Blogtober day 9 - Hello

Been ages since I joined in with Stuck sketches but I really liked this months.

I decided to use some of my huge washi stash and make the triangle shape. I picked a photo of the kids on their first day at school this year and used lots of arrows to draw the eye in and purple to match the new uniforms.

Its a bit busier than my usual layouts but I really like it :)

Well today has been another busy one. Been working on a few craft projects, cleaning, washing, all that stuff. I also cashed in a load of online vouchers and ordered a couple more xmas gifts so aside from the big ones I've not got a huge amount left to hunt for!
I always say that though and always find more to get lol. Caitlins getting two expencive ones though which takes most of her money so trying to make as many little gifts as possible for her, including salt dough food for her shop. Think I'm more excited about the idea of making them all than she probably will be when she opens them! hehe.

Blogtober day 8 - Woops

Well I had planned to share the layouts I did last night, however for some reason blogger won't let me upload photos :\
So without photos I'll just say I managed 2 more layouts, one more and I'm pretty sure I'll have killed this kit :) Aside from some ironing tomorrow there's not much planned so Im quite excited to start using it as its full of beautiful autumn colours. :) Though unless you visit the Like for ever website you'll just need to take my word for it at the moment!
FX whatevers wrong will be fixed by tomorrow.
Well while yesterday was busy but I don't know how, today has been busy and I know exactly how lol. The morning was spent going into town and running errands there, shopping for perishables, exchanging a t-shirt I'd bought for Mark that was too small, putting money in the bank, post office, hunting EVERYWHERE for a witches cauldron (still not got one) then dropping shopping off to my Gran before home.
Home Mark went to bed while I sorted what seemed like an endless pile of clothes that had been washed and dried the day before, before wrapping some more Christmas gifts that have been delivered recently. Finished just in time for the school run and then the usual homework, dinner, bath, bed routine. Caitlin did make me laugh though.
Me - Caitlin wheres your camera?
Caitlin - I've not lost it!
Me - Ok, where is it?
Caitlin - *pause* Well I know exactly where I put it, I'm just not sure right now where that is.
What do I say to that?! BTW it was in her pink handbag in her wardrobe. Girl has too many handbags lol.

Blogtober day 7 - Be brave

Besides the school run today I haven't left the house, and I honestly couldn't tell you where the day has gone lol.
I've done washing, some questionnaires online and a couple of layouts, and I know I've been doing something at every point in the day, I've just no idea what :\ Does that happen to anyone else?
Anyway, catching up with challenges this was the September sketch at Sketchy scrappers. Nice easy one to adapt to whatever you like.

This was my take. I liked the background paper so kept it quite plain so I didn't hide it. The photo is of Scamp after he had an umbilical hernia removed. Because of where it was he was able to scratch it with his back leg so it was a nightmare to get him to keep his bandage on.

I'm getting 

He kept managing to wiggle it down, then he would pee on it so it kept getting infected. In the end the only thing that would stay put was a scarf of mine tied on with a ribbon. You can see how thrilled he was with it lol.

Looks like a cute Christmas present :)

Happy and content :) (warning, christmas content!)

Well today finds me feeling very happy and content :) Its a seriously miserable day outside but I'm nice and warm, have a good TV show to watch and ordered a couple of xmas gifts this morning with vouchers so saved over £40 :D
I know I know it's only October, but I like to get it all done and dusted before December so that I can just enjoy the run up without panicking that I haven't got the kids 'must have' gift they've asked Santa for. November is full of day trips and charity events so trust me my time will run out quick!
Still on Christmas, a challenge over at Sketchy scrappers on facebook was to do a Christmas themed layout (guess who set that one hehe) I had lots of scraps sitting about so decided to make a wreath style layout.

Blurry photo but I love this layout. The kids are in their 'Christmas PJs' which the elf always brings on Christmas eve.
I see these Christmas eve boxes are all the range now. Boxes with new pjs, a dvd, some sweets etc. My Mum did those for me and my sister when we were kids and I do them for mine. Obviously we were ahead of the trend!

Think the elf decided she liked Caitlins Anna nightie however as its since vanished into thin air!

