Some grainy pics....

Hello guys - have been absent for a couple of days due to OU caper. And this is a really quick one today you'll be pleased to hear - with much less rambling from me for a change!! First of all, thought Id share with you a LO I did for the latest challenge over on BTYD - a scraplift challenge. Apologies for the really annoying white spot due to bad lighting, and flash usage lol. Obviously of my little man, while we were out walking in our village a couple of weekends ago now - the one were the 'away' pic was from and the SOS ones I uploaded at weekend? And second and thirdly (?) my grainy pics for todays photo prompt over at HS:MS. The first is 'grain on grain' lol - apologies for the rather cacky close up shot of a grain of brown rice upon a slightly grubby, ready for washing chopping board.
And second - and prepare for 'sadness' guys, but this is the latest addition to our 'home corner' for Shaun and the other little people I look after. Its a wooden kitchen, and {I} he loves it!! Ive been dying to get some stuff like this for us to have a play with, and when we went into the ELC at weekend - to get his other bits and bats - there it was, and he was straight in there playing with all the wooden fruit and veg, and wooden pieces of toast and pans and all that stuff. So here it is now, in our front room and getting plenty of use already!! Only trouble is, its rather pink. It does have other colours, blue and yellow, but I think it should be a bit more neutral coloured - as cooking is not just for girls, as my good man found out when he met me lol.
Then these next two cards, the first I made for a fellow DT member and also used it as part of a challenge as it had all the requirements of it - for Shary's bows, buttons, and brads challenge a couple of Saturdays ago.
And this one, rather childlike, I know, but its for our postman Pete, who is retiring on Friday. Pete has been a great postman - i think I like him so much, not just because he is a lovely guy but also because he has brought me so many lovely crafting goodies over the past couple of years!! I have looked forward to him turning up many a day, stalking for my much awaited crafty bits n pieces. So I'll be sorry to see him go!! I asked him the other day 'do you drink Pete?' and he said 'why can you tell!!'. I meant so I could get him a little pressie lol but I did feel a bit of a pillock!!
Right guys, must dash, tea to sort and then its OU all the way tonight. I said yack to my OU course the other day - not because its rubbish but because I am - I have left things a bit late this time and am now in panic stations. But this has been the way I have worked all through Uni when I trained as a nurse, and did my degree modules!! Not good for stress levels but I must need the pressure to motivate me or something!! Weirdo.

And there was me saying less rambling.....have a good evening guys and thanks for popping by!

Charli

x

A quick show off...

Helllloooooo. A very quick upload of my photos for today! Taken last weekend of my little man, two of the very few I got, where he was actually playing ball IYKWIM! You saw the 'away' pic the other day, well thats mainly what he was doing, trying to escape and evasively manoevre out of mine and the cameras way. But I love these pics of him!! I think I have somewhere in the region of 6000 photos on my puter, much more than 3/4 are of him! Is that sad/scary/weird? I have enough photos for a flicker pad of his life so far lol, but I just love having photos of him. I think it'll be great (mind you he probably wont think so for a while lol) for him when he's older, to see how much he has changed and to see himself at all the various stages of his life. We have had a quiet and chilled day today. He has been great - so well behaved and mischief making at the same time, but in a good way! I am going to get my Christmas shopping done this week, for my family. If I can get sorted it'll be great, and minimise the Christmas panic I get most years thinking - what on earth am I going to get for ......
I'll also upload a couple of things I popped (just had to go back and change popped from pooped - i keep doing that for some reason) over on the BTYD blog for my DT post for this week. The first, a little mini book, and the second, a felt frame using some friendly (and it is really friendly lol) felt. Its really easy to use, to pierce for stitching and to punch - stick it through your bind it all - get the crop a dile on the case etc - its great stuff!!

Right guys. OU stuff beckons. Yack. Not into it at all at the minute!! I think my studying days are over.

