Workmen galore

My house has been a mad house since I got home from work today, its either been the phone going, front door with delivery's or the back door with Workmen, I've had them up my roof, on my garage, in my garage, in every room in the house, and not one of them broke a sweat, just me, running around after them with cups of tea in the vain hope that their estimates for the works we are having done, might come down in price. Fat chance of that.

I'm sat here right now, eating Double Choc muffins that me and Ben have baked, and I;m telling you the rest of the batch will not make it to daybreak, they are so scrummy, we are gonna scoff the lot. ha ha. Fat bum for me, and I don't care one bit.

Joke of the day is from Clair, I love this joke so much and Clair for keeping me in supply with such humourous material.

Take care of yourselves. Kissy Wissy's to you all. xxx

Joke of the Day: A college teacher reminds her class of tomorrow's final exam. "Now
class, I won't tolerate any excuses for you not being here tomorrow. I might
consider a clear attack or a serious personal injury or illness, or a death
in your immediate family, but that's it. No other excuses
whatsoever!"
A smart ass guy in the back of the room raised his hand and asked, "What
would you say if tomorrow I said I was suffering from complete and utter
sexual exhaustion?"
The entire class is reduced to laughter and snickering. When silence is
restored, the teacher smiles knowingly at the student, shakes her
head and sweetly says "Well, I guess you'd have to write the exam
with your other hand."

Wow, stop press

Tonight me and Angela built the first class kit for the retreat, can you believe that, how organised are we. Honestly last year it ended up been all so last minute, that we where determinded this year would not be the same, and yahoo, one down, many more to go. We have sat and cut out everything, and I mean everything, this particular class will be a dream for the ladies who take it. And we are hoping to make all the classes like this. Just means callouses on our hands from overuse of trimmers, punches, sizzix's, quickutz, etc. but who cares, it makes for a brilliant retreat.

I saw this thing on Heathers blog earlier about what flower are you. So I decided to have a go myself, can't believe the results, it said I was a carnation, I hate carnations, but at least the sentiment behind it was nice.

You Are a Carnation

You are down to earth and grounded. You tend to be more traditional than trendy.Your confidence gets you through anything.People trust you and are very loyal to you.

http://ynr.blogthings.com/whatflowerareyouquiz/">What Flower Are You?

OK, thats it for me, off to bed I go, here is your joke of the day, enjoy. and take care of yourselves, kissy wissy's to you all. xxxxxx Mwah. xxxxx

Joke of the Day: A senior couple decided to go shopping one day, and split their efforts by going separate ways. Near the end of the shopping event they decided to get together for lunch. As the woman was on her way to the rendezvous point, she heard a traffic warning on the radio that a car was driving in the wrong direction up ahead. Knowing that her husband was near the point of the warning, she decided to call him on the cell phone. When he answered, she explained, "I just heard on the news, someone is driving in the wrong direction on the highway!" And the husband replied, "One? There's hundreds of folks going the wrong way where I am!"

NO News

Nothing at all to share with you tonight, I've been to work, yawn, home, yawn, have a pile of paperwork that needs sorted, but I just keep staring at it in the hope that it will disappear and file itself.

and thats about it, so I'll leave you with a joke that Clair sent me.

The Seamstress

One day, when a seamstress was sewing while sitting close to a river, her thimble fell into the river.
When she cried out, the Lord appeared and asked, "My dear child, why are you crying?"
The seamstress replied that her thimble had fallen into the water and
that she needed it to help her husband in making a living for their
family.
The Lord dipped His hand into the water and pulled up a golden thimble
set with pearls.

"Is this your thimble?" the Lord asked

The seamstress replied, "No."

The Lord again dipped into the river. He held out a silver thimble ringed with sapphires.

"Is this your thimble?" the Lord asked.

Again, the seamstress replied, "No."

The Lord reached down again and came up with a leather thimble. "Is
This your thimble?" the Lord asked.

The seamstress replied, "Yes."

The Lord was pleased with the woman's honesty and gave her all three
thimbles to keep, and the seamstress went home happy.

Some years later, the seamstress was walking with her husband along
The riverbank, and her husband fell into the river and disappeared under the water.
When she cried out, the Lord again appeared and asked her, "Why are
You crying?"
"Oh Lord, my husband has fallen into the river!"

The Lord went down into the water and came up with George Clooney.

"Is this your husband?" the Lord asked.

"Yes," cried the seamstress .

The Lord was furious. "You lied! That is an untruth!"

The seamstress replied, "Oh, forgive me, my Lord It is a misunderstanding. You see, if I had said 'no' to George Clooney, you
would have come up with Brad Pitt.
Then if I said 'no' to him, you would have come up with my husband.
Had I then said 'yes,' you would have given me all three. Lord, I'm
Not in the best of health and would not be able to take care of all
Three husbands, so THAT'S why I said 'yes' to George Clooney.

And so the Lord let her keep him.

The moral of this story is: Whenever a woman lies, it's for a good and honorable reason, and in the best interest of others.

That's our story, and we're sticking to it.
Signed,
All Us Women

Why Women are crabby !

I'm not crabby, but the joke is, see below.

Well today, I jumped out of my bed as was so buzzed to complete the make and take for the Luxurious Angels retreat, honestly it is bloody brilliant if I do say so myself. No sneak peeks though, sorry, you will just have to get your arse to the retreat if you want to play.

Last night I finished off a class kit for the retreat and its bloody brilliant, I love it, and Angela loved it when she came over today to have a sneek peek. Don't know what the hell is going on, I'm usually pants at all this and so lacking in confidence, but not at the moment, and long may it continue.

OK, thats about it from me, so I'll leave you with this little gem.

This is a joke I received from a friend via email today, had me laughing so hard I wanted to share it with you all.

We started to "bud" in our blouses at 9 or 10 years old only to find that anything that came in contact with those tender, blooming buds hurt so bad it brought us to tears. So came the ridiculously uncomfortable training bra contraption that the boys in school would snap until we had calluses on our backs.

Next, we get our periods in our early to mid-teens (or sooner). Along with those budding boobs, we bloated, we cramped, we got the hormone crankies, had to wear little mattresses between our legs or insert tubular, packed cotton rods in places we didn't even know we had.

