Inky Fingers

It's Beginning to Look

2010-12-03T00:03:00.000Z

like I'm going to have to get this place cleaned up. Because it's December. Which means it's almost time for our annual Christmas party. ACK. I just did the math- I have 8 days. Not panicking.

Yet.

In the meantime, there's entirely too much fun to be had crafting! It's December, so it's clearly time for Shimelle's "Journal Your Christmas" and Ali's "December Daily". This year I'm doing a mash-up of the 2. Weather-permitting, my shiny new Polaroid PoGo printer should be here soon, so I'll be able to print out little 2x3 prints and stick them in each day. Alas, due to the fact we're knee-deep in snow, there's no post right now.

Don't they know I want my stuff?!

So while I'm waiting I created my title/manifesto page for the album. Tra-la!

This year's mission is to use up most of the Christmas stash I seem to have accumulated. It's going well so far (I've actually made the bones of the whole album. Plan ahead! That's me all over!). (Stop laughing)

The journaling in the little red Christmas card reads:
Dear Self- I've been thinking about it, and I've realised you don't remember much of last Christmas. I'll cut you some slack- that's totally understandable. However, it would appear that your memories of previous Christmases are ALSO quite hazy. What's the deal with that?! It's possible you're so busy with everything that your brain just gets fried out. Could be your memory is crap. Either way, the following book should help. Even if you don't finish it. Don't look at me like that, we both know you.
And hey, if you DO finish it, you can have an extra cookie. Besides the one you'll have because you're peckish. And the one you'll have after you wrap presents. And... oh hell. Just remember the season ok? And smile & relax & HAVE FUN.
x
Me.

I'm hoping that the combination of planning ahead + PoGo + new phone with nice camera will help me to capture the month. I'm feeling quite optimistic about it, actually, which is unusual for me.

In other crafty news, this weekend is a Cybercrop over at UKS. I really like these, as they're great for kicking my papercrafting brain into gear. Sadly this time I don't think I'll be taking part very much... as it's... uh, my birthday on Saturday. *scuffs toe in the dirt* I'll be 30, and people seem to be fairly determined to make a big deal of this. Possibly because last year's birthday had the world's worst monkey wrench thrown into it. But since we're snowed in we'll see I guess.

Nuts to the birthday, I just want my present. It's sitting in the hall, unwrapped, and I'm not allowed to touch it. Which is cruel. Wanna know what it is? I'll give you 2 clues:
It's candy apple red (the name is significant)
It starts with a K.

2 more sleeps and it's mine! *cue manic cackling*

x

Why I Shouldn't Be Left Unsupervised, or "You Like Trees, Right?"

2010-11-02T18:36:00.000Z

So, we have sort of a small entryway in our new house. Actually, it's fine, it's just that there's no closet for coats, like our old house. There was a row of hooks as you walked in, but since The Big Redecorate last week (stripped out the wallpaper and painted everything an off-white) we're hookless. I replaced the ones behind the door for the small people's things, but I didn't want to put back the other ones. Bo-ring. But what to do?

Solution. A coat tree.

No, not like that. Like this:

I realise it's a little off-kilter, but I've only ever drawn trees on A4-sized paper. I thought about fixing it, but I was afraid it would be a case of "little more... little more... ruined it". Also it's going to have coats on it, so hopefully they'll mask it. At present I'm really happy with it- not only did I get to draw! on the walls! I got to use black paint! on the walls! Take that MOM.

In the next couple of days I'm hoping to find some black/iridium black hooks to attach, but in the meantime I'm just randomly standing in the hall admiring my handiwork.

Hopefully the Husband will feel the same way when he gets home. I may have neglected to finalise an okay.

I hope he likes trees.

2 Posts! In 1 Week!

2010-10-29T23:35:00.004+01:00

Obviously I'm coming down with something.

Truthfully, I'm still struggling to get over something. I assume I'll stop coughing some day. It would also be nice if the crazy hot-flash type sweating would subside, because I'm in no mood to be doing extra laundry.

I started crafting again! In a hiccupy kind of "Where's my X" (cutter, adhesive, you name it) way. I've been perusing Ali's December Daily posts and trying to come up with something cute and different to my usual style. Part of my trouble is that I have a perfectly good 8x8 album that I assembled last year and didn't touch, and now can't. Maybe I will another year. But in the meantime, I need something different so I can try to put some Happy back in my Christmas.

But what to do?! 2 weeks ago I had a firm plan. No, wait. OK, re-vamp. 5 days ago I hit upon another plan. No, WAIT. Seriously the worst thing you can do if you're indecisive is use the internet. I'll bet I have an ulcer starting. From crafting! Which is my hobby!

Dithering over. Don't look at me like that. Last night I finally found the expanding file with all my Christmas paper... hoo! Hey, there's a lot of paper in there! So much for the cute Crate Paper I was going to get. And say, is that a whole thing of inkjet transparencies? And the Husband just handed me a Golden Book saying it was in his Amazon basket. What? Oh, right.

The plan? I've purchased a few brushes from Designer Digitals to print on to transparencies (take that Hambly) along with Ali's December Daily templates to print on cardstock. I've already chopped down my stack of paper into 8x6 pieces to fit the Golden Book. And now I'm waiting because I've ordered some paint to damp down the PP a bit and make it all, um, match. In the meantime I'm taking all the offcuts and making a mini album, just so I keep going and don't lose momentum. Plus it's a good place to try out stuff for the bigger one.

What about you? Are your heads starting to fill with visions of sugar plums, or at least their paper counterparts?
x

Laundry shmaundry. There's paper to ink.

Oh. Ahh... well... ahem.

2010-10-25T20:55:00.002+01:00

Almost 6 months. I'd apologise, but at times I haven't wanted to be part of it, so it didn't seem fair blathering about it.
A reasonably quick recap since the 7th of May-

I've almost stopped crafting. I did for quite a while, but made some mini books a couple of weeks ago, which sort of got me going again. Kind of. Why did I stop? I didn't have the drive, the inspiration, the get-up-and go (that last one is a re-occuring theme).

I've given immense emotional support to a good friend of mine going through a hard time. It's been hard, it's been draining, and I wish I could have done more. It has made me appreciate my own life more, in that irritating parental "just when you think you've got it bad" cliche. I love my friend dearly, and wish her all the best.

Why does it sound like I left her? Because we both moved, in opposite directions. Life is like that sometimes.

We moved? Why yes! We're homeowners now. My husband's gran was ready to not be living on her own anymore, and moved in with my inlaws around the corner. So we bought her house. I have, if I'm honest, mixed feelings about this. I loved living in London. It was good for me. Not so much for the rest of my family. Out here (Kent) the air is better, the school is awesome, the area is nicer... etc etc. You get the idea. I will fare better once I start driving I think.

Along the same note, the house needs work. Not in the major "It has no roof and the lights don't work" way (Ha! although it took 2 months to kill all the mice and the shower only just stopped making dying goose noises!) but in the "hasn't been decorated in 2 decades" sort of way. And I'm impatient. And I hate peach, navy blue, and sea foam green. As an added challenge, this house is about %30 smaller than our last place, so it's.... interesting... finding a place for everything. But hey, it's ours. That counts for a lot.
I think.

And Daughter, teeny little sprite she is, started school full time. So suddenly I'm bereft of my afternoons with her, which is a huge adjustment for both of us. She loves school and is eerily clever but still... at 4 1/2 I think she should still be home playing Play-Doh and reading Golden Books in the afternoon. Although it does give me more time to de-peach the house.

So there you go. I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things soon. I've signed up for the fabulous looking Copy & Paste holiday class and am hoping to do a JYC album this year (I didn't last year. There was zero holiday cheer in my heart), although I think I might make it more free-form. This is of course assuming I can find the box with the rest of my crafting supplies and then find somewhere to craft!
x

It's a Party!

2010-05-07T22:19:00.003+01:00

The creatively quirky girls over at The Copy and Paste Project are celebrating! It's their 1 year birthday, or anniversary (they can't make up their minds). Birthdaversary! There, sorted.

Anyway.

They're having a little party over on their blog, and one of the challenges is to fill in a list so that we all get to know each other a bit better. And because I've been diligently scrapping all evening, I figure I deserve a break. So here goes:

1: Everyone knows that I am a SAHM, but you'd never guess that my resume swings from barista to cheesemaker to florist to health food/supplement sales.

2: I'm proud to admit that I like salad w/nothing more than some balsamic vinegar, but my guilty pleasure is a spoonful of Nutella.

3: I'm inspired by the genuine happiness of my kids and it suprises me sometimes to see how much they both can light up a room.

4: I'm always on time with the school runs, but I'm never on time with anything else. Anything.

5: I've got lots of books but I've always wanted floor to ceiling shelves, complete with rolling ladder! How cool would that be?!

6: I tried to scuba and it didn't go well. It was amazing, and wonderful, and I will probably never do it again. People who can't swim have no business scuba diving.

7: If I never have a cookie dough Blizzard again, it will be a tragic waste.

8: I didn't take the clothes out of the dryer and now they need ironing. Crap.

9: It's not that I mind that he can't load the dishwasher right, but I'd really rather not have to re-wash half the dishes.

10: Doing nothing occassionally makes me very very happy.

11: Someone once told me I have good birthing hips and then both kids came out via C-section.

12: I'm happy to say that I started really exercising this week, and even have managed to not eat all the ibuprofen in the house. Nor have I really cheated on the routine.

So what about you? We've all done those little quizzes on Facebook, but I have to say this was a little trickier!
Happy Birthdaversary Julie and Kirsty!!

Evil is...

2010-05-05T14:48:00.002+01:00

Evil is sneezing and feeling like you've been sucker-punched.

Evil is wondering if this trip down the stairs is going to send you cartwheeling to the bottom.

Evil is having to meet you arms halfway so that you can shampoo your hair.

And what, you might ask, is the cause of all this evil in my life?

Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. (so it's self-inflicted)

I don't know if it's Cathy Zielske's fitness push, or my impending 30th birthday, or if my brain has just simply fallen out. Suddenly though, I feel compelled to lose a few pounds. Well, more than that, what I'd really like is some muscle tone, which isn't something I've ever been chummy with. So I've started. I'm not really changing my diet much -although I'm trying to be more aware of my portion intake and stop mindlessly eating- partly because I think I eat reasonably well but mostly because that won't work. I've tried doing the whole healthy eating + fitness plan + happy shiny me thing before. Several times. I don't do shiny happy. I do don't really healthy food when %75 of household is eating grilled cheeseburgers and steak fries. However, I've noticed that deliberately causing myself physical pain does curb the yen to reach for a cookie. So that's something.

Something else new to my life is a podcast called The Sporkful. It is absolutely counter-productive to losing weight, but it's really funny. It's also in nice 15 minute episodes and more than once has inspired what I'm making for dinner. Basically it's 2 goofy guys who love food and talking about... food. In depth. For instance, how much can you add to a grilled cheese sandwich before it becomes a panini? What else goes well with peanut butter if you don't have any jelly (jam)? The Sporkful guys make me smile, and they're fun to listen to while I scrap.

Scrap! Right, I went to that class, remember? The super fun one with Shimelle, where we scrapped like 16 pages in 1 day? I'm still putting the finishing touches to some of the pages, and will hopefully have them up to share by Friday. I'm really pleased how it's all coming together. I must admit, I was really nervous about the kit... I'm not the biggest Dear Lizzy fan. I don't dislike it, it just never grabbed me. Silly me, I forgot how Shimelle likes to add and layer and add more and completely change the look of something. And her LO design is always awesome. I'm harbouring a small hope that after I finish this I will press on with another paper line and do 16 similar pages about my son, and OH MY that would be a nice slice of my kids' lives for 2009.

But we'll see.
It depends if the evil starts getting less evil.

The Wallpaper

2010-04-28T16:12:00.002+01:00

So, after much prompting from a friend, I emailed a photo of my bathroom to Studio Calico. The response? A resounding and enthusiastic WOW!!!!

Not that I really needed them to tell me how cool it looks and re-enforce my un-craziness, but it makes it easier to take the exasperation from my other half. :D

More love next week- I'm off to pack a crop bag. This is the first time I've actually gone somewhere to crop (I usually get people to come to me!), and it's not just any crop. It's this one, taught by the ever wonderful Shimelle. So I'm not just going nearby to scrap some stuff, I'm actually travelling with my friend to go have a day-long class. Whoop whoop!

So if you'll pardon me, I have to go pack, so that I can unpack and repack 3 times before Friday night (because I'm actually spending the weekend with said friend, so I do have to remember some sensible stuff)! Also I have to hope my photos arrive in time, AND that the other half brings them home for me. Fingers crossed.
x
Tink

what is your favourite song RIGHT NOW?

2010-04-25T20:07:00.001+01:00

At any given moment, and for more years than I can remember, my favourite song is "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd.

Ask me anything. I'll probably even answer honestly. Or at least interestingly.

Instead of...

2010-04-21T19:41:00.003+01:00

Instead of being productive (ie cleaning) today, I wallpapered my bathroom. Sort of. 12x12 scrapbooking paper and poster-tack isn't exactly wallpapering.

I'm sure it's not what Studio Calico intended for their "Blown Fuse" paper, but it was honestly the very first thing I thought of when I saw it. Before I bought it I asked a few people what they thought... the responses ranged from "Yes!" to "Has your brain fallen out?" (well obviously the answer to that is yes).

Okay, so that accounts for 20 minutes of my day. The rest of the child-free time was spent melting records. The biggest problem with that is getting over the hang-up of, you know, melting records. I grew up with a dad and uncle that worship at the altar of music, and one of the commandments is "Thou shalt not damage the vinyl". Happily, I was one of those kids that could be trusted with records and stereo components, so I spent many happy hours listening to their extensive collections.

So you can see where sticking a record in a 275F oven isn't just counter-intuitive, it's blasphemous. I really did expect my phone to ring this morning, and to find an irate father on the other end, like somehow he'd know what I was doing, despite the thousands of miles between us. This is a man that could be sound asleep and wake up because I turned the tv from baseball to Sesame Street. But he didn't call. And I melted a lot of records, and made some neat bowls, something that looks more like an ashtray, and a vase (see photo).

Before anyone panics and actually calls my father, these records were free. And no one wanted them. Chris de Burgh? Whitney Houston? Anyone? I thought not. I do wish I had a record player, because (considering my location) there is a ridiculous amount of old country, like Carter Family and Grand Ole Opry stuff. I will post more photos of the re-purposed vinyl after this weekend, as the bowls will be called into immediate service for pretzels, etc. for the Daughter's upcoming birthday party. I personally think they look really cool, and have already sold a few, so yay for me.

I think now I need to go re-organise my cds, and atone for my sins. ;)

Tink

Crawled Out

2010-04-18T23:26:00.007+01:00

{Before we start, I apologise for the weird formatting. The computer and my brain refuse to work together this evening.}

Okay, so I didn't totally finish cleaning. I did what I always do- got to a certain point where it was much better but not done and then quit.

My name is Tink and I'm a serial quitter.

That has an interesting ring to it.

Okay, so the reason I quit this time is because after sifting through all that crafting stuff, I was feeling !crafty! As in "get me out of here and to some flat space because I want to make stuff!". Also, the always fabulous Shimelle hosted her site's first online crop this weekend, so I had tons of inspiration. So I picked up a stack of re-found paper, the essential tools, and a few punches and headed for... my bed. It's big, and with a flattened cardboard box, it serves nicely as a desk. In the past couple evenings I've mananged to do 7 LOs, including 1 re-do (attempt 1 was ghastly) and the completion of 2 that were started at least 4 weeks ago.

So there.

I've added these plus the other 3 to my Flickr stream, if you'd like to have a better look/want to know what supplies I used.

And now I should probably clean off the bed; it's already 23:38 and tomorrow is the first day back at school for the larger of the 2 little ones. Plus I'm sure the Husband would appreciate not having brads stuck in his... right, time to clean up.

tink

Wuh... Where'd She Go?

2010-04-14T18:41:00.005+01:00

I don't know.

She said something about cleaning the office. Like, really cleaning it, you know?

You don't think she did, do you? She wasn't going to... ohmigod, she wasn't going to get rid of stuff was she?

I think so. She sounded really serious, saying stuff like "This stuff is holding back my creativity" and "I KNOW what I've got, I can even FIND it, but I can never decide what to use and so I do nothing".

That is serious. I know she spent the last 2 days thoroughly cleaning the rest of the upstairs. I wonder what's got into her?

I have no idea dude. Seriously. But if we don't hear from her soon, I think we should start to worry.

Easter Bread

2010-04-01T09:29:00.002+01:00

A little backstory- after the passing of my grandparents last winter, one of the first things my son asked me was "Who will make cold bread now that grandma is gone?". After 10 minutes of confusion, I worked out that James meant Doris's Easter bread- when we were there last April she must have just defrosted a loaf and it was still chilly. It's funny the things that stick with that kid.

So, okay, Easter bread. No problem- while I'm at the farm I'll check her recipe box. No luck. I'll ask her sister/sisters in law. No luck. Oh dear. Mom? No luck. Fast forward a few months, and I happened to mention it to my dad. I'm not really sure what tipped it, but I know he has a soft spot for his grandkids. He called me last Friday night, having spent some time flipping through cookbooks, and was pretty sure he found the recipe(s). Or something similar at least. What follows are what he found, gleaned from the cookbooks our family made from my great-grandmother's recipes.

Orange Rolls
2 pkgs yeast
1/4 c. warm water
1/2 c. butter
1 c. milk, scalded and cooled
3 eggs, beaten
5 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp nutmeg
1 c. raisins
2 T. orange rind

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water.
2. Melt butter into cool(ish) milk
3. Combine eggs, yeast, milk
4. Take 2cups [of the] flour, sift together with sugar, salt, and nutmeg
5. Add to wet ingredients
6.Add raisins and orange rind to the remaining flour (this keeps them from sinking in the dough), then add to the yeast mix. Mix well.
7. Let rise in greased bowl for 2 hours, punching down once or twice.
8. Form into buns, let rise again on greased cookie sheet.
9. Bake at 375F for 15-20 min, or till golden.

Saffron Buns
1/64 oz. saffron (small pinch)
2 T. hot water
2 pkgs yeast
1/4 c. warm water
1/2. butter
1 c. hot milk

For simplicity's sake, I'll say right now- put the saffron in its (2T) water. Dissolve yeast in its warm water. Microwave the cup of milk (think hot chocolate hot) and stick the butter in the mug to melt. With me? OK.

3 eggs, well beaten

-the notes say till thick and lemon yellow. Honestly, get the beaters out, unless you have arms like those girls at the Hofbrauhaus. I don't.

Once the saffron has coloured the water, the yeast is burbling happily, and the milk is cool enough that it doesn't kill your yeast, add in the beaten eggs (besides killing the yeast the milk could scramble the eggs).

4 1/2 - 5 c. flour
1/2c. sugar
1 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 tsp. salt
1 c. raisins
1/2c. citron
1 T. grated lemon rind

Again, take 2 cups of the flour and sift together with the salt, sugar, and nutmeg. Add to egg mix, and combine well.
Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Let rise in greased bowl covered with a clean dishtowel, 2 hours or until doubled in bulk. Punch down.
Form into buns, place greased cookie sheet, let rise again till doubled.
Bake at 375F for 20 min or till golden.

Okay, so why did I give you 2 recipes, neither of which are called Easter Bread? Because I've worked out that the Saffron Buns are the right one except-
1. She never used nutmeg. Grandpa didn't like it much. I don't either, so I skipped it.
2. She swapped the lemon peel for orange, and dropped the citron altogether (I didn't measure mine by the way, I just grated a whole orange)
3. In no one's memory did she make this into buns. Easter Bread was always a rope twisted into ring loaves about 9 inches in diameter (I think she must have used a bundt pan, because hers were always uniform in size).
4. Grandma frosted them with a thinnish powder (icing) sugar frosting, and put sprinkles (Hundreds and Thousands) on them.

