Early pressies!!!

What a lucky bunny! I received April's Cupcake scrapshop kit in the post... from my lovely friend Irene - such a gorgeous surprise and Colleen kept the secret very well...the lil minx!

Also, from the lovely lady herself, A bazzill zip round album in that scrummy size that was featured on Pencillines last week - and emulated by Anna this week! !

Watch out for mine - coming soon to a blog near you... he he!!

Thank you girlies - Luvya both!!

that's it then.

The party was great - but boy, I was knackered today tho :-)


One dear old lady Kathleen, started dancing at the first song... and never sat down all night. Not only that, but she wouldn't let me or Sue sit down either! lol! The quiz was great fun, and they had a whale of a time singing and flag waving and generally misbehaving... But it was all worthwhile.... It so does em good to let their hair down and forget their age every now and again. Trouble is, my creaky joints this morning reminded me of my mine!!



(permission granted to publish photos)

My painting is finally finished - and all thanks to my darlin daughter who not only drove miles and miles to get me the only pot left in the county... but actually came round and finished the job while I was at work today. Aint I lucky to have a girl like that ? Thanks donz.... you're a star.

The famile arrive tomorrow night! Well, half of them - the others arrive on friday, and then a huge gang of us are out for cocktails and a slap up meal in the evening - after a day out who knows where... Shopping on thursday in our fave shopping town ( and a spot of lunch) Saturday out with the kids in the day and a barbi in the eve, and Sunday's baby Matilda's christening, so busy busy busy.

Won't be around much - but you can be assured I'll be enjoying my birthday weekend - and will be back to tell you all about it and share pic's next week!

til then
xxxx jk xxxx

Happy St George's Day!

May I wish all English folk - here and wherever you are abroad, a very Happy St George's day today - Long live old Georgie boy, eh?

I've organised a party tonight for my darling oldies....

With lots of help from Sue, the head of housekeeping; I've made a St George's day quiz, with 23 questions...plus a visual quiz with 23 pictures of all things typically English, like a cream tea, the centre court at Wimbledon, Buck House, Royal Ascot, fish and chips, Blackpool rock, Stonehenge.... stuff my people will think of - the white cliffs of Dover, a Pint!, a red pillar box and a London taxi..... and stuff like that.

We've bought and made flags, hats, and streamers, have balloons, and bunting, and the managers husband has downloaded us some Last Night of the Proms type songs to stir their old hearts... Jerusalem, There'll always be an England, Land of hope and glory, and Rule Brittania.... !! Cdrink and a ookie's doing us bangers and mash, and we'll have a sing-a-long and a good old armchair knees up!

I really don't actually have time for this... So much to do here....but what the hell - they deserve it ;-D Piccies to follow!

Have a fab day everyone - English or not!

mwah!

jk xx

sunday night

Phew...just finished working again... I am knackered, proper.

Thank God my girlie came round to help me or I'd still be at it now. Thanks Donzo - you're a star, BIG glass of Turbo pimms's for you on Saturday ;-) if only for your bravery on the ladder..... :-D Ahhhh what am I saying.... big JUG!

Just for you

(er...and me)

he he .

Carpet's down, borders up and the job's almost finished. My catty shelf is back on the wall and all my moggies the kids have bought me over the years are once again smiling down on me as I pass below them on my way downstairs. Course, none of them are worth anything.. not even the tiny crystal cat with the bright green glass eyes, but I love them all... and there is one who is most treasured... the red, black and white splodgy chappie who Jazz made for me in school everso many years ago.....

I spent a good few hours yesterday potting up baskets and tubs with pretty summer flowers. Spent a small fortune and only got about halfway so will have to find the dosh for a few more.. expensive hobby eh, gardening, but I do like to have a lot of colour \round me and we're out there such a lot in the warm weather.

We sat out late last night, burning wood in the chimneria... there's something quite mesmerising about fire, don't you think?

Anyway my lovelies... I'll leave you with tonight's PencilLines sketch layout - the Guru.