Our next little rite of passage was having sex for the first time which was about as much fun as having a ramrod push your uterus through your nostrils (IF he did it right and didn't end up with his little cart before his horse), leaving us to wonder what all the fuss was about.

Then it was off to Motherhood where we learned to live on dry crackers and water for a few months so we didn't spend the entire day leaning over Brother John. Of course, amazing creatures that we are (and we are), we learned to live with the growing little angels inside us steadily kicking our innards night and day making us wonder if we were preparing to have Rosemary's Baby.

Our once flat bellies looked like we swallowed a whole watermelon and we pee'd our pants every time we sneezed. When the big moment arrived, the dam in our blessed Nether Regions invariably burst right in the middle of the mall and we had to waddle, with our big cartoon feet, moaning in pain all the way to the ER.

Then it was huff and puff and beg to die while the OB says, "Please stop screaming, Mrs. Hearmeroar. Calm down and push. "Just one more good push" (more like 10), warranting a strong, well-deserved impulse to punch the %$#*@*#!* hubby and doctor square in the nose for making us cram a wiggling, mushroom-headed 10 pound bowling ball through a keyhole.

After that, it was time to raise those angels only to find that when all that "cute" wears off, the beautiful little darlings morphed into walking, jabbering, wet, gooey, snot-blowing, life-sucking little poop machines.

Then come their "Teen Years." Need I say more?

When the kids are almost grown, we women hit our voracious sexual prime in our early 40's - while hubby had his somewhere around his 18th birthday.

So we progress into the grand finale: "The Menopause," the Grandmother of all womanhood. It's either take HRT and chance cancer in those now seasoned "buds" or the aforementioned Nether Regions, or, sweat like a hog in July, wash your sheets and pillowcases daily and bite the head off anything that moves.

Now, you ask WHY women seem to be more spiteful than men, when men get off so easy, INCLUDING the icing on life's cake: Being able to pee in the woods without soaking their socks...

So, while I love being a woman, "Womanhood" would make the Great Gandhi a tad crabby. You think women are the "weaker sex?" Yeah right. Bite me.

Take care of yourselves and be proud of what you have achieved, being a woman stinks, but the world would stop if you where not here. Kissy Wissy's to you all. xxx

Stash !!!!!

Last night I had a converstation with Gerry about converting the Garage into a workroom for myself and my stash, He looked at me with big wide eyes and a mouth to match it, honestly his chin was on the floor, he said stash. Stash makes it sound like you have a small amount, i.e. a stash of chocolate kept in my bedside drawer, sweeties in the car glove box, etc, Not a bloody room filled to the brim with paper, blossoms, glue, embellishements and every other craft related product to have crossed my path.

He thinks it should be called a warehouse. Hee hee, he is actually so right.

Anyway, we where discussing converting the garage. We have a large garage, with plenty of room, it even has a little side room off it, which could be dedicated to Lippy Chick and all the stock etc, that that requires.

But we are in a quandry, We would love to sell our house, but have had a slight disaster recently, leaking roof, damp, etc. The builders start work in 2 weeks to repair this, it will take them approx 2 - 3 weeks to do all the work and then the decorator has to come in and he will take another 2 weeks to do all his bits, then we need to recarpet, and add all the finishing touches. So you kinda hope that by the time its all done, the house will be stunning and we would be daft to leave it. Now our quandry, I have really outgrown the space I have, and believe me I'm amazed by this, as my space is actually quite big. But trying to share it with a Washing machine and Lippy Chick is just not working. So the question we keep asking ourselves is, should we slog our guts out for the next 6 weeks doing the house up to sell and move to somewhere that has room to accomodate me, or do we stay put convert the garage and enjoy the house?

Have any of you converted your garage, is it hard to do? Could I do it myself? will it cost me a fortune? So many questions, ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Today, Angela and I went to a class at Inkspot, and I made a lovely necklace and Angela made a adorable bracelet. I spent a small fortune on equipment and beads and have to now find some time to make some pieces up. I've already made a start on my Christmas Cards for this year and the necklaces, etc are going to be presents for my family and friends. Quite excited actually, and I'm sure my family and friends will be relieved to receive something off me that is not scrapbooking related.

Have been wallpaper shopping with Gerry today, well not shopping, but browsing, we have found the most stunning paper for the hall stairs and landing, its like rumpled satin, and its so unusual and effective, but most importantly its hardwearing, which in our house is a blessing.

Anyway, I'm off back to my scrap room, to dream of bigger spaces and finish off a class design I'm working on for the Luxurious Angels Retreat.

Take care, and big kissy wissy's to you all .xxxx

Joke of the Day: A blonde quickly went out to her mail box, looked in it, closed the door of the box, and went back in the house. A few minutes later she repeated this process by checking her mail again.She did this five more times, and her neighbour that was watching her commented: "You must be expecting a very important letter today the way you keep looking into that mail box."The blonde answered, "No, I am working on my computer, and it keeps telling me that I have mail."

Day Off

Today was my day off work, and wow, what a great day I've had, I've napped, I've snuggled and I've not even looked out of the window. I love those opportunities we very rarely get to have a completely lazy day, and I grabbed it with both hands.

So I've nothing to report at all.

College was great last night, really enjoyed it, and hoping I'm going to be learning lots of new skills.

Thats it for me, I'll get you all tomorrow

Joke of the Day: Liar Sermon

A minister wound up the services one morning by saying,
''Next Sunday I am going to preach on the subject of liars.
And in this connection, as a preparation for my discourse, I would like you all to read the seventeenth chapter of Mark''.
On the following Sunday, the preacher rose to begin and said,
''Now, then, all of you who have done as I requested and read the seventeenth chapter of Mark, please raise your hands.''
Nearly every hand in the congregation went up.
Then said the preacher,
''You are the people I want to talk to.
There is no seventeenth chapter of Mark.''

Where does the time go

Honestly, I've been so busy the last few days, have no idea where the time goes. I've not managed to scrap a thing for days, and I'm getting withdrawl symptoms. (spelling is really bad today as well, hee hee)

Tuesday night I was over at Heathers for a photo shoot. She was having problems setting up her lights, so I offered to sit for her, whilst she and two guys from her camera club sorted it all out.

Had a great night. I took my camera over with me, as was not getting on so well with it and was considering sending it back, but not any more, yahoo, its working great, was me that was the idiot not the camera.

