Unwanted Guests & A Gruesome Discovery!!

Sounds like a horror story...well it is of sorts.
For some time now, I have had unwanted guests...
Little crawling beetles that are so tiny my camera wouldn't photograph them.
They appeared in the living room, all over the bay window & the window seat...
I had no idea how they got there, presumed they were from the window itself.....
Now me being a computer geek, has recently thrown teddy out of the pram because my two front USB ports on my tower do not like my cordless mouse. Today, I purchased a rather tiny 4 port hub...(kind of an extension cable for USB's, for those not computer technical)
However, I needed an adapter from one of my corded mice to plug it into the back of the tower.
Knowing I would find this upstairs in the attic room (I have a proper staircase, complete with wooden banister railing rising 10ft into the ceiling in the living room of my flat which goes up to a carpeted room which is meant to be the third bedroom although it is far too hot in summer & Siberia in the winter!)
I knew when I walked in there something eerie was afoot.... the damn beetles were everywhere. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up & my scalp began to itch....
Then in the corner on the shelving I spotted a toy frog I had made from a craft kit of felt & beans to fill it. It was sat in a pile of yellow looking sawdust & when I went over to inspect it, the frog was stiff as though filled with concrete. It had holes all over it like it had been shot & these beetles were all over it. Thousands were dead & some nearly dead....
Ugh!!! Either something got in & laid its eggs in the frog, or whatever they are were in the beans that came as the filling...
Tomorrow, when I have plucked up the courage to go back up there, I will go armed with my trusted Dyson & suck them all up. Then destroy the frog......
And after all that, yup you guessed it, I never found the adapter in there at all!!!!!!!!

It beat me!!

That damn clock has beaten me!!!!
I have sat at my desk all day thinking about it...(yes we are quiet in my department!!)
My dearest friend, Joy, who reads my blog updates, spotted it straight away & that was that....it had to go!!!!!!!!!! I'm looking forward to telephoning her on Saturday afternoon for a catch up chat as emails aren't quite the same...

Well try as I might I couldn't get the same clock as the site wouldn't open the javascript, but I settled for this little cutie instead...
I am so pleased it is Friday... I bought myself Lemon iced Madeira cake as a small celebration of my mini holiday..... I hope I can work so hard I burn of the calories...
Does anyone know the exact number of calories it takes to scrap? lol!!

Silly Clock

Yesterday, I thought I'd have a pretty clock on my blog!!! All went well got it into place, Bob's the proverbial....
This morning I decided that perhaps I fancied moving it a bit higher up... Blogger didn't want to republish & after 4 attempts it finally did. Only to my dismay the clock is an hour behind today & was right last night. I decided that as the clocks will be getting change very soon I might as well leave it alone...... unless it bugs me & I may well bin it & start again!!!!!
It is Friday, hoorah!!! & I am already planning my weekend of relaxation. Paula's next top 5 challenge will be up today & I'm intrigued to see what the next one is...

Still pink

Your Power Color Is Blue

Relationships and feelngs are the most important things to you. You are empathetic and accepting - and good at avoiding conflict. If someone close to you is in pain, it makes you hurt as well. You try to heal the ones you love with your kind and open heart.

What's Your Power Color?

AND despite blue being a safe sensible colour, I tend to wear it a lot without planning to.

WEll I can't believe I've stayed happy right thorough the day...
I usually get so tried by 3pm I am miserable all evening....
A long weekend is coming my way & I am so pleased I'm getting some time off work.
I plan to spend the whole of Monday crafting & Sunday night is going to be heaven with no getting up early...(usually 5.30am every morning Mon - Fri)
I am heading to Tesco to buy me a throw made of fake fur in rich chocolate ready for the cooler Autumn nights. My new sofa is very soft & inviting but the throw will add that little extra luxury when I'm snuggled up with my scrap mags!!!

In The Pink..

After 7 months of serious financial hardship, the light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer & for once is not the oncoming train!!!!!!!!!
Mr Tax Man has finally decided to pay me back all I should never have paid him in the first place, leaving me so short I was in danger of being unable to pay the rent on my flat. I love my flat, it fills me with joy each & everytime I walk in the door. My living room is bursting with daylight & it is the one place I feel safe. I would have hated to move from here after spending almost 9 years in it.....
So here are some fabulous pink summer blossoms to represent my "pinkness"....

