Opps missed a couple of days

Where have the last couple of days gone. Been busy but not sure doing what!!

Had a plan on Monday, I have a lot of male birthdays coming up in July and August so wanted to make a dent in them! Well here is what I managed... ONE. The image is an embossed rub on (I don't like using them!) I had bought these ages ago and thought they were stickers. Didn't read the packaging properly! But I persevered with it and came up with this. Backing papers are all from the Forever Friends Springtime pack ( I love these double sided papers!). Gems are from my stash as is the ribbon. The greeting is from Craftwork cards. Not sure which of my male relatives it will be going to but at least I have made a start.

I went to weigh in last night. Was a naughty girl as I put on 1lb. Have got to get back into the mind set again, seems to have gone astray since got back from hols. This week though has been a very hungry week! Wanted to eat all the time... I'll get there again..

Off on a crafting weekend tomorrow which I am really looking forward to. A weekend of good company , chillaxing and having a laugh, and maybe a little bit of crafting.

Right got to go and get my stuff together now.

Thanks for reading.

Father's Day

Today as you are aware is Father's Day and I would like to wish my dad a happy one. He is no longer with us as he died in 1976 but is never forgotten.

My dad was of old school. He was 44 when I was born in 1966 and I was the youngest of 9 kids. (My dad had 4 from a previous marriage, my mum had 2 from a previous marriage and then there were 2 (now 3 with me) together.

I can remember him being a strict father, he believed kids should be seen and not heard and we always had to be ready for bed when he came in from work. He had many jobs but the one I most remember is him being an Ice Cream man!

I idolised my daddy and when he got ill I always remember coming home from school and sitting on the bed with him and sharing a glass of Lucazade and telling him what I had done at school that day.

I can only ever remember him telling me off once when I had sworn at my sister. I was about 7. He hit me across the back of the legs. I was mortified!!

The picture I have above is from a caravan holiday we had at Weymouth. I was about 3. That's me on his knee with my two sisters, Linda and Mandy.

Happy Father's day Dad and to all the dad's that are no longer with us.

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Card for today

2nd post for today but thought I would show you a card I made the other day.

The image was designed by Jak Heath and can be found here. She has done the topper and some backing paper. I have just used the topper her and have placed it onto some blue card that has been put through the cuttlebug using the script embossing folder. The greeting is from the same sheet and I have just added some gems.

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A visit from Leon

This morning we got a visit from my son and his girlfriend and of course Leon. He is 5 weeks old today and here are just a couple of photo's to show you how well he is getting on. He is so much more alert now.

He also christened me today whilst I changed his nappy!! :-)

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What a grotty day...

.........it's been today, Rain, rain , rain and more rain. What's happened to our Summer!. It had better blooming cheer up for next weekend for the Crafty House Party.

Started my penicillin today so hopefully the tooth pain will subside soon.

Right on to today's card. The image is from Pink Gem here. She's called 'Carrie Caterpillar'. Isn't she cute. I used the pre coloured version The backing papers are from Forever Friends Spring time. Ribbon and pearls are from my stash. Greeting from Craftwork Cards put on scalloped circle from Stampin Up.

I love this image and will be using it again.

Thanks for reading

Raging toothache

Yep, that's what I have had for the past couple of days. It's a tooth that I have had problems with over the last year or so but the pain went away but this time it ain't going no where so off I trotted to the dentist this morning and asked for an emergency appointment. After getting past the 'bitch' on reception 20 questions, I had to go back at 4 this afternoon.

Just as I was about to leave for the dentist the heavens opened so I had to take the car. I explained to the dentist that the tooth was hurting again and she confirmed that I needed a root canal treatment!!! She put me on 5 days course of penicillin and then told me to come back. When was the earliest they could fit me in????? 5th July!!!! So, yep got to put up with pain until then....

I think me and Mr Painkiller may be getting very acquainted over the next couple of weeks!

This afternoon to take my mind off the pain I made a few cards. Here's the first one to show you. It's a card for my great niece who is 4 in July. The card is a large 8x8 square card. the image is a decoupage from the big and beautiful range. Not sure who makes them. The backing paper came from then too. I used pink bazzill bling for the backing mat cut with the curved rectangle nestie. The letters spelling Emily's name were cut from Sizzix letters again in bazzill bling again. Added some ribbon and gems to finish it off.

