Busy Life!

Sometimes life just takes over and things which were once so important take a back seat for a little while. My blog has been one of those things. I'm busy working and just chilling with the family and have discovered the television! I don't normally watch the telly - apart from CBeebies! But for the last couple of weeks I've found myself parked in front of the TV with a pair of knitting needles and some wool! So far I have made a scarf for a teddy bear and a blanket for a toy piggy (high class knitting!) oh and finished a scarf for Imogen which I started last year. I've started a few other things and eventually I will be knitting a baby blanket from the most gorgeous cotton yarn. I've also just got some lovely merino yarn for a scarf for George in the most sumptious deep red. I am determined to improve my knitting skills and learn a few more stitches than knit and purl!

Nearly Done!

I've just one last page to do, but I have spent the morning finishing the covers and adding the ribbons. I am doing nightshift for three nights starting tonight and as Rich has kindly come home for the afternoon so I can get a rest I won't be getting it finished today. Anyway here is the title page that starts my book - I've used MME papers and die-cuts and also cut out the 2007 with the Revolution.


Here's my album, all finished with the book rings and ribbons. It's really thick, the book rings are the largest I could find at 2 inches but it measures about 3.5 inches deep at the other side!

My whole album, can be seen here in the right order, from beginning to end if you want to see it all in one go. Obviously, there is a page missing at the moment but that will be added very soon! I have really enjoyed doing this and I am so proud of my journal. I've learned so much doing this and I genuinely can't wait to do it again later this year!

2007 in Review!

This page is when you need a bigger space to work on! The year 2007 in review, I wanted to do photographs and there are so many things I have missed out and so much I could have journalled about but there just isn't enough space (and time!). So here's the page


All I have added is some page pebbles with Crate Paper behind and some embossed numbers. It was a nice excuse to go back through the year's photographs and remember those memories!

I've very stupidly left the page I am really, really struggling with until last. It's supposed to be about things that only happen around Christmas - you know those once a year things and all I can focus on is food related items! Maybe I will have to go with that!

Two More to Share!

I've only two more pages to go now! One will be a list and the other just lots of photos I think so I should get them done between today and tomorrow.

This page was not a prompt as such, the actual prompt for the day was title pages, well, I've already done my title page so that left me a gap in my journal. Now me being me I can't cope with that so I've had to do another page for that day! So I've done a page acknowledging all the Christmas brithday's. Supplies are basic to say the least, patterned paper from QVC, Revolution lettering and Banana Frog stamps.

Another really basic page! I don't like New Year, so this was a hard page to do. I also spent the night at work so I didn't really have anything exciting to write about. But doing this page has made me realise it is also a great time to start a fresh and maybe that's what I should concentrate on instead of the fact we are not out celebrating. Reading other people's pages from this day also made me realise it's okay not to go out and get really drunk and spend New Year's Day with a rip roaring hangover! So, my page is DCWV cardstock, which I cut out using some Lisa Bearnson chipboard as a template. The lettering has been embossed with clear powder although there is a little bit of sparkle going on there aswell. I think it's time to replace my pad and powder and be alot more careful when using them!

Clean and Tidy

Another catch up page today. This one is about taking the decorations down. I always give the house a good going over before the decorations go up and then do it again when they come down. I didn't get chance to do my cleaning on Saturday when they came down so that's what I have done today. Anyway here's my page.....


I've used Basic Grey papers for all of this page, Revolution lettering and photo corner, ribbon from my stash and an embossed metal star on the Dovecraft chipboard tree. I really want to get this done this week but I am also busy doing lots of housework so it's difficult to try and fit everything in! I am having an early night tonight, I've never stopped all day and we had to be up this morning for the kids going back to school - it wasn't really early, just earlier than the last few weeks! I've been chasing the kids away on a morning so I could sleep in - not really late, around 8 ish, and they are really good at going and amusing themselves in their bedrooms for a bit but this morning I had to get up straight away. I had expected George to make a bit more of a fuss at having to go back but he was great and went off no bother!

Well, I am off to enjoy my cup of tea and then I'll be crawling into bed, sweet dreams to y'all!

The End - only not really!

It was the final day of prompts for the Christmas Journal today, and despite managing to fall behind a little again, I decided to do today's prompt rather than trying to do the outstanding ones. As it's the 'last' I went to town a bit, some of my last few pages have been done quickly and I wanted to spend a bit of time on this one. I quite like the finished result, it's quite a rich colour scheme.


