oooooh presents!!!

Well christmas certainly came to our house this year. I got some lovely presents this year and am so gratefull for my gifts.We also got a new small printer, a canon selphy.We were so pleased, thanks to my boyfriends mum and dad and sister and brother in law, as they got it as a joint present.

I got these today with the money that i got from my link childs family, i look after a child from the school i work at after school.

These are the presents i got from my boyfriend, plus, not photographed the wii fit plus game.I consider myself to be very lucky to have received these lovely gifts.

These were the gifts that were in my stocking, yes..... we do stockings for each other, i love having a stocking and i also love buying gifts for his stocking, finding little presents to go in it. Can you tell that i love the wizard of oz.I got a W O Z cup, tin,money box and purse. I also got a pig pin cushion that i remember seeing months ago and remarking that i liked it.I love my red polka dot pencil case, with pencils to match.

Now this beauty is my present to myself as i had some money left over from a gift, and i saw this and fell in love with it, she is so adorable, i also luuuuurve robots, especially cute ones that will look cute sitting pretty on my chair in my craft room.I am thinking of calling her robbie.

I also received lots of twilight goodies from my friends that i havent taken pics of yet, i got a metal lunch tin with flask.....mmmmm my lunch is gonna look so cool when i go back to school next week, a new moon calander, 2 robert patterson calandars, keyring, magnet and the twilight book with the apple on the cover... mine is the film cover, that was from my son as he knew i wanted it to match my others...sad yes i know.

I also got some clothes and the usual smellies...gotta love dove. Scarf and gloves set. Oh and a lovely glass mirrored picture frame with the word memories in bling.

Well that's it

tfl

katharine

I made this today

Well today i have had to wait in all day for a repair man to come and look/repair my washing machine, so i thought i would do the house work then set to making one of these. I had had this inspo file on my computer for ages from shimelle Laine from two peas. So i gave it a go, it was easier that i expected and so much fun to do.

Well it is 5.35pm and the repiar man has till 6pm to get here, he had better get his skates on, i can foresee a telephone call to whirlpool again.

Will post pics of my finished quilts soon too.

tfl

katharine

The Lion King

Well i have been an absent blogger, never mind lots of work related stuff going on and getting ready for a school christmas fayre. On to better things, such as the Lion King. We went to see this show in london on friday night and all i can say is oh my its amazing. It was my first time to see a live show in london, and i have been wanting to see this show for a very long time. I was not dissapointed, as it amazed me with its beautiful sets, dancers, singers, actors, puppets and puppeteers, truly spectacular. It was uplifting, sad, and happy throughout and truly had me in awe of it.Timon was so very good, funny and cheeky at the same time, very cleverly done.Timon is in the picture above, he is a meer kat ( i think ) . This is one show that i would love to see again, if i had the chance. My son loved the film when he was little and would watch the film over and over, and would be one of the ways to calm him down, so this has quite a lot of meaning to me, also its a great story and film too.

I did, at one point become a little emotional in the show, didn't quite shed a tear but could have done if i wasn't surrounded by about two thousand strangers!!! This show was the one show that my beloved mum would have loved to have seen, but sadly wasn't to be. That is another reason its special to me. I can also cross it off my list of 37 things to do while being 37. Seen a show in london.

The scenery was wonderfull, and throughout i kept thinking to myself, " how did they make that ?" or " you could make that with so and so ". I love to make things, arty, scrpbooking, cards, etc.

Well onto other things, i have started my december daily but havent taken any pics yet, will do tomorrow, its a little slow going what with work, but have now got to catch up till today.

tfl

katharine

First aid for three days

Bandages bandages everywhere!!!!!!

Hi blogland

i am on a first aid course for the next three days and its quite intensive. I have been wanting to do a three day course for awhile now, so am glad to be doing this. Today we learnt how to do cpr and the recovery position, and bandages. Tonight i have to practise these and know them off by heart by tomorrow. It's been a while since i had to hit the books!!!!!!

Well on the crafting front i have made a start on my friends wedding album and am wanting to start prep for the december daily/ jyc album. I have a bo bunny 9 x 9 album or a 12 x 12 album to do this with, not sure which to choose??? What is everyone using if you are doing this.??

I love images from the web

Toffee apples, mmmmmmmmm don't you just love these.They look so tasty, love the colours.

If only i had the time or patience to do this, i love the black and white pumpkins. These would look so cool on my front doorstep.

Now these i adore, can't work out if they are real and been dyed, or made out of material, etc. Love them either way.

