This is just a quickie, I needed to jot this down just to document the hilarious convo with my kids.

I picked Sarah up from her dance class this evening, she is still going on about the birthday. She asked me if I wanted a High School Musical cake and balloons, or maybe, I would prefer Barbie Marapossia (or however its spelt, its from the newest barbie movie anyway!) Failing those choices I might even prefer Hannah Montanna??? The plan is that she is taking me out for lunch, and she is paying, she has £3 in her purse which in US money is probably around $2.25.

Then the big convo started, Jamie (who is not yet 3) butted in and said 'Hattie you not taking mummy out, I am' (Hattie is what he calls Sarah, goodness knows how that happened but we actually now all call her Hattie!) I asked Jamie where he was taking me and apparently, (and I am so excited) He is taking me to a toy shop WOOT!

So horray for me, my birthday is not my birthday after all, its my kids day and thats the way I want it I dont need to be another year older :-)

Anyway, I am going to my bed, just wanted to share that piece of info with you as it really made me giggle!!

Oh well, dammit, its pouring with rain, which is typical, why? Well after a month with no rain, I bought myself a new summer top. Had my shower this morning, got myself dressed into my new top, opened the curtains of the bedroom, and bam, its torential, isn't that sods law!!!

I'm actually surprised that this is a Friday that I can sit down and blog. I never blog on a Friday because its the day from hell for me. Everybody says TGIF and I think, WTFIF! Its usually the day that my home looks like downtown Basra because I am too busy running after the kids, with little or no time to make my home look like a showhome. I swear, Martha Stewart has a lot to answer too, who the hell manages to make a gorgeous home, make things for said gorgeous home, then to top it all of BAKES!!! I mean, how does she do it?? Really, I want to know!!!

So for me its breakfast for the kids a cup of reallllly strong coffee for me. Then get kids ready for the day, they usually throw in a few fights with me, particularly Jamie, who thinks it oooohhhh so funny to run around the house stark naked when I am chasing him with a pair of pants! Sarah usually spends her time sulking over the clothes that I pick! Brushing teeth is like a murder happening in the bathroom. Granted, this routine is everyday, but on a Friday I have no time for it!

Get Sarah to nursery, get to supermarket, chase younger child around the supermarket, get out of supermarket, which should have taken about 20mins to do, results in an hour and half. Get home make lunch, pick up Sarah, take Sarah and Jamie to a childrens restraurant to meet up with friends, Sarah goes to afterschool club for an hour, get home find a moment to clean up lunch and breakfast dishes, pick up Sarah, get Sarah dressed for dance class, take Sarah to dance class, I need to stay and watch (only because its crap songs like the Fast Food Song and 5678, its great dance songs for the night with the tequila!! and I bet you are all watching avidly now to learn the dance moves!!) Then home for 7:30pm.

Its just hell!! and I am actually dreading it when boy child wants to start doing after school activities, he will just need to be told that Fridays are not acceptable!

Tomorrow, is that dreaded day, yes I am 34 tomorrow, Sarah proceeded to tell everyone at preschool that it was mummy's birthday tomorrow! But she is forgiven because she told everyone I was 13 WOOT!!

Anyway, do you want a sneaky preview of the new Oscraps Collab kit, its released June 1st!! So keep you eyes open for it ;)


Here is a page I did for my dad, in fact, its off at the printers getting printed off right now,

It has the song lyrics of Celine Dion's Because You Loved Me, which I made into an overlay :)


anyway, Miss Vicki Stegall gave me permission to make a quick page using her Only Natural II Kit available at Oscraps
Here is a preview of the quickpage

Grab it Link Expired Please note, this QP does NOT come under the S4H TOU, this is for Personal use only!!

If you need help using QP's, I recommend you heading off to Taylormade Designs Blog, she has an excellent tutorial here

Well my chickadees, I hope you have a more relaxed Friday than I will have, and hope you all have a great weekend :)

(((((freehugs))) *muah*

I hate bright ideas!!

Did I ever mention how stupid I am? I mean seriously, when I get an idea someone should whack me hard over the head and smash that stupid light bulb flashing over my head!

Sarah keeps asking me when her birthday is, its not until the end of June, but, still, every morning she asks (or aks in 5yr old speak!) the inevitable question 'Mummy, is it my birthday yet?' Which she gets the same answer, 'no, not for another 4wks' I told her its my birthday first then her birthday after, so she is super excited that my birthday is on Saturday. I am, however, not so excited about another birthday *sigh* I mean, birthdays are not so exciting anymore unless you are lying unconscious in a dirt ditch with a bottle of tequila by your side. But, alas, these days passed me years ago (again *sigh*)

Anyway, she is counting down to my birthday, then will start counting down to her birthday, unfortunately I threw in a bombshell and told her that actually, after my birthday its her papa's birthday, THEN it will be her birthday, it didnt go down to well. Apparently, its not fair that papa gets his birthday first. Who am I to argue.

