Tagged!

Been tagged by Tracey -she quite literally is a little monkey you know!!

The rules are: List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets.Tag 5 friends and list them. Then, those people need to write on their blogs about 5 weird things, and state the rules, and tag 5 more people.I am tagging Gems, Beth, Chrissie, Gaye, and Cee!

1. When I was a child and thought the "Canterville Ghost" lived under my bed and would grab me given the slightest chance. As a result, I still can't sleep if the tiniest part of my body (i.e. a toe, a finger, a lock of hair) hangs over the edge of the bed!!
2. My dog enjoys eating the occassional peach, and one of my cats has a penchant for carrots!
3. I avidly watch "Supernanny" and criticise all those clueless parents - despite having absolutely no clue, or even children, of my own!!
4. I'm terrified of spiders. TER. EEEE. FIED. I can't sleep if there's one in the house - can't get near enough to them to remove them myself, so I spray them with hairspray. Then I get really upset for killing a defenceless creature which wasn't going to hurt me anyway just 'cos I'm a big baby. I honestly feel so bad about doing something so cruel.
5. I am quite happy to leave my legs grow all hairy in the winter when I only have to wear trousers!!!!! Ewwwww - I know, but I reckon it keeps my pins warm!!! (None of your are ever going to want to sit next to me at a wintery crop again now are you?! *sad face*.................. )

Forgive me bloggers for I have sinned…….

....it has been 12 days since my last post. Please forgive me.

I have not been overly hectic, yet just not seem to have a spare moment to pop along and leave an update for my faithful bloggers who I know drop in for a catch up :)

But I’m back now, and quite literally better than ever! I’ve had a lovely week all in all……..but first I have some exciting breaking news!!!!!!1

Katrina has just phoned on returning from her antenatal appointment. There have been recent concerns about the huge size of the baby which led to her having to go in for tests – all thankfully returned normal results, however – the midwife again thinks the baby is too big for her due date, so wishes to see her earlier than usual, in a fortnight, and if the baby still seems too big, Katrina will be admitted to the day ward for scans and possibly to be enduced! That is of course, if the baby doesn’t make its’ own way out in that time – the baby’s head is now down and ready and waiting!!

So likkle bubba could be here within three weeks, rather than in the expected six and a half!!! I’m ecstatically excited, but Katrina of course is happy but nervous at the same time :)

Other things which have made me happy this week?!

Well, firstly, the first beginners Scrapbooking Class took place this week and went really well! I had the pleasure of the company of a lovely group of girls, who were all enthusiastic and had produced beautiful pages by the end of the session. I had a lovely time looking at some of the fabulous pages they’d brought along to show what they’d already been up to. We’re all looking forward to the crop on Wednesday……meanwhile I’m deliberating over what cakes and biscuits we should have to munch on whilst there….all in the name of boosting our creativity of course!!!

Secondly – I received my sub copy of Scrapbook Inspirations yesterday – and it was fantastic to see my “Road To Nowhere” page in the Great Outdoors readers gallery. It looked fab professionally photographed and thankfully all the pieces remained in tact (unlike when they photographed my BOB pages!!). As soon as it is returned to me I’ll take a (not so great) pic and pop it on here for those of you who don’t get the mag.

Then one afternoon, I got a message out of the blue from Tracie, the owner of Little Cottage Crafts and a fellow BOB newbie winner, asking if I’d take a guest spot on her design team for December! Of course I jumped at the chance and will be looking forward to getting my teeth into the project when the kit arrives next month.

And of course, last Friday was the fab Swansea Crop, and I’m pleased to say, despite weeks of scrappers block, I managed to complete a page to submit for the monochromatic challenge set for the group by SI whist have a scrapping get together with Gems on the previous Tuesday. The standard of work was outstanding – it was a tough decision having to vote for the winners, but all were very well deserved. Will be looking forward to seeing which pages SI choose to feature in their February issue!

I finally got my spanky new printer – and very clever it is too! I was busy printing away some envelopes for Lee yesterday afternoon and it told me that half way through the pile I’d put some in upside down! How clever is that?! And if I’m in a rush I can print pics directly from the printer without even switching my PC on – fantastic – as you know what a totally unorganised and last minute type of gal I am!

