Clearly Trash....but I love it

Wowzers!
I have had the most incredible day spent in the company of amazingly talented scrappers.

The drive from not so sunny Devon to Somerset was appaling....torrents of rain made visibilty near impossible on the M5.
It was a delight to have Fiona for company...its so lovely to meet the people behind the names on UKS.

We visited Crafty Pastimes and I stocked up on a few stash extras! Somehow a beautiful Kiwi and Chocolate AMM Uptown Chic Handbag just happened to fall into my basket....opppps...how did that happen????

On to the classes armed with the Lemon Drizzle cake....which went down just a little too easy!

Kirsty’s classs was just so “my thang”....very grungy...loads of black....really messy and sooooo “different”...I loved all the ripping and getting my mitts covered in paint! I just find it so theraputic to get the paints out and adore the different effects you can create by using acrylics on assorted surfaces.....this class was deffo “out of the box”.... the recycle box!

My album is now complete apart from the finishing touches....as soon as I have titivated and added a few more bits I will take some snappies to share....Im really pleased with it and Hubs and the guys think its "well cool" ...thanx Kirsty.xx

Emily is sooo way talented. She shared so many of her wonderful projects with us and is a walking inspiration. I really do adore her styley.
The class " Clearly Love" was just Wow! All my fav things to play with combined in one ....acetate, acrylics and ribbons....oh delectable ribbons.

We were blessed to have the company of the most adorable and endearing classroom assistant in the form of Emilys daughter, Ivy. Her sweet smiley was just so delectable.

Again not quite enough time to complete the project BUT I will complete it because I love it soooo much.

The classes were by far the most “Me” I have ever attended and Ive learnt so much today.....a huge thanx to Kirsty, Emily, Linz and of course not forgetting Lil' Miss Ivy.

It was great to sit and chat “shop talk” with Linz....nice to know Im not the only one who works 20 hour days whilst battling to find time to be a wifey and Mamma too.

The drive home was yuck! I dropped Fiona off and then the heavens opened. Crawling along at 40mph was not fun....especially when I wanted to get home to see my guys.
Jack coped quite well without me around....only one disaster....there was a bit of a meltdown and Hubs is now nursing a broken nose.....OUCH!!

I had great plans for tomorrow....walk on the beach with the pup....followed by lunch at the pub....then an afternoon finishing off my creations....doesnt look likely that any of that will happen as Hubs has to go back to the hospital to see a ENT doc....poor sweethaert....it really does look so terribly painful.

Off to bed for me.....

Laterz xx

Warning...this will make your mouth water!

Yummy yummmy yummmmmmy!
Are you licking your lips???
Lemon Drizzle cakes are all ready to be whizzed up the M5 to the class in the morning!
Bags packed will everything except my new cats eye inks....Ive put em down somewhere "safe" and cant bloomin find em! Good job Im stopping off on my travels and visiting a couple of stash shops along the way......will I be able to resist spending a small fortune on the goodies that I will be feasting my blue eyes upon????....nah of course not!! Tee hee hee....stash shopping is just delish....almost as delish as Lemon Drizzle with extra lemon and deffo extra drizzle.

Off to bed for me....its an early start...will I sleep??? Doubt it cus it feels like Christmas Eve....Im soooooo excited

Laterz xxx

Happy Birthday Muffin

Happy Birthday Muffin my sweetest bestest bud...thinking of you always...missing you each and everyday.
Your boy is growing so rapidly. He is such a fine young man and you would be sooo proud of him. Each time I look at him I see the twinkle in his eye and I know you are there...continuing to live your life through him.
Sleep well babes...I love you.

Surfs up...Im off to party.
XX

La Vigna di Casa

Tucked away to one side of our garden you will find La Vigna di Casa....the vineyard of home.
We are the 9th generation of Hubs family to be living in this house. There has always been a vine growing in the garden but sadly when we began the alterations to the property, the vine became damaged and died.
We were so lucky that way back in the 1960's Great Aunt had taken a cutting , so one sunday afternoon in the summer of 2005 we drove down to see her and Hubs took himself a cutting from the offspring of the original. He has tended and cared for that vine...often been mocked and teased because of it, but now 12 months on we are blessed with over 100 bunches of grapes...all sweet and seedless and so yummilcious

The guys are going to harvest the grapes tomorrow and prepare them for the wine making session which will begin on Sunday! Ive stocked up on jars and have all my sugar and yeast ready and waiting!!

