Crafting Time

Kerry and I had a fab time crafting today despite constant phone and text message interruptions. In between scones, sandwiches, cupcakes and a lot of chat we managed to complete two projects. Here is my version of Kerry's project - it's a fab address book, I love it and I hope you like it too. She really put me through my paces today by making me use my new I-top brad making tool, my bind it all (which I've had for ever and never used, and my Derwent Coloursoft pencils with paper stumps and Sanador (again never used). Whew for a while I thought I was on that show Challenge Anneka LOL. Anyway I was quite happy with the effect achieved with this method of colouring ) for a first try anyway).

My project was this lovely picnic basket which I scored using my Imperial Scor-pal Scoring Board. I just love that board. The cardstock used was Bazzill and patterned paper by Chatterbox. As usual I don't think my projects are complete unless they are filled with something nice. Today it was double chocolate chip muffins and lemon cupcakes from the Fabulous Bakin Boys - YUMMY!

Till tomorrow.

Fee x

Tracing My Roots

I've had a busy day today as I spent the morning ironing - YUK! Then I picked my mum up and took her for lunch (I should get a few Brownie points for that hopefully). We then went onto our local library as I had booked us onto an introduction to tracing your ancestors course using the Scotland's People website. It was very informative and we did manage to get some information to help piece together our family tree. Obviously it will require a lot of work but at least it is now started.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow cos Kerry is coming over to play. We had arranged to meet up today but I had to change that as I had double booked myself. I'll post our creations tomorrow.

Regards,

Fiona

Off to School - HOORAY!!!

Caitlyn & Laura

The first day at Secondary School dawned with some sunshine so I couldn't resist getting the camera out. It really seems no time at all since she was standing in the garden age 5 in her cute little blazer and pony tail. Here is a photo of Laura and her friend Caitlyn (both now 12 going on 22). Good luck girls and we'll hear all about it tonight.

Till later.

Fee x

Hooray My Buddy Is Back

Val is back from her hollybags today and it was great to spend some time today catching up with all the news. Our friends Izzy and Sandra stayed behind after the Scor-pal class and we blethered for Scotland whilst drinking tea/coffee and munching cakes and biscuits - well somebody has to do it!

The Scor-pal class went well (after all my worrying yesterday) and everyone was pleased with their project. This may have been due to the fact that we filled our project with cupcakes and muffins to take home.

Laura starts secondary school tomorrow and she is more than a little bit apprehensive about it. She was packed off to bed at 10pm but I'm not sure that she is sleeping yet. We've had the trial run with the new uniform and she looks so grown up. Hopefully I'll have time to take a few photos tomorrow morning (if I can get her out of bed that is).

Till tomorrow.

Fee x

Time to Panic

The photo in the layout above is one of my all time favourites. It was taken a few years ago just outside out front door and Laura is posing BIG time. I especially liked her jacket which has little pumpkins and swirls all the way around it. She wasn't too fussed on it but that is probably due to the fact that I kept making her wear it. Paper is Winnie's Walls by SEI.

The Shrek layout hasn't progressed any further but at least I haven't torn it up yet LOL. My BF Val is back from holiday tomorrow and I hope she can offer some advice to save it from the bin.

I've got a Scor-pal class tomorrow and the project just isn't coming together. I know what I want to do but for the life of me I am struggling tonight. Maybe I will leave it and just get up early tomorrow. Let's hope I don't oversleep!

Laura had her friend Caitlyn for a sleepover last night and they didn't get to sleep until 3am so I am probably too tired to be very productive tonight. Off now to get an early night and hopefully I'll be full of beans tomorrow.

Fee x

Flippin Eck My Poor Feet

I almost missed blogging today too as I've just remembered to post. I went to Livingston today and my poor feet feel as if they will never recover from traipsing round the shops LOL. I bet my poor mum will sleep tonight too as she has never walked as much since she had her two knees replaced last year.

I've been trying to scrap a photo of Laura and I in Florida last year that was taken outside the Adventures with Shrek ride at Universal Studios. We had great fun as Donkey was mocking Laura about having a boyfriend (she was sooooo embarrassed). The layout is just not going together as it should and I've hit a bit of a brick wall. If I don't make more progress with it tomorrow then it may end up getting ripped to bits. Call it artistic temperament or just a plain ole hissy fit.

Fee x

Whatever Happened to Tuesday

.............ooops I fell asleep and missed blogging last night cos I fell asleep on the couch. In my defence I woke early and couldn't get back to sleep so I just got up and started on my daily chores.

My DD and I went shopping for a new bed for her today. She has been complaining that her back is sore in the morning and her bed is not comfortable (like ours). What she really meant was that she wanted a memory foam mattress like ours LOL. Anyway we had fun trying out lots of beds (including water beds) and have now ordered one similar to ours from a local store. It should take about a week to arrive so she will jujst have to be patient.

