Embellish your World

High School Musical on Ice

The last Christmas present to Eloise was great seats at the O2 this morning to see the High School Musical Ice Tour. 

My first time in the O2 and I was very impressed, mind you would NOT have wanted to be sat up in the gods, not for any show!  The only downside to the event was the ridiculous price for the very naff merchandise which thankfully Eloise did not seem too fussed about!

A brief walk around the sales after (too busy and too cold to be enjoyable) and we were back home for a nice cuppa - am I showing my age??

BUT, I did manage to scrap last night - the first entire evening devoted to my hobby since before my operation in November!! I had a go at the sketch challenge on the Rusty Pickle website for December.  I used the latest Christmas Line from Rusty Pickle "White Christmas" to scrap one of my favourite photos from this Christmas, my eldest Eloise (12) and my youngest Jamie (nearly 2).  The challenge was to use the sketch, 80% Pickle papers and bling and glitz! Job done!!

  

Festive Fotos

A few of me and mine this season.

 

 

 

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

May yesterday have been truly special and the remainder of the festive season bring you peace and joy.

Santa was so kind to me and mine and I am now an expect at toddler toy construction, soon to me master of Puzzle league on Nintendo DS!!

It's been a long week

It's been a very, very long week, and my head still feels like it is going to explode! But, never mind, the show must go on and all that.  Think my kids are pretty sick of mum feeling poorly all the time though and are desperate for me to be back to normal.  Sadly my doctor doesn't seem to think that will be anytime soon and has signed me off work until mid Jan :(

I haven't even done much scrapbooking this week either, which is rotten as not only is my hobby and a fanastic one at that, it relaxes me which is desperately what I need at the moment!  All I have managed is my daily entries in my Shimelle journal and yet fell asleep before I had the energy to photograph them for sharing!!

So in the absence of those pages, will share a Christmas wish page made at the start of the month using Pink Paislee Christmas papers and an attempt to use up some of my ashamedly LARGE collection of alphabet stickers!! (Also got to play with glitter - Jude will be proud of me!)

Guest Designer for ATDML& Shimelle JYC Catch-up

Lots of crafting to share today and little typing as I am fuller than full of blurgh, have anti-biotics now to cure chest/ear infection and should take shares out in Kleenex!

I was both proud and very happy to be asked to be a guest designer in December for A Trip Down Memory Lane and created 2 layouts and 2 projects with the Fancy Pants and Chatterbox papers Mel & Jill supplied.  The whole design team gallery for December is up now, my featured layouts & projects are shared below.

 

   

   

 

I have also updated my flikr album with the pages from my Shimelle "journal your Christmas" class - a selection of which are below.

Cough, Cough, Splutter & Sneeze

Blurgh, I feel yuk. Armed with cough medicine, cold and flu capsules, vapour rub, lip balm and several boxes of tissues I will shake this blurgh for Christmas.  Like my body doesn't have enough to deal with recovering from surgery I now have flu to contend with - oh joy.

Sadly this start of this was Tuesday when the boys and I, along with Nan were off to see Santa at UK Lapland.  Whilst a great day out and truly magical from the boys eyes I sought the comfort of my bed at 7pm when we got home and didn't move until toda (and only then to get more tissues!!)

Jamie particularly enjoyed Mother Christmas and the gingerbread house, or rather the eating of the sweets original intended for the gingerbread men the children got to decorate.

Robert was in awe most of the afternoon, but did enjoy building the rocking horses in the elves workshop.

 

And so with 7 days to go til Christmas I have all the childrens presents purchased and wrapped, all other gifts purchased to be wrapped, and my card STILL to post!! Nothing like leaving it to the last minute!!

A White Christmas with Mr Pickle

   

A great Sunday afternoon spent with the lovely Mr Lance Anderson who thanks to the ScrapShed came to teach a Christmas chipboard album class with the newest Rusty PIckle White Christmas papers.  Lots of laughter and misbehaving - and NO, not from me!!!