Now what about this for decorating for halloween, mmm not enough pumpkins me thinks.

Now i love where the wild things are, can't wait to see the film and so love this pumpkin.

Amazing outfits, can you imagine turning up to a fancy dress party looking like this, i would love it.

Well we went to my partners familys house for dinner tonight, ( can't believe i forgot the camera) so have made up for it by looking up some cool images on the web. I may even print some off to put in an album.

Well tomorrow is the 1st of november ( as you all know ) and i am amazed at how fast this year has gone. My christmas vouchers arrived yesterday ( we do a saving scheme throughout the year ) and so now have got to start thinking about buying presents. Now i love christmas, and everything about it, but since my mum and dad passed away i seem to dread the whole start of the season as its a reminder on another christmas that they are not here for. We have a very good time with my partners family, don't get me wrong but its not the same. The truth is i miss my parents, and christmas is hard there's no getting away from it, i suppose it comes down to how you handle it and cope with it.

Sorry about that just feeling a little low.

tfl

katharine

The happy couple

This is my friends Mary and Paul who became husband and wife last saturday, i was asked to take photos as their photographer pulled out at the last minute and left them with no photographer. I managed to get quite a few good shots, i have only put a couple on here as i dont want to spoil it for them.

This is my very good friend Mary and i think she looks stunning, and i really like this photo too.I am planning to make them a scrapbook album and also have ordered a book from Blurb, a website that you upload your photos to on a template of a book and they print it into a proffessional book, i have also just found out that boots do a similar thing too, but i had an email from blurb with 20% off and free shipping, now that's a bargain in my book, just got to wait and see what it turns out like. fingers crossed.

Well thanks for looking i will post about some crafty things next time

katharine

It's ok i am not dead!!!!!

Well i haven't been around in blogland for such a long time, i am ashamed to say, that life got in the way. As it does with everyone, and something had to give way for awhile. Well i am gladly back to blogging and service will resume..... hopefully.
Without going into too much detail i have not been well, and work commitments have taken prioity, supporting staff at the school i work at whilst going through a redundancy procedure which has affected everyone at the school.
Onto crafty things, i have a few things to keep me going at the moment, jyc soon to begin, a wedding album to make for a very good friend of mine....sssshh she doesn't know i'm making her an album, so don't tell anyone.
Christmas presents to make, yes i have overcome my fear of my sewing machine and we are making items together, its a team effort my part cutting out material in the shape of strawberries and swearing profusely when it all goes hideously wrong, machines part humming along at magnificent speed sewing away. End results and photos to follow, i need some jars from asda but every time i go in to get some they are sold out....gggggrrrrr.
I attended friends wedding last weekend and she looked amazing, i was asked to take photos as they couldn't afford a professional photographer, will post pics soon. It wasn't great weather but it did brighten up by the time we went outside to have a few pics taken

Well thanks for looking
and i won't leave it so long next time
katharine

oh hello wood grain vinyl.

Well hello there you lovely wood grain vinyl, you look so losh there on that album. This is how i feel when i see my lovely wood grain vinyl adhering to my paperchase albums, poor things have been sat on a shelf waiting for the perfect covering, project.Thanks to SJ and Emma i found some wgv, and had a fab half hour covering my three albums.Now to think of a project to fill them with. I also need another trip to Canterbury as that is where my nearest paperchase is, as i need some of the photo pockets to go in these babies.

Well my holiday is nearly over and i have also been buying new clothes for work, will blog again about that soon.

tfl

katharine

Me and my sewing machine are friends after all !!

Well today i have sewed my Oh Cherry Oh quilt pack together, as i have been putting it off for so long. I have to say that i really enjoyed sewing it together, and seeing it come to together slowly as a quilt top. I love the colours and patterns. Now all i ned is some quilt batting and a piece of material for the back, i think blue would look nice.

I have also fallen in love with wood grain vinyl, after some advice from SJ and Emma i visited my local b and q and purchased a roll for about six pounds, woohoo, i began to cover my paperchase albums in it straight away. I love how they look, and am waiting for my order of the new cosmo, earth loveand joly by golly for my shimelle christmas journal.oooooooooooh christmas!!!!!!!

tfl

katharine

The reason for a NON- holiday

Well this is my son kieran- sorry couldn't turn pic.