Here is today's card made from Bazzill Bling & Swiss Dot cardstock, Chatterbox patterned paper and the image is from the Birds of a Feather stamp set from Unity Stamps. The image is coloured using Twinkling H20's.

We are off the Livingston shopping tomorrow with my Mum and Caitlyn one of Laura's friends. Wish me luck - I think I will need it!

Fee x

Happy Monday

Only one week to go until the school goes back - not that I'm keen (more desperate LOL). I feel as if I'm running out of entertainment activities for my DD. Today the weather was sunny with frequent showers so we decided to take the safe option and go to the cinema. We saw G-Force which was quite funny or as funny as talking guinea pigs can be. As usual we managed to scoff a large salted popcorn with extra butter of course. Sometimes I think that I only go to the cinema to get the popcorn!

Till tomorrow.

Fee x

Struggling to Find My Mojo

I tried to make up for yesterday's poor performance and made 14 Christmas cards today (see some of them above) YIPPEE only another 3 gazillion to go! I must admit my mojo was missing and it was a bit of a struggle to do them. I hope I find it for tomorrow as I want to make some cards as a gift for a friend. I also need to design and make a project for the next Scor-pal class. I already know what I want to do but I need to work out a few problems and get the dimensions sorted.

Fee x

Christmas in August

We had our very first Christmas Card Workshop today - well there are only 133 days till Christmas LOL. Everyone arrived and got stuck in and I was very impressed. I think the productivity prize would definitely have to go to Margaret Anderson who made zillions of cards in the 6 hours that we were there. I, on the other hand would get the booby prize cos I only made 2 cards (hanging head in shame). We are having another workshop next month in the hope that we will all be organised well before Christmas. We can but try!

Fee x

It Looks Like Being A Colourful Christmas

Oooh the new My Minds Eye Colourful Christmas, Be Merry and Ooh La La for Her arrived in the shop today and it is gorgeous. I hope Jim will be able to get it on the website tomorrow so that I can share it's fantasticness with everyone.

I've been busy running Laura and her friends around today, first to the movies and back, then to the Aqua Disco at the local pool. It is great to finally pop into my jammies and relax for a while.

My sister popped in again today looking for a sympathy card for a funeral she is going to tomorrow morning - no pressure LOL. Anyway I rattled one up in no time at all using my Papertreyink Sympathy set. I love this set it is soooo classy.

Now I've got the munchies and off to scoff a Magnum ice lolly. Till tomorrow.

Fee x

New Stash

I started the day with good intentions and dropped Laura off at the school at 9.30am however, on the way home I met my sister Anne and ended up spending an hour and a half chatting and arrived home at 11am with half the morning gone and nothing done. I almost didn't make it to the post office because I forgot DOH!!! I did make it by the skin of teeth as I charged in the door of the sorting office at 12.29.58 and thrust the card at the poor guy. When I got home I couldn't wait to open up my goodies and I am now the proud owner of the Martha Stewart Loopy Lace corner and straight punches. I had a little practice with them and think I feel confident enough to try to use them at the Christmas Card Workshop on Saturday so watch this space.

The Metric Scor-pal is fab and I have been playing around with it doing simple card folds and I'm looking forward to trying out some projects this weekend.

Gotta go now as I've got a big day tomorrow and, as usual, I'm not prepared for it.

Fee x

It's Arrived

Yep my latest toy has arrived and I can't wait to play with it The new metric Scor-pal scoring board is now available in the UK. I missed the postman this morning and I'm looking forward to picking up another package tomorrow. cos there are some goodies in it that I can't wait to get my hands on.

Laura is off to M & D's theme park tomorrow with the kids from summer school. This is the final day tomorrow and I'll have to make a thank you card for the staff, they really have been brilliant.

Till tomorrow.

Fee x

Now You See It, Now You Don't

I had a look through the IKEA website and I think I need one of the 5 x 5 Expedit storage systems. I brought some boxes home today and made a start on boxing up my stash (not a job for the faint hearted). I am going to phone the painter tomorrow and arrange a date for him to paint the room. I will also need to take a look at flooring cos it needs to be able to be cleaned easily.

Laura went swimming with the kids from Summer School today and had a great time. However the downside to this was that she was up half the night worrying about going and actually ended up sleeping between us. When I picked her up from the School we were just in time to see some more demolition in action as the windows and walls on one side of the building were torn down then by tonight the whole wing had been flattened - very exciting. I was amazed at how precise the driver of the digger thing was when he was dismantling stuff. Here are some before and after photos.