Been meaning to scrap this picture of Carlos forever... now tis finally done. Wasn't he gorgeous?

*Yes, yes Carl.. you still are.... of course... aw...bless.*

Pop over to PL and check out this weeks fabby inspiration. The girls have done a stiling job on this brill sketch.

Going to the tip is quite an experience. It is round here anyway. Gone are the days you simply nipped down there with your bags of unwanteds, flung them into a huge green container to be churned up and squashed into a chunk small enough to be popped in the land fill, and drove out again without a backward glance.

These days it's a saga... a real production, and if I may say - quite an event. We went last week. Went the week before too as a matter of fact, so you can see that I speak from experience. We are becoming veteran tip go'ers, and the more I go, the more I get my eyes opened to the whole experience...

See, it seems there are tip go'ers and tip go'ers. There are people like us.... got a car full of odds and ends, the product of a decorating job, or a spending spree, or a bit of a spring clean... downsizers maybe - but ordinary folk whichever way you look at us... and then there are ... them.

'They' are the others. The people who think they have an affinity with the tip, and feel it is their life's mission to initiate obvious novices like us in 'how things work' round there....

And indeed, one actually said that to me last week....

" been here before have you? " he said, as I reached in my fiesta's boot for a bit more MDf to fling into the gaping mouth of the cruncher...

"Sorry?" I mumbled. My mind was on the job in hand . I wasn't actually looking to make a friend tbh, but not wishing to be rude I said vaguely that I'd been once or twice - I didn't want him assuming I hung out there all the time, after all...

He was surprised, he said, that I didn't know how it worked then....

" say what...?" I looked around... where the hell was Carlos... why was he never around when I got accosted by nutters...

"you're not doing it right..." says my new best friend.

"you have to follow the rules..."

RULES??

there's RULES to dumping RUBBISH?

Apparently so.

Cardboard in the cardboard place.
Shoes in the shoe place - but only if they're paired.
Boxes emptied of polystyrene.... metal stripped off chipboard furniture - and don't you dare be seen throwing anything in the wrong place! Wood to the wood - NO! Not that MDF - that's not wood!
blankets separated from towels, Men's from women's...Yea God's! What next - clothes separated by colour? All of this is being recycled - can't we give someone a job sorting them - must I sort it all myself beforehand?

Then there are the drips... Bloody Hell! Don't start me on those. I sat for 19 minutes behind a guy who folded... folded, every piece of cardboard into the tiniest, neatest squares before gently placing them in size order into the machine that was going to turn them into squishy pulp.......

Just tell me how I manage in one weekend to meet and get lectured by Mr TidyTip himself, and also to find myself stuck behind the greenest and most anally retentive twat in Bedfordshire... and all before me bacon sarnie???

Thing is....I have to go back... maybe tomorrow.. or if not,then on Sunday for certain....

I am twitching already.

Well, let's see.... it's god knows what time... i've been at work for eleven and a half hours today, drove there via my dad's to check on him and his medicine, drove home via the offy... bloody well shut - typical... Came in, unloaded the shopping (bought on an ilicit break this afternoon ;-) ) folded the washing, grabbed a sarnie, spent an hour and a half painting ( do I ever do anything else), had a quick bath, checked my mails and replied to the necessary ones, flicked through a couple of blogs, and my forums, and it's time for bed. Id scrap for a bit but i'm too sodding weary even to tidy the photos strewn across my desk, yet i'm too hyper to sleep...

What a bleeding day. No peace for the wicked as they say... And ain't that just the truth.

sizzling sketches!

littlebookofsketches

If anyone has not yet seen this fantastic sketch site get yourselves over there right now - this gal rocks! There are some fantastic sketches there and it's a really nice place too with a great feel - definitely somewhere to bookmark and visit often (it's PINK for a start!) . The owner is a lovely girl, and SO talented, and you can see how much work she's put into it. I told her I was gonna give her a little plug... coz when someone does this well, they deserve a little help getting it out there :-)

So here it is - and well done sweetie!! - you are a sketch star!

