Tummybugs and Cleaning . . .

Not much in the way of productivity has happen over the last couple of days as DS2 has been poorly with a tummy bug so I took the opportunity instead to get my craft room back to its neat and tidy form after the hectic weekend of the CC. Just waiting on hubby to  put up the remaining shelves (which I wouldn't let him do at the weekend because of the CC . . lol) and then I can take some up to date pics.

So, just one new LO to share today, which incidentally features DS2 when he was on better form during a recent hiking adventure through the Ards Forest NP. He came across a piece of bark which he was totally fascinated by. Its amazing what you might discover if you just go out and explore!

tfl x

Monday in Mayfair

Oh I am so chuffed today which is unusual for a monday. The UKS Cyber Crop came to an end late last night and I took to my bed absolutely shattered. Woke up this morning totally refreshed and ready for the day ahead, which started with me logging on to UKS to check up on developments from over night and low and behold one of my LO's was selected as a Class Winner!!!! I am so pleased that the class instructor, Sharon, chose my LO. Her class was amazing and really took me to places I would not have gone on my own. I had paint everywhere, glue, ribbon and paper and it was fantastic! This is my finished LO:

Her class can be found here.

The CC was great fun and I managed to complete most of the classes and a few challenges too. These are some of my LO's:

tfl x

The end of the Cyber Crop is near . . . .

What a weekend its been! I didnt leave the house at all and yet I had the most fun this weekend taking part in the UKScrappers Cyber Crop. Fab classes and challenges and great chat amongst my teamies as well as some cute swaps.  It is the first Cyber Crop I have taken part in and I cant wait for the next one. I managed to complete around 13 LO's - Wow! Even surprised myself . . . lol  I will post some pics in a later post when I have recouped some energy. Huge hugs for everyone at UKS!

Meanwhile I was doing a little blog hopping and came across the most gorgeous Blog Candy - its from Janiel over at Scrappyjandesigns:

Pop over and check it out - her blog is so inspirational. So for now Good Day, Good Afternoon and Good Night x

U R . . . so funny

Finally got around to finishing my LO of Joe. I love the colours on this which were inspired by Joe's T-shirt. This is also one of my favourite photo's of Joe which was taken last summer. He is the family clown, the joker, the one to make you laugh even when you dont want to laugh. Joe, U R . . .  so funny!

So I am spending the rest of the day on my Mystery Kit for the UKScrappers Cyber Crop. I have one project finished (which I cant show you because its locked away in the UKScrappers Gallery until the Cyber Crop starts on Friday) and 2 more planned . . .  dont know how they will turn out but will give it a go. Working with the MK has been a real challenge for me because I am used to adding bits and pieces of everything together so to be restricted on using just the kit items is a tough one!

Purr-fect

I made this Purr-fect card today using a digi stamp I bought from Whimsy by Crissy Armstrong. Crissy has started a new challenge blog  - 'Sundays with Crissy' - and the first challenge was to do a combo. You can interpret combo however you like, so my combo is a digi stamp combined with Promarkers (which I have just bought and started playing with so not too good with them just yet) and a sentiment stamp from my stash of acrylic stamps. I used PaperMania papers and distressed them with one of my favourites to play with  at the mo, Tim Holtz Distress Ink's (I used Brushed Corduroy)

I love digi stamps!!! You can do so much with them but the best thing about them is you download them in an instant - shop, download and play - no waiting for them to arrive through the post! There are some gorgeous stamp sets on the Whimsy website so I'm sure I will be popping by often.

Twins Confirmation

Yesterday was one of those beautiful days when everything went perfect. The weather was gorgeous and the Twins Confirmation service was lovely. They both looked very smart as they went up to be Confirmed by the Bishop and we were all very proud of them both. Afterwards everyone headed back to our house for a party and then the day was finished off with a walk on the beach and a swim / bodyboarding for those fools brave enough to go in (not me!!) I got some beautiful pics throughout the day and this one is a fav - Tony, his sponsor Richard and Amy with her sponsor Trisha. Amy looks sooo tall in this pic thanks to her high heels that she was allowed to wear only because it was a special occasion. It was certainly one of those days that memories are made of.

March Pages are finished . .

Finally I am up to date on my Mini Book 2010 challenge!!!  March pages were much easier to get going on as I had my holiday pics to work with . . .  really pleased with these pages.

April pages are already coming together in my mind - Easter, Ards Forest, Confirmation, Tony's Bird Box, Eug 40th - I could put a whole mini book together on this month alone . . lol

On the subject of Tony's bird box - love this pic, he was so proud of his first solo building project. Here's the finished article just waiting for a coat of paint.

Mini Book 2010

Spent this afternoon trying to get housework done and catching up on my Mini Book 2010 (UKScrappers Challenge). February was such a blah month that I couldnt get motivated about my pages - so in the end I opted for a book list and some journalling. Actually turned out not too bad in the end!

So this is my book so far:

The front cover -

 January Pages -

And February Pages - 

The next months pages are almost done and due to my holiday to Vegas I have a little more to work with for March.  Ah, its good to be up to date with this :)

Its Official . . . I've signed up to GoGo!!

