another layout

poor old aunt lil................never married and we only found out when she died 2010 that she had had a sweetheart in the war and that she intended to marry him, but when he came home from the war she couldn't marry him because she had to nurse her mom and dad, he wouldn't wait and went off to marry someone else. She always loved children. She was 91 when she died.

nice quote

"There comes a time in your life, when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it. You surround yourself with people who make you laugh. Forget the bad, and focus on the good. Love the people who treat you right, pray for the ones who don't. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Falling down is a part of life, getting back up is living."

it arrived and all the way from Australia - half way around the world

unbelievable how quickly it arrived.............just cut a few letters - stunning - it's a cuttlebug alphabet what else would you expect......great item.

Another LO - from me - & Think Monday Think ATC's back

Whoop Whoop to them - and thank you - it's now Think Monday Think ATC's and MORE - you can upload anything crafty-wise to do with their prompt/subject/title for the week. This week was and the new start was 'head coverings' - loved this photo of my DD and decided to use it for the start of TMTA & more -

journalling will be on the back once I get my ink cartridges arrive & print the journalling !

& I'm still waiting, but thankfully the snow has gone

still waiting for my cuttlebug alphabet die - Olivia - will have a good ole play when it arrives from Australia..............it was very expensive so I hope I get some use out of it. Tired and worn out - done all my housework and washing today ! Walked gunner and did the full weekly shop too...............sorted all my customers - well 5 - 6 of them and texted them and sorted a few appointments for the week after next........trying to do little this week as I am already tired and know that it's going to be another busy week. Thankfully Michelle isn't in this week so a bit of pressure will be off - I hope. Have seen an alphabet - well they're quickutz 4x8 dies - they look lovely, but yet again only available in blooming America - will come to around £20 per alphabet but there are three I like so will have to choose one and get that when I get paid from Clays. Ah well, doing a bit of crafting now before cooking tea - hope I have a good week - really dreading it again. Have applied for a 16.5 hour a week job in Burton - hope I get an interview and hope I get the job because I can then start to rebuild my reflexology business at the moment I am just too tired after work to go do reflexology customers these days.

sat relaxing this morning

the roads on our estate are like sheer sheets of glass - Key moved the car down the road but struggled to walk back up to get our car to go to Clays this morning. So I don't think I am going out - 12 noon and STILL in my nightie with a jumper thrown over and jeans ! Hair looks a disgrace. This is the 2nd weekend running where I just don't want to go out and do anything. Hopefully I will feel better when the snow has gone. I have neglected my reflexology customers - but just have not felt like going over to do treatments in this bad weather and how tired I feel after work each day - I really don't think I can carry on much longer like this - exhausted. In my defence - and I shouldn't feel guilty, it was so stressful at work last week and I am worrying all the time about whether I have done things properly - my stomach is churning and so I've sat and made a layout this morning rather than doing housework and probably thinking about work.................there I go again it's brought to mind, and now I have to try and forget it again. I hate worrying, I never used to worry but since starting back 'in proper' work, rather than working for myself I worry all the bloody time.

Dreadful, awful, vile stinking week at work

stress stress stress and more stress............poor lyn off with stress, she did have a lot piled onto her ! BUT we do too - it is ridiculous what they are expecting of us all.............just too too much. Anyway, dreading next week as michelle isn't in either ....... got to try and quicken up even more but I really don't know how. once I'm just prepping things will be better - I think.

and another layout

Holiday Booked

Tiverton in Devon at a travel lodge in June - we really wanted to go to a hotel this year but it was going to be £256 each = £512 for accommodation only - travel lodge for the two rooms comes to £250 more than half price.............good saving so we can all use that extra money to eat out at night. looking forward to it now. NOT looking forward to morning - the snow is thick and although roads in the main are OK our estate is AWFUL.