Close Up's

After Daffodils & Purple Tulips, my favourite flowers are Pansies...
They seem to me to be constantly smiling.
I adore them in most colours except the dark blues (even though I'm a wearer of "safe" blue) & would love to get my hands on the frilly edged ones.
Violas are even cuter... tinier versions of smiles...
I do love getting as close as I can with my camera. Especially with flowers, berries & small things like snails although sometimes the camera takes an age to focus & I have to admit to getting bored of waiting!!!!
If I'm lucky I even get pictures of birds but they are far trickier subjects than children!!!!!
With the exception of cheeky Bluetits. Photographer I am not......

All change..

Gone for some autumnal colour this morning but I'm informed it is going to be warm... Yeah right Mr weather-man, I believe you, thousands wouldn't!!!!!
Well it is that time of the week again when I change my music...
I love Crazy by Gnarls Barkley but as it is used in another persons blog, I have steered away from it & used others that I really like.
They will come full circle later & start right back with Kurt Cobain..yum yum!!!
For now it is an old classic from Tina Turner, " Simply the Best"...
It's half an hour before I'm due into work & I could honestly say there are far more interesting things I could be doing here at home.......
Oh well... have to earn the stash cash..lol!!!

Happiness is not a place,

it is the journey.....

Well the journey to happiness for me is the last page of the baby mini!!!

Seriously, I made a mistake on one page & it went through to the other side. The mini is 4x 6" pages decorated both sides, to make 8 pages.... The ink seeped through & I had to set to & re make a whole page. I was so close to finishing & I was on a roll. I got the 6th challenge done quite quickly as I had bought some new papers & so wanted to play with them...

My sister's wedding card is designed & ready to go but as she reads my blog, I can't display the design until AFTER the wedding..LOL!!

So there I was thinking I was hot to trot, when I just didn't wait for it to dry. Own fault, but I have had to come up with an ingenious idea to disguise the mess.

Photo stickers... fab things.... Made a collage of them to cover the whole damaged side & the last scrap of paper to repair the other, less messed up side.....

The moral of the story..... get another cup of tea & wait a while...

Here comes the bride

Of course, I wasn't leaving out a picture of the bride herself in my first posting, but blogger wouldn't let me put the two photos on together!!! So here she is.. a post to herself..
And someone kindly took a picture of me which I actually think is quite decent so I got to update my profile with something that looks far more like me!!!

Pretty pictures to brighten the day!

Irene's wedding today & I did manage to get a few shots, but as there were many with cameras it was hard to keep the bride looking my way!!!!
However, I did get this lovely picture of Jonathan arriving at the registry office & Travis, their little boy spotted his daddy. How cute this was! The way he is touching his daddy's face made me cry.....

What Your Soul Really Looks Like

You are a warm hearted and open minded person. It's easy for you to forgive and forget. You are not a very grounded person. You prefer dreams to reality. For you, it's all about possibilities. You see yourself with pretty objective eyes. How you view yourself is almost exactly how other people view you. Your near future is a lot like the present, and as far as you're concerned, that's a very good thing. For you, love is all about caring and comfort. You couldn't fall in love with someone you didn't trust.

Inside the Room of Your Soul

Friday again folks!!! Scarey how fast these come around. Counting down the days until my holidays start & hopefully a full day of crafting will be had every Monday. I have so many ideas & when you work full time, the evening is the least likely time to want to do these. Sadly Saturday is taken up with chores & Sunday just flys...which brings us back to horrible Monday again..but that will soon end & I will embrace Mondays!!!!!!

Confidence is preparation.
Everything else is beyond your control.....

on 20th Sept 451 AD, Attila the Hun invaded Gaul..........

Now that is probably what is meant by confidence, but I sure would like to bet
Attila had TOTAL control!!!!

Control is something I would like. I would like to be able to have my say when it comes to the things in life that affect little old me!! But, have you ever noticed that you rarely hold the reins......
For control freaks out there it is terrifying I myself don't sit too comfortably with this. But, when I am crafting away, be it a 12"x12" LO or a mini book, I do feel some grip on things...which is why I do it. I have been asked why I spend hours & sometimes a month on these mini books & here is the answer it is the sheer love of pretty things & the joys of putting together something lasting..... that is why I make my mini books & LO's. It fills my mind with pleasure when I see pretty papers, ribbons, buttons & brads all put together on a page. Even boy pages are fun with the ever increasing epoxy range of embellishments. I picked up some fab ones by Royal & Langnickel. E-Z stick on's. They come in girl, boy,the 4 seasons & I even saw beach party. They are in candy colours & the winter ones are so lovely I long to scrap some pictures. At £1.49 they don't break the bank either!!
My next large purchase is going to be an Ellison Big Shot so I can make more 3D flowers & hearts for future ideas.
It will be my Christmas present from my dad, I got my lurvly dimage z1 last year with his money...

