Panic Stations!

School is being Ofsteded next week (Monday and Tuesday - thank goodness they cut it down to 2 days!).

Anyway, as at least 3 of the governors can't attend (one on holiday and two not able to escape from work), it looks like muggins is going to have to blag her way through a meeting with them (I've been assured I won't have to face them alone).

I felt phyically sick when I was told at 3.15, but I'm a little calmer now.

I did take that photo of my new stash, so I'll upload it in a minute for you - I need something to cheer me up after all!

Nestabilities

I forgot to mention yesterday that I received my long-awaited nestabilities set from the USA. I got 40% discount off the rrp and also got the postage reduced too, so paid about £32 in total, and when you consider that they are £17 for ONE SET, I got all four for less tan the price of two over here!. I ordered the set of circles (which includes small and large circles, and the corresponding scalloped edge circles to go with them). I'm going to have a play later if I get chance (James' swimming night tonight, so might be too late to post piccies until tomorrow).

I also got my order from the wonderful Helen at Craftables today. I spent all my points (see previous post) and a bit more too and got some scrummy stuff. I got 4 bottles of Primas, some 12x12 cardstock,a pad of Basic Grey Gypsy, two cats eye inkpads, some fingerlift tape and some ribbon. I might even take a photo of it in a bit, but for now I have to dash out and get some mince for tea so we can have spaghetti bolognese (the co-op hadn't had their meat order when I went at 9am this morning).

Bad blogger

Well what an expensive week this has been. Michael (DH) and I went to Meadowhall on Monday for a consultation for laser eye surgery (for Michael, not me).

The crux of it was that Michael is a 'highly suitable' candidate (surprise surprise!) and we've booked a date for the surgery to be done. He goes to Nottingham on Monday 18th February to have the treatment, and we end up two grand poorer. Lovely. Mind you, we will be saving the monthly fees for his contact lenses, and there will be no more glasses to buy (at least not for the near future, as Michael doesn't need them for reading yet - he's not quite THAT old yet :wink: ).

So apart from that I don't have a lot to tell you. I made a few christmas cards at the end of last week (and old Canny Crafts tradition started by Anne Ashford all those years ago), so I'll pop a picture of those on here in lieu of a better picture for today.

I need to get loads of cards made in the next few weeks if I'm going to build my stock back up again. I should have posted a card today for my friend's daughter's 13th birthday, but if I post it tomorrow with a first class stamp, a following wind and a huge dose of good luck, it might just get there for Thursday (after all, it's only got to travel about 13 miles!).

Drink anybody?

Or rather, a beer mat swap. These little beermats have been stripped, painted, covered with paper, and then had the images, phrases and rhinestuds fixed in the corners (with my Kandi Kane - which I've had for probably nearly 3 years and never used, and I thought it was about time). Just realised that the pictures probably don't show the colours properly, and they're much brighter in real life. Might try and get another picture later if the sun comes out.

Never done beer mats before, so not sure if they're really what I envisaged at the start of the project, but hey? I think they look OK. Lets hope the other people in the swap do too.

A couple of pictures to keep you going...

Today I've decorated a smartie tube. Yes, I've typed that correctly. A smartie tube.

It's for a swap on the craft forum which I moderate - we have to decorate a smartie tube and fill it with 6 yards (or metres) of ribbon, and send them to the swap co-ordinator. She will then send mine to someone else, and send me one that someone else has decorated. And I end up with 6 lengths of lovely ribbon. Yum.

Anyway, here's my effort. It's painted with white acrylic paint (two coats) and then covered with Doodlebug black and white paisley paper, and I've coloured it all in with a red stardust glitter pen. Then I've popped a paisley peel off on a piece of card on the side.

I thought I'd show you a couple of other things I've done recently too.

This is a card I made with my Rock Star Nellie stamp, from the kit I bought. I thought this might do for my cousin's 40th birthday in February - he plays in a heavy metal rock band.

And finally this is a slim clipboard I decorated as part of a prize for a member on the aforementioned forum. She has had a bracelet, and altered tin, and altered box and this (and some chocolate I think). Hope she likes it!

