Happy Birthday to Me

Yes the big day has arrived and I'm another year older. Not old enough to want to kill myself but certainly old enough to want to lose a few years LOL. I can't believe it I don't feel 39 (I wonder why!) Whoops maybe I meant 49 years young LOL. Oh my gosh I can' t believe that I am that age I certainly don't feel it.

I've had lots of texts and e-mails from my friends but apart from that things have been very quiet on the home front. Jim is in bed ill (man flu) and Laura had a sleepover last night and stayed up all night then fell asleep at lunch time and didn't surface till 6pm. They both ate dinner and have gone to bed so I'm all on my own again (sob). My birthday cake is, as yet, untouched. Roll on tomorrow till I can have a piece.

Till then.

Fee x

A Nice Day With Friends

Today I met up with Val and Sandra under the "pretence" of doing some crafting. Izzy was supposed to be with us too but she wasn't able to make it due to the bad weather. Unfortunately not much crafting was achieved, but the main thing was that we had a good time chatting (and eating). I did manage to cover an 8" x 8" album that I'm making about our home and I need to take some photographs to put in it. I've used the Jack & Abby Paper from the Love Elsie Collection for the inside and SEI Velvet Dot paper for the cover. I've had this paper for quite a while but kept putting off using it cos it is a bit too busy for me and not my usual style at all but I'm being brave LOL. Will post a pic soon.

Yesterday we braved the snow and ice and hit the sales at Braehead. I bought a coat and a jacket and I'm pleased with my bargains. Jim also bought a jacket and Laura bought a zip up and a bag. On the way home we decided to go and see the movie Nativity. We all enjoyed it, munching popcorn and laughing all the way through the movie.

Till tomorrow.

Fee x

Boxing Day

Time to relax or to be more honest to completely veg out in front of the tv. We have done nothing all day except laze about. Santa was very good to all of us and I love my new Radley handbag (from Jim). I would never dream of paying a lot of money for a handbag so this is a real extravagance and I think it's fab. Laura got lots of stuff (as usual) and we had a lovely day with my Mum, Sister (Anne) and Nieces (Jan & Lynne).

Fee x

It's Christmas Day

Just got back from Church and thought I would say Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope Santa has been good to you all LOL. I'm resisting opening any of the parcels under the tree and will save them till later on.

Fee x

Christmas Eve Madness

I've been very busy today doing some last minute food shopping, delivering a couple of cards that I forgot about and wrapping the presents. Yeah I know I should have done all this before now but I really couldn't quite get into the swing of it. All I need to do now is clear away the dinner dishes and get ready for Church. We always attend the Christmas Carol Service at our Church and tonight Sophie & Jenny have asked to come with us. I'm going to drop off a few presents en-route so I'd better get my skates on (it is that icy perhaps that is not a bad idea).

I've posted another tree decoration, this one belonged to my Grandmother and it is very fragile. I have to be very careful with it when I'm packing it away every year. One of these days it might not be around but I enjoy seeing it on the tree every year.

I'd better get a move on or I'll be late for the service.

Will catch you later.

Fee x

Day Five - Deep and Crisp & Even .......

that's how the snow is today - that crisp, crunchy way when you walk on it LOL.

It's only one more sleep till Santa comes WOOHOO! Bring it on.

In the meantime here is another little tree decoration that is very special to us. Laura made it in nursery when she was about 4 years old and although it is a bit bashed it always goes on our tree.

Will be back later to talk more sense when I've woken up properly. Till later.

Fee x

Day Four - No More Snow Today

It is still very very cold though. I dropped Laura at school this morning and headed into Marks & Spencers in Dumbarton for a few bits and pieces. When I arrived in the car park at 9.02 am I couldn't get a space it was absolutely chocca with cars. The shops were heaving with people who looked as if they were preparing for a seige rather than one or two days LOL. I was almost lynched in ASDA by a man who wanted some peach water and here I was almost emptying the shelf in front of him (get a life). The look he gave me deserved a slap but I restrained myself and I did leave him a few bottles. He obviously never heard of "if you're not fast you're last".

Here are a few more photos of my Christmas decorations. I didn't realise I had such a snowman thing going on. I have a snowman wreath on the front door, three snowmen on the front steps, two at the side of my fireplace, two on the mantelpiece and so it goes on. I obviously like snowmen LOL. I love my Santa mat too and it always makes me smile when I wipe my feet on it.