Am certainly feeling the "sitting for 4 hours" this evening and am snuggling in to bed with my wheat bag momentarily. In the meantime the full kit for the workshop can be bought from the ScapShed who are also selling the papers and other elements from the White Christmas range.

Best to stay indoors

What a totally horrid day it has been today, rain, rain and then more rain, but thanks to Christmas lights, baking bread pudding with cinnamon and nutmeg (Yum) and the central heating we have managed to maintain the feel good factor at home today.  We've mostly had a pj day with gentle pottering around the house, some wrapping of Christmas gifts, writing of cards and general preparation for the season of goodwill to all. 

So with Christmas on the horizon and preparation going on all around me I have been feeling quite festive all week and enjoying a range of seasonal scrapbooking papers as I am indecisive and can never decide which I like best!! My Shimelle "journal your Christmas" album uses the Teresa Collins papers which are traditional red, white, black with a splash of olive green (fantastically versatile and lend themselves to lots of journalling and make fab minibooks).  Of course they are great for layouts too and I have scrapped my Father-in-law dressed as Santa a few years back to impress the kids!

I also fell in love with the double-sided Making Memories Fa La La range of papers, with a more muted take on the traditional colours and I just love the pointsetter blossums.  There are also matching journalling and alpha stickers, brads, epoxy elements and more - a very, very nice festive collection worthy of stroking!!

Fancy Pants Artic Chill is non traditional Christmas colours and are simply beautiful double sided papers for wintery pages not just Christmas.

And if sparkly and glitz is your kind of thing then the beautiful Imaginisce Snowy Jo collection is just perfect with its glittered elements.

Again these papers are double side making your stash stretch further this Christmas - and you can never have too much sparkly in your life now can you?

Tomorrow I am venturing out of the house for the afternoon to enjoy  some fellow scrapbookers company in Waltham Abbey with the delightful Lance Anderson aka Mr.Pickle at a Christmas Album workshop and then the next scrapping event won't be until the new year when the ScrapMates of Enfield host their next Megacrop on Saturday January 3rd 2009 from 10am to 10pm with classes designed by Alison Doherty and Ann Freeman as well as the company and a class by the lovely Shimelle and last but not least the very talented Debbie Jewell.  £40 for the day for 12 hours of scrapbooking, 4 classes and supper - what a way to start the new year.  There are a few places left and enquiries can be made to scrapmates@blueyonder.co.uk

Keep warm and happy xx

I need series 3!!

Hurry up mr postie, I NEED Series 3 of Grey's Anatomy!!! How on earth they could end Series 2 like that I don't know - just rude if you ask me!!

In the meantime, whilst I await more Mr Dempsey I have the latest (Christmas) ScrapaGoGo kit to play with (delicious!!), my Shimelle journal to do 10th/11th December entries in and my Christmas cards to finish - all from within the confines of my bed - duly assisted by a lap tray.

Mr Postie should also be bringing me some Tim Holtz goodies thanks to his inspirational 12 tags of Christmas featuring on his blog currently - tomorrow is the last day and I'm sure will featured another stunning festive tag, with step by step instructions full of technique and tips - ALL FREE!!

 

Regarding my operation my wounds are healing well, pain is reducing and if I could stay awake and not feel so sleepy I might almost feel human again - saying that it has only been 2 weeks, early days

Busy doing nothing

at times, bed rest sucks! You think you feel a little better so you get up and gently potter, and then you realise there is a reason for bed rest and so to bed you return.  Lucky for me my good friend Rachel has let me borrow her Greys Anatomy box sets and I am over halfway through series 2 and totally in love with McDreamy aka Patrick Dempsey...*swoon* ok so bed rest ain't so bad.

And I can manage a little crafting on my lap table - miniture size that is, and so have been keeping up with my Shimelle "Journal your Christmas" class

             

Back to more McDreamy I feel, ttfn x