scrappin' and alterin'

Little girl, big haircut

2008-04-23T21:23:00.002+01:00

After months of pestering me Sian has had her hair cut into a bob with a fringe.

bottom row....

2008-04-23T21:06:00.003+01:00

Vintage Number 7, Vintage Alphabet and Creatures of Magic/Fantasy

middle row....

2008-04-23T20:56:00.004+01:00

Vintage Seaside, Vintage Fairies and Dragonflies

Jigsaw close ups

2008-04-23T20:41:00.001+01:00

Top row - Lurve, Disney Themes for Little Boys and Flower/Butterfly

Altered Jigsaw

2008-04-23T20:30:00.002+01:00

These are my entries for an Altered Jigsaw swap on UKS. Looking forward to getting mine back too :)

Even more LO's

2008-03-07T23:02:00.002+01:00

.... and the rest

2008-03-06T22:10:00.003+01:00

Stamp CJ

2008-03-06T21:55:00.003+01:00

Last year I joined a UKS CJ group where each member circulated a stamp. The finished book then showed each members interpretation of that stamp. These are some of the lovely CJ pages that I received back last week.

Tagged by Diz

2008-03-03T23:01:00.002+01:00

My Middle Name
It's a tag with a difference

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW MY MIDDLE NAME?
Here are the rules:

1. You have to post the rules before you give your answers.
2. You must list one fact about yourself beginning with each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use your maiden name).
3. After you are tagged, you need to update your blog with your middle name and your answers.

4. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and that they need to read your blog for details.)

So here goes....

J - Just me. What you see is what you get - like it or not!
A - Artistic - yeah right! I like playing with paper, ink and paint - whether that's artisitic or not is your call.
Y - Young at heart, or should that be just a big kid!
N - Never satisfied. I always think I could do better and my best is never good enough.
E - Encouraging. I will ALWAYS encourage my daughter to try new things - if she doesn't like them then that's fine but she needs to try new things before she can make that decision. This is something that I was never allowed to do - in my childhood, if you tried something you were forced to stick at it, whether you like it or not!

Ok - I need to tag 5 people so....

Gallifrey, Polgara, Tree, Sally and Julie C. Have fun!

More recent pages...

2008-03-03T22:57:00.001+01:00

Some craft at last......

2008-03-02T19:54:00.002+01:00

CJ time again

2008-01-20T19:58:00.002+01:00

This time it's another 'Just One Stamp' CJ.

The stamp was from Zettiology and belongs to Efemera.

It doesn't show very well but the background is shimmery IRL. It was created using 4 shades of ink spritzers with Brilliance Rocket Red Ink around the edges.

Cleo

2008-01-09T23:23:00.000+01:00

Tonight we said a final goodbye to my cat Cleo. She has been a big part of my life for over 19 years.

Anyone that says cats have no personality had never met Cleo, she had plenty of it, and will be sadly missed.

2007-11-16T00:04:00.000+01:00

Green sparkly things....

2007-11-14T23:28:00.000+01:00

We finally gave in about 4 weeks ago and let Sian have her ears pierced - it only took 2 years of almost weekly pestering LOL!

She was really brave and didn't flinch when they did the first ear and said she didn't even feel the send one!

Only 2 more weeks before she can change her studs - shame she thinks she has to keep them in until Christmas LOL!

Competition time.....

2007-10-21T18:46:00.000+01:00

There were 19 girls in Sian's group. The club did well overall.

No medals for Sian but a fantastic day all round.

2007-07-24T21:41:00.001+01:00

Naturally Smart

You're a naturally smart person. Your intelligence comes to you naturally, rather than from instruction - and you are better with applied or more real-world things... which comes in handy, here in the real world.

20% applied intelligence
40% natural intelligence

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

AWOL

2007-07-22T22:20:00.001+01:00

I'll be back in a few days LOL!

Teacher's pressies

2007-07-18T21:01:00.000+01:00

It's that time again - last day of school tomorrow, last day of Infants. Sian has really loved her Teacher this year and wanted to give her something really special. A few weeks ago we went into town and she chose lots of little bits - lip balm, bath bomb, bubble bath, mini box of Thornton's choccies etc and decided that I needed to make something pink and sparkly to put them in. Hope she likes them as the Treasure boxes and cards take absolutely hours to stamp, cut out, glitter (in 5 colours) and layer - but they're worth it.

Sian then decided that I needed to make a blue version for her Teaching Assistant.

Tagged

2007-07-15T22:12:00.000+01:00

I've been tagged by Gallifrey to list 7 weird facts about myself, so here goes...

1. I'm absolutely terrified of frogs. Real ones, cartoon one, Kermit - they're all the same to me. Evil!

2. I'm obsessive about keeping my craft room tidy. I just can't seem to do anything in there when it's messy.

3. My favourite colour is blue but it's probably the colour I find hardest to use when I'm scrapbooking

4. I'm totally obsessed with Nick Heyward (and have been since I was about 8 or 9 years old)

5. I embroidered my own wedding dress. It took over 9 months of working at least 2 hours per week night and 4 hours a day at the weekend.

6. I've been a bookworm since I was a little girl and it seems that my DD is taking after me in that respect

7. As a child I was so skinny that my mum had to alter all of my clothes so they fittd, particularly at the shoulders, Don't know what's happened but I've certainly made up or it now LOL

I tag Sally and Diz :)

What do you get....

2007-07-15T21:57:00.000+01:00

.... if you cross 85 rubber stamps with a microwave?

Answer - a lot more storage space!

The simple pleasures....

2007-07-12T21:09:00.000+01:00

During a brief sunny spell earlier in the week Sian took full advantage and played in the garden. Isn't it nice to know that no matter how many expensive toys she has, she still gets the most pleasure from the simple things in life.

Dragonflies

2007-07-11T18:38:00.000+01:00

DH was out with the camera on Monday and managed to watch a dragonfly hatching. It must have bene a pretty amazing sight to see something so big emerging from something so small.