Off now to try and wrap a few parcels then get an early night.

Fee x

Day Three & It's Still Snowing

I'm beginning to wonder if it will ever stop LOL. The weather is certainly causing transport problems although the main roads are passable, the side roads are pretty bad. I'm hoping that I can get out of the drive tomorrow morning as I need to do some food shopping. Poor Jim has still to get home from work in these freezing conditions. He normally gets home around 12.30am but I think it will take him a lot longer to get home tonight.

I thought I would share photos of some of my Christmas decorations. Each one has it's own story and memories that make me smile and remember a person or the time they were bought.

I won the little gingerbread man and the fairy in a raffle at a Scrapping Weekend a couple of years ago. They were both made by my friend Andrea (Geordie Girl) and I was so pleased that I won them. Minnie Mouse was bought by Laura in Disneyland, Florida last year. She bought it in the Christmas shop with her own money. The felt wreath has been around for about nine years but it still looks as good as new. Jim bought it for me when we were on holiday in Florida and I'm sure he thought I was nuts wanting to buy Christmas decorations in May but I love it LOL.

Off now to batten down the hatches for the night.

Fee x

At Last

It's snowing outside. I woke up this morning to find a light covering of snow over everything and it was pretty to look at but bitterly cold when I went outside Brrr. I couldn't resist taking a photo of Casa Eadie before anyone tramped all over the front garden. I even went out the back door and up the side of the drive so that there wouln't be any footprints LOL. Mad or what? I know it is nothing like what is happening down South but it is the first snow I've seen for a while.

This afternoon Val and I helped Jim's friend to finish off an album he is giving his girlfriend as part of her Christmas this year. He is a really nice guy and he wanted to make her an album all about her dog who sadly died. Val is the resident expert on all things dog related and we had great fun helping to make this album about "Alfie".

This evening was the Crib Service at our church and Laura was doing a reading. Jim and I and her friends Sophie and Jenny went along to support her. She was a bit nervous beforehand but she did really well and she was actually better than some of the adults. She said all of the long words correctly and the minister commented on how well she had done. Afterwards there was tea, shortbread and choccie biscuits for everyone so we all had some - well it would have been rude not to LOL.

Till tomorrow.

Fee x

Sleigh Bells Ring .................................

are you listening??? Santa Claus has arrived ........ or at least his sleigh has. Just thought I would post a photo of the sleigh that I recently decorated. I hope you like it.

Today I finished off the inserts for my Christmas cards. Please remind me next year not to use so many coloured card blanks and maybe I'll get them finished earlier than the week before Christmas. Val and I have quite a few projects still to finish and I made a list of mine so that I will focus on completing them tomorrow. All I can say is that we'd better start at 6.00 am to get everything done LOL.

Till later.

Fee x

Update From The Past Couple of Days

Thursday 17th December

I popped out today and bought our Christmas tree. Normally we do this as a family and make it a day out with lunch etc but this year time has just flown by and I didn't want to leave it until the weekend in case there were none left. It's now in its pot in the lounge and we will decorate it when Laura gets home from school tomorrow.

I needed some last minute Christmas cards so I quickly whipped out my Quickie Glue Pen and my Glamour Dust and got to work. I've posted a photo to let you see my handiwork. Well you always need a quick card and I love this little penguin, he is by Stampendous and only cost £2.99 - fab price and soooo cute !

Friday 18th December

I've been ironing like a mad woman today as I've been letting it pile up again. Oh how I hate ironing but I like everything (and I mean everything) to be ironed. I've decided that I've done all I can do and I'm sending the rest out to The Press Gang and to hang with the cost LOL.

Tomorrow Val and I are meeting up to try and finish up some of our many Christmas projects - we will really need to get a move on LOL.

Till tomorrow.

Fee x

Plumbing Problems

No not me personally - the shower in my en-suite LOL. We had the shower replaced about a year ago and the sealant (which is supposed to last 25 years - as if!) had started to discolour and come off. I phoned the guy who fitted it originally and he popped out today to re-do it. So the job is done and we will be a two shower family again by tomorrow evening. Thank goodness that it is fixed, I hate queuing for the shower in the morning.

Jim brought all our Christmas decorations down from the loft today and I started to put them up but didn't get too far as I had to do some shopping and get home in time for Laura getting home from school. Looks like tomorrow I'm going to be busy. Better get some shut eye!

