My UKS challenge!

So today was my turn to set the challenge over on UKS, Scrapdolly asked for volunteers a while back and Id forgotten that Id put my name down!  Anyhow so here is my challenge:

As today is the 26th April, there are 249 days left of the year, use 2, 4, or 9 of something on your layout,

Make and use your own paper - glimmer mists, stamping, doodling etc,

In 1993 The queen opened Buckingham Palace for the first time to the public, so use, red, white and/or blue on your layout somewhere.

and finally some bling!

So if anyone else wants to join in, please feel free and leave a link to wherever your work may be!

The UKS cybercrop has started...

and as I have learnt, you only do the classes that interest you!  Well thats true this time, I didnt do any of the mystery kits stuff as I have refused to buy one each year since the really nasty one!  It didnt look too bad from the work that peeps have done, but I have so many unused kits here, Im taking my chance and using them up on the crop myself.  I have tapped into 2 old scrapagogo kits this morning and am hoping to do more tomorrow!

So I did 2 classes, these were last nights ones, as todays havent grabbed me in the slightest or I dont have the materials!  so here they are:

This is the Angel Of Islington class, Ive used an old picture of my mum and her family on holiday, we hace the pic all cleaned up and reprinted!  Im quite pleased with it and I love using black and white.

And here is the second I completed - Bow Streeet, which was actually the first one, but I didnt have paint free so left it then realised that you didnt have to use paint anyway!  You are meant to have used the lettering as a mask and painted over it and around it then peeled them away, but I like it the way it is.

Its a pic of Lottie about 19 months old in nana's garden pulling up the freshly planted marigolds that nana had just popped in the ground!

So we shall see whether anything else grabs my fancy this weekend I feel, Im not too worried about  points but its nice to get a bit of scrapping done!

A bomb has hit...

my house, or so it looks!  I cant believe how messy it is, could be that I lost a really important letter yesterday and searched high and low for it turning out all the cupboards etc trying to find it!

Welll I did hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyhow, today I need to crack on with some work, so will drop by later!

Bye for now!

OMG What's happened to Docrafts

Now we all love craft forums dont we, Ive been a Docraft forum member for 6 years, but today they have turned it into a pay as you go type site, sure you can stay a member for free and have access to specific areas, or you can start paying £2.50 to acess 'special' bits of the site.  To me thats a slap in the face, I buy their magazines, I spend copious amounts of money on their products in their stockists stores and visit the site daily.

However it was ofline while they performed their changes and tonight I have been on and what am i faced with, advertsing banners that blink horribly at you from people like match.com, do they think all crafters are saddo's that need dating agencies????/  Or catalogue banners that people end up getting in debt when they are only going to visit a crafting site, to me its a complete disgrace, crafting is about crafting not finding a partner or encouraging you to spend money on crafting products, not junk.

Sorry Ill get off my soap box and off to scrapping, looks like UKS will be getting my vote now and not docrafts anymore!

A grey day

where has the sunshine gone? who stole it?  Well its hiding, some place that i can't find it anyhow!

So today we are having lunch with steve, at the moment Lottie is still in her pj's and Im lounging around thinking that I really must get on and do something, Ive written half of my response to the science article and not a lot more as I have been blog hopping and stash shopping, I have just ordered myself another kit, this time from Gottacraft, thought that I would check it out, its quite different to the one that I got from Cleocrafts this month, I feel like some scrapping so Im off, will be back later to show you what I have done and you never know I might get round to uploading some kittie pics too!

Kittens

well not for us, but my folks have picked up this week 2 of the cutest little kitties I ever did see, they are so tidgy!  Will put some pics on later, she has called them Teddy (after grandad - Edward) and Dolly (after my nan!)  How sweet they are.

So today I have spent doing some work, i got my second school file almost up to date, still have some annotations to make on the lesson plans, but Im pretty much there now, so thats all good!  Last night I did 2 ICT reviews/evaluations and today I have read and annotated my science article that I had to do and am about to start on my maths one, I feel like Im winning a little now!  Still have a mountain of work to do, but Im plowing through it, Im hoping that my folks will take Charlotte a few mornings or afternoons this week so I can crack on even more!

Right well Im off as I need to get on an do my maths article, will be back later with pics!!!!

Two posts in one day!

Well I never!