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My toy car....

Yesterday my car, a Kia Sportage 4x4, had to go in for it's MOT and service. I took it along to the garage yesterday morning and I was given a courtesy car - a Renault clio!! The mechanic laughed when he gave me the key and said 'Oh it's a bit smaller than what you are used to'. Well I got in it and it was manual, although I have always driven a manual, the Kia is automatic and they make you very lazy drivers! :-) I had to reverse it out of the space and could I get it into reverse?? Not blooming likely. So I got out and went back into the garage and told the guy that I was being a bit f a numpty and couldn't get it into reverse. He smiled that smile. You know the one 'Stupid woman' smile. He showed me what to do, you had to pull the button up to get it into reverse. I should have thought of that cause that's what we had to do with the old car.

Anyway I started driving and kept having to tell myself, 'change gear, change gear'. But I coped and the card survived. It was like driving in a noddy car but I coped. It did make my driveway seem very big though.

My car passed the MOT and service with flying colours although it still cost over £200. Majority being labour, but at least I know it's ok for next week when I take it up to Appleby Magna for the house party.

Didn't do much the rest of the day, have got a bad toothache and am trying to get the courage to ring the dentists cause I know I am going to have to have root canal treatment and that will hurt.

Thanks for reading.

Sunny Tuesday

Well today has been absolutely beautiful, the sun has been shining and it's been very warm although not planned to last.... Today I had the lovely ironing to do this morning and while doing it I watched Camelot which I recorded over the weekend. It was slow to start with but I shall continue to watch it!

This afternoon I had a walk to the Post Office to post some parcels. Then this evening I had my weigh in. I was convinced that I had put on this week as I felt heavy but glad to report that I lost a 1lb! I do need to try and get back into it again.

No cards made today but hopefully will do tomorrow.

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The start of another week!

Well that's another weekend over with and what did I do? Nothing!!! Well I took my oldest son to Iceland so he can do some shopping as he doesn't have a car and then went back to his place so i could have a quick cuddle with Leon my grandson. I forgot to take my camera but here is a picture I took last week when they came down. Here's Leon with his big sister Alysia (she is my son's girlfriend's daughter).

The Weather on Saturday was nice and sunny. A bit windy but lovely. A complete contrast to yesterday (Sunday), when it rained all day and was like a winter's day. It was horrible.

And today? Started off raining but then turned out really nice and sunny. This morning I did some of the dreaded h*******k and then had to pack up some parcels from e-bay, clothes and stuff that I had sold. I had 21 parcels to wrap and then take to the post office. Normally I would walk but this time I had to take the car!

Got back and then decided that I needed to make a cards. On Saturday afternoon I went to The Range and some 'Me to You' bear stickers jumped into my basket as they do. I love these bears and this afternoon I used them.

Both cards used the stickers and the backing paper is from 'Forever Friends - Springtime'. This is double sided paper and I have fallen in love with it. Nesties Label 12 were used on the first card. The greeting is from Craftwork cards matted onto the scalloped oval punch by Stampin Up.

This card I have used the curved rectangle nesties. Again the greeting is from Craftwork cards matted onto the Stampin Up scalloped oval. The flower, ribbon and gems are all from my stash.

Thanks for reading

Nellie

Yesterday was a funny old day. We had torrential rain in the morning and a mini tornado at Brighton Seaside. Then it turned out quite nice and sunny in the afternoon.

In the afternoon my friend bought her dog round for a stop over. She is going on holiday in a couple of weeks and I have agreed to look after Nellie for her. So yesterday was a trial to see how she settled.

She is a staffie and so friendly. She settled in really well and was very good. She loved crawling under my bed!!!! Why I don't know lol. Here are some photos of her.

This one was taken in the garden this morning. She was having a funny five minutes, charging round the garden playing with a bit of wood that you can just see by her feet.

This is her trying to blend into the carpets.. She loves her belly being rubbed.