I took the plunge yesterday and signed up to the ScrapaGoGo Monthly Kits - so excited. I have been looking around the kit clubs for one to join as buying supplies here is just not an option with my nearest shop around 2½ hours drive so it will be great to have a regular flow of goodies coming my way. I also have my forms for the GoGoGetaway Retreat filled in and ready to go off - now we are talking mega excitement !! Hope I get a place.

Amy & Tony's Confirmation is on Sunday so I guess housework is on the menu this week, along with some prep for the Cyber Crop coming up on the 23rd - time sure is flying.

I have almost finished 2 pages (started one before I finished another - unlike me!) which I will post when they are done. I just need to find the right words to journal on my 'Joe' page - do you ever have that moment when you know what you want to say but just cant find the right words ?? Its coming to me though . . .  slowly :)

Where did the past few days go ???

Wow!! The past few days have just flown by. The sun came out so we have spent a lot of time outdoors over the past few days and the time has just flown. The kids have gone back to school this morning so the house is very quiet! Although my kitchen is now covered in sand and there are wetsuits hanging around outside so a sure sign that spring/summer has definitely arrived in Templemoyle.

We spent Saturday at Ards Forest NP hiking with Max & Coco. Amy dressed for the occasion as usual. Love this pic of her posing in her Primark shades . . lol x

Sunday was Mass in the morning and the beach all afternoon. Hence sand and wetsuits reference at the top of this post.

Now back to business - I have soooo much to catch up on with my scrapbooking. I have to finish my February & March pages for the Mini Book Challenge, get some prep done for the CC  on UKS and do the April Adornit Challenge.

On the subject of Adornit - I received my prize goodies for the February Challenge and they are gorgeous: What Do you Think ??

I need to get myself in gear to catch up with everything . .  i dont like being behind . .  it creates STRESS and STRESS leads to excessive intake of chocolate.

Oh I wish I were a Chocolate Lab x

Oh I wish I were a Chocolate Lab - swan about looking gorgeous all the time, eat everything I wanted (even things that are not edible !!!) play on the beach every day and sleep whenever I wanted cuddled up to the one I love. Couldn't resist these pic's of Max & Coco snuggled up in the sun after a mad playtime. They are inseparable and look absolutely adorable together. Oh one day these two will make lovely babies . . . . x

Just a quickie . . .

Well the online community thing is going so well that I am going to have to set myself limits. I have been chatting and posting on and off all day so much so that I have hardly done any scrapping. Still chatting about it is almost as much fun (I said almost!!!) as doing it. I have been poking my nose in on some of the galleries and I have seen some great layouts. I have made a note of a few ideas that I am going to lift for use on my layouts in the future.

I have signed up for UKS Cyber Crop later this month. Its my first go at something like this so I am really excited, and I also am quite fancying the look of the monthly kit from Scrapagogo so will probably sign up for that when I get some money in to prop up the ever decreasing bank balance. Who knows, start with a kit and work my way up to one of their Retreats - now wouldn't that be lovely :)

So, I think its off to bed now. Need to get my reading fix - Tess Gerritsen's The Surgeon. Its an excellent book, although not so sure it was the right choice for bedtime reading !!

Heading on out into Cyber-Space and Loving It x

I am becoming hooked on cyber-space communities ,. . .  and loving it!  Having spent a couple of years quietly scrapping away by myself in my own little world I finally got around to joining some of the online communities and sharing my  layouts for other people to see. I am so excited . . . and looking forward to  hopefully making some new friends amongst my fellow scrappers. I have joined scrapbook.com and UKScrappers so far. Why oh why did I wait so long to join in the fun ???

Love Ya, Miss Ya, Wish I Could Have Kissed Ya xx

This is my layout for the March Challenge at Adornit. This months theme was things we say everyday and the page elements required were striped paper, quote strips and brads. Everyday when I drop Amy & Tony (our twins!) off to school we say our little saying instead of having the traditional kiss goodbye.

My quote strips journalling reads 'Love ya, Miss Ya, Wish I could have kissed ya'  This is because . .  the two of you are embarrassed in case any of the other kids see you kiss me goodbye. So we dont kiss . .  instead we have our own saying xx'

I chose pink and blue for the colour scheme to cover the girl / boy theme of the photo's and added a little of the new bling that I brought back from my holiday to Vegas. I am really pleased with the finished layout - it makes a change to use more than one photo on a page as lately that is a rut I have been stuck in.

Where is Spring ?

OK - Where is Spring ? The past week has been just awful weather. We have had rain, snow, sleet and gale force winds. Somebody needs to tell Mother Nature that it is suppose to be Spring.

Tuesday was the worst day of the year so far. It started raining at teatime and didnt stop until  about 9am Wednesday! The result was flooding around our entire house! We lost electricity and our internet connection, and as the boiler outside was completely submerged we have had no heating until today!

This photo is of our back garden taken from my craft room window.

Still, Joe seemed to find the fun element amongst all the chaos as usual. Only our Joe would go body-boarding in two foot of flood water complete with wetsuit and wellies!!!