Thanks for reading - shall check out your blogs quick, and then get on with the OU stuff. Hows that for procrastinating eh? Lol TTFN

Charli

X

The mighty boosh...

Beware!!!! Humongous gob approaching!!

So every Saturday on HS:MS, tis self portrait Saturday. And for a while I became quite sick at the sight of my smiling fromagey mush, which got me thinking about different things I could do - and this, lol, is what i have come up with for this week!! Big, aint it? Lol

We have been shopping for some of Shamus' christmas pressies today, and it was great! Until we had to put something that he had picked up back on the shelf. Ooh he didnt half kick up a right stink!! Im trying to find the Pinky ponk, tombli boos, and higgle piggle. Oh and the ponty pines. Has anyone seen any anywhere? I got Macca pakka and the Ninky nonk today, but the others were outta stock! Darn. They're characters out of 'In the night garden' by the way, in case you're wondering!!

We got him a little keyboard, complete with stand and stool too - he had a play on one they had out in the ELC today and he loved it!! He was banging on the keys like a good un and had a go with the mic too - cant wait to see him on Christmas day!! Thats our entertainment sorted lol and another one of his favourites - Postman Pat. Him and his van - think Jess is in there too.

Now Jonathan Ross wasnt on last night, was it, due to Children in need. I caught a bit of it - and saw the Spice Girls performance. What a load of sh***. I have, at times, felt sorry for Vicky Beckham, but lately there is something about her that really gets right up my nose!! That stooopid face she pulls, looks rather like she is constipated but I think she is trying to pull off sophisticated. And as for the rest of em, chancers now, in my opinion. They were alright once over, but they have well and truly had their day, I think. Take that - glad they're back, though I dont think its for good - ti ti boom (crikey). That rant about the spice girls said though - fair play to doing their bit for charity and all that. Wonder what they're getting out of it though?? Hmmm...

Right, better dash! Have a little something I need to get sorted before tomorrow for my Blog Til You Drop post. I am doing v.v.v. not good with the OU course now. I have two assignments due in in a couple of weeks. Havent even looked at it properly. I think I seriously underestimated the amount of time it would take to get the stuff done for it!! Oh well!! We live and learn.

Au revoir, mes amis, and see yall tomorrow! Shall have a quick peep at your sps's for today, have a fab rest of the weekend!! Its over far too quickly isnt it. Someone should write someone a letter about that, cant we have 3 days for weekend instead of just 2? A bit of collective action, mebbe? Lol TTFN

Charli x

The great escape, actually....

Well and truly stumped for trying to get a fresh brand spanking new pic for today. So here is my little man, last Sunday, getting rather fed up of Mummy and camera, and deciding to throw a spanner in the works. No, mother, I will not pose for you, nor smile, nor do anything you ask of me, in fact! So there! Of course he didn't actually say this, only being 22 months of age, but I could so tell that that was what he was thinking! I did manage to get some good shots of him though, one of which I am planning to use on a LO for this weeks challenge over on BTYD.

Today has been a fraught day with the kiddies. Shaun has scratched t'other baba's face, as she was trying to pull his hat off, and pull his hair, and generally put her hands in his face etc. This does not excuse his behaviour, of course! But the whole shopping experience was hard work. The other day when I went into Lancaster - we went into the works bookshop. What a nightmare! The aisles are far too narrow for any decent sized pram to fit through - I think I would have struggled to get through with the Quinny anyway! But as I leaned over to look at something, I heard a crash, and thought, hmmm...what has he done now. So I turned round to see he had knocked a highish pile of stacked notelets over, and was reaching for a large pile of books on the shelf next to him. So I expertly (or so I thought) swung the pram round and managed to stop him from pulling them over, as I bent down to pick the mess he had made up. As I placed the last notelet on the pile, I heard another crash. Yup, he had pulled something else over. I could feel the eyes of the shop assistant burning lol so I quickly tidied up and then got the hell outta there.