Enchanted

was enchanting. A seriously harmless fluffy film, where the good guy gets the girl and everyone lives happily ever after. Bless.

The day was slightly marred by Sophie though, who upon reaching the age of seven, now thinks she is invincible, and unpunishable. On the way to the cinema in the car, she and James (and her friend Morgan) were playing on their DS Lites, on the 'pictochat' function (like a live messenger thing, but wirelessly connected rather than internet based).

We had been watching 'Are you smarter than a 10 year old' this morning, and one of the questions was about Mary I (Bloody Mary) so they were pushing the limits by repeating this and then 'dobbing each other in' for swearing. Sophie took it a step further. She decided to write F****** H*** (albeit spelled wrongly) on her DS. Well, that put a bit of a dampener on things I can tell you.

I do think though, that she is truly sorry, and she has solemnly promsed never to say, write or even think those words ever again. School has a lot for answer for these days.

Hope to be back in the craft room tomorrow. That, and use my new smaller slow cooker (changed the 6.5 litre one for a 3.5 litre model). Might attempt a bolognese in it, after I've nipped to Tesco in the morning to stock up on a few essentials.

Why does the December-January paypacket never seem to stretch far enough? Might have something to do with Christmas and all the December and January birthdays in our family I suppose. :D

A whole seven years

...have passed since Sophie was born. I can't quite fathom where all the years have gone.

Anyway, just a quick post today (haven't done any crafting today - only stamped some images for Mammy Hen on UKS to pop in the post on Monday. I hope she likes them.

So a couple of quick pictures to mark Sophie's birthday. We haven't had a party, as we're off to see Enchanted tomorrow at the pictures, and then to pizza hut afterwards.

The cake (Bratz as I predicted):

The blowing out of the candles (think yourselves lucky that you can't hear the singing):

Sophie's cards

Let them eat cake

if I remember to buy one that is! I forgot for James' birthday cake back in December, and we ended up on a mercy mission on the way back from the cinema to buy one at Morrisons.

Yes, yes, I know I could make one, but really - what's the point? All that effort, and either way you look at it it's not going to last very long is it? So I'm sure Sophie will be happier with a suitably decorated sponge cake from some supermarket or other (probably Bratz with those awful made up faces and huge sinister eyes).

I have to put the inserts ito Sophie's cards in a minute, then I will photograph them and pop them on here for you to see. I doubt if she will see them tonight,and after tomorrow it really doesn't matter. I'll also have to try to find the cards I made for James back in December to show you too.

When Michael gets home from work it'll be off to the opticians (again) in the pouring rain (again) to get him some specs sorted. Then I assume he'll want to get a couple of hours kip having been up half the night.

Think I'll take the slow cooker back and get the smaller model too (pillock that I am) - as Michael pointed out to me that not only is it too big for the meals we will ordinarily want to cook, but we are severely limited for storage space in the kitchen, so it will have to be downsized.

I hate it when he's right - good job it doesn't happen very often then eh? LOL

Wet wet wet

is what I am, or rather we are, as James is here too (inset day).

Absolutely pouring down here it is! And we've just had the most torrential hailstorm too. Lovely weather.

James has had an eye test this morning. No change from his last prescription, which is not only good for his eyes, but means we didn't have to fork out for some new glasses. Yes, I know that children's glasses are free, but we always end up paying for thin lenses and having the anti-scratch coating on the lenses, so they come to about £35 usually. £35 we could well do without spending at the moment. Trouble is, Michael is going to the opticians tomorrow as he is desparate for new glasses. He actually wants laser eye treatment, but for that he needs to be able to wear glasses for a day or two before a consultation, so he needs his glasses to be up to date (and also not held together with insulating tape as his are at the moment). He's not at work tomorrow (daytime) as he has a 'shutdown' to do at about 4am tomorrow morning. Only good thing about that is he will get paid double time, and gets the rest of the day off.

