Bloggin Along

Interview with....

2007-03-23T13:53:00.000+01:00

Can't believe I forgot to share the last dare. Title was interview with and of course I had to do interview with a vampire. I decided to go digital this week. Creating the background and the white paper using some gorgeous brushes I bought from Shabby Elements. Other scrap of red and black is from prebought papers from there too. Wanted to reflect the oppulance of the books.

What a week

2007-03-20T11:14:00.000+01:00

I can't believe how busy I am at the moment doing a million things and nothing. Having the family over last weekend was just amazing. I adore my nieces to bits and it was great spending such quality time with them. We went to the Zoo down in Funkyrolla and it was a great place I got some fab animal photos for scrapping, will share them tomorrow. Lots of photos too of the girls, my dad and his wife, the photos below are from our visit to the castle ruins at Teba and a quick visit to Ronda. So just need to get them printed and I can get scrapping!

Talking of scrapping the response to the Design Collective is amazing with so many people signing up and its making us all more excited than ever. I love to see my fellow designers work it inspires me so much!! Hope over to the blog, link on the side bar and get yourself signed up for this innovative project.

Last weeks speshal dare was texture and I had to create a layout about paint my favourite subject *grin* I used a wonderful template from ATDML that helps you doodle. It amazes me how quickly their stuff arrives for me in Spain, I barely wait a couple of days.

A Question.....

2007-03-12T20:35:00.000+01:00

I have a question or a debate for those of you who read my blog. If you came across your daughter's diary would you read it?

My Dad told me that he had come across my blog and read it. Was not sure how I felt about that as I see my blog as somewhere I can vent, share my musings and craft things with my buddies. I don't have anything to hide but knowing my father reads my blog may inhibit what I write in future.

Personally if I can across a blog of a friend or family member by accident I would probably ask their permission to read it. I know that sounds weird for a very public diary forum but that is the way I feel.

Please I would love to know what you all think.

Leg Hangover

2007-03-02T10:02:00.000+01:00

Never had a hangover in my leg before! Head feels fine but I woke up through the night with terrible cramp in my calf. That is what I get for drinking half a bottle of red wine and 2 very large gins. I have to say in my defence it was for a research purposes. Angela, my friend has a bar in the centre of town and was debating whether to have a bingo night in it on a Monday or Tuesday to pull the punters in. It has been decided I will be the bingo caller so the two of us plus Kate drove 40 mins to find another place that does one.

So in we walked and the whole bar turned round to see the strangers in town. Ordered our drinks and bought the bingo tickets. Much giggling later the bingo started. First line, first prize I win! Wooo hooo. First full house on the same game Angela wins, cue some very snidey looks from the regulars and more fits of giggles from us. 2nd game Angela wins the house but has to share the prize. 3rd game Angela wins the house again and we are both in stitches with tears streaming down our faces. Poor Kate wins nothing. Last game I win the line again and Angela wins the house. I don't think the locals want us to go back.

Happy Andalucia Day

2007-02-28T10:28:00.000+01:00

It's Andalucia Day here so nowhere is open and every one is doing their DIY including me. I am painting the internal patio today which means using a long extension pole as my short arse will not allow for me to get to the top.

I got a lovely parcel from Jenny squiffer full of lovely goodies for my to play with. Thank you sweetie I loved it so much and the cat stickers had me in hysterics.

I had a second interview yesterday for an office job and they phoned me later to tell me I had the job. Wooooooooooooooo Hoooooooooooo. It will be good to get back into a routine again.

Monday Blues

2007-02-26T17:41:00.000+01:00

What a mixed weekend. We launched The Design Collective at the weekend and I am thrilled by the volume of responses we have been receiving about it. Having way too much bubbly I was very excited to post about it on my blog at the official launch. Keeping quiet about this for all these months has been so difficult!!! I am just pleased that I can talk openly about it all and Clare is especially pleased as she has been fit to bursting to talk about it (tee hee). Well done Clare I am so proud of you!

Yesterday, nursing my cava induced hangover and lack of sleep I spent most of the day on the t'internet talking to friends. The internet enables me to feel less isolated and to my nearest and dearest online buddies -lubs ya all.

Design Collective

2007-02-24T10:47:00.000+01:00

Fresh, fabulous, inspiring

Introducing a new and exciting concept in scrapbook design inspiration.

Our team of designers are renowned for their diverse and creative approaches to scrapbooking and altered art projects. Their wealth of creative experience in designing new and innovative pages and projects is already being tapped into by leading magazines, retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers in the scrapbooking industry. They now come together to bring you a whole range of fresh, fabulous and inspiring ideas for your scrapbooks and other memory art projects. The team comprises: Fiona Beckman, Clare Brown, Jane Dean, Amber Harrop-Johnston, Debbie Jewell, Karen Leahy, Elaine Loughlin, Jennie Leon, Ali McGovern, Karen Miller, Debbie Nicholas, Katie Shanahan-Jones, Suzanne Torr and Kirsty Wiseman.

Classes will be issued four times during each calendar month on the 3rd, 11th, 19th and 26th. By subscribing to The Design Collective, on each of these dates you will receive:

 one major class project;

 two additional inspiring projects (taking a variety of formats such as challenges, new ways to use something, themed pages and so on);

 a range of tips and ideas from the design team.

A newsletter will be sent direct to your email box with the relevant classes in the form of attached pdf files. Classes will focus on different design elements and techniques and will cover a whole range of projects from layouts to mini books to gifts and altered items.

You can choose to print out the classes or save to disk; whichever format you choose, over a period of time you will be creating your very own Design Collection to use over and over again to create beautiful and meaningful pages and projects.

In addition to issuing project pdf files, we will be hosting a community forum for subscriber chat, help from the design team and a gallery so that you can share your work with us. And we will also host two cyber crops over the course of the year for even more fun, challenges and inspiration!

For just £10 a month (and NO! that is not a typing mistake!) you will be getting four major project classes, eight further classes and a wealth of knowledge and tips from the design team. That works out at under 85p per class! Plus, there will be no having to buy expensive class kits as we will be positively encouraging you to use up that stash mountain in the corner of your room! You choose what supplies you want to use, to match your own photos and themes, you get to stay in your pj’s and scrap in the comfort of your own home, whilst having the class designers to call upon for help and other subscribers to talk to in the community forum. And think of the money saved on petrol!

We will also be incorporating a Loyalty Scheme which will reward subscribers with additional benefits on the completion of a six and twelve month continued subscription with us. Subscriptions will be taken on a monthly basis, paypal is preferred but we will also accept bank transfer. This way you don’t need to pay out a lump sum up front, just the monthly subscription charge of £10.*

We will be taking registration bookings from Monday, 12th March. To make sure you don’t miss out on any important updates and registration details, please register your interest** by emailing to subscriptions.designcollective@gmail.com

Notes:

*Subscriptions will be due on the 2nd of each calendar month to ensure you continue to receive the classes without interruption.

** Registering your interest at this stage is not a final commitment.

Blast from the Past

2007-02-23T21:21:00.000+01:00

Speshal Dare this week was to use old stuff you never use anymore. Mulberry paper and fibres for my treatment.

I first of all painted the wooden box with one layer of purple paint. When dry I tore the mulbery & patterned paper into scraps along with some white tissue paper that I had stamped using a happy birthday stamp. I then started layering the paper using pva glue. Final layer I included some torn out fibres to create the end result.

Go check out the other girls dares they are amazing!!

A week of sorting

2007-02-17T16:20:00.000+01:00

What a busy week it has been. Lots of lunches out and organising the units for the kitchen upstairs. Today we bought the units for our kitchen and worktop. Met a man called Brad who hires himself out as Man with a van for €20 euros an hour, so we went to collect all the bits for the kitchen. I am so sad to get excited over a few units lol. Then went for a lovely lunch with friends who insisted on paying so that always makes it sweeter. When we returned our neighbours were standing outside their house so we got chatting (in spanish) and then they gave me a tour of their home, so we gave them a tour of ours. My spanish must be improving as they seemed to understand what I was saying, poor sods.

I have been norty

2007-02-10T14:08:00.000+01:00

It is not my fault. It is completely the fault of the very talented Jaq at http://www.astringofbeads.co.uk/ I was very lucky and managed to get these two beauties.

Hockney

Chai

Yummy huh! Each one is an individual work of art, completely unique, no one has the same. Anyways, that is me, no more beads for the moment, I want them all but I should leave some for others who appreciate them just as much as me.

Another day in paradise

2007-02-09T14:35:00.000+01:00

I love these photos that I took from my walk. So spring like. Its that yellow/green combo again. They were by the roadside and taking advantage of the cooler weather.

I uploaded my dare to our gathering gallery before being posted tonight and all I can say is WOW. The talent on our team never ceases to amaze me. Don't forget to check in later this evening to see it for yourself.

Pass me the Gin

2007-02-07T09:53:00.000+01:00

I love this time of year, all the trees are filled with fruit and the whole landscape looks like a packet of opal fruits. Here are a couple of photos from our walk the other (cloudy) day.