Puddy Tats

2007-07-09T23:31:00.000+01:00

I've been messing in the garden tonight (during the half hour of sunshine we had!) and managed to get some pics of the cats. Cleo is the Tortoiseshell and she's 19, Turvey is a baby - she's 16 :)

Films :)

2007-07-07T22:25:00.000+01:00

Tag from Sally's blog

It’s been said that allegedly if you’ve seen over 85 movies you have no life. Mark the ones you’ve seen. There are 240 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own blog, paste it in and put x’s by the ones that you have seen. Add them up...

(X) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(X) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
( ) Pirates of the Caribbean 3
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
(X) Neverending Story
(X) Blazing Saddles
(X) Airplane
(X) The Princess Bride
( ) AnchorMan
( ) Napoleon Dynamite
(X) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
(X) 50 First Dates
(X) The Princess Diaries
(X) The Princess Diaries 2:Royal Engagement
(X) Scream
(X) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(X) American Pie
(X) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
(X) American Pie Band Camp
(X) Harry Potter 1
(X) Harry Potter 2
(X) Harry Potter 3
(X) Harry Potter 4
(X) Resident Evil 1
(X) Resident Evil 2
(X) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
(X) The Village
(X) Lilo & Stitch
(X) Finding Nemo
(X) Finding Neverland
(X) Signs
(X) The Grinch
(X) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
( ) Butterfyl effect 2
( ) 13 Going on 30
(X) I, Robot
(X) Robots
( ) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
(X) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
(X) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
(X) Never Been Kissed
(X) Meet The Parents
(X) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
(X) King Kong (original)
(X ) A Cinderella Story
(X) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(X) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
(X) Final Destination
(X) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
(X) Halloween
(X) The Ring (original and European)
(X) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving Christmas
(X) Flubber
( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(X) Practical Magic
(X ) Chicago
(X) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
(X) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
(X) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
(X) The Day After Tomorrow
(X) Child’s Play
(X) Seed of Chucky
(X) Bride of Chucky
(X) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
(X) Nightmare on Elm Street
( ) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(X) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
(X) Bad Boys
(X) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Sleven
(X) Ocean’s Eleven
( ) Ocean’s Twelve
(X) Bourne Identity
( ) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
(X) Bedazzled
(X) Predator I
(X) Predator II
( ) The Fog
( ) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
(X) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(X) E.T.
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
(X) Maid in Manhattan
(X) War of the Worlds
( ) Rush Hour
( ) Rush Hour 2
( ) Best Bet
(X) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(X) She’s All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
(X) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
(X) Ever After
(X) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
(X) Big Trouble in Little China
(X) The Terminator
(X) The Terminator 2
(X) The Terminator 3
( ) X-Men
( ) X-2
( ) X3
( ) Spider-Man
( ) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
(X) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(X) Catch Me If You Can
(X) The Little Mermaid
(X) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
(X) Cruel Intentions
(X) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(X) Shrek
(X) Shrek 2
(X) Shrek 3
(X) Miracle on 34th street
( ) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf’s Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
( ) The 40-year-old Virgin
(X) Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
(X) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(X) Lord of the Rings: Return Of the King
(X) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
( ) Base-ketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(X) Elf
(X) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc
(X) Titanic
(X) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(X) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(X) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(X) Hook
(X) Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
(X) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(X) Waterworld
(X) Kill Bill Vol. 1
( ) Kill Bill Vol. 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
(X) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) The Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
(X) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(X) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(X) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(X) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(X) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks: Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks: The Battle For Endor
(X) The Matrix
(X) The Matrix: Reloaded
(X) The Matrix: Revolutions
(X) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
(X) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal

Phew!!! Not sure how I've managed to watch so many LOL

Long time no blog.........

2007-06-09T22:38:00.000+01:00

Manic few months here - mainly I've started my new job and FIL has been in hospital. Luckily he's home now and slowly recovering :)

I've not done much crafty stuff but have taken plenty of photo's with my fabby new Canon 400D for Cheryl's photo course.

Albert Dock

2007-04-09T22:29:00.000+01:00

My nephews came to stay for a couple of days last week so we visited the Albert Dock and Liverpool Maritime Museum on Friday.

I love the architecture around the Albert Dock - the steel structures, old brickwork, the quirky angles of the buildings - the perfect place for me to have a play with my new camera!

Sian loves spending time with her cousins - they run, play and chatter all day (and night!!!) The noise level reminds me why we made the decision to only have 1 child LOL!

Happy Easter

2007-04-08T17:36:00.000+01:00

Day out

2007-04-03T22:41:00.000+01:00

We had a lovely day out in Wales yesterday. We started off with a brisk walk at Llanfairfechan (it was FREEZING!), lunch at the cafe on the seafront, feeding the ducks and swans in the park and then a short walk on the beach.

After this we drove to Llanberis where MIL and FIL have a house that is currently undergoing renovation - not much progress seems to have happened lately :( We then went for a walk near the lake, Sian and I went to the Museum while DH, MIL and FIL went for a further walk.

After the museum we joined DH for another short walk to the Blue Lady Lake (part of the old quarry) where we spend some time watching bubbles in the lake being created by 2 Divers. After a short while we watched them emerging - Sian was absolutely fascinated as the bubbles grew larger. The lake is 60ft deep so it was a while before we could make out the shape of the divers.

Sian was delighted when the Divers let her try on their face masks and then posed for a photo with her.

The day was rounded off by a drive home through Betws-y-Coed and a pub. The perfect end to a lovely day :)

Birthday Blooms

2007-04-02T07:19:00.000+01:00

These are just some of the gorgeous flowers I had for my birthday on Thursday. DH spoilt me with the most amazing bouquet, MIL brought me some Tulips and Sian gave me some Daffodils (no picture)
I adore flowers and would love to be able to fill the house with them every week - maybe one day LOL

Furry friend

2007-04-01T21:24:00.000+01:00

Last weekend we eventually caved in and bought Sian her much longed for Hamster. She was so thrilled in the thought that she was now big enough to have a pet of her own to look after.