Blogtober day 5 - little one

Ok I'll be honest I'm asleep on my feet at the moment so this will be a quick blog post.
Today has been Drs appointments, painkillers, crafting and making lists. In the run up to Christmas I'll need all kinds of gift lists, to do lists, decorating lists etc so this will be my bible for the next 3 months

I remember last year I lost my notebook and pulled the house apart looking for it. Found it eventually in the bin, would have been lost without it!
Quick layout share. It is straight in real life its just a dodgy photo lol. Another with the Like for ever kit. Hoping to finish this kit soon so I can start the new one.

Rate I'm going the next one will be out before I've even started!

Hopefully more awake tomorrow. :)

Blogtober day 4 - Grown up?

When do you know you're a 'grown up'? I was talking to Mark about this the other day, I certainly don't feel any more grown up than I was 10 years ago. I still love Disney, would rather eat ice cream than a healthy meal and get very excited whenever Christmas comes around :)
Thursday night was Marks long awaited birthday trip to see Michael Mcintyre down in London. I'd actually booked these tickets last February and was very confused come October that it wasn't on as I got the year wrong. Woops! Anyway, while down there we were given 'Buy one get one free' vouchers for a fancy cocktail bar. Unfortunately my 'child like' nature was made all the more clear when we went lol.
First of all, I don't feel comfortable in places like that, its too quiet and fancy. There were huge curtains of beads hanging down from the roof and it took all my willpower not to go run my hands through them. Then there was my 'Oh, wheres my little umbrella?' complaint when the cocktail did actually come (with a bit of orange peel pegged to the stem, what!?) then finally, when Mark stumbled on the little step up to our table and fell flat on his face and rather than rushing to his aid I cried with laughter.
He was ok though, and I did feel a bit guilty for laughing, so I'm not 'too' evil :p

The show was amazing though. Mark really enjoyed it which TBH is the main thing. Rather than push his stamina I'd booked a overnight stay at a nearby hotel which felt SO weird without the kids! We brought them home Cinnabons though so don't think they minded.
Yesterday was a very special day to us; if you read yesterdays post you'd know its been 6 years since Marks transplant. We like to do something special on that day as a family so decided to go and see the new Hotel transilvania 2 film. Was a lot funnier than I thought :) On the way home we popped into Farmfoods and I was very excited to see this!!!!

It only comes out around Christmas and is one of my favourite flavours. :) I may have squealed in the middle of the shop, lol.
Oh well, who wants to be grown up anyway :) Except the wine, and the driving, and the being allowed to eat a tub of ice cream instead of dinner (as long as I ignore the hubbys protests that its not good for me lol)being a kid is more fun ;)

Love my hubby

6 years ago today we got a phonecall saying there was a liver available for my husband. Those who know me already know this story but for those who don't he suffered from lupus since he was 13 and his body attacked his liver and basically killed it.
So many times he was taken into hospital and we were told to say goodbye and so many times he pulled through. I honestly look back now and wonder how I got through it, particually with two very small children at the time.
We never forget that someone had to die for him to live and I am so grateful for the family who chose such a selfless act to allow my kids to keep their Dad and me to keep my best friend.

Of the many reasons I love him is that he understands me so well. :) Remember how I was saying about feeling lonely and missing my babies? Well when they were babies I loved putting them in the prettiest cloth nappies. I had them custom made and covered in detailed embroidery. Silly to most people but I loved them. While feeling nostalgic I went to the website I loved the most (weenotions in case you want to google) and found they were making Christmas stockings! Then I saw the price and cried, £25 a stocking! Seriously I cried lol. Mark obviously asked why I was so upset and through sobbing I explained. Bless him he insisted I order them anyway. I couldn't afford to get 4 in one hit so ordered one for Caitlin and one for Mark (which is a surprise) and will order another 2 next month.

Expensive, crazy, but I love them :)

Scraptoberfest challenge

The challenge over at Challenge YOUrself is a little different this month. Because we love to challenge ourselves and other scrappers, we have teamed up with 3 other great scrap challenge sites to bring you an ultimate challenge with a chance to win multiple prizes!

This is how the challenge works:

Each challenge blog is hosting a challenge on their blog for a chance to win a prize. :)

Now here’s the fun, challenging part… If you create a layout, combining all (4)challenges together, and link it up to each participating blog, you will be eligible for a chance to win the ScraptoberFest BONUS prize!

