Hey-Hey

Finally I have time to update my blog!
Its been a busy week so far and so today we are taking a morning off from the schedule and just chilling out in our hotel room. We plan to take a stroll aound Oslo and then we head of to teach for the rest of the day at Bikkuben scrap store.

Flight from the UK to Amsterdam was fine. With a three hour break before my flight onwards to Stockholm, I found a quiet spot and sat myself down to begin reading the Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards...which is a great read so far.
I met up with my fellow Prima Donna pal, Jen Starr, in Stockholm and well thats when the fun really began - OMgoodness how we have laughed!

We hired a car THAT HAD NO GPS!!!!!!!!!!!!

For over two and a half hours we drove around Stockholm city centre trying to locate our hotel! In the end we gave up and flagged down a taxi and pleaded with the driver to guide us in the right direction - he drove to the hotel with us following on behind in our car - what a life saver he was - especially as bladders were burstimg at their seams.
Tired from a days travelling we both fell in to our beds and slept!

The next morning we woke and headed North of the city to Upsalla, where we were to spend the day teaching at The Scrapbook Store.

Dionne, the store owner, is a UK gal and she made both Jen and I feel so very welcome. She has a wonderful store filled with the yummiest of products some of which I'd not seen before.
The classes whizzed by and before we knew it we were waving our goodbyes and heading off to a new hotel for the night.
Day 2 of the tour saw us heading 3 hours south of Stockholm to the town of Jonkopping - such a beautiful place with the most breathtaking scenery. We arrived at the store and were greeted by the owners Carrina and Therese plus a handful of scrappers all eager to get busy and inky. The ladies at the store told us that we had to go to and vist Grenna town - and how glad we were that following day we had some free time to take their advice and head to Grenna...it is such a quaint place as well as being the birth place of the candy cane. We watched the candy being made and couldnt resist making a few purchases to take back home.
We stopped by a small park and took some photographs of the candy cane creators statue before heading futher south to Helsingborg.We arrived in Helsinborg - unpacked our cases and made our way to teach at The Scrap Room. Eva, the owner, and the ladies made us both feel very welcome as we made a start on teaching our classes. Over the weekend Jen was teaching classes at Scrap Event which is a huge weekend long retreat in Helsinborg....much like Scrapaganza. The hotel was beautiful and the organisation of the event outstanding - its an event that I would serioulsy consider attending as a delegate because the classes were all so very inspitational. We met up with Mr Pickle and his adorable family and spent the evening chatting whilst indulging in some traditional Swedish fare.

On Saturday I left Helisnborg really early to travel further south to Kristinistadd to go teach at Grodans Scrap Garden for the day....guess who left her camera battery charging back in Helsinborg? Grrrrrrr!!!!!

I was met at the train station by the store owner Lucienne who took me on a quick tour of the town before heading to her store. The day was spent teaching and as my classes came to an end, I waved goodbye and travelled back to Helsinborg for the night.

An early morning fight to Copenhagen began week two of the tour.
I'll update more when I get chance!
Right now we are heading for a walk around Oslo!

Have fun.
T.x.x.x.

Whoooooosh!

How quickly does the time fly by when you are busy as a bee?

Ive been scrapping, playing with my new laptop and installing Skype so that the guys and I can be in contact as much as we want over the next couple of weeks. This is the longest we have ever been apart and Im going to miss them sooooo much.

I'll be jumping in the car shortly to head off to the airport......flying out tomorrow morning on the early bird flight to Amsterdam and then hopping over to Stockholm where I will meet up with Jen to begin the Prima European Tour!
Im sooooo excited :D

Jen and I have talked (lots) over the phone and via email but we have never met - unsure that we would identify each other easily at the airport, I decided to add a few Prima flowers to my jacket....

Rummaging through my box of Prima delights I found a packet of fabric Primroses (which I just happen to adore). They are perfect for a quick fix as the packets contain two nifty little pins that can be sewn to the reverse of the bloom.

