

Off now to wrap up even more Christmas presents!!!

Christmas Countdown......5...4...3...2...

1.....

One more lesson to teach and I am officially on my Christmas holidays...two whole weeks of lazing around and chilling out and getting fat drinking Baileys with my Mum and eating blue cheese and olives with my dad...ooh and probably raiding the kids selection boxes too!!!

I LOVE CHRISTMAS...the fact that I can lie in bed until I choose to get up, no rushing around, no organising kids for school and no bloody housework...it is really hard to dust and polish when you have Christmas decorations everywhere!!!

Saying that I have so many workshops for January to prepare, six college courses to plan and a new fantastic job to get excited about too!!!

But amidst all that, despite the commercialism of Christmas, the preparations, the spending and the bloody stress, I had the loveliest evening last night....It was the girls Christmas Performance at school...nothing like it, my girls attend a Church of England School and they really put the true message of Christmas across in their performances, the teachers work flat out to ensure this and the kids are so enthusiastic about it too...Ella, being in her last year had one of the main roles...hmmm as a mother in a "panto section" of the Nativity!!!

I very nearly had tears in my eyes as I watched my girlie's on stage....I have a reputation to uphold...I have NEVER cried at anything my kids have done at school, and joke with the mums that do...however her leavers assembly is looming and I feel tears pricking my eyes as I think about it...My little baby girl is going to be leaving Primary school soon and its shocking because I remember the day she started all sweet and innocent and young and angelic and Oh God she is growing up and has Hormones to match!!!

I don`t feel it is Christmas until I have watched my kids perform in their Nativity and here are my girlie's during their performance

Ella as...the Mum....please be told I NEVER wear curlers in my hair!!!....I am a GHD Worshipper!!!

Hmm...has that halo slipped!!!

My Little Angelic Angel

Okay now I am off to hum Christmas carols and maybe have a small glass of Baileys...just to get into the spirit!!!

Don`t all Faint but...

...I have crafted, took the pictures and am blogging!!!

I know bit of a shocker even for me, but I am sat down so its all good.

Have made three Christmas cards tonight using my new Tilda stamp, she is just so cute, the same coloured card and the same patterned paper, by Making Memories that I loved last year and still love this year. So three card variations of the same stamped image, I am going to teach these in my workshop on Wednesday at Edwin Allen and let the ladies choose which card variation they want to create...well it is nearly Christmas!!!

Also completed this layout last weekend, it was based on last weeks Pencil Lines sketch but I didn`t upload it in time...is anyone else struggling with time management at the moment, god all I seem to do is plan classes, teach, washing and ironing, cook, eat and sleep...although I did manage to wrap all my Christmas presents up on Saturday evening, and I did make 10 Christmas cards on Saturday, only I forgot to photograph them and they have all been delivered now!!!

It was my final candle making class today before the Christmas break, I have been teaching my ladies the basics of candle making over the last five weeks and this weeks session was to create a Christmas centrepiece using the candles they had made, lots of foliage, ribbons, baubles and of course the trusty glue gun, no injuries today apart from a few holly pricks!!! Took photos of all the centrepieces created only cant find the lead that links my phone to the PC...typical!!! I did create this though, using an empty ribbon reel.

Off now to tidy up the mayhem that has happened at my desk!!!

Didn`t we have a lovely day the day we went to....

BURY!!!

I know the song is for Bangor but I went to Bury, Bury Market to be precise...god its so cheap and the stall holders are really friendly and welcoming even though they all work in arctic conditions as most of the market is outdoors...I couldn`t work there, god no, not unless I had thermals on and several blankets wrapped around me the Bury weather was even a match for my fur coat!!!

So off on a coach trip we went and I wasn`t allowed to sing on the way :-(

We have laughed so much we were crying, I have pulled several muscles in my stomach and several passers by gave us disapproving looks but I have had the best day, two bacon butties, ate my body weight in fudge and even have new boots and a handbag. So thanks to everyone who made the day so enjoyable.

The first stall we came to was a hat stall...perfect photo moments....

Elaine finds a hat to match her furry coat

Pauline in a very Sexy pink Number

And I so wanted to buy this hat but resisted

Pauline, after eating her body weight in Cheese samples, saying Cheese at the Cheese counter...how Cheesy!!!

Slushy alert...Pauline is one of my ladies...she comes to my workshops and she attends the classes I run for the college and I just loves yah Pauline and I love this photo of us too xxx

Elaine doin it doggy style!!!

Yes that is a dinosaur we are sat on and no it didnt recover!!!

Pauline, Modelling some very sexy Granny Panties...apparently all my ladies wear these...I know, sometimes as a teacher you can be given too much information...I will stick with my thongs thank you very much!!!

Me and the very wonderful and sexy Sue

Me and the very lovely Jane

I am on Father Christmas`s Naughty List!!!

Yes little old Me!!!