Here are the challenges:
Scrap our stash challenge - Create a layout using at least 2 different type of Washi Tapes.
Challenge YOUrself - Create a layout that includes YOU in the photo.
My scraps and more - Color Challenge

The memory nest - Sketch Challenge

Rules for all challenges:
Must be new as of October 2, 2015…no back linking
Layouts only ~ No Cards
No Digital Layouts
Participants are allowed to complete or combine one or more of the challenges, but to be entered into the BONUS prize drawing, they must combine all (4) challenges.
For each challenge you complete, you MUST upload to the blog that hosted the challenge to be eligible for that sites prize drawing.
All entries due October 31, 2015

This was my take :) This is me and my Mummy lol. Its a running joke that the husbands hate when we get together as we always get into trouble. Once we went for coffee and came home once having booked a holiday in Spain lol. This weekend in particular we went to Milton Keynes for an overnight break. Spent nearly £200 in Ikea, drank too much and actually ended up drunk for the first time since college! So glad we booked a nice hotel, Mum enjoyed her comfy bed and I spent the night on the bathroom floor.

I love our relationship. We always have an amazing time together and we really are very close. I hope to have the same kind of relationship with Caitlin when she's older :) Though I may watch her drinking a little closer than my Mum watches mine :p

Good luck! Can't wait to see what you create!

Lonely

Blog post number one :) and I'm starting with a self pity one lol. I remember when I was little and I basically lived in my bedroom or out with my friends. My Mum forced us to all sit together and have Sunday dinner and I remember counting the time until I could go hide in my room again. Now however I'm the Mum, and my two are either in their rooms or playing outside. Even when we got a takeaway the weekend just gone and I suggested watching a film or something together, nope, they took the plates and back upstairs they went.
So guess what rule will now be coming into force this Sunday? They may be counting the minutes as I did but I don't care, I refuse to have empty nest syndrome when my kids are 7 and 8!
I suppose I'm overreacting a little, they still love snuggles at times and Caitlins still coming home daily with pictures shes drawn for me :) I always feel guilty throwing them away but I can't keep everything she does, I could wallpaper the house!
With this in mind I looked on pinterest and came up with this. I picked some of my fave pictures, mothers day ones or the first one she did at Rainbows etc; I punched a circle out of each and made this frame. There were a few less to choose from when it came to Cameron but I made do :)

Love it when things work out the way I picture them :)

Blogtober

So as usual I'm late to the party lol. While looking at my friends blogs I noticed Blogtober being mentioned. Turned out there used to be a daily bloghop called 'blogtoberfest' which has now ended, but taken up as Blogtober instead :)
For more details have a look at Karens blog but the basic idea is that I will blog every day during the month of October :)

So come back tomorrow to see my first post on that! In the meantime, I have another layout to share :)
Another Scrappy Sunday challenge and this time to use this sketch.

Now I don't know if it's just me, but do you ever start a layout, but kind of lose where you were going with it and just keep moving things about until you lose patience and stick it all down? Well thats what happened here.

I wanted to use a few smaller circles rather than one big one but then it looked too busy, I took some away but then it looked too plain. In the end I just stuck it all down and added a few little bits so it wasn't just paper.

Not my fave layout, but you can't love them all I guess. :)

Beautiful moments

Did I not blog? I'm sure I blogged the other day lol. This weekend just raced by. Once a year Marks friends take him for the weekend to give me a bit of respite, typically it was this weekend and typically on Saturday I felt dreadful!
Got to love my kids, both were really well behaved all day, in the afternoon both sat downstairs so Cam played his DS, Cait watched a film and I was able to sleep next to them for a little while. I know some parents who are happy to go up to bed and have a nap while the kids are awake but while I trust them not to do anything daft I just don't feel comfortable doing that. Sleeping with my feet on Cams lap and Caitlin leaning on me I can do lol, that way if either moves it wakes me ;)
Sunday I felt much better. We had planned to take Scamp for a walk round to the library but then the door knocked. I answered it with wet hair from the shower and my ratty old cardigan on over my clothes, to see an immaculatly dressed woman there with her daughter. I was very confused then she asked if Caitlin could come play at her house. I was very confused for a moment but then the penny dropped and I recognised the little girl and the Mum from events at the school. As it is when you have kids I remembered the little girls name but the Mum was just *****s mum, the Avon lady lol. Turned out they lived in the next street so off Caitlin went. Two minutes later another knock announced Camerons friend asking to play at ours so I ended up sitting downstairs on my own with a coffee and playing with my Hama beads. Managed to finish this though.