I did, however, go to Argos and buy a new slow cooker. I think, however, having got it home, that it might be too big. I wanted a big one, so that we can cook a whole chicken in it, but I think it's going to be too big for normal family meals, which is what I really want it for.

As I'm not much of a cook (slight understatement - I can burn beans in a pan, me!), I'm going to have to think this one through a bit before I get past the point of no return.

Slacking off again

I have been, haven't I?

(note to self: Must try harder)

Well I've Made Sophie's birthday cards from us and from James. Have to confess I've cheated by buying some Disney Princess stickers from ebay though. Just one more reason why I ought to have a Cricut with the disney cartridges. LOL.

I daren't post them up in case Sophie comes a nosing by by clicking on my links in the favourites bar. But I will of course, post them as soon as her birthday has been and gone on Saturday. I can't quite believe that she will be seven - where on earth does the time go?

I have made some more cards with my Sugar Nellies, which I will add to this post later on (they're still in my camera at the moment). I can't believe that for the first time in absolutely months I'm not behind with making the cards I need to send. I was truly terrible last year, and forgot more people than I remembered I'm sure. I'm also not doing as well with the blogging as I hoped I would, but I am trying to put that right now.

I have been helping a friend who dabbles in crafting to make a birthday card for her Fiance's Grandad who is soon to be 80.. A lilttle awkward as she wanted to go with a screws and fasteners theme (he set up an 'industrial fastener' company years ago). Still I think we managed to come up with an idea - thank heavens for Quickutz and Making Memories brads which look like screw heads.

Anyway - she took it home to finish it off, so if and when I manage to get a picture from her I'll let you have a look.

Got to takes James for his swimming lesson tonight, so will post those cards a bit later on.

A spoonful of sugar...

...helps the medicine go down' so the song says. In my case it gets my crafty mojo back! Here are three cards I made this morning with my new Sugar Nellie stamps - God how I love these!

Wowser!

I'm not a lucky person in general, and that is understating the fact, but I've just won £15.00 to spend at Craftables as I placed their 1000th order!!

Add that to the £11 or so I had already accumulated, and that means I have £26 to spend on me, me ,me!

Thank you so much Helen. Fab stash, fab service, and now fab freebies - I'm in stash heaven!

Just a quickie...

So here it is - finally...the long awaiting very simple card I made for James' friend (yes, Sherlock, his name is William).

Probably not worth waiting for, but at least it's better to give a hand-made card when you're only putting money inside.

I've just sorted out all my new Sugar Nellie stamps, which I've trimmed down ready to use, so I'm hoping to get around to at least stamping and doing some colouring later on today.

I've also made an altered clipboard today for Kimb, the winner of the Christmas quiz on the forum. All 4 of use mods/admin are sorting out a prize for her, so hopefully she'll have a lovely surprise when she gets all her gifts together at the end of the week.

I wont post the picture here, but I'll pop a link in so you can have a quick look in case you're interested.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v474/craftyclaire/various052-1.jpg

New Year - New Me ??

Well, I'm going to try anyway. I'm really going to make an effort to post more often, and one of my many 'resolutions' (don't like using that word, but can't think of another appropriate one) is that I am going to craft more and remember to photograph my creations again.

There was a time when I would photo or scan everything I made, but just lately the only thing I've been capturing are the cj pages I did. And I still haven't managed to post them onto the forum either.

Anyway - I need to make a card today for James to give to his friend as he's been invited to the cinema tomorrow (to see The Golden Compass- I'm quite envious). I'll endeavour to post my work later (or possibly tomorrow).

I will leave you with the most recent photo I took - one of James and Sophie with my Grandad - their Great Grandad) on Saturday just gone (29th December) - just two days before his 104th birthday.

Yes, that's 104 years old. And counting...

Tum te tum

Well, I still haven't managed to gain any employment, despite getting down to the last two for one of the jobs I've been interviewed for. On the positive side (I really am trying to see a positive side) she did say that if there had been two positions they would have offered me a job, and she wants to keep my details on hand for when their next suitable position comes up. Sounds very positive, yes? Sadly the next suitable position could be months away.