Heather managed to take over 80 pics of me, and has a few on her blog, so if you fancy a peek, pop on over.

I did not get home till really late either, but I had a great night, lots and lots of laughing, which is always good for the soul.

Weds night I was over at Angelas, sorting out stuff for the Luxurious Angels retreat. OMG, are you girls in for some amazing classes. We have 8 classes organised, with tons and tons of techniques to be learnt, plus some amazing prizes, and I mean amazing prizes for the Tombola. Great Make n take planned as well, where you will get seriously messy. If anybody as not booked for the retreat yet, WHY THE HELL NOT, yet your bottoms over to the website right now and have a read and then contact me or Angela for a booking form. Honestly, you will regret not coming.

Tonight I'm off to college, have managed to get myself a space on the Digital Photography course, have missed one week, but hopefully not to much was covered in that week. Will mean I miss camera club, but its only for 9 weeks, so hopefully I can slot straight back in and actually have some knowledge when I do go back.

Have tons of projects planned for this weekend, so I can't see me making it out of my scrap room for long, however, I do have a little escape planned, Inkspot have a Jewelery making class on, on Saturday morning, so I'm gonna go to that, would love to be able to make my friends and family some necklaces etc for gifts, so hopefully, I'll come away, as Jewelery queen, and my designs will be sort after by Queen and country, ha ha, if only.

Got to go now, as tons to do today, you take care of yourself, kissy wissy's to you all. xxx

Joke of the Day: Talking Italian
A bus stops and two Italian men get on.
They seat themselves, and engage in animated conversation.
The lady sitting behind them ignores their conversation at first, but her attention is galvanized when she hears one of the men say the following:
''Emma come first. I come. Dennis come and Dennis come again. I come again. Two asses, they come together again. I come again and pee twice. Then I come once-a-more.''
''You foul-mouthed swine,'' retorted the lady indignantly. ''In this country we don't talk about our sex lives in public.''
''Hey, coola down lady,'' said the man.
''Imma just tella my friend howa to spella Mississippi.''

I can Share

I'm now allowed to share my Design Team stuff that I did for Lynn at Kraft Stop.

We where sent two kits, one all pinky and girly, and the other christmas bits, I must admit, I've still to do something with the Christmas one, but I will eventually get something done with it. Infact, inspiriation has just flown in the window, so watch this space, it might eventually land here.

Here's what I've done so far.

First up is a layout of Natascha my god-daughter, who is just so cute and adorable. I love this picture of her. There is actually machine stitching on this layout, but really hard to see, sorry.Next up is a layout of me and my best bud, Gina, she lives in Tenerife and this pic was taken last year whilst I was over there visiting her, again maching stitching, you can kinda see it on this one. The green velvet bits at the side of the pic are tags to pull out with the journalling on them.
Now it would not be me, if I did not do a Lippy Chick book, so here's one for you all, its the Flop book, which is my favourite one of the collection so far, mind you I think the new one might push it out, hee hee. (More news on that in a few weeks hopefully, but the design is now done - Yahoo)

Pics are again of Natascha with her adorable wee brother, my God-Son, Cameron. I'm actually gonna send this to there mum so she has pics in her handbag of them at all times, and what adorable pics they are. four tags for her to write her memories and moments on.

Two cards made with the scraps

and a little gift box also out of the scraps. I do hate to throw anything away, you can always make something out of it. Just look at the first card, that is tiny scraps/off cuts but an adorable card.Lynn will have these kits up for sale on her site really soon, so make sure you pop on over and buy one, honestly, look what I managed to make out of it all, I'm sure you will all do even better than me, cause I'm pants at this.

No other news to report today, been to work, blahhhhhhhhhhh. Off to Heathers tonight for photoshoot, oh, best get my arse in gear and doll myself up.

Joke of the Day:
The Vow of Celebracy

The Pope dies and, naturally, goes to heaven where he's met by a reception committee of angels.

After a whirlwind tour, The Pope is told that he can enjoy any of the myriad recreations available.

He decides that he wants to read all of the ancient original text of the Holy Scriptures, so he spends the next eon or so learning the languages.

After becoming a linguistic master, he sits down in the library and begins to pour over every version of the Bible, working back from the most recent "Easy Reading" to the original handwritten script.

The angel librarian hears a loud scream, and goes running toward its source only to find the Pope huddled in a chair, shaking and crying.

"The R! They left out the R!"

"What do you mean?" the angel librarian asks.

After collecting his wits, the Pope sobs again,

"The word was supposed to be CELEBRATE!"

Ha ha, Gerry will be mad at me for that one, but I don't care, I've got my place booked in Heaven already.

Kissy Wissy's to you all, take care of yourselves.

Kits here

Angela over at Angel Crafts has a scrummy kit for sale. She asked me to design the kit for her, and I can now show you what I did with it.

First layout is a 12 x 12, with little bit of handcutting out of some of the details.


Second layout is my fav. This is a 8.5 x 11 one for my BOM, I've rambled on and on across the photo for my journalling, but at the bottom you might notice some XXXX pattern, this was done by using the pattern paper as a pricking template to add some texture to the layout.



There was tons left in the kit after me making these two layouts, infact there was still two pieces of paper I had not even touched, so you could easily get another layout of of the kit and a loads of cards as well.

The papers where from Cherry Arte and are so scrummy, with a load of blossoms and brads and cardstock included in it.

She only has a few of these kits left, so hurry over and get one whilst you can.

Nothing much else to report, been to work, blahhhhhhhhhhh. Done some paperwork at home and planning on doing some scrapping tonight if I get a chance.

Tomorrow I'm off to Heathers for a photoshoot, yahoo, I'll hopefully have some pretty pics of me to scrap for the BOM challenges that me and Kirsty do on UKS, I seem to have ran out. In fact, me and Gerry spent a couple of hours the other night trying to get a picture of me with an Angry look on my face, but no luck, he kept making me laugh, that in the end we only had pics of me smirking, etc. Fun though and I'm sure I'll use those pics at some point.

Joke of the Day:
Men are like a pack of Cards:
A "heart" to love them
A "diamond" to marry them
A "club" to smack them and
A "spade" to bury the body...