Voila! Job done!
I'll try and share whilst Im away - thats if I have time - its a busy schedule!
Have fun.
T.x.x.

Busy!

Not a lot to report - guys have had loads of mates sleeping over - Hubs and I were both struck down with the dreaded lurgy, but are thankfully feeling better now....a few days laid up means life has suddenly become very busy for me as I wrap up the last minute things for my trip overseas - I'm almost packed - need to collect currency and the last minute essentials to throw in to my case, which I'll grab tomorrow on my way through to the hairdressers!

The lurgy left me feeling very drained, so much so that I slept for 24 hours solid on Tuesday!
Left with no energy to scrap at the beginning of the week, means I'm playing catchup now and have spent this afternoon scrapping.

Ive just a couple more projects to complete before I leave, so I better head back to my scraproom and get cracking!

Thanks for popping by.

T.x.x.

Other things may change us, but we start and end with family

Instead of buying the guys Easter eggs, Hubs thought it might be fun to get them both a unicycle each......when he came home with them I stood rolling my eyes - thinking - WTF!! - more ruddy junk to fill the garage with, but these one wheeled contraptions have filled our garden with laughter all weekend - and they are a lot healthier than a mountain of chocolate!!

J's determination to master his unicycle shone through as he spent over 10 hours sat on the bloomin thing.

He started off in the lane, sandwiching himself between the sign post and Hubs, until he mastered keeping his balance....
....once that trick was done he had to pluck up the courage to pedal, which required the softer landing of the lawn.
There have been a few bruises, but he has done it and can now whizz around on his bike with ease. Bobs, being Bobs, jumped on his unicycle and rode it like he'd been using one for years!

We have spent the entire holiday weekend doing family stuff - lazy days spent on the beach flying kites, with the guys going for a surf......barbeque's followed by walks to the "local" in the evenings....just pottering about being a family - having fun.

I've done very little scrapping over the holidays - you have to make the memories to be able to scrap them, right?

Pencil Lines sketch 130 went live on Sunday night with Liz Lee as the GDT - check out her blog and store as she has some really cool digi bits and pieces over there.

My LO features piccies of my lil nephew who came to visit last week.

Bungle Jungle PP's, Paper Whimsies, Sweet Treats Stickers, Monogram Stickers and Journal Stickers all from Sassafras.

The title is made up from a mix of Sassafras and Rusty Pickle alpha stickers, which I coloured using American Crafts glitter pens before being given a coat of glossy accents.

Lots to do this week as I'm on countdown to my trip overseas.....I need to start packing!!!!

Have fun and thanks for popping by.

T.x.x.

Catching Up

I spent yesterday catching up with emails, scrapping commitments and grocery shopping - YACK! I hate going to the supermarket - especially when its a Bank Holiday weekend and everyone seems to decide to hit the store at the same time!

Ah well - our food cupboards are now well and truly stocked up for the next few days as we will not be venturing far from home - the holiday season has started which in turn means traffic is heavy as everyone heads for the beach!
The sun is shining and we are hoping to strike up the barbie at some point - fingers crossed the rain stays away!

I can share a peek of one of my pages from yesterdays scrapping session -

I used photos of my little nephew which were taken last weekend using a camera that my Sister was testing for her store, as she will be stocking them from next week.
I was mighty impressed with the images produced by this pocket sized marvel.
If you're are looking for a new compact camera, then I can highly recommend the Fugi FinePix F200EXR.
The Fugi website lists all of the technical blurb - I'll just say its a cracking camera - easy to use - excellent images and I cant wait for mine to arrive just in time for my travels...as much as I totally love and adore my Nikon, it does tend to be a little cumbersome at times - so a decent compact will enable me to travel lighter whilst also still being able to record the sights of Europe!

My Sis has put together a package especially for any UK scrappers out there who might be looking to invest in a new camera :D

If you want more info about this wonder of a camera then drop the store an email or alternatively call the store and ask for Wendy or Jon - they will be more than happy to help :D

I'm off to potter in the garden and then want to try my hand at some knitting!
Enjoy your Good Friday.
Thanks for popping by.
T.x.x.x

Happy Days!