She has different coloured eyes, one blue and one brown.

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Bad News - Good News..sort of

Well yesterday I went into town (somewhere I don't go often!!) because I wanted to get some theatre tickets to see Joseph and his Amazing Technicoloured Dreamcoat. I first saw this show when I was 7 and have seen it many times before here in London and local. I'm looking forward to it.

When I got home I had an e-mail from the job I applied for. I didn't get it!. Mixed emotions really, but never mind. I am away for a couple of l;ong weekends coming up and I am also dog sitting for 3 weeks for a friend so working would really get in the way.

Tuesday was weigh in day. I didn't feel as if I had lost anything but I had, only 1/2lb but it was better that putting it on. Although I do think I may have put it back on and more as we went out for a meal last night to The Plough in Henfield. Lovely old pub hat does great food and fairly cheap. You have to wait a bit for your main course but we didn't have starters, but the meal is worth waiting for. I was naughty cause I have Sticky Toffee pudding and it wasn't the normal stick in the microwave jobby either, all home-made and it was lovely.

So back on the diet today!!

Today I have been making my shoebox cards for my weekend away. I made the example card and did the packs. Just printing the instructions off and my printer ran completely out of black ink so it's a trip out tomorrow.

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Glitterpot Class - 2nd June 2011

What a horrible yucky day it was yesterday. Rain all day! I hate the rain. Mind you I was doing housework all morning (sorry I swore!!!) and then in the afternoon I was packing up stuff that I had sold on e-bay and taking it to the post-office.

Didn't hear anything about my job yet! I got fed up with my hubby phoning/texting me every hour 'have you heard yet?' lol

Right let's get to the cards. On Friday I went to the Glitterpot and did a class with , Alexandra Kamann. As mentioned before, this was the first class Pam and I had done with Alex but it will not be the last. Not knowing Alex we had no idea what we would be doing. The morning's class was to show how you can use the same stamp for both male and female cards. The stamp that was used was a Tatty Ted stamp that I fell in love with and jumped into my basket.

For both cards, the image was stamped out and then coloured with pencils and the oil that I can't for the life of me remember what it's called. It's the first time that I have liked my colouring with pencils. The matt was cut using a labels die (again can't remember the number - I should write these things down!!). Backing paper and ribbon that was originally white but coloured using copic pens ( will work with promarkers). The rose on the first card was made using a coil of paper. I found this quite difficult and didn't like mine at first but once it got stuck on the card it grew on me, so to speak. The leaves were cut free hand. The greeting was stamped using one of Paula Pascale's greeting stamps.

The male version was coloured in black's and greys. Added a button to some cord. The card was originally portrait with the image underneath the button, but Pam had done hers landscape and I liked it that way so I asked her if I could copy her..she said no but I did it anyway!! (well I did ask first!!!! lol). That bear is so sweet!

The afternoon class we were doing white on white cards. On this one we embossed the card blank first. Stamped the greeting on a thin piece of card. the flower is handmade, made from tissue paper. You cut lots of layers using a flower nestie (scalloped circle would work just the same). Hold all the layers together with a brad in the middle (doesn't matter what colour as it doesn't get seen), then you just scrunch each layer into the middle until it produces a flower. really easy and effective! The matt was cut using the same nestie label from the morning. Leaves were cut from a punch.

The second card was a bit larger. The backing was embossed again using the big shot. The flower was made exactly the same except it was a bigger circle this time and you can't really see it in the photo but the edges of the flower were tinted with an ink pad, as was the embossed matt and the greeting label. A piece of white ribbon was added to the card to cover up the join on the embossing as the card was a bit too big for the embossing folder. The sentiment was from a lady's in the class who wanted her's to be a wedding card. Butterflies were cut from a punch in vellum that had been stamped using stazon. I then added gems to bring them out.The leaves were cut in vellum freehand.
I have never done white on white before but I will definitely be trying this again, especially for wedding cards. The idea is to have lots of texture.

What a great day.

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Beautiful hot day

It was a lovely hot day yesterday (Saturday) and what was I doing? Listing stuff on e-bay as it was a free listing day!! Still never mind had to be done and all for saving for a cruise.