Dare Collaboration

2007-02-02T13:39:00.000+01:00

This week we collaborated with the girls at the daring cardmakers blog (link in sidebar) Our mission was to create a layout that was also a card. I created a 9x9inch layout that has four 3x3 windows that open and reveal photos and journalling.

I have blurred the mushy text as that is for her eyes only lol.

Cream Bazzill, crate paper, lots of TH distress ink, Tapestry stamp and Blonde moments stamp, Rusty pickle alphabet and some ribbon.

Go check out both our dare blog (click on button on side bar) or the daring cardmakers, the cards and layouts that have been created are stunning.

mmmm Dolly Bead Heaven

2007-02-02T10:12:00.000+01:00

Had a really good day yesterday, got a test in my Spanish class and got full marks (what a swot) then we got our store room on the roof measured up ready for our summer kitchen. This I need alot as whenever we want to eat on the terraces I have to take everything up and down two flights of stairs!

Met up with a friend for a chat and then worked in my studio preparing today's speshal dare. I have had a sneak peek at the dares for this week and all I can say is WOW you have got to go see later.

I was then made to consume copious amounts of wine with my late lunch/early dinner. Amazingly my head is clear this morning.

I was really excited to at last secure a couple of Dolly beads from the wonderful Jaq at http://www.astringofbeads.co.uk. I normally miss out on the sales as they fly out the door. Each one is an individual masterpiece. The two that fell into my basket are called Shiraz and Reef. Here is a sneaky peak from Jaq's piccies on her website.

I can't wait to see these beauties in real life :)

Speshal Dare

2007-01-29T10:57:00.000+01:00

I was thrilled to fill in for Clare at the Speshal Dares for a couple of months and I am even more thrilled to be asked to stay as a permanent member of the team. There has been a total revamp with lots of new blood so now we are the dirty dozen lol. I am so honoured as the rest of the team are all so mega talented being design team members and regular magazine contributors and then of course there is me ^^.

This weeks dare was a challenge to scrap something from your kitchen. I used the opportunity to do some revamping myself of the empty baileys tin I had. Using basic grey papers and lots of ribbon and lace I wanted to create something very boho/boudoir chic.

Now take the time to click on the link on the sidebar and go see the rest of the teams talented work.

I love presents

2007-01-25T17:11:00.000+01:00

I got a lovely present today, I have been eyeing up this tea/coffee set for ages in a shop window and I received it today as a cheer up present from my beloved :) She is so good to me. Even the box is cute!

Ps. I blame scrapbooking for making me like flowery patterns.

Fire Fire Fire

2007-01-24T13:32:00.000+01:00

Setting fire to the new microwave is not a good thing to do. If you have a solid block of butter wrapped in what seems like greaseproof paper; take a tip from me its not! I only wanted to soften the butter slightly and 5 seconds in the sparks and the flames started. *Goes back into the stupid cupboard*

Frosty

2007-01-22T20:54:00.000+01:00

My Speshal dare for the week. the theme was cold and frosty. I love using green and blues for frosty layouts but as I had done something similar at then end of last year I decided to go for a black and white but very simple layout.

Give me a kick

2007-01-19T18:53:00.000+01:00

Right up the behind! I have been really introspective over the last month. It is almost like I have been hibernating. I need to get myself back into society online and offline. I don't know why I have been feeling so down, obviously the flu etc did not help but normally I bounce back no problems. Maybe it is the winter blues who knows. Anyway I intend to get out as much as possible from Monday onwards. I will not allow myself to wallow in this self pitying mood anymore. This includes getting back to updating my blog more often and getting back to my creative self.

I know!

2007-01-12T14:26:00.000+01:00

I have not been on here since last year. I have been keeping my distance from blogging and forums in general over the past couple of weeks. Lots of things have been happening for me. I had a nasty virus between christmas and new year and then just as I was getting better I was hit with the flu!

The restaurant in which my beloved works was closed down just after christmas due to a prat and some bad paperwork so they won't be opening until Mid February which means we have less income at the moment. I need to find myself a better job for my own sanity but with feeling so crap it is the last thing i have been thinking about recently.

So all in all I have not felt creative or sociable....This is a complete self pity post lol so maybe I should share some photos of the one night that I felt ok; the fantastic Hogmany night we had in the centre of town, everyone dresses up in fancy dress for the new year. Did not get to bed till 7am which is a good night for me.

Missing in Action

2006-12-22T13:09:00.000+01:00

What a mad month this has been. Apologies I have been very neglectful of this blog!! So much to talk about but I have so much to do I will need to keep it short and sweet.

Last weeks Speshal dare was 'What Christmas Means to' I created another 9x9 for my book of me and journalled about our first christmas here in Spain.

Received my gorgeous handmade ornament and card through the SOSF swap. Thank you so much to Jodi.

Will update properly later tonight if I get through all my chores lol.

Naughty me

2006-12-09T17:06:00.000+01:00

OMG it's been a week since I last updated this blog! It's been a strange and busy weekfor me. Lots of christmas card making for me to send (not for selling) and parcel wrapping. It cost a fortune to send everything, next year more online shopping and more vouchers. It was also the anniversary of our cat Dugless who died on the 7th december last year. I did my speshal layout dedicated to him this week.

The journalling reads:

" Dear Dugless, I can't believe it's almost a year since you crossed the rainbow bridge. You only had one short year with us but in that year you brought us so much joy and happiness. You were the first pet we ever got. From the day we collected you from the cat sanctuary to the day when you passed so suddenly in our arms, you were a very loved kitten. See you across the rainbow bridge one day!"

Today we went to the boot sale down on the coast and it was fantastic, got a few nice things including a glitterball wind sculpture for the back roof terrace. (will take a photo another day). It was funny walking around in my light fleece and scarf and then you see the tourists in their shorts and t-shirts! I am not fully climatised yet but I would not say it was warm enough for shirts there was a definite nip in the air.

It's raining, it's pouring

2006-12-02T19:09:00.000+01:00

Torrential rain here today so that put paid to my trip to the market. But on the bright side it meant that it was perfect scrapping weather. Finished 2 layouts, one for the speshal dare on Friday (you will have to wait till then to see it) and one of Sappho's whiskers. Often when I scrap the cats the colours are beiges and greens so I wanted a different feel for this layout. In the end I went for a chocolate raspberry combo...yum. Used organza ribbon to mimic the whiskers and to also give the whole layout a chocolate box feel. This is also the first time I have used the larger photos that I got developed yesterday, the layout is 12x12 so it will give you some perspective as to how large that photo is!

Speshal Girl

2006-12-01T23:44:00.000+01:00

Well for a few weeks anyway! Clare has alot on at the moment and asked me to step into her shoes for a few weeks doing the Speshal Dares. After the panic subsided I agreed, I mean how do I even temporarily fill those talented shoes?? Any way two days after finding out I will be taking over I have to upload my first layout. Week one for me and I can't get my photos from the shop till after 6pm tonight so that leaves me a few hours to get a layout completed. Managed it in the nick of time. Feels strange as it is totally out of season!

Blimin Wimin!!

2006-11-30T20:44:00.000+01:00

Never let your partner take over the christmas cards for the year. I'll do them Kate said....how about a photo of the cats together with some tinsel. So faithfully I set it up but can I get the two cats together at the same time, can I heck. Managed to get ONE good photo out of 142 and what does Kate say, nah I want one with the both of them.....I'll just wander off muttering.

Croptastic!!

2006-11-27T23:25:00.000+01:00

OMG what a weekend I'd like to say I am all cropped out but that would be lying!! the Pad crop was amazing , classes and challenges from Tara Whitney, Kimberly Kwan, Marilyn Healey andAli Edwards to name but a few!! What a line up :) A huge thanks to Debs and Clare for setting it all up.

Was also cropping like mad on UKS with their Harry Potter themed who also had scrummy classes. As a Slytherin prefect and Quidditch Captain I was responsible for setting fun games for the two weeks leading up to the crop. At the end not only did our fantastic team win but myself and fellow prefect Nona were made Head Girls and will be getting a goodie in the post!

Here are a few layouts from the weekend.... Blooming Nutter was based on a class layout
Introduding Alfie was my own layout design from the ATDML mystery kit
Cute Sappho was based on the class by Linz

MIA

2006-11-27T00:54:00.000+01:00

Sorry I have been MIA from the blog the main reason is this 60 Pendants, 150+ handmade cards etc.

Also been hiding at the ScrapPad cyber crop and the UKS cybercrop. Will update tomorrow with more details.

At last!!

2006-11-14T18:32:00.000+01:00

A little late for me but managed to get the Daring Cardmakers Challenge completed. This week this one started as christmas card and ended up as a thank you! Anway I used creative imaginations alpha stamps, basic grey paper, ribbon and then TH alcoholic inks on stampboard, stamped with magenta stamp then etched with sharp object! (yes I had a supervising adult)

A little close up of the stampboard. I have been loving getting involved in the pre-cyber crop excitement on UKS. This year the theme is Harry Potter and I am a prefect and Quidditch Caprain of Slytherin. Made these ATC's for a swap. I have another cyber crop planned for that weekend at the Pad. The Pad challenges and classes are amazing and I know I want to do so many of them. I just adore cyber crops even more now that I cannot attend any in real life!