My Pencillines sketch layout for Sunday 15th.

Love this pic - those cute little crocs! Izzy has tiny feet, and hers are so small... ahhhh :-) Love my 2 little visitors...

I'm too tired to write tonight. I can't even think. I've worked really hard again this weekend, and I'll be going into work completely knackered tomorrow. I've painted about four miles of pine panelling today... ho hum. Only another eight miles to go - and then I can start on the door frames!

Oh Joy.

weekend waffling

So - yesterday in between bouts of brush weilding, I managed to put a quick layout together. Love love love this photo.... That face! That tongue!! He's such a boy, he cracks me up... :-) Total bundle of energy, so lucky they have a park at the bottom of the road...



The paper is cherry tomatoes by DaisyD's and it's gorgeous. Used some Prima papers too and my new felt flowers, which i think i'm going to love. Title taken from Val Halen lyrics, Jump.

Still making our way through the hall, stairs and landing which has had a complete overhaul too. I was back down Homebase yesterday (they love me there) and had some egg shell paints made up. One pot I love and i'm using, and one pot I gave to Carlos to use in the garden. We have a very old wood and cast iron bench out there, which once belonged to Jen Jen, and which Carl rescued when she died and brought home for me. Using this, along with some of her pots, bricks from one of her Pubs, and a piece of wood from the bar, he made me a little corner of the patio, complete with an Jasmine covered arbour - a climber both he and Jen loved. Here we can sit and feel close to her. Jen was a bugger for the sun... I always think of her in the sunshine :-)

My little grandson Solomon was eight the other day! We all went round to have tea and cake with him and he has a party tomorrow for all his wee football buddies. Being a sporty sorta chap, Mum and Dad bought him a skateboard, which he's been dying for... and yesterday eve came the dreaded call.... he's come off it. Big time. His gorgeous little face is well scuffed up, he's chipped his front tooth, and now sports the fattest lip you've ever seen - and he was so handsome too!


Oh dear. I remember Vin loved his skateboard, til he fell off it and cracked his elbow... Boys!

Scraproom.....is here!

Didn't have time to post this yesterday, but my scraproom fotm kit arrived and it's just spankin!

As I only joined last month I missed out on the March embellie add on kit, but got it this month and I'm so glad I signed up for that extra.

Fabby puffy alpha and a whole jar of felt flowers... now what am I gonna to with all those! Lol!! Better find me some Springtime photos for starters I think.....

I'm having so much fun with scrapping again lately. It's a good feeling. Loved the LO I did last night, even tho I agonized for a while. It all came together in the end, but it's for Sunday's PL so can't post it yet. My mate phoned me with some scrapping fabby news just when i was faffing around and still undecided, but as she said... as long as I like it... and I do... then of course, that is the bottom line I guess.

So..... Mega congrats to her for her exciting news!! ;-) wink wink.... :-) And congrats to me for getting to bed before 1.30 am! Oh! And Congrats to Suzanne!!!! MM Top 3 - what a star!

OMG! So chuffed!

I just heard from Abby tonight that I won a place on Scrapbook Lovers Dream DT for the month of May! I'll be guesting with them and making creations using their gorgeously scrummy dream kit... oh lucky lucky me :-) I certainly didn't expect to be picked out of all the entrants, but it was done on a poll apparently, and I scraped through on top - so YEAH, go me, eh! These kits are totally lush girls - and you owe it to yourself to check them out...

Ahhhhw..... Go on...you know you want to!

Went back to work today and we had an entertainer to round off our Easter celebrations. Just a young girl with her keyboard, but she had a lovely voice and knew all the right songs... and my lot are easily pleased. So today was a good day.

We've started decorating round the house again... and boy do I know it. So tired again today. I just cannot go as fast as I could once upon a time. I need some ever-ready's badly... and the truth is, I just don't have any. Carl put a load of garden furniture together yesterday, and set about fixing up the water feature tonight... phew... much slime and mank.. rather him than me... but it looks nice again now. No thanks to me I will admit, but i did nip to Wilko's for a wooden parasol and cast iron holder thingy which was jolly heavy, so he can't say I didn't help. Lights all checked and all working/ and patio swept.... ;-)

Barbie anyone??