Lazy Day

Had a really really lazy day today, Ben and me have chilled out to the max, we have vegged out and watched silly tv and chatted and snuggled and relaxed and its been wonderful.

We napped, we ate junk, chocolate, drank tons of cola and just enjoyed each others company.

Gerry has also enjoyed the free time from us nagging him and bugging him, he has spent it downstairs playing on his pc, listening to the radio, reading the papers and chilling out.

all in all a great day. A rare day in our house, but one that we have all enjoyed.

Now all three of us are off to watch yet another movie together, giggle, mess about and then sleep.

I hope your all as relaxed as we are.

Take care of yourselves.

Kissy Wissy's to you all.

Joke of the Day: The manager of a large office noticed a new man one day and told him to come into his office. "What is your name?" was the first thing the manager asked the new guy."John," the new guy replied.The manager scowled, "Look, I don't know what kind of a namby-pamby place you worked at before, but I don't call anyone by his first name. It breeds familiarity and that leads to a breakdown in authority. I refer to my employees by their last name only - Smith, Jones, Baker - that's all. I am to be referred to only as Mr. Robertson. Now that we got that straight, what is your last name?"The new guy sighed and said, "Darling. My name is John Darling.""Okay, John, the next thing I want to tell you is..."

Crop Day, Wahhayyyyyyy

Have spent the day at Angel Crafts Crop and had a great time. For those of you who know me, you will know how competitive I am, well Angela had a challenge for everyone today, a little bit strange but a challenge and I rose to it.

Firstly she gave everyone a bag, the contents of which where different from everyone else's. The bag contained 3 things, ranging from a piece of 3 x 12 cardstock / pattern paper/ brads/ eyelet/ fibre/ ribbon/blossoms, etc.

You had to have a look at the contents, write down what colour you felt went with the collection, add something from your own stash to it, and then pass it to the left. Then with the bag you ended up with, you where allowed to add 3 things to it, you could use ink without a penalty, but brads / sizzix etc all counted, however if you did use brads, you could use as many as you wanted in that colour.

I added 2 pieces of Black Bazzil, and one sheet of white and 3 pink brads, so in theory, 6 things but only counted as 3. Do you get this so far??????

then you had 1 hour to create something with it. Well my neighbour had passed me a pack which contained 6x12 piece of pink doodlebug paper, some blossoms, bit of floss and large brad. Ummmmmmmmmmmhhhhhhhhhhhh what to make with it, ummmmmmmmmhhhhhhhhh, how long do we have left, WHAT, 20 mins have gone already, ahhhhhhhhhhhhh Pants, panic, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I worked my little socks off, probably the hardest I worked all day. But I did it, I made something and completed it in time. I ended up making a little book, it was actually really lovely when it was finished, but if you had asked me to do the same thing at home, it would have taken me days.

Everybodies items where put on the table for the judging to commence, and yes you guessed it, I won, YAHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOO. Honestly, I'm terrible, do I accept it gracefully and in a nice coy manner, no I bloody well don't, I hoot, I danced, I laughed, and I enjoyed the moment of truimph.

Then she had a draw for everybody who was at the crop, and Yes you guessed it, I won, and again did I behave in a appropriate manner befitting a lady, you bet your arse I did'nt, I again did a victory dance, yahooooooooooooo.

Anyway, that is probably all I achieved at the crop, spent far to much time, procrastinating about what I should do and actually got bugger all done in the end.

Heather came home with me, we where meant to brain storming, but we ended up playing, she managed to finish off some of Shimelles class that she has been doing, and I managed two layouts, ok, both where 1/2 started, but I finished them. OK, I fib, I finished one, the other one just needs to be stuck down and that will be finished.

We had a lovely Chinese, however me lips and tongue are still sizzling from the spicy beef, ahhhhhh, so flipping hot, I ended up throwing it away, as could not taste anything, and was in desperate need of a fan to cool my tongue down with.

Heather has just left, so I thought I would do my blog and then I'm off to stick this layout down.

I'll catch you all tomorrow, hope you have all had as good a day as me.

DAMN............ I forgot to buy a lottery ticket, you know 3 times lucky and all, oh well never mind, I'll just have to win at the next crop, hee hee.

Joke of the day: The strong young man at the construction site was bragging that he could out do anyone in a feat of strength. He made a special case of making fun of one of the older workmen. After several minutes, the older worker had had enough. "Why don't you put your money where your mouth is," he said. "I will bet a week's wages that I can haul something in a wheelbarrow over to that outbuilding that you won't be able to wheel back." "You're on, old man," the braggart replied. "Let's see what you got." The old man reached out and grabbed the wheelbarrow by the handles. Then, nodding to the young man, he said, "All right. Get in."

Camera Club

Tonight I took the plunge and joined a camera club quite close to my home. I never knew it was there till I went surfing the net, its amazing what you can find when you take the time to look, something I very rarely have the time to do.

Anyway, off I popped along to the club, and had a really good time, I took my camera along with me, but I need not have bothered, instead we where treated to a talk about Photo Labs, wow, you would be amazed what these places can do, I was blown away to discover that they can do pretty much everything, the only thing is the majority of them choice not to, i.e. the big companies, just can't be bothered.

Next time I want some pics developed, instead of uploading them to the usual websites where you get your prints for 5p, etc, I'm actually gonna go to a Mini Photo Lab and get them to do them for me instead. They have the ability to view the pics on screen before they develop them, they can correct colour problems, print any size I want, without me having to preset the size, they can change colours, add colours, fix mistakes, scratches, basically everything.

I really enjoyed myself, met some lovely people who have so much knowledge in photography and who are so willing to share this knowledge with me that I was truly overwhelmed by their generosity and wisdom.

I will be going back now for certain. I have tried camera clubs before in the past, but have never felt so relaxed and welcome as I did tonight, so at last, I've found the square hole for this peg to fit into.

OK, thats my news, what news do you have from today?

Joke of the day is back: A woman was sitting at a bar enjoying an after-work cocktail with her girlfriends when an exceptionally tall, handsome, extremely sexy young man entered. He was so striking that the woman could not take her eyes away from him. The young man noticed her overly attentive stare & walked directly toward her. Before she could offer her apologies for being so rude for staring, the young man said to her, 'I'll do anything, absolutely anything, that you want me to do, no matter how kinky, for £100, on one condition.' Flabbergasted, the woman asked what the condition was. The young man replied, 'You have to tell me what you want me to do in just three words.' The woman considered his proposition for a moment, withdrew from her purse and slowly counted out five £20 bills, which she pressed into the young man's hand along with her address. She looked deeply into his eyes & slowly, meaningfully said, "Clean my house."