Hours were spend browsing various shops to find jus the right cage where the hanster would be happy, safe and have fun. Toys, bedding, sawdust and food were purchased - and eventually the perfect hamster was chosen.

Say hello to 'Toffee'. Sorry for the awful photo's but it's a nigthmare trying to get a shot of it :(

Mother's Day 2007

2007-03-22T23:43:00.000+01:00

I had a wonderful Mother's Day this year. As we were decorating Sian's bedroom we had put her bed into our room over the weekend so she was up and about really early but I wasn't allowed out of bed until she said...

Sian (helped by daddy) brought me breakfast in bed. Cup of tea, bowl of cocoa pops, a slice of turkey (!), a cheese triangle (!!), 3 mini eggs and an After Eight mint - it was definately an interesting combination LOL!

I also had some lovely presents (flowers, chocolates, a strange wooden puzzle thingy and a red jelly!) as well as a day full of hugs and kisses - what more could I want :-)

Sian made me a beautiful card in school. It had a hyacinth on the front and this is what she wrote:

"To Mummy,

Thank you for being the best mummy in the world

I will put hearts in your hearts

because you will be mine for ever

if I am yours forever.

Lots and kits of love

from Sian"

soggy eyes all round in our house on Sunday morning....

So long.....

2007-03-21T22:00:00.000+01:00

Can't believe it's so long since I've last blogged - life has been pretty hectic for the last few weeks but seems to be calming down now (finally).

Quick run through of what we've been upto:

Sian is about to lose her 2nd baby tooth - it's dangling and wiggling LOL!

We've almost finished decorating her bedroom. Walls are painted, new furniture in, new bedding on and new curtains are up. The only things left to do are hang the new white blind and paint some accent circles on the walls. Sian absolutely adores her new room and so far, it's remained tidy LOL! (The pictures were taken before the curtains were up)

Work has been crazy. The offices are now empty of all furniture, carpets cleaned and walls re-painted. I'm now located in the factory and just passong time until redundancy on 5th April. The lads are all busy doing the rectification work and I get the job of supervising them LOL!

I've had a few job interviews over the last few weeks. I've been offered a new job today which I'm really excited about - out of them all this was the job I wanted.

Decorating should continue next week - our bedroom this time. Paint is bought but inpiration hasn't yet arrived.

We're off to look for a new camera on Monday :)

Tooth Fairy time

2007-02-27T00:08:00.000+01:00

Sian is expecting a visit from the Tooth Fairy tonight :)

This morning, at the age of 6 years and 6 months (exactly to the day!), she lost her first baby tooth. After months of wiggling and jiggling she woke up to find her wobbly tooth was missing. A few minutes of mass panic followed until the missing tooth was discovered on her bedroom floor LOL! No longer will she be the only child in Year 2 with a full set of baby teeth.

I hope the Tooth Fairy remembers to visit tonight......

Creative Photography

2007-02-26T00:26:00.000+01:00

Spent a fabulous day yesterday on a 'Creative Photography and Scrapbooking' course.

The day started with a theory class with Kirsty where we learnt about white balance and the difference it can make to your photo's. This was followed by a practical class with Kirsty learning how to take those gorgeous shots where the subject is in focus and the background is blurred. We all then had a photo taken by Kirsty, so I can now say that I've been 'Kaptured by Kirsty' LOL!

Then I had a practical class with Natalie learning about how to use shutter priority to capure movement. I only had limited success with this technique but the class was amazing - Natalie is such a natural teacher.

After lunch we did a LO class with Kirsty using glossy accents on acetate. The final class of the day was a totally gorgeous canvas using the photo taken by Kirsty earlier in the day. This class was amazing, I loved it (probably becuase it was all painty and inky LOL!). It was the first time Debbie Nicholas had ever given a class but again, she was fantastic, a natural teacher!

The only problem now is that I NEED a better camera now......

I had a great day- learnt new things, did some amazing classes with great company and we ate chocolate cake - what more could a girl want LOL!

Valentine post

2007-02-13T21:41:00.000+01:00

Huge thanks today to the lovely Lori for my gorgeous altered valentine swap - I love it :)

Family

2007-02-12T16:56:00.000+01:00

UKS Blog Prompt: Family Matters - what is your background, are you part of a big or small family, are you close? how often do you see your family, and is there anything you would like to improve or change about your family life?

Family is a really important thing to me. DH and DD are my life - I wouldn't be me without them :)

Myself and DH have been together since I was 15. I can't imagine us not being together (well, most of the time anyway!) and he is also my best friend. DD is just a total little treasure (again, most of the time!).

I've got 2 sisters. R is 6 years younger and L is 9 years younger. Growing up myself and L were very close but now we really have very little in common. We have such different outlooks on life, ideas on bringing up children, work ethics - everything really! Although she only lives over the other side of the Mersey (about 3 miles) we rarely see each other and don't even text hat often.

As aduts R and I now have the closeness that we never had growing up. Looking back I can now see that as a teenager I really resented having a 7 year old hanging round me, cramping my style but having a toddler sister was somehow 'cute' - crazy I know, but that's teenagers for you! R now lives in Manchester (about 20 miles away) and we try to meet up every couple of weeks (at least once a month if not more) and we chat/text several times a week. As we get older we are becoming more similar.

Parents are a totally different issue! My parents divorced about 5 or 6 years ago. My mum died 2 years ago but I can't say that any of her daughters felt close to her. During the last few years of her life she had a number of 'issues' and instead of allowing us to help she did everything possible to push is all away. I guess in the end she got her wish!

Dad is remarried and lives in Thailand. He comes over about once a year but other than that we don't really have much of a 'relationship'. He has a new life now and is only in contact wth any of us when he wants something.

My in-laws are total treasures. They look after DD on a regular basis and are always there if I want a chat. Don't get me wrong, they drive me absolutely potty but I'd be lost without them.

Non-crop day

2007-02-11T00:49:00.000+01:00

Sian is still poorly so I had to miss Chorley crop today :( I was hoping to just go for the afternoon once DH was home from work but DD wasn't happy about me leaving her with daddy - she really does know how to lay on the guilt trips LOL! The again, I'm sure if I'd gone then I would have spent all afternoon wondering how she was so it's probably just as well I statyed at home.