I don't remember raisins in it either, but it's been quite a long time since I had her bread. I do remember hearing once "that Leonard doesn't like raisins, it's like nails on a chalkboard to him", so it's possible she made some without. I used golden raisins with a splash of Cointreau (unorthodox but tasty). My kitchen was really warm and humid when I made this the other night, so I needed the full 5 c. of flour, and I let the dough rise overnight because... well because I mixed it up at 11:30pm and needed to go to bed. I ended up with about a dozen buns and 1 REALLY hefty ring. Like, I probably could have made 3 rings from the one.

I have to say, this turned out awesome. Doris made huge batches every year and gave them to friends, which is something I may well do next year, because I can't quit eating these buns.

And James? He had one for breakfast this morning. Midway through, he came into the kitchen and hugged me, saying "Mom, you don't look like Grandma, but you sure cook like her. She's still with us, just like you said."

Yeah, I teared up too.

~Dedicated to my Grandma and Grandpa Landenberger, the sweetest people I have ever known.~

Stuff! Paper stuff!

2010-03-12T14:17:00.005Z

So I've jumped right in with the class, yay me. I've managed to make myself something of a schedule, so the house is tidy AND I get craft time.

The idea, for those of you not playing along, is that it's a twofold prompt; part one is the theme for the day, like using up metal embellishments. Part 2 is to do a page for an album called "Celebrate Life". I'm doing my best to do both the album as well as some extra LOs, because this whole thing is about stash-busting... and Ally Pally is right around the corner, folks.

(and gee, wasn't I pretty when I was little?)

Today's prompt was using up scraps of patterned paper. Of which I have a ton. The trouble is I've committed myself to using 1-2 particular lines, some very old Creative Memories stuff that was still in it's original wrapping. So I had to fudge a bit and use some non-CM stuff. Still works. To actually use some of this stuff feels really good, despite not caring for it any more. I think I'll have to make a few more than 10 pages to really take a chunk out of what I have, but hey, no worries. Let's just be pleased we've completed the first 2 prompts, shall we?

Good Karma

2010-03-08T13:54:00.002Z

You know all those supercool people with supercool blogs that are always posting about giveaways and contests and stuff, where you just have to leave a comment (calm down, this obviously isn't one of those blogs. I'm not one of those supercool people)? I leave comments all the time, never really getting my hopes up, but hey, you never know right?

I won. I actually won something.

Thanks to Tara over at The Pink Couch, I won a guest pass to Shimelle Laine's new class, Something for ~Almost~ Nothing. I saw this class when she first posted it, and while normally I'm first in line to sign up for Shimelle's classes, I put the brakes on. Not because I don't think it will be a good class, but, well (and some of you can stop smirking) I'm not so good at finishing classes. So I was trying to restrain myself and save some money. But hey! Free pass! How cool is that? What's even cooler is that it came after a night out... I got to go out to dinner! With a friend! And see a movie! And then I came home to discover I'd won a pass! I think I've used up my March quota of exclamation points!

Anyway, so I'm super excited. There's still time to sign up, as class starts the 10th. I've seen a few sneak peeks (Tara is one of the guest designers, love her stuff) and I'm excited to not only use up stuff I've got on hand, but to use it in ways I maybe wouldn't have thought of. It's more than time to break out of my comfort zone; "slump" doesn't even begin to cover where I'm at.

See you there!

formspring.me

2010-03-03T13:49:00.001Z

What is your favorite way to eat graham crackers?

omg I love graham crackers. Esp the Honey Maid cinnamon grahams. We have to ration them. Seriously. Don't get them in the UK, so I'm dependent on very kind friends and if I have suitcase space.
So my answer is slowly. Although my sister put me onto using leftover buttercream and plain grahams to make "sandwiches" and then freezing them, which is sublime.

Ask me anything. I'll probably even answer honestly. Or at least interestingly.

formspring.me

2010-03-02T15:51:00.001Z

What is your most treasured possession?

These things always shift with moods and priorities, but right now it's a pin. A small plastic "egg carton" filled with dyed "eggs". My grandma wore it every Easter season for as long as I can remember, and she passed away recently, so it's super special.
That said, I'm not sure it's something I'll actually ever wear, although I'm sure she'd want me to. Perhaps this year, and afterwards it will get incorporated into our Easter decorations somehow.

Ask me anything. I'll probably even answer honestly. Or at least interestingly.

formspring.me

2010-03-02T15:48:00.001Z

If you could go back and relive any one moment in your life, what would it be?

Urgh... there are so many moments in my life I'd like to relive (or actually re-do!). I'd really like to relive my wedding day, bc I genuinely don't remember much of it (stress and no sleep, promise). But that's a long "moment". I'm going with the moment I heard my daughter cry the first time, as it was such an "Oh! She's here! Already!"

Ask me anything. I'll probably even answer honestly. Or at least interestingly.

formspring.me

2010-03-02T15:45:00.001Z

What is your favourite crafty item to use?

I really like patterned paper. So much so I'm running out of places to keep it. But more than anything else I'll start with a plain, neutral background, and then starting pulling out the PP to rip, distress, punch, and otherwise mutilate. Repeat process as needed.

Ask me anything. I'll probably even answer honestly. Or at least interestingly.

formspring.me

2010-02-27T16:33:00.001Z

If you had the next 30 minutes to spend doing whatever you wanted...what would you do?

Having a massage. That's the most awesomely decadent thing I can think of. Although diving face first into a mixing bowl of Ben & Jerry's is right up there, too.

Ask me anything. I'll probably even answer honestly. Or at least interestingly.

formspring.me

2010-02-27T16:31:00.001Z

Would you rather live without anything made of or containing paper or anything made of or containing plastic?

AAAUGHH! As a scrapper, the paper has to stay. But I have a feeling there's a lot of plastic in my laptop, and I'd be lost without that too! And my travel mug. What a sadistic question! LOL

Ask me anything. I'll probably even answer honestly. Or at least interestingly.

formspring.me

2010-02-27T16:28:00.001Z

How many licks *does* it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll pop?

Mr. Owl says 3. I say I don't know, bc I always just tuck 'em to the side of my cheek and suck on them. Have you ever actually tried to eat a lollipop by just licking it? You'd die of boredom!

Ask me anything. I'll probably even answer honestly. Or at least interestingly.

formspring.me

2010-02-27T16:27:00.001Z

If you could have one wish instantly granted, what wish would you make?

I would wish that my grandparents were still alive. I'm being a total bummer here, but they were killed 3 mos ago in a car accident, and today would be my grandfather's 82nd bday. I wish every day that there were still alive.

Ask me anything. I'll probably even answer honestly. Or at least interestingly.

formspring.me

2010-02-24T17:37:00.001Z

So why Tinks? And, what was the last project you actually finished? :)

Tinkersdamn comes from my mom, although whether she remembers that is questionable. The most concise story is that I moved back home bc of mono, and had dreds at the time (which made me resemble Sideshow Bob, unfortunately). She hated them. So, "I don't give a tinker's damn, if you're going to live here you're cutting those things off!"

And, smarty, I made an entire 6x6 album over Valentine's weekend. In the same weekend I made a simple album of a trip to a NT property. :P

Ask me anything. I'll probably even answer honestly. Or at least interestingly.

formspring.me

2010-02-23T16:58:00.001Z

Ask me anything. I'll probably even answer honestly. Or at least interestingly. http://formspring.me/Tinkersdamn

formspring.me

2010-02-23T16:57:00.001Z

Ask me anything. I'll probably even answer honestly. Or at least interestingly. http://formspring.me/Tinkersdamn

I Almost Made It

2010-01-02T17:40:00.003Z

Thank you, everyone, for your kind words and thoughts. I really do appreciate it.

I almost got the office cleaned up (read: de-Christmas wrap central-ed). I managed to re-cover a mini book last night, and was planning to photograph it and make a blog post. But wait, I should tidy up that one pile of stuff in the way.

Oh.

Well.

It contained last year's Christmas photocard from my grandparents. All things considered, it wasn't that hard of a punch- far worse was arriving back in the UK to find my birthday and Christmas cards that grandma had already mailed (oddly, and amusingly, she got me the same bday card 2 years in a row. I love that, and it made me smile when I most needed it). At any rate, it's knocked the wind out of my propper blogging sails. So we'll try again in a few days time.

I am starting to feel like my whole darned house is booby-trapped though. I keep running across little things like that. On the one hand, it's lovely, because we have all these little pieces to remember them by. On the other... well... I'm starting to feel like swiss cheese.

Love and happiness in the New Year everyone.
x
Lisa

2009-12-07T19:10:00.002Z

I'm feeling really empty and not terribly blog-minded right now. I guess I don't know how many people read this that don't know me, but for those people, my grandparents were killed in a car accident on November 30th. GrandparentS, as in plural- I've lost both a grandma and grandpa in one horrible swoop, and then buried them on my birthday. Somewhere between the shock and the jetlag I've started to grieve, but it's going to take some time.

In a few days I'm going to try and post the eulogy I read for them, because it best sums up my feelings. But for right now I'm just going to crawl back into my bed and curl up for a while. Because the grief is overwhelming.

Thank you for understanding, and I'm sure normal service will resume in the next few weeks.

More Layouts Than You Can Shake a Stick At!

2009-11-16T00:13:00.026Z

I'd say this weekend's cybercrop was a success; this isn't even quite everything, there are 3 more layouts and a minibook I'm still tinkering on. Loads of fun, zero sleep, and lots of new skills and ideas. Can't beat that.

(I feel, for some reason, I should give some product and teacher credits- "Fabulass" was a kit class from Shimelle Laine~ "Non-Flammable" is from a class by Taniwha, paper largely from Rusty Pickle~ "Soar" was an MJM class, and "You Think" was a class from Ifa (check them all out at UKS).

The rest of the paper is Basic Grey, Bazzill, and who knows. )

I Made Stuff!