Here are some layouts Ive worked on recently, I dont think that you have seen them!

Here is one from Universal Studios, from the cat in the hat land!  It was the place we were very excited to go, but didnt prove to be the best place as she lost her favourite 'My Little Pony' baseball hat, and didnt she cry that she had lost that hat, well until I purchased her a minnie mouse one that was pink!

Peter Pan and Wendy, this was a classic photo that we didnt think that we would get as Lottie didnt want Peter in the photo because he is a boy and she didnt like boys, so, he hid on the window ledge behind her until the shot was about to be taken and then sat in the background so he got into it!

Here is Lottie with Ariel, this is th first character that she sat with, and swore that she would only have pics taken with the girls - that all changed!!!!

Not sure if I have posted this on here or not, I did this one quite a while ago, but thought that I'd stick it on here anyhow!

My final layout, this one was the first that I did in 2010, it signifys a year of change, I knew 2010 was going to be different and lots of changes were to happen but at that point I didint know what, Im glad that I didn't as I wouldnt have wanted to start the year I dont think!  Anyhow here we are in April and have already have had big changes, Nan and Grandad moved into the nursing home and then Grandad died!  A complete year of change with many more changes to come!!!

I made myself a layout...

now if I could only find the blasted camera I could upload it!

The boys are off to Nottingham tonight to get my car, so Im working flat out to tidy and sort the house out for Steve, seeing as he is doing me a huge favour by driving 3 hours there straight from work and then back!  So downstairs is hoovered and Im about to go find the mop and bucket and get on with that now. 

So today I have managed to complete a page, about Easter this year, we were determined with all the bad things that have happened so far this year, that we would get on and enjoy Easter, and we did, so my layout features my simnel cake, which  just gets better and better each year!!!!!!!  Even if I do say so myself!  I have used my Cleo Crafts kit from this month with a few additions, some cheap shop foam alpha's, some QVC glimmer gems which I picked up on a one time only price (they werent that much cheaper really!) but I love them and some primas flowers from the bigger bag and the big bag!  Im really pleased with it I have to say.   I have to say how much Im in love with these glimmer gems, and having realised that Sarahs Cards LTD stock them in other colours at a bargain price Im even more in love! So the handy little tubes they come in can be restocked at half the QVC price, I do like the jewel picker that you get with the QVC set!

So Im of to get on with my floor mopping and house tidying uping thingys that i need to do, I think I shall just leave my craft room door shut though as Im not brave enough to tidy that one up at the moment and then get tea a cooking so its ready for when Steve walks through the door so he can eat and go!  Have a lovely afternoon all, and thanks for stopping by!

A lazy sunday afternoon

has been spent at home doing very nothing!  I am still carless as the part that we ordered never arrived despite being told it would one more than 5 occaisions!  So a dispute has been opened with the credit card company and we have found somewhere in Nottingham that will fix it, so yesterday the tow truck picked it up and its arrived there, will be fixed tomorrow, then tomorrow evening there is a very long drive to be had there and back to pick it up!  But it will be fixed!!!!!  Its been so long Ive forgotten what it is like!

I have started doing an album from our spain holiday in 2003, pre Lottie!  Its been started for quite a while now, but I thought that I would get on with it as its a cheerful, bright colourful album and after all the gloom of the last few weeks I could do with some cheering up.  I bought some american craft mini albums from QVC last year and have a tonne of them still to use, you got something like 17 of the things!  And although I have tried making a dent in them there are still about 11 to use!

I have a mountain of coursework to plough through as well as hand in date for my subject knowledge files is 6th May and currently I have a shedload to do on them!!!!  So not funny, I want to get all my easter pics scrapped and do a grandad album too, I think that the chances of that are highly unlikely though this side of the summer!  Ah well I can dream!

I have a morning to myself on Tuesday as Lottie is going to a party, Im hoping that I can use that time to study and achieve something!  Who knows!!!!!!

Yesterday

was one of the sadest ever for me, it went well though, the flower garden that we chose looked fabulous done in red and white (Brentford Football Clubs colours and Grandads team!)  I stumbled with my poem and Steve had to take over, but when it got to my own words, I managed to compose myself and say what I needed, I was proud of myself!

A weight has been lifted and we had such a lovely sunny day, he would have pleased by that!  My folks are coping better and my nan, Im not sure about, her parkinsons seems to make her a little emotional and she has an infection which meant that she was not on good form yesterday.