Today has been a similar day! Bless him, he wanted me to give him the car park token to hold, like a good boy, today. Ha! Wont make that mistake again! The last time I did that, he pushed it into the teeniest gap in between the rear bumper of the car. That'll be £10 please love! Said the car park attendant. I don't think so love, its right there, says I. I managed to get it out by dislocating my wrist, and squeezing my gret big banana fingers through the gap, with the aid of said car park guy. Really uncomfortable times, with my hand brushing his frequently, and then the fear I had got my hand stuck. Oh what joy!! And, you have to laugh.

Ha, and there was me thinking I wasn't going to be doing much rambling today. Big liar, I am.

At the moment, I have a grown manchild, whinging about not being able to get a %*'@*#*&% Nintendo Wii as they have all sold out. I swear, if it gets mentioned again, a certain can of whoop ass will be shook vigorously, and then opened. So there you go, that is the long and short of it round our way today!!

Right, I shall skidaddle!! Have a great weekend people, whats going on tomorrow? Oh no!! Its SPS. Will try and get my thinking cap on to do something different, but I fear it shall be CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE! from me tomorrow!! Ne'er mind. There'll be the Jonathan Ross review to look forward to at least!! Lol

Take care cockles.

Mini Me.....

I thought I would have no problem finding lots of cute mini items to capture today, but I was wrong! Initially I was looking for little bits of stuff around the house and having no joy, til I thought - I know a replica of something in a much smaller scale - or at least for now he's on a smaller scale anyway! My little man. 'Cept he is a new, and much improved version - of me!! I'm sure you've guessed that the first pic is me - I do think we look alike in these photos.

He has been full of mischief today - which isn't a bad thing in itself but he isn't responding that well to being told no - as a lot of kids don't I expect though? I mean, he's not quite two yet - I forget how little he is sometimes - he's so clever for a lad of his age, and he looks much older than he is because he is so tall! Sounds daft, that - how can I forget - I'm his Mum!! But I do.

I am excited. Because today, is Thursday. That means tomorrows Friday - catch on quick, don't I? And that means the whole weekend to spend with my boys. I really appreciate my weekends with them, its mad, you can spend a whole day milling around and going from place to place with the people in your life, but not really spend quality time with them. We get that at weekend though; some but its never enough!! We're getting some of Shaun's Christmas presents on Saturday - I cant wait!

Tonight, I will be doing a wee bit with the stuff in my DT kit. There are loads and loads of cool things in there - one is friendly felt - its great stuff and much stiffer than normal felt, so easier to cut and create with it. So shall see how that turns out!! I'm posting on Sunday, so pop over to Blog Til You Drop and have a looksee? There's great stuff being uploaded over there every day so its worth a pop over!

K guys, ta ra for now, and thanks for reading!

Will get round the blogs in a wee while, missed getting there last night as I was playing at being studious Charl, which Ill have to do a bit of again later. Why on earth do I sign up to these things, please someone remind me?????

Not another bloomin scarf...

Yup, I'm on with another scarf!! Now is it me, or do these scarves look fab in the book, then when you see your finished article, it never quite looks as good? lol, well that's how it is for me! It will probably look better when I have got all the other little bits finished and added to it - will update when its done. For those of you who read my blog regular-ish, I was going to give you another autumn watch update, of the empty branch with no leaf on it, but thought it might not make for interesting blogging!

So I said I would share a few of my other bits and bats I have been making - the sketch below is one I uploaded for my challenge last week, over on Blog Til You Drop.

And here is one of the LO's I did for it below, the other one is here if you fancy a peep! There's another fab challenge on the go, set by our Shary - have a looksee! Its buttons, bows and brads - her examples are lovely too.

An altered cigar tin below, used alcohol inks for the tin, which was a lovely shade of blue before, and used some vintage sarapapers from my DT kit, available at Crop Til You Drop.
And last but by no means least - my little man again! A LO with a pic of him from last Christmas - I cant wait for this year - just keeps getting better now we've got him to share it with!