2009-11-12T11:44:00.003Z

I don't tend to make cards. In fact, usually I refuse to; I don't like spending a load of time and supplies on something that someone probably isn't going to keep. I decided to make an exception, mostly because it was a pre-crop challenge over at UKS. Actually, the cute lil' card fulfills 2 challenges, as 1 was to make a banner using hearts. And so I have, to a rather splendid effect. Now I just have to post it, something I'm not terribly diligent about.

The other thing I don't usually make is "stuff". It's not that I don't like crafting (although I do tend to make things more complicated than need be), I just figure my house has enough stuff without me creating more. But another challenge was to make 4 companions for this weekend's cybercrop. Lo and behold, I found these little chipboard friends. 4 of them, 4 of us in my family. So from the left we have Dad, Son, Mom, and Daughter (see all the beading on the skirt? this is what I mean about making things complicated). I know they don't have hair or faces yet, but my response to that is "Do you know how long that skirt took?! I need a break!" I think eventually they will all have hair, but probably not faces. We'll see.

But yes, I made stuff! With things! Sugary cute stuff! It can happen, folks.

What were we talking about?

2009-11-01T23:58:00.007Z

I didn't get any projects done. I've been busy. Really, actually, truly busy.

But I found the camera.

We go to Broadditch Farm shop every year to take photos.
Here's the 2009 batch for your viewing pleasure. (It's pretty obvious which ones I've run thru PSE isn't it!)

They're kinda cute. But I'm kinda biased.

Confessions of a Serial Project Beginner

2009-10-29T00:19:00.003Z

I have a problem. I'm not alone in this problem; if nothing else I know it's hereditary.

I start a lot of projects. You don't have to know me particularly well to see that. If you do know me, you'll know that my brain seems to resemble a badly decaying rubberband ball, with bits snapping and pinging off with no warning.

I don't finish very many projects, and certainly not in a timely fashion. I suspect you don't have to know me at all to see that- if you just look at me you can see I have done a nice job with my make-up and then left my hair to be a bird's nest.

I spent several hours cleaning our main bathroom yesterday, right down to scrubbing the carpet. But I've left a lot of crap sitting in the hallway.

So let's have a look at the damage for the year, keeping it solely in the crafting vein (because if I start adding in cooking projects, fitness projects, etc, we'll never get done. Also I will get depressed);

2 scrapbook classes- bare bones started, not touched since

1 scrapbook class- nothing. Haven't done a thing.

2 scrapbook classes- nearly done. One is missing like 2 things, the other a few photos.

1 scrapbook class- ongoing project, 10 or so LO's done.

Scotland trip album- 2 pages done.

So what do I do? I sign up for another one. I won't say which one right now, partly because I want to take the next week and finish up something. Anything. I want one less pile of stuff in my office. As we head into the holiday season (which includes Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas) (this one is great, I have to say. I love the idea that you pay once and you're in for good. That alone takes off so much of the pressure and guilt!).

So watch this space, because there will be new projects posted soon. Especially if I find where my camera has wandered off to. I meant to look for it, but I got distracted...

Mojo Regained?

2009-10-15T22:39:00.006+01:00

Probably not. I mean, I hope so, but I'm not overly optimistic. As of late my energy has been rechanneled into baking, with any leftover energy being used to not eat all of what I've just baked. But this evening I shut myself into the office with the hopes of finishing a page that's been on my desk for almost 2 weeks.

Tra-la! (If it's being annoying and won't let you see it bigger, it's also been added to my Flickr photostream)

It's very loosely (and I do mean loosely) based on a sketch from Shimelle's site

I also included a bit of pink ribbon (ok, rick-rack) so it's elegible for a giveaway over at Candy Shoppe Designs. Have a look at the prize-

I'm not a pink pink pink person, but Daughter is, and it goes without saying I do have the odd photo of her to scrap. Also I can see huge scope for crafty projects with some of these bits. So fingers crossed!

When I flopped down at my desk this evening I was greeted by this little guy:

It would seem the K'nex have been brought out from under the bed. I have to say, I particularly like how he did the legs and feet. And the "lake" was a nice touch. This evening's art project was making puppets out of toilet paper tubes. The Little Boy saves every tube in this house, I swear. Along with bits of packaging he likes, pieces of string, and occasionally things pilfered from my office. I've given up trying to make sense of it and have resigned myself to wading in every couple of days to get the laundry and feed the fish.

Good lord I'm glad to have that layout done. I hate when things lay around like that, I completely lose the will to finish the project. I think I'm going to go celebrate with a Bailey's and a couple of those cookies I've been ignoring all day.

Supplies used: paper- Basic Grey "Sophie". alphas- Doodlebug, American Crafts, and... um, Target. journaling block, tab- Making Memories. stickers from Doodlebug. everything else- from the back of the cupboard, where things live in brand-free harmony.

Geek...

2009-10-05T16:32:00.003+01:00

...is the new black, apparently. So I'm set for the season I guess.

Actually, this is the title of a new challenge over at Candy Shoppe Designs (see button on the side). I know there are about a million challenge blogs these days, but this one is particularly special; I do some guest desgining for them! Here is my take on the geek challenge... the hardest part was finding something plaid, checkered, or argyle that I actually like. Turns out I have loads of checkered stuff, much of which I wouldn't touch with a barge pole. (Oh, and you know, as I'm typing I just remembered a really fab piece of argyle paper from Rusty Pickle. Perhaps I'll have 2 entries!)

So where's my argyle on this layout? The punched flowers. It's the first outing for my new trio of flower punches, and yes, mama's pleased with her purchase. I trekked up to Alexandra Palace a couple Saturdays ago for the Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show... aaaand brought home a big bag full of stuff. Not near as much as I could have and wanted to, but still enough. Among my favourite finds? Tim Holtz's filmstrips and some new Fancy Pants journaling notebooks. Highly delicious. I managed to hold off on BG's Junebug collection, only because it's too new and the price is still too high for me. Very controlled, don't you think?

My husband didn't.

supplies used- paper from Creative Memories, Rhonna Farrer, KI Memories. gaffer tape from 7 Gypsies. barndoor from Piggy Tales. letters and brads from stock.

Bookmark It!

2009-09-30T10:52:00.004+01:00

Normally I don't make "stuff" with my stash. I don't even do cards very often. I'm very selfish and possessive of my scrapbooking supplies... I sort of figure if I liked it enough to purchase it, then it's MINE! Bwahahahaha! Although I will occassionally make albums for other people, because face it, I have more stuff than I need. You heard it hear first.

BUT. Over at Candy Shoppe Designs this week is a challenge to make a bookmark. (see link on the side) The day I read the challenge, we happened to get a huge pile of junk mail, including this fab pink camo envelope for the breast cancer research charity. I'm always reading something, and let's face it, single sheets of toilet paper aren't the cutest bookmarks.

5 minute project. Really. Couple stickers, some flowers and a snap, a little doodling and done. I went with the snap because I figured a brad would get snagged on the page too easily, but I think if you wanted to stretch to 7 minutes you could just adhere some backing paper over the prongs. Cool huh?

Hey, the mail's here... I think I'll go check for more cool envelopes. :)

Unfortunately

2009-09-27T22:20:00.002+01:00

Okay, so I got this idea from Kelly Harcus's blog- http://kelspace.typepad.com/ - so I will admit I'm not being the least bit original today. But the results cracked me up. The idea is to Google the word "unfortunately" followed by your first name...

unfortunately, lisa fell off the wagon and began using drugs

Unfortunately Lisa is struggling with weakness in her legs

unfortunately Lisa died of a questionable drug overdose before she escaped.

Unfortunately, Lisa didn't say much that I can remember

Unfortunately, Lisa never made it that far.

Unfortunately,Lisa is suddenly divorced.

Can't say I'm thrilled that 2 seperate posts have me using, but there you go. Off to see what I get with the Boy now.

I don't know how it went down...

2009-09-20T22:29:00.002+01:00

but apparently a good pony party can really take it out of you. Even the ponies have tipped over.

Little of This, Little of That

2009-09-12T20:50:00.003+01:00

This picture really has nothing to do with anything, it's just a cute shot of dozens of baby "Nemos". The aquarium in Monaco really was cool. I'm having a hard time choosing which shots to get printed.

And I love how the cacti look more like they've been piped from an icing bag. I love cacti. Not in a "gosh I'd like to grow some" kind of way, but more of a "Nature has quite the imagination" thing. I have early memories of crashing into cactus, both at my grandmother's and great-grandmother's houses, and since my kids are an awful lot like me, I figure it's best not to have any. Cacti, not kids. Ship's sorta sailed on that one.

Speaking of, we have survived our first week back at school. Son was really excited, not nervous at all. I don't know a thing about his teacher, and won't really meet her till mid-October. This seems weird to me, but I suppose it's just the difference in educational systems. I could arrange to meet her after school one day, but I'm worried that would make me seem like... like I don't know what. Control-freak mom. Nosy parent. Who are you and are you qualified to teach my son?! mom. Yes, okay, I am that mom. However it seems best to not start off on that foot. Daughter was equally excited about starting back at nursery. I think she was suffering withdrawal symptoms- 6 whole weeks without painting! Ye gods! How can one so small cope?! 4 days in and she's brought home nearly a dozen masterpieces already. By Christmas I'll be up to my armpits.

It is nice to have our routine back again. The kids seem better for it, and once I get the hang of what day it is I'll be okay too. Son has elected to sign up for yoga classes after school (Fridays) and Scouts (Wednesdays), and has swimming lessons starting again (Sundays). He also has PE (Wednesdays) and music (Wednesdays) so he'll be really busy this semester (but hopefully also strong, helpful, brave, flexible, and calm). Daughter is dying to start ballet, so hopefully I can find something for her.

Tink

The Boy

2009-09-06T20:46:00.002+01:00

Good, huh? :)

The Long Arm of the Photographer

2009-09-04T23:24:00.009+01:00

A shot from our recent trip to the Cote d'Azur. This particular snap is from Antibes. And yes, I took it myself, me and my freakish arms.

<- This shot of the kids pretty much sums up the trip. Shortly after breakfast they would start begging to get in the pool, and refuse to get out until it was dark.