Craft Room

I'm not known as being a neat person, and honestly I have to agree, I'm a terror when it comes to my craft room. I have my own space, which I share with the washing machine, dirty clothes, shoes, coats and anything else anybody feels like shoving in there, but its my space and I love it.

I had some joiners come and build me some shelves etc, I gave them a cropper hopper and a basket and said so long as these fit, I don't care what it looks like. OK not exactly true, I did draw them a rough plan but left depth etc upto them. That was over a year ago, and I so long for those lovely clean lines to come back, its a riot at the moment. here are some pics of before I got all my stash in it and some of it taken a few weeks ago.




I have tidied abit, but to be honest, I really need to empty it and sort and then re-organise, but its one of those jobs that you know will never ever get done, as once you start organising you find something you thought was lost forever and then decide to play, well the organisation is at that point, HISTORY.

I've even been know to ask friends to come over and help me sort it out, and did manage to have a good clearout a while ago, but honestly the stuff breeds, I swear to god, I've never brought all that, or at least thats my story and I'm sticking to it. hee hee.

No joke today, as my craft room is joke enough.

Take care of yourselves, and kissy wissys to you all xxx

Urban Couture

At last I have finally opened my Basic Grey Urban Couture. I've had two packs of this since March 2006 and have not had the courage to use it. Well, I've now opened it and finally used it, yahoo for me. Silly thing to celebrate, but honestly I really felt I would never use it, as much as I adore the patterns, and believe I do adore them, I've actually framed 6 of them to hang in our bedroom once its been redecorated, I've always felt the patterns where just to busy and felt guilty for covering it with pictures. I've had a great time this evening, I've cut it up, I've scratched it, I've inked it, I've throughly enjoyed myself. Only thing is I can't share with you what I made as its for a DT project. Bah Humbug.

Should be able to share with you in early feb though so watch this space.

I'm now half way through my working week, yahoo. I only work 4 days a week, which is great, as gives me Friday to myself to catch up with family, friends, projects, housework, anything I want. I've got plans to work on Lippy Chick projects on Friday, I'm currently working on the next book in the collection and need to make up some samples of them completed to give me a better idea of which one I'm going to go with. I'm so excited about Lippy Chick, it had a massive 3 page feature on them this month in one of the scrapbook mags, they gave the books to 4 of their designers and asked them all to go and do something with them. Each one was stunning, and the feature as a whole was great exposure for me and my little company. I just received a massive order which I was not expecting and I'm so excited as it makes the books so accessable to an even bigger market place. Yahooooooooooooooo

Anyway, thats my news for today, what have you been upto? Come on leave me a comment, and I'll pop by and visit your blog as well, I know lots of you are visiting and I'd love to learn all about you as well. So leave a comment, please.

Joke of the Day:

A rich millionaire throws a massive party for his 50th birthday. During this party, he grabs the microphone and announces to his guests that down in the garden of his mansion he has a swimming pool with two great white sharks in it."I will give anything of mine to the man who swims across that pool."So the party continues with no events in the pool until SUDDENLY, there is a great splash and all the guests of the party run to the pool to see what has happened.In the pool a man is swimming as hard as he can and fins come out of the water and jaws are snapping and this guy just keeps on going. The sharks are gaining on him and this guy reaches the end and gets out of the pool, tired and soaked. The millionaire grabs the microphone and says, "I am a man of my word. Anything of mine I will give: my Ferraris, my house, absolutely anything, for you are the bravest man I have ever seen. So sir what will it be?" The guy grabs the microphone and says, "Why don't we start with the name of the jerk who pushed me in!"

The real world sucks

Yep it sure does, today I ventured back to work, thats me only just going back after my bout with the viral infection.

Now don't get me wrong, my job is actually ok, but today, blahhhhhhhhhh, I could have done with the time in bed. I went to bed far to late last night, and what a shock to my system it was getting up early this morning and having to actually leave the house.

Do you know how many times I've left my house over the course of the last month, let me tell you, its less than a handful, yep honestly. We locked ourselves in over Christmas and that has pretty much been me till today.

I am so tired now, I could quite gladly fall asleep on this keyboard. The thought of waking up with an imprint of the alphabet on my face is the only thing stopping me.

Other than my work, I've no other news to report, so will leave you with Joke of the Day, its quite a long one, but well worth the read, enjoy, take care of yourselves and kissy wissy's to you all. xxx

Joke of the Day:
A man was sick and tired of going to work every daywhile his wife stayed at home. He wanted her to seewhat he went through each day, so he prayed :-"Dear Lord, I go to work every day and put in 8 hoursof hard work, while my wife merely stays at home. Iwant her to know what I go through, so please create atrade in our bodies".

God, in His infinite wisdom,granted the man's wish.

The next morning, sure enough, the man awoke as awoman. He arose, cooked breakfast for his mate, awakened the kids, set out their school clothes, fed them breakfast, packed their lunches, drove them toschool, came home ..... picked up the dry cleaning,took it to the cleaners and stopped at the bank to draw money to pay the electricity and telephone bills. He drove to the electricity company and the phone company and paid the bills, went grocery shopping, came home and put away the groceries.

He cleaned the cat's litter box and bathed the dog. By then it was already 1:00 pm, so he hurried to make the beds, do the laundry, vacuum, dust, and sweep and mop the kitchen floor. He rushed to the school to pick up the kids and got into an argument with them on the way home which he had to sort out in a gentle 'motherly' fashion. He set out cookies and milk and got the kids organised to do their homework, then set up the ironing board and was able to watch a bit of TV while he did the ironing.

By then it was 4:30 pm, so he began peeling potatoes and washed greens for salads. He prepared the chops and fresh vegetables and got everything ready in time for an early dinner. After supper, he cleaned the kitchen, ran the dishwasher, folded laundry, bathed the kids, and put them to bed. At 9:00 pm he was exhausted and although his chores weren't finished for the day, he went to bed where he was expected to make love, which he managed to get through without complaining.