Still procrastinating

2006-11-11T21:25:00.000+01:00

So far today instead of making my cards I have made some ATC's and done a layout. I did get all my christmas stamps out and look at them, even stamped with a couple! I want the Blonde Moment christmas tree ones that is what is wrong with me but I really need to get over it. The layout is for the Speshal Dare this week (link in side bar) Had to only use one colour so went with purple as I don't scrap with it that often.

There have been lots of christmas adverts on the tv for Boots, Woolies etc and weirdly its making me homesick!

Friday funtactular

2006-11-10T13:22:00.000+01:00

I have so many cards to make today!! Will maybe have to start off with the Daring cardmakers challenge first though lol, nothing like a bit of procrastination. Talking of which, I did two layouts yesterday instead of making cards tut tut tut. I need to will myself away from the laptop and upstairs to my workshop...........

Thundering Thursday

2006-11-09T16:22:00.000+01:00

Well it was thunder at 1am this morning, the never ending rain of weeks upon weeks has actually stopped this afternoon and I can see blue skys...shhhh don't want to wish the rain back.

Our street looked more like a river than a street. I am grateful for our high step.

Taught two cardmaking classes yesterday afternoon one at 2pm and a new one at 6pm. The 6pm one is attended by a small group of teenagers, who were so excited and enthusiastic it really boosted my creativity. I had made a very simple card using velum (someone from 2pm class had requested a card using velum last week and as I have next to none of the stuff I had to use what little stash I had). The all adored using the embossing powder especially the girls who said it was way cooler than a science lesson! I particularly like the Antique Sparkle powder for metal look embellishments.

Been asked to supply a card stand filled with cards for one of the bars so guess what I will be doing over the next couple of days. Wanted to scrap as well!!

Talking of scrapping I found a local store that prints off digi pics at a reasonable price so will be getting some new photos printed, just the thing to get the mojo working overdrive.

Doll me up!

2006-11-05T22:13:00.000+01:00

Had great fun this afternoon finally getting round to getting my cj finished and ready for posting. I have chosen the theme Art Dolls and cannot wait to see the end results away in 2007! I am enjoying doing only one CJ at a time and more importantly with friends I can trust and admire. Did all the backgrounds for the ATC swap too just need to get some other bits done for that.

Birthday Boy

2006-11-05T10:35:00.000+01:00

Look who is one year old today! Alfie the cat who thinks he is a dog. If he has a toy he loves to have it in his teeth and for you to shake it so he can growl at you. Another favourite game is fetch, you throw his toy and he brings it back, drops it at your feet and miaows until you throw it again. He is the cuddliest of cats and likes to snuggle in beside you on the sofa or if you are n the kitchen he follows you and curls up on a kitchen chair till you move again. Happy birthday Alfie there is a can of tuna with your name on it later!

Dare me to SEW!!

2006-11-03T20:02:00.000+01:00

Cannot believe the Daring Cardmakers Dare this week. Fecking sewing, SEWING, me sew..sheez gimmie the kitchen items anyday. Anyway when I was at the shops this morning I bought some thread and a needle. I have not sewn since probably school and trying to remember blanket stitch was a no go area, so I had to have a wee google search to remind myself how to do it. Please note the rustic homemade look of the stitch (no not my excuse for uneven stitches lol) ooh I even stitched the button on...no glue dot for me!

This card started off as a birthday card but it somehow organically moved away from that. The ribbon is really sweet you can't see it in my crappy photo but it has merry christmas written on it. Anyway I think I should thank the Darers....maybe and cannot wait for next weeks PURLEASE NO MORE SEWING. PS link to Dare blog in sidebar.

I love it

2006-10-31T19:59:00.000+01:00

When you get the chance to finally scrap some photos that you have been wanting to do for ages. The lovely cute Fay dressed up in my scarf whilst we went for a walk along the Edinburgh Canal. Had great fun creating this page it ended up being completely different from the intended start and I am glad as I love the way it has turned out. In addition I finished a card for the iron chef comp for this week, cutting out naughts and crosses.

Monday Blues

2006-10-30T12:07:00.000+01:00

What is it with me? Why do I let others influence the way I feel about MY scrapping? *bangs head against the wall*

On a lighter note the Murder Mystery at the Pad was a huge success. Thanks to the wonderful cast of Ria, Annette, Yizz, Shirleen, Katie, Lyzzy and Rudi! Thanks girls you were more than I could have hoped for. I'll be booking you for future engagements.

Daring Card Challenge

2006-10-27T13:18:00.002+02:00

Thanks again to the Daring Card Challenge blog for their challenge this morning. This weeks theme was use an item from your kitchen. After the panic subsided I went to the kitchen for a wee scrounge about. What does my spanish kitchen contain that I can use in a card?? The answer was staring me in the face on my shelf. Wooden tooth picks!!

So the poor little toothpicks got themselves painted with krylon pen (and my fingers too, there is a song there somewhere...Goldfingaaaaaaahr) I may have to find more uses for these little gems on more cards later in the week.

Here is the result along with an extra close up of the stamped image.

Iron Chef Round two

2006-10-27T10:35:00.000+02:00

Finished my projects for round 2 of Iron Chef at Scrappers Haven. Somehow managed to do 4 projects which was not my intention at all. Two 12x12 layouts, a card and a wall hanging. This week we had to use two types of paint on each creation. Here is the card I made which will double up as birthday card for my friend Dot later this year.

I also entered my berries layout and a layout I did about Sappho using watercolours to create a soft striped background.

Today I need to finish writing the plot for the murder mystery on the Pad, I am loving all the avatars the girls are picking for their characters, they are all making such an effort and it is going to be mad fun, I just hope I can keep them all in check because I have a feeling some of them are going to be naughty!

If I can get my bum shifted from in front of this laptop I might get my Circle journal finished for posting as well as my christmas ATC's, but then there is the cardmakers challenge due out in the next hour which may divert me. I keep procrastinating especially with a layout I have planned in my head about the town I am living in - the reason....I need to move my printer from upstairs down to the dining table where I have my laptop and craft robo sitting at the moment and I just cannot be arsed, I have visions of falling down the marble staircase and landing on my derriere.

New day

2006-10-24T11:43:00.000+02:00

Went to school this morning for my Spanish lesson. Feeling a lot better today than the self pity party I have been having over the past couple of days. Thanks to everyone who have sent me messages and support it is very much appreciated, I am NEVER weepy like this and it was frightening for me, I am blaming my hormones as I feel 100% more like me today.

Anyway I went to the park after school and took some photos in the rain. First photo is of an ancient fountain in the Plaza, it remains there even though they have built a new one. I love it, I love all the moss growing over it etc. Isn't this rose just gorgeous! It is so delicate and I love "raindrops on roses" lol had to get a Sound of Music reference in there. I can't believe it is still warm enough for the hibiscus to bloom. Mine at home is red but this is a lovely delicate shade.

Singing the blues

2006-10-23T23:32:00.000+02:00

Another day here and the second day I have been feeling really weepy. I thought at first it was connected with the kitten we thought we had saved (yes another one) outside in the street. We all thought it was caught up in the engine of a car and it kept crying. It moved out after 3 days into the car behind. Kate and I sneaked out and gave it and its mum some food. This morning when we left to go to the shops it was lying in the road outside our neighbours house, dead. It had been run over. It was only about 8 weeks old and street cats here don't have a long life but I keep thinking about it and crying. Maybe its the fact that all our visitors have gone now and subconsiously I am feeling homesick. I really don't know. In fact I am sitting crying as I type this. Kate has been really sweet and giving me extra cuddles, need to shake these blues off.

Hid myself upstairs to work on projects for the next Iron Chef round. This week the challenge is to use two types on paint on everything Here is the layout that I made. I am having a crisis of faith in my scrapping at the moment. Maybe its because I have not scrapped in months due to the move here. The only reason I got into the next round of the Chef comp was because not all the chefs due to take part uploaded their items. Why do I need this justification in my scrapping.? I have always scrapped for myself and no-one else and never needed anyone elses approval or glowing compliments in the gallery, but feeling so fragile at the moment about it all. Its probably just my hormones going mental like they do now and again, I am sure normal service will resume as soon as possible. It had better, I don't like weepy me!

It's oh so quiet

2006-10-22T11:11:00.000+02:00

The house seems very quiet now that the last of our visitors have gone home. No more visitors planned for this year (will probably change lol) The boys Calum (5) and Rory (3) made the house so lively that it is eerily quiet. Looking forward to having more time to scrap, especially all the photos I took of the boys! Created a layout for this weeks speshal challenge (link on the side bar). The challenge was friends would/wouldn't

Recently I have been experimenting with new techniques and ideas instead of going with my usual style. I am loving the process, some layouts maybe hit or miss but I accept that as part of the challenge. I love the simplicity of this one (although it took me time to create) the photo does not do it justice.