Right, its rant time. What is it with technical support? I lost my t'internet connection last night, and phoned the guys at Netgear to help me out, as I was sure it couldn't be my broadband line. After about 30 minutes of 'press this' and 'do that', which I honestly didn't mind, as I mistakenly thought they were helping me lol, they said - change the adaptor to another power outlet. Now I can understand unplug, to reset etc., but change to another power outlet? What, like a different plug socket will make all the difference will it? Eejits - I don't think the woman helping me had a clue.

And another thing. My accent. I know its Northern. But I do speak fairly clearly when I'm on the phone, and I don't think that its that hard to understand me when I say 3, 4, 5, etc. I think they must have been taking the mick, personally, as I must have had to repeat myself about 6 times. Needless to say, technical support did not support me in any technical way, at all. And I was left to figure it out for myself, which thankfully, I managed today, hence me being here now typing this codswallop! Lol

So thanks for stopping by folks, and I am going to spend the next bit o time i have getting round the blogs, which I didn't manage last night. And all being well, I should get round them all - Ive missed seeing everyone's pics! Have a good day!

Bleepin blogger.....

I'm typing this, whilst I wait for the blogger to (hopefully) upload my pics again. Somehow - I don't think its going to be happening! I keep getting an error message :(

I'll give it one last try and upload the pics to photobucket if it still doesn't work, failing that I will have to ask for help!! Ah - its done it...

So the above photos were taken on my web cam, as I was suffering from cant-be-arsed-erenteritis, a common complaint I believe - and I therefore had no motivation to fanny about with my SLR - I mean, that would have actually involved going downstairs for it!!! Naaaaa...... anyway, the web cam didn't seem to be working properly. I kept clicking on the darn thing and nothing seemed to be working, until I heard a really loud noise that sounded like a gunshot (almost causing me to fall off my chair) because I had my speakers turned up far too loud. Apparently, the camera had a three second delay on it, and took three photos, one of me normalish, trying to figure out what I was doing wrong, one of me getting more confused, and the final one with me getting near peed off, because I couldn't fathom it out. If only it had took another, when the loud noise had happened - would have loved to have seen my scared mush! And on a brighter note, at least it isn't one of those annoying CHEESE!!!! pics that I usually do for Saturday lol
This next one is of my little man - I love it! He was pulling some really funny faces whilst trying to get the lid off his shampoo. I have a few others of him contorting his face into all sorts of expressions. You could be having the cackiest of days, and you just have to look at him and he'll flash you this gorgeous smile, and nothing seems to matter. Discovered yesterday that he is sensitive to something in tomato ketchup, and it cant be the tomatoes because he eats them like apples! Momos, he calls them. His little face came out in a red rash, so shall have to investigate further - it happens with a few other things too.

We went to see our friend's 8 day old baba yesterday - how cute!! He weighed 6 pounds at birth and was teeny, cute chubby little cheeks and he was sticking his bottom lip out!! I was slightly worried that I would get all broody, as us women often do in the presence of cute cuddly wee ones, but no! I mean, I would love loads of kids, but I still remember those early days, well. The ones where my boobs felt like they were going to drop off with the initial pain of breastfeeding and a very hungry baby, the exhaustion of sleepless nights, the pain of going for a simple wee etc. Mind you, it was a wonderful time and I loved it - NO STOP, no more babies for me just yet! Unfortunately, my Shaun is still in the 'getting to know softly' stage, so when he went to stroke the baby on the head, it ended up being more of a hard pat. He then proceeded to ransack the house, pulling off expensive model cars from a table and other mischievous tricks. What fun!