Two more to share...

..... these are the layouts I made for the Scrapping Angels Guest Design Team spot, featuring the yummy Jen Starr April kit.

The kit can be seen here and is available primarily on sub, but I know anna sometimes has a couple spare if you get in quick
:-)

The first one is Ruben - being the busy, busy boy that he is


And this one I made with some adorable pictures of Matilda, which Donna sent me last week.... Look at those eyes! She's such a sweet little dumpling - always smiling and very like her Mummy was at that age. I had great fun making the Beaded Monogram - I haven't worked with beads for ages, but I really love the way it turned out.

My pencillines layout for this week. I used the January kit from cupcake scrapshop featuring American Crafts Bookshelf Papers, HS chipboard alpha and a few bits from my stash.

I was going to try and watch The Passion of the Christ on TV tonight (though I can't see me and Vin being able to sit through watching them torture Jesus...No way.) But I'm going to toddle off to bed instead. Eventhough it's been a holiday I haven't had a lie in yet, and actually have been getting up pretty early so as not to waste any of the precious time off... right now, my bed seems the best place to be. We're taping the film, but i doubt I'll watch it. It would just be too much for me, though we did watch the documentary about the Turin Shroud, something I've seen before and found quite fascinating.

Been a proper busy bee this weekend, scrapping wise. First, I did my Pencillines sketch LO for tonight.

Quick lil sneakypeek below:

Don't forget to pop in for another fabby sketch later tonight - and check out the DT's take on it. Also, if you're inspired to scrap it yourself, please post a link - we love to see your interpretations too :-)

And... and ... and... I was invited to do a GDT spot by Anna for Scrapping Angels April Kit. Sooooo i've also been busy creating with that :-) And let me say... Wowee...! If you subscribe to these kits you've got a treat coming - Gorgeous thick Zsiage 'Jewelled collection' papers, [first time I've used them and I'm hooked ;-) ] beautiful cardstock, and some really scrummy embellies too.... oh, and make sure you check out the add on kit - I was sent chipboard... (Yay!) and we all know you can never have enough of that... :-)

Sneakies of my pages are here, and don't forget ou will receive a free project sheet in your pack too... I've actually made two 12 x 12 layouts, and I have plenty left for another project or two - bargain, eh!





Here's my Easter Egg Carlos bought me....seen hiding in the grape hyacinth - it's bigger than it looks... well what's left of it anyway :-)


That was the fun stuff.. the bad stuff was I've had a murderous time with technology again this week. First my wireless keyboard conked out... so I ordered another through amazon marketplace. It arrived here yesterday but guess what... it doesn't work. Oh Joy. So off I go to Staples to buy another, as I've been using Vin's and he quite understandably wants it back.... And after all sorts of hoo ha, i've finally got it going now. But what a pain. So I now have 3 keyboards cluttering up my room.... and only one of them works. Great.

Had visitors earlier... Donzo, Jon and the kiddies looking for Easter Eggs! I took the cutest pic of their little crocs sitting in my hallway... I think I feel a LO coming on... :-) Uh Oh...!!

Later!

jk x

Jazz rang the other night, said Ruben had something he wanted to tell me... something about a song...(at two and a half he loves learning songs and rhymes and will be giving Isabelle a run for her money pretty soon in the singing stakes)

He comes on the phone and tells me he's got a new best song... "want me a sing it Nan?" :-)

So he starts:
One Two Three Four Five, Once I caught a fish alive...
Six Seven Eight Nine Ten, then I let him go again....
Why did you let him GO... ?
Because he bit my finger... SOAP!

SOAP???

Lol...we cracked up! He is SO funny! I just love the cute things toddlers come out with, don't you?

Can't wait to see them in two weeks - Yep! That's right, my family are all going to be together for my birthday celebrations at the end of the month :-) Getting very excited now!

