I seem to be getting loads of scrapping done at the moment - it's great. It's only because it was all over the kitchen and I didn't put it away for a few days, it makes me do it if I haven't got to drag it all out each time. My scrapbooking stash is kept in a cupboard upstairs and I have to scrap in the kitchen so it is not ideal and sometimes I just can't be bothered to get it all out. I have just put everything away now though and the only thing on the kitchen worktop is my cutting mat and my AMM tote bag :o) It looks lovely and tidy and I am happy!

I am also happy because I did a layout of Ben last night and I have just done a very quick one of Charlotte whilst I was cooking Spaghetti Bolognaise! It only took about 20 minutes and although it is really plain it looks beautiful in my album, I love it. Mind you I always love my most recent layout best!





Still not much going on here! Charlotte seems much better which is a relief but Ben is coughing now and I think he may be getting poorly!! If it's not one it's the other.

I was supposed to be having my mirrors fitted today but it is 4.30pm and it doesn't look like that is going to happen! We haven't been anywhere today as we had a lay in this morning. The kids were in Ben's bedroom trashing it and I decided to lay in bed and read a chapter of my book. Bliss! I had to get up though because Noodles (the cat) started crawling over my head reminding me that he, if no-one else, really wanted to be fed! I got up and sure enough Charlotte had taken every one of her teddy's to Ben's bedroom and they were having a tea party with Ben's toys, bless them - but what a mess lol.

I am going to take the kids to Jump tomorrow as they have been stuck in the house all day. They can't even go in the garden because it is so horrible and rainy outside!

Well, Mum is coming over tonight for a scrappy evening so I am looking forward to that :o)

I am so excited because Mark comes back form his three month trip two weeks today. In fact, this time in two weeks I will be in the dockyard and the ship should have come in. Ben and Charlotte have a calendar in their bedrooms where we cross of the days each night and it is getting really exciting now.

Charlotte is STILL a little bit poorly but she is getting better all the time. I have never had a problem getting them to sleep in their own beds but since Charlotte has been feeling bad she has insisted on sleeping with me. I am constantly reminding her today that she has to sleep in her own bed tonight and I know there are going to be tears at bedtime!

Ben was supposed to have sports day today and the school sent home a letter the day before yesterday to say he had to wear a yellow t-shirt for his team! Well, he hasn't got one and I am certainly not going to buy him one just for sports day and at such short notice - doesn't it make you mad? Anyway, the weather is still like winter so it has been cancelled anyway. He has got a class assembly this afternoon that I am going to that - I love them, they are so cute!

I have done my other layout for the design team call and here is a sneaky peak.



Also, I have finally done a layout that has been in my mind since April of the kids playing Swingball in Uncle Roy's garden.



I don't know if you have noticed but I have added galleries on the right hand column of my layouts and my stitching. I may have said this in a previous post but I can't remember and I can't be bothered to go and check lol.

I kept Charlotte home from School today because she is really poorly, poor little thing. Her nose is red raw from rubbing it and she breaks her heart when I try to put some cream on it because she wants it wiped off. Also, she did get a spot on her arm today which means it could be chicken pox but it has gone down now so maybe not!!! If she is still bad tomorrow I am going to take her to the doctors because she has got a terrible cough as well.

Ben has still been going to school, but he is not happy about it and keeps trying to convince me that he is poorly as well! What is it with boys? He is coming home from school every day at the moment looking like someone has dragged him through a muddy field! He is only five, it can only get worse than this! My washing machine is going to overheat if I do any more washing!

I have just done a layout :o) It is for a design team call so I can't show it all to you but here is a sneaky peak. Actually, I am not convinced I am going to be successful with this as I am still having problems with my scanner and the colours look all wrong and mismatched on the scan which they aren't :o( I have taken a photo of it on the easel so I hope that will suffice for the submission - it is a shame because the layout looks really pretty in real life. As you can see I have used Basic Grey's Tutti Frutti paper for this. I know it is an old one but it is my favourite ever patterned paper in the whole wide world, so there! lol.



I have to do one more layout for this dt call so I had better get cracking!!