Instead of cropping we snuggled on the sofa and watched High School Musical again. Hopefully she will be feeling better tomorrow so she can go to her friends birthday party at a new place called 'Underwater Street' in Liverpool - it looks fantastic and she will be so disappointed if she's not upto it....

ATC CJ

2007-02-09T21:38:00.000+01:00

DD is still poorly so despite taking a day off work I've got nothing to share as I've been playing Florence Nightingale all day.

Today's pic is my entry in an ATC CJ with a theme of Childhood

Nomal service will resume shortly.....

2007-02-09T09:36:00.000+01:00

Off today as Sian is poorly again :( Hopefully she will be feeling better later so I can have some play time.

I had a really productive evening last night - Vintage ATC's for Tanda Stamps Feb swap, Valentine Swap at Alter Native, added a bit more to a CJ cover, birthday card for my nephew and a birthday card for one of DD's friends and added my bits to an Altered Hat Swap at Alter Native! Can't remember last time I managed to get so much done in one go LOL!

CJ's

2007-02-07T22:57:00.000+01:00

Busy creating CJ's at the moment. I've got 3 new ones starting this month and not one of them is ready yet.... 2 have the covers half done and the 3rd is not even started yet so I've got nothing new to show today so instead I'll post a scrapbook page that I don't think has been on here before :)

ATC's

2007-02-07T00:30:00.000+01:00

Quick post tonight to show you some ATC's. They are for the first monthly swap over at the Tanda Stamps forum - the monthly theme was Lavender and Lace

Medallion card

2007-02-03T23:20:00.000+01:00

I've been asked to make a special 60th birthday card for Sian's friend's nan. The only brief I was given was 'sparkly but not yellow' - not much to go on there!

She is very young, fun loving and vibrant so a beautiful, sparking medallion card seemed the way to go. I love making these cards (when I have the time) and the use of a matching box makes them that much more special looking - ideal for that special birthday :)

DT final

2007-01-31T23:12:00.000+01:00

Blogger hasn't been letting me in for the last few days but it's obviously decided to 'play nicely' tonight LOL!

The ribbons arrived from Natalie last week for my DT final. I've really struggled with this one... The colours and quantities seemed much better suited to cardmaking or scrapping so it was a struggle trying to do something altered! The actual ribbons were gorgeous - a mix of orange, yellow and green - but I found the half metre lengths very difficult to work with. I'm not sure I'm entirely happy with the finished item (wine bottle gift wrap) but it's too late now as it's been submitted!

IKEA day

2007-01-28T20:04:00.000+01:00

Myself and DD had a trip around IKEA this afternoon to check out things for her bedroom. Good job we did really as everything we had chosen on the catalogue was just not right LOL!

We did manage to get a net canopy for above her bed but that was it - amazing, I normally come out with a full trolley and a very large bill!

New colour scheme

2007-01-25T22:01:00.000+01:00

It's about time Sian had a full size wardrobe as her trousers are all dragging along the bottom of her teeny-tiny child sized wardrobe.

A new wardrobe means re-arranging the furniture, which also means buying a new bed as her HUGE cabin bed (which seemed like such a good idea at the time LOL) is just so big and overpowering in her not-so-huge bedroom.

I've also managed to convince DH that since we're replacing all of the furniture it would be a shame to leave the same old carpet (complete with Ribena stain) when we could easily throw down a laminate floor :) He seemed OK at this point so I thought I might as well totally push my luck and suggest that we redecorate at the same time - that didn't go down so well!!!!

"We did it less than 18 months ago" he grumbles and then I throw down the trump card....
...
...
...
...
...
"Ah yes darling, but don't you remember? When we decorated YOU told your 5 year old daughter that she could paint a wall, all on her own - that wall is currently hidden behind the huge cabin bed but will be on view when her furniture is moved!!!"

With this, he clearly remembers the absolute horrors that are hidden behind the bed! you can imagine - a 5 year old totally let loose with a large paint brush and a pot of purple paint....

RESULT - we get to decorate too :) as long as I agree to wait until Easter.

Sian has already been having a think about her new colour scheme. It's currently lilac and apple green (you'll have to trust me, it's much nicer than it sounds). Her favourite colour is lime green so that is definately NOT happening!

She is at that awkward in-between age now - getting a bit old for 'character' themes but not really old enough for a more grown up style. We've decided on beech laminate flooring (to match downstairs), white wooden furniture and predominantly white wall - Sian gets to chose the rest!

She has decided on a colour scheme of orange and hot pink - pretty sophisticated choice for a 6 year old! Good choice, Sian :) She's already spotted 2 duvet covers in Argos (great prices so I'm not arguing on that!) - both have a white background, 1 has large flowers in orange and hot pink and the other has large spots in orange and hot pink. Apparently she is also having white roller blinds (blackout variety of course, so she will sleep beyond 6am!) and orange curtains. Not sure where I'm going to find orange curtains so let's hope Fablon have a bright orange dye in their current range...

And then someone (guess who gets this job!) is going to paint large flowers on the walls!!! Somehow, can't see DH getting that job! Sunday, so I've been informed, we're going to Ikea to check out the accessories, not that I'll ever grumble about a trip to Ikea :)

Bet you can't guess who rules the roost in our house LOL!

Altered Canvas

2007-01-23T20:07:00.000+01:00

I set myself a challenge at the start of this year to have more faith in my own scrapping and altering abilities. I decided that as part of this I would either submit for a design team or submit to a magazine.

Last week there was a DT call for a ribbon shop called Ben Madigan Crafts. The brief was to design and submit one item using ribbon - either a card, layout or altered item. I decided that I might as well start my new challenge resolution early and submit.

Saturday was spent getting all inky and messy creating an altered canvas for submission. DH wasn't too sure about the finished canvas but I was pleased with it - and I guess that's what really counts.