Next Big Family Event

The event in question is Tracy, my (natural) sister's wedding.
She moved to Bedlington, Northumberland 2 years ago & from there onto Corbridge.
She & Martin now live in Belsay & I hope they aren't planning on another move any time soon!!! This is Max, her latest "baby" sat amongst the cushions in his new home only hours after we got them moved in. He thought it was fun to explore all the boxes...
We went up to help them move at the time of the Corbridge show & it was bedlam to say the least. I never got to go shopping & I so adore Corbridge shops.....
I have my outfit & am running around desperate for shoes to go with it. I have until 23rd October, so I must plan a card design some time soon.....

Happiness is not a goal, it is a by - product......
of what????
I thought we all strove to be happy...
Happiness is something we feel in various ways..
Walking through piles of fallen leaves,a misty chill in the air & the thought of home with warmth & hot chocolate.
Snuggling up on the sofa Friday nights with a glass of wine in one hand & a scrap mag in the other.
Waking early at the weekends & snuggling further down under the duvet for more sleep.
Long soak in an aroma filled bathroom complete with candles, followed by a huge mug of coffee while reading scrap mags.
Watching snow fall.
Seeing the birth of a lamb or calf.
Buying new "useful" stash.
These are a few of the things that cause me to feel great happiness.
How are these a by - product?
Without happy things there would be no real point to life, unless you are a workaholic!!!!!!

Developing Nicely!

As Paula's fifth challenge is up, I decided that despite being desperate to crack on with it, I have got to complete the baby mini. I spent two hours sourcing information on the net one evening just to complete one page about the day/year the baby is born... I gleaned the idea from Dee Stapleton in one of Creative SB mags.
It is hard for such an early year but adds some interest & makes it totally different from the girl mini done previously.....

Paula's new challenge is 5 fond childhood memories.. It has had me rummaging through pictures of me age 4/5 yrs. I am struck by how photogenic I was & how I really loved to pose for the camera. When I hit 12 all that changed & half the pictures I possess are hideous!!!!! My father was into photography developing his own black & whites in our spare room cum dark room. These pictures are good as they hide the feature I detest most about myself, my red hair!!!!! So imagine my shock when I did the follow "just for fun" quiz..........

Your Hair Should Be Red

Passionate, fiery, and sassy. You're a total smart aleck who's got the biggest personality around.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

just unreal... but I will stick to my highlights to disguise my increasing collection of whites & silvers (we don't' go grey us redheads!!)
Well today is Oliver's birthday & my trip down to Kings Lynn. I have my camera all ready to go. Might get some good pics though it is grey at the moment.

Birth Month

Your Birth Month is March

You love life and exude an outgoing, cheerful vibe. Blessed with a great sense of humor, you can laugh at adversity. Your soul reflects: Respect, desire, and generosity Your gemstone: Aquamarine Your flower: Daffodil Your colors: White and light blue

What Does Your Birth Month Mean?

Daffodils are my favourite flower, followed by purple Tulips.
Well it is finally Friday & I am looking forward to the weekend. I find myself worrying that the weeks are going by so fast but little is getting done. I think it is time to campaign for a three day weekend. That way, you spend day one doing all the boring stuff like housework, washing & food shopping. Leaving day two & three to play with stash...or shop for more!!! Mind you, I adore food shopping as Tesco really is a fab place to shop & they are improving the craft section in the superstores. I found some fab bits there before now & the wedding favour bags are also reasonably priced... However, be warned the basket gets to the till & once home you discover there was precious little food in the bags.....