Last sunday he fell off a climbing frame and broke his wrist, we went to a and e and they x-rayed it then said it needed an operation to put a plate and screws in to hold it together, this photo shows kieran after having his arm manipulated back into place and put in a half cast. I admit to having to leave the room while they did this, kieran was on gas and air, and had had an injection to numb the wrist, also two nurses and a dr to do procedure, so i was getting in the way being a typical mother, worrying, scared and had signs of shock- shaking hands etc, one nurse kindly asked if i'd like to wait outside, i quickly agreed and left.

On my return kierans arm had been put in a half cast and we went off for another x-ray, they had managed to regain some of the length, his wrist bone had broken and slipped over onto his hand bones. The dr said that kieran still needed the operation , so we waited for a bed on a ward. We didnt have to wait too long, and i settled kieran in for the night and went home.

I wasnt allowed onto the ward to see kieran- who turned 17 in june- until 3pm, he had been put on an adults ward. So i phoned the ward throughout the day to check on his operation, he was due to have it done at 12.30, well they took him down to do op but his heart rate went very low, so dr not happy, he was returned to ward, to have tests done, he coped well with this, i was later told. He had a scan on his heart and dr was happy, he was taken down for op just as i arrived at hospital. He returned to ward asleep, nurse informed me that they did not do the operation as they had managed to manipulate his wrist into a good position and that it was quite stable-apparenty. So kieran stayed in that night and came home the following day. I had informed the hospital of our impending holiday-saturday 1st august, they put kieranon a fracture clinic for last friday.

Well we went to fracture clinic, x-rayed wrist and saw dr who promptly told us that his wrist bone has slipped back over his hand, and he was quite shocked at how much it has slipped, he said that after 8 to 10 days it usually slips a little but this was only four days later. So no leaving for Cornwall on saturday as we have to go back to fracture clinic on monday and have another x-ray to see if its slipped anymore, and for dr to make decision whether or not to do the operation that should have been done last week.

Now i am not cross at my son , it was an accident , i am not cross about not going on holiday, my sons health comes first everytime, what i do feel a little cross about is the fact that i feel the hospital should have done this operation at the time of the accident. My son is in full time work as a yardsman and fork lift driver so his hands are his career. I am hopefull that he will have the operation next week to repair his wrist and make a full recovery, but am sad that this week of him having his wrist in plaster could have been a week of him recovering from the operation on his wrist.

Sorry to rant about this, i haven't felt the need to rant on here before but this is quite a major thing in our house at the moment.

We are hopefull that we can go on our holiday for the last week, to cornwall with our trailer tent. The campsite have been very good and have kept our pitch open as we could be there by friday- its all paid for- for the last week.

Well if you got this far, well done and thankyou for reading

tfl

katharine

A jolly good read

These books were bought for me as a leaving present from the staff in my class as i will not be with them in september. They are similiar to Twilight as they are about vampires and Harry Potter as they go to a school specifically for vampires. It follows the story of Zoe Redbird who gets marked to become a vampire and follows her story of how she handles the changes to her life.
I wasnt hooked instantly i have to admit, but i'm not one to give up, so i stuck in there and carried on reading. Well all i can say is they are a very good read, i enjoyed them. I am waiting to order the last book in the series, as it's not realised till october.
tfl
katharine

WOYWW

Well this is the first time i have taken part in this, and i,m a bit ashamed to say that this was my desk last night, and it is still like it now. Thats the pleasure of having a craft room, you can shut the door and leave things out to tidy up later. Which i do intend on doing, after i have made a few more of the card you see on the desk and below. I really like how it has turned out. It was inspired by one of my favourite designers, Dawn Mcvey, in Cards magazine.I changed it slightly, but i do have to say i am loving the kraft card stock cut into cards. I will be making a fair few with this card i can tell you.

This is the card i made last night. Kraft cardstock, white card, blue cardstock cut into thin strips then punched with the Fiskars Effervescent punch, a cirle punched from kraft card, and a swiss dotted piece of white card which i then cut out butterflys with my spellbinders die. I have to say that i like this card and am thinking about making a few sets of cards for friends for christmas, maybe the same cards with different sentiments on them. maybe??? And yes i know, talking about christmas again, but i have to start early as i work in a large school and have many friends who i like to send handmade cards to, and make presents for a few too, also it gets very busy at work with the pupils christmas makes, christmas fair,etc.

Taking a break from christmas gift planning i ventured into my garden with my small camera to see what i could find. Well i very nearly stepped on this beauty, picture a bit hazy sorry.