One of the days we drove to San Remo, Italy... pretty much just to have lunch on the beach. We then backtracked to Monaco. Missed the obvious stuff (casinos. Sorry mom) in favour of the aquarium. I've visited a handful of really good aquariums, but this was the first that combined the tanks with an old-style museum, with wood cases and eerie things in jars. I love museums like that.

And it had a... um, opthalmosaurus? Yes. That's what Google says! "Anna" is from the Kansas Sea- which means my mom traveled something like 8,ooo miles to see something discovered 2 states away from North Dakota. I love that.

Anyway, that's plenty for now, methinks. More next time. And perhaps some scrap-related goodness.

Home

2009-08-31T18:57:00.003+01:00

I'm home. That will have to suffice for right now, until I sort out the laundry and the photos. And this monumental headache. Er, and the stuff for the 2 scrapbooking classes that start tomorrow (the fab Cathy Zielske and the equally fab Shimelle Laine!).
x

WOOOO!

2009-08-18T09:22:00.002+01:00

I am ridiculously excited today. Really. Like beamingly happy.
We're going to see Pearl Jam tonight!

I have always wanted to see them live. Always. Since I was like 12. You know how you have this mental list of bands you'd love to see? I believe this is the last one on my list. Really. We went to Live 8 in London in 2005, so that took care of a couple (Pink Floyd! The Who!), I saw Tool when I lived in Colorado, and over the years I have been to Ani DiFranco 3x, Tori Amos, RHCP, Foo Fighters, Motorhead, and a few others. My first real concert, if you'd like a laugh, was Def Leppard. They put on a hell of a show though, I have to say. But...

We're going to see Pearl Jam tonight!!

Made It

2009-08-13T14:52:00.005+01:00

The (little) Boy survived his sugery. Happily they just needed to remove his tonsils, leaving his adenoids and ears alone. It proved to be a very long day- having got up at 4am to be ready and there for 6:15, the surgery was done by 8:30am... thus began the long dull march till evening when they decided he was well enough to go home.

Daughter arrived late afternoon with Dad, took one look at her brother (lingering on the canular) and said "Jamesie, you are berry berry brave!" which was ridiculously cute. And then! Oh my god! The bed goes up and down! 3 different ways! So much time was spent pushing buttons and giggling.

He was very relieved when we got home last night. As he stood on our front step he suddenly got this look of peace and relief, looking for all the world like Samwise Gamgee at the end of LoTR, and announced "Well, I made it." Suppressing a laugh, I asked if he didn't believe he would make it home... "Well, I wasn't sure. Not really." My heart nearly burst! This boy, who had said little or nothing in the run-up to the surgery, didn't make a peep on the day (I was expecting something when they put in the IV line), and laid quietly all day... this boy had been quite sure that this was it, that he wasn't going to make it home. He never fails to amaze me.

Wednesday

2009-08-11T18:05:00.002+01:00

I am, so far, extremely lucky. My children are whole and healthy. They are still quite young, so I'll just say "No major calamities or broken bones so far."

But tomorrow we're taking our son in to have his tonsils and adenoids out, and possibly tubes put in his ears. Fairly routine, nothing to get worked up about. Except of course I'm his mama, so I am worked up about it. I am quietly freaking out, although I am determined that he will not know this. I'm trying not to think about it... meaning it's dominating my brain.

In an effort to escape my head I've just re-read the entire 7th book of Harry Potter. We went to the newest movie over the weekend (I think I can safely say "Meh."), and so I felt the need to finish the series I guess. Still good books. Still flat movies.

-Son has just come in to say he's really afraid. Time to go be brave for two.

Photo Bandwagon

2009-08-08T21:49:00.002+01:00

My friend Sarah ( http://sarahk-scrapblog.blogspot.com/) tagged me for this project- the idea is to open your photo folder, open the 4th folder, choose the 4th photo, and upload it to your blog.

I had to jigger this somewhat, as my 4th folder didn't have 4 photos in it (I know, I know). I couldn't count 4 down either, as that one was Adobe stuff. So this is from the 4th folder diagonally.

Happily, it's one of my very favourites from the last year- this is a little girl named Yoden, whom my friend Sandra looks after. She was my little buddy at the playgroup we attended before Daughter started school. I haven't seen her in some months, so I'm not sure Sandra still has her. I love this photo; it makes me grin every time I look at it.

So tag, you're it! All of you bloggers, c'mon! Link up here so we can all share.

Sleepy, the Littlest Dwarf

2009-08-07T22:35:00.004+01:00

This is what really tired looks like. She didn't even flinch when I spun her around and covered her back up.

Although it's possible that tipping over while in full Belle garb could be even more pathetic. She doesn't really nap anymore, even though she really could use it.

You always wish you could bottle your children's energy; my wish is actually to have an on/off switch like my daughter. It takes me ages to fall asleep.

She's awfully cute though, isn't she?

See? Told you!

2009-08-03T14:11:00.004+01:00

See? I told you I would get the layout done. I'm really pleased with how it turned out, considering all the trouble I had getting the embellishments right. ... At one point my desk looked very much like a good-sized craft store had exploded. All tidied now, except for, er, I started another LO so it looks like a smaller store exploded. I am decidedly NOT a neat crafter.

The newest LO was going to feature a few cute print-outs from free digital kits, with inspiration from this weekend's shindig at Shim's site. Now, I knew my black ink cartridge was low. It has been for a while. But I figured it's like my old car and could run on fumes juuuust that little bit further. Nope. Nada. My printer staunchly refuses to print anything, even non-black stuff, till that cartridge is replaced. Since it makes sense to order all 6 at once, cuz hey, they're all gonna go on me eventually, this means convincing the Boy to let me spend upwards of £60 on ink. Which is why dear reader, this evening we are having his favourite steak sandwiches and sweet potato fries for dinner. I may be disorganised, but I'm not an idiot.

In other news, yesterday was my mother's birthday. Obviously I wasn't there, since she's 6K miles away. But I called, as you do, to wish her glad tidings. She was very excited as my sister bought her a BB gun. For those of you not quite getting this scope of this, http://www.cabelas.com/p-0011148227001a.shtml here is what my mother is excited about. It's not small. (I'm pretty sure that's the model) When I told the Boy, he shook his head with that sort of resigned expression he gets when he sees my future.

In other other news, and this is even more exciting that a BB gun (sorry mom); I got offered at guest designer spot for Candy Shoppe Designs. I picked up the email last night and was so excited I couldn't fall asleep. I haven't even had anything published yet, and this was only my second submission, so I'm extremely proud. The boy congratulated me and then called me a nerd. All I could sputter was "Well you married me!"

Which gets said a lot around here, I'm afraid.

Here's what happened with my cute little headshot. This is an all digi-LO for the time being. I finally figured out how to do drop shadows, so it's an improvement over some of the others I've done. The circle template came from a talented scrapped called Lisette Gibbons, found- of course- at the Shimelle Laine party. I haven't done much with circles for years, despite having all the Creative Memories cutters. Circular stuff always looked so... I don't know. Dated, or amateur, or something. But I think I'll have to break them out again, as I quite like how this turned out. Being tactile, actual paper will be more fun. ;)

Partying with the Girls

2009-08-01T22:40:00.001+01:00

This is the layout that's been on my desk most of the day. I'm hoping to finish it... some time before I die. Each time I think yes, I've got it now, I think of something else to add to it. Normally I don't dither about layouts that much. But I keep thinking of things to add to it, ideas to try. I think this is probably a good thing. At least I'm working from a sketch (Candy Shoppe Designs, "Warm It Up") so that part of the thinking is taken care of.

And the partying? Check out the awesome Ms. Shimelle Laine's site www.shimelle.com. She's posting like mad, introducing new talent and their blogs. I think I've linked up to follow at least 5 new blogs... I'm going to need a bigger cup of coffee in the morning to make it through all the things I want to read!

In other news, my hands are thoroughly multi-coloured from a failed experiment to alchohol dye some bead chain. I'm not sure why it didn't take to the chain, but it certainly took to my hands. I'm now ginger, plum, and green bottle stained. The bead chain is still quite shiny and silver. So so much for that. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

A highly excellent development- the Boy cooked dinner. Not only that, he swept the kitchen and did the dishes. He's also watched the children for most of the day. I think he's really excited that he gets to sleep in tomorrow (the little Boy has finished up his swimming lessons for the time being).

So back to the layout. I will get it done, I promise. It's taking up too much of the desk. And having recently won a prolonged battle with my Herma roller, I think I may just have the willpower to continue. Wish me luck.

It's A Mystery

2009-07-31T00:15:00.001+01:00

I returned to the hospital today, hopeful, nay, eager for a diagnosis. (queue drumroll) aaaaand the answer is... we don't know yet! So I gave up another 6 vials of blood and have to return in a week for an abdominal CT scan, and a week later for another possibly fruitless consult with the doctor. But I did learn a new word today- "hepatosplenomegaly". It means my liver and spleen are enlarged. I knew that, I can't bend over properly. Thanks to Wikipedia I feel somewhat comforted that it's probably either viral hep or acute mono and not some scary lysosomal disease with a German doctor's name tacked on it. I do have the vague feeling that whatever it is will sort itself out by the time my doctor comes up with the answet. That or I won't have any blood left and I'll look like the grandmother in George's Marvelous Medicine.

The above layout is one of the last I finished before I got sick. I just sifted through my recent work to choose 10 to submit for a design team. "Jump" sadly didn't make the cut, despite being a thoroughly cute layout. With glitter letters! I have another submission to put together in the next couple of days, but I think "Jump" will still be on the cutting room floor. So she gets a feature spot here!

In other related news, I scored all 4 of the Fiskars ripping rulers for half price. I've been looking at them for AGES, dithering. But £3 rather than £6 each means no more dithering. Er, except to decide which one to use first and on which project. Other Paperchase finds include scissors for the Boy so he stops stealing mine, cute badges to share with the Boy, and some gorgeous "wrapping paper". I say it like that because I can't fathom using paper this beautiful on a gift, no matter how nice it is. One sheet is cerulean with silver flowers and vines; that's going above my bed. Another has slabs of bright summer color stacked like a layer cake; that's going to be the basis for the revamped message board downstairs. Several other sheets were purchased because they jumped into my basket. These things happen. I feel very virtuous however, as we proceeded to Blade Rubber Stamps where I managed to spend nothing. Not for lack of choice... but they didn't have the main thing I need, so if I have to make an internet order I may as well go for the free shipping, right?