Fee x

We Shopped Till We Dropped

Tonight I took Laura shopping for an outfit for her school disco which is next week. She nearly drove me nuts and we were in and out of every shop in Braehead. After 3 hours I was beginning to flag and we headed home - thank goodness. We still have to get shoes for her but that will have to wait until later this week. She has really narrow feet and it is difficult to get shoes to fit her properly as they are normally too wide.

This afternoon I played around and decorated some gable boxes from PTI.
This one is covered using papers and a tag from the My Mind's Eye Colourful Christmas Range. I love the alternative bright colours instead of the traditional red, green and gold. I've posted one above and I hope you like it.

Till tomorrow.

Fee

Proud Uncle

Yesterday Jim had a couple of little visitors Jack (19 months) and Leah (16 months). He was only two pleased to play the doting Uncle for a while and the children really do love playing with him. They are both growing up so fast it's scary. I didn't manage to do any crafting yesterday or today and I've got so many projects to finish off before Christmas - I'd better get a move on.

Till tomorrow.

Fee x

Introducing Colin's friend

Pete - isn't he cute ? I love his pointy hat and pressies. I haven't managed to get any other Christmas decorations up yet but I plan to do that this week. We've still got to get our tree too. I like to get it around about this time so that it is still nice and fresh through Christmas and New Year (there is nothing worse than a half dead tree LOL).

I did my first ever easel card yesterday and I was quite pleased with it. Now that I know how to do it I will have a go at some more.

Till later.

Fee x

Girls Night Out

Thursday 10th December

Apologies for not blogging yesterday and today's post is also late. Laura and I had a girls night out tonight and we went to the opening night of Beauty and the Beast at the Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow. It was absolutely fabulous! The singing and the costumes were wonderful and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. We also managed to munch our way through crisps, a large Galaxy bar and a large bag of Maltesers LOL.

On the way there Laura announced that her German project had to be handed in tomorrow (Friday). What project I asked? Oh I've to build a house with furniture out of old cardboard and label it with the german words for all the items. WAAHHH!!! That girl will be the death of me. We stopped off at ASDA on the way home and picked up a couple of boxes. Laura made a door, windows, tv, table and chair and then (due to exhaustion) I suggested she bend the rules a bit and cut some other items out of the Argos catalogue to decorate it a bit more. I didn't study German at school so I have no idea if it is right or wrong but we'll see.

Friday 11th December

I had a mad idea today and talked Jim into taking Laura, Sophie, Jenny and I to the local Cowboy Club Christmas Party. We went along not really knowing what to expect and we had a really good time. Unfortunately I am rubbish at line dancing and after several disasterous attempts I gave up LOL. We didn't win anything at Bingo but more than made up for it at the raffle and between us we won five prizes. To top it all we then tried a game called Open the Box and amongst others one of our tickets was called. The girls decided that they would all go up and Sophie picked the winning key. You would have thought they had won the lottery they were squealing and shrieking so much LOL. The prize was £25 and so we split it five ways. Here is a photo of the gang with their loot and another of the girls dancing.

Gotta get some sleep now. Till tomorrow (whoops I mean later today)

Fee x

Introducing ................ Colin

I couldn't resist showing you a photo of Colin the Curler. Don't ya just love his hat with the earflaps? He even has two little curling stones in his hand - cute or what? I spotted Colin last year in a wool shop in the village of Aberlour and just had to have him. He also has a little friend and I'll show you him sometime soon.

The little chocolate bars on the left hand side are the ones that Val bought for me in Tesco. The ones on the right I've covered with some lovely poinsetta paper by Sandylion.

I went along to my mum's guild tonight with some extra stocking stuffers I had made . I donated the takings to their funds as they have had a lot of outgoings this year and I thought I would try to help their fundraising. Everyone loved what I had made and I managed to raise £31 for them. Not bad for stuff made mostly out of scrap paper and goodies from Poundland.

Catch ya'll tomoro.

Fee x

Eighteen Days and Counting

I finished my Santa Sleigh today WHOOPEE! It has only taken me two years from buying it to get around to painting and decorating it LOL. Val and I both bought them from The MDF Man at the SECC. I kept putting off the evil day when I would need to start painting it until last week when Val announced she was going to start hers. Not to be outdone I thought I'd better get a move on. All I need now is to ask Jim to bring the rest of the decorations down from the loft and I can take a photo. I have posted a photo of my newest Christmas decoration, I bought this last week when Val and I were out shopping. Isn't Santa cute?