I was delighted, and amazed, this morning to find out that I've been shortlisted for the DT :)

Natalie is now sending me a parcel of ribbons that I have to use to create something with. The only hint she's giving is "think freshly cut grass and daffodils" so I'm guessing the ribbons
will be green and yellow..... Hopefully once the ribbons arrive I will be struck by inspiration.

Excuse the white edges - it was still a bit wet when I took the photo!

Jack's back....

2007-01-22T21:08:00.000+01:00

After what sems like an eternity the new series of 24 started last night - a whole 2 hours of Jack :D

9pm Sunday evening and life in our house STOPS. No-one would dare phone me or think about coming round - it's MY time, got it LOL!

Crop LO's

2007-01-20T20:38:00.000+01:00

Finally managed to photograph the LO's completed at last week's crop :)

I love being home at the weekends and actually seeing daylight LOL!

Today I've been making funky foam flowers with Sian :) She has such a fantastic imagination and a really good eye for colour - can't wait to see what she can create when she's a bit older!

Busy little bee...

2007-01-17T21:24:00.000+01:00

... that's me! Still not had time to take pics of LO's done at the crop, the world ironing mountain needs climbing again and Sian's got the grumps!!!!

Job interview days for me tomorrow - wish me luck!

Cropping day

2007-01-15T00:34:00.000+01:00

Had a fantastic day at the new Warrington crop (DH took DD swimming). Managed at do 3 x SLO and 1 x DLO - just need to add the journalling tomorrow - so should have some bits to post over the next few days :)

Thanks to all the girls for a lovely day

Crafty play day today

2007-01-13T17:42:00.000+01:00

I've had a lovely afternoon sat in my craft room with my gorgeous daughter. We've just been chattering, snuggling up, giggling, eating chocolate and creating - what more could I want?

I've been catching up with some swaps for UKS - serendipity squares and Oracle cards, while DD has been making aliens out of wooden pegs, pom-poms and pipe cleaners. She has such a vivid imagination and creates the most wonderful stories that keep me amused for hours.

All of the aliens have names and different 'roles' within their world! Once she's finished playing with them I'll try to get a couple of pics :)

Check this out....

2007-01-13T00:27:00.000+01:00

I've been meaning to post this link for a while as I check out his site most days LOL!

Those that know me well know all about my complete obsession with this gorgeous man. Go check for yourselves and listen to his amazing voice....

http://www.myspace.com/nicholasheyward

Scraplift....

2007-01-11T22:42:00.000+01:00

This DLO is a Scraplift for the challenge in the last issue of TSBM. I've never done a Scraplift before so decided it was about time I did....

I enjoyed doing it but still have the feeling that scraplifting is a bit of a cop-out

Geisha ATC CJ

2007-01-10T22:34:00.000+01:00

The ATC CJ on UKS is now about nearing it's end date, only 3 more posting to go :)

My theme was anything connected to sea/underwater and my original entry was based on Mermaids. Really looking forward to getting the completed CJ back as I want to add some more bits and pieces to my own entry.

This months CJ has just been posted out. The theme was Orienal/Geisha, one of my favourite subjects, so it was a pleasure to work on. The previous entries all seemed to be along the same lines - small patterned oriental backing paper, single Geisha image on each ATC and a metal charm. I struggled to find something that would co-ordinate with all of the previous entries but still be that little bit different.

Not sure if I managed it but I was pleased with the end result.

No news....

2007-01-09T23:21:00.000+01:00

... to share today so I'll just add another LO!

Can you tell I'm really trying to post every day....

Recent fave LO

2007-01-08T23:40:00.000+01:00

Just thought I'd share a recent favourite LO.

I spent a few hours at my sister's house just before Christmas as we wanted to take some recent picture's of Sian and her cousins. It's hard to get any pictures of them together as they are all little bundles of energy LOL. This is mine, as sis's, fave pic of the day.

I love the simplicity of the page

Just for Sally :)

2007-01-07T13:41:00.000+01:00

I bought an unfinished wooden birdhouse this week from Asda (real bargain at only £2.49!). I've spend this weekend altering it to go on Sian's playhouse.

As I'm on a stash diet I've used up lots of old bits and pieces - you know, the stuff you buy when you're first starting out (cardmaking) but just can't imaging ever using now! Lots of rub-on pictures (can't believe I've got so many of them!), acrylics paints (yum) and metallic rub on creams(rarely used).

What do you think - will Sian like it?

Christmas Day pics

2007-01-04T21:10:00.000+01:00

What a long day we had!!! From 1.15am Sian was up every 15-20 minutes asking whether Father Christmas had been. We tried telling her that there was no way he would come before 10am but she didn't believe us, can't think why....

Eventually at 3.45am we gave in and got up as we were clearly not going to get any more sleep LOL!

Christmas Eve pics

2007-01-03T22:23:00.000+01:00

Just realised that I've not yet uploaded any christmas pics so here are a couple of Sian from Christmas Eve

Resolutions for 2007

2007-01-01T14:58:00.000+01:00

Happy New Year to you all - hope it's a fantastic one for you!

I'm not really a believer in making New Years Resolutions as I can never keep them LOL! This year I'm going to make some really simple ones:

1. Continue to make the most of the time I have with Sian
2. Lose some weight. No predictions/promises on how much but I will lose some.
3. Remember the birthdays of my online friends - I always remember RL friends but online ones don't always fare so well....
4. Have some dedicated ME time
5. Do the ironing more regularly so it becomes less of a chore
6. Blog!!!!

Goodies :)

2006-12-04T22:29:00.000+01:00

I've finally managed to upload sosme photo's of the lovely goodies I received in the last week.

A beautiful double-sided doorhanger from Sandra (Gotta Craft), London themed ATC from Sharon, autumnal coloured ATC from Helenpp and a lovely fridge magnet from a swap on UKS.

What an amazing bunch of talented people I know :)

Poorly Sian :(

2006-11-30T23:11:00.000+01:00

Have had a day off work today as Sian was ill last night :(

No sooner had she gone to bed than she was sick, still had a temperature this morning so no school for her today) or work for me, so at least some things are good!