The next morning he awoke and immediately knelt by the bed and said :-"Lord, I don't know what I was thinking. I was so wrong to envy my wife's being able to stay home all day. Please, O please, let us trade back!"

The Lord, in his infinite wisdom, replied, "My son, I feel you have learned your lesson and I will be happy to change things back to the way they were.

You'll just have to wait 9 months though, because you got pregnant last night!!!"

Ha ha, if only, told you it was worth reading to the end.

Frikkin Pressure Cooker

Disaster of the day, Pressure cooker exploded all over the kitchen, can't believe it, ahhhhhhhhh, and its all Gerry's fault. had a feeling nothing would go right today, and how right I was, wish I had stayed in bed.

Blah blah blah., ok I'm not gonna bore you all with my rants and raves, so I'll leave you with a great joke instead.

Joke of the Day:

A man asked his wife what she'd like for her birthday. "I'd love to be eight again." she replied. On the morning of her birthday, he arose early, made her a nice big bowl of Coco Pops, and then took her off to the local theme park. What a day! He put her on every ride in the park: the Death Slide, the Wall of Fear, the Screaming Monster Roller Coaster, every thing there was. Five hours later she staggered out of the theme park. Her head was reeling and her stomach felt upside down. Right away, they journeyed to a McDonald's where her loving husband ordered her a Happy Meal with extra fries and a refreshing chocolate shake. Then it was off to the movies: the latest Star Wars epic, a hot dog, popcorn, all the Coke she could drink, and her favorite lolly and M&M's. What a fabulous adventure! Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed exhausted.

He leaned over his precious wife with a big smile and lovingly asked, Well, Dear, what was it like being eight again?" Her eyes slowly opened and her expression suddenly changed. "I meant my dress size!!!!!!!

The moral of the story: Even when a man is listening, he's gonna get it wrong

Yep, another Digi Layout, same pic of Natascha, but goes so much better with this brilliant kit from Kirsty.

OK, not much else to report, still coughing and spluttering, but feeling tons better. Thank you so much for all your get well messages, I really do appreciate them.

See you later.

xxxx

Joke of the day: One day a genie appeared to a California man and offered to grant him one wish.the man said:” I wish you'd build a bridge from here to Hawaii so I could drive there anytime"The genie frowned" I don't know. It sounds like quite an undertaking,” he said. "Just think of the logistics. The supports required reaching the bottom of the ocean, the concrete, and the steel! Why don't you pick something else?"The man thought for a while and then said, "Okay, I wish for a complete understanding of women- what they are thinking, why they cry. I wish I knew how to make a woman truly happy".

The genie was silent for a minute, then said"

So how many lanes did you want on that bridge?"

Oh No

My day started out really bad. Ben was sick, I'm was so upset, that boy is never ever ever sick, but today he woke up and promptly started throwing up. We ended up snuggling in my bed for the whole morning, then he managed to keep some cereal down, and now he seems back to normal. But honestly for a moment he had me really worried, he was so white and clammy, and not at all his usual self.

Tonight though as he was saying goodnight to me, he was back to his usual cheeky self, saying he might be sick again tomorrow, think he has realised an easy way to get a day off school. I'll be watching his colour closely tomorrow, cheeky wee rascel.

Heather was suppose to come over today to play, but after 1/2 hour sitting in traffic, no less than a few miles from her home, and having discovered the traffic jam continued for a good few more miles yet, she gave in and went home, so no play time for us today. Gutted, we had so many things planned as well. But hopefully we are aiming for next friday instead, keep your fingers crossed for us.

Have been working on some DT stuff today, and I'm loving it, not finished yet, but hopefully tomorrow one of the projects will be done and I'll be on to the next.

Angela came over this evening so we could work on the Luxurious Angels March 2007 retreat, we sent out so many emails, I swear to god, my finger tips are bleeding.

We have started to finalise some of the classes, and honestly, you are in for some amazing classes, go and check out the website for a sneak peek at the ones that are definite so far, but promise you there is more to come, alot more.

Well I have nothing to show you today, so I'll leave you with your joke of the day instead.

I hope your all well, take care of yourself. xxx

A family went to a hospital, where one of their relatives would be having a brain transplant. One of the relatives asked, "What will the cost of a new brain be?" The doctor replied, "A female brain costs £25,000 and a male brain costs £50,000." The men smirked, but one of the females asked, "Why is that, doctor?" "Well," the doctor replied,” the female brain is less because it has been used."

Been Busy

Yep, I'm out of bed, yahoo, still coughing my guts up, but no more sick and I'm actually managing to get some sleep as well, yahooooooooooooooo.

Been busy in my craft room on some Design team stuff for Kraft Stop. Can't show you what I've done as need to wait till Lynn has published it on her website, but I'll let you have a sneak peek.

I managed to make 6 things out of one lot of cardstock, just goes to show how far you can make stuff go. Quite pleased with it all and feel like my creative juices are really flowing.

I've even managed to do my first Digi Layout, Kirsty had posted some free stuff on her blog and she is completely addicted to Digi at the moment, so I thought I would see what all the fuss is about. I had no idea what Software to use, so played with all the elements in Powerpoint. (I'm sure I've done this wrong, so any advise appreciated) Layout is of Natashca my God-daughter. I love this pic of her, and this is the second time I've scrapped it now, but I don't care, call the scrapping police and have me arrested, cause I'm sure it won't be the last time I use it either. hee hee. Go and check out Kirsty's blog for a download of the freebies.

OMG, I'm hooked, I've tried playing again, and have created the layout below with the free digi kit from kirsty.

However, I'm now tired beyond belief and think I deserve a little nap, so I'm off to lie down on the sofa and snuggle under a blanket whilst watching Daytime TV.

Take care of yourselves.

Joke of the Day
A guy was driving when a policeman pulled him over. He rolled down his window and said to the officer, "Is there a problem, Officer?" "No problem at all. I just observed your safe driving and am pleased to award you a $5,000 Safe Driver Award. Congratulations. What do you think you're going to do with the money?" The driver thought for a minute and said, "Well, I guess I'll go get that drivers' license." The lady sitting in the passenger seat said to the policeman, "Oh, don't pay attention to him - he's a smart butt when he's drunk and stoned." The guy from the back seat said, "I TOLD you guys we wouldn't get far in a stolen car!" At that moment, there was a knock from the trunk and a muffled voice said, "Are we over the border yet?"