Got some gorgeous pics from Donna the other day of pretty Lil Matilda.. now 5 months old. This girl is just ALL eyes! Look - how cute is she?

Happy Easter to you All

I've had a lovely day today. Three of my four kits arrived this week, so had plenty of stash to stroke and play with... and I still have one pizza box to look forward to!

Yay! :-)

I'm loving the break and having my boys at home with me. Carl's been next door building the last of our bedroom furniture, and Vin's been popping in and out chatting, and I do love their company.

Worked on my Pencillines layout earlier, but as usual had trouble scanning it. Scanners are the bane of my life. They are. My layouts never look on line like they do IRL... and it bugs me. You get fed up saying this looks better in real life... people are probably thinking , "No it doesn't loser, stop making excuses just coz you're crap...." ;-D Still, at least I can't hear them... so i'm not gonna be losing any sleep over that. All the same, I can't help but wish my scans remained more faithful to the true images... Me and about 4 billion other scrappers, probably....

So, now I'm sitting here with a huge glass of my fave Gin and Bitter Cranberry cocktail... Carl's going out for a film in a mo, and I'll be cooking dinner - Scampi, chips and caesar salad, with peas and mini corn cobs coz we never eat meat on Good Friday. I'm not Catholic, but my Mum was always very strict about that, and all my family and in-laws accept it now. My dd's men all know not to eat meat today. It's one family tradition we'd never break, but as I'm a fish lover anyway, it's no hardship to me.

We've been trying to spend a bit of time with the boy this week as he's been feeling somewhat neglected due to all the works going on lately. 'Neglected' and 'Vin' are not words you normally expect to hear in the same sentence btw - this boy has been the centre of the entire family's universe since the day he was born - but feeling some guilt about it being the holidays and him having to entertain himself... we've been trying to do more family stuff - even if it meant getting behind with our schedule. Jobs can wait eh? Kids can't.

So, this week we've watched some films which is what he chose to do, had a kentucky, Carl took him out for an hour or so earlier, and we'll be playing some games and stuff over the weekend. He's not really a demanding kid, but he has enjoyed having some attention, and it's given us a break too. The films we watched were: Sixty Six - a fantastic bittersweet comedy, which had me rolling about laughing one minute, and sobbing my heart out the next. Wonderful stuff - Give it a try, full of nostalgia and a good family film. Then last night we watched A Night In The Museum, which was pure silly nonsense, but great fun all the same.

So, my men will soon be back - off for dinner now - enjoy the long weekend!
jk xx

I had a lovely email yesterday from a friend in Canada. Andrea is a fabby digi artist and is so busy with design work she can't keep up with photos, so some of us like to send her a few now and again to help out. As I have about a million and four here at least... (and the pile is growing by the day) , Isent some over a couple of weeks ago - and she mailed this lovely LO of our Izzy back for me... Ahh... isn't it gorgeous?


Then, this is something I did for Scissor Sisters earlier with their yummy papers and some cute pics of Ruben with his Gram Gram. He has Carlos wrapped right round his little finger, and he's such an imp that Gram Gram can't resist him and his funny antics!

OMG.... Look what she's done now!

Just look what she's put together this time... this girl is a TEMPTRESS, I tell you!

A dangerous woman.... I should never have looked... but having done so, I'm smitten.

Look if you dare :-)

Not sure I can resist - so thanks Irene - friends like you I NEED!!

Ok... my offering for PL this week.

As I said, I had SO much fun with this... it was almost like the old days when I just scrapped and had fun. More than anything it's a LO to cheer my girlie up. She's been poorly, she's been coping on her own while Erk was away on a course, and she's been there for me this week, when I've been tearing my hair out..... Although it is actually very very me -I have to say I've never made a round LO before - even tho'I seem to have become associated with circles in the last couple of years ;-)

Have a go at this sketch - it really was great fun to do, and it def put a smile back on my chops this week... and that is saying something, I tell you!

Click on pic for a better look... everytime I try to put it on here any bigger, I kill my blog! How bloody me is that...? :-)