I spent the morning watching Nick Jr on the sofa with her then started painting the downstairs toilet. Another coat of paint is needed on the walls and then it's done.

My dad and his wife fly in to Manchester on 23rd, at some ungodly hour, so need to get some decorating finished before then. The dining room and the hall need doing - hopefully will get the dining room done next week then the hall can wait until after Christmas.

I've received some lovely goodies in the post this week: a sheet of Mica (as a RAK from Helenpp), Fridge Magnet swap from UKS, Altered Doorhanger Swap from UKS and an ATC from Sharonfruit. Will take some pics soon, just need some daylight!

Little poser

2006-11-25T11:56:00.000+01:00

Sian had a no uniform day at school last week. Great debate went on as to what she wanted to wear. The only certainty was that she was wearing her new pink cowboy boots.

The entire contents of her wardrobe came out, some were immediately rejected and others were contemplated - should I wear this pink top, that pink top or the other pink top? Which skirt goes with this pink top, that pink top or the other pink top?

Eventually she came up with an outfit that she was happy with. In fact, so happy that she insisted I took photographs before school. She moved about, wriggled around and jiggled about until she was completely happy with her pose - and only then was I allowed to take a photo! I think my gorgeous little DD is turning into a real poser!

How much.....

2006-11-13T23:38:00.000+01:00

bad luck can one family have??? In the last week and a half we have had:

1. the iron break (not just a normal iron, my super-whizzy steam generator )
2. a huge bill to repair DH's car
3. a massive (and unexpected) bill from the VET
4. the TV blew-up
5. and then at the weekend the Central Heating broke.....

Anyone else want to throw their bad luck my way....

More holiday pics

2006-11-04T22:57:00.000+01:00

Blogger hasn't been playing nicely for the last few days so here are the pics I promised earlier in the week. These so the inside of the 'red' cottage - it's so old-fashioned, it makes you take a step back from the everyday pressures and relax.

Fun little fact....

2006-11-01T00:42:00.000+01:00

HowManyOfMe.com

There are:
4
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Holiday pics

2006-10-31T23:09:00.000+01:00

Thought it was about time I blogged again (before I get told off, again!!!).

We had a fantastic half-term holiday last week in a gorgeous, traditional Welsh cottage. It's a place we're visited many times now.

My MIL is Welsh and her mum was brought up in a tiny village between Caernarfon and Pwllheli. In her day there were 7 cottages, all inhabited by the families of workers from the adjacent quarry. Now there are just 3 cottages remaining, owned by Lady Sainsbury and maintained by a lovely local family. The cottages have such a lovely, welcoming feel to them - probably as they are so old-fashioned, just like stepping back in time by about 50 years.

Each cottage has a colour theme - red, blue or yellow - this applies to the decor, cushions, cutlery, crockery etc. This time we stayed in the red cottage. Thie views are amazing, especially on Thursday when we had an amazing storm.

Here are a few pics (L-R the terrace of cottages, the view from the bedroom on a misty morning, the view from the hillside behind the cottages) more to follow tomorrow.

Diwali cards

2006-10-11T21:45:00.000+01:00

Yesterday afternoon I was asked by Sian's friends mum (Teaching Assistant at school) to make 3 Diwali cards for one of the teachers. Oh, and could I make them by this afternoon......

I 'googled' for some images and managed to pull together 3 cards and the teacher loved them. Just had a phone call tonight from the Teacher asking if I can make another 5 or 6 by the end of the week as one of the other teachers has 'acquired' the ones I made for her. Good job I've not got plans for tomorrow night LOL

Yummy!!!

2006-10-10T10:47:00.000+01:00

After the gymnastics comp we travelled to Blackpool to see the Illuminations. We found a lovely little restaurant for tea and Sian's eyes totally lit up when she saw this strawberry pavlova - how could we resist letting her have it :)

More competition pics

2006-10-09T23:38:00.000+01:00

Blogger wouldn't allow me to upload any more pics in the last post so here are a few from the Vault :)

Sorry about the poor quality photo's. We weren't allowed to use a flash and the shutter speed probably needed increasing :)

Gymnastics competition

2006-10-09T23:23:00.000+01:00

Yesterday saw Sian taking part in her first gymnastics competition - The Cheshire and Merseyside Floor and Vault County Championships.

She did really well for her first comp and had no sign of nerves. She vaulted well (considering she's not heavy enough yet to make the springboard 'spring' LOL) and did amazingly on her floor routine - she remembered 95% of it.

As a whole, the club did really well. All of the girls had a fantastic day, they tried their best and we came away with loads of medals. Roll on Milton Keynes next May.

I've been Tagged

2006-10-06T23:49:00.000+01:00

by the lovely Diz so here goes:

The rules are: List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets.Tag 5 friends and list them. Then, those people need to write on their blogs about 5 weird things, and state the rules, and tag 5 more people.

1. I'm totally freaked out by frogs. Just writing the word on here is making my skin crawl! Even a stupid little cartoon frog makes me cringe..... I know it's irrational, but that still doesn't make it any better.

2. I love Cheshire Cheese and Strawberry jam sandwiches. No other cheese/jam combo does the job

3. I hate wearing socks/tights (even in the winter) and would go barefoot permanenty if I could

4. My craft room has to be totally tidy before I start doing anything - I just can't work in clutter

5. My daughter has to wear knickers that match her outfit. I wonder where she gets that one from.......

As loads of people have now been tagged by this I'm just going to pass it on to 3 - Yllas, Gallifrey and Tree :)

My favourite hunk

2006-09-29T22:42:00.000+01:00

There's a great thread on UKS today prompting everyone to change their avator to their favourite hunk so thought I'd share mine with you - the gorgeous Nick Heyward.

You'd think that by now I'd have outgrown this obsession I've had since I was 10 years old...... not likely!!!!