DH took a half day today and we went to see The Proposal at the local cinema and we all enjoyed it. As usual we stuffed our faces with popcorn and sweets and I feel a bit sick now.

Do You Ever Wish .........................

that you hadn't started something? Today I tackled a huggggggge pile of ironing and I was determined not to stop until I got to the bottom of the basket. It took me almost all day and I was fed up by the time I was finished. Anyway at least it is all done and put away (which was almost as big a task LOL). I then decided to move the bookcase that is in my craft room at home downstairs into the Family Room. Biig mistake!!! Then I began to pull out other stuff and the place looks like a complete tip that will take me a month to sort out. Since I've started on the craft room I think it is time for a complete revamp so I'm off now to look at the IKEA website and source some furniture for my new empire.

After dinner Laura and I went for a walk in Balloch Park. We took some photos and had a good laugh when she started to take photos of me from all different angles saying "work with me, now work it, work it baby! I just dissolved into laughter and couldn't stop, she really can be so funny without trying.

Till tomorrow.

Fee x

THE ACTRESS

I didn't achieve too much on the crafting front today as DH was busy hanging shelves in the shop. I did however manage to do this little card using an image from Floral Fantastical by Unity Stamps. The cardstock in Posie Pink and Beetle Black Bazzill and the pink and black gingham ribbon is from Creative Impressions. I also managed to do some preparation for the Christmas Card Workshop and I'm quite pleased with that.

Here is a photo of Laura posing on the stairs of the new High School after her starring role as Juliet in the adapted play Romeo, Juliet and the Angel. In this version of the play ten people audition for the part of Juliet then three get callbacks. Unfortunately Sophie (Laura) does not get the part of Juliet and hatches a plan to murder the actress who did. She gave a sterling performance of beating the poor girl to death with a club and hurled her body from the stairway pictured. Shakespeare was never like this when I was in school LOL. Till tomorrow. Fee x

Totally Wiped Out

We had our 12 hour crop today and I'm now officially exhausted. The "girls" are a great bunch and the topics of conversation are very varied and we always get a good laugh. Anything can happen and I'm sure that some of our newer scrappers sometimes wonder what we are on. Today Sandra was doing her dog and duck impressions (you don't really want to know any more than that). I didn't get too much done, too much chatting and eating the biscuits and cakes that Sandra and Lynn had kindly brought with them.

I was so tired last night I forgot to say that Laura was fantastic in her play and her Dad and I were so proud of her. She is going swimming with the group from summer school of Tuesday and she is really looking forward to it.

I actually fell asleep whilst blogging last night so I'm off to bed now as tomorrow will be another busy day.

Fee x

Q. How Many Herma Dispensers Does One Woman Need?

Eleven obviously! I am ashamed to say that when I cleaned out my tote today I found 6 repositionable dispensers, 2 permanent , 1 permanent tab dispenser, 1 Kokoyu and one other (can't remember the name). I can't even say that they are for classes they are all mine - looking on the bright side at least I'll never run short of herma.

DH and I took Laura and two of her friends to ten pin bowling at X-scape tonight. We took a stroll over to Brahead and I did a little bit of shopping on my own and we met up for a hot choccie, coffee and cakes at Starbucks. It was a bit weird cos we never get to do things like that as Laura is normally with us. I suppose there must be some plus points to kids growing up LOL. Afterwards the girls decided that they would like to go on the some of the rides. Here is a picture of the girls on the Viva Mexico ride.

Off to bed now to get some rest before the 12 hour crop.

Fee x

TLC Required

My little car needed some TLC today so I took it to the nice man at the local garage who, in exchange for my car keys, gave me a coronary! Seems my little buggy needs a new tyre (£58), a new front bulb (£6), and some other unpronounceable thing to stop an oil leak (£65). Also if this doesn't work it may need to go into intensive care and get something else done and they have quoted £250 for the additional work alone Yipes. I wouldn't mind if I drove flash car but I probably won't get any change from £500 and its only a Corsa LOL.

I've been doing some crafting tonight and have made a couple of cards but will have to post them tomorrow cos it's getting late and I'm jiggered.

Tomorrow is Laura's big performance in the play but she seems to be taking it all in her stride. DH is working so Laura's Gran and I will go along to see her. Apparently it is Romeo and Juliet with a twist - work that one out if you can.

Till tomorrow.

Fee x

Second Day Goes Well

Well the second day at summer school seems to have gone well and Laura came home full of details of the drama workshop and her part in the play on Friday. After I dropped her off this morning I spent some time taking photographs of the demolition work at the old school. It is quite sad to see it being ripped apart as it was the school I went to.