I've used Basic Grey paper (I am finally going to confess to prefering last year's papers to this year!), MME die cuts, Basic Grey buttons, Dovecraft chipboard bauble, brads from my stash and Lisa Bearnson chipboard letters.

I am quite sad the class is over now, despite falling behind and getting a little bit concerned at not catching up as quickly as I had hoped, I've really enjoyed the class. I've loved doing the pages and the more I did, the more I loved the journalling. I have loved using lots of stash, instead of keeping it for a special something and mostly I love my journal. I am looking forward to it being finished and moving onto other things without feeling guilty that I am neglecting my journal but I will miss the daily prompts. I am really hoping to be finished this week and then I am going to be soooo good and sort through all my Christmas stash and store it away until next year. I have even kept a pizza box (which my Basic Grey Two Scoops came in) to put all my goodies in. I have loved all the papers I have used this year, but my biggest diappointment has been the Basic Grey Figgy Pudding, last year's Fruitcake was lovely and I've used quite a bit in my journal this year but I haven't enjoyed the Figgy Pudding as much as I had hoped. I will keep it though and pack it away in case I fall in love with it next year!

Well, time for bed I think, I've a busy day planned tomorrow!

Don't Forget!

Just a quick post tonight to share today's page which is about things learned this year and what not to forget next year.

Back tomorrow with a longer blog!

These are a few of my favourite things!

Here's todays page!


It shows two of the gifts I received this year, Dorothy the sheep and my gift box from Sharon. The striped paper is DCWV and the lettering is all various Quickutz alphabets and Bazzill Bling. I took Shimelle's advice and kept it simple, but the title took ages to do if I am honest!

I only managed this one page today as I have been busy catching up on various other boring household stuff. I have thought about one of the other pages still left to do though and with a little help from Rich, it shouldn't take too long.

We got a little dusting of snow overnight and fingers crossed for a bit more so that the kids can go sledging tomorrow!

We've Got Snow!

Yes, we have got the first snow of 2008, it's not much, more of a dusting, but maybe we will get more today. It might also be a bit better at my parent's house, as we often don't get as much here as what they do. We are going there tomorrow as my brother and his partner are here for their Christmas visit.

I made a little drawstring bag yesterday to match my heart. This was much easier, just straight lines! It's hanging in my kitchen now as a home for the fridge magnets and it looks quite sweet.

I am hoping to get to my local haberdashers today to see if they have any nice fabrics. I'd quite like some polka dots and some gingham and a ditsy floral would be quite nice, but I'll have to see what they have. If I have no luck then I'll be ordering off the internet!


I managed to get yesterday's prompt done last night about childlike innocence. It was a bit of a bizarre prompt and I've just gone with how lovely the children were this year about the whole season. The blue paper is DCWV and I had originally intended to handwrite my journalling but it wasn't going to fit so I had to resort to the computer. I've also used Revolution lettering and photo corners, some Doodlebug ribbon and some chipboard stars. It's quite hard to see on the scan but I've put some glitterglue on the stars and around the journalling. IT's not the most exciting page, but it's nice to get some blue in my book to contrast against all the Christmas colours.



I've got a fairly busy day planned today, the children are going to daycare for the day so I am going to shopping and doing some other essential chores, before hopefully heading home for the afternoon to either snooze on the settee or craft depending on how I feel! I would like to get another two pages done for my journal today if I can too, I don't feel quite so behind now!

Have you got snow today?

It's the New Year!

New Year's Eve wasn't so bad at work, it was busy, with the vast majority of patients attended with alcohol related injuries or illness, but not terrible. Driving home in the morning was so quiet, there was hardly anyone on the roads!

So, I've made some New Year's Resolutions, nothing major in there and some are not so much new but just to continuations of things I've already started. Here's my page


The papers and ribbon are from KI Memories, the rub-ons are 7 Gypsies and the brads from my stash. I am enjoying the colours on this page and it also means I have my resolutions written somewhere to refer back to. Inspiration for this page came from here, thanks!

Yesterday afternoon I ordered three books from Amazon by author Tone Finnangar. Her work is very pretty but without being 'twee' and I can't wait for the books to come so I can start making some lovely decorative things for around the house. I really wanted to sew yesterday so I found some plain white cotton fabric and after several attempts I managed to produce this very simple hanging heart for the kitchen. Can I just say, you would think a heart would be the easiest shape to sew and stuff, well it isn't or at least I don't think it is. It took me about four attempts to get the shape to work, and I obviously need to practice sewing as I found going around curves really hard. So anyway, here it is, sorry for terrible photograph but the weather is horrible here again!