We are still having an ongoing battle with ants in the house, made worse by little hands dropping crumbs everywhere. Spent most of last week sweeping but the little buggers still come out in their droves! Will try and get some ant bait this week, apparantly an ant in contact with it takes something back to the nest and kills them all. I dread coming downstairs in the morning I have to look everywhere to see if there are any around. grrrrrrrr

Real or Imaginary

2006-10-20T18:04:00.000+02:00

Made a card for the Daring Card blog challenge. Their first challenge is friends, I did a very tongue in cheek card using my favourite "I am someone's imaginary friend" stamp. The card is completely different from my normal inky style lol.

Good luck to the Daring Card bloggers I wish all the best and look forward to popping in and taking part in the challenges.

Iron Chef

2006-10-18T19:39:00.000+02:00

Thanks to Anam I have signed up to take part in a competition on Scrappers Haven called Iron Chef. The idea is that you are given an ingredient each week and you can make as many items as you wish, upload them and them cross your fingers. This is the first scrapping competition I have entered since the Block on UKS last year and I am very nervous. Anyway the first ingredient was buttons so I made three things, a card, a pendant and a layout.

The pendant was made with 4 metal buttons and various inks embossing powders etc.

For the layout I made my own 2 inch and i inch buttons from a circle punch and my eyelet setter. As well as adding some real buttons.

Card made with stampendous stamp and lots of red buttons!

Will have to wait till Sunday till I know if I get through to the next round..fingers and toes crossed then!

Heating up

2006-10-12T12:02:00.000+02:00

I love to make pendants using TH alcohol inks as shown to me at Scrapaganza this year. However the trouble is the inks completely change colour when you heat them. This makes for some very happy accidents but I wanted more control of the colours so I created a heated colour chart. (yes I know I have way too much time on my hands).

I have a small canvas that i have started to have a wee play with using the same techniques as my CJ cover. sneak peak of stage one below. Just sitting waiting for the glue to dry. Will probably need to move onto another project.

Yesterday's card making class went really well they all liked the halloween card which is just as bleeding well considering it took me 10 hours to get it made between craft robo malfunctions and cotton buds blocking printer heads. (If anyone knows how 2 mysterious cotton buds made their way into my printer please let me know)

Today is a national holiday in Spain so I have no school this morning. I feel like a little skiver :) It is strange but our house has no visitors today!! Only Kate and I and the cats, until saturday night when my friends and their too gorgeous boys under the age of 5 appear for a week, I am sure it will be manic! Can't wait for them to arrive though, they have been friends for over 10 years and I love them dearly. Let's see if I say the same after a week of too small yins!

inky fingers

2006-10-08T23:15:00.000+02:00

If anyone has top tips on getting alcoholic inks off your nails.....hmm as I type that I think maybe i should try nail polish remover.

Been busy today making the covers of my latest CJ. Mine is an art doll theme and I cannot wait to see all the entries. Had a go at using a technique I saw in Simply Stamping issue 6 using masking tape and alcoholic inks. It gave me exactly the finish I wanted.

I only have to complete my inside pages now. It might even be posted on time!

Creativity

2006-10-07T14:31:00.000+02:00

oh I love having time to create things and having spent so much time cleaning and organising my craft room I really appreciate the time I used as it is making my life easier. This morning I decided to have a bash at the new Speshal challenge set by my buddies :) I was thinking I really wanted to journal a lot on this page and that it would fill the whole page....so I did!

I then made some onion and rocket soup for us all for lunch...yum and then it was time for layout number two.

Ginger, Debs and Jen on the beach at Wigwam Bam March 2005. Managed to have the guts to cut up 3 pages of my new gypsy Basic Grey paper. What is wrong with me.

Happy burfday Helen

2006-10-05T18:28:00.000+02:00

Happy burfday to my friend Helen who is the grand old age of 30 today.

She loved the mini book I made for her...see above. We headed off to the market today and I managed to get some purple crocheted slippers..I know they sound revolting but trust me they are cute and will keep my tootsies nice and warm on our marble floors in the winter.

A relaxing long lunch in Alhaurin and now it is siesta time.

I have loved having so many friends and visitors since we arrived in Spain. I think for Kate it has been good to keep that link with home. Being online now at home and having Skype back makes the difference too.

Lazy Sunday Afternoons

2006-10-01T20:45:00.000+02:00

Got picked up from the top of our street and this is the view from the top of the town.

Had a lovely lunch out with Kate and friends. We sat in the shade under a tree in the terrace of a lovely restaurant only 5 mins by car from us. I had the yummies dates wrapped in crispy bacon for starters and then grilled sole for main course and homemade chilled rice pudding for desert. I was so full I was ready to burst.
Kate and Grant share a bottle of white wine and she claims that it was gorgeous so if you ever see a bottle like this, it comes recommended!

Finally, came home intending for a siesta but got distracted by the laptop. ( Now there is a surprise) Managed to get off my but and go up to the craft room to do an effing challenge layout. The theme was "He said" and as the only man in the house Alfie had to rise to the challenge.

Internet and update

2006-09-30T18:48:00.000+02:00

It seems so strange to making more cards than scrapbooking at the moment (see side bar). I am enjoying planning and creating cards for each new class and my students are responding well to the standards I am delivering so it is a great boost to my confidence. Have to plan a halloween card next (requested) I have so many ideas I need to cut them down and make a decision.

I am so pleased to announce that I am finally online in my house woooo hooo only been here since June! I will be happy to not frequent the internet cafes anymore and have the privacy to go on when I choose.

Been finishing my second month of Spanish lessons and they are coming along well. I met up with Juan for some language exchange although I am sure his English is way superior than my Spanish.

Other good news is that someone contacted me re a new scrapbooking site and shop in Spain! I have joined the forum but as most of it is in spanish I pity my fellow members for having to read my poor grammatical spanish.

Knackered

2006-09-13T16:35:00.000+02:00

The girls Ginge and Jen left yesterday and the house seems so quiet without them.

The day the girls arrived was bright and sunny. Ginger arrived first albeit with a 3 hour delay so we headed into Málaga for some lunch at this point we introduced Ginger to Tinto de verano (summer red wine drink similar to sangria) this was a mistake as we had to keep her supplied in the stuff for the rest of the weekend!

Jen arrived later and we all piled into a taxi. Kate explained to the taxi driver that we were all her girlfriends and that she would sell him one of us if he wanted. Tapas in the main plaza was in order for the first evening with flowers in our hair. Fabby night and I did not want to go to school in the morning.

The girls brought us too many goodies, lots of chocolate and shortbread for Kate and a stash of crafty goodies for me. A speshal thanks goes to my daddy the Ginger Prince and his wife Clairey Fairey for sending me one sheet of each paper from the BG LilyKate and Gypsy ranges.

Friday and Sunday were lazy days with lots of crafting, shopping and drinking. Saturday we spent the day at the beach and ate the hottest burrito ever, well I did because I did not use speshal spanish like some.

Monday was more shopping and crafting and then tuesday was a very stormy wet goodbye. The lightening was amazing and the roads in Malaga were pure rivers.

The good news is that I can get to my craft room (ginge is such a hogger). Seriously Ginger made me lots of cards to sell and outsourced her cutting projects to poor Jen who also managed to quill me some goodies.

I love my friends. Cannot wait to see them again!

Back to School

2006-09-04T12:28:00.000+02:00

Back at school this morning and it is a relief to be speaking Spanish again. I have not been able to speak as much Spanish as I would like over August. Mainly in shops and restaurants asking the same things lol. My wee brain hurts getting back into the routine. Mum is still here but she goes home tomorrow and to be honest I am relieved. She has been a very demanding visitor and Kate and I are both knackered. I was hurt that she arrived with no small housewarming pressie or even a small gift from home. I would never go to visit someones house without taking them a gift. Guess I have different manners huh. She has not liked staying here at all, to her Spain is the Costa del Sol. We took the bus down to the coast one day and when she was on the sunlounger on the beach she said "now I feel like I am holiday" Nothing like a slap in the face to our hospitality!!

Happier news is that two friends arrive on Thursday and I cannot wait. Ginge and Jen are the kind of friends that leave you energised and exhausted at the same time lol. We all live on a similar mad wavelength and just bounce off each other so my poor town is not going to know what hit it!

My cardmaking class starts on Wednesday. I have put posters up around town but to be honest I think I will have one or two people only for the first few lessons hopefully I can build up a reputation and get more peeps on the course.

New Life

2006-08-28T13:59:00.000+02:00

Last night whilst sitting watching a film about Edinburgh (feeling homesick) I heard a cat crying outside. It is not unusual to hear them crying or fighting in the street as there are a lot of wild cats around. It kept on so I went out to investigate and there outside our door was a newborn kitten and I mean newborn by about 5 mins with no sign of the mother. I managed to locate the mother about 10 metres up the street under a car but she had obvously been disturbed when giving birth to the first kitten and had to abandon it. The poor wee kitten was frantically trying to find its mum and was calling loudly and she was calling it but it was too far for it to climb. I got a couple of napkins (so as not to transfer any of my scent onto the kitten and also to avoid getting blood on my hands) and picked the kitten up and placed it as near to the mother as I dared as she was hissing and growling loudly from under the car. By this time my neighbour had come out and ran back in to get some cardboard. We slid the kitten onto the cardboard and managed to use it to get the kitten near enough to the mother. Happy ever after is what I need at 12.30am in the morning.