This afternoon I picked Laura up from School and went to my friends daughter's 4th Birthday party. She had already had a party for all her little nursery friends (glad I missed that one whew) and this party was just for family and close friends. The birthday girl (Abbie) was hyper but had a fab time. We played Pass-the-Parcel and Place-the-Jewel-in-the-Crown (think pin the tail on the donkey). She is also fascinated by Blu tack and gave everyone a piece and instructed us to make something and then she judged who the winner was. What a laugh we had and then it all started getting quite competitive LOL. The competition went on for about half an hour with her bossing us all about. We had a great time and finished off by doing the conga along the hall, up the stairs and out the front door - okay so we are officially nuts LOL.

Till tomorrow.

Fee x

Fab Day

I had a fab day today cropping with my friends. Although I must be honest I didn't actually do any scrapbooking. Instead I was making tags for candy canes and sleeves for the little chocolate bars that Val managed to get for me in Tesco. I'm doing these for the table on Christmas day and I think they look really nice and classy (a bit like myself LOL). I'll post a photo tomorrow.

Till then.

Fee x

Just Us Two Chickens & Our Scor-pals

Today I was supposed to be cropping with a group of friends but for one reason or another everyone except Val and I pulled out. We had a good time anyway crafting, chatting and eating (as usual). I did get into trouble for forgetting to toast the pancakes but I'm sure she'll forgive me in time. We managed to eat two pancakes each so I'm sure it wasn't too much of a hardship.

Whilst on out travels earlier this week we had picked up some little Christmas chocolate bars in Tesco (4 for 79p) and I decided to give them a makeover. You always see re-wrapped Hershey Bars and Nuggets on the US websites and as I'm not fond of them, I wanted to do something that would suit some of the chocolate bars we get in the UK. I took out my trusty Scor-pal and designed this little box to hold the chocolate bars. Val was on hand as usual to stop me driving myself mad when trying to work out the measurements. The paper is Sweetwater, the cardstock is Bazzill and I have twinkled it with irridescent Glamour Dust. The Holiday Treats For You Stamp is from one of my PTI sets. Apologies for the photography as the light isn't good in the evening. I also packaged up some more reindeer food and I just have to print off the poem and they will be finished.

I am cropping tomorrow with Sandra, Izzy, Val, Margaret and Maxine and I'm looking forward to that. Let's hope they don't all cancel or I really will start to worry LOL.

Later gaters.

Fee x

I'm Not A Celebrity But Get Me Out Of Here!

Where did today go? I feel as if I've been running around like a nutcase and achieved very little. I went from one domestic crisis to another however, I'm looking forward to tomorrow and cropping with some friends.

My niece Jan needed a lift to the airport this morning as she is off to meet friends in Thailand for a couple of weeks. She has just bought a flat and this is her last holiday before joining the rest of us poor mortgage owners.

I've been watching the final of I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here and I cannot believe the things that poor Gino managed to eat. I will be voting for him (nothing to do with the fact that I think he is HOT LOL). Off now to register my vote.

Whoohoo Gino won and is King of the Jungle - a well deserved victory FANTASTICO LOL.

Fee x

Shopaholics Anonymous

I haven't blogged for a few days with no real reason, just life getting in the way again. Anyway I'm back now and I'll fill you in on what I've been up to today.

My BF Val and I went to Perth to do some Christmas Shopping. They have some lovely shops and it wasn't long before Mrs Christmas (Val) found a Christmas Shop to root around in LOL. While we were in the area we also delivered a Scor-pal Scoring Board to the lovely Hazel at South Littleton Farm in Blairgowrie. A group of us are going to stay at the farm in January for a scrapbooking weekend and we are soooo looking forward to it - it can't come quickly enough.

Pictured above is a Journal Jar that was made by Hazel - isn't is gorgeous. For those of you who have never heard of a Journal Jar it is a decorated Kilner type jar filled with questions written onto curled strips of paper. Each day you take a different strip of paper/question and write about that topic in your journal. Val and I admired the jars so much that Hazel actually gave us a gift of one each and we were so chuffed. All we need to do now is to find the time to begin writing our journals. On our way back home we had a browse around the shops in Blairgowrie and were delighted with all the little specialist shops in the town. I don;t know whether my purse or Bank Manager will be delighted though - but I'm a happy bunny! Roll on January!

Till later.

Fee x