Cuddly Cat

To bring the tone of my blog back up a notch or two after yesterdays post, here is what I completed today - you're going to have to excuse the poor photo quality and wonky camera work I'm afraid!

The good news is that Jason found my memory stick yesterday (major yay) - I had purposely put off looking for it as I was worried about the stress when I couldn't find it. It was in the other pc's USB port and amazingly that is somewhere I would never have thought to look!

The bad news is that our desktop PC has ANOTHER virus and this time there is nothing for it but to set it back to factory settings. that is 3 virus in 3 weeks now - I am beginning to lose all sense of humour on pc/laptop matters. Today I tried to set it back to factory settings and it wasn't playing ball. Therefore I am burying my head in the sand and NOT DEALING with it, I am not coping well with stress at the moment and so I am avoiding stressful situations like PC Viruses - the bloody thing can damn well stay switched off until I feel like I can cope again.

I am looking forward to a lovely social weekend, a few drinks (all saved up with my slimming world syns, slimming world is incidently going v well) and a lot of laughs, might help me chill out a bit! I need to chill out, I am turning into a stress head and I don't like it!

To cheer me up I have just purchased another EK Success border punch (bracket) and a bottle of black glimmer mist, I am hoping to get into the grungy painty splatter side of glimmer mists, aren't they expensive though? wowsers!

You're kidding me right?

Today Jason and I took a stroll to our local interflora florists, just to enquire on the prices (bloody expensive since you ask, so we are going to do our own) the lady helpfully gave us their wedding price list brochure. Really Interflora? Really? This is the best way to advertise wedding flowers? Am I am prostitute? A stripper? Do I have incredibly bad taste? The answer is a big fat NO!




There is another pic of the happy couple and the look like they would nut you as soon as look at you!

I have done some scrapping today, but I haven't quite finished it yet, so pics of that tomorrow.

In other news I have had a fraught day. With the weather being nice we had the back door open and bruno our dog often goes and sits in the sun quite happily! We learnt today that he is not to be trusted, he disappeared and we could not find him anywhere - cue Jason and I frantically running up and down the neighbourhood, and then driving around the neighbourhood looking for him. I got back home to find that Jason had found him, he had apparently just trotted back home after he was done SCAREING US WITLESS.

Well I know who gets my vote!

I just had a Conservative canvasser walk across my lawn! Well I couldn't let that one go could I? He did to be fair look suitably embarrassed to be caught out and he apologised. In general I am trying to be more relaxed about the whole leaflet dropper and lawn situtation, we had several droppers yesterday and I blew a kiss at all of them as they all used the path! Royal Mail have been dismal and recently 3 different postmen have walked accross the lawn so I fired of a complaint email and so far so good, and no more naughty posties.

Yes I know I am obsessed with the lawn :)

No scrapping recently.

At the weekend my Laptop managed (even with a virus protecter) to catch a trojan and there was nothing for it but to reset it back to factory settings, so I lost the lot, all my programms, quite a lot of good photos that were taken in the last month (and possibly all my photos if I don't find my memory stick soon) its all very depressing and so I have buried my head in the sand and not been online much since Friday.

Hopefully normal service will resume soon - tomorrow I may scrap!

Our Wedding Story

I decided to start a mini album today, documenting all the things we have done/organised for our wedding in *gulp* 5 weeks.




This is almost as far as I have got - the front cover ( you will have to excuse the shadows). I'm not one for delicate vintagey stuff so I am doing it true to my style. I love this pink paper (American Crafts - I do) and have been saving it for my wedding scrapping. I cut the letters on my robo, and glossy accented the main word.

Its got some acetate pages as well as chipboard and its going to include the story of how we met and the proposal and then it will have all about the venues, invites, guest list, clothes etc etc with the last page being a pic of the two of us on the day.

And in other news, I am warm for like the first time today. I know the weather looks lovely and all but I have been cold the last few days, but I am sat now at the kitchen table with the late afternoon sun streaming in and I feel all warm and toasty.

I'm also back on Slimming World in the run up to the wedding (doing it v strictly for 11 days now) and I have lost the couple of pounds I put on since slacking a bit. I will fit into my dress anyway but another 2-3 lbs would make a big difference. Also my face has slimmed down a treat, no way I want a big moon face on my photos. However I have eaten so many vegetables in the last 11 days (I get my 10 a day lets put it that way) that I fear I may well take root in the ground if I stop long enough!