Well Key did it ........................

ordered me the Olivia Alphabet - I had gone on about it for such a long time and told him how Linda in America wanted it too - and from australia it was going to cost us around £60 each but then Linda was saying it was a lot of money IF we don't use it - VERY TRUE, and I had had my £25 back from the 'wrong' Olivia alphabet being sent to me - it just seemed that it wasn't to be. I couldn't get the alphabet in England and everywhere I tried in America it was out of stock. So I had resigned myself to thinking that I wasn't going to have it. Then Key went into my ebay account and pressed 'buy it now' as there was just 22 hours remaining on the Australian one - GOT IT - but it cost £63 with postage and I think there will be a further £13 to pay for VAT before I get it - can't believe that I have spent so much on an alphabet. Maybe IF I get fed up with it I can flog it on. BUT I have been using my alphabets and cuttlebug such a lot recently. I have to use it now to justify the price. I will make Linda a few complete alphabets so she can use it in America - and it will be a nice surprise for her.

surprise surprise another layout - Photographer

the title was created by me using acetate and lettuce alcohol inks then stuck with DST to a backing card - then put through the cuttlebug using the Red Tag Sale alphabet = cut beautifully - and raised on foam pads. Love it.

Got my £25 back

so I'm happy about that ! Have been offered a cuttlebug olivia for around £60 in total from australia - lin in America is over in Brittain for a little while so we could share the costs to get them here and she can take hers to america when she goes back etc. Lot of money but it is my birthday money ............. double what I wanted to pay though.

REALLY annoyed

advertised for ' WANTED CUTTLEBUG ALPHABET 'OLIVIA' ' a woman on UKS wrote and said I have an Olivia alpha send me an offer and it's yours - offered £20 and £5 for postage as the cuttlebug alphabets are heavy - an alphabet arrived today - it's CRAP - it's NOT a cuttlebug alphabet - turns out to be a quickutz alphabet called 'olivia' - I am so angry - I hope she will give me a FULL refund as this is ENTIRELY her fault. I woldn't mind if the alphabet was a decent one - but it's rubbish.

My Gunny Baby is home

nothing found to be wrong with him, not saying there isn't anything wrong with him, anti-biotics again and see how he is in a week...........worrying, but he's home, didn't think I would be bringing him home a week ago saturday and then today I thought it was a possibility of him not surviving the anaethestic...........love you Gunny.

DD's BF's B'day card

A couple of weeks after his birthday and my DD spent around £100 on him - he dumped her AGAIN - I hope he breaks his legs skating - B****** - didnt get her anything for Valentines day and didn't do anything for her birthday either.

Blimey - WHAT a weekend...........

Olivia went home again today, it was very sad, I know Keir will miss her terribly, him working a couple of days down here and she (hopefully) getting a job and working a few days up there - then maybe he can see her every fortnight, it's not ideal. I wish we had the money to set them up in a little house together, alas it's not possible at this moment in time. With my Birthday this weekend and the dog having his op tomorrow, very disjointed weekend - I'm off work, at least, tomorrow, although I have a reflexology treatment to do in the afternoon and taking Korin to Dixons to use up our voucher. As the old saying goes 'what will be, will be', I hope everything works out Ok for all of them.

Another layout - keep em coming

OK OK all my Layouts are very basic, very samey, but I am so pleased I am back to doing Layouts again - the way I want to do them, not the way I think they should be done after looking at some of the very elaborate Layouts you see. So I am happy and that is all there is to it.

Correction 3 films this weekend ..........

& Two meals out - REALLY spoiled this weekend - but it has been my birthday.

NEVER normally have the time to sit down and watch three whole films together, it's been GREAT.

Gunner goes for his op tomorrow morning......

he will be at vets the whole day they said - I am worried to death what they might find, just hope that it's manageable without him being in pain and he is with us for another 12 months or so..............don't want him suffering though. He's been such a wonderful friend and companion to me - I love him with all my heart.

Best foot forward mate - we can get through this.

Terrible EATING week for my Birthday and stress etc

Sunday morning, gotta go weigh myself and HAVE a week BACK on SLIMMING WORLD, well that's the plan anyway - fingers crossed etc that I do get back on it properly, my cousin has got back on it quite easily and she's 16.5 - so I have to be thankful that I am 'at least' 4 stones lighter than her.

My Birthday

today 11th - but yesterday at work as I am off annual leave today ............ and at work (believe it or believe it not) they bought me flowers (genuinely) and cards which were all very nice - not out the 'forgotten birthdays box of cards' - and it was a lovely dat at work (apart from HAVING to work - of course) - but I'm off today.

some of the flowers from work.

card from hubby today

card from K & O - beautiful

card from Koz

A wonderful meal out - best meal we've had in a long long time

cooked beautifully and tasted wonderful.

we went here, terribly cold foggy january night though, and it was freezing.

A birthday balloon

OH and NOT forgetting a cuddly toy for my desk at work WILL update later as we are out for the 'family' meal tonight but only DD & her BF are coming.