I hope you like the card I posted, the stamp is called Wedding Circle from Stamping Bella and the paper is Autumn Leaves Carlyle. I stamped the image in versamark and used silver embossing powder and heat set it - I think it is gorgeous and is one of my all time favourite cards.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow evening and getting some more cards done (well as long as I don't chat too much LOL).

Fee x

Summer School

Laura started summer school today, it actually started yesterday but they didn't send us a letter giving us the details so it was lucky that I phoned to ask. She was really nervous about going and didn't sleep well last night and when we walked up to the front door of the school she said she thought she was going to be sick (poor soul). She is obviously a sensitive type like her Dad and not like me who will go anywhere with anyone LOL. When I picked her up at 3pm she said she loved it and can't wait to go back tomorrow. They are doing arts, crafts and drama this week and are putting on a little play on Friday. The purpose of her going is to help her confidence which took a really big knock recently after a spate of bullying by another girl in her P7 class. We also got a private tour of the new High School which is really state of the art in every way eg hair dryers and straighteners in the girls toilets!!! Hopefully the whole experience will be beneficial and make the move to High School less scary.

I made the most of the time she was away and did some washing, ironing and general housework - deep joy.

Fee x

Help - Call Kim & Aggie

I've been busy again finishing off the Scrapbooking wall in the classroom. It is amazing how much dust and dirt was behind the page protectors. I was laughing cos I think I am so clean LOL. Anyway the page protectors were dusted and the walls were given a good scrub so no need to phone Kim and Aggie just yet. I'm getting a bit fed up with the cleaning and tidying stuff and I really should be concentrating on hoovering and dusting at home so maybe I'll get onto that tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to doing some more creative stuff later in the week as I'm meeting up with friends on Thursday evening to do some card making. I also need to prepare a couple of Christmas card samples for our Christmas Card Workshop on the 15th so I'd better look out some stamps. The main problem is the availability of new Christmas papers as the Craft & Hobby Association Trade Fair (CHA) was held last week in sunny Florida and it usually takes a few weeks for the new collections to become available in the UK. It looks like I'll just have to re-invent some of the older ............. sorry vintage stuff at the moment.

Off now to surf some of my favourite blogs and websites to get my mojo going.

Till later.

Fee x

Not Classy But Absolutely Gorgeous

I couldn't resist posting this layout as well. This was taken on holiday in Majorca when Laura was 2 years old. Isn't she sweet? Papers are Delightful by Junkitz.

Fee x

Favourite Layouts

Val and I took down one of my favourite layouts today that I thought I would share it with you.

This one "A girl should be two things Classy & Fabulous" is one of my absolute favourites. This photo of Laura was taken at Cawdor Castle earlier this year and she looks so grown up. I especially like the little buttons in the centre of the flowers. The cardstock and embellishments were from My Mind's Eye.

Simple but classy I think!

Fee x

A Gazillion Thank You's

T0 my BF Val. Today she went above and beyond the call of duty and worked her little socks off. I had the "brilliant" idea yesterday about moving all the cards and scrapbook layouts in the classroom. The job was bigger than we both thought and it took us all day to finish off the cards never mind the layouts. My cricut almost went into melt down as I used it constantly all day to cut letters for the walls. At one point I had to go outside for some fresh air as I had been using several different glue solvents to stick and sparkle up the letters I began to feel light headed LOL. Anyway we kinda got a bit sidetracked and started to focus on ...................... wait for it Christmas! For bit of a joke we made a countdown calendar for the wall for Christmas and put a pile of Christmas cards next to it. When the girls come to crop next week they will think we are nuts (should edit to add they know we are nuts). Here are a couple of shots of our efforts. Oh and yes I know it's not 139 days till Christmas today but it will be next Saturday.

Fee x

All Change

Val and I decided to change some stuff around in the classroom today so we set to work by taking all of the card and scrapbook layouts off the walls. We then started to categorise everything into sections and put everything back up again. It took us a few hours (and a couple of bars of chocolate later it was done. It definitely looks better and we were pleased with the result. We still have a few things to do tomorrow to finish it off and then I'll post some piccies.

We were also planning some activities for our 12 hour crop next Saturday. We are both looking forward to it as we usually take half the day to actually get started on our scrapping and then it is time to go home. Hopefully by starting at 9am we may have begun before lunch time. My DH has volunteered (or perhaps "been conscripted" would be a better description) to go and get fish suppers for our dinner so that is all organised.

In an attempt to organise myself in advance I went to ASDA tonight to order some 5" x 7" photographs for the crop and I will pick these up on Monday. I had asked Val to get me a copy of the new Scrapbook Trends Magazine earlier this week and I intend to have a look through it to see if I can get my inspiration going and maybe plan out a few layouts in advance.

Off now to put my feet up with my mags.

Fee x