One of the carers in the home came to the funeral, she is a lovely lady, Ive seen here there many a time, she told my mum that my grandad was waiting for my nan, he knew he was ill, but wanted nan with him.  We knew that all along, we knew he was just waiting for her to go into the home and be settled.  A sad revelation, but so true.  We appreciate the honesty of the carer, and thank her!

It was lovely to see the family united, and know that we all shared such good memories of him was lovely, both my dad and my brother spoke many true words and had lots of people in tears (so did I!) including my uncle, whom I didnt realise was so cut up!  Distance does that though doesnt it, you dont understand it sometimes, but distance isnt necessarily a healer.

I would like to thank all those who came yesterday, all those who sent special wishes to the family and to me and all those behind the scene that ensured the arrangements, service and wake went well.  It was a great send off for a great man!  I love you Gramps!  Sleep well with the angels.xxx

Goodbye Grandad!

So here we are, on one of the hardest days of my life so far, the day we say goodbye to grandad.  I found this lovely poem that Im going to read about grandad's garden and I have a few of my own memories to add.

I just hope that I am strong enough today!  Im really pleased with the order of services that I made, proud in fact, my last tribute to a wonderful Grandad!

My creations!

This is the picture that I have made of my grandparents.

This is the picture that I made for my Parents.

This is the picture that I have made for my nan.

Easter traditions

Every year we do pretty much the same for Easter and this one was no different!

Simnel cakes had to be baked, one for us and one for Grandma and Grandad too!

Rice crispie cakes with butter, dark chocolate, mini eggs and golden syrup had to be made

And finally that Easter Egg hunt in Nana's garden.

To top it all off we have a yummy roast dinner together and a high tea of little sandwiches, cakes and easter biscuits!  Yum!  Why can't it be Easter Sunday more often!

So what Easter Traditions are alive and kicking in your home?

Been and gone!

So Easter has come and gone, did you get lots of eggs?  I got one!  Thats enough though.  Today Im finishing off the funeral booklets for friday, gotta go and pick up the photo's for the front of them soon, Im really pleased with them, will post a piccie when they are done.

Ive also got to get around to posting some pics of the egg hunt that we did the other day and some of my creations that I have been working on!  Lets see if I can get round to doing this today!

And the winner is.....

There were 192 eggs in the tin - 79 mini eggs and 113 mini mini eggs!

I think that makes

                                      SUEBUBBLES

the closest, so send me your addy and Ill get your little prize in the post.

a little Easter competition

When I was out in the States last year I got hold of some yummy prima tins, so Ive filled them with mini eggs and mini, mini eggs and the person who guesses the correct number (or closest number) will win a little parcel of stash, including prima's, ribbons and buttons and whatever else I find, so leave your answers below!

Simnel cakes a cooking!

Well both cakes are in the oven now, one for us and one for my folks! Yum, Ive made round ones this year and Ill posta piccie when they are finished! Normally I make rectangular ones, but its all change this year and traditionally they are usually round arent they!

Check back later for a little Easter competition, if you fancy winning a little pile of stash, prima's, ribbons and buttons! Will be posting it as soon as I can find my sd card reader!!!!

I survived...

the second term of my GTP training, now all I have to do is finish this third and final term! So 2 down and 1 to go! The final term being the hardest though, 4 days teaching a week and a million and one other things to do!

Anyhow yesterday we chose flowers for Gramps funeral they are a little unconvetional anda little bit quirky but they hav so much meaning to my brothers and I that they were absolutley perfect! We wanted something that showed the main passions in his life,his garden and when we were younger it was all about a neatly mowed lawn and a well kept fishtank, I may see if I can find a garden gnome on ebay in the dolls house section as thats the only thing missing from this tribute that I would like!

I got my first Cleocrafts scrapbook sub kit this month and was pleased with it, there are some lovely papers that will be perfect for the annual easter egg hunt pages, I had to give up scrapagogo due to the cost, but wanted to keep a sub somewhere, and at £8.99 these are perfect, I also want to say how lovely Louise is to deal with! So thank you so much for all your help this month, promise i wont be such a pain next time!

Anyhow Im off to surf as I want a nice layout to lift for some box frames I bought from here.
They were fab value and extremely fast on their delivery too! Thank you!