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Crafty Sunday

Well there's a turn-up for the books: I spent today doing digi scrapping :)   I have done all the pages of my Countdown to Christmas book. It should be a breeze keeping up this year because I've done 25 templates and all I have to do is write down what we do each day in the run-up to Christmas.  Here are a few snaps, straight out of the iPhone in the awful light of the energy saving lightbulb:

 

 

I've kept it very simple. Each page is slightly different. Some just have a journaling area and the number, and others also have decorations or papers. I downloaded papers from peppermintcreative.com, and the holiday spots are from Katie Pertiet, while the words are from my favourite Cathy Zielske, both from designerdigitals.com.  I've not downloaded anything in a while and I really enjoyed browsing the digi scrapbooking sites.  Claire even sat and scrapped with me. We had a very companionable day.  I can't wait to get a cover made and then I'm looking forward to adding stuff each day to the journal so that it gets nice and bulky and full of little souvenirs and stuff. 

Oh, also: we booked tickets to go to France very soon!  We can't afford Christmas because we were too cash-strapped when good deals were to be had. Instead, Claire and I are going over to Paris on 18th November and we'll stay in Paris for a day before going up to my mum's in Normandy, where my sister will be waiting. I might get to see my oldest sister and her husband too (I don't want to make you cancel your trip, J&B!), and maybe when we are in Paris we'll see my brother and his wife? Who knows!  It'll be like a mini Christmas celebration ahead of time.  The boyf will stay here, manning the fort and keeping pusscat company. Oh, and hopefully getting us some school gigs...

And last but not least, the dehumidifier arrived yesterday and is simply AMAZING. The basement doesn't smell any more, but even more interesting and an added bonus: cooking doesn't fog up the kitchen and smells are non-existent!  You see, we don't have an extractor in the kitchen, so I've always opened the window to let smells/smoke escape. The stairs to the basement lead down from the kitchen, and with the dehumidifer down there AND the kitchen window closed, it's been fantastic. That was money very well spent, I can see that already. 

Right, it's late now. I've got a 9am start at the hospital tomorrow, so I'm off to my bed. Hope you had a lovely weekend. Nite nite!

Christmas is a-coming

Yep, it's official: Bonfire night is out of the way, so is Halloween. The next celebration on our calendar is Christmas.  Today we went to the shopping centre and it was really beginning to bustle. First I had to post some letters for Dr O, and our nearest Post Office is actually inside W.H. Smiths, which is rather strange, but still... Right next to the PO is a new Jessops in-store shop. The boyf got chatting with one of the sales assistants while I was sorting out the post, and Claire was with him too.  OH was discussing cameras with the sales guy as he wants to sell his, and it turned out the youngster didn't really know much about cameras at all. Then it was mentioned that Claire used to work at the other Jessops in town, and one thing led to another and she was told to pop back with her CV as they are hiring at the moment!  Claire went out again later and had an impromptu interview with the Manager who said he'd be "happy to have her on board". Result! She just has to wait until next week but it looks as if she has landed herself a part-time position.

 

Meanwhile, "the red cups are here" - when Starbucks bring out the red cups you know Christmas is around the corner. Claire and I couldn't NOT have one, right?

 

 

('scuse the loon all in red - she's high on a tall-skinny-toffee-nut-latte....)

You can see I wear my poppy* with pride. This is my second one this year as they tend to fall off/get crumpled easily, but I don't like being without one in November.  (*see link for more info).

Talking of Christmas, we've just watched the Disney Christmas Carol premiere preview on TV. Funnily enough we were just round the corner from the festivities when we were in London on Tuesday, but I don't like crowds, so I'm glad we were able to catch some of it from the comfort of my own sofa...

Now I'm off to see what I can rustle up for dinner and then it's X Factor at 8pm, and tomorrow I want to try and get some scrapping in. Enjoy your weekend!
ETA: How could I forget?  I have joined a Christmas Swap via the blog Florence & Mary. It's so much fun!! I can't wait to start shopping for it...