Tidy Craft Room

2006-09-24T19:21:00.000+01:00

DH and I have spent the whole of today emptying, painting and tidying my little craft room. Who would have thought that a room 6 feet something x 7 feet something could hold so much stuff........

My dad and stepmum are coming over at Christmas time so a massive reorganisation was required so that someone could sleep in there. Out went my beautiful handmade solid pine desk and in came a folding aluminium camping table (easy to put away when we need to get a camp bed out). DH had the idea to take the castors off my storage cube unit and lay it on it's side - voila! extra work surface :)

Still need to sort through and weed out some unwanted bits but I'm really pleased that we managed to get it sorted and painted within the day

What a sad day......

2006-09-18T23:25:00.000+01:00

Today we attended the funeral of a dear friend who I've known since the age of 13/14.

He was such a big influence on my teenage years - I have such a lot to thank him for. If it hadn't been for his encouragement I'm not sure whether myself and DH would have ever gotten together.

Alan - you were a great man, a loyal friend and will be sadly missed. Sleep peacefully mate.

My little girl.....

2006-09-16T09:45:00.000+01:00

Sian came home form gymnastics last night with a letter saying that she'd been selected to enter the next regional gymnastics competition for Floorwork and Vault.

She is SO excited. Roll-on 8th October - hope I can take some pics :)

Playing catch up

2006-09-14T00:07:00.000+01:00

So many things to do, so little time.....

I've been busy catching up over the last few days, including the boring stuff like ironing, as well as the fun stuff :)

The altered bag swap at AN is now under way. Mine was posted off on Monday (no pics taken as I want a surprise when it comes back) and I should receive one to work on in the next day or so. Playing with fabric is such a change for me as I usually only work with paper - hope I can do it without letting anyone down.

I'm such a bad Blogger

2006-09-12T19:58:00.000+01:00

Life seems to have been chaotic for the last couple of weeks. DD is being a total rat-bag and driving us mad...

Warrington crop was on Saturday. As usual, I didn't manage to get much done (too much talking I guess ) so this page is the only thing I have to show for it :)

Final post of the day....

2006-09-03T17:19:00.000+01:00

This is my gorgeous completed canvas from the round robin at AN - huge thanks to Linda, Pat, Julie and Claudia, I love it!

It arrived home a few days ago but disaster had struck. The stupid postman had thrown it over into the back garden and it had sat there, in the heaving rain from 8.30am until I got home form work - not a good idea!

I was so upset and angry when it was found. The jiffy bag was so wet that the ink had washed off the address label and the packaging tape had completely lost it's 'stick'. Even worse was to come - I opened the remains of the jiffy bag to find water sloshing about inside, all of the metal embellies loose inside the bag and blank aptches where the ink had disappeared!

Luckily, after a few days gently drying, a good dollop of Glossy Accents for the stray embellies, and a mixture of inkpads/metallic rubons I hope it now looks as good as new. The frame is still a little wharped but I'm sure it won't be too noticeable once it's on the wall in my craft room.

Thanks again ladies - you are all so talented!

Kids CJ - next round

2006-09-03T15:04:00.000+01:00

Sian was so excited earlier in the week to receive the next round of the Alter Native kids CJ - Ella's Animals and Birds CJ.

One of her favourite days out is a visit to Knowsley Safari Park http://www.knowsley.com/safari/. It is only about 15 mins away from our house and as we have season tickets we are regular visitors so have plenty of photo's.

Sian really enjoyed doing this CJ and would have happily carried on and filled the whole book!

4 letter domino swap

2006-09-03T14:55:00.000+01:00

LMS17A is holding a 4 letter domino swap over on UKS. I was given the word 'FUNK' to do, no brief, no colour scheme.

I love playing with dominoes. The word FUNK to me brings up bright colours and a bit of madness - nothing structured. I've kept these simple - alcohol inks, gold marker on the edges, Basic Grey Holy Cow alpha rub-ons and stitch rub-ons from the new Papermania range. A coating of glossy accents and they done and ready to post on 23rd - how effient is that!

Silly hat

2006-09-03T14:41:00.000+01:00

Last weekend we went to a lovely family party in Wales. MIL's auntie was 80 and it was lovely to meet up with all of the family - we don't see them often enough.

Sian had her little friend to play with, also called Sian. The 'other Sian' is MIL's cousins grandaughter and is just a couple of weeks olden than our Sian. They don't meet up very often but always have a good time when they get together :)

Both Sian's were upto mischief all day. Our Sian decided that the weight from the helium balloon table decorations would make a great hat - what do you think....

Snow White

2006-08-30T08:13:00.000+01:00

Sian has just finished her first Circle Journal entry for a kids CJ group over on Alter Native. The theme was Disney Princess so Sian decided to dress up as Snow White.

She did everything herself - and a great job she's done too

Come travelling with us

2006-08-29T23:55:00.000+01:00

We're off on a Creative Journey - fancy joining us?

A number of us have got together to set ourselves some creative challenges. Prompts will be uploaded once a month so grab yourself a theme and join in the fun.

http://creativejourneygroup.blogspot.com/

Places to spend your money.....

2006-08-29T23:25:00.000+01:00

Just in case you've not found enough places to spend your money....

My lovely mate Diz opened her brand new online shop last week and it's looking fantasic. Go check it out http://www.alteredtreasures.com/

Birthday's galore...

2006-08-29T22:16:00.000+01:00

for us last weekend! DH's birthday was on Friday, Sian's on Saturday and MIL's auntie was 80 on Sunday. I'm feeling all 'partied-out' now.

Despite the weather not being fantastic DD's party went really well. There were 17 kids (aged 3 to 7), mainly girls and not a single argument. Can't get better than that.

Unfortunately we didn't manage to get too many great photo's of DD. How am I supposed to do a scrapbook page when she doesn;t want her photo taken LOL!

Iron Men

2006-08-23T09:49:00.000+01:00

We went to Crosby Beach on Sunday evening to look at the 'Another Place' display by Antony Gormley. It is made up of 100 cast iron men, each weighing 650 kg, and cast from the artists' own body.

