Week in review

So been a while since I blogged. To be honest I think I'm being a bit tough on myself with this, I want to blog, then I sit down at night and I'm just so wiped I can't think of anything interesting to say, then I feel bad I haven't blogged in ages.
Why I don't know as lets face it nobody is sitting crying because I haven't blogged lol. Would be worse to look back on posts where I've just blogged for the sake of it and not saying anything on consequence I think.
So this week has been another busy one. Lots of appointments and blood tests etc and also had Caitlins bed delivered. Yey! When we started redecorating she asked me for a reading nook. She loves to read which I love to encorage so I started looking around for some kind of play tent or canopy I could hang from the ceiling.
Thing was everything was either really flimsy looking or cost just under £100. So I decided to make one myself :)
This could have been a pinstrosity but I think it turned out great!!

Its a bed sheet, hula hoop and some bunting from her old bed. I also cut some flowers for the outside and stuck lots of glow in the dark stars inside. She was thrilled and I admit I was super proud of myself :)
Saturday was the Next sale. It started at 5 so Mum and I went 2 hours early as usual at 3, we were the first ones there!!!!
Might have bought a few bits ;)

As usual a lot going back though lol, I'm not keeping all £600 worth!
Today the weather was beautiful so we went to a nearby village which was having a garage sale. It was SO hot! We found a nearby spring and I lifted Scamp so he could get a drink, he decided to jump in and cool down that way. Fair enough :)

Beautiful views.

Got some bargains. Kids got some books and Mark a couple of games. I found one stall where a woman was selling off a lot of card making stuff so got these bits :) Bargain of the day though was the 'wreck this book' journal. I've wanted to get one for Mollie for a while so was pleased to see this one, brand new, for 50p. I couldn't believe it when she suddenly appeared behind me and shouted 'Oh I really want one of those!' Shows how well I know her but kind of ruined the surprise!!

Well I'm hoping to get some crafting done tomorrow as I'm guessing Mark will be spending the day in bed, so will at least have that to blog!

Happy birthday to me :)

Ok so I'm a day late but I was wiped out yesterday, it was my birthday!
We had planned to do the car boot, again, but again the weather was dreadful so Mum and I decided to go shopping instead. We go on holiday next month and half the fun is buying pretty new things to wear while away :P
I'd asked everyone for some money to buy myself some new bits so I was very excited to get things for myself as most of our money goes on the kids. Quite rightly of course but nice to spoil myself a bit too.
We drove to peterbrough and hit the shops! Managed to find a bikini in the first shop I went into which to be honest was amazing, its a nightmare to find swimsuits to fit me and that don't cost a fortune. Few other shops hit and it was time for a coffee.
Birthday treat to myself, Costa double chocolate cookie mocha. Dread to think of the calories but omg it was yum!

As well as clothes and stuff I needed, I bought the best pjs ever with a voucher my niece got me. How cool are these!!

and they even came with cute little tags that can be used on a scrapbooking page. Bonus!

I had an amazing day :) So many birthday wishes from my friends and family. I feel so spoiled and loved. :)
I'm a typical mum so my life revolves around my kids and Mark so was lovely to spend a day with my Mum thinking about myself. Not that I didn't buy a few bits for them too, old habits die hard ;)
So thats the shopping for Summer sorted, will be Christmas shopping soon, yey! I love Christmas :)
Speaking of heres another Christmas layout I did a while ago. We went to a Christmas party with my work and Caitlin had her face painted as an angel.

This was one of the last layouts I did with this kit so its a bit sparce but I still love it. I loved these papers and they are perfect with these older photos, paler colours than I usually like for Christmas but loved these.
Very different from this months bright and sunny kit. Perfect if we ever get some sunshine!

Butter wouldnt melt

Its July, it's July! We're over halfway through the year already!?
Honestly this year is just on fast forward, I think it feels odd as well that its July and I had my heating on the other day lol. Don't think anybody told nature its supposed to be summer!
So the start of a new month brings another challenge over at Challenge YOUrself. This month is also extra special as we're saying goodbye to some wonderfully talented ladies (We will miss you Tracey, Katherine and Jessie!) but we get to welcome some equally talented and wonderful ladies to join us :)

So like I said, it's July, so this months challenge is to use the following sketch and a summer theme. If your area ia anything like mine you may need to dig out old photos to get a Summer feel rather than a Winter one ;)

I love sketch challenges, and this one was perfect as it was simple enough to give a good jumping off point and could be altered to fit the individual. Unlike me I actually stuck quite close to the sketch and I love the result.