Here, dear reader is a fresh photo of me. It appears to showcase neither my new haircolour nor new haircut, but it is a pretty nice photo. I'm somewhat less yellow that I was and I'm wearing 2 of my favourite shirts, so

it gets a big thumbs up from me.

So here's my question- how do you photograph yourself? I'm pretty lucky to have rubber arms, so most shots of me (or more often me with a Kid) are from a slightly elevated position. I'm unlucky that my camera has no self-timer (really don't know how I overlooked that) so this is by necessity rather than choice.

Hiatus

2009-07-24T09:51:00.000+01:00

Apologies for the lack of blogging. And apologies for the continued lack of blogging; I've just been released into the free world after a week in the hospital, and about the last thing I feel like doing in blogging. Facebook and email is about as much as I can take right now.

For a bit of scrap-related goodness, check out http://www.jessicasprague.com/ - I am working on her Frame Ups and Special Effects class for PSE, and it has been... well possibly life-altering. The few photos I've tinkered with look so much more professional (thank you edge-burn!) and funky. I can't wait to get some of them printed and scrapped.

And no, to those of you who know the hospital stay was preceded by a crop weekend, I did NOT scrap myself into the hospital. Unless my paper gave me the Epstein-Barr virus, or caused my liver to swell. :p

Drastic Measures

2009-07-07T13:08:00.000+01:00

It's probably no suprise to hear that I procrastinate. About... nearly everything. For instance, today is 7/7- I returned from North Dakota the end of April, and there is still a suitcase of miscellaneous crap sitting next to my bed. Really. I couldn't bear to unpack it when I returned, I was too heartsick. Then I got busy. Then I procrastinated. So there it sits.

The other 'hallmark of me', if you will, is that I tend to always have at least one box of stuff sitting around. Odds and ends, whatevers, you name it. Whenever we're about to have company I race around the house with a bag/box and pick up the stuff, and then it gets put in a corner of my room, never to be heard from again.

My project today was to transfer photos from the old laptop to the new, so that I could order prints. Really good in theory. Except I can't find the spindle of blank CDs to dump the photos to. Office? Nope. Cupboards? Nope. Well, where could they be? Oh crap, I bet I know.

So I have started cleaning my room. The suitcase is still there, although the contents have shifted somewhat. Several of the boxes have been emptied, 2 bags of garbage have been removed.

Have I found the stupid CDs? No, I have not. Maybe they're in the next box...

The Right Now Bandwagon...

2009-06-25T14:33:00.000+01:00

I love this idea, and I think I may turn it into a running mini-book. My thanks to Ali Edwards and Cathy Zielske (for the idea, and me not being the first to copy it).

TODAY
June 25th, 2009

Outside my window... there is sunshine, thanks to the massive tree branch I cut off yesterday.

I am thinking... about James and his fear of mortality, and how I feel like a jerk for accidentally starting it.

I am thankful for... 3 hours of quiet every morning. I may not get much accomplised, but it's nice to have the time to myself.

From the kitchen... last night we had McDonald's as a treat. Tonight will be something with pasta.

I am wearing... a 24 yr old t-shirt and my husband's boxers. And the most kick-ass coppery orange eyeshadow.

I am creating... mess after mess without actually accomplishing anything.

I am going... to get James from school soon, and then the 3 of us will play Sorry.

I am reading... the second book in the Phillip Pullman "Dark Materials" series. I don't really want to, I didn't like the first one, but I don't like leaving a series hanging.

I am hoping... that James's upcoming tonsilectomy goes well, and that afterwards he will be able to breathe and hear properly.

I am hearing... a documentary on the History Channel. I don't know what it is, something about art, which usually means Da Vinci. Whatever, it's not animated, so it gets a big thumbs up from me. Oh, and suddenly I'm hearing Zoe snoring next to me. Yay History Channel!

Around the house... are the aforementioned messes. Clothes seem to be %80 of the problem.

One of my favorite things... my son's depth of emotion.

A few plans for the rest of the week... to get the house today enough that I won't feel guilty taking time to scrapbook. Although I'm pretty sure the next 2 days will be dominated by the school fete on Saturday- hooray for volunteering.

I'm Not Dead

2009-05-06T00:40:00.000+01:00

My strawberry plants aren't dead! Nor are the 3 dozen pepper plants that miraculously germinated despite utter neglect!

Do you know what this means? It means I'm nearly 30. My grandma told me about 12 years ago that I would probably kill every plant I tried to tend until I was 30; apparently it runs in the family.

I've also got a pointsettia that was a single flower (I bought it from the grocery store. Those things don't live, they're like carnival goldfish!) and I've had to repot it not once but twice and it seems to be thinking of going for 3. I had an amaryllis that I finally deliberately killed (sick of it, and it was HUGE). I've got rosemary and lavender outside, completely ignoring them and they're thriving.

So indeed, I must be approaching the Age of the Green Thumbs. It's sort of a bittersweet feeling, I have to say.

And what the hell am I going to do with the produce from 3 dozen pepper plants? I know, I could thin them out, but I'd feel like a murderer. The Age of the Green Thumbs had better be closely followed by the Age of Being Interested in Canning.

Procrastinating

2009-03-30T12:00:00.001+01:00

I should be packing. I should be doing at least a dozen different things to get ready for the trip. I'm not. I've mopped the floor, finished vaccuuming, and spent large amounts of time making tea for the 4 guys out front who have AGAIN utterly failed to find out water connection. This is getting quite silly.

Last night I did it; I made a full digital layout. I think it turned out okay for my first try. It's all free kit from Two Peas, which is super cool. (Thank you Shimelle for all the links!) I'm not sure it's my way forward, but the idea of hybrid scrapping appeals, so perhaps I'll get it printed and tinker with it a bit. How'd I do?

Ah, well...

2009-02-26T16:39:00.000Z

Much excitement at our house yesterday; we were granted permission from Son's Headteacher to take extra time in April, so we quickly purchased tickets to go to North Dakota for, well, April. Son has 2 weeks off, so with the extra 10 days he was granted, we will be there for Easter, one Grandma's birthday, Easter, a cousin's birthday, the other Grandmother's birthday, and Daughter's birthday. We like to pack a lot in to a short space of time.

Son was so excited he couldn't sleep last night, and kept popping up with questions. "Will there still be snow?" "Maybe." ... "Enough to sled?" "Possibly, go to bed." ... "Will we get to go out on the river?" "Probably not if there's snow. Go to bed." ... "Do you think I'm big enough to spend the night at my cousins' house?" "We'll see. Go to bed." Excited might be something of an understatement, actually.

So now I'm quickly throwing together a scrapbook/journal for Son to fill in while we're on holiday. Why? Because his Headteacher strongly hinted that this would be an excellent idea. Righty-o, sir. This has a distinct advantage, I've discovered; I can use up odd colors of cardstock, use a journaling stamp I always forget I have, that cute punch from Stampin' Up that makes everything look like notebook paper, AND use up the inexplicably large selection of stickers I have accrued that are somewhat Midwest in theme. In my day-to-day scrapping I have very little use for pheasants, John Deere tractors, and an 8" banner sticker that says "North Dakota".

It also gives me a good excuse for neglecting the class I signed up for. With the best of intentions I enrolled in "Here, There, and Everywhere", a Shimelle Laine class from TwoPeas. I have yet to really do anything besides download the prompts. I just can't seem to get going with it. I'm slowly finishing off other projects to make myself feel more productive. It's not that it isn't a cool class. It is. I just can't get going with it. Perhaps another time. For now I'm scrambling to put together some basic albums of trips we took last year, so I can show them to the people back home. We'll see how that goes, won't we?

Oh My giddy Aunt...

2009-02-08T22:48:00.000Z

I've just finished participating in my first ever cyber-crop. My team took 3rd, something like 10K points behind first place. Not for lack of effort on my part; I earned nearly 900 points, completing more layouts and embellishments than I usually do in a month. I took this more seriously than I should have, staying up till 5 am 2 nights in a row... scrapbooking. Husband thinks I've completely lost it. That's fair, I suppose, as I shipped him and both kids to the in-laws for the whole weekend. It was a good weekend though, and I'm hoping to recover by the time the next one rolls around. :)

For results, click the Flickr stream on the right. Once Flickr opens, click on the "UKS Whodunnit CC" set, on the right. Otherwise you have to look at all the JYC stuff again, oh, what old news. ;)

I have to go put my head down now.

2009-01-20T12:58:00.000Z

My grandparents enjoying their refurb'd boat. I never seen my grandpa smile so much for so long.

Best thing I've heard today- (conversation with my mother, about knitting) "I've never thought of it as being something fun. Maybe that's my problem! I have to start my whole life over and rethink everything!"

Second best thing- (Daughter was engrossed in, off all things, a bass fishing tourney) "YES!!! FISH ON!!!"

It's worth noting that it's only 1pm, so these could get shoved down the list by the end of the day. I suspect not; mom's life/knitting revelation made me laugh so hard I got a side stitch.

Elsewhere from the world of crafting, I seem to have a brain slug. Seriously. My life isn't busy enough, really, so I signed up for something called a CyberCrop. I thought it was just going to be 1 themed weekend of scrapbooking. It turns out there are daily challenges you can earn "donuts" for (it's murder mystery themed). Obviously it's all voluntary and you don't get fired or even shouted at for not participating. It's free as well, so it's not like there's any obligation to sit here brainstorming about an evidence bag. But... well... it's fun. And somewhat addictive. And it's a brilliant excuse to scrap more, which is really the heart of it I think. My husband thinks I've finally gone around the bend. Well, he decided that on Saturday morning when I woke him up to fingerprint him. My kids think it's kind of fun seeing what mummy's made today. Speaking of, I should go put another layer of paint on today's challenge.

Brain slugs. I'm sure that's what it is.