Wow

2006-08-28T13:55:00.000+02:00

Cannot believe it has been 20 days since my last entry! Naughty me. Feria week here was fab had a great time drinking lots of summer drinks, watching parades and visiting the fun fair. Here is a piccie of our nephew Paul enjoing the sunshine at the feria, at least he had his head up from his game boy for a split second so I could take a photo. I have entered this and another photo in the annual Festival photo comp. Don´t know if I will get anywhere (like winning the €200 first prize) but at least I had fun taking part.

Elusive Company

2006-08-08T10:44:00.000+02:00

Telefonica are what BT used to be in the UK they are the main telephone provider. To contact them they have two telephone numbers. The one I want is the one with English speakers at the other end. Do they ever answer the blimin phone, do they heck! Will be investigating if I can order internet online from the internet cafe. Missing all my online friends and my skype to talk to friends and family.

----------------------

Sending off package number two for a card swap. Last one never made it from Southern Spain to Scotland. I love going to the post office...not you spend ages in the queue and when you get to the counter I need to use my best spanish (which at the moment is not the greatest). This time I am armed with a phrasebook which has a special post office section so fingers crossed.

----------------------

The Coin Feria (festival) starts on Thursday so lots of opportunities to get drunk and have a good time lol. There is a photography comp on the Coin website which I am planning on entering so better charge my camera batteries then.

grrrrrrrrrrr

2006-08-04T13:25:00.000+02:00

Back to square one with the internet. We waited in all day for the guys to come and eventually they arrived at 8pm wiht the booster for the arial. They were grumpy and tired and after much mooching decided that they were going to remove the internet from the house as they were not happy to support such a poor signal. I am so mad at both their attitude and their ineptitude. Back to trying to get in touch with telefonica then!

Dance, dance wherever you may be....

2006-07-29T14:30:00.000+02:00

Last night was the Coin Flamenco festival. It started at 11pm at night and we were fortunate enough to get a seat near the front. They had converted the Plaza beautifully. The fountain had been switched off and floating candles and roses, jasmine etc had been put it, it made it all seem so magical and romantic. We sat next to the fountain so the waft of perfume from the flowers was sumptious.

The singers, dancers and guitarists were all so talented and full of passion for what they do. The concert ran till 3am in the morning and the grandads and grannies sitting near us seemed to have more energy than us.

Another fantastic evening, I am loving this new life!

Last day of school

2006-07-28T18:11:00.000+02:00

I cannot believe that my first term at school is over. The four weeks went so fast. Three hours per day of intensive one on one spanish lessons is enough to frazzle anyone's brain, not to mention the 2 hours plus of homework each evening. I get a rest for the month of August then back to school in September for another 4 weeks. I bought a fantastic book called 501 Spanish verbs and it is the best investment ever. If I am ever going to get the hang of all the tenses, regular and irregular verbs then this is the book to help me!

In addition I have been fortunate to arrange meetings with a couple of Spanish women, Paqui and Rosa. I met Paqui yesterday in the park and today I went with Rosa to a cafe. They speak english and I try to make coherant sentences in Spanish. It will help greatly with my development though and hopefully I can help them with their english.

I also want to thank Paula for being brave enough to put up with my written spanish on MSN. You have the patience of a saint Paula!

Dance festival

2006-07-27T13:55:00.000+02:00

Last weekend at temperatures of 33 degrees in the evening we sat and watched a free festival in one of the Plaza's. The festival was for popular folk dances and it was fantastic.
The dancers came from Mexico, Argentina, and Andalucia.

It is amazing to see the mix of people there, grown ups, children, teenagers all watching with absolutely no hassle. If this was back in Edinburgh there would be a group of teens probably sinking some alcopops and shouting abuse.

I think most of the town was there watching.The atmosphere was lovely although I think I consumed one too many drinks trying to stay cool. That's my excuse and I am sticking to it. I love the fact that this town makes the effort to have so many events for the residents. Coming up next weekend is a flamenco festival, we have tickets for that so I am looking forward to it. We also have monster truck festival as well as the main week of festival in the second week of August.

problem solved

2006-07-26T20:52:00.000+02:00

What do you do when you have to wear a fur coat in southern spain?

Sleep in a bidet of course!!

We are still alive!!

2006-07-10T19:07:00.000+02:00

Thanks to everyone for their kind comments and wondering where I have been hiding the past week or so.

_______________

Patience is a virtue

I have discovered that in Spain when someone tells you they are coming on Monday to fix/fit or quote for work this usually means that you wait all day for them and then they turn up on the thursday. Of course if you go out on the Monday sods law they will turn up. No-one can give a definate time either....in the afternoon is a favourite expression but with Spanish working hours this can mean anytime upto 8pm at night! We had to go to the Notaria in Coín to take away the power of atterney for our Lawyers. 2 hours we waited and then we saw the Notaria for a total of 2 mins!! We have to go back next week, I am so looking forward to that...not.

_______________
Neighbours
Phoned an internet company to get internet in the house last week and when speaking to the woman she asked me where we lived. Turns out we are neighbours! She lives diagonally opposite me so we met up in the evening for a chat. She has been in Spain for 17 years and speaks fluent Spanish...maybe one day I will too!

________________
The Good Student

I have started my intensive Spanish class and boy is it intensive. I am the only one on the course this month so my tutor is aiming it at my level and really pushing me which is fantastic but hard work and too much homework lol. I have spoken with the owner of the school to ask if there is any of her other students who want to meet for coffee and spanish conversation practice so hopefully that will happen soon.

_________________
Internet update

I cannot get internet in my house yet and it is driving me nuts. The last company came today to check and I am not in range grrrrr will need to go with Telefoníca who have a reputation of taking forever....not happy as I am missing all my online buddies so much. I have taken so many photos as well and cannot upload them yet.

_______________
sick sick sick

I had a horrid virus last week which really laid me up. Having a fever when the temp outside is 40 degrees is no fun.

Poor Kate got an insect bite and then took an allergic reaction. She was covered in hives and still is although we managed to get her some anti histimines this morning so hopefully they will help.

_____________________
and finally.......

on a happy note we got our mosquito frames installed in all the windows which means we can open the windows and the house can have fresh air. skip skip skip, I am so looking forward to sleeping in a cool bedroom this evening.

thanks for reading this lengthy novel!

Bug magnet

2006-06-27T11:57:00.000+02:00

Why do the mozzies only like to drink my precious blood and not Kate´s? Every day I get another bite in some impossible to reach place. Today´s bite is on the top of my foot! I must have lovely sweet blood. The good news is that we are getting mozzie nets installed in all the windows next week and my skin cannot wait.

Feeling Hot Hot Hot

2006-06-22T13:42:00.000+02:00

It is certainly warm over the past few days. I seem to have a permanent glow about me due to the heat. Am having an extra shower before I go to bed just to cool off.

Good news, I managed to get a gorgeous table and 6 chairs at the second hand place for about 100 quid and in addition we have british telly woooo hoooo, never thought I would be so pleased to see Gordon Ramseys face on tv.

Still need to get a couple of pieces of furniture and then I will be happy but the house is getting more homely each day.

Settling in

2006-06-20T12:32:00.000+02:00

Still settling into our new home, feels like we are on holiday and staying in a holiday home it has not sunk in yet that we are living here iykwim. The neighbours have been lovely and there is a real sense of community in our street which I love. We have been getting things organised like contracts to enable us to use bottled gas (which we need for cooker and heating in the winter)

One thing I like here is the service. When you buy a piece of equipment ie washing machine. The delivery and the installation are included in the price! Can you imagine that type of service in the UK!

I feel that the house is still in disaray. I think once the furniture is all bought and delivered I will feel better, get the house in final order and then start buying plants etc and getting the terraces the way I want.

Spending time in the cyber cafe on the way to the shops etc. Today I have abandoned Kate in the Hairdressers with a whole bunch of spanish women and only a phrase book opened at a page about hairdressers lol, I am so mean.

We have arrived!

2006-06-13T13:50:00.000+02:00

Managed to finish off the packing in time to leave for the airport. Had a lovely meal with Izzy, Clare and Jen the night before we left, not too many insults for a change!

Clare waved us off and we headed to Glasgow. Sappho miaowed all the way to blimin Glasgow. It was so difficult leaving them at the cargo bay. Checked in our luggage and had to pay 120 quid in excess baggage!!