And this final pic, is some of my little man's artwork! He loves painting, getting it all over his face and hands. He ended up with a little streak of green paint under his eye, which ended up looking like eyeliner, with him resembling a young Russell Brand/Johnny Depp in pirates of the Caribbean, minus the facial hair of course - made me chuckle! Only trouble is now - its one of the first things he goes for in my craft room, shouting PAINT! PAINT! And attempting to squeeze it out of the bottles on the floor. Bless. So now, I better go, but not before mentioning its my turn to post over on Blog Til You Drop today - pop over and have a looksee? I'll be doing it shortly, hope the pic upload starts working soon!

Thanks for stopping by - I will catch up with your pics now, and then post my BTYD stuff! Have a good day folks!

Naughty Blogger

Good morning folks! Naughty because I didnt get any photos on yesterday, or any blogging at all - tut tut. See, if they guys over at HS:MS aren't around - I start slacking. Terrible.

A quick pop on to upload my red photos for today, and also a 12x12 LO that I did for KTP's 'its only words' challenge over on Blog Til You Drop from last Saturday. The above is using the quote I mentioned from last Saturday's post. Before joining in with the HS:MS prompts - I very rarely scrapped photos of me. But now I have done two LO's in the past couple of weeks, so my book of me scrapbook is filling up quite nicely!! There is a new sketch challenge up from Saturday just passed by Looby here, and its fab - I'll hopefully be having a go at it later whilst the childer are napping. Dont forget - any non DT entries are eligible for our monthly DT competition (the DT can't enter coz we're judging it, and that wouldnt be very fair now, would it?? lol) - you could win a fabby prize! Pop over and have a look see what Rebecca Nash won for September!

This is the t-shirt I am wearing today. And of course, I never leave home without my big bushy red barnet now, do I? So lots of red. Not forgetting my baba's lovely red head too! He is kicking off, however, so I shall refrain from photo taking for now. He has removed the sky card, and folded it in half, chewed it, and now it works when it wants to!! Ay dear. I did have a bit of an excuse for not getting on yesterday - I felt like hell! Women's troubles - sheesh. They dont normally bother me, but they have been steadily getting more and more painful since I had young Shamus. Dont know what is going on there. BUT I DONT WANT TO GIVE YOU THAT!!!! (said in a Chris Tarrant style)

So I shall say good day! Thanks for stopping by, and I shall be popping over to your blogs in a short while!!

Yikes....

.....its self-portrait Saturday again. Well, I have been less naughty this week and actually posted a clearer pic of me, devoid of weird and wonderful colours, shocking pink skin, wild blue hair and eyebrows, etc.

I know I'm not on my own when I say that I'm still not entirely comfortable with this self-portrait thing; I like to hide behind the freakishness of the over-altering I tend to do, to my pics of me. Why is it that it is so hard to take photos of ourselves? The weekly prompts are a good thing, and a real challenge for us I think!

I have received my next pack of DT stuff, and have to say that I am really really (10 reallys) chuffed with it!! Bev Todd of Crop Til You Drop, asked all the DT members to write a wish list, of stuff they would most like to see in their kits, and I can safely say that I got all things on that list, plus a whole lot more. Really looking forward to getting started with them, and I'm going to have a wee go tonight. We have friends coming over though, so I cant spend too long at it!!

We're having 'a drink', which usually means rather more than one drink, occasionally ending up with us singing for our lives on the 'singstar' game for the playstation. Hang on a minute, I think I have some film of Shaun and Mark singing.....just thought again - you wouldn't be able to hear it for my music on my blog would you? I'll have to root it out and get rid of my annoying music for a day or two. We have pizza, and nibbles, and wine and lager. Oh and most important of all - chocolate!! So I will have to get some pics of our shannanigans, and post tomorrow. I don't think they will be my SOS pics though lol

Ok folks, I shall skaramoosh (or whatever the heck it is that he says), and try and get some of this LO done before our mates arrive! Oh and dont forget to check out the Blog Til You Drop challenge, you'll be eligible for the monthly DT challenge competition!! Last months winner was Rebecca Nash, Rebecca regularly enters our challenges, her entries are fantastic - come on over and have yourself a go! There are fab prizes up for grabs!