Here are a couple of cards I made during the week. I have a few anniversaries this month so thought would make some nice simple cards along the same theme. The printed greetings were done on the computer. Matts cut out on cuttlebug with nesties. Card, ribbon, gems and flowers all from my stash. Quick and simple.

I just thought I haven't caught up on all my news this week. On Thursday I had my first job interview in 18 years. The funny thing was that I wasn't nervous. It all went ok and I hear tomorrow (Monday). So fingers crossed.

In the evening we went to the theatre to see Blood Brothers. It is about the 8th or 9th time I have seen it but it is such a fantastic show. Normally it has one of the Nolens playing the lead but this time it was Nikki Evans who was a semi finalist in the X factor. She was very good. If you haven't been to see it then you need to try.

Thanks for reading

Yesterday was Friday

....and I had a lovely day at the Glitterpot with Pam. We had a great day and made some lovely cards with a new Tutor, Alexandra Kamann. I will show you these in a later post.

Anyway here is a card I made on Thursday for this months Inspirational on Crafters Reunited Forum. The theme this month was 'girly' and you had to use ribbon. So here is my entry.

The rose is a decoupaged one that I had in my topper box. I used nesties labels 10 to matt the rose after running it through the cuttlebug using swiss dots embossing folder. The card and backing paper are from my stash as is the ribbon and gems. The edging was done using the new cutting system. Can't remember what the system is called but it is very very easy to use. The sentiment is from Craftwork cards.

Thanks for looking.

Here they are...eventually

My pictures of my holiday to Florida. We go at least twice a year as my friends have a villa over there that we stay on. The weather this time was very very hot - in the 90's most days. There are quite a few piccies but hope you enjoy them.

This is a picture of Cyd and Fel (our friends) relaxing in the pool. Yes Cyd is reading. It was the only way to stay cool!

And this is my darling hubby relaxing!!! Bless

While we were over there it was Mother's day ( the US celebrate it on a different day to us) This was a picture of an orchid. The colour caught my eye. I thought it was beautiful!

One of hubby's work colleagues were out there on holiday the same time as us so we met up and on one of the days we went to Sea World.

This is hubby and I outside.

Here are the boys, Steve, Adam, Fel and Gary (hubby)

Hubby doesn't like roller coasters etc so this is the nearest he will get!!

This picture is of the killer whales from Sea World. I love this show or should say loved it. The trainers used to go in the water with the whales and it was beautiful, but since the accident when one of the trainers got killed they no longer do this and the show has lost some of the magic. I know there are a lot of people that think this is cruel, but SeaWorld is a conservation park and they save a lot of animals.

This is the boys on the water ride Atlantis.

Here's Steve and Cyd feeding the Dolphins - although just after this pic was taken the dolphin almost head butted Steve. hehehehe!!

These are a family of ducks that we saw at SeaWorld. The babies were in the water and the mother was the other side of the fence and she was trying desperately to get to them. Hubby got hold of the duck and put her over the fence. So Mummy and babies were reunited.

Cyd and Gaz on the golf course doing their Kate and Leo guise. (Well the golf was called Pirates Island - well they both have boats!!!!!!)

This is Adam & Steve leaving to drive back to Miami where they were catching their flight home.

Gaz with a new sun hat!!!

Gaz and me in Perkins on Gaz's birthday.

Beautiful sunset following a rainy day.

Butty Pants found in Walmark!! To enhance your booty!!

In all the 5 years I have been going to Florida I have never seen a train, (I know I'm sad!!) but you hear them often - so off to the station we went and luckily a train was due in. The platforms and flat on the ground - not like ours and the trains are huge!!!!

This is the boys showing how big they are!!

& Me

This is Fel showing off his new underpants...Camouflage ones!!!!!!!!

Gaz & Fel just looking at the first tee on the Crazy Golf!!

Our favourite eatery!! $12 for all you can eat!! Greatest mash potato in the world!!

This is one of the crazy golf courses we played on. Pirates Island. (Puts our ones in the UK to shame)

Well thats it. Sorry it's a bit picture overload!

Thanks for reading