Oh- and our heating is broke again. It was swell for the 6 days it lasted.

Comfortably (un)Numb

2009-01-11T00:54:00.000Z

She took her job as cookie decorator very seriously. For someone who usually tears around the house, she was unusually methodical and careful about frosting control and Smarty placement. Son's looked like it had been hit by a confectioner's bazooka.

The heating is fixed. I'm sure everyone is extremely interested in that. It took a whole week, I don't know how many phone calls, someone had to come and board part of the loft floor (thank you EU health and safety regs!), and then really just 2 nice guys, a new pump and about 35 minutes. I'm not positive, but I could have found a book on plumbing, acquired the necessary part, and probably had the whole thing fixed by, oh, Tuesday. Let's say Wednesday, so there's ample chance to study the diagrams. My new challenge is to get our landlady to have the whole system flushed soon, because it's beyond gunky. I was somewhat sceptical- handy people always seem to have ideas about what you should do next, and how soon. Then they showed me the burnt-out pump (and it's less than a year old)... oh.my.lord. Honestly, it reminded me of the dirt/blood mixture you see the Masai eating on Discovery Channel shows.

I am absolutely buying more Brita filters. And possibly one of the filters you attach to the shower.

My daughter started ballet today. I couldn't go with, as I was waiting for the heating guys. I wish I had; it didn't go well, and I like to think it may have been better if I'd been there. As it was, the class was supposed designed for 2-3 year olds, and was full of 4 year olds. I don't know if there wasn't enough interest, but whatever. So that's somewhat disappointing. Daughter loves to dance. I know, most kids do. They put on little shows and make their parents sit for what seems like years while they do they same 3 leaps and twirls. At 32 months, Daughter is not only leaping, bowing, tiptoeing, and bending, she's completing full 360 twirls on 1 foot. I guess I don't have anything to bench that against, but from my biased view it seems pretty good. We'll try again in 6 months. Maybe then we'll have that whole potty thing nailed as well.

Son starts swimming tomorrow. I don't think he's worried about it, but he's the sort of kid that will snort water and sink and then be afraid to try again. I know this because he's like me, and that's how I was. Am. I still don't swim very well. I want him to be able to, you know, save me. Seems like a handy thing. Not right off the bat of course- he's not even 6. Luckily fate has recently thrown us several swim-themed cartoons lately, one of which featured a polar bear that was very scared of the whole business.

Hey, I can go to bed without long johns, sweats, 2 shirts, 3 heat packs, and a space heater. What a fabby idea.

Oh me oh my...

2009-01-05T18:13:00.000Z

I'm freezing. Really. Our heating is broke, has been since Saturday, and isn't likely to be fixed until Friday at the very soonest. Something about because the loft isn't boarded and doesn't have a permanent light, the broken pump can't be fixed. God bless health and safety rules. The chap that came 'round today was less than polite, less than helpful, and more than irritated when I insist he speak directly to my landlady. So in the meantime 4 people are slowly turning to peep-cicles. Yes, we have a couple of space heaters. I'm also washing tons of clothes just so I can run the dryer, vaccuuming a lot, and putting all our food under the broiler. Anything to kick out some heat.
And that's really it for now, unfortunately. I have some new stuff scrapped, but I haven't loaded it. Perhaps I will from the warmth of bed later, but something about it being so cold (it snowed today) makes us just want to hibernate.
I did attend a performance of The Lost and Found Orchestra yesterday, which was highly excellent. Hopefully they'll tour so more people can experience it. When I defrost somewhat I will relate more, but for now the fact that I liked the traffic cone "plumpets" will have to suffice.

Ah, well...

2009-01-02T01:52:00.001Z

I'm trying not to have the "I'm behind" mentality... but, well, I'm behind. Not hugely, but it's funny how it weighs on a person's mind. Luckily tomorrow is a scrapathon with a friend of mine- she's arriving at 8. AM. AM. So of course here I am at 2am blogging!

I hope everyone had a nice New Year's. Ours was peaceful after the chaotic melee that was Christmas. I traveled into London with a friend to purchase an acoustic guitar. Anyone following this blog will have read my dilemma about choosing b/t a guitar and a banjo (neither of which I play); I came down on the guitar side of the fence mostly because I have some experience with it, and also my neighbors play, so I'm hoping there will be some free help available. I'm pleased to see that I can probably teach myself most stuff- yay Internet.

This evening Husband, Son, and I broke out the new Star Wars themed Monopoly game we got him for Christmas. Now, Son isn't 6 yet, but he's bright, he's got a good attention span, and he's a Star Wars nut, so I was thinking this would be somewhat fun. He and I played as a team so he could see how it goes. Then I remembered how completely CRAP I am at Monopoly. Soon after that I remembered how hard it is to teach a little kid how to play a board game that doesn't involve flicking plastic ants into plastic pants, or quickly fitting shapes into a board before the timer goes out. And for as short as my patience can be, Husband's are aproximately half that. After a couple of hours- the length of time it took for all but 1 property to be bought (and for me to mortgage half my stuff twice so I could buy more stuff)- Husband declared it was time to count up and be done. Son (who for at least an hour wasn't really playing, but battling with the remaining figures) was immediately incensed, saying we couldn't be done, we hadn't used the little settlements yet at all [settlements = houses], and it wasn't fair, etc. We tuned him out after explaining why we were quitting, totalled up, and lo and behold, Son and I won. Husband was dumbfounded, Son was jubilant, and I was left wondering if I'd accidentally grabbed more than 200 credits from the bank a few times, since it's new and the notes stick together. I can't think my tactic of "buy everything even if you have to mortgage to get it, then unmortgage as you can" actually worked.
Son has declared it the best game ever, and wants to play again tomorrow.

I'm caught up!

2008-12-23T00:36:00.001Z

At least I am for the next 10 minutes or so, till Shimelle posts a new prompt. Which is why I'm blogging, obviously- stalking the forum till the new prompt is up! All the new pages are up on Flickr, if'n you want to see. As you can see here I've been playing with my camera. Just because I can't find the damned manual doesn't mean I'm not going to figure this sucker out. Today's tinkering- macro.

I wish I had something dazzling and witty to share with everyone, but alas, I fear I don't. My grandmother is home safe from Mexico, so I feel more than a bit relieved. Christmas seems to be eerily under control, as does my JYC project. Really, the best bit (for me at least) is that after 10 days of constant thrumming pain my neck finally cracked, so I can see and just about think again. I did sort of wrench my hands playing Guitar Hero, but that's self-inflicted.

Best part of the day- watching a video with my 2 1/2 yr old girl and hearing her say "Oh... F-B-I. Hmm. An' iz BLUE." Another couple of months and she'll be the only person on the planet who reads those copyright warnings at the beginning of movies.

Second best part of the day- having my gran realise that she DID see some neat stuff in Mexico, and she doesn't need to fixate on her bad leg.

Third best part- fresh hot coffee and Starbucks ginger cake. And knowing I've got a couple more pieces in the freezer. Can't beat that with a stick.

It'd be fair to say...

2008-12-19T18:15:00.001Z

... that I'm a mess. Or at least my Flickr site is. I haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet. If you click on the slideshow and go to Flickr, click on the Journal Your Christmas set for the most complete, well, set. I'm still working out this whole photostream business, and feeling extremely stupid for it. But there you are. Or I am. I don't know which, which is probably a large part of the problem.

I had the most wonderful gift today. When Son got home from school I presented him with his invitation to see Father Christmas, explaining very simply that an elf came to the door. As I read him the invitation (for Lapland UK, the good one in Kent) his eyes grew as big as saucers. The sheer joy and amazement that Santa had invited him and his sister PERSONALLY was almost more than he could bear. Somewhere in the middle of his exclamations and "We have to call..." he stopped dead; "Do you think we'd better call Dad and ask him if we can go?" I smothered my laughter and told him I'm sure Daddy would say yes, but of course we should ask when he gets home. It really was priceless. Daughter was slightly less excited, but of course she's still little and didn't really get it. Also she was eating a bag of cheese doodles, and I can't compete with that.

I finally took a usuable picture of Son's tree. I still can't find my camera manual, so it's a lot of trial and crap. I mean error.

No, wait, I was right the first time. But this is a fairly successful one. You just can't see that in addition to traditional decorations, I've stuck a bunch of mini-Transformers on as well. Son is very pleased with the effect.

Christmas Treats

2008-12-18T10:01:00.000Z

I feel like a little kid- is it the weekend yet? Now? NOW? Saturday evening Husband and I are going to the RSC production of Hamlet. I'm wondering if we'll go out to dinner beforehand, like real grown-ups on a real date. I've been trying to think of something non-child related to talk about. Definitely one of the hazards of being a stay-home mom; I have no idea how to talk to my own husband anymore. Mostly I yell at him for not treating his eczema... not really an ideal date. I've also lost the ability to eat at a normal speed. Nearly 6 years of motherhood have pretty much scotched that.

I did something wonderful. Or awful. I can't make up my mind. I made a batch of my mother's fudge. It turned out splendidly. And I can't quit eating it. I even put it in the freezer. Doesn't matter. It doesn't freeze solid, so it's not much of a deterrent. I'm going to have to package it up and give most of it away, I think. My brain seems to be missing the self-control neurons. D'oh.

As if that isn't bad enough, I have plans (and ingredients) to make my grandma's peppermint cookies. They're sort of a ball cookie with a peppermint and cream cheese filling. I haven't had them in over a decade, and suddenly they're all I can think about (besides the freezer full of fudge). If I can get those done, I found a recipe for pecan pie cookies. At a recent party, a friend was waxing lyrical about pecan pie, so the cookies will be a perfect present.

I broke down and got a different album for my JYC project. This one's red cord, which looks hugely better. Everytime I would pick the thing up I'd think "I love this project! I love most of my pages! I need a different colour album!" Problem solved. Although ordering it brought to light an interesting fluke with my 'net shopping- I've been expecting about 10 packages, and the last things to be ordered were the first things to show up. Amazon must be short-staffed this year. And Pedlars. And Boden. I've become a professional "sit around and wait for the post" person. Can't run the dryer. Can't take a nap. Must remember to leave a note on the door when I got out. Go to the bathroom as fast as possible. Can't shower unless Husband is here. Can't run the space heater. 4 more parcels and I can dry my clothes, shower when I like, and leave the house without worry. It makes me rethink the whole "avoid the mall" strategy.