Gotta be worth a go right?

Lookie here http://lifeandtimesofa12x12addict.blogspot.com/ for a chance to win this FANTASTIC prize package - what have you got to lose?



I've been scrapping again today in my quest to embellish more, and its going WELL, i've done a LO I love - in fact I love it so much i'm gonna submit it so I can't show it you just yet!

1st Find - a scraplift

Those who regularily read my blog will know how I struggle with embellishments, I want to add more, I want to scrap with them, but I keep stopping and going for clean and simple.

Now i'm not normally one for scraplifting but today whilst mooching around blogs I found this http://scrapsofmymind.blogspot.com/and LOVED the 3rd LO (well all of them really) this woman scraps like I want to scrap and as the layout had so much going on, I decided to lift it and use it like a little class in how to keep adding.



I don't think I did too bad, there isn't as much on it as the original, but baby steps. I think in recent weeks I have changed in style a little, and that makes me happy!

Chocolate Bunny

Hasn't the weather been lovely? Bruno has been soaking up the sun in the garden, hes such a good little doggy and even though our garden is not secure, he just moves from sunny spot to sunny spot, he really has no interest in wandering off! Here he is with Skittle yesterday afternoon just catching some rays!

Today the kids went back to school, time to tackle the great ironing mountain that has built up recently. I will have to do a bit each day to get the laudry cuboard looking more manageable!

And then on to the fun stuff, I made this today. See those lil blue scallops thats made by cutting the punch out from the punch I showed in the last post in half! its a great punch for versatility.

Punch Drunk

Yesterday I ordered this little beauty - and today (yes today) it arrived!







I am getting seriously addicted to these things, I get so much use out of them. Today I got all my border punches together and took a pic and I have happily made a cracking LO of them (called Punch Drunk btw). Well I say made, its sitting on my desk looking all made and done, but I need to stick it all down and time ran away from me! I won't be able to show you though, as I want to submit it to Shimelle for Scrapbook Inspiration Ideas Book 3.

We have spent all week having probs with our new wireless router - 6 attempts to open 1 webpage did not a happy bunny make! I took it back to Tescos today and got it refunded, no more Belkin routers in this house! Took my money to Argos and bought a Netgear router - which had £15 off, so I made money!!!

So far so good with this router and Joe is overjoyed as we have managed to get his xbox connected too!

Over and out blogland

Not a 7ft Bride

My Scrapagogo April kit arrived yesterday (4pm though, whats up with that? don't these posties know that I have plans for it!) And so today I made this lo, that I have had planned for a while, can you all see how I am gradually adding more and more stuff to my pages? Its not natural for me though!

The Bigger the Better

Here is what I have been up to this afternoon, I little overdone perhaps, but I will never learn to embellish more if I don't try!



I used a combination of old Scarlet Lime kits, and I'm pleased to get some of it used! Still a whole pizza box bursting at the seams with paper from the kits though!

3.5 Years ago, someone promised me a bottle of wine (he's a bit of a wine buff) and he has just knocked on the door with it, which was a bit of a shocker! (and probably not terribly polite to greet him with "Oh Bloody Hell!) Will not be able to drink it for a while as I have sworn off alcohol for a couple of weeks, which is a pain as I have a couple of social engagements this week (will I cave in? - Probably!)

Head in the Clouds

Enjoyed making this one immensly! Was a very quick one to get done. And yes I know - more clouds. Was reluctant to use all this paper in one go, but glad I did. I have a general rule that no matter how much I like a piece of paper, I never rebuy it, and I won't rebuy this either, but it is sooooo pretty!

I'm Back!

Oh the relief! I am back wirlessley!

Yesterday our wired PC developed a virus and was mostly unuseable, Major panic from me as it was our only internet link. My mate Bill came and sorted it by setting it back 4 days and doing a full restore and updating our virus checkers (me loves Bill) I did have to sit through a stern lecture on PC management, to which I looked suitably contrite and promised I would do better (although I know I won't!)

Today after exhausting all other possibilities (we orignially thought that we had broken the router whilst trying to connect to xbox live last weekend - but it seems to have been a coincidence) we took our router back to the shop with its receipt (which after 9 months we were lucky to find) and got it exchanged no probs, so I am now the happiest of happy bunnies!