Took my lil girlies to see Father Christmas this afternoon and he told them that I was on the naughty list even though they protested that I had been a good girl...Luckily I know Father Christmas very well and I will certainly be having words with him before Christmas Eve before I leave him a glass of wine and a mince pie!!!

Harry even got in on the action when he realised he would get free chocolate...god that boy is sly, not sure where he gets that from!!!

Managed to get some Christmas gifts sorted out this afternoon too, teachers presents all done and gifts for my Girl Friends designed, even managed to write a few cards, should be off to Bury Market tomorrow to finish my Christmas shopping but it looks unlikely as Mia is unwell so may have to stay home and play nurse to her instead!!!

These are the gifts for the teachers, Mugs and coaster with individual sachets of hot chocolate, mini chocolates, mini crackers and lots of ribbon.

This is what I have designed for all my Girl Friends...Wine Glass and coaster, miniature bottle of wine, Mini Cracker and a silver necklace and again lots of ribbon!!!

Oh and I spent a couple of hours yesterday helping my boss sort out a Blog for the shop, so here is the link.

Off now to scoff the very aromatic Chicken Chasseur that is simmering away before I go and teach a jewellery making class later on.

Winter!!!

Winter is here...oh yes, its cold and I want to be in indoors in bed or snuggled in my dressing gown all the time, I would love to be reincarnated as a tortoise so I could sleep through Winter, I hate being cold it makes me irritable and bad tempered, and it doesn't help that the building I run my workshops in has no heating in so we sit huddled round the lamps cradling mugs of hot chocolate to warm our cockles!!! I didn`t even take off my coat today at work, sat and taught a jewellery making class in my fake fur!!!

The great thing about Winter is Christmas although saying that I spent two back breaking hours last night wrapping Christmas presents, my bedroom resembles a scene from a bad Christmas film with presents and wrapping paper everywhere, I still haven`t wrote my Christmas cards and I have four more courses to plan as I found out today the college want me to run four more courses after Christmas!!!

But I am looking forward to a few weeks off over Christmas, I officially "break up" next Friday and do not return to work until the first week in January...all good!!!

So funnily enough today's prompt over at her space my space is winter...this is from Manchester last Saturday...look at the bare trees!!!

Off now to snuggle in my dressing gown possibly in bed!!!

Christmas...Done...Nearly!!!

Yep in the words of Gordon Ramsey my Christmas Preparations....Done...nearly!!!

Feeling slightly smug as I have almost finished my Christmas shopping, bought my Christmas cards, got most of my food in and put my Deccies up...It has took me all weekend to get organised and I haven`t had a minute until now to sit down but it is a really good feeling!!!

Went to town yesterday with the kids to get some presents...Oh My God...you would think it was nearly Christmas, the queues were insane...no credit crunch in Warrington I can tell you, bargain of the day was a very nice black furry cushion reduced from £16 to 80p...yep 80p...Woolworths...get your bums down there they have some incredible bargains!!!

Was up until gone midnight last night with my glittery twigs and my glue gun, I actually burnt my bloody thumb too never done that before, what made it worse was that it was actually hot glue that moulded itself to my thumb burning underneath and I had to cool it enough to get the glue off...huge blister now that is really sore :-( ...but you can`t call yourself a proper crafter until you have burnt yourself with a glue gun.

So my house looks all Christmassy, the tree lights actually worked and the kids were really impressed when they got up this morning and the house had been transformed.

If you are booked into either of my workshops at Edwin Allen this week this is the necklace we will be creating.

Off now to sit and admire my decs with a glass of Baileys and a mince pie from Greg's...get them 6 for £1.50 soooooo nice!!!

I am such a naughty girl...

....because I have been such a bad blogger this week!!!

I have not had time to do any crafting and the other half has had "Man Flu" all week so I have not had a minute to sit down and chill out with pretty papers, sumptuous stamps or delicious dies!!!

No I have spent the week working, ferrying the kids here there and everywhere, washing and ironing and fetching and carrying for Him indoors!!!

I am shattered although finally had a day off today and after I dropped the kids off at school got myself on the train and the most fantastic day in Manchester....shopping yeah!!! Nothing like a spot of shopping to perk a girl up especially when I had Christmas money early!!! Sneaked a couple of Christmas presents in too but mainly shopped for me...oh the sheer indulgence...so Good!!!

Have a Christmassy weekend planned though, going to put up the tree and create fabulous creations with my new trimmings and a glue gun...bloody going to get covered in glitter I just know it and that's after I get covered in fibreglass going into the loft to get all the deccies down!!!

So have managed to catch up a bit with her space my space, the last two photo prompts were Light and Gift

Light

This is one of the photo`s I took on bonfire night

Gift

Me on my birthday...where I received quite a lot of alcoholic gifts!!!

Off to prepare myself for the onslaught of glitter tomorrow