I should go watch the news so I know some current events, just in case husband wants to !auugh! talk with me. Doesn't seem fair; you can bet he's not swotting up on new paper releases so he can talk with me.

Victory is mine!

2008-12-13T14:37:00.000Z

I did it! OMG I'm now less stupid! WOOOOO!!!!!

It took over a week of trying to remember, but I finally took photos of my finished pages, uploaded them to the computer->Flickr-> here. Duh... as you can see.

I used to be pretty good with technology. I'm not bad, but I'm definitely outdated. I blame my kids- I've been building Legos and playing My Little Pony, and I haven't had as much time to mess about on the net, trying out stuff. (looks around furtively) Yeah. That's it.

At any rate, you can now see my progress with my Journal Your Christmas album. Yes, I'm behind. Not too badly, but behind. My new brilliant plan is to set up a small table near my bed (new fave scrap spot)on which to set the printer. Then I have no excuse about printing my journaling... don't even have to get out of bed. Oh sure, I could just clean the office and dig out the space heater. But there's something brilliant about having the whole bed covered in bits and pieces, being comfy and being able to watch dvds while I scrap (The little telly hogs a lot of desk space, but in here it's sitting on a chair, out of the way).

Ah, and I managed another small victory as well; I gave 1/2 that stupid wrapping paper to a friend of mine. Husband brought home tape, so perhaps later today I will wrap some doors. "Every little helps" is what comes to mind. :)

My knits in a twist...

2008-12-11T13:55:00.001Z

I managed to complete 2 pages for my JYC scrapbook last night, no small feat. Now I'm only 6 behind. Woo!

I've done about a thousand loads of laundry. I can't for the life of me figure out why we generate so much. Nor can I seem to get anyone else to put it away. For a brief shining weekend we were able to actually sit on the long couch- now it's lost again, consumed by cotton and the scent of Woolite. Wool-lite. Something. I suppose at least it's clean.

This morning was spent wrapping presents. I genuinely used to like wrapping presents. I used to pick a new color or pattern every year, and wrap everything the same. I liked the shining unified sameness of a stack of presents. I would save boxes for months so that everything was neatly, squarely packaged- no clues as to what was inside. I would hand-tie and curl all the ribbons, no sticky premade bows allowed. One year I even bought a pile of Lindor chocolates that matched the blue and silver paper and tied them all on with silver ribbons.

Now? Now I stand hunched over the bed like some festive Quasimodo, trying to remember how many presents I've bought for each child. I try to wrap odd-shaped action figures, cursing myself for not finding boxes to put stuff in. I now wrap stuff well ahead of time, and leave off the ribbons. I may sit up Christmas Eve tying ribbons, but I suspect not.
I think I've found the root of the problem (for it's a fairly recent one). Last year I bought a roll of paper at Costco. "Seemed like a good idea at the time" should be tattooed on my forehead. "It's double-sided!" I thought. "I won't need to buy paper for a couple of years!" I thought. The paper itself is nice enough; not too cute, not too sterile. It's a decent weight too, not tissue thin but not so thick the kids need scissors to extricate their gifts. But I'm sick of it. 2 years' worth of presents have hardly made a dent in the roll. At the current rate of usage, this roll will easily last another 3-5 years. I don't think I can bear that.

But I have a plan- I'm going to wrap some of the doors in the house with it. My mom did this a few times with her basement door. I don't know if she was deliberately trying to use up some hated paper, or if it was a quick way to add a boatload of festive cheer to the house, but it doesn't matter. I've got 9 doors I could wrap. 10 if you do the one on the coat cupboard. 20 if I do both sides of the door. And if I don't die of an aneurism trying to manoevre the roll without ripping the paper, my plan should use up at least half of the remaining paper. And the rest I will give to someone, saying kindly "HERE!!! F£$KING TAKE THIS!!!" and scamper away, chortling like some Golem-esque loony.

Fate has already thwarted my plan, however. Not only has Daughter woken from her nap, but I see I'm out of tape.

Curse you, paper. You win this round for today.

Wuh... why?

2008-12-01T10:21:00.000Z

It's the first of the month! Yay! It's nearly my birthday! Yay? I'm getting a cold! Y.. wait. What? Why?

I know it's a mundane thing. I know it's that time of year. I know Son brings home germs from school. Here's my whine- not 2 weeks ago I was sick. Fevers, aches, whole thing. I didn't notice it so much at the time, as it coincided with my post-surgery bedrest (and more importantly, painkillers). This time I seem to have the sore throat thrown in just so I notice it. Swell.

Husband is sick too. More so than myself; he's sacked out in bed. So the week spent revising for today's exam was for nothing. D'oh. Son is sick, but that's not suprising... he seems to have perma-lurgy. After the 6-month debacle of walking pneumonia he had a lovely summer. As soon as it got cold, bang, it was back. The only one who seems to be bright and happy is Daughter, who is so active she refuses to wear pants. I wrestled them on this morning, turned around, turned back and was confronted with a small pantsless person crossing her arms and "hmphing". She even topped it with "So there." Oh for precocious.

The weekend was lovely though. We had some friends over for a late Thanksgiving dinner. I was absolutely terrified about the whole thing- I've never cooked a big traditional meal before. Pork loin? Fine. Several dozen cupcakes? Righty-o. Turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing, cornbread, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, squash? What? Auugh! But it was ok. I threw in a ham and green bean casserole for good measure. I think it was a success- I haven't heard from the guests since they left, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't because of my cooking. Maybe. I guess I don't know.

Today is the first day of the Christmas journaling class. I'm hoping to do my page while Daughter naps, but I have to say the lure of a nap is very strong. Not starting out very determined, am I? I'll do it. I will. I will! Don't look at me like that.
My other project of the day is sorting out a tree. I would really like a real one. Husband foolishly promised a real one, possibly not realising it's going to cost more than £15. I'm trying to decide if I should take advantage of his feverish delusional state and just order the tree. That's usually the best way to get things done, in my experience. Not very fair, but effective.

I think it might be time to check on Husband...
and possibly lie my zombie-like self down on the couch.

A First for Me...

2008-11-26T12:16:00.000Z

I'm taking an online scrapbooking class! Woo, you say. But I'm really excited about it! Oh? you say.

No, I am, actually. Excited I mean. Journaling, especially journaling every day, is way outside my comfort zone. Normally I write the bare minimum of journaling on my pages and call it good. The idea of doing a page every day is somewhat daunting, but challenges are good.

Right. What? What on Earth am I talking about? Journaling? How many pages? WHAT?!

I'll try again, shall I? I am taking the Journal Your Christmas class from the very talented Shimelle Laine. The idea is you keep track of what you do, every day, in the run-up and just after Christmas. It's more than that though; it's noting what you like about the season, be it carols, red cups (coffee junkies know what I mean), the spirit of giving. It's a way to slow down and reflect, pull threads of memories from your brain and weave them into something to look at later when your brain has knotted all its threads. Or to show your kids just how much damn work you put into making their Christmas magical. Depends on how cynical you're feeling, really.

I like that you can be as involved, crafty, journal-y, simple, WHATEVER, as you want to be. There's no set format, just prompts and ideas every day. There's a chat forum you can choose to be a part of, or not. It's nice to chat with like-minded paper-crazy people sometimes. And you're in for life! Like it, but ran out of time this year? Do it again next year, at no further cost. Like it, completed it, and want to do it again? Great, no further cost. What a brilliant idea.

So why, specifically, am I doing it? Looks like fun, really. Having 2 kids, my days are a blur. November is almost gone and I haven't quite come to grips that it isn't October anymore. I get so wrapped up in daily stuff and forward planning that I forget to pay attention. Plus I'm hoping I will push myself enough to write down some of my thoughts and my feelings for once. I tend to just record the bare facts in my scrapbooks, and years down the line when I'm gone, it might be nice for my kids to remember just how much mom loved Greensleeves and despised Silent Night. Or something like that.

So if you're at all interested, here's the link- http://www.shimelle.com/classes/389/journal-your-christmas . It isn't just for scrapbookers- I think if you just have a notebook, or a nice diary, you can still get a lot from the class. If you want to stick in some pictures and pretty paper, that's up to you. I have some Christmas paper on hand, so I'm being very controlled and didn't buy anything new except an album and some cardstock. Or it's an excuse to dive into a new hobby. It's like the journal itself really- whatever takes your fancy, go with it. I think it's going to be great.

A New Member to Our Family

2008-11-24T21:32:00.000Z

Hold your congrats though, I'm certainly not pregnant. We didn't even get a pet. I am (rather pathetically) referring to the recent purchase of Guitar Hero III. It's the first one we've bought, and it's a ridiculous amount of fun. Seriously. We scoffed. We sneered. I tried it this summer on the Wii, and amazingly we held out till last week to buy it.

A few years ago we were fortunate enough to score golden circle tickets to the Live 8 concert at Hyde Park. Hands down my favourite part of the day was seeing The Who and Pink Floyd, but scoring a very high 3rd on the list was Snoop Dogg's set. Now, I'm not a particularly huge Snoop fan, but there was something about standing there amongst a largely white British, wealthy, Chanel sunglasses-wearing, well over 18 crowd bouncing up and down to Snoop Dogg. It's one of those things that either strikes you as funny or doesn't.
I almost wet myself laughing.

Yeah, ok, what does one thing have to do with the other? Almost nightly now, and occasionally if there's time to spare in the morning, I am treated to the sight of my translucently white British husband rocking out to GHIII. Mornings are my favourite, as he's usually in his suit and tie, ready for work.
I'm going to need some pads or something.

What's funny, and to be fair, he's quite good at it. I suppose it's really a matter of dexterity and hand/eye coordination, isn't it? And he plays quite a lot of PS3, so there's no question of that.
It's still funny.