Ive been meaning to upload this piccie of some new shoes my sister bought me....arent they just yummy. They are so comfortable to wear...only problem I have is deciding whether to wear these or my Crocs...I love my Crocs and have done since I bought my first pair in May BUT they are just soooo common now and everyone is wearing them. Clotheswise I dont "do" what everyone else does!


Im off to Gloucester tomorrow to attend a couple of classes. One Clearly Love, by Emily Falconbridge and the other Trash Book Alley by the eber so lubberly Kirsty Wiseman.
Im really looking forward to getting messy and experimenting with the box of tricks that Kirsty has waiting for us.
Im picking Fiona up from Weston Super Mud and then we will razz up the M5 to the venue....nice to have some scrappy company for the ride......Oh Im sooooo excited

Laterz xx

"Every path has its puddle"

Just wish it would bloomin stop raining cus I is sick of bloomin puddles atm....especially great big muddy ones!

I must remember that

"the sun always shines....the clouds just get in the way"

What happens to clouds??? Do they just disappear for good???? I do hope so....I really dont like the clouds very much today....wish they would go away for good....fingers crossed eh?

Feast your eyes!

Well I promised piccies and here they are!
Just a few of the 350+ that I snapped of Mr Williams!
He was excellent...a real performer and kept the entire 90,000 people crammed in to The Bowl, entertained for the entire 2 hours and 7 minutes he was on stage.

Mr Jobsworth, the security guard, kept giving me evil looks b/c officially "proper" cameras are not allowed!

I couldnt risk getting my big baby zoom lens out so had to stick with what I had got....at one point I was told my camera would be confiscated....yeah like I'd like to see him try and prise it from my fingers...he wouldnt dare risk the wrath of the camera mad woman!!
I managed to convinced him that the camera was only set up to take "snaps" and finally Mr Rotweiller relented and left me alone :)

The 6 hour trip to The Bowl was a nightmare....the two hours trying to exit the car park at the end of the evening was even worse! Quite how Rob managed to drive the 6 hours home again the gawd lordy only knows ...we finally arrived back at base at 6.30am on Wednesday morning...a whole 24 hours after we had risen from our beds!

What planet are vendors on these days??? £14 for four ice creams and if you wanted a flake it was an extra quid each!
Two Sam and Ella's ( Bugers ) and one Hot Dog = £18....and the kids didnt eat em cus they tasted disgusting!!
Why do the vendors charge so much for total pap??? Why?....because they can!
Your thirsty so you have to pay £2.50 for a 500ml bottle of Coke or die of dehydration!!

Was it worth it????

You bet it was and I would do it all again just to see the smiles on my guys faces when they realised they were actually gonna see their super hero.

They are still on the ceiling and playing their Robbie Williams CD's non stop...my darlin Robbie can play Angels on his guitar now and has decided that he wants to be a pop star!
£150 million for 3 months work aint bad!

He could keep me in the manner I would like to become accustomed too!

Laterzxx

Not long now!

Not long now and we will be heading off up country to The Bowl, Milton Keynes.

Im so excited. Its the first time we have taken the guys to a "proper" live concert. They have done the rounds with us and attended several festivals but this is sooo different.

This time they are going to see their hero.

The best bit is they dont know! They think they have the day off school so we can go to a museum.

I cant wait to see their faces when they realise they will be seeing him in the flesh....DH and I are bursting with excitement.

The clock is ticking....less than 20 hours to go and I will hear him sing Angels live....the tears will flow... better pack some Kleenex!

Layout of the Week!!!

Emma Jane emailed me this morning to let me know that the LO I put together for Ribbon Mad DT had been selected as the LO of the week over on UKScrappers....WOW...that sure bought a smile to my face after the gloom and doom thats been going on around here for the past couple of days.
Try as I might its so hard for me to "move on" sometimes.
Im missing Caroline so much....miss my Dad even more and as it approaches the date which would have been FIL's birthday I can sense that Rob is feeling a little low....I know he misses his chats with his Dad.
One of my jellie friends lost her FIL yesterday, Anna's father died the later part of last week and then it was posted on UKS that poor Lisa had passed away suddenly....its just too much sometimes :(

My Dad was forever quoting his "sayings"...some are far to explicit to be unleashed on the public...but one that springs to mind just lately is " Live your life girl as best you can, cus you is a long time dead"....how bloomin true...embrace life, live it but most of all enjoy.