Birth Date Facts

Your Birthdate: March 19

You are resilient, and no doubt your resilience has already been tested. You've had some difficult experiences in your life, but you are wise from them. Having had to grow up quickly, you tend to discount the advice of others. You tend to be a loner, having learned that the only person you can depend on is yourself. Your strength: Well developed stability and confidence Your weakness: Suspicion of others Your power color: Eggplant Your power symbol: Spade Your power month: October

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Some of this rings quite true.....
Well Thursday now, the weekend is nigh & I have a massage to look forward to on Saturday morning. Then on Sunday, a trip to Norfolk to my Step sister, Tracy's, for her son's birthday. (It gets very confusing in our family as my natural sister is Tracy, she is the eldest of the four. Followed by myself, then Allyson, my other step sister & the "other" Tracy being the youngest !!)
Oliver is now 8 & it is his party. Last year he had a bouncy castle, but I have no idea what is planned for this. The highlight of this trip will be stopping at a Farm Shop for some amazing food!!!!!

Inspirations never go in for long engagements;
they demand immediate marriage to action.....

Well I'm sure all you crafting bloggers out there will be familiar with this!!!
Trouble with me, inspiration strikes in the most silly places.Such as at my desk working instead of when I'm actually face to face with my latest project... So, in situations like this, you can only scribble the ideas down furiously & try to contain the excitement until you get home. AND, if like me, hope you aren't TOO shattered to do the said "inspirational thought" when you do get home!! lol.

On a serious note for a moment, I agree totally with many of the things said in Jake's blog over the last few days. However since she swapped over to beta I haven't been able to post a comment to her blog or some other peoples. So, it puts me off changing over to beta myself, just yet. I hope this is being looked into by blogger as it is so unfair.

Early Bird

I'm up & ready for work early today!!!
Blogger was not playing ball last night so I needed to check it had actually updated all changes I made yesterday as I couldn't spell for toffee!!!

You Are 84% Pure

You're so innocent, it's almost like you're not human. Taking this test is probably the naughtiest thing you've done in a while!

How Pure Are You?

Life can only be understood backward, but must be lived forward.

Struck me as odd the first time I read it but, does make perfect sense.....

This was a quote on the calendar in one of the side offices in our building...It was actually dated for the weekend 9th & 10th & at the top it said that on this date (10th) in 1846 American Elias Howe obtained a patent for the sewing machine... Good on you Elias, we girlies luv our sewing machines.....
Pretty uneventful day really today, except I got my photo taken of my top 5 food LO & uploaded it to flickr. I am concerned at the moment with how to swap to beta & make sure I don't lose my pictures & photos I have with flickr & slide....

Bits & Pieces

Had a trip to Stephen Smith Garden Centre today, which has a fab craftshop within.
Picked up some baby bits & a few of the new Papermania Rub-ons. Then it was home for a bit of creativity!!!
Well, I got my top 5 food LO completed & am well chuffed with this one.
I actually based it on a sketch 232005, by Nicole White as I had been on her site & seen some of her really inspirational ideas. Thank you Nicole.
Sadly the weekend is soon over & its back to the grind for another week... Oh well, three more weeks to go & I start my holidays. (my department goes quiet over winter so I take off Mondays from Oct to Xmas to shorten the weeks a bit & get myself some well earned "ME" time...)

Another Digital LO

This was a bash at creating my own page using some photos of a family friend,Carol, swimming with the dolphins in Mexico.
She had dreamed of doing it for so long & when I got the photos I made this quick digi page to email her for her desktop. I forget now where I got the centre design & my Paintshop Pro7 allowed me to put the photo frame on it.
It sort of finished it off with all the other blues...
Its to the hairdressers I go now to try & get rid of my red roots!!!

No Nearer!!

I can't believe it is now a whole week & I'm no nearer starting the baby boy mini!! I seem to get way laid. First Julie, one of my colleagues was getting married & I had two wedding card requests. Angie, my Line Manager's, birthday saw another requested & my own. I was just completing a mini book for a colleagues' mum's 80th, (which I will be uploading to my flickr site very soon as I am very proud of that one.) Today I had to whip up this card for the Saturday wedding & an ex colleague of mine, Irene, is finally tying the knot in two weeks & I have one to do for that..... Oh well, I have the weekend, or do I?
It is hard to do something for a baby that is so tiny & new there are no photos, nothing. It all has to be made using stickers, ribbon & some fab photo stickers I got from Craftsulove, along with these rather fab bride & grooms.....
The hardest part of this card was the paper insert, convincing the printer to put the wording in the right place on the page & begging the "confetti" to stick with one hand while trying to feed my face with ryvita with the other!! Well it was my lunch....