It's official!

We are officially in business. I mean, when you have the cards, that makes you a pro, right?

 

We got them from moo dot com and I think they are brilliant.  On the back, mine are red and the boyf's are blue. The only thing is, I finished uploading my template before we did his and his font is easier to read so I wish I'd chosen the same one. Oh well, they still look good!

And I don't even mind having my details out there on the web; after all, I need to get my  name out there, don't I?  However, the boyf didn't say I could publish his, so he's been blurred out...

Last night we were supposed to go to the annual bonfire party at our church. However, by 5pm the drizzle was so bad I was having second thoughts. When the wind picked up and the rain was pelting down AND our friends texted to say they were giving it a miss - well, we did the sensible thing and stayed indoors. And the weather this morning? Gorgeous blue sky and a crisp feel in the air. Typical!

Oh, also yesterday the boyf and I ordered a dehumidifier for the basement. It's light and portable yet very powerful. Apparently it's great for drying clothes: just put them on an airer/clothes-horse and switch the dehumidifer on, and it dries in no time. We'll be able to get rid of the tumble dryer which is taking up space in the dining room. And when the basement is completely dry again we're repainting the walls with a special anti-damp paint and it'll be a useable space again. 

So today we've lots and lots to do. I hope you have a great weekend. Enjoy the sunshine if you have it :) 

Where did the week go?

My, my, we've been busy this week!  I can't believe it's Friday again. Well, Saturday actually - as it's already half past midnight.  I've been trying to install some anti-virus programmes on the PC whilst watching a Medium double bill AND pricing up what we need to do up the bathroom. It's wonderful: the OH has decided he can't wait to get started on the decorating, so I don't feel like I'm on my own doing this any more.  

I've been working part-time for one of the Consultants at the hospital, which is going to be part of my ongoing job now. She's lovely and she's so appreciative that I'm back working for her, which makes a huge change from my ex-boss!  I look after her private patients, but on Monday I will also start working on the "bank" as they call temp jobs at the hospital. This means I'll be able to stop signing on "the dole", which is a huge relief. Meanwhile the boyf will be continuing to make sales calls to the local schools, and as the temp job is flexible I'll be able to take the time off to go and deliver any presentations/workshops that we book. Things seem to be looking up at last - without wanting to jinx anything I mean.

As for my other little venture, I am organising a photography workshop in a top London boutique hotel in the Spring (mid-April) for people who are using digi SRLs but are scared of Manual and only using the automatic settings. I have a guest "scrapping photographer" lined up, and I'm just doing the costings, but then bookings will be open. So... if you know anyone who would be interested, tell them to get their butts over here to pre-book via my blog. There are only about 12 spots available, and I don't know how quickly they are going to fill up. 

I'll be back tomorrow (or later on today actually) to upload my latest pictures from Claire's camera: we have received our business cards and they are dead funky, so I can't wait to show them off. Plus, I don't like posting blog posts without pictures; it's boring!

So, nite nite to all of you out there in blogland. Sleep tight!

Little jaunt to London

This afternoon Claire and I went off to London to wander around the King's Road before going to a meeting in Bloomsbury. First we went to Muji then stopped off at the Crocs outlet store where I gave in and got some boots for the winter. Claire didn't like the brown ones I picked, but thought I should go with PINK - it being my favourite colour and all.  Well, I look a bit like Mrs Claus in them, but they are light and warm and above all cheap.... They don't look as bright as in this picture, but it's the only one I could find!

As we walked along, we saw these children running around a park doing PE or something - they were so cute. Then, a bit later on it must have been home time because yummy mummies were everywhere with these little kids in knickerbockers. Shame the jumpers are a kind of mustard colour, but the littlest ones looked adorable. You can see pictures in the gallery of the school here. I wanted Claire to take a picture of a couple of them walking in front of us, but we were afraid what that would look like! You can't be too careful these days.