I have been looking around other blogs lately and have been inspired to start to use my sewing machine again. Now don't get excited i haven't actually used it yet, i just have lots of ideas and have seen lots of beautiful material, i would love to make a quilt to cozy up on the sofa with. So the search for lush material and easy pattern resumes, wish me luck!!!

tfl

katharine

Well i've made a good start.

Well as the title suggests i have made a start on my christmas cards. I had made some boo bears up already and after buying the winter set in which you get a die that cuts out the hat and scarf, i cut some out and attached them to some of the bears . I think they look really cute and quite christmassy too.

Here is a close up of the cards, i also used the embossing folder to make the word joy. I also swiss dotted a background for the card.

This card was made after i had some inspiration from Dawn Mcveys blog on how to make these flowers, i just changed the colours to resemble a pointsettia. I have also made similiar cards with other colour flowers.

This card is my take on a design in a mag called creativity life, i think. I used my christmas papers that are left over from last year, and used a stamp from my stash. I like this card and think i may make a few more, as i do like to make a few of the same card.

I am enjoying making cards at the moment, especially christmas ones, as there is no pressure to get them finished yet, so i am going to try to make a few a day.

Also to use up my christmas stash left over from last year, as i have been looking at the new releases for this year and i need to make space for some new christmas stash.

I am also thinking about making a travel journal, i have seen a few on blogs and i love ali e's style, so i may be able to do this, this year. I need to get a move on with it as we go on holiday on the 1st August.

Well i am off to make more cards and bash around a few ideas for a travel album.

tfl katharine

long time no blog post...........

Well i have'nt blogged for what seems like an age. I have been in hospital, having my gall bladder removed, three weeks today. I did not have a very good time of it, to say the least and i won't go into detail, except to say that i was kept in hospital longer than expected and that i do not want to go into hospital again for quite some time.
I have had the last three weeks off work to recover and now i am off work for the summer holidays, so i shall be spending plenty of time in my craft room.
Last week i ventured out to Pickleberry Papercrafts and spent a very pleasurable hour and a half talking to Jane Dean and her friend Helen, so funny and nice to have a bit of a laugh. I am going to make some sock bunnies, see Janes blog to see what these are.

I have started to make some, wait for it.........christmas cards. YES christmas cards, only because if i dont start now i will never get them all made and end up not sending out handmade ones, which i try to do every year. I did manage it two years ago, so i think make an early start. We'll see!!!!
tfl kath x

Looking for bargains at a bootfair aint always easy!!!!

Lets start with a layout that i made last night-in between watching britians got talent- i have had this idea in my head for awhile and really enjoyed making up the layout. I have been more adventurous these days and have actually been scrapping myself. I have also had the idea to do a album based on this patteren paper with lists of tens, ten books i have read, ten films i love,ten people that have inspired me, you get the idea right? I am thinking whether to do it 12 x 12 or smaller, only ideas at the mo, also what to call it?? Ten things!! Things always come in tens!! Top ten!! I will have to think more but i have written down my ideas in my journal, which i have made myself do lately as i forget ideas so quickly.
Well today i was up and in the shower at 7.00 am, madness i know but i can't lay in bed once i have woken up- i get a headache if i do this- so up and at em!!
We were at the first bootfair by 9.ooam and it was really big and really busy, too busy. You could hardly walk down the aisles without either bumping into someone, or waiting to get past people, which may i add that quite a few people did not feel the need to do this, they just pushed past or jumped infront of you, to which i loudly say " excuse me works wonders you know"!!
It was so busy it put me off looking for any nice things to go in my craft room, i am on the look out for an object that i cannot remember the name of, i have seen it on lots of american blogs lately with people using them to display cards on them, they are small round metal, with spikes pointing upwards, its flat on the bottom. I am not sure what it is called but i wonder if anyone out there knows- any help please!!!
We left that bootfair with two strawberry plants, sorry forgot to take pic of them.
Well next we went to another smaller bootfair, the photo of my goodies is last,So i will show you these first, i saw this love heart bird and thought it would look cute in my craft room, £2.99

Next onto poundland for some cheap goodies, shaped post it notes and heart shaped blings, one pound each you can't go wrong. I thought the post its would look quite cute when doodled around the edge.

Now when i saw these felt stickers i nearly whoop whooped for joy right there in the shop, whilst regaining my self i quickly stashed 3 packets into my basket, mmmmmm look good with lots of ranges of pattern paper thats out at the moment.

Now this little lot cost me the almighty price of ......wait for it...............£1.40. Even i can't believe it, well i can really but you know what i mean!!!