I used this months Like for ever kit called 'carefree' I love the bright colours and patterns, and the ephemera is perfect for clusters. I added some blue texture paste through a heart stencil and did my journaling on the other side.

The photo is from last year. We're really lucky to live near a lot of woodland parks and play areas, one of which offers a free 'Play day' ever Summer holidays with lots of simple things such as cardboard boxes to build with, bats and balls and craft areas for the kids. At this one they all loved playing on the bales of hay dotted about.
Journaling reads 'You all look so sweet and cute, you wouldn't guess you were all ganging up on me to push me off seconds before! Evil children.'

Very merry

So I'm bored, and my choices are ironing, or blog. Not exactly a hard choice!
So today they came to fit Caitlins flooring (yey!) so I was able to put all her stuff back and finally get my room back to normal (double yey!) Caitlins excited too, but I think shes more excited about her new bed next week.
Annoyingly it should have been delivered yesterday but they've pushed it back to next Tuesday. So currently shes sleeping on a blow up bed and piles of sleeping bags and blankets. If I'm honest I think she likes it better than her old bed, hehe.
Her new floor is beautiful. I forgot to get a picture but will tomorrow. It was even better when the fitters told us there was a problem with it lol.
No I'm not nuts, but whoever cut the vinal off the roll put a giant pen scribble in one spot. Luckily its exactly where her unit goes so I wasn't bothered. However when the fitters told the manager we got £30 refunded. Bonus!
While there I took Caitlin into Dreams to see if there were any headboards she liked. I spotted a bedset I loved last time we were there reduced from £40 down to £10!! Good day for me! :D
So with me being in such a good mood it seems fitting to share this 'very merry' layout I did.
During scrapbooking day one of the challenges was to make your own background. We had just been given a HUGE roll of zigzag shaped washi in a kit so I put strips of this on cardstock, misted it and then pulled it off.
Just to make things difficuilt for myself I wanted to make a frame in the middle with no mist so put a bit of card over it and then did sharpie lines around to make it stand out.

I quite like it, but do wish I'd used a ruler for the lines lol.

Remember this

SO today was our monthly family day :) Cameron picked this time and he picked a trip to the cinema.
You'd think we'd get bored of the cinema going nearly every week but nope not yet!

Usually granted it a free showing of a film thats been out for a while, this time it was to see a new release.

Kids have been wanting to see it for a while and I admit Mark and I were quite looking forward to it too. :) Was quite a good film. Not as good as Despicable me but I wasn't sitting wishing for it to end lol.
Kids loved it, though was a bit sad at points. Think if you didn't have pets though it wouldn't be as funny as a lot of funny bits were thinking 'Scamp does that' lol.
Film finished Cameron typically picked going to Pizza hut. He's not really that bothered about the pizza but they have a machine there were you can make your own drinks. You pick coke, 7 up, fanta etc, then you can add a flavoured syrup like cherry or vannila. Cameron LOVES it and has great fun making all the different drinks whenever we go.
Got to laugh, he goes pizza hut for the juice. Only my kid.
Only my kid could come out with this comment too. He goes to the toilet and comes out saying:

'I don't trust urinals, I don't know where they go!'

What?! :\

So another layout :) This one is pretty recent with the photo taken in March at a retreat with my friends. The paper was from Studio Calico and was so pretty I didn't want to do too much to take focus from it.

I did add some buttefly rub ons though. I was amazed that they worked so well considering they are about 6 years old! Maya road make the best rub ons it seems!

I love you

So we had planned to do a car boot sale today but with the weather yesterday being horrible we decided to do it next week.....then the weather today was lovely! Typical.
So as the kids were happy chilling out today I decided to clear out the garage a bit. WHY I do these things, I don't know. The bins are now overflowing and my back is killing me but the garage is looking a bit neater ;)
Scamp decided he wanted to help so managed to get himself covered in spiderwebs and dust.
Bath time!
Right after bath he wanted to lie on my bed. Fine but he was still damp so I lay a towel out for him. I leave the room....

and come back to find out hes pushed the towel aside and lay on my dressing gown! He's lucky he's cute.

Tomorrow is our monthly family day which I am very excited about :) Cinema then pizza hut! Camerons choice this time :)
This layout took me sooooo much longer than I thought it would have. Worth it though.

I loved this cut file a friend sent to me. I had some papers left over from a Like for ever kit that I loved so wanted to use every scrap I could. These cuts make it easy to create a beautiful layout with very few papers.
The photo is from Spain which is the same hotel we're going to this year. Hoping to take another one in the same place then do a layout showing 2 years difference. Good excuse for a holiday I think ;)