When we sat in the departure lounge I saw our cats on the tarmac in their cage under the plane and that set off the tears. I kept thinking about them and wondering what they were thinking. I felt so sorry for them sitting on that noisy tarmac with engines going etc. When we got on the plane and it took off I was still thinking of them and I had ordered a bottle of champagne for Kate and I to celebrate, when the air hostess came round to ask about the champagne I was in floods of tears again thinking about the cats. What a woose!

Arrived at our new home around 10ish at night, settled down and tried to sleep. Trouble was a new house means lots of new noises. Lost count of how many times we were up and down checking. Alfie settled in the house no problems, Sappho is better today although she is still nervous of any new noises.

Monday the furniture arrived at 7am (not ideal when you have had only a couple of hours sleep) Had to put the sofa in a different location but the rest is fine so we spent most of yesterday unpacking and did not sit outside at all! We received a gorgeous bunch of flowers from my Dad, at the time we had no vases and all the water had stopped coming out the taps! Managed to find a vase upstairs in the storage room and Kate went next door to speak to our neighbour about the water. She came back with this lovely old biddie, we managed to work out that the whole street had been cut off due to building work at the top. Luckily it went back on the next morning. As a wee thank you for her help (and the fact that I had too many flowers for the one vase) I gave her some lillies and foliage from my flowers. Think I have made a friend there!

At night there was an amazing thunderstorm and lots of rain, only we could arrive in Spain and have rain the same day blimin typical.

Today we have come down to the shops to buy cleaning things and ladders and some food....and an auld wifies shopping trolley( not tartan) to save lugging all our shopping up our steep little street. Sitting in the cybercafe having a coffee and catching up with friends when we should really be back at the house unpacking lol.

crazy catch up

2006-06-07T14:11:00.000+02:00

Been having fun the past couple of days catching up with friends before we head off on Sunday. Yesteraday we had a tourist day with on of our friends in Edinburgh, went to dynamic earth, Camera obscura and the scottish parliament.

More mad days coming up too and will have no internet access for a few days eeek!

All Hail the Ginger Prince

2006-06-04T23:13:00.000+02:00

Had an absolute ball over the weekend with Jen and Orlando at the Art Stamps fair in Edinburgh. We all wore lovely bright orange bobs and Jen and I managed some fairy wings too. I got the best job for the two days demonstrating all the lovely products. My hands are covered in ink and my feed ache but what the hell it was fun. Was upset that Jen wrote a glittery note that said Elaine smells of poo and thenstuck it to me chest! Kim from stampers grove kindly changed it to Elaine smells of poodles who wear perfume not sure of what was worse. Got my revenge later when I made that nasty Jen wear a sign saying Jen is a jobby. All my wages and some (shhhh) were spent on the lovely stamps etc from the Card Fairy. Not sure how I am going to squeeze them all into the case.

Met up with a few peeps that I know from UKS, and students from some of my scrapbooking classes and that was cool.

Bare House

2006-06-02T01:16:00.000+02:00

That's it, all the furniture has left and we have a very bare house now. Living out our suitcases for the next week before we head over to Spain ourselves. Yesterday was our last day at work and was a bit weird. As per usual we were supposed to finish at 3pm...guess who were still sorting things out at their desks at 5pm! Nevermind, we were given an ice machine as a leaving pressie. The girls from Stampers Grove came in and we all had a few drinks, some more than others...ie me.

Today was a very relaxed day in the house (no hangover surprisingly), and the lovely James took us out for dinner at Zizzi's. Food was scrummy especially the goats cheese and caramalised onion startet that I had.

Looking forward to the fun at Art Stamps at the weekend and a whirlwind week of meeting up with friends and family :)

Packing is not good for your health

2006-05-29T10:22:00.000+02:00

or your relationship....grrrrrr. I have kept boxes over the past year of any major purchases so that we can put them back in their original boxes for packing. What does Kate do, ignore that completely and just pack the items anyway without all the extra bits so the pedal for my sewing machine will be in one box and the sewing maching in another.

All weekend I have done nothing but pack and cannot believe the amount of crap we have accumulated in the past 4 years at the hotel. Yesterday I cleared out our storage cupboard which included boxes we have never even unpacked from our move here, they obviously contain "can't live without" items....NOT.

Charity shop has another bumper load for them to sell! Cannot wait for the movers to come tomorrow and take everything away then we can relax(ish) for the next week or so.

-----------

I am concerned about Kate leaving the hotel. I think she is institutionalised here and is getting nervous about no longer working here from Wednesday. She muttered something about maybe having to come in after Wednesday to do some work and that lead to an exchange of words! She needs to leave them to get on with things as come the 11th June we won't be here for them to phone and query anything. We both know they are going to be severely short staffed from next week but if the owner does not employ people we cannot be expected to help. I know it is hard as one of friends, our assistant manager is going to be left in the shit but to be honest the owner still has not replaced us and that is his problem.

Liberating feeling

2006-05-27T20:01:00.000+02:00

That's it my stash is all packed and more importantly I have completed all my circle journal entries. Wooo hoo feel so free.

Still packing today and work managed to call us about 6 or 7 times on our one and only day off...grrr so I am sitting here packing tonight instead of out at our friends civil partnership reception.

Movers come on Tuesday and at this moment I could do with an extra day or two!

Fecking Families

2006-05-26T19:18:00.000+02:00

Last night I received a phone call from my brother to say that my mum had been crying because I had said to her on the phone when she told me she would be coming home the week we leave, that I would check to see if someone could stay with the cats and that it may only be one of us staying over at her house. Apparantly this means (according to my mother) that I am not coming, I am sending Kate and that the cats come first.

Anyway I explained to my brother that I would definately be staying and that hopefully Kate would be able to as well.

He then went on about Mum living on her own and that with me moving away if anything happens to her I would be delayed in getting to her. I said that I would get the first available flight to Scotland to which he replied that that could be a couple of days. Basically he was trying to make me feel guilty for leaving the UK so after listening to about 5 mins of this I told him to fuck off.

1 min later the phone goes and its SIL. Kate speaks to her as I am too angry that my brother dares question my care commitment to Mum as I am normally the one who deals with everthing and this is the first time they have been primary carers iykwim. SIL gives Kate a hard time on the phone and when Kate responds she is told she is being aggressive. Then SIL says I have never to phone their house again. errrm they phoned me! Basically I think they are panicking as they realise I will not be there at a drop of a hat anymore. I don't need this added stress I have enough on at the moment and I have spent most of last night and this morning in tears. If you have made it to the end of this war and peace novel then thanks for reading. Rant over.

------------------------------
Managed to take my stinky mood out on the guys delivering my new leather suite. It states on the delivery note that they will unwrap it so that I can check it then they will re-wrap it. The salesman also told me this so when I was asking them to do it I was confronted with 3 male egos who all told me it was not possible blah blah blah so I told them to take the wrapping off, bundle it up and stick it up their arses. You should have seen their faces....will keep me amused all day.

Scrapaganza Friday

2006-05-23T10:26:00.000+02:00

Firstly just to note that Mum got out of the hospital and is recouperating with my brother from her heart attack.

--------------------------------------

Scrapaganza was AMAZING 2.5 days of mad scrappers and classes. Loved meeting lots of my online buddies and new peeps too.

When we arrived in Amsterdam it was pouring with rain and the plane taxi's for at least 15 mins. Not the best thing all that water when you are bursting for the loo.

Spend Friday at Keukenhof home of the tulip festival. It was lovely although the weather was crap. The lily's were actually my faves along with all the sculptures. It was an hours rive from there to the hotel. Hotel was lovely and we were fortunate enough to have a sea view. Not much time to admire the view as we had classes to attend.

Class one was Ranger Inks and it was a canvas class. I loved working with the canvases and look forward to completing them in full.
Class two Heidi Swapp class....HOW MUCH STUFF!!! The goodies we got with this kit were brilliant and I really enjoyed using new products especially the masking templates. I have decided to use the album to create a book of us for Kate and I.
Class three another Ranger class this time using the alcohol inks again a good class and a project to be finished.

Off to bed for us weary travellers at about 11.30ish which was admirable considering we had got out of bed at 3am that morning!
----------------

Don't see this everyday

2006-05-15T19:30:00.000+02:00

Mum is still in hospital and don't know when she will get out, hopefully in the next few days. Meanwhile here is a photo of the damage!

TV is bad for your health!

2006-05-13T13:13:00.000+02:00

My mum was babysitting at my brothers last night down in Engerland and at 1.30am this morning she was watching TV wondering what time they would be back, the kids were upstairs fast asleep. Then there was an almighty bang and the front of the house flew into the living room. Some twat in his/her van had crashed into the front of the house. Mum was very, very lucky, had she not had her legs up on the sofa they would have been crushed. The kids are all shocked as well as my brother and SIL who came home to find a van wedged into the front of the house! The person driving the van has disappeared

Mum was taken into hospital for shock and also pains in her chest (she suffers from angina) and is still there awaiting some tests to check if she has damaged her heart.

Just shows you that you cannot even relax when watching the telly.