The book is a Victoria Plum Annual which i bought to rip out the pictures to use on scrapbook pages....= 20p

The owl trivets set of four i got for ...50p, i have a fondness ( some may say obsession ) for owls, mostly cute ones and these will go superbly with my large one that is the same, see a full set now.

The two rolls of ribbon, one has birds on it, the other has leaves i got for .........30p.

The pink bowl which i thought looked cute i got for .....20p.

The butterfly small pictures, which i thought were old cards from cigarette boxes are actually transfers, no matter they are gonna look so gorge on cards and layouts, i love them, and i got these beauties, all 66 of them for...............20p.

Well i am so glad we went to the smaller bootfair too, i think i will make that one my first port of call next time. I have had a good day at the bootfairs. I don't go to them to hunt out anything i just love to see what people are getting rid of and if i see something i like i will pay what the people are asking for that item. I think it is a good way of recycling, emptying out your loft or garage and making a bit of money, and also for getting a few bargains.

Well i will be off to my craft room now to have a play with my new and old stash,

tfl

katharine

It's Saturday so that must mean shopping...right?

Firstly a visit to my local scrapbook shop, i haven't been there in a couple of weeks and was pleasantly surprised to see some new things that i just happened to buy...oh goodness how did that happen. Some lovely papers,mmmm kraft one of my faves at the mo. I can see some cards being made with these and a layout .

Now then when i was this set of papers from Graffic 45 i fell in lurve!! I can see a mini album being made with these papers. I have noticed that cherries are a bit of a fave at the mo on other papers, reminds self to order some october afternoon, so i bought these .

When i saw the cherry sizzix die reduced to £1.99 i had to buy it to go with my papers and then saw a set of stamps , also with a cherry in for £2.35 i bagged them too. I am loving go create dies too, even though you only get 4 dies compared to the spellbinders sets where you get 6 they are only £12.99, and are great for what i want to do with them. I got the set of ovals and scalloped ovals.

Now this is what i am really excited about, the fact that i managed to get the cutting plates and spacer for the border dies in my lss, and then spotted the border dies. Well hello to you, you little pretties, you are coming home with me.They are lovely and i am going to go and play with these very soon.I also got an alphabet die to, i am very surprised that you get a whole alphs on one of these dies and am looking forward to using it today. These dies are £11.73 and in my eyes thats good.

Next i went into Hythe, a little town near the sea, also where i work, and had a look around the second hand shops. I found this bowl and paid £2.50 for it, i can see it in my craft room holding something pretty, like ribbons etc.

I also got this lazy susan, i have one of these already in my craft room with my amm tote on it with all my tools in, i bought this one so i can have another bag of tools/ stash on a turntable. £2.00= bargain.

BARGAIN ALERT.......
Now these are my real bargain of the day, i have had my eye out for some of these for awhile-i have a craft project in mind -i couldn't see any anywhere, until today. I went into a new second hand shop and saw these on sale for the almighty price of............................................75P. Well i did not hang about and paid for them quick smart. I used to do embroidery so know how expensive these can be.
Well that's all for now, i may post again later with any cards or layouts i do.

tfl

katharine

Border punches .......oh how i love thee.

This is the state of my desk after an afternoon in my craft room making cards, i have had a lovely time getting inspiration from my new cards trends mag and having a play with my lovely new stash.

I worked out how to make shaped cards, with my go create dies, i folded a card and then put it over the edge of the die and ran it through the cuttlebug, voila a shaped card.....i am so pleased with them i have cut out quite a few of them.

Here's a few i made today, i used a flower gem that is a magnet, can't remember where i got these from, i found them in a drawer today, i like the effect though.

I am liking this one quite alot, i am loving the colours.I doodled stitches around the edge of the frame, never really done this before and liked it.

I made two of these, this is very nearly the same as the one in card trends, but obviously different stash, i love this new mag.I used my lushly lush lush swiss dots embossing folder to emboss the frame,which i cut out using my new spellbinders dies...frames 4, which by the way I LOVE,I am thinking of subbing to this mag, but not quite sure yet, will have to unsubscribe to others first.

Oh how i love these little beuties, oh i am in love with border punches, so so nice.I love the effects you can get with them, and borders have never looked so good.

I am still debating what to make for the staff in my class, i still think a notebook will be the best option, but i am open to new ideas, but am going to have to make one to see if i like the idea, so thats what i am off to do in a bit, before BGT is on tv tonight, i am so loving this show, i can't wait to see Aiden the little dancer, he's on tonight so looking forward to that.

tfl

katharine