I made a minecraft wreath last year for Cameron so did a Pinkie pie one with a glow in the dark nose for Caitlin. Got the design from Pinterest.
I also managed to photograph the layouts I've done recently. I've been trying to catch up on the (many) scrappy Sunday challenges I've missed over at Like for ever. One challenge was to:

I knew exactly what photo I wanted to use. I've got so many photos of my two cuddled up together, this is one of my faves as Caitlin wasn't feeling too well so Cameron tucked her in, cuddled up next to her and scamp decided to join them.

I love how close they are :)

Can't believe how far this kit is going, managed 8 layouts so far and still have lots of embellishments and 3 sheets of 12x12 left!

Fun day

Well today finds me feeling very accomplished. :) Lord knows why as I've not really done that much but I bought a few toys for Christmas, made some lists and got a few other little jobs that have been waiting for aggggeeeessss finished. So yey!
Recently I've been catching up with challenges I've feel behind on, including the Scrappy Sunday challenges over at like for ever. One was to scraplift yourself which was different to usual challenges I thought.
After looking through past layouts I'd done I picked this one from a couple of years ago. I had only started to use mists so you can see I put a bit much on and its warped the paper a little (OK a lot lol) I tend to use it a little more sparingly now :)

So this is my scraplifted version, with less mists hehe. The photo is from when we were at Cadbury world. My Dad loves old trains, trucks etc and Cameron is fascinated with them too. It's lovely to see him explain all the different parts and facts about them.
Caitlins less interested but likes to be in the photo too lol.

Still using up my Like for ever September kit, its never ending! :)

Will try and remember to photograph my other layouts tomorrow, done about 9 more but its dark by the time I remember!

Bffs

And I'm back lol. This month seems to be speeding by, which is fine with me as it gets that much closer to Christmas lol.
In the meantime this weekend we spent down in Skegness. We try to book a cheap holiday with The Sun each year just to have a break later on in the year, its great because we can take Scamp too :) Last year he was NOT a fan of he sea, the noise of the waves scared him. This year we pretty much had to drag him out of the sea lol.

It was a lovely relaxing break. My two and Mollie played nice together and Mum, Bri and I could sit and chat. With so much drama always going on it was much needed for us all.
Before that however I had some scrapping time! Last Friday Nicola at Like for ever asked if anyone would like to do a sketch challenge for that Sunday. It was just the kick start I needed.
This was the sketch.

and this was my take. I love these photos, at the end of the school year Caitlin took part in a play called 'Pirates vs Mermaids' It was her last play before moving up to the Junior school and was very emotional.

While one of her friends wasn't there, I managed to get pictures of her and two of her Best Friends Forever.

Still have loads of this kit left so better move my bum and use it up before the new kit comes!

Boring

Wow its been a while since my last post lol. I'd like to say its because I've been so busy I haven't had time but to be honest I just haven't done anything blog worthy!
I finished the Christmas chocolate boxes I was making, sorted out the loft and generally got on with the whole 'groundhog day' never ending cleaning in the house.
One slightly interesting thing was I found our wedding album in the loft. We never had a proper wedding as it was all pulled forwards as Mark wasn't expected to last the week. As a result our photographer was my Mum lol.
I got the bright idea of scrapbooking the photos we did have, which I had only just started getting into. While I was proud of these at the time, they're are cringeworthy now.

Sadly besides these, which I've butchered lets be honest, I've only got the two photos left, so will wait until I have something really pretty for those I think. :)

Celebrate

Its 8:10 on a saturday night and I'm ready for my bed lol. In my defence its been a busy day.
Remember how I said the other day about me getting crazy obsessions? Well this morning it was that I HAD to pull all the boxes out of the loft, sort them all out and re-lay the loft boards. So now I'm exhaused!!! It didn't help that I went to relax in a nice warm bath, discovered it was FREEZING! Then remembered I turned the boiler off last night because the noise was driving me crazy. Woops!
So before I go to bed (with the electric blanket on hot!) I thought I'd share a layout I did a while ago. I bought some Bo Bunny kits from my friend Carin and this had loads of huge journalling tags. I wasn't likely to use them all so being determined to kill the kit I decided to use them as a background.