I have just done this layout but OMG what a pain it has been to get onto my blog! Do you ever have certain layouts that just don't scan properly? I have spent ages today trying to get a good image of this one but to no avail! In the end I have just put it on an easel and taken a photograph. Not great, but you get the idea. The layout is called Windswept and Wonderful because it is about a windy day at the beach!



Not a lot going on here today. Charlotte had a temperature of 38.8 last night and I was worried she may be getting Chicken Pox because her friend has it but she was fine this morning so I send her to Nursery. I was changing her trousers when she came home and I noticed a tiny little blister on her leg so I will keep an eye on her for further spots!

The Dora the Explorer umbrella!

And... the weather is terrible! It is supposed to be June but it is tipping down with rain, really windy and cold - just horrible. Charlotte was excited to use her umbrellas today on the way home from playgroup. I don't feel like going anywhere in this weather. That's what you get for living in England in the summer lol.

....all the layouts on the catwalk were SUPPOSED to be using the Kelli Crowe collection this week. I stand corrected lol. However, I wish this had been made more apparent and then I wouldn't have been disappointed! I just want to clarify that I don't dislike the KC collection, I almost bought it! I just feel like it is all I am seeing at the moment!

Well the new Pencil Lines DT members were announced last night and there were four of them! It must have been so hard to choose but I must admit I was just waiting for Tracie Hudson's name to come up, I said to my Mum last week that I was sure she was going to be one of the new members - well done Tracie! Obviously I didn't get it lol or else I would have made it the title of my post! I didn't expect to be chosen anyway but congratulations to those that were you must be so excited today :o)

I did a bit of scrapbooking yesterday. I finished this layout of Mum which looks much better in real life as I just couldn't get the scanner to get a good image of it.

Mum at 21

I also did this one.



My step dad is coming over today to fit some mirrors in my lounge. There is a saga about these mirrors! We ordered them in February and they didn't arrive until May. Then they have been sat in the hallway all boxed up for a month waiting to be fitted. Well, last weekend Geoff said he was going to fit them for me so I opened the box to make sure they were ok and it didn't even have mirrors in it - it was a sunbed! I don't think THAT would look very nice on my wall so I phoned the company and finally the mirrors are in my possession and will be fitted today - hooray!!!! I still have a box in the hall with a flipping sunbed in it though.

Well I have to say that I am really enjoying taking part in the HS:MS photo blog. I t is great fun trying to think of something to take a photo of that fits in with the word of the day! In case you are wondering where my photographs actually are, I created a separate blog for them as I didn't want this one to turn into just a photo blog. You can see my pics at Sarah and the Camera - there is a link in the right hand menu.

I have also been sorting out a gallery for my layouts. I was getting fed up of the slide thingy scrolling on my site so if you want to see my layouts you can click the layout animation at the top of the right hand colomn of this blog. Or click HERE.

I still love the SIStv forum but I was a little disappointed in the catwalk this week. Not because of the people who were chosen but because 18/20 of the Fashionistas had chosen a layout using the Kelli Crowe collection that the site sold last month. I got bored about half way down the list and stopped looking. I saw dozens of absolutely fabulous layouts being uploaded last week that didn't use the KC Collection! Something like the catwalk should surely show a variety of talent, it is there to inspire people who are viewing it and not to promote products the site sells (well, maybe that is what they were doing so that people buy the next collection). I am glad I didn't buy the KC collection, I am sick of it already!

I don't like being controversial but this really bugged me this week as I look forward to seeing the catwalk so much!

I just love Her Space My Space! I have been wanting to join in with this photo blog for ages and today, prompted by my Mum who also started today, I have finally taken a photo based on todays word!

The word today is MILK and here is my offering:

HS:MS - Milk

I went to the zoo with Ben and Charlotte today for a school trip. Well, at the risk of not being able to perpetuate my perfect little family blog - it was an absolute nightmare and I feel like I am never going to go on a school trip again!!! That said, I got a few good photographs (not many!) in between the whining and moaning and the kids got their faces painted and looked (LOOKED!!) gorgeous.

I want to be a fufferbly when I grow up...

