Some Scrapping At Last

Well it seems like an eternity since I last scrapped anything but I have done a bit of tidying in my craft room in preperation for the cyber crop on UKS and I am now hot to trot. I produced this LO straight away.



And I did it with the help of this little gadget



I was lucky enough to be picked to review the EZ Runner for Design Objectives, so here goes:

1. How often do you use adhesive? I go in fits and starts with my crafting but when I am in the full swing of it I use it weekly.
2. What is the main type of adhesive you use? I have never managed to find an adhesive that I am completely happy with so I go between double sided tape, glue runners and glue sticks.
3. What do you look for in an adhesive? Ease of use and value for money, I'd rather have more money for embelishments and papers.
4. How easy is the product to remove from it's packaging? Very easy.
5. Does the product appeal to you? Yes, it's a good looking product.
6. How easy is the product to use? Very easy once you get used to it, I was leaning too hard at first so when I was lifting the runner off the paper the glue strips continued to come out but once I realised that you needed the lightest of touches I got on fine and it was very accurate.
7. How well does the product perform? Very well, the glue takes the form of a series of little strips of double sided tape and you don't need to use a lot to hold your paper fast. It was easy to manoeuvre round corners and awkward shapes.
8. Do you like this product? I do, it's easy to use and does the job well.
9. Do you consider it good value for money? It is quite expensive and you can't refill it but as I said before you don't need to use much so it will probably last quite a while.
10. Would you consider buying this product in the future? I probably would as it was nice to handle but it is more expensive than I would normally pay for a disposable glue runner.
11. What would make you more likely to buy this product in the future? If the price was reduced a bit or if it was made refillable.
12. What would make you less likely to buy this product in the future? Nothing really, it's a good product.

So all in all I would give this product 4 out of 5, bring the price down a wee bit and you'll get that extra mark.

Happy Birthday Jessica

Today is my babies 4th Birthday, where has the time gone? She is getting so grown up. She had a party yesterday with a big bouncy castle and loads of her friends from nursery. Today Katie had a riding lesson so Jessica had a pony ride as well. I thnk she has well and truely been bitten by the riding bug and I don't know how long I will be able to put off lessons for her as well. She is now exhausted but fighting sleep so she is in Katie's bed watching her new Diego DVD.

We have had a busy and emotional few months. My Gran and Grandad, who have lived in Devon for the last 20 years decided last year that they wanted to move back home, in January my Grandad had a really serious fall down the stairs and it threw things up in the air. They needed to get out of the 2 storey house that they lived in but the 500mile journey seemed too much for them so it looked like we wouldn't get them here. To cut a long story short though, they got offered their ideal house just up the road from my Mum and Dad and within 5 days my Mum, Dad and brother had gone down to Devon and collected them so they are now safe and well at my Mum and Dad's while we get their new house ready for them. I have missed them so much over the last 20 years and it is lovely seeing them develop such a good relationship with Katie and Jessica in such a short time.

Bad Blogger!!!!!

I think I am going to stop making promises to update regularly because obviously I'm not going to LOL.

I am currently trying to tidy up the dining room so I can officially turn it into my craft room. I managed to aquire the old catalogue drawers from my work and DH decided that instead of keeping them in the shed I should use them for my craft stuff nad as we never use the dining room to eat in, I should just have it as a craft room. Hopefully once I get everything organised I will be able to craft a lot more often.

I found out today that I have a job interview on Monday. It's for the Senior post that I have been doing part time since last September but it has now been made full time so I have to re-apply. I know there is another candidate and she is pretty strong competition so I am very nervous about it. Fingers crossed though.

Been Busy

Life has been hectic as usual and I just don't seem to get the chance to update my blog.

Sadly my Mum had to have her dog put to sleep. He had cancer but seemed to be well so it was a huge shock for us all when he suddenly went down hill. Reilly was a Kerry Blue and the quirkiest dog I have ever known, you couldn't help but love him.