On the flip side of this, I am finding myself with days to fill. I am not, however, actually achieving anything in these extra hours. I have every good intention of sorting the house out, listing every excess item on ebay, making 1001 cards (birthday, Christmas, BELATED birthday too of course, seeing as I've missed more birthdays than I've remembered this year). - yet I haven't managed to actually get any of these things done.

I even managed to waste a day by breaking down on a little jaunt to Nottingham last week, having to be towed home, and car repairs totalling £185. Could have been worse though, as apparently the engine may well have seized if I'd tried to start the car just one more time. not like me to have any 'good luck though (good luck is, of course, relative in this situation).

James came home from school yesterday with a letter stating that he has been chosen as part of a small group who are to organise a 'French week' within school. In order to do this, he needs to be arriving at school on a Thursday morning at the ungodly hour of 7.45am. Yes - that's quarter to eight in the morning. He promises that he will be able to get up and ready to be out at that time. Who is going to get me and Sophie ready and up and out at that time though??? Flipping ridiculous is what I say. I'm sure I'll be saying it a few more times tomorrow morning too (plus a few other choice words I suspect).

I really am going to have to get my bum into gear and make some cards today though - it's my niece's birthday tomorrow, and Michael's niece's birthday on Saturday, so that's at least two I need to do today. Add that to the 3 clipboards and the 2 CD clocks I'm already behind at making, and that should keep me busy for a few hours methinks.

Better get started then...

The end of an era...

or at least, the end of my working career at Omega. Yep - that's it! Finito - Fine - The End.

Brian is winding up the company as of a week on Monday, and I got the offer of a fortnight temping at the company at which I used to work, so I've finished as at today. To be honest, there wouldn't be anything for me to do really, as I've spent this week making sure that everything is as up to date as it can be.

So I've started looking for another job and I've already sent off one application form, but I'm going to took into whether I can claim jobseeker's allowance. I've never been in a position to claim it before, and I'm not sure if my limited requirements for working will prohibit me from claiming.

We had a fun evening yesterday - at A&E! Michael twisted his ankle at work and so we ended up spending a couple of hours in casualty whilst we waited for the doctor to tell us it was 'probably' a pulled ligament on the underside of his foot. From coming home from work and not being able to put any weight on his foot, he almost skipped back to the car, He's had the day off work to be safe (The doctor did advise him to put his feet, or rather his foot up today), and I haven't seen him limp once.

Still, he's done all the washing for me. Good job really, as he's out with band tomorrow from 2.30 in the afternoon, right through to about 3 o'clock in the morning. His band are playing at the local Rotary's club's annual shin-dig in Southport (yes, Southport, near Liverpool).

The saddest news

I haven't been here for months have I?

I don't really have any excuse except that I have been working and I'm so very tired at night that I haven't been doing much of anything really.

And now - the sad news that my Mother-in-law passed away on Sunday 9th September. For those of you that read this who know me well, you will realise that this is probably a blessed relief for her, as she has been ill for some time. She had Parkinson's disease, and over the last few years (and increasingly over the last months and weeks) had being losing her independence, and her ability to fend for herself with even the most mundane of tasks.

She hadn't for some time, for example, been able to dress or undress herself, or to wash. Recently, although she was able to make a cup of tea or coffee, she was unable to carry it into the lounge area as she needed the aid of a walking frame.

She was buried with her beloved Brian on Monday. A very emotional day for all of us.

Michael is devastated by his loss, as are the kids. I am too, of course, and at this time of year, at which I feel very vulnerable at the best of times, everything is hitting home hard.

I'm not going to dwell on it. Really - I'm not! It will be 20 years next Monday that Mum passed away, and whilst it is somewhat of a milestone, I am so determined that at last I am going to carry on as normal, not least for the sake of the family, who do not need to hear my woes when they are feeling their own loss so much.

I will think of Mum, and no doubt I will speak to my sister about it, but I'm not going to get all maudlin and moody. No sirrreeee.