Had a great day last Saturday too, Lee, my Mum, Rocky and I went down to Burry Port harbour, just outside Llanelli. We’d driven past it a couple of evenings before and decided it looked like a pretty place to explore during the day. Previously I had no idea that the place existed and thought Burry Port was just a straight road on the way to Pembrey Country Park, but take some side roads and you find this little jewel! It was lovely and sunny day too – and was perfect for watching the fish and crabs in the shallower water of the harbour. We stopped for an ice-cream and the lovely lady made up a cone for rocky – advising doggy ice-creams were free! What a nice woman! Rocky certainly liked her anyway!

***No, no photos today either! Anyone else on Beta getting this same prob?! I get the pop up saying "images added" - with little thumbnails of my picture underneath (didn't used to get those on the old version), and under that a little caption saying 'your images will be added and you can return to your post after clicking "done" ' - but the done button never appears to click on!!! Help!***

Tagged again!

Gems - that likkle monkey - has tagged me again......so here we go.............buckle those seat belts................

Four jobs I have had in my life:- Waitress and then chef at Little Chef, Data Input clerk at a GP surgery, secretary for ADT Fire & Security and my current job as Tenancy Support Worker for mental health clients. How’s that for a diverse CV then?!!

Four movies I would watch over and over:- The Labyrinth; Back to the Future II (love it when they go back and have to avoid themselves from the first film – things like that screw my little mind up!!!) Would love to come up with two other arty, intellectual or highly acclaimed films but I’m too sad I’m afraid. I did like The Little Mermiad when that first came out – and would probably quite happily sit and watch it and sing along to all the songs if someone made me.

Four places I have lived:- In the middle of nowhere in a forest next to a waterfall in a village called Penllergaer (rofl – sounds like somewhere on Middle Earth), then a little town called Pontarddulais (waves to Chrissie!!!), then into my first flat with Lee there, and now our house nearer Swansea centre.

Four TV shows I love to watch:- Lost; Eastenders; Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and …ahem….Most Haunted!!

Four places I have been on vacation:- France; Tenerife; Ibiza; Blackpool lol

Four websites I visit regularly:- UkScrappers; Blogger; and anything else which catches my attention as I wade through the thick sticky mud that is cyber space.

Four of my favourite foods:- Four?! I like all food! Except carrots.

Four places I'd rather be right now:- My comfy warm bed; a hot deserted beach somewhere exotic; in a chocolate factory with plenty of free tasters; in a fab scrapshop with unlimited funds to splash!

Four things that make me smile:- My small but perfect family; my dopey dog and crazy kitties; being snug indoors on a stormy day; I can’t think of a fourth significant enough to list – thousands of little things make me smile everyday :)

I tag......Beth and Cee.........look forward to reading your cultured and witty answers my lovelies :)

***BETA BLOGS***

Earlier this week I changed my account over to the new "Beta" service provided by Google - eventually all blogs will have to change over so thought I may as well do it now. However, I've just gone to leave a comment on a buddy's blog, but I am unable to do so as they are still on the regular system and I'm on the Beta one.

It takes minutes to change over, and all your settings and postings remain the same, but it has "enhanced features" (ahem - don't know what they are though cos I'm no techie!!!) and there's no waiting around to "republish" everytime you make a little change!

So come on girlies, get changing over to BETA so I can leave random and rubbish comments on your blogs again - I know you'll sorely miss them otherwise!!! rofl! There should be a small link to follow on the bottom of your dashboard or logging in screen!

PS - I can assure you I'm not on commission from wither Blogger or Google lol!!!

Just a note.....

....mainly to add some of the pics I promised in my last post!

By popular demand, firstly we have a pic of our newest family member....Barry Bear. I can confirm that he is taking to his temporary habitat (i.e. perched atop the fire place) until more permanent accommodation can be sought for him. There was a moment of near-tragedy on arrival when Rocky sniffed the new little dude out - but swift removal to said Mantle Piece avoided any carnage.


Also - here is as promised picture of my latest scrapping find - curtosey of my mum! I spied this great Asda shopping bag whilst visiting her and exclaimed how fabby it would be as a crop bag - and lo and behold - on my next visit she had one for me! They are great - I've got all the extras that won't fit into my Robox but are bulky and awkward to carry in there - my A3 cutting mat, my 12" guillotine and even my expanding 12x12 paper organiser - with room to spare! Fabbo! So that means I should be able to unload my car in one go at the next crop I attend!! If anyone want's one - they are a steal at just 70p at Asda - with 10p going to the Tickled Pink breast caner campaign. What better reason do you need to get one?!!

Also - I had a great crafting night last night with my mum and sister - I'll post again about that though as I want to get some accompanying photos first!

Todays blog prompt on UKS caught my attention:

