Hit and Miss...

...with me at the moment isnt it?

My time away paid off though - I did quite well with my assignment so I was chuffed to bits with that! It was a trickier one this time too. Got another to get under way with though so after my previous blogging performance whilst under pressure to get these assignments done to any reasonable standard, I fear I will be quite rubbish at blogging for a bit.

Just thought Id share this next LO with you first - its of me and my sis a couple of Christmases back, whilst I was preggers with young Shamus and ready to pop at any second. The green hippo remark is due to me wearing a green top, and feeling like a humongous hippo - I was huge when I was pregnant! A massive big and round belly, and I loved it. Isnt it mad how much you miss the bump when it goes (even with your new little baba lol)? Not helped at all by that horrible, feels worse than a blancmange stomach you end up left with. Anyway this LO has some of my first faffings with the sewing machine on - around the heart and on the ribbon. Must remember next time to try not to get adhesive on the needle, doesnt work as good after that lol. Have entered this for the House challenge over on UKS, the theme is Christmas past/present.

Did I show you this Christmas Journal I made? Trouble is Ive been that busy lately that it might turn into Christmas Journal 2008, I havent kept up with it as well as I should have!! I used the friendly felt for the covers and the tree, and some letter tiles from an old QVC set I got ages ago.

Here is my first proper make with my sewing machine - my little pin cushion!! Does anybody listen to Russell Brand on Radio 2? I think its radio 2 anyway, but I think that guy is so funny, really quick witted and clever. If only he didnt wear those tight trousers lol - point of that discussion was, that is where the 'pin pin' thing comes from. Now, the pin cushion is far from perfect, and I really could do to brush up on my hand sewing skills, because the finishing on it is not great. What stitch is best to close a cushion? Havent a clue so it looks a bit frankensteinish on that small section! I want to make another, but theres only so many pins you need - its full of them now. By the way - does anyone know of any good sites to get material from - reasonable money and decent quality?? Would love a link or some addresses please guys?

And now for the scarf. I have decided that it is done since doing this picture. I have crocheted a good few flowers to put on it (as per pattern) but thought that flowers really are not me, and that it might start to look 'antwacky' (as my ma would say) - so the flowers are staying off! Its lovely and warm, a bit on the itchy side yet but hopefully that might get a bit better with wear and a wash. So scrap that very very nearly done title. Done!

And finally for my moonlight picture. There wasnt a chance there was any moon about round our way this morning, it was cloudy so if it was there, it was well hidden!! So I borrowed someone elses moon - they said I could - and layered a pic of my window, taken today, on top of it. I know Im a big fat cheater, but it was the only way!! Ive been dying to get back in the thick of it - so sorry for cheating (i prefer improvising lol) guys!!

Right then, better go. Its Shaun Jr's Christmas party today, he gets to meet Santa (not sure what he will make of that) so will get lots of pics to put up. Got to be careful now though, with people being so funny about pics of their kids and all, with have to do a fair bit of Gaussian blurring and rubbing out!

Thanks for stopping by folks, will get by your blogs tonight - wish me luck at this Christmas party, I think Im going to need it!!

Charli

X

Oh Brother...

See how rubbish I am? Its been a while. I have been so busy with the course and other little bits and bats - I just haven't had the chance to blog, and I have really missed doing it! Have really missed catching up with everyone too.

Here are some catch up pics from me then, I have missed chilly out though!! So I got cards and Christmas into this pic -this is my little crafty corner where I put all my little bits I make and receive - am waiting for Shaun Snr to create yet more shelves to store them all on. They're starting to take over a bit, and leaving less room for stash - not good!! Or maybe it is lol for the purse at least.

I have been really rubbish and haven't filled in my Christmas Journal for Shamus jr proper either, have wrote things down for each day though so just need to transfer it over - dont think that is the point though is it really? *Note to self must try harder* This next pic is my cosy pic - there's nothing as cosy as sitting on the couch cuddling my little man - I could sit for hours just cuddled up to him like this - he can manage 20 minutes, tops lol
Some more Christmas pics - Shaun was having a good ol root through the decs box and....well...decorated himself temporarily. As soon as he saw me with the camera out - he thought better of it and then took all the stuff off himself - he did have some tinsel wrapped round him at one point but I wasn't quick enough to catch him with it on! I wonder if he's catching on to the idea that all these photos will be coming out when he's older and brings his mates round lol
And rather than go for the conventional 'fairy on top of the Xmas tree' set up - we thought we would be slightly different this year and have 'the Xbox fairy'. Influenced by young Shamus, pulling the Christmas tree over, bending it and generally trying to destroy it - didn't think poor fairy would have a chance.
And finally this LO I recently did of my brother Jack's first day at school - I uploaded the pics I took of him to my blog a while back now and have only just got round to scrapping them. Really enjoyed doing this and messing about with the paint - it was for a challenge over on BTYD, the theme was celebrations.
And finally....I am lucky enough to have been blessed with a new brother!! At your age Charl, I hear you shout. But no, it is a brother of the sewing machine kind, and it is fab. If only I could figure out how to work the darn thing properly.....

Right folks, must dash, will try and get round your blogs tonight - thanks for popping by!!



Charli
xx

PS hope to see some of you at the HS:MS meet up?? T'would be grand!

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

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!

Pink to make the boys wink?

Now I really dont do pink. There are 2 boys (+ 1 me) = 0 pink in my house. Never been a fan! Im just not a girly girl at all! So this is a layout I did of my brothers and sister from a little while back. I had a 'three little pigs' story sack, and they were very bored, so got out the stuff and posed for this pic for me. I love wolfy's (jack) expression and then little piggy to the right (spencer) who looks really worried!! I got the papers as part of a collection from club scrap - love their stuff!! The papers were also perfect for this 'race for life' layout.