We kept on walking, avoiding the Starbucks every two yards because we were due to have tea at our meeting, and I got Claire to take a couple of pics of the Cath Kidston shop a bit further up.

 

She took a picture of me looking in the window, but let's just say I'll be keeping that one as a "before" picture for when I reach target, yikes.  I cropped myself out of it lol.

Then there's the lovely Fair Isle blanket I long for.... 

And other yummy stuff

We didn't have too long in there because we were running late, but I bought a tin of pins, some paper strips to make paper chains, and a delicious-smelling candle for the kitchen when I'm cooking.

After that, we had to jump in a cab and hotfoot it to Bloomsbury, where we met the Sales Director of this rather fancy boutique hotel - more on that in a future post. We had our meeting and a quick view of some of the rooms, then sat down to some fruit smoothies bursting with flavour and a few little amuse bouche. Tired and stuffed, we made our way back to Euston for the train home.

So now I'm off to bed with my Cath Kidston mag, so goodnight!

Halloween fun

We had great fun on Saturday, carving our pumpkin. The light in the dining room was amazing for once - so Claire took the pictures when I was using the sharp knife (I'm the mommy after all...!) and I took the pictures when she was scooping with the plastic bag. If you have a dog, you'll know the method I'm talking about lol.  

 

That's my first ever flickr mosaic, by the way. Do you approve of my nails? Just had them done again. 

Anyhoo, this is what it looked like all lit up:

 

Then, as it wasn't dark yet, we blew out the candle and put the lid back on. Claire went off upstairs and I went to the kitchen, but as I turned round, look what I saw:

I took an even better one next, portrait mode so you could see the curly whisps of smoke going higher... but the PC crashed as Claire was uploading them and the file got corrupted. I was upset because that one would have made a great postcard or poster. Oh well.  Claire then did a little b&w action and cropping and this is what she got:

In the evening we lit the pumpkin and put it on the doorstep, and lit candles on the table in the window, so you could see our Halloween window cling-ons clearly, to let people know we were open for business.  The kiddies started arriving slowly (with parents hovering anxiously out on the street), but the pace soon picked up and I thought we might run out of sweets. We had Haribo favourites and mini assortments of Maltesers, Mars Bars and Twix.  They went down a treat, and as Claire pointed out, nearly all the little 'uns said "thank you" as they left. We must live in a nice neighbourhood *smile*
Yesterday the boyf and I had some "alone time" together. In the afternoon we went out to get some office supplies for the biz and sat in Starbucks talking; then in the evening we got a 50% off voucher for La Tasca,  the Spanish tapas place, and went out on a date. For once!  We don't do this often enough. It was lovely and I reckon we should set aside some time every month at least! We got home in time for House, so it really wasn't a late night, but it was much needed.  The thing is, I also went out with the girls on Friday and we ended up at Cafe Rouge where I always HAVE to have steak-frites (although I didn't have dessert), so the scales might protest this evening at Slimming World. Oops!

Hope you are all well where you are.  Can it be November already????

Friday

It's Friday and there's a lot to do, but first I'll reply to my sis who commented that she didn't get what the Cath Kidston fuss was all about.  The woman (Cath, not my sister!) has made a fortune bringing out replica vintage fabrics and other paraphernalia. So what IS it about her? I must admit I don't love all her range, but I do have a fondness for chintzy fabrics that I think dates back to my childhood - I loved the fabric on my grandparents' three piece suite. As I remember it, it was a faded rose pattern, and it's just my "Madeleine de Proust" although in this case it's not an aroma but it's visual... I think all this "make do and mend" vintage fashion has come back because of the recession: it's become a crime to spend money on stuff you could make yourself, or to throw out socks instead of darning them. Also, when times are tough people like to hark back to a gentler time, their childhood perhaps.  I'm not sure why, but it sure is a craze right now.  Everyone's knitting and crocheting granny blankets - and there's another thing. I used to HATE crochet blankets but I covet some of the ones on this flickr pool. Not all of them, by any means, but there are some modern, brightly coloured ones that are gorgeous. I am not so keen on the muddy coloured ones that really were made with odd bits of yarn rather than specially purchased skeins!