I hated not having a laptop and I HATED not having wireless on my iphone, its amazing how much I use the wireless on my iphone, its been like cutting off an arm this week.

So this week I hope to resume normal blog service, no more posts without pics!

Weeeeeeeeeee I am sooooooooo happpppyyyyyyyyyyyy!

Dead Flowers

Today I got to scrap for the first time in almost a week - nearly forgot how!! (excuse the needle over the bottom bit of lettering, never saw it there when I took the photo!)





This documents the fact that within a day or 2 I had killed the flowers that Jess bought me for mothers day (she wasn't greatly amused!)

I am so NOT loveing having to use the desktop, I've had to download Picasa and everything.

Arrrgghhh Wireless and Indian call centres

Over the weekend our wireless went kaput! We were too busy being out and about to worry about it at the time. But I have been trying over the last couple of days to get it back online.

No luck, I have spent 1.5hrs on the phone to Belkin tech support today, where indian call centre peeps have got frustrated with me, because at times, I could not understand them! The cheek! in a 1 hr long technical conversation, I asked him to repeat himself only twice and he got huffy with me!!!

The long and the short of it is I still don't have wireless and that is why I am absent, I hate our wired PC's keyboard as it gives me wrist ache.

But thats where I am - still reading, just not posting!

Sleepover night at our house tonight as well - eeeekkk

When I Grow up - Butterfly Crafts

Just realised I forgot to show you the LO I did for Aprils Visual Challenge at
http://butterfly-crafts.blogspot.com/ We had to use this ad for inspiration, and I'll admit I really struggled with this one. So I did something completely different and made my first 8.5x11.5 LO



Its a shame that these are currently Jessicas aspirations in life, but I am sure she will grow out of it!

Yesterday we did yet more wedding shopping (yawn) but we did well we got: jessicas dress, Joes outfit (a cute little white granddad shirt with a linen waistcoat and black trousers) Jason got a shirt and a waistcoat, he tried it on and he looked sooooooo smart in all his get up!

I got a little cardi for my arms, a slip (as the dress is a bit see through) and a nice little pearl flower headband with silvery bits.

Got home, and dress is still see through, my knickers are DETERMINED to be a BIG part of my day, don't know what else to do, the dress has an underlayer, I have a slip, how am I going to stop this knicker line??? I can't wear seamless pants as this underwear was selected to make my figure look sleek in this particular dress - arrrghhhh.

And then the cardi I thought was perfect isn't, it covers all the detail on the dress, so now at least I know I need a bolero style, but this is causing me great stress as ivory boleros are not as easy to find as you may think, there is one, but its got long sleeves.

Then we realised there is a mark on Jessicas Dress - what is it with Debenhams and marks on dresses - so I am STRESSED big time. The mark looks like a water splodge and because the front of the dress falls in pleats its not necessarily obvious as I can make it fall into a crease, so I may or may not take it back, depending on how I feel after easter (I am NOT dealing with anything til after easter now!)

We also treated Joe to a cable to hook his xbox to the internet (he was so chuffed) and guess what? It doens't work! So after 90 mins trying everything in the world, we had one very stressed household and my head was BANGING.

How I managed NOT to have a drink last night I don't know, but I just stuck to appleade (pretended it was cider lol) I still managed to wake up at 2am this morning with a headache that was horrendous (I actually dreamt that I was taking Parcetamol for a headache before I woke up!)

Despite the major moanathon I am upbeat today!!! Yes Really!!!! I know!!!!

Kids are off to their dads for a few days this afternoon and Jason and I have a few social occasions planned, so I am gonna forget all the wedding crap and relax and enjoy the company of good friends, wine and lots of laughs

Have a good Easter everyone!!!

My wedding dess

Well it came today - packaged like this, which had me fuming - I took this photo in case I needed to complain about the dress being creased etc. Luckily it wasn't creased but thats luck and certainly not their judgement!

I tried it on and it looked nice, then I got Jessica to photograph me and oh dear, I looked a right state on film, my arms are humongus (I knew I needed to buy a little shrug and now I KNOW I need to lol) and my cleavage is massive, I so wish I had nice little neat breasts I hate having a chest it makes me look as size 16 and not the 12 I am! In fact I look like 2 different people in one wedding dress, its so neat and flattering from the waist down and I look like a bloody shot putter from the waist up! work is needed! I wonder if 2 months of weights will improve my arms any?

Anyway here are some pic of it one the hanger