The guys came home from school and were well impressed to see the LO on the home page of UKS, but not as impressed as I was to hear that Robbie had been given an A grade for his Art assignment! He made up a boxed canvas, painted it with acrylics and then added loads of snappies of us doing our thang.
The theme was family activities...the guys skatin & BMXin...Rob surfin and me scrappin. He spent hours working on it and it really did look fab. He even raided my stash and added blooms, rubons and unbeknown to me some Heidi Swapp Chipboard alphas....argh....hands off they are mine!!!

Silly Mom that I am forgot that he had to take the assignment in today and he had disappeared off to school with it before I had chance to take a snappy of it....never mind it will be back soon enough and then I can share.

Christmas is just around the corner and my buddie K has organised a Christmas Card Challenge to kick start us crafters into cardmaking for Christmas. Ive made up a card using various bits and pieces and then sent duplicate items onto someone else....she then works her magic and creates her card. Comparing the cards is such fun and its so inspiring seeing different designs made using the same items.
My design is very "different" so I am looking forward to seeing the creation she makes with this bundle of goodies making their way to her.



Gotta go pack....we are off to see Robbie at The Bowl tomorrow.

Laterzxx

Ribbon Mad!

The lovely Carole from Ribbon Mad sent me a wonderful baggie of ribbons for this months Design Team projects.
The coloured grosgrain ribbons co-ordinated so well with the papers from The Paper Lofts Spring Flip Flops collection and Tickled Pink papers from 3 Bugs in a Rug.

I just love bright funky colours at the moment...I guess its because Im trying to hold onto the summer for as long as I can!

TFLxx

Sweet Caroline

January 2006 was quite possibly one of the saddest times of my life. My dearest and closest friend died suddenly leaving a devoted husband and 13 year old son to defend for themselves.

The next two weeks are going to be so very hard for us as a family and a community.
Her birthday is the 29th of this month :(

The day she died my life stood still. She had been the only one who, through all my troubled times, I knew I could depend upon. She was the one I turned to to share my fears and anxieties. She was the one who encouraged me to reach for my dreams. She believed in me.

I miss her laughter and her beautiful smile. I want to talk to her and hear her sweet voice again. I want to giggle and laugh with her right now. I want to share warm sunny days sipping wine on the beach with her whilst we watch our children play. I want to spend lazy days snuggled up on her sofa watching chic flics and eating ice cream straight from the tub. I want her back but that aint ever gonna happen and it makes me so sad. My party girl isnt here and she sould be :(

She is a star shining brightly in the sky and tonight she shines brighter than ever before.
Tonight the stars came out to party just for her.
Sleep well my princess...I love you dearly and always will.
RIP Sweet Caroline.xxx



Sharon & Ozzie Marilyn



Bob Marley James Bond

Roll Up! Roll Up!!

We headed of to the town centre tonight for the annual end of summer fair. Pre the guys living with us, I always loved being spun around in the waltzers or to race around on the dodgems but over the past couple of years Ive dreaded the fair arriving.
Robbie is always so eager to drag us on the rides but for Jack its a nightmare. He has always hated everything you assoiciate with the fair....the smells, sounds and sights are just to much for him and combine that with the crowds of people...well it was just a meltdown waiting to happen.

This year we were invited to go along as the fair ground organisers had planned a Special Needs event from 5.30pm - 7.30pm...no loud music, no flashing lights and all rides were slowed down....so off we went.

Jack spent the first part of the evening hiding under his jacket!
No way would he go on any of the rides, so I couldnt even get him to join me on the Big Wheel:(
By 7.30pm much to Robbie's disgust we had decided it was a non event and were heading back to the car. Suddenly something took Jack's eye and the evening took a different turn.
This was the ride which hooked my boy! He stood watching all the people spinning and twirling around...he watched them as they went faster and faster and not once did he take his eyes of that ride. As the carriages came to a halt he shot off as fast as his legs could carry him, climbed on to the steel platfom and prised himself into a seat! He wanted a go! He wanted to spin and twirl and go as fast as he could.
Robbie went with him and left me and Rob trembling with anticipation....once that ride started there would be no going back! He would have to endure the ride...no matter what!

Jack loved it...so much so that we spent the rest of the evening trying to drag him off every bloomin ride there!
All the way home in the car he chattered non-stop about how brave he had been and that when he gets to school tomorrow he will tell everyone how he had "done it".
The boys are both so brimming with all the excitement the fair brings, so much so that they want to go back on Saturday night and do it all again....of course I dont mind because it means I get the chance to have another helping of yummy candy floss!