She has asked me if there will be a bouncy castle at my birthday, um, no is the short answer for that. The last time I got on a bouncy castle I was 7.5 months pregnant with Jamie and got stuck on it. I had to be rescued off by a burley fireman. Well he wasnt that burley, and he happened to be there as his son was at my daughters birthday party, where the bouncy castle was present.

Last night Sarah was asking about her birthday party, which is booked at a hall near home. When that stupid light bulb started flashing in my head. I know, I will make the invites for her birthday, it will be ever so cool, no other 5yr will have one and I will look like a very clever artsy mummy.

Now, trying to discuss the intriquit details with a 5yr old is a mighty task. Particularly said 5yr old wants to have High School Musical invites. Not to mention trying to discuss copyright laws with 5yr old that disney have on their character merchandise, not easy.

Then we had to have a discussion on pink, yellow and purple invites. Paricularly the background of the invite. She wanted yellow, which I think looked too goudy and I am not a yellow person. Yes people I am not a sunny bright person! Then she wanted purple which was too dark. Come on child, will you please pick pink for once in your life. PLEASE, try and pick girly things, no, you are not having black invites.

I finally got her to choose pink, well, mainly because I put on the pink background and told her, ooops, cant change it now. Thank goodness she really hasnt worked out the wonders of digiscrapping yet.

So after 3hrs of making a 4x6 invite (which really should have taken 40mins tops!) I have it done. I put it onto a CD and its going off to BIL's printing office this afternoon to print off.

Anyway, here is the finished result of the dreaded invite.


Picture is linked to my Oscraps gallery for credits :)

Now, I need to make the dreaded thank you notes.

But, I have a memo to myself that from hereon in, I will not consult my daughter with anything ever again, I totally get it to why my own mother didnt!!

Boredom is killing me and a free template

So I am bored tonight, the Eurovision Song Contest is killing me, the ears can take no more. United Kingdom was 2nd on the entry and there are around 30 more to go and I cant listen anymore, I will however, flick back over when the judging starts. Which, is the most political judging ever!!

So, whilst I am waiting for the results, and, whilst I try and determine what in the heck is going on in Pushing Up Daisies! I watch this program every week and still get lost LOL

I thought I would make a new template.

Here is the preview



Its a 12x12 PDF or TIFF template with element placement layer which can be removed, these are just little guides ;) and the blocks can be used for either pictures or papers, totally up to you to do what you want.

If you use it, do link me up, I would love to see what you did with it :) Also, a little thanks wouldnt go a miss :)

Grab it the PDF here
Grab the TIFF File here

Have a great weekend

((((freehugs))))

I'm on a mission...Charlie (thats me) calling the angels!!

To get three angels together to make a collab, and I am cracking the whip and ralling up the troops to help me in the campaign.

The three Angels will be

Amanda, Taylormade Designs

Her latest release (linked to store);


Liz from Paislee Press Designs

Her latest release (linked to store)



And Shauilee of Fei-fei's Stuff

Her latest release (linked to store)


You can also view the creative team gallerys at Oscraps;

Amanda's CT Gallery

Liz's CT Gallery

Shauilee's CT Gallery

Now, as you can see all three girls have something in common with their designs, very minimal and I will be honest, each of those girls have converted me into this way of creating my layout pages and I have been producing the best pages, less is more. I am also looking at my photographs in a different way.

Amanda and Liz have collabed together before, their first collaboration being the B-side


And they collabed again recently Making Dreams are made of this and Mod QP Albums, image is the full collection but is linked to the collabs store to show you the other kits :)


Now here is where I am going with my plea to these awesome girls. I love them and I love their designs, and as you can see from the previews I have listed they each have very similar design tastes although create different and each as beautiful products. And I personally would love to see the three girls together make a collab. Two of them together make a stunning product, can you just IMAGINE three of them!!!

Also, I have their blogs linked to the side of my blog where I really suggest that you check them out as they each often update with beautiful freebies, the most fantastic tutorials, and the most blow away competitions!!!

I'm not ready to let go :-( My baby is going to school after summer, August 19th to be exact.

I was kind of ready and excited because Sarah's report at preschool is really good and her teachers there say she is ready to go into school, and of course Sarah cant wait to go with her High School Musical School bag and matching lunch box. So yes, I was excited......

