Goodness Gracious...Gorjussness....

Again....

Sorry I am going to bore you to tears with this stamp I swear but I really love her, I am about to whizz over to Funky Kits and drool over some more stamps but I can`t make up my mind which ones to get...decisions decisions!!!

So I created this mini book...I say mini its about 8x8 inches square...for a couple of my classes this week. That was fun when we ran out of double sided tape I can tell you!!!

Book closed and handmade paper rose...



Book Open....



Close up of the left side....with more hand made paper roses




And close up of the right side with yet more handmade paper roses and my little Gorjuss herself...



So maybe I am going to try another stamp, honestly you would think I only owned one...;-)

Tomorrow I have a demo for Kars over at Hawarden so if you are in the area come and say Hi and find out all about the Cricut and the Slice machines.

Off to enjoy my Friday afternoon off...

Asda...Done
Washing...Done
Housework...done
Can only mean its time to scrap!!!

I can tell you are Impressed!!!

Well this can`t be bad can it, another blog post this week!!!

I have the afternoon off work, had a class this morning and have another tonight but a couple of hours off in between cant be bad huh?

Been meaning to blog a couple of layouts that I have recently completed and a couple of pieces of jewellery too...

Here are the layouts, which surprisingly for me are all 12x12, quite liking this size at the moment and makes a change from the 8x8 that I usually do:

A couple of Ella...

Lady....All of a sudden all grown up!!!



Teen...Not quite but practicing hard!!!



One of Ella and I...

Chill...All we could do during the big freeze!!!



And a couple of Mia from her birthday party...

Laugh!!!



Birthday Girl!




I have missed scrapbooking, not had one of those evenings for a long time where papers are hiding my scissors and I have various embellishments stuck to me...I do have a nice tidy desk now though as I spent the day on Tuesday "sorting" it out...I would post a picture but I have just finished scrapping the "Laugh" layout above and quite honestly its embarrassing!!!

Had a couple of jewellery commissions to do lately, including these...

How gorgeous are those beads?



And finally sourced some spacer tubes which didn`t cost the earth, aren`t they pretty.



Well I am off now for a cup a soup...hooked on them at the moment.

Simply Gorjuss....

My Gorjuss Stamp!!!

I did warn you I would over use it, created three more cards this afternoon with her...

I am off to buy more Gorjuss stamps!!!

April Adventures!!!

I`m finding it hard to believe that yet again it has been almost a month since I blogged, this month has just flown by at an alarming rate!!!

I have been here there and everywhere, you should see all my train tickets, I have had a Kars demo every Saturday this month too, from Carlisle to Knutford, Poulton-Le-Flyde to Northwich, got one more next weekend then I have a whole weekend off.

Also did my first Jewellery Making workshops for Anne-Marie over at Cardcraft Plus in Preston this month, had a really good time and met some lovely ladies and hopefully that's going to be a regular class too. Have you been to the shop...OMG its full of gorgeous lushness, not just craft items either, and its HUGE!!!

So I am going to blog more, even if only a quick post, I have to now because I have been giving out my card to people at my Demonstrations so have to keep up to date and organised!!!

Here are just two little cards that I used on my Demo yesterday in Northwich, loving those stamps, had them a while and I can see them being stamped to death over the next week because I have also bought some more Tim Holtz distress inks and they pair beautifully with them...

And finally...am I the only crafter in the world that doesn`t use Cosmic Shimmer...well I finally gave in yesterday and bought a bottle...just to see what all the fuss is about...okay I am off to play!!!

You Missed Me?

Wow I can`t believe I have gone so long without a blog post!!!

The last six weeks have been a complete and utter Rollercoaster ride...think the Big one at Blackpool on a much larger scale!!!

Won`t go into all the drama of each episode of the new soap opera "Estenders" but believe me if I had to screen write I would have enough material for several years worth of half hour episodes!!!

I am currently "on Holiday" I use the term loosely because I am exhausted...I can`t wait to get back to work for a rest, I had to do a girly shopping trip with Mia today, who turned 9 a couple of weeks ago, she had birthday money burning holes in every pocket she owns so we hit the hell factory...ooops I mean the Build a Bear...40 bloody quid for a dog...dressed in a pink hoody, Jeans and roller skates!!! Do you know how many items of clothing I could purchase in Primark for 40 quid!!!

So we welcome "Scruff" to our house...the only bonus I can think of is that we wont have to take this dog for walks...obviously because she has skates!!!



Mia and I have just about removed all the bloody fluff from out clothes too...who`s idea was it to wear black today!!!

Okay if you are out and about in Carlisle on Bank Holiday Monday come and say Hi to me at Houghton Hall Garden Centre where I shall be demonstrating the Slice, Cuttlebug and Cricut die cutting machines in the Craft Shop.

Happy Easter everyone

Little Miss.....

....Attitude!!!

Ella...All grown up, not my little miss anymore!!!