Sunday Showoffery...

Good morning! A quick pop on before we disappear out for the day, to share with you my SOS photos for this week. First and foremost, my beautiful boy. I took this in Silloth when we went to see my ma there a little earlier in the year - some other photos from the trip can be seen here, in my 'HSMS - Dog' post. I haven't had to alter this in any way - I thought the colour was great on it and didn't think it needed anything else! I love his expression on this photo - it reminds me of how much he loved playing there on the park with his Nana and grandpa. I have scrapped this pic too, here.The second picture, as you can probably tell, I have altered the saturation in the colours far too much - I am blaming my previous rubbish monitor, but truth be told, I think it's probably just me, getting a bit carried away. Its a common feature of photos from people who are 'new' to digital photography - oversharpening or oversaturation of images. But anyway - I was really pleased with it at first! I love this place - its the Ashton Memorial in Lancaster, within the grounds of Williamson Park. I think the place is beautiful, I really love bringing the kids here and having a potter around it. You can get a brew at the cafe, along with a stale piece of chocolate cake if you're into that sort of thing lol. The Memorial never fails to make me think - wow - whenever I see it.

'The Ashton Memorial was commissioned by Lord Ashton as a tribute to his late wife. Born in Lancaster, Lord Ashton became a millionaire producing oil cloth and linoleum which was exported from the port all over the world. It serves as reminder of the importance of Lancaster as a thriving commercial centre, not only in times past but now in the 21st century.'
taken from the website - linked above

So there you go, that's me for today! I'm going to have a go at this weeks challenge over on Blog Til You Drop a bit later on - have a look see!! I found a quote by Marilyn Monroe that I'm going to use for it - here it is:

'I'm selfish, impatient, and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I'm out of control, and at times hard to handle. But if you cant handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.'

Good day to yall then folks - :( Monday tomorrow. And in the words of Bob Geldof.....

Thanks for reading!

PS I dont know if I mentioned it but I got some pictures of my Dad's brothers and sister who live in London!! I may or may not be popping them up here - just checking out that its OK with them first.

Thank {insert your own word} it's Friday!!

Ay up! I am so glad it's Friday. A nice relaxing weekend for me (lol yeah right). After the week I have had - I actually put the lottery on on Wednesday, I have cleaned that much you know what up from these childer (you know what they say - muck for luck and all that).

It's my turn to post a project today over at Blog Til You Drop. I have done a layout today, pop over and have a look see!!

We're off into Lancaster in a minute or ten, so it's a short one from me today. I better not say anymore, or I'll be lowering the tone even further! Have a great day folks and thanks for coming over!

My favourite bit about halloween!

My go at the prompt today - our cushion! Shaun loves these, he can sit and play with the fur on them for a good while, usually while he is watching 'In the night garden' before boboz. He finds his favourite spot on the couch and puts a cushion over his legs, and laughs and sings along to his favourite programme!

My favourite bit about halloween now, just like my favourite bit about Christmas, is Shaun Jr!! I hadnt really enjoyed Christmas proper for a long time, until he came along. Not that I didnt enjoy it at all, it's just that Christmas is hard work when your parents aren't together!! It's a time when you should all be together but usually, you end up having to spend one part of the day at one house and another part at another house, and it's horrible having to leave!! And of course we've got Shaun's (snr) parents too. But hopefully we'll get to spend some of this Christmas with us all together.

And halloween will be great too, to see his little face!! I love being a Mummy - a member of the best club in the world, in my humble opinion!! The grandparents - ma let me know when you read this lol - you've got to come to Shaun's halloween party dressed up!! Me and Shaun are, so its only fair that you and Grandpa do too lol

The first of these projects I made there, using the October Personal Shopper Kit was the LO of Shaun in his halloween outfit I got for him yesterday at Asda - he couldn't wait to get it on!! There he is, all kitted out (well kinda if you dont count his cute gingham jammies from Nanny lol), complete with Sparkling Ghost. And of course, he had to have the obligatory nibble at it, just to check it was 'OK'.