Right, I'm just waiting for the boyf to get out of the bathroom (I swear that man spends more time in there than me - only this morning he said it took a long time to look "this good" LOL), and then we've got lots of errands to run; then I'm off to have my nails done and this evening I'm having drinks with the girls from my ex-work. 

I hate to do a post without a picture, so here's an old one for you.

Well, after yesterday's post I looked at Claire's pictures and there might be one I'd consider posting here... but I have to upload it first. 

What's the weather like where you are? It's pretty much perfect Autumn weather here: sunny and cool, with brightly coloured leaves all over the ground, and a smell of bonfire smoke in the air. Lovely!  We're gearing up for Halloween on Saturday, but it's just not the same now Claire is grown up. We used to love decorating the house but I don't think we'll bother this year, although I'd still love to carve a pumpkin. Claire has pointed out to me that the "large" pumpkins in our Tesco Express are really not that big at all this year, so I'm not sure where we'll go to get one. 

We've planned a little trip on Saturday to the King's Road, because I want to take a peek at a Cath Kidston shop, and there is also Heal's and Muji along there, as well as a nice market. We'll no doubt stop off at Starbucks and take some pictures of the cute mews houses, and people-watch. Ooh and I might treat myself to some scent at Penhaligon's.  We haven't done this for ages, due to lack of money. It's not quite the same going window shopping when you can't actually buy anything. I know it's called "window shopping" but still, having a few pennies in your purse means that if you spy the one trinket you absolutely MUST have, then you can buy it, right?  I'll give myself a strict budget, and we'll see what happens. At least I'll be able to get some ideas to put on my Christmas List if nothing else. 

I'm really hoping to book tickets to France for Christmas this weekend; I got some passwords from The Times that are supposed to give you two tickets from £90. I'll let you know what transpires!  I really, really miss my family, especially my mum, and I can't wait to see them all again.

Talking of Christmas, as I said previously, I've got some ideas for handmade gifts that involve me buying one of those cute sewing machines from John Lewis. I think I'll plump for a red one - I've been lusting after it for over a year and it's really not expensive at all so I've made up my mind.  Hoping to get presents done for nearly everyone on a very tight budget. The only non-handmade ones will probably be for the OH and Claire, although I might get some little things done for them too. For starters, I can't wait to make the bag out of the material that comes with the Cath Kidston "Sew" book. Considering I haven't sewn anything for years, I need to start with simple projects; ones that only require straight lines and simple stitching!

Yesterday my friend lent me Julie Walters' autobiography. Oh how I'm enjoying it!  I'll leave you with this extract, read by the actress herself. Love her!

Stoked!

This morning was so cool!!! I was feeling slightly apprehensive before we started but when they all started arriving I just went into Positively MAD mode. I had three observers, including an official photographer (DD!) because the OH and a girl who is also doing it with us were there to watch. The kids were boisterous but interested - one small boy's goal, that he kept calling out, was MONEY! I hope we got the message across. Certainly the feedback forms showed that they all thought it was great - fun, informative and interesting - and that they would definitely recommend the course to others. I must admit that those forms gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. I can see I'm going to enjoy this! I'll see how the pictures look before I promise to post any here....

Wish us good luck!

Well I think we're ready.... tomorrow is our first "gig" with the Goal Mapping. We've got the room at the community centre and 7 lucky, lucky kids who are getting to spend 2.5 hours of their half-term holiday doing goal mapping with us.  They are all children of friends and their friends, and their parents haven't given them a choice, heheheh! We've been presenting it to each other till we're blue in the face so it'll be lovely to have a proper audience. I'll let you know how it goes. Meanwhile, I need a bit of a lie down!