Hours and hours in front of the mirror experimenting with hairstyles...hair up, hair down, Jabbering away on the phone with her girlie Friends, Texting with her 3 gazillion free texts she seems to qualify for every month and generally getting taller by the day...love these quick cheeky pics I took of her this week...





This is a layout I finished earlier this week too, love this close up of Mia in her santa hat...



Been a busy and stressful week this week, but I have a completely free weekend...so far, and a couple of days off next week too...half term...got to love teaching!!!

So far this morning though I have redesigned and updated my business cards and they are on their way to me, checked and replied to my emails, requested some information from the Body Shop about becomming a Party Demonstrator, been to a couple of the parties and it looks like fun so maybe considering it, planned my new courses that start after half term, entered a free draw to win £500 in Primark vouchers, poked a couple of people on Facebook and had two cups of coffee...and its only 7am...So I am off back to bed for a weekend lie in!!!

NO WAY....

...Really...is it...Only Tuesday!!!

Because the week I am having so far feels like it should be at least Thursday night!!!

So much for the blogging daily, that's not happened either...sorry...All the best intentions and then.... Insomnia sets in.... that I am awake between 1am and 4am every night feeling, or the oh my god is it only ten minutes since I looked at the clock in the dark last...and now I know I am going to see every hour before I wake up...It`s truly horrible...not only the frustration in the middle of the night because you know you have to get up in the morning but also during the day when you are sleep deprived and your mood is dramatically effected by the lack of sleep...!!!

Sunday evening however I completed these 12x12 layouts...

...My Snow Babies...





And...
...Fright Night....




Forgot how much I love doing 12x12...and as soon as I have tidied my desk from completing these layouts I promise to do more.

Off to bed now...Quilt calls!!!

Guess who`s back....

Hello People...did you miss me?

I have been a terrible blogger this year so far so a big sorry to my regular readers who find a little time every day to nip on here and read my waffle...I promise more waffle more regularly and maybe a few crafty bits and bobs thrown in for good measure!!!

Had my first demo of the year on Friday over at Inspirations by Cardcraft Plus in Preston, I met some Fabulous Funny and downright zany people...I was in good company there then, and had just the best day, everyone is so friendly in Preston and the new shop is absolutely beautiful, filled with such lushness that I had to sit with my blinkers on for fear of returning home completely bankrupt, pay it a visit if you are in the area...or just go for the day...there is a Ben and Jerry's just around the corner ;-).

So I will be teaching over in Preston on the 14th April, running my first independent jewellery making class...How exciting is that. I even have the sample ready, now that is just far too organised for me and I mustn`t let that happen too often!!!

Been making a few bits of arm candy, a friend and I are planning on doing a craft fair also in April so thought I had better build some stock up...













I made this last week too, I got the idea from the Crafting Springtime gifts book I bought a couple of years ago that has been collecting dust on my bookshelf ever since...along with the Sew Pretty and Crafting Christmas gifts from the same range, have to think of a name for her because Mia thinks she needs a little name plate and I agree that would be pretty cute.




Talking of Mia, she had her hair cut last week...ten inches...yes I have the lock of hair to prove it no decent photograph yet...although took these yesterday on my Blackberry...look sunshine, real sunshine...No coats, no hats, no scarves or gloves....a lovely spring day...

and look at the little guy!!!

He is growing daily...and eating me out of house and home...the little guy turned 14 this week...and has a meeting at school next week to discuss what GCSE options he wants to take...Do they have GCSE`s in eating and playing football,

Okay off now to do some scrapbooking, still got a pile of "snowy" pictures to work through...pretty much like the rest of the population of Britain I imagine...!!!

Be patient!!!

I am trying to sort out my blog, add links and suchlike...
...and...
...then...
I promise to blog more...honest!!!

I HAVE BEEN......

.......STRESSED!!!

Which will explain why I have not blogged for a week!!!

My god, my kids were sent to test me last week!!!

I am not going to go into everything, I wont bore you with all the details but how I didn`t turn grey I don`t know...All is well now though, and I think life is pretty much back to normal...well as normal as it can be in our house anyway!!!

Had a couple of blast from the past moments this week too, had a student turn up at my new Jewellery class last night who used to come to my workshops, thought I had lost touch with her so it was lovely to see her again and I spoke to my old boss today too, who works at the college that Jack attends, it was lovely to catch up with her as she was the one who inspired me to take up teaching and gave me my first teaching job!!!

Have actually done a bit of crafting tonight, the reason I don`t get to blog too much lately is because I am teaching three evenings a week at the moment and Friday is reserved for Wine!!! I actually have mornings off now which is lovely but it`s almost a reversal of lifestyle which is really hard to adapt to, I am working afternoons and evenings and suppose I should be relaxing in the mornings as you would in the evening when you get home from work, but I tend to catch up on housework or emails and paperwork, rather than curl up with a book, so I seem to be super organised at the moment but have had to renew my library books today as I haven`t had time to read them...Rejoined the library when I was forced to stay home from work the week before last because of a few flakes of snow...that is how bored I was, although I love reading, I love books and being able to lose myself in another world so reading for free is fabulous...I am vowing never to accumulate another fine again!!!