Second is this mini index book, made using stuff again from the kit. Am I right calling it an index book? With the little tabs on the sides of the pages? At school we had this English teacher - Mrs Smethurst. She has to be one of the most encouraging and inspiring teachers I have ever known, and I really hope my Shaun is lucky enough to meet at least one like her. But she had a real passion for poetry and I'll never forget her reciting John Keats' Ode to Autumn. She actually managed to get a bunch of 14 year olds interested in the stuff, and whatever else she taught. So when I made this 'Fall' book, I thought Id pop that poem in along with some of my pics from Fall this year, and other little bits and bats.

I cut Shaun Jr's hair last night. Hmmmm. Curly hair is not the easiest to cut AT ALL! Mum, I now understand the sheer hell you must have had whilst trying to cut mine and Mel's hair - we both had afro hair as kids and I tell you - it was a nightmare. I'll have to put a pic up of us for you to have a giggle at! Dont be fooled by that picture - we used to fight like.... I'll have to say cat and dog for now, cant think of anything more vicious off hand!

Trouble with our hair was, you could start cutting it, then comb it out and have to start all over again! Poor ma - I didnt have it that bad last night lol. Right guys, I'll skidaddle - I've waffled on long enough already and I'm sure you've heard enough - if you made it this far!!

Thanks for reading, and have a grand old day!!

Size does not matter after all, an inch is just fine!!

This is another LO I did for my book of me (BOM), and was inspired by the weekly challenge over on UKS. But then after I posted my challenge on Blog Til You Drop, and I said that if someone could get a pocket on an inchie I would be well impressed - well this prompted Guv (Beverley Todd of Crop Til You Drop/Blog Til You Drop/ I Love Hot Off The Press) to challenge all DT members to get a pocket on an inchie - there it is, top left hand corner of my picture!! And I have to say - I know its not fabulous but I could quite get into making these inchies!! They're so cute!!

So this LO is about me (obviously - duh, i hear you shout), and basically about where I am at now in my life, what kind of person I am now etc. I think I have to follow it up with a few LO's with pics of me from when I was younger, to give folk a better idea of where I have come from too - my outlook on life has changed a fair old bit, as it does for a lot of people!! And also the dodgy photos that I have of me from when I was younger - the hair, the clothes - I look shocking - and therefore they just have to be scrapped!!

It's A Boy!!! And another dodgy pic...

Good evening all!! I'm a bit later than usual, I have been uploading my challenge over on the Blog Til You Drop Site, I'd love it if you stopped by and had a go!! There's a sneak peek over there on the left. There have been some brill challenges on there, well worth a peep. And all challenge entries from challenge #6 to #10 are entered into the mothly DT challenge competition!

Now, first things first, my self portrait for today. I used the chalk and charcoal filter in photoshop today, because, as my hormones are running riot, I am spotty as hell. Think pizza only with as many toppings as possible (yuk that makes me feel quite sick lol). And the photo is now a little more forgiving (only a little, mind lol) - I couldnt bear to subject you poor people to another week of dreadfully shocking S.P.S (not that they will vary much from week to week unfortunatley for you poor lot lol)!! The hangover one was bad enough last week - a few people said to me - cor you're brave aren't you, putting that up?? lol.

And secondly - I just want to get one thing straight, for anyone who isnt sure - my Shaun is a boy!! I know, I know, he has long hair - but I cant bear to cut it - its so cute and I love his little curls. He'll probably kick my butt when he's older - Mother, how could you, you weirdo, you have ruined my street cred etc etc? The amount of people who say - 'isnt she gorgeous??' lol lol - I dont dress him like a girl!! I guess it's different for me - to me he is a proper lad - as boisterous as they come, real rough and ready. He looks like a boy in the face, to me!! I would love to know what you think!! That's a pic there of him with his grandad (Shaun's Dad) when we went for a meal for his Nanna and Grandad's 30th Wedding Anniversary. Looking incredibly boyish to me lol

K guys, thats it for now, have a fab rest of the day and thanks for reading!!