I'm off now, as I have to get back in the swing of crafting, as there are rather a lot of birthdays and anniversaried approaching, and as I've been so dreadful at birthdays these last few months, I've run down my stock and I really need to get my bum into gear and get on with it!

So if Guy or Finnlay or George happen to pass by my blog, and you haven't yet received your birthday card, it's because I've been blogging on here whilst I should have been making your cards!
And a random photo from last year from when my friends took the kids conkering. James loved it (we still have a few conkers on the hearth as they are supposed to scare away spiders (it's the chestnut oil apparently!) - but they are losing their effectiveness. Might have to take the kids myself this time. Heaven forbid ;-)

AWOL

I have been for a month! How remiss of me. in my defence, your honour, I've been rather busy getting of with the (excuse for a) life which I lead.

The job is going well (I think). It's really busy actually, and I am re-learning how to apologise for things not getting done to schedule (not my things not getting done, you understand, but orders at work not being fulfilled on time - something I have no control over seeing as I am no use at all with a hammer or jigsaw).

Sophie has been quite poorly over the last few weeks. First of all about 3 weeks ago she succumbed to a nasty throat virus which sent her temperature up to 105. After she got over that, last week she had a build up of fluid behind her ear drum which again caused her temperature to soar and caused her a lot of pain, and she ended up with a course of anti-biotics - and a follow up visit to the doctors in a couple of weeks time to check it out (she had the same problem last July and they want to check whether there is an underlying cause which needs looking into). That caused a few sleepless nights for her, and consequently me too, so autopilot mode kicked in for me and as a result of napping on the sofa, my back has gone into spasm. Not nice I can tell you.

I mean, I've had a recurring back problem for years, but it's not been too bad lately. I suppose 5 weeks of sitting at a desk for 5 hours a day and turning between the phone and the screen and the printer has added to it; topped off with the sofa as a bed for many hours last week, my back didn't really stand a chance.

A little bit of news from the weekend, is that we went to see Grandad on Sunday. For 103 years old, he's doing really well. He was thrilled to see the kids and flung his arms open to hug them when we walked into his room. He also returned the feeling by doing charcoal sketches of the kids in their own sketch boolks which they had taken to show him - they were so thrilled! Even at his age, the portraits were still recognisable as being the children, and considerably better than any efforts I could produce (and believe me you wouldn't want to see me try!). I will endeavour to scan then in and upload them, for you all to see.

I did take some photos of Grandad with the kids (I fear each time we go that it will be the last) but as yet I haven't uploaded them to the computer. I do, however, have a photo from this time last year when we visited, so I'll try to upload that. First time for everything!

Back to work tomorrow (I worked Good Friday and had today off instead) - and the kids are booked into the local out of school club. They're really looking forward to it. They ought to be - it's costing me more to send them there than I'm earning whilst at work. Good job the hours during term time are within school hours. Otherwise I'd be paying to work.

Right - I still have a card to make for a friend who is 40 on Thursday, so I really ought to be there doing that instead of here doing this. And I promise to try to be a little more productive and keep you informed.

Flying visit

That's what my father and step-mother had today. They were travelling back from their week long holiday in Sidmouth (of the grounded container ship fame) when they decided to call and drop off the items they had bought from Lakeland for me (at my request). A Banana guard and a slicer gizmo to make sure even I can cut even slices from our home baked bread. So they stayed the grand total of 1/2 hour, drank a cup of coffee and managed to eat a hot crossed bun into the bargain. Not bad in 30 minutes flat! Still, it was nice to see them.

Michael is away [laying at being a bandsman for the day. His band have drawn to play last (12 of 12) and the band playing before them, is the same band (Desford Colliery Band) that 'people' thought should have trounced them last year (when Newstead won and Desford came 6th). So we'l see what delights this years contest brings. Results will be here once they've been announced later this evening.

In the meantime, I shall appease myself with the few bits and bobs I bought from a little jaunt earlier to The Range in Nottingham. Not as large as the other two 'Range' stores I've been to, but I did manage to get a 12x12 pad of glittery papers from DCWV (Pocket full of Posies). Lovely.