Bit of colour

You Are a Visionary Soul

You are a curious person, always in a state of awareness. Connected to all things spiritual, you are very connected to your soul. You are wise and bright: able to reason and be reasonable. Occasionally, you get quite depressed and have dark feelings. You have great vision and can be very insightful. In fact, you are often profound in a way that surprises yourself. Visionary souls like you can be the best type of friend. You are intuitive, understanding, sympathetic, and a good healer. Souls you are most compatible with: Old Soul and Peacemaker Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

Seen these on a few blogs & thought I'd take a look at them for a bit of fun & colour. Disturbingly true I found!! Such a shame some of the people I interact with can't be quite as reasonable..

Got my 3rd top 5 challenge completed & have to press on with the baby mini. However as I walked out the door today, I got an urgent order from a colleague for a wedding card for Saturday!!! So there goes my evening.

Digital Scrapping

I tried my hand at digital scrapping in November last year. I have Jasc Paintshop pro7. I used this "plopper" to scrap my fav picture of my Grandma. Sadly she passed away 4 years ago, but I will always remember her this way. She loved a good cup of tea & even at my sister's wedding she insisted on a cuppa.....
She was our family matriarch,a rock to my sister (10) & I (7) during the first year of our mum's death.
I barely remember my mum now, her having been dead 32 years so I feel that all you mum's out there who scrap for your kids are doing a fab job of keeping their memories of you alive.... If time has taught me one thing, it has shown me that a girl can never replace her mum & as I get older I miss her far more & wonder just what life would have or could have been like, had she lived.

Another Rubbish Day...

Well today has been another one of those "wish I'd never got out of bed" days...
I didn't go into work on Friday due to a severe migraine but as they were short staffed I was asked could I manage to go in after lunch. Which, feeling guilty, I did. Utter waste of time, couldn't see the computer screen & felt generally a pile of poo....
Today, migraine has threatened to return & I have sat struggling all day... thankfully my day begins at 7.45am & ends at 3.30pm but boy, has it been a long one. None of my title ideas are working on my LO for challenge no.3 & I feel like throwing in the towel....
Lets hope tomorrow is better. It has done nothing but rain & then I heard Steve Irwin, of Crocodile Hunter fame has died. Life really is cruel.......

Finally...a better picture

At last I have managed to change my picture. It isn't that much better but at least I don't look white as a sheet. I'm by no means vain but I do suffer from an Eczema problem on my chin due to an annoying allergy to lanolin (helped along by stress.!).On photos I always appear to have a red chin!!! As if red hair wasn't enough of a problem!! Not to worry the wonderful Craig will work his magic next weekend & I will be suitably blonde highlighted again.... The things a girl has to do. Men just don't know they are born.......
As per usual it is raining here in good old Scunthorpe today so I am having a quick break from some serious scrapping before its back to work again tomorrow......

Thank Heaven's for Ebay

Today I had to go collect a parcel too large for my letterbox... I was expecting it to be a dress for my sister's wedding in October but to my delight it was a pizza box...
To you fellow scrappers, that can only mean one thing...more supplies!!! (I had already stuffed my face with pizza several evenings ago..)
Yup indeed, it was my Ebay purchase of SEI papers. I have dribbled over Granny's Kitchen for as long as I can remember & am now the proud owner of the collection.
Which I didn't realise was two sheets of the whole set of 12, & it works out at 48 sheets as they are all double sided & I also got alphabets, tags & frames as well.... So I have spent the rest of today lovingly stroking them & looking at them, wondering how?, or when?, or will I use them?! I also have a lovely set of Pink Blonde Moments to stroke & wonder about.....
I really must get the hang of this patterned paper lark, me thinks.......

Already September

I just don't know where this year has gone! Seems 5 minutes ago it was Christmas & I was writing my list of "Things to do in 2006"...
Well I can honestly say, I've done precious few of them. Many scrap projects have not been started but are sketched & stored away. Once the winter pulls in I might find the time to get them done. For the while I am enjoying the challenges. They are opening my mind to creative thought & also making me search inside myself for answers. I find I aren't too keen on what they actually are, but I will scrap them as a sign of change....
A client caused a laugh today when asked for his credit card details to pay. My colleague said "How does your name appear on the card?" & bless him, his reply " I just applied for it & it came in the post... er I'm new to this..."
The tears streamed down my face. So thank you whoever you were you really brightened my day.... Bless.