A few days away from cyber land has done me the world of good.
I turned off the puta on Friday and stepped away from my craft room to spend some quality time with family and friends.
Days spent laughing and larking about was just what the doc ordered.

Family arrived late Saturday afternoon - and that's when the fun really started.

Mom has spent the weekend teaching me to knit....Sis has taught me how to crochet and given me a few top tips on how to use my camera. She patiently walked me through the marvels of Photoshop and in turn I taught her how to make glass beads!
We didn't get to play with paper as our days were filled with so many other things and there just wasn't enough time!

The sun shone so we made the most of days at the beach and the little ones were in heaven playing in the sand - they even paddled in the sea which was surprisingly warm for April.

In the evenings, once the littlies had gone to bed, we vegged out watching DVD's, knitted, drank wine, chatted and messed about in Picasa3 where my Sis made the above collage image - its such a cool photo editing programme if you want a quick fix - plus its FREE!

The family departed early yesterday and I spent the rest of the morning tidying up before heading down to the "Welcome Home" parade for 24 Commando, who returned from their duty in Afghanistan.

190 of the 192 deployed soldiers returned home safe and sound and the villagers gathered together to welcome them back to the fold. It was quite an emotional affair.

As it was such a beautiful evening last night, Hubs and I took the pouches for a run on the beach and I put to test some of the photo tips my Sis shared with me.

With loads of new photos and lots of scrapping to do, I'm off to play catch up and scrap my heart out for the day.

Have fun and thanks for popping by.

T.x.x

A Lil Lilly Love

Ive been busy playing with this little dot :D

She is such a sweet thing and she melts my heart when she smiles.
I love having her come to visit as I get to do little person "Mommying" for a while without having to deal with the sleepless nights and toddler temper tantrums :D



I made this mini book for her Momma as a thank you for all the freebie massages she has been giving me lately!



I used Paper Whimsies from Sassafras and layered them on to staggered cardstock before adding lots of doodles and the photographs.


Have you ever tried scrapping with one hand?? - its bloomin difficult!!

I have an embarrassing confession to make - I did something really silly -
I tried to show the guys that I'm not such a old fuddy duddy and that I can be "cool".
We were sorting through some old photos of me as a kid and the guys came across a photograph of me skateboarding! I told them that in my day I was a pretty skilled skater - ummmmm.....it was like 25 years ago when I last stepped on a board - maybe I shouldn't have attempted to show them just how "cool" I could be, because now I'm nursing a very sore right wrist to go with my very sore neck and very sore back!

Family arrive later on today for a few days - the weather forecast is looking good - so a photo sesh on the beach is looking even more likely :D

Have a great weekend and thanks for popping by.

T.x.x.

Whizzzzzz

I'm whizzing around trying to get organised for this coming weekend as we have family coming down to pay us a visit :D

The Guys are excited and we are all looking forward to seeing my Mom and Sis plus her two little tackers :D
My other Sis cant make it as sadly she received the news that my sweet lil' nephew, Wills, has a severe hearing problem and he will be having his first hearing aids fitted tomorrow.
Hubs and I have are now trying to reacquaint ourselves with Makaton.
J was classed as non verbal when he was younger and we used Makaton as a way to communicate with him - I really didn't think we would be having to use it again - but hey ho -such is life and as a family we are all prepared to polish up on our skills to ensure we can help to make Wills life easier.

In between de-cobwebbing the house and attacking the ironing pile, Ive managed to scrap everyday - mostly for mag or DT commitments because I wanted everything wrapped up before my Sis arrives, as she scraps too.



We have made plans to settle down to a scrappin session over the weekend. My Sis is a Pro Photographer, so I have constantly been watching the weather reports, in hope that sun will shine all weekend. I really want to get the guys all down on to the beach for a little photo session and I'm secretly hoping she will give me a few tips along the way ;-o

Thanks for popping by.
T.x.x.