Whilst uploading the piccies from our night out I spotted something not quite right with Jacks eyes....can you spot it???
He's been playing with my mascara!!

laterzxxx

Sneaky Peeks

Ive just ordered the new ranges from Cherry Arte and thought I'd share a wee sneaky peek with you....stop drooling....they will be here very soon.

Scraplifts!

The new paper releases from Junkitz arrived yesterday and they are just so scrummy.
As soon as I saw the Laguna Girl collection I just knew I had to play with it as soon as I had 5 minutes spare.
The guys were packed off to bed early and DH was busy with a little business venture he is putting together, I'd packed all the orders and tidied up some prep for the Cyber Crop so there I was with some time to scrap....yippppeeeeee.

Here 'tis....my Scraplifts CJ for the retailers CJ over on UKS.....



didnt I tell you it was scrummy....oh yes siree.... just look at those wonderful colours and it's also available in these yummilicious blues and green from the Laguna Boy collection.

want more??? Then take a peep here

Im off for the afternoon to go and spread the word!
Ive been asked to go and give a demo for the WI.
I just love doing WI stuff...we can learn so much from the older folk in our communities. I love listening to their stories of how life use to be....when village life was so different to how it is today.
Rob and the guys love me going off to see the "ladies" because they know I'll come home bearing gifts of homemade cake and at least one jar of jam....

Laterz
xx

The Emerald Isle

My Discover Eire CJ made its way home on Saturday :)
It had been sitting in a neighbours house for a few days before it finally arrived "home"

I adore it...its simply stunning and filled with the most amazing entries made by a fab bunch of girls from Cara Craft Forum....a place I visited daily until we started the business. ...there are just not enough hours in the day for me do all I want to do anymore :(
I sure do miss the natter amongst the girls over there.....warning though if you decide to pay a visit make sure you have plenty of time because the girls sure do know how to natter!!!
Check out the monthly challenges too....they are fab.


This is my cover and sign in page obviously made by lil' ol' me

Lainey ~ Dublin Alro ~ Cork

Kate G ~ Wicklow Eva ~ Bunratty

Thanks girls for a fab journal which I will treasure for always
Now all I need to do is book the tickets and get over to Eire to go discover all the amazing places you have told me about.

Laterz
xxxx

Exciting Times!

We spent yesterday, all dressed up, doing "business stuff" and after many trips back and forth, think we have finally found our B&M store!!
We are just waiting on one thing now and should know by next week whether its a goer or not. If its all systems go then this time next week we will be moving and planning our Grand Opening!!

It will be a temporary place for us until we have the barn conversion approved by planning and then we have to build the bloomin thing....so thats a good year off.
Luckily the owner of the building is a mad keen crafter so she understood why I was Ohhing and Arring so much.
She only wants to let it on a 6 monthly lease which suits us down to the ground. We just need our house back! We have been storing some stuff at DH's workshop but TBH the drive there and back was a nightmare during the summer holiday traffic.
I could have used one of the units over at DH's place, but me being the fussy moo that I am wanted something "different"...I didnt want to be in a brand spanking new breeze block box!

Its a fab quirky little building, situated in a perfect spot...lots of passing footfall as its on the school route, but far enough out of the village to be tucked away from the hustle and bustle. Think old rustic beams, whitewashed brick walls, flagstones and your getting there!
There is plenty of room for me to seperate the shoppey into two...half for retail and the other for crops/classes etc.

Im so excited BUT must try not to build my hopes up to high just in case!

Im even more excited about this bit of news......

Last night I had the shock of my life when the telephone rang....

"hello" says a wonderfully sweet voice....

"is that Tracie"....ummmmm thinks me....... who is this??????
" Its me *******" ....
I was sat in complete shock....tummy all of a quiver.....this woman is one of my scrappin godesses and there she was on the phone to lil ol me....saying YES to coming on down to take a couple of classes for our retreat weekend early next year.

Not only did she agree to grace us with her precence, but the angel that she is, agreed to put together a class for the October Cyber Crop over on Little Cottage Crafts Forum....whooooo hooooo are the girls over there in for one big treat....this woman performs miracles with bits of paper like noone else can.

Im just sooo pleased for the girls because some of the classes are being put together by IMO some of the best papercrafters in the UK....you will have seen there work in many of the Scrappin magazines....it would be impossible to miss it b/c their work is Amaaaazzzzzzzing.