That was until I went to the school last night for a tour of her classroom, meet her teacher and be introduced to the cirriculum and now, I dont want to let her go. Dont get me wrong its not the school, the school was built and started as a working school only last year! And in that short space of time its in the top 5 for high above average grades! So I have every confidence in the learning procedures and the staff. Its, well, its just the reality that my baby is going to school, this is her preparing to become an adult and prepare for working life!

This was her June 25th 2003

Crap quality of a picture, but when I sat and looked through her baby album this afternoon I began to wonder what the hell happened to 2004, 05, 06 and even 07!

And in 2008 this is her now

Yes, of course she has grown up, but dammit, it went to fast for my liking!!!

Anyway, to take my mind of things I scrapped lol, but it was for Sarah, just to tell her to be happy in whatever she decides to do because that is all I want for her at the end of the day :-)

Image linked to my Oscraps gallery for credit ;-)

Hope you all have a great day (((hugs)))

Well, the central heating is back on in my home *brrr* I just dont bide well with cold weather. I stuck one foot out of bed at 7:45am this morning and swiftly stuck it back in! Even though it is sunny outside, there is a sharp wind. But, in all honesty I think because we had such heat last week we are just taking it bad to the slight drop!

I have EXCITING news for you. We got a NEW DESIGNER debuting at Oscraps yesterday, and when I say NEW designer I mean it, this is her very first store, and her very first release. We all know and love her as a very talented and inspiring scrapper so its just only natural that Dawn take the leap from layout artist to Layout Kit Designer.

And when I talk of Dawn, I off course am talking of the creative Createwings

Her store is here and this is the new kit she kicked off with, and good grief, if this is her first ever kit, goodness knows whats in store for us and our poor paypals in the future LOL


Isn't is stunning, it has so much potential to be an 'out of the box' magical/extracted/blended galore page, or, a beautiful, simple page.

I actually scrapped 2 pages from this kit, which is pretty unusual for me, I am one of those people that will scrap with a whole kit, then maybe just grab one or two elements from it later down the line, but the papers themselves are just scrummy!!




Both pages are linked to my Oscraps gallery for full credits :)

I suggest that you get your butts over to Dawn's store, like, now!! As for her debut release, you will get a 20% saving ;)

Have a good day

((((freehugs))))

ugh, grr, I just knew the good weather was too good to be true! True to format, come the weekend the rains come *sigh*

Yesterday evening I went out to feed my horse Lily, about 4pm, it was starting to blacken over, then there was an almighty rumble, followed by spots of rain. I quickly made up her feed bucket (I am NOT a fan of rumbles in the sky!) Threw it over the fence, quickly checked her over (she was happy) and made a run for it LOL. The rains then started to come thick and fast.

It reminded me when I was a kid, I was terrified of thunder then, as, I still am now. My mum used to tell me that the clouds were fighting over sweeties and were banging their heads together. The funny thing is I told Sarah the exact same thing last night since she was a bit frightened, she then proceeded to the french doors in our family room, shouted out to the clouds to STOP FIGHTING! LOL

Today the temperature has dropped a lot, its 50 degrees right now, big difference from the 70's we had been experiencing all week *sigh* And there doesnt seem to be any signs of it increasing over the next 5 days (according to the BBC weather, which I have bookmarked for my own town LOL)

So today, I scrapped a page, I havent scrapped a thing for over a week. I blame NSD for taking a lot out of me, and of course the hot weather LOL

If you havent seen Amanda's blog, aka Taylormade Designs, I suggest you check it out, she has really good tutorials, generally for CS2 users, but can be adapted easily for PSE users (like myself)

I have an issue with blending big time, I am not a fan of blending, I prefer extractions then reducing the opacity, really, making a lot of work for myself.

But Amanda has a great Blending Tutorial on her blog, which is beyond easy to understand!!

I took this picture of my son Jamie, which was snapped on Bank Holiday Monday (May 5th) on Nairn Beach, see, proof that it was a hot day in Scotland LOL

I cropped it, really it was a shot I didnt like because I didnt get in close enough to him (mainly because I didnt want to get my new flip flops wet and soggy!!)

And following Amanda's tutorial this is what I came up with;

Credits;
Fei-fei's Stuff Almost Blue Paper Pack
PTM Pacific Grove Elements
Wordart from Vicki Stegall's Only Natural II
Taylormade Designs Fading Emotion Vol 2
Staples from Blythe Evans Funky Mama Kit
All Products are available from the Oscraps Store

Seriously, I recommend you giving this tutorial a go, I totally love the results of it and, as I said, its so simple to follow. Amanda has a few more tutorials on her blog, so bookmark it and check back regularly as she will most likely keep it updated with more tutorials in the future, and not to mention its a brilliant read anyway :)

Well, have a good Sunday, Its LOST night in the UK, so after I have been to visit mum I intend to veg out in front of the telly with my glass of red wine and big bag of Kettle Chips!!!