Oh sugar - I nearly forgot, I cant leave without having my daily weather whinge!! I know how you all love it...lol - only joking ;o) but it has been much better today, round our neck of the woods. I swear Im solar powered, feel so much better when there's a spot of sunshine about!!

TTFN Guys

HS:MS - Stare

This photo is of my Shaun. We had gone for a potter in our village, me armed with my new DSLR, pointing and clicking at pretty much anything, testing it out!! At this point I was still taking my photos on either auto or programme/shutter/aperture priority modes, and I was so impressed with these!! I was really impressed with the portrait mode on my SLR. But of course we were aiming to get similar effects without 'cheating'! So I started to experiment and use what I had learned in my course, and managed to take some good pics.

Now I know I have cheated, not taking a photo today, but I may be back later with another shot!!

It's my turn to set the challenge on Blog Til You Drop tomorrow - it goes live at 6pm, so come on over and have a peep if you get chance!!

Now we're off to toddle time this morning. It's our first time going to this one so we'll have to wait and see how it goes! I'm sure Shaun will love it either way, and that's all that matters really, isn't it?

So I shall hopefully be back later!! Thanks for reading guys, and have a good ol day. It's raining cats and dogs here!!

HS:MS - Tweezers

A quick upload of my photo for todays HS:MS prompt - my favourite pair of tweezers - the pair that try and tame my unruly eyebrows lol. Have loads for crafting but these are my most intersting pair; love the colour of them!

Have a wee trip over to Blog Til You Drop today guys, Im uploading my latest project for the October personal shopper kit over on the Crop Til You Drop webshop!! I'll be uploading a card and a LO using the gorgeous stuff from the kit!

A couple of crafty projects

This is the LO I did for Looby's challenge over on the blog til you drop website, there has been some more lovely stuff posted yesterday by KTP, and today by Alix, get yourself over and have a nosy!!

For this challenge I used only cardstock, a journalling stamp, and a teeny tiny bit of ink - didnt want anything to detract from my little man's pic!! This picture was taken in Silloth in August - we went up to see my ma there whilst she was on her hols, it was great - we had a fab time. The pic is of Shaun on a climbing frame, wreaking havoc!!

This second LO is my attempt at the UKS weekly challenge, and Ruth's challenge for last Saturday on the Blog til you drop website . It is of my Dad, and uncle Cecil, who died a couple of weeks ago. My dad is on the left, and my uncle Cecil on the right. Now for those of you who read the bit on my blog where I said I wanted to do a fun and bright LO to remember him how he was - I am going to - honest!! It's just, when I read the challenge over on UKS, one of the elements was to use a book title on your LO. I immediately thought of this book - 'after you'd gone' by Maggie O Farrell. It's an absolutely brilliant book, I read it in about a day - I couldn't put it down. But the title really made me think of how sometimes, we don't realise what we have until it isn't there anymore. Me and uncle Cec weren't really close, but it wasn't until I went to see him when he was so ill, and after he'd gone, that I actually realised all the time we had shared together, the laughs we had, and all the memories I had of him. I was worried that the last memories that I had of him would be him ill, looking nothing like the fit and healthy guy he once was. He was a marine in his younger years!! But thankfully loads of great and happy memories came. So guys, I apologise for fibbing a bit - there is a bright and happy LO of Uncle Cec in the post (pardon the pun)!! Had to do this LO - had to get these thoughts down on paper.

My blog will be neglected over the next few days - we're off to Wales - wahoo! Should have some lovely pics to show you on our return - always wanted to go to Wales, it looks so beautiful.