I did this earlier this year, for my mum, who had skin cancer year before last. This was a scary time for all of us - I was scared that not only would I lose my Mum, but my very bestest pal in the whole world. It was a horrible time, but my Mum got through it - I was and am so proud of her, the way she has coped - she really is my inspiration. If ever I feel down or generally cack - she never fails in cheering me up. She's the best! So I dedicated my race for her - I scanned in my back sign from the race and included that on the LO. On my back sign, I put 'I race for my Mum' and put an arrow pointing to her place in the race beside me - I was so lucky to be able to do that because many of the people there had lost their loved ones. Myself included - my Mum raced for her Mum, my Nan, and my cousin who was there raced for my auntie. So stood amongst all those people, I realised how lucky I was.

So one day when I was really proud to wear pink. Hey, maybe pink aint so bad after all.....

PS if you read this Ma, when I was walking down to meet you at the race and saw you standing there, I was so choked up! I tried hard to not cry because I was grateful to have you there and didnt want to make you upset, but I love you so much. You mean the bloomin world to me.

K guys, I shall say TTFN, and thanks for stopping by - I will get round your blogs today or later on tonight - didnt get chance last night - was at another tutorial! Have a fab day!

Another LO

Another 12 by 12 LO that I made using papers and other bits from the October Club Scrap collection. It's my not so little brother (who went out on his first 'date' on Saturday!! Bless him!) with a then best pal, out on one of the many mammoth walks my ma does. This one is a 16 mile walk - they used to go at weekends, they'd do this walk one day, then go and do another big walk on the other!! Super fit or what!?! But I love the picture - they were both muddy as hell (I know I know, hell probably isnt muddy) and I love the male bonding going on there!

Check out the technique with the photo Sue - your tutorials for photoshop are fantastic - photoshop didnt want to play at first but I got there in the end lol. Sue's blog is here, if ever you want to know how to do something with photoshop, and get some fab effects (along with some fab blogging and cool pictures!), then this is the place you want to be checking out!!

Guilty guilty blogger - two posts in one day!!

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!!

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.

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!!

HS:MS - Us

This is my photo for the day - and no, of course I wasn't out on the boating lake first thing (i wish)!! This was from our weekend in Wales. We didnt stay like this for long though, as my OH got into a spot of bother down a narrow bit of the lake, and we had to swap - due to my fabulous rowing skills (ha, that is a joke about the skills lol but we did swap, we have discovered rowing is not his one of his strong points). Rowing us along was great - I only wish that we had a lake in the garden, as it kept our Shaun quiet and occupied for a good 40 minutes!! Dont think he was quite sure about it.

The LO on the right is my go at Alix's 'make it move!' challenge over on Blog til you drop, and entry for the house challenge over on UKS - on UKS the theme is summertime. It went a bit wrong however, I was trying to make some beach glass - which went reasonably well, until it came time to put some glitter in between the glass, which went terrible. In fact, looking at it now, I just cant leave it like that so Im getting it out of the album and putting it right if possible! Again, the photos in the LO are from our recent trip to Wales.

Thats it for now folks I think, I have a couple of projects on the go ready for Saturday - its my turn to set the challenge over on Blog Til You Drop, looking forward to it and hope you'll stop by for a peep! And if and when I put that hideous mess right, I'll update the pic on the right!!

Recovered at last!!

Crikey, what a day. It took me ages to recover from my self inflicted hangover! I was quite sick. Serves you right I hear you cry!! And I agree. And I am never drinking again....lol

A few pics of us when we took Shaun to feed the ducks today - he was throwing another of his familiar wobblies. Hence the pained expression on my face as I had had to go and capture him, after he tried to make his escape. Not good when you feel like sh**! But hey ho... Not done much today, visited the rents, then an 'oh what fun!!' trip to Asda!! Im making a curry for us tonight, and I could eat a scabby donkey, as we say up North, so I cant wait!!

As promised - the card and LO I made using the HOTP personal shopper kit for October from Crop Til You Drop. I made both of these using the fall collection of papers. This kit comes with some really cool embellishments too - I really love the Mondays Metal self-adhesive squares, and there are self-adhesive baubles from Heidi Swapp in there too - you get plenty!!

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.

Anyone for a challenge??

Hello again! Any of you guys up for a challenge??

It is the turn of Charli's Angels scrapping team (UKS) to set the challenge for this week. The challenge is as follows:

As we are Charli's Angels we would like you to:

- use an angelic/demonic link/theme i.e. children/pets/us being little devils etc - 5 points

- use white paint somewhere on LO, to signify our purity and innocence - 5 points

- silver or gold, to signify our shiny and polished halos - 5 points

- feathers, to signify our wings - 5 points

Also, as it is the anniversary of Brian Epstein's (Beatles manager) death today, we would like you to:

- use a Beatles song - 10 points

The above pic is my attempt at it, and features all the members of Charli's Angels Team. Thought the song was perfect for their pic - they are a really supportive bunch and we all help each other through whatever life happens to throw at us (which lately has been a fair old bit!!).

If you're up for the challenge, have a go and leave a link to your work on this blog, or hop on over to UKS here. A few other Angels have had a go so you can see what they have come up with over there, and upload your stuff or leave a link - would love to see what you come up with!!

So far so good - on UKS i entered the August challenge and i think i might be through to the next round with JimJams - thats if they close the poll quick - aaargh!!! Wish me luck!! I won July's House Challenge with this LO here, so I didnt even dare think Id get this close to getting through to the second round again! I thought you guys would all be sick of the site of my village lol, which was the theme of my entry for this month - it's the ribbon n roll mini book I made - I have posted it in my blog somewhere!

So if you're reading this and you voted for me - thank you so much!

Thanks for reading if you didnt vote for me too though lol