((((freehugs)))

Woah!! I havent been here for a week!!!

Actually, its little wonder, we have been basking in the most glorious weather this week, so trying to make the most of it before it all goes away! And I am hoping that this is not our summer over LOL. apparently, on Wednesday, we were the hottest place in the whole of the UK with temps into 72 degrees!

My DD has also started dancing classes, she used to do Highland Dancing, but got bored of it, she wanted to do something more fun and energetic, so I got her into dance classes near my home on a Friday Night, and she will also do cheerleading on a Tues night. Never thought I would see the day we would have cheerleaders running around the north of Scotland, but its here, and I wish it was about in my day LOL, it looks like a ton of fun!

Well, I hope you all had a great NSD last week, lost lots of cash on the most scrummy new things?? I actually didnt buy a thing LOL, which of course pleases my DH!! I was busy over at Oscraps, and if you missed the party, well, you missed out on a lot of great things! We had Chats, challenges and random refunds!

Anyway, my dear Shaui, aka from Fei-fei's Stuff at Oscraps has come out with a gorgeous new kit

pastelarina

And this is my page from this stunning kit :)

The quote is from my favourite poem 'FootPrints In The Sand'

I took the last excerpt from it

'My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you.'

Here is to a good weekend, what is left of it. And be safe in the sun :)

NSD Has Hit OSCRAPS!!!

Keep your eyes open in the NSD Forum Between Now and Sat 3rd May

For Upcoming Events, Chats, Challenges and tons of fun

pssst, A birdie told me that some lucky shoppers will receive random refunds on their purchases ;)

Here is a list of events we have coming up for you :)

Chats

Friday 2nd May ~ Type of Chat: General teaser/introduction to Friday night at the "O" Chats

Join Linda in the chatroom at: 9PM CST/10 PM EST/6PM MST/7PM PST

The beginning of the Friday night at the O chats. This will be to introduce you to our
weekly chats at the O.

They will last one hour. We will do a power scraplift each Friday night.
The chat room will give us a place where we can hang out around the O table and party with our friends. you will be able to pop in and out as they scrap their layouts. Then, at the end, each person will have a layout completed and hopefully know their friends just a bit better.

Saturday 3rd May ~ Join Cat in the Chatroom: 3PM GMT/4PM EUROPE/10am EST

Theme: Trivia/Scavenger hunt questions will be given and the first person back with the correct answer will receive a prize. The initial chat/game will run for 1hr but will continue on if you so wish

Sunday 4th May ~ Join Sally in the Chatroom : 4PM CST/5pm EST/3pm MST/2pmPST

Theme: General scrapbooking fluff

This is a culmination chat...where we all get together and talk about how much fun we've had with NSD this weekend. I will have some BIG Prizes. This is a really loose fun time where we just get to know each other better. We want the members of this fantastic site to know how much we love them and we love the O!!! Just a "PARTYON Garth" time!!


CHALLENGES

~ Join Linda for her TIME IN A BOTTLE CHALLENGE
Challenge is to take this sentence and complete it for your layout. " If I could save time in a bottle The first thing that I'd like to do..."


~ Template Challenge with the Junior Cheery O's

~ Gallery Crawl With Cynthia

~ Scraplift with Wendy

And here is a list of sales!!!!! WOOT!!

Come and join in all the fun and laughter at the best digi site on the plant; Oscraps

I am blinking a new blinkie!

Isnt it soooo purty



When I saw Shaui was having a CT call, I tried everything in my power to get in there!! I swear, if I wasnt an honest person, and with the mod power I have at Oscraps I would have hidden the thread to the entire public apart from myself and Shaui (because if I had hidden it from her it would have been too obvious!) So apart from yelling at people to NOT EMAIL HER!! thats all I could do.

My plans worked, I woke up this morning, poured my usual cup of rocket fuel to get me started for the day, fed the kids breakfast, then fired up the laptop, and there its was, the most beautiful email in the whole wide world.

Poor Shaui, I think she felt she was blackmailed into giving me a spot, because I do recall mentioning something of sending the Loch Ness monster over to Dubai and eat her.

Sickies are still here, although I feel a lot better from yesterday and I get a bit of me time tonight, kids are up at MIL's for a few hours, so going to grab some scrapping time

((((free hugs)))