Trash Book Alley

This is Trash Book Alley class that Kirsty Wiseman taught months ago at the retreat in Glous. I adored this class when I did it, but have never had a spare moment to actually finish it. Well the other night I decided I was going to do it, and now that it is finished I adore it. I love this so much, its made out stuff you would find around the house, cardboard, cd cases, cd sleeves, paper bags, etc. it is so touchy feely, and I can't put it down.

I decided to dedicate it to us a family, it has pics of all three of us taken over the years, the pics are some of my fav pics of us lot, some are silly, some are romantic, but all of them are special to me.

I want to thank Kirsty so much to teaching me such amazing skills. If any body wants to know how the book is done, can I suggest you contact kirsty and beg her nicely to teach you. :)

Front Cover, made with cardboard stripped back and painted with black acyrlic paint, papers then overlaid.

Inside of front cover, RHS is two pieces of acetate joined together with eyelets and floss and papers sandwiched inbetween.

other half of acetate page and 3rd page, paper torn into circle and pic slipped in.

inside of mini book

Full page photo and then a cd case with a mini book inside, cover has been scratched into a heart shape and painted added to highlight grooves.

Front side of tag with me and Ben, one of my fav pics of us enjoying a hug.

Back side of tag from inside paper bag.

Back page of book.

I'm sorry if I've bored the pants off you, but I don't care, its my blog, its my book and I'm so chuffed with it, nah nah nah nah.

see post below for joke of the day.

Kissy Wissy's to you all. xxx

ANGER MANAGEMENT

This will make you feel so much better!!

When you occasionally have a really bad day, and you just need to take it out on someone, don't take it out on someone you know, take it out on someone you don't know.

I was sitting at my desk when I remembered a phone call I'd forgotten to make. I found the number and dialed it. A man answered, saying,"Hello." I politely said, "This is Chris. Could I please speak with Robyn Carter?" Suddenly a manic voice yelled out in my ear, "Get the right f*****ing number!" and the phone was slammed down on me.

I couldn't believe that anyone could be so rude. When I tracked down Robyn's correct number to call her, I found that I had accidentally transposed the last two digits. After hanging up with her, I decided to call the 'wrong' number again. When the same guy answered the phone, I yelled "You're an asshole!" and hung up.

I wrote his number down with the word 'asshole' next to it, and put it in my desk drawer. Every couple of weeks, when I was paying bills or had a really bad day, I'd call him up and yell, "You're an asshole!"It always cheered me up.

When Caller ID was introduced, I thought my therapeutic "asshole calling" would have to stop. So, I called his number and said, "Hi, this is John Smith from Verizon. I'm calling to see if you're familiar with our Caller ID Program?"He yelled "NO!" and slammed down the phone.

I quickly called him back and said, "That's because you're an asshole!"

One day I was at the store, getting ready to pull into a parking spot. Some guy in a black BMW cut me off and pulled into the spot I had patiently waited for. I hit the horn and yelled that I'd been waiting for that spot, but the idiot ignored me. I noticed a "For Sale" sign in his back window which included his phone number, so I wrote down the number.

A couple of days later, right after calling the first asshole (I had his number on speed dial), I thought that I'd better call the BMW asshole, too. I said, "Is this the man with the black BMW for sale?""Yes, it is," he said.

"Can you tell me where I can see it?" I asked."Yes, I live at 34 Mowbray Blvd , in Vaucluse. It's a yellow house, and the car's parked right out in front.""What's your name?" I asked.
"My name is Don Hansen," he said."When's a good time to catch you, Don?""I'm home every evening after five." "Listen, Don, can I tell you something?""Yes?""Don, you're an asshole!" Then I hung up, and added his number to my speed dial.

Now, when I had a problem, I had two assholes to call. Then I came up with an idea. I called Asshole #1."Hello."
"You're an asshole!" (But I didn't hang up.)"Are you still there?" he asked."Yeah," I said."Stop calling me," he screamed."Make me," I said."Who are you?" he asked."My name is Don Hansen.""Yeah? Where do you live?""Asshole, I live at 34 Mowbray Blvd , Vaucluse, a yellow house, withmy black Beamer parked in front."He said, "I'm coming over right now, Don. And you had better start saying your prayers."I said, "Yeah, like I'm really scared, asshole," and hung up.

Then I called Asshole #2. "Hello?" he said."Hello, asshole," I said.He yelled, "If I ever find out who you are...""You'll what?" I said."I'll kick your ass," he exclaimed.I answered, "Well, asshole, here's your chance. I'm coming over right now."Then I hung up and immediately called the police, saying that I lived at 34 Mowbray Blvd , Vaucluse, and that I was on my way over there to kill my gay lover.

Then I called Channel 9 News about the gang war going down in Mowbray Blvd , Vaucluse.

I quickly got into my car and headed over to Mowbray. I got there just in time to watch two assholes beating the crap out of each other in front of six cop cars, an overhead police helicopter and a news crew.NOW. I feel much better.

This came via an email from a friend and had me laughing away to myself for ages, oh how I would love to do something like this. Mwahahahahahahaha

I'm not happy

I'm still poorly, today I went to the doctors, she says its a viral infection and antibiotics won't work on it, to stay in bed and rest till its all gone. Blahhhhhhhhhhh, I'm sick of my bed, but to be honest I'm not actually fit for anywhere other than my bed.

I had to go straight to bed after getting back from the doctors as was so tired. Mind you that might be due to the fact that at night time I can't sleep, when I lie down the phlegm goes straight onto my chest and I start coughing so badly I end up been sick. Yes probably more information than you needed. But I'm waiting on somebody taking pity on me and making me some wholesome soup to nurse me back to health with.

So no news to report as not been outside to the real world, unless the doctors with loads of other sick people counts.

No joke of the day sorry, as not a sense of humour bone in my body, blahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Yahoo for me, I made it out of bed

Yep, I finally made it out of bed, I've spent most of the day on the phone, catching up with friends and on the PC, not the most productive day, but the most I could handle.

Ever time I cough I feel like my brain is bouncing off the inside of my head, so I'm going to go back to bed and have a big painkiller and loads of cough mixture.

What you all been upto today.