When Mum had decided she wanted another dog she didn't hang about and we ended up going to Chorley to collect him. He was supposed to have gone to Australia but there was a bat found in Britain with rabies so all exports of livestock were cancelled. He would have hated Australia, he couldn't stand the heat.

I will miss you Reilly, you are leaving a very big gap in all of our lives.

I am still enjoying my jewellery making and recently took part in a gemstone challenge on UK-Beaders. A group of us were all supplied with the same gemstones and we had to see what we all came up with. The gemstones were the most gorgeous yellow turquoise, not something I had ever seen before. I really enjoyed putting my set together, although it took a while because of the byzantine chain that I decided to make. I really need to brush up on my photography because you really can't see the detail in it here.

A cyber crop has just been announced on Scrapstars so please go along and join in, there are going to be several weeks of challenges and competitions leading up to it.

Did You All Have A Nice Christmas?

I should have known I couldn't do a daily update!!! Life in December is just too hectic.

We all had a great Christmas, Santa was very kind to us all and now the house looks like a toy shop. We might just find places for everything by June.

Chrissie on UK Scrappers posted about something fun to do on her blog. You have to highlight all the things that you have done from the list, so here is my list:

1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
2. Swam with wild dolphins
3. Climbed a mountain
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid
6. Held a tarantula
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
8. Said “I love you’ and meant it
9. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game (and survived the crush afterwards)
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children (or…raising children)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes ... yum!
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

Feel free to cut and paste ans have a go yourself. I have come to the conclusion that my life has been far too boring so maybe I should highlight a few more things in 2007.

I've Fallen Behind Already!!!

Well so much for posting every day LOL

So what lovely things did I get in my advent parcels over the last few days?

On day 2 of my UK Scrappers one I got a lovely pink Zig Pen, I've never used these before but I'll need to keep it out of sight of my girls, pink things are sure to be snaffled. On day 3 I got to open one of the cute little boxes and inside I found the most gorgeous shade of blue micro-fine glitter. Glitter is always a winner in this house, we can normally be found with sparkles somewhere on our faces LOL, I also got a packet of pink micro beads. I have never used these before but they have been on my to buy list for ages. Today I got a packet of KI Memories tattoo rub ons in a lovely shade of green, I love rub ons. I also got a clue to my santa's identity, they have been scrapping for over 8 years. part of me wants to go through the list and whittle it down but another part of me wants the mystery to go on a bit longer.

In my Scrapstars parcel I got a packet of Karen Foster Brad Bars on day 2. I did actually order these for myself before but my computer crashed and I had to start again and forgot to add them in again so now I have them:~) I have decided to let the kids choose what present I have to open because it is taking me too long to decide so on day 3 Katie chose a present that I was convinced was a kalaidescope, it was actually stacking pots crammed full of beautiful pink, sequins, flowers and cute little butterflies. Today Jessica picked out a similar present that contained lots of purple and silver ribbon, butterflies, flowers, sequins and pearly flowers.

I am loving this, I only hope that the people I bought for are having as much fun opening their presents each day.

It's Been A while

Sorry for not posting sooner, I haven't been very well lately.

Hopefully I will be posting every day this month. I am taking part in advent swaps on UK Scrappers and Scrapstars so I will try to give daily updates on what I have opened that day. The black and white presents are from someone on UK Scrappers and each one has a clue to either what is in the present or who my secret santa is. On the first day my clue was "Let's get off to a sweet start" and I got a dinky little box of Baileys Truffles. I've never had these before but I love truffles and baileys so mixing them together has to be good.

The Purple presents are from someone on Scrapstars and aren't numbered so it's like a lucky dip every morning. I am not the most decisive person in the world so this could take a while each day LOL Maybe that can be a job for the kids. On the first day I decided to open a prenent that the wrapping had ripped on so I could already see what it was. It was a roll of double sided tape and funnily enough I had been thinking the night before that I needed to buy some more.

I haven't opened day 2 yet so I'll post later with those.

My jewellery has really taken off, Mum had taken some in to her work because one of her friends had wanted to see it. Well she ended up selling everything and taking orders for a whole lot more. Great news but now I have to make all my Christmas presents again LOL