Mad week

2006-05-12T23:34:00.000+02:00

Spent most of this week working, packing and sorting. Was packing up the study and decided to get rid of a lot of my books as we want to travel to Spain with less clutter. It brought tears to my eyes, calvin and hobbes, Anne Rice novels that I have had since I was a teenager plus many many more.

Who knew that it would be so emotional to part with material goods. Its definately the books that upset me the most.

Its also very difficult to pack boxes when you have a curious pair of kittens lol I have lost count how many times I have had to get them out of the boxes.

One week to go to Scrapaganza and I have so much to do....arrrrrggggghhhhhh.

Did the dream challenge from ScrapPad, did a quickie digital layout using the photos I took last week. It was fun.

Procrastination queen

2006-05-06T20:59:00.000+02:00

Here I am typing a blog entry when I should be packing or Cj'ing but I cannot be arsed to do either. Bad me!

Took some photos of me this morning and I actually like a couple of them which is a first!

Mum is still not really talking about our move no matter how many times I try. Asked her if she wanted to see us off at the airport and she has refused. Maybe if she buries her head in the sand it won't happen...sheez she is driving me nuts. We bought her flights to come out and see us in August and she said, "I am only coming over for 2 weeks I am not getting to stay a month?" A month with my mother and I think I would need to check myself into a clinic or worse a prison for murder.

Shopping is my passion

2006-05-02T19:38:00.000+02:00

Who needs to use the stuff they buy, not me the shopping is the pleasureable part. Lisa and I went in the car with the gorgeous baby Archie who is soooo adorable.

At the first shop Lisa and I went our separate ways. I filled up that basket with loads of goodies, I am like a squirrel at the moment getting as much as I can before we leave. At the checkout when the shop assistant told me the price Lisa gasped, heh heh heh then when she went through the till her stuff was £30 more than mine! Who is the shopaholic now eh?

Off to sort all my lovely new goodies out.

It's official!

2006-04-28T19:14:00.000+02:00

Kate and I handed in our notice at the hotel today and now the countdown begins for moving to Spain. There is so much to do and so little time in which to do it but I am determined to meet the deadline.

A new life, a new beginning and a slowing down of pace is exactly what we both need.

GULP.

Krusty the clown and the would be terrorist

2006-04-27T23:54:00.000+02:00

Sitting in the official Notaria office is not the best place for your partner to point out that your lawer has hair like krusty the clown. Stiffled laughing is NOT appreciated by Officials. We had a crazy time in Spain, ran about signing tons of documents for the house and managed to get one days sunshine and rest.

----------------------------------------------------

On the return at Malaga airport my bag was stopped by the police and I was told I had a knife in it. Of course I completely denied the fact, however my word was not good enough and all the contents of my bag were taken out by me. The police then checked the bag and deep in one of the side pockets was a little multi pocket knife that I had take to wigwam bam. Its all your fault girls!! After much apologising they discarded the knife. What is more concerning is that the knife would have been in my bag when going through the security check from Edinburgh!

Poor Kittie Mark III

2006-04-22T11:57:00.000+02:00

So I took Alfie to the vet this morning and he has pulled the skin of his testes out.....ouch. Apparantly when they castrate the cat the skin normally pings back inside, all nice and neat. I am sitting cross legged here at the thought and I don't even have any! Anyway, he needs to have a wee operation to get it put back inside to prevent any infection. Lots of gentle cuddles for him later when he gets home.

Poor kittie Mark II

2006-04-21T22:16:00.000+02:00

further to Alfie's snip on the 14th I had to phone the vet today as he is bleeding from the wound. Vet was fab and I am to take him there in the morning, hopefully they can help him out. He is well enough apart from it he still tears round like the mad kitten he is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Irish Hen party = lots of complaints from other guests...need I say anymore!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After much staff huffiness last week it all seems to have calmed down which is a bonus. Let's see how long it lasts.

Happy birthday to me!

2006-04-20T21:02:00.000+02:00

Had a fantastic day yesterday after the hiccups of the day before. Was given lots of lovely presents including vouchers for itunes, jewelery, chocolates and euros for spending at scrapaganza. Lots of lovely cards too. I got a Princess cake (see piccie) and managed to blow all my candles out in one go....not too old yet then.

After work Kate and I went out for a lovely meal for two. This is a rare occurrence at the moment, the two of us having an evening off together. We went to a restaurant called The Outsider and had a fantastic table that overlooked the castle. Started the evening off with a Raspberry Margarita...phew more alchohol than Raspberry. Then proceeded to polish off a bottle of wine between the two of us. For starters we had tapas of rocket, parmesan and pine nut salad; cubed spicy sweet potato with pumkin seeds; and parmesan garlic bread, all very yummy. Main course was Halibut with asparagus and a tomato pasta, was better tasting than it sounds. Ice cream to finish of course and a walk round the city or should I say a stagger!

Bastards

2006-04-18T21:00:00.000+02:00

My blimin mobile phone was stolen in the BANK today...yep in the bank. Went round to fill out the forms to transfer money for Spain and left my phone in front of the teller. Went over to hand someone else the form and she needed to take a copy of my passport. Realised I had left my phone went back and it was gone. This is not a big branch and there were only about 5 people in the whole time I was there. I said that they would have it on their cctv but they refused to look unless I phoned the police. The police have now been called. My mobile company have put a lock on the phone although Kate phoned it and left a stinking message for the thief.

Nowhere is safe anymore!

Crop day

2006-04-15T17:18:00.000+02:00

Had a great day at the crop even though the Community Centre decided that the despite 2 confirmations that we would be there the easter saturday they would be shut and we could not gain access...grrrrr.

It was great to have two new members at the crop Frances and Pam and despite Izzy and Helen being full volume chatterboxes we all managed to have a creative time.

I made a start on my planner for Scrapaganza using papers and ribbons from the lovely Jillybeans Scrapyard kit.

Hopefully this week I will make further indentation to my CJ mountain which is now more of a hill. Though when I am not entirely sure as Mon/tues/wed are booked up already!

Poor Kittie

2006-04-14T18:57:00.000+02:00

My poor wee Alfie off to get the snip at the vets today. We were not allowed to feed him after 9pm last night which was fun and games as he is a wee gannet. Managed to give Sappho a sneaky feed before bedtime but at 4am Alfie decided to wake us up and demand his breakfast. This pretty much continued till Kate got up at 5am and let them run about the garden. As soon as she headed off to the vets with Alfie I managed to get Sappho fed and went back to catch up on some much needed sleep.

Alfie has returned from the vet feeling very sorry for himself and not able to sit down very easily, bless.

++++++++++++++++++++++

In working my day off AGAIN, at least I am getting a day off this week poor Kate has had to come on on every day off she has tried to get. Thankfully we have a new receptionist who started yesterday which means I no longer need to cover reception in a couple of weeks time and can get back to managing the hotel.

+++++++++++++++++++

Got a lovely parcel of some american craft ribbons today. Will hopefully get to use them at our crop tomorrow if Lisa does not snaffle them all away from me first.

+++++++++++++++++++

Been arranging the transfer of money from the uk to Spain for the purchase of my house and what a drama. I have to prove who I am, prove that the money I have is mine and not for money laundering purposes....sheez I wish!!

Shopping, shopping and more shopping

2006-04-12T20:50:00.000+02:00

My lovely pink QVC scrapbook and cardmaking set arrived and its gorgeous. Can't wait to make up the cards.

Went off to investigate a new craft shop opened in Edinburgh purely in the name of research fo course and it has some lovely stuff. Namely lots of nice blank boxes for altering. I managed to slip some white bazzill and papers into my basket too of course along with a few embellishments. Well a girl has to get her goodies when she can.

Winging its way to me are some 30 spools of american craft ribbons, a lovely chatterbox kit and a kit from the states. I love shopping it is my main occupation, the hotel is merely a way to pay for it!

I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow the house down

2006-04-11T12:04:00.000+02:00

Honestly, all this huffing is seriously dull, super sensitive I think so! I asked one member of staff to move from one desk (not hers) to another so I could link up my laptop with the power suply there and off she stropped as if I had asked her to work her days off!! She was only sat at the desk for 15 mins to write something and could have done it easily at the next desk. There is only room for one drama queen in this building ME lol. Maybe I could get the staff trained on how not to huff and puff when asked to do something.

Thursday through to Sunday

2006-04-09T23:33:00.000+02:00

What a hectic few days I have had. Met up with the lovely Anam and Fay on Thursday and we had a gathering of some lovely peeps at the hotel on Thursday night. Lots of Pizza and giggles which is what we all needed.

Friday was a wet and soggy trip to the zoo. Met another lovely person Irene and her oh so cute son Stuart. Took the kids to the close encounters section of the zoo and I held a snake!!

Saturday I was ready to cybercrop with my buddies but managed to have a stinking migraine. Went online for my two challenges in case anyone needed to ask questions. The first challenge was to use a paper you hated and only 2 pieces of plain cardstock no embellishments or anything. This was my attempt.

The girls did some amazing layouts and I was so surprised at how well the managed to disguise their minging papers lol.

The next challenge I offered was a digital ATC one.

Again some amazing work was done especially by the first timers.