Kissy Wissy's to you all.

Cough cough, splutter, phlem, yuk, where did that come from.

Big Yahoo for me

I got up, I showered, I got dressed, I then needed to lie back down again, blahhhhhhhhhhhh.

Eventually made it down the stairs, took the decorations down, tidied the kitchen up, helped make tea.

Now I need to go back to bed, I still feel so rotten.

Hee hee funny thing though, just went into the family lounge to see Gerry and he is fast asleep on the chair, watching Audi TV, hee hee, always knew cars where boring, but he has confirmed it. hee hee. His brother will be so upset though as he sells Audi's and loves them, he could quite happily sit and yak yak about them all day long, wait till I tell him what Gerry did. Hee hee. silly I know, but it made me laugh.

Snot factory

Yep, thats me, I've been in my bed since New Years eve and I'm still in it.

Everyone in the family seems to have been struck down with the Flu Virus and we are all feeling pretty sorry for ourselves.

I'm up for a few mins to say hi to everyone and to grab some Ben & Jerry's Phish food to help cool my throat down.

If any good samaritans out there want to do a soup run, then please stop by my house.

Hope you all keeping better than we are, and I'll catch up with you all soon.

Bye, snotty Kissy Wissy's to you all. xxx

Year in Review

Year in Review

What a Year 2006 was, it was jammed packed full of emotion, happiness, laughter, success and a little bit of sadness.

Can’t believe we are now in 2007, but I can’t wait to see what this year holds in its hands for me.

Last year was a wild rollercoaster for me and my scrapbooking. I have only been scrapping for a few years and still consider my work to be pretty pants, but a few people disagreed with me.

So to help encourage my confidence, I've used my blog as a toot toot for myself, now I know some of you will think this is so wrong, but you know what, this is my blog and I'll put what I want in, its me who will read this in a few months time and I'll probably need reminded of how much I achieved. so skip over the next few paragraphs if you don't want bored :)

The year started out with me going to Bonanza as a delegate, however I was asked to make a few things for the Blonde Moments / Art from the Heart stand and low and behold I’m now on there Design Team. Whilst at the show I met two of my scrapbooking hero’s Kirsty Wiseman and Anna Bowkis, wow, they both blow me away with there super talent and coolness.

Next I was invited onto the Design Team for Kraft Stop, yahoo, could not believe it, little old me had made another Design team, and not by default, (kinda felt that Dyan felt sorry for me, hence the DT job with BM, hee hee). Nope, I had entered like everyone else by submitting work and I was successful.

Next saw me win a competition that Kirsty had posted on UKS for a funny face layout, well those of you that know me well, know that all I do is pull funny faces, so it was a certainty that I was gonna enter, but Win, I nearly peed myself with laughter, as my entry was so horrific I could not believe it.

Then yet another DT place came my way in the form of Little Silver Hats and there gorgeous ribbons, yahoo, I now get ribbons for Free to play with, nah nah nah nah.

Then Angela and I set up Luxurious Angels and we hosted our first retreat which btw was a roaring success, and low and behold who do I get to teach next too, but my two most favourite scrappers, Kirsty Wiseman and Anna Bowkis, pinch me quick, I’ve died and gone to heaven. Not really sure I was good enough to stand next to these Super Uber ladies, but hey I own half the company so I don’t give two hoots, ha ha.

Me and Kirsty set up the BOM prompts on UKS and they are been received really well, tons of ladies are now off making Books all about themselves, and why bloody not I say, if you don’t scrap yourself, who the hell will. We need to leave a remind of who we where as well you know.

I also managed to get some of my work published in various magazines, e.g. Creative Scrapbooking, Scrapbook Inspirations and Simply Stamping.

And to top the year off, I launched my own company ‘LIPPY CHICK’, selling to retailers directly my little mini scrapbooks, I managed to launch two in the first 3 months and have massive plans for Lippy Chick for 2007, so keep your fingers crossed for me please.


All in all it’s been a brilliant year for me scrapbooking wise, but you know what, I still think I’m pants at this.

On a personal level, the year could have been a little bit better.

I have a job that whilst sometimes boring and medial, is actually a great job hours wise, as it gives me the freedom I need, to be home for Ben when he needs me and to do my crafting as and when I want, but its not really satisfying, but at the moment I’m content there, so there I’ll stay.

The house has suffered a major blow with a leaking roof that has caused complete devastation in the house and needs some major work to fix the damage it has caused, which will mean some major upheaval in the coming months.

Health wise, has been terrible, with my heart problems, I felt like a pin cushion for a while there, but touch wood, I’ve had no problems since October and I’m hoping with the lifestyle and diet changes I’ve made it stays that way.

Our family has spread further a field over the last year, with the move of our God-children to Canada, this was such a huge blow to us, they have always lived quite a distance from us, usually Germany or England, (there Dad is in the forces) but moving to Canada makes it that much harder for us to see them if we want to, it was easy enough to nip over to Europe or down to England to visit them, but Canada, now that’s some way to go for a quick visit. On the up side, my God-daughter has found MSN and we chat almost every day via this.

A big loss for me this year was a friendship which I cherished, unfortunately, something silly happened, and we let it all end up getting out of proportion and it blew up with a huge falling out, something I did not want to happen, but in the end I had no idea how to stop it. I still care very deeply for the friend and for their well being and manage to keep upto date with there going’s on and everything by reading her blog every now and again, so still feel like I’m part of her life, even it’s only from the outside looking in.

Ben started High School, wow, I can’t believe he is 12 already, I have no idea where the years have gone, he is so grown up now, and Tall, he is as tall as me, and even if I do say so myself he is one amazingly handsome boy, with a massive heart. He hates School, but I remember hating it myself so no surprises there. He has tons of friends, but not many hobbies, so we are hoping that the new year will bring more hobbies for him.

Gerry started a new job and seems to have settled right into it, his health is great, except for the odd creaky bone (hee hee).

Well, that’s my year in review, its really nice to list everything like this, I’ve probably forgotten to mention loads of things, but that’s ok, I’ll be happy in a few months time to go back into my blog and read this, and you never know I might even scrap it. Now there’s a thought, lets scrap out blogs, oh, I’m off to plan a layout.

I hope you all had a wonderful 2006, but here’s to an even better 2007.