So like I said, have actually made some cards tonight...was asked to make a birthday card with a teddy bear on...bought this stamp just before Christmas...



And with the leftovers I made this little tag...



Then I decided I wanted to make another little tag...



Will probably turn those into birthday cards, have a couple coming up soon.

And made this card, its Harry`s Birthday the week after next... so going to add his name and age to that I think and there is a job done!!!



Okay my only evening off until Friday...9pm and I am going to soak in some bubbles!!!

Don`t You just hate it...

...when you wake up at 3am and are still awake at 6am only to have the alarm go off at 7am!!!

Bloody Insomnia...couldn`t even get up because it was too cold and I risked freezing my little arse off.

So am sat here tonight feeling exhausted but warm after the strangest day, the kids finally went back to school this morning after almost a month off, and I felt so damn emotional when I took Mia this morning, almost got a taste of empty nest syndrome I think when I came back and the house was empty...so bad I actually did some paperwork then went into the office at work, although that was to fill in my pay claim so that wasn't bad and I got to catch up with a few people I hadn`t seen since before Christmas.

Then had a new class start this afternoon and met just the most inspirational and amazing lady, and I actually told her it was a privilege to meet her and she said the same to me, very emotional and deep conversations were shared this afternoon and I emerged from my class feeling cleansed and very very lucky.

...WOW...

then did a bit of scrapping tonight, creating this:



Its a bit wonky but hey ho!!!

Also made this with the leftovers....just taken part in a stamped image swap and had this little stamp out and I had forgotten how much I love her...



These I created at the weekend for gifts...pictures aren`t too hot but it is really hard to photograph earrings!!!




And this layout of Harry I did last night...



I took so many photographs of the kids in the snow, I had forty printed at Jessops for free, and I am slowly working my way through scrapbooking them because I want the kids to remember how much fun we had while they were off school and when it snowed, I know that a lot of problems have arose and the handling of a lot of issues were questionable but I had such lovely, possibly once in a lifetime moments that I shared with my kids I want to record that.

Off to bed now, got to catch up on some sleep and possibly need my strength for some shopping tomorrow, tis my day off you know ;-)

Wow I have just realised....

Life is what you make it...if you are feeling bad then your life will feel bad...I woke up this morning with a whole new outlook on life...I am in charge of mine and it feels Goooood!!!

I made some important decisions today...I am not saying each decision was a good decision, in fact the one to change my hair colour was pretty poor as I am convinced I have to now go out tomorrow and buy another hair colour...because orange is orange in whatever light you look at it...but I decided to change my hair colour and I will, if it takes me longer than the 20 minute development time then so be it!!!

I also decided to buy a memory card reader, lost my usb cable for my camera...YES it has totally dissappeared, so if I have the memory card reader I can read memory cards, well not me personally but you know what I mean...and uploaded these tonight....











Being able to upload pictures makes me happy... and the other decisions....watch this space...honestly...

Happy Saturday everyone.

I had forgotton....

Two things...

1...How much I love to Scrapbook and
2...How much I love Vodka and Blackcurrant

Luckily I have done more scrapbooking tonight than vodka and blackcurrant or this could be a very worrying blog post!!!

I think I mentioned the 50 free prints you get from Jessops when you register...well Jack very kindly went to collect mine yesterday...he has a free bus pass and is young so can brave the snow!!!

50 free prints...all of me and the kids in the snow from before Christmas...which is ironic now because snow is quite obviously the norm now!!!

So much so Snow days are normal and working days are a thing of the past...the kids have been emailed school work because their schools are still closed and today was the first day I received post since before Christmas...and funnily enough one of the letters was a credit card bill I see the banks are unaffected by the snow!!!

Okay three layouts completed tonight and before you look please please accept my apologies for the appalling photos...blackberry...beautiful but only 3 mega pixels...lost my USB lead for my camera...will be purchasing said USB lead tomorrow...promise!!!

Snow Sisters...



Snow Baby...



Cool Dude...



Off to enjoy the Blackcurrant ;-) xxx

Beyond a joke....it`s SNOW use....

...I got to stay home again tomorrow!!!

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

I love my kids to pieces really I do, and usually when I am in the middle of a working week I pray for a day off work but its been 20 days since I have worked....

20 whole days!!!

I love my job, I have always said that and now I really know I do...I am craving adult conversation, so much so I have been striking up conversations with complete strangers...even my kids think I am weird now for they have born witness to this...If I could physically climb walls like Spiderman...I believe I would be doing it right now!!! Even considered kidnapping a dog today so that when I was out "walking the Children" I could strike up conversations with fellow dog owners...

Snow Day Part Deux...The Sequel...

Off now to...I don`t know perhaps sit and watch the Disney Channel with Mia!!!