I called this layout 'Celebrate' as breakfast in our house is usually pretty dull. I don't have much of an appetite in the morning and nor does Caitlin. In fact the only one who really eats is Cameron but nothing new there! lol. On holiday though we all sit and eat together and as its holiday I do tend to let the kids eat what they want (to a limit!) which explains the plate of doughnuts and cakes next to Caitlin. Note the banana though! I did draw the line a little lol.

Right well I'm off to get snuggled under a very warm blanket with a good book. Hope everyone else is enjoying their weekend :D

Quiet time

I've been attempting to blog for the past few days but time keeps getting away from me! The kids have been dropped off at school, Marks sleeping so I'm settling down with a coffee to blog hop and blog myself :)
First off I warn you, the 'C' word IS going to be used a lot in this post so if you dont want to read it until November/December leave now......Still here? Ok then :)

So as I warned, Christmas prep has started in force here. I got all the bits I had bought in the sales down from the loft and sorted through them all. The crafting list has been started and the 90 boxes I need to make and decorate for the kids class gifts have been begun!
I like doing boxes and things like that as it is great for using up scraps. You can see I have a lot of those! So I've stolen the kids table, and set up what Mark calls my throne lol, basically I use the table to cut myself off while I sit in the circle chair and craft. Maybe enjoy a cookie or two too ;)

As well as making boxes I've been shopping and planning. Like any Mum, when my kids have their hearts set on something I'll move heaven and earth to get it for them. Not in the 'spoiled brat gets everything they ask for' way, but when they ask for something reasonable, I don't want to dissapoint them.
On that note, when Caitlin said she wanted to be a rainbow for Halloween I put my thinking cap on. I googled, which didn't bring up anything promising (doesn't this kid look thrilled!?) then I asked about but nobody had anything suitable.

It wasn't until Caitlin went to a party Sunday that I got an idea. While there she found a neon rainbow tutu and matching pompom headband. So Mum and I went shopping, picked those up along with matching gloves, tights and hair bobbles. I have a few more ideas (including a brilliant one from my friend Fiona) so watch this space ;) Loving the pom poms though lol.

Back to Christmas, but still on difficuilt requests lol, the one thing Caitlin has asked Santa for this year is a toy shop. She loves to play shops and wants one of her own.
A simple request you would think, but being a tall 7 year old it seemed impossible to find one large enough for her that wasn't an insane cost (a simple wooden one I saw was £650!!!!) So I put my Dad on the case and look what he made!

Ok it doesn't look too impressive at the moment but once I've painted it, added a few accessories and a banner I think it will look great :) Eeeeekkkkk so excited!!!!!

Note to self

This months challenge over at Challenge YOUrself was to use this sketch

and use the words 'Note to self'. Funnily enough, a few days before Mark had been really sweet and bought me some of my fave cookies and I'd decided to make a layout listing all the ways he showed he loves me; so I knew exactly what I wanted to do for this challenge. :)

I had planned to do the list on the front but decided it would make the page too busy so I've done it on the back. I won't bore you with the whole list but it includes things like:

- He always leaves me the last croissant.
- He doesn't mind that I always have a doggy bag whenever we go out to eat. Leftovers for the next day always taste better.
- He buys me surprises like a Frozen sticker book, My little pony badges and sticky gems.
- When I get crazy obsessions, like being SURE I've lost the passports at 2am he doesn't get mad he goes along with it, helping me pull everything out of the wardrobe to get to the paperwork box in the back.
- When I do odd things, like suddenly screaming at him 'The bridge! Take a photo of the bridge!' while we're driving, he doesn't bat an eyelid, takes the photo and simply says 'Scavenger hunt?'
- While he does reign me in every now and again, hes never been angry at me with my sometimes OTT spending habits.
- Even when he's exhausted and just wants to lie down in a dark room, he's never missed a single assembly, play or award presentation at the school or clubs.

It actually ended up being a longer list than even I predicted lol.