...and I want to be Spiderman

Curly Tongued Giraffe

Did I mention the Rain, Thunder and Lightning?

Off to do some blog hopping now.

I have cleaned right through today! I love it when everything is perfect :o) I just have a few bits of paperwork to sort out and I am done...

...however, it is 8pm and I haven't had any tea. I am going to Paignton Zoo tomorrow on a school trip with Ben and Charlotte but I need to sort out everything for that - which is like preparing for a major expedition. I had better not stay on the computer too long that is for sure, but I needed a quick coffee and a five minute rest lol.

I just wanted to share this layout. I did this a couple of weeks ago but I haven't posted it before now as it is part of my submission for the Pencil Lines Design Team call. On the Pencil Lines blog it says that 166 have applied!!! I love this layout, it was a great sketch to work with. I just love the central photograph of Mark and Charlotte, it is my favourite!

Daddy's Little Angel

Well, I had better get a wiggle on as Mark would say!

I had a good nights sleep last night and sort of had a lay in this morning - that's if you count laying in bed trying to snooze whilst your 5 year old in 'playing' with your hair. His playing is actually him pretending to cut it with his fingers - really he is pulling my hair and banging on the pillow about every 10 seconds!

Anyway, I had a bit of a rest today and didn't do anything very much. I had a lovely surprise in the post, it was my free bead for my troll bracelet from Manda at Mango Beads. It is absolutely gorgeous :o)

The new bead is the pink one with green flowers on

I have been scrapping today. Just playing around really but I did this layout and I quite like it!



That's all for today, short and sweet.

I am feeling tired today.

Charlotte was terribly sick last night, poor little thing! I won't go into detail because it would be too much information and not pleasant reading for you. Thankfully Mum popped over to help me clear it up but I didn't sleep great as Charlotte then shared the bed with me and kicked me in the back all night!

Anyhow, I haven't done much today and don't plan to do anything this evening. I am just going to watch the telly and browse the web on the laptop so that I can relax on the sofa :o)

I have been sorting out my favourite websites today and categorizing them a bit better. I have so many scrapbooking sites in my favourites that they are now in sub-categories (Blogs, online stores, inspiration etc). Talking of inspiration and challenge blogs I found Mojo Holder this week and it is fab - if you like Scrapjacked then go here (especially if your mojo needs a kick up the butt).

Yesterday Jakey was teasing us on her blog and on SIStv about some big announcement that she had to make. Well it was worth the wait because a new challenge blog was launched and it looks great. Go and have a look at All About Eve (have the love it as it is a Marilyn Monroe film title), it looks like it is going to be a great inspiration for all those layouts you have been meaning to do of yourself!

However, my mojo has been fine lately and I have done loads of scrapping over the last couple of days - it is best to do it when you are feeling creative isn't it?









I need to get my submission of for the Pencil Lines DT call tomorrow. I don't know why I am bothering to enter really but loads of people are so I may as well give it a go - you never know. I would love to be part of it, it has such a well respected team and exciting challenges and guests - I love it.

...the day we went to Cornwall!

We have had a lovely weekend! On Saturday it was a beautiful day in Plymouth and the kids just ran around the garden all day demanding ice pops and drinks.

Yesterday we went to Cornwall with Mum and Geoff and we did loads! First of all we went to Flambards and Ben and Charlotte had a great time. They played in the ball pool and then went on all the rides and looked at the animals. Mum and Geoff had never seen the Britain in the Blitz exhibit or the Victorian Village so we spent some time walking around that. It is amazing, if you have never been it is well worth a visit!







After we spent about 3 hours in Flambards we drove to Marazion. Mum was born in Marazion and grew up playing on the beach every day so it is a place very close to her heart. The weather wasn't great but it was quite warm and that didn't deter Ben and Charlotte from having fun on the beach. They are used to going on the beach in all weathers because they used to visit the beaches near us when we lived in Mullion come rain or come shine!

Ben and Charlotte loved the 'castle' in the water - otherwise known as St Michaels Mount.



They built sandcastles with grandad, we collected buckets of water from the sea (or ocean and Ben kept saying!), searched for creatures in rock pools, ate food, drank juice and played ball. It was fantastic.