The sight is magnificent - they cover a stretch of the beach 3km long and 1km deep - as the tide comes in they gradually become submerged.

They are thought to represent the Immigrant polulation but could so easily be interpreted on many other current themes....

Definately something everyone should go and see if they're ever in this area.

Unicorns!

2006-08-20T09:50:00.000+01:00

I've finally done a LO of the day Sian dressed up and pretended to be a unicorn!

Can't say I'm entirely happy with it - maybe it will grow on me....

Even more FAT book pages

2006-08-18T21:52:00.000+01:00

I arrived back rom my hols yesterday to find 5 gorgeous Fat Book pages :)

Blogger won't let me upload all of them today so here are 3 of them. Huge thanks to Lesleygee, Poppy Linz and Flo

More ATC fat book pages

2006-08-07T22:34:00.000+01:00

I've been having great fun creating ATC Fat book pages over the weekend :) I'm loving doing these little pages.

For some reason all of this weekends pages came out with a vintage theme - SO not my usual thing, maybe that's why I've enjoyed them so much

Pics

2006-08-06T19:55:00.000+01:00

Nothing to blog about at the moment so just thought I'd share this pic with you that I printed off this morning. It was taken at this year's school sports day :)

ATC Fat Book

2006-08-01T22:45:00.000+01:00

Today I've received this gorgeous page from Alison1544. It's part of a new ATC Fat Book swap being ran on UKS. Pages are being sent out every 2 weeks.

There are approx 30 people involved, all doing 4x4 pages - it should be fantastic when finished :)

I've still not made my first entry yet so better get a move on LOL!

Dressing up

2006-07-30T18:26:00.001+01:00

DD had a great day yesterday just dressing up. She spent hours trying on different outfits before settling on this one.

I told her that she was a beautiful fairy but she just looked at me in disgust... "Mummy, I'm a magical baby flying unicorn, of course!"

Oops - guess that was another stupid idea from me. I should have realised that when you wear a Fairy costume then obviously you're a Unicorn!

What it would be to be an imaginative 5 year old again....

Playing catch up

2006-07-26T00:05:00.000+01:00

So many swaps and commitments, so little time! That'll teach me to take on so much, especially when the weather gets nice.....

I've been busy making Interactive ATC's for a swap on AN, monthly ATC trades, CJ's and need to get going with an Altered Monogram swap and ATC Skinny Fat Book for UKS!

Today's pic is a Lo I completed on Sunday evening of DD at her first gymnastics demo :)

Still busy.......

2006-07-25T06:55:00.000+01:00

Things are still really busy around here but thought it was about time I added some pics of my garden - whilst it's still tidy after all the work LOL!

The pots of Lillies on the corners of the main decking are now opening. The scent is amazing, especially in the early morning and late evening when we're sat on the bench.

The clematis are all flowering for the second time and the sweet pea's that Sian grew from seed are providing me with a vase of flowers every day :)

The garden is now more-or-less the way we want it so we should be able to take it easy out there next summer........ apart from replacing the lawn as the grass is really patchy!

Busy, busy, busy..........

2006-07-20T19:58:00.000+01:00

I couldn't have chosen a hotter weekend for gardening......... The skip is filled, the garden tidied, the furniture painted, the shed painted, the decking painted and the new plants have been potted - now I just need to take time out to enjoy it :) I've taken some pic tonight so will post them later in the week.

The last couple of nights have been spent compleing CJ entries - an ATC CJ for AliBlack with the theme of 'Beauty' and an entry for Bailey in the Lost CJ. Both CJ's are are looking really good.

My entry into Bailey's is the final one before it goes home :) There have been a few hold-ups further down the line so I need to hold on to it until everything else catches up. Being the last entry in this CJ I had the only characters that were left - Sun and Jin :) I was actually really pleased that I was left with these as I've been waiting ages to use a photo I downloaded of Sun's eye. (the picture of the finished entry hasn't come up to well as the base was black card with a silvery shimmer to it). The 'eye' photo is behind a microscope slide, edged with copper tape and I've also used a couple of prima's and some of the gorgeous Heidi Swapp form the Cosco set. The rest of the CJ is very simple, clean entries so I've tried to keep to the same :)

The ATC CJ is still in the early posting stages (posting 3 or 4 at the moment) and we're all having such a good time with it. The theme was 'Beauty' and I knew stright away that I wanted to base my entry on Geisha's as they fascinate me. I can't really comprehend how someone can spend their whole life 'serving' the needs of another person(s)! The whole of a Geisha's existence is spent thinking about others.

Maybe this is something we all need to do a bit more of....

Lack of playtime :(

2006-07-14T23:32:00.000+01:00

Not much crafty playtime expected from me this weekend :( We currently have a 3 tonne skip sat on our driveway waiting to be filled......

After 3 spending years with an almost permanently wet and soggy lawn, and builders that didn't want to know (what a surprise!) we've finally had enough. The last 6 or so weeks have been spend digging 3 ft deep trenches around the lawn then filling them with a couple of tonnes limestone chipping to try to create some drainage. The limestone chippings didn't give the garden the finished look I wanted so we then topped it all with another tonne of slate. Now you see the need for the skip!

DD has decided that she wants her birthday party at home this year so we've now got just over a month to get the garden totally finished - including re-staining the furniture, shed and decking - at least we now have a deadline to work to :)

Anyway, today's pic is from a couple of weeks ago - hopefully I'll get some time to do a bit of this over the weekend.....

ATC

2006-07-12T19:57:00.000+01:00

Today's pic is an ATC I did for the July swap on the Alter Native forum - hope you've already received it Claudia!

I used a collage theme with lots of bits and pieces of foil, old stamps, buttons etc. The optical apparatus stamp is by Tim Holtz.

A bit weird but I loved the finished piece - didn't really want to give this one away LOL!

Summer Sunset

2006-07-10T22:22:00.000+01:00

The sunset tonight was beautiful. I just couldn't resist getting my camera out and snapping for a couple of minutes.....

It's hard to believe that this is a close up of the clouds - it looks more like molten lava!