We had a new range of papers delivered this week...The Paper Loft ~ Well Worn Collection.
They really are stunning in RL and Im itching to attack them! The Chipboard Alphas are pretty yummy too.

The range can been seen here

For today, after I have walked the dogs on the beach, Im locking myself away and doing nothing but craft. There are a couple of ideas floating around my head that I really want to try out. I just dont get enough time to Scrap nowadays and Im so :( when Im not "doing"....all work and no play is deffo not good for ones soul.

laterzxx

PS**** I HATE BLOGGER cus it wont let me upload any piccies today!!

So tired!

Its been a hectic week! The guys have both returned to school after the long summer break.
J has been soooo miserable, R happy as larry to be back with his mates and the girlies!!

Poor J really doesnt like school so much....wish he did but its just not happenin for him.
Hopefully he will settle over the next couple of weeks and the routine will fall back into place.
When he is unsettled he doesnt sleep so well...which means neither do I!

With deliveries arriving daily and so many things to sort out for the shoppey Im not getting to bed much before 2am!

Its DH's birthday tomorrow and Ive been that busy that today I bought his cards!!!!
I did chuckle to myself though because Ds1 picked up a card which says

"dad....before you got married, who told you how to drive?".....LOL!!

laterzxx

Puppy Love

Well he's arrived!!
The new puppy is with us.....
This is Dylan....our 12 week old Liver & White Springer Spaniel Puppy. We collected him today from The Dogs Trust and so far so good....no "accidents" as yet!!! the guys have been told that from now on the floor is known as Dylan's Shelf and anything that gets left on the floor belongs to Dylan....so no tears when the pair of trainers kicked off and left lying on the kitchen floor get chewed to within an inch of their life!!
Oscar is having a few growls if Dylan gets a bit too OTT but then wouldnt you if you had someone sinking their razor like teeth into your ears!!!

Other news.....our crop was yesterday and we had a new member attend....this is AmyJenny's niece.....we were all like broody clucking hens around the wee thing....check out that quiff....isnt it amazinggggg!!!

An early night is needed as DH is back to work tomorrow....boooo hoooo....that alarm waking us at 6.30am is gonna be killer.....if the puppy lets us sleep of course!!

Colours Of My Life

Over on UKs JaneH posts day to day blog prompts and I just loved todays so thought I'd have a go

"It’s a colourful world: What’s your favourite colour? What’s your least-liked colour? Do colours have meanings or evoke emotions for you? Do they affect your senses? How has scrapbooking affected your sense of colour… or vice versa? Are you more aware of colour in your environment now?"

What's My Favourite Colour?

Ummm thats a hard one because I love all colours and dont have a definate fav. I guess the colours of my life are very much goverened by the seasons.

Dark chocolate brown, russet reds and muted tones are deffo the colours I adore during the colder months, when I never seem to wear anything but these colours! By the time the spring is poking it's head around the corner my mood changes and I am so into lilacs and blues....a very pastel time of the year for me.
Summer hits us and Im reaching for the HOT and VIBRANT colours...I love unusual clothing so tend to shop away from the high street and have found an excellent little shoppey that sells way out clothing at an affordable price! The Summer is nearly over and I dont think I will be able to put away a couple of sweaters Ive bought recently which are both lime green...one has bright pink stripes and Im just lovin it so much.....teamed with black Im sure I will get away with wearing them lots through the next season.

I mentioned the black word and possibly guess from all the colours the one I always tend to use more than anything is good old black.I use a lot of black in my wardrobe....it goes with almost anything . I love black and white photographs and films.Black and white photography seems to capture emotion more visually and black and white films....well they whisk me away to a world where everything was how it should be now....despite times being hard people just appeared to have so much more respect for one another and did things "proper". Brief Encounter is my fav all time film and thats black and white!


I also use lots of black when I am scrapping and tend to team it up with brighter colours in the warmer months with darker greys, browns and muted tones being used more in the colder....so I guess the seasons affect my colour preferences more than I had realised.

Colours that evoke feelings and affect senses....theres only one and thats "wax jacket" green! Reminds me so much of my dear Dad when he used to pop on his smelly worn out old jacket to go off fishing for the day....when ever I see that colour I am whisked back to my childhood days.

My whole life has changed since I started scrapping....I look at everything so differently and cant believe I mised so much.....Im living on visual overload and lovin every minute!