We got back home quite late so they didn't get to bed until about 9pm! I caught Ben still playing with his gameboy under the covers at about 9.40pm and took it off him lol. I told him he was going to be very tired and sure enough he didn't want to get out of bed for school this morning! Now he knows how I feel.

I am so glad they had a good time and it was wonderful to spend so much quality time with Nanny and Grandad.

Well yesterday was my birthday and it was great :o)

Mark bought me my Canon 350D SLR for my birthday but I got that in January so he got me a troll bracelet as well! I absolutely love it. To be honest, I think I was a bit spoiled this year but I am not complaining :o)

Not a good photograph, can't get the settings right and the flash keeps bouncing off the beads

I went to Mum's for most of the day but I couldn't go until after I had picked Charlotte up from Nursery because Mum said she had to go into town to pay some bills. Well she is a big fat liar!!! Mum and her dh actually went into town to buy me not one but two troll beads for my birthday. I would like to add here that Mum already had my present wrapped up and waiting for me at home, the troll beads were extra! I think they felt sorry for me because Mark is away. So from Mum and Geoff I got a new scrapbooking album and page protectors, some gorgeous scrapbooking papers and TWO troll beads. Oh and I musn't forget that Mum made me the most amazing Marilyn Monroe birthday card - I love it!

Had to hold the vellum overlay to the card to get a decent photo - this is beautiful in real life!

My sister came to see me in the afternoon and she had also bought me a troll bead. Now, can you believe that out of the hundreds of beads you can buy Mum and Carol had bought me the same one! Mum and Geoff drove straight into town to change my bead so that I could have them all on my bracelet for my birthday - how nice is that? Carol had got the gorgeous pink bead with flowers on - I love it! (Am I beginning to sound like those awful twins on big brother?). Carol also had a little extra for me, well I say little, she had made me this gorgeous pin keep. It is so beautiful and Carol's stitching and finishing is absolute perfection! Guess What? I Love it!

Isn't it gorgeous?

Mum made a birthday party tea for me and the kids, I felt about five years old again with all the party food all that was missing was the jelly and ice cream lol.

My sister Debbie rang me from South Africa so it was lovely to speak to her on my birthday and I also got to speak to my brother who rang from Malta where he and his wife are on holiday :o)

Mum popped around in the evening for a few hours and then Geoff turned up at the door to drop off a couple bottles of my favourite red wine which he had just been up to Tesco to get especially for me.

Do you think I was spoiled? I also got some money, underwear and PJ's - oh and I got flowers and chocolate from Mark - I was so happy.


Just Beautiful

To top off all that, I checked my emails in the evening and I had won the monthly draw on the Buddy Bead site to have a bead made especially for me for my troll bracelet. Talk about being a good birthday!

Also, I had my school reunion on Saturday night and it was absolutely brilliant. Not a lot to say apart from that I had a great time, too much to drink and chatted to loads of great people. I also now have a huge unexplained bruise on my right knee which is causing much pain!

Oh and I scrapped on my birthday :o) I did this layout of Ben while Charlotte was at Nursery in the morning.



Today the kids and I went to Mum's (again lol) after school and they played in the garden :o) I took some pictures!

Scooter Boy

Sweetie Pie

Yum Yum

More Yum Yum

I am looking forward to this evening as it is my school reunion. We had a reunion last year to celebrate 20 years of leaving school and we had such a good time that Paul (who organised it) has decided to do it again! It's really strange that I am sat here at 11.30 on the morning of the reunion and I haven't yet done my nails, or decided what I am going to wear. Last year I had everything planned down to the finest detail so that I would make a good impression, this year they can think what they like I am not going to stress about it I just want to have a good time. Obviously I AM going to do my nails and wear some clothes lol.

I have been MIA on my blog a bit this week because of half term but I have managed to do some scrapping in the evenings when the little scamps are in bed (or rather, running around upstairs!).



Ben on a BIG slide in Spain

I had to scrap this picture of Charlotte's doll because it is the spitting image of her!

No Difference!

Well, I had better make the little monsters some lunch :o)