Sunday was the usual eventful day at work and sunday night I managed to do 3 CJ entries a start on my CJ mountain. Wooo hooo that mountain is a comming down!!

Why are people so oversensitive nowadays, I know I can be blunt occasionally, well maybe more than occasionally, but sometimes I need to express my views too and I am fed up people going off in a tantrum or huff.

Wednesday witterings

2006-04-05T18:45:00.000+02:00

Time is escaping from me. Apart from the few times I manage to get out the hotel I don't know what I do with my time other than work, sleep and eat. If anyone finds my missing time can they send it back to me please. I am behind on some CJ's which I am thoroughly ashamed of but whenever I plan on doing some of them something crops up or I am so tired from work I go to bed to sleep. I have been doing the {21} day challenge in the hope of sparking some extra creativity but already I am a few days behind on that.

Enough of the pity party.

Last night I went out with HRH Gingerness and Jaffers for a lovely evening of laughter and joy. Poor restaurant did not know what hit it when we walked in. We had a surly waitress to start with but that soon changed to a lovely young man who got the measure of Ginge in about 2 mins when he offered her a straw with her wine bottle. A walk along the canal ensued before we went back to my flat and proceeded to dress Jen up with a pink wig, brown beard, fairy wings and mardis gras mask! She looked freaky. I got some gorgeous presents from Ginger for my birthday including the most beautiful coaster book all about ME! These two friends make me laugh so much and are absolutely food for the soul. Luv ya both!

{21} Day 6

2006-04-02T22:24:00.000+02:00

This is the simplest page in my 21 day journal but it was the hardest for me to create, purely because of the emotive nature. Rhonna's chosen quote is "The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all."

Insomnia & {21} days 4 and 5

2006-04-02T08:29:00.000+02:00

Finished work at 11.30pm last night. Went home had a mug of soup then headed to bed, "bing" I was wide awake as soon as my head hit the pillow. I gave it half an hour then I got up. Managed to catch up on two days of Rhonna's 21 day challenge before heading to back to bed at 2am. Last clock watch was 3am before the alarm went off at 6am. Full days work on 3 hours sleep.....easy!

Day 4 of the challenge (apologies for the bad scan but that's what happens when you add a quilled section in the middle of the page.) Marks down the side are where I need to punch holes for the book rings it was a wee tad late to start hammering last night lol.

Day 5 page. Loved drawing the grass had good fun with this one.

Birthday Fun

2006-04-01T15:05:00.000+02:00

Yesterday was Kate's birthday. We both had to work during the day but thankfully we were able to get an evening off together. We got up at 6am for work and I got all of Kate's birthday presents ready for her to open. I think we were both still sleeping as she opened them. Alfie and Sappho thought the gift ribbon was for them and were happily playing with the ribbons in their claws. Unfortunately we had to drag ourselves away from the birthday goodies and head to work. I was interviewing for a new receptionist and hopefully I have one, just need to call her references and then arrange a start date! Yipeee.

Kate and I met friends in the City centre for a drink (or more) after work and it was really pleasant and fun. We are terrible for catching up with friends at the moment with our shifts and being to understaffed at the moment means that we are lucky to get an evening off together never mind a whole day.

After our drinks We decided to walk to the restaurant at the other side of the city centre and as we left the bar and walked round the corner there was a gang of silly teenagers about 16/17 years old who decided to skip up to Kate and ask her if we were all lesbians. Kate turned it around and asked the girl are you? The girl said yes and started screaming back at her mates that we thought she was a lesbian. Some of her mates then encircled us and the girl threw her arm around Kate. I was so angry at their blatent attempt of harrassement and ridicule that I grabbed the girl's arm, gave her my best Padington Bear Stare (thanks for the practice Ginger) and told her to Fuck off. Maybe half a bottle of scrummy shiraz had helped my confidence lol anyways it seemed to work and they backed off running up the road screaming abuse at us.

It left us a bit shaken but we were determined that it would not spoil our evening. We headed to our favourite Scottish Steakhouse and had a mouthwatering scrummy meal and more wine (I sound like a lush, I don't drink that often honest!) before we staggered back home to the hotel.

So glad you had a great birthday Kate. Love you x x x

All in a good days work

2006-03-31T00:17:00.000+02:00

Had a hectic day today. We had cleared out the flat yesterday for the handover tomorrow and Kate had handed in the keys to the estate agent. This morning we realised that we had not read the meter for the electricity so I had to go to the estate agents get the keys, go to the flat and then return the keys lol not what I needed.

As it is Kate's birthday tomorrow I had to buy pressies for her too so a mad dash round the shops. I am not usually so disorganised but with long hours at work and other things I have needed to sort out I don't appear to have any extra time. If anyone wants to donate a few hours a day to me I would very much appreciate it, a 34 hour day sounds about right.

Then this evening I was teaching my beginners scrapbooking class. It was a really lovely group and they all managed to create fantastic first pages!

Is it time for bed yet??

Day 3 {21} day challenge

2006-03-29T22:23:00.000+02:00

Day three of Rhonna's challenge and it brought out the tears for me. My life has not been a bed of roses but I am who I am because of it. Sure I would love to change the abuse but would I still be the same strong independant person I am today if I did?

I am enjoying the journalling on the back as it makes the book very personal for me, I tried creating an art journal before but after a few entries I stopped. This challenge is at least giving me direction and encouraging my creativity.

Day Two Rhonna Farrer Challenge

2006-03-29T12:42:00.000+02:00

Day Two of the challenge and I went doodling mad. I have to confess I am not that keen on the final result at all but it made me appreciate that I am better with a paintbrush than with a pen! For the day 3 challenge I think my paintbrush needs to come out and I need to leave the pen alone!!

Day One Rhonna Farrer Challenge

2006-03-28T11:22:00.000+02:00

I love this challenge and the first day about goals really appealed to me because of my life at the moment. I kept the journalling on the back of the day's page as I want to keep the front for the quote I made.

21 Day Challenge

2006-03-28T00:59:00.000+02:00

I cannot resist a challenge and Rhonna Farrer's 21 day challenge (Rhonna the creator of my wonderful personalised dreamy diva) seems a good way to get me being creative again.

I rushed home from work at 11pm tonight and so far have created half my journal cover and half my Day One Page. I hope to complete them tomorrow night and add Day two before uploading them to my blog. Thanks for the challenge Rhonna!

Monday Mutterings

2006-03-27T19:37:00.000+02:00

The crop on Saturday was brilliant. We had so much space in the new hall we were able to layout all the equipment. We will be very spoilt there and the fantastic thing is we don't have to limit any of the numbers. So more people to share fun with. More amazingly I managed to get 2 cards and 5....yes 5....layouts completed!!

I am off work on Wednesday and Thursday this week (2 days off I can't believe it). Wednesday will be CJ day so that I can catch up on them all. Thursday will be Post office and shopping day. Must get Kate's birthday present for Friday.

Talking about work...the new receptionist lasted all of two days, she came in yesterday to tell me that it is not what she expected (maybe she thought she would have time to file her nails?) So as a consequence I have to interview all over again and go through the training again. The sad thing is the first two days are the most intense with regards to the trainin. Need to find some reserves of energy for myself somewhere.

After my hellish day at work yesterday my mum came to visit and we took her out for dinner. We had a scrummy meal and all three of us got piddled lol.

Friday Feeling

2006-03-24T08:47:00.000+01:00

Yaaaay its Friday. Stop the world I wanna get off. Seriously I seem to have so much to do at the moment and no time in which to do it. With a member of staff leaving us in the lurch I have spent this week filling in and then training a new receptionist. It means one day off for me and that day is Saturday our monthly crop. It is in a new venue as well so I need to be organised, I have several CJ entries that I need to do as I need to catch up from being away on holiday.

Not long till the sale on our flat completes on the 31st March. We are off to the flat this evening to see what bits and pieces we need to remove before completion day.

On the positive side I do get to escape sometimes, I had a lovely night out on Tuesday with Jen and Ginger at the local chinese buffet. These two girls make me laugh so much it hurts.

In addition I keep counting down to Scrap-a-ganza, only 1 month, 3 weeks and 4 days to go!! Made the decision to go on the trip to Keukenhof on the Friday, I decided it was better than going to the hotel and probably flaking out!

Wigwam Bam

2006-03-20T08:24:00.000+01:00

Pot a doodle doo near Berwick upon Tweed, piccie of Chief Ginge being worshiped by Jaffnetta.

The wigwams were toasty and warm and the BBQ hut was the best. With all doodling and games it was a hilarious weekend. Debs if you ever publish that photo I will find one of you to share!

What an absolute hoot and thanks to the girls for making me laugh so much in the space of a few days.

Cactus sunset

2006-03-13T21:37:00.000+01:00

Back from holiday, albeit 24 hours later than planned. We arrived at Malaga airport yesterday to be told that because of deep snow at edinburgh our flight had been postponed till the next day. So back to the relatives for an extra day of sunshine.

The photo opposite is of a cactus at sunset that I took on the patio.