So there we go, a super soppy layout. It looks fairly simple but I loved putting it together as it reminded me of all the things Mark does for me. Due to the nature of our relationship (me being his carer as well as his wife) the whole romance thing takes a very far back seat, so it was lovely to make a note of all the less traditional ways he shows he cares. Plus might keep it close to hand for the next time Mark is driving me mad, keep me calm ;)

:)

Ok I've been AWOL. But between problems with the internet, running errands and going out blogging has been very diffiuilt.
So here I am again with a catch up of the past few days :) Friday the kids went back to school, so obviously I took the 'back to school' photo that all parents do. Look how smart my babies look!

I was worried about how Caitlin would handle moving up to the Juniors but despite some tears the night before she took it all in her stride. Fingers crossed shes the same on Monday when the novelty has worn off a little.
I made the most of the day by getting all the winter clothes down from the loft, sorting and washing them. I had no idea how much there was! Besides shoes I can safely say Caitlin and Cameron need NO new clothes over the winter!

Saturday was our coach trip to the Harry Potter studio tour. Mark and Mum had bought me the tickets for my birthday so I was very excited. We get there, I take one photo, and my camera dies!!! Gutted. Luckily Marks phone has a pretty good camera so he took lots of photos.
Was an amazing day out and I would recommend it to any fans of the films. It's not a whole day trip, we arrived at 9 and though we took it slow and looked at everything we were done by 12. Seeing how much work they put into the film was incredible, I suppose I imagine most things being done by computer now but there was so much still done by hand.
Like I said we were done by 12 and home by 3, so Mum and I decided to try our new cinema and went to see 'No escape'.
No matter how many times I tell her to, my Mum NEVER watches an ad before we go see a film. She prefers it to be a surprise. Sometimes that works out well, other times, like last night, it results in her saying things like 'Oh my god what am I doing here' 15 minutes into the film lol. To say it was an edge of your seat thriller was an understatement. Mum was wound up so tight that when a boy asked to get past to go to the toilet she nearly hit him as she didn't know who he was. I was crying with laughter at points due to her which wasn't really approptiate to the film but oh well. ;)
So today Caitlin had a party to go to. I went along and had planned to stay as she had insisted she wanted me to. Fair enough. We get there, she sees her friends, gives me a kiss, says Bye and actually pushed me towards the door. Dismissed then! Worked out great though as I went and got a coffee and had a lovely morning browsing shops peacefully.
Was a bit of a shock to go and collect her to find this lol.

The party was at a Claires accessories shop, and the kids each got a £10 voucher to spend as a party favour. £10 not that well spent in my opinion but Caitlin was happy :)
Ok so I've chatted long enough now. Kids are happily playing and Marks sleeping so going to do some housework before cooking dinner. Hope everyone else is enjoying the weekend!

Changes

I love this time of year. Its still clear skys and fluffy clouds but theres a chill in the air which just kinda hints at Autumn.
To be honest I love all the season changes, I think I get bored quickly. Spring is great, sunnier days, visits to the farm, then rain gets boring and I want Summer. Summer has, picnics, day trips holidays, then the kids get bored and I want Autumn. Autumn is full of walks in the woods, leaf kicking, but then I'm excited for Christmas.
Winter if the BEST! Run up to Christmas, pretty lights, shopping, parties etc. Then after the sales its just dull and drab and boring.
See I get bored quickly lol. I like to have things to plan and organise and keep myself busy, Mark always says me being bored works out expencive. He's a saver, he likes to have money in the bank 'just in case' while I like to enjoy things like holidays and day trips, 'just in case' lol.
So you know how sometimes you see an embellishment, and you know EXACTLY what you want to do with it? Well when I saw the glitter words in my Like for Ever kit I knew I wanted to do a holiday layout and use 'choose joy' as a title. I always say thats what I'm doing. Choosing joy. If something happens to Mark, I can always sell, beg, borrow, and work my butt off to get money, I'll never be able to get back time with him.
After looking through photos I picked these ones from the sea lion/dolphin show in Spain. It was a holiday we seriously couldn't afford (still paying off the credit cards from it) but it was amazing! The kids loved it, we experienced so many new things and Mark really relaxed for once. In my mind it was worth every penny :) A big highlight was our trip to Sea world and the shows we saw there so it was perfect.

I had loads of photos from the shows at Seaworld and I managed to narrow it down to 6 so decided to do a double layout, which I don't do often.

I havent done the journaling yet but I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Think I might do double layouts more often :)