Meal at the Riftwood in Tamworth, my choice, bad choice, starter was OK - Keys meal OK but only just as the chips weren't cooked properly - and mine and Koz's meal was awful......they did give us the cost of the two meals but we had to wait for over an hour to be served............... then we saw this film which was good - a little boring in the middle but was worth seeing. All in all a BRILLIANT BIRTHDAY.

MRI scans today - brain and knee

weird thing - I was so so nervous - BUT it was OK, very noisy but I chose - yes chose Eva Cassidy CD and had knee MRI first - so i was outside the machine. Fell asleep a couple of times and woke up with a bit of a jump - even though the machine is noisy - then had the brain scan (for my optic nerve) and even though I was then inside the machine it was again OK...............lovely radiographers/radiologists - very professional. I hope they don't find anything wrong, espescially with the brain one ! The knee is playing up again - constantly gnawing at me that I call it 'Gnawreen;. Fingers crossed eh.

Another Layout tonight

over on UKS there was a post about old embellishments etc - I bought about 5 years ago some big brads - never used them up - so made the 'embellishment' on the Layout tonight put metal hearts on top to make them a bit more 'up to date' - I won't be doing so many Layouts now as I'm back at work in the morning - will always say it, glad to have a job but hate going back after a weeks holiday !

Another Layout - there is no stopping me

I hope. Hate the thought of 3 years with no mojo

Love the gingerbread man and lady embellishment

My beautiful dog

I am so dreading the next few weeks Gunny - you have to have some blood tests to see if you will cope (at 13 years old) with an exploratory operation - personally I think we should leave you alone - as long as you aren't in pain. The family though want you to go through this op - I hope I am proven wrong and you come out the other side - healthy and with us for another couple of years. We love you SO much.

and another Layout

Good News ........

When I bought this computer/laptop there was supposed to have been a freebie with it worth something like £80 - I wasn't offered it and when I asked for it the deal had finished, as a gesture of goodwill Dixons sent me a £40 voucher to use against any further purchase.................I did, at the time (march 12) try to buy an external hard-drive but they didn't have what I wanted in store - I put the voucher away for safe keeping and 'you guessed it' completely forgot where I put the voucher. So - Moving on 8months we bought the microwave two days ago £90 - I said to hubby, pity we didnt have that voucher with us - came home and promptly put my hand straight onto the voucher - but was itstill in date - too late to use on the microwave purchase though. So I emailed dixons yeterday and had a reply today that the voucher IS still in date and so I have £40 to use in the Dixons sale - going to see if I can bag a bargain this afternoon !!! AND had a tidy up of my crafting area ..................

new self healing mat - was only £6 with postage on Ebay !

All my boxes of stuff on the shelf now labelled and tidy - and sorted through all my albums - all rubbishy ones have been chucked.

to the right of my desk - quite a bit tidier - needs a bit more done

under my desk tidy and all my cuttlebug dies and embossing folders in one place too.

Drawers to the left still need to be tidied out

Drawers to the right need tidying out too - but it will get done eventually.

In the other set of drawers I have bought A4 storage boxes to house my A4 card and paper.

AND finally - as luck would have it the top drawer of this set of drawers houses 5 12x12 storage boxes which just about fits all my 12x12 patterned papers and cardstock. I feel cleansed..................

3rd of January 2013 !!! rushing by already

Done another Layout tonight - of the kids when they were 6 & 9 it was Korins birthday the journalling on the main layout reads you played together like two best friends for many many years and then suddenly you grew apart and now you seem to hate each other, this saddens me, I wish you were still the best of friends and looked out for each other. It'd be nice to think that when we are no longer around that you two could always rely on one another. Then theres a bit of hidden journalling on the tag under the main layout/photo - its the same photo printed onto cardstock and the journalling is about how we went to aunty lyns and uncle mikes for Koz's birthday - we had a wonderful day with them, but it was the last time we ever saw them - we still don't know why to this day that they suddenly stopped contacting us ?

2nd January already !

I have had a week off work this week and it's going far to quickly for my liking. Have had a crafty night tonight - so it's been nice - done this Layout

& I decoupaged the poinsettia off the background papers.

Journal Your Christmas - finished it today

Please excuse the photo's - I have no idea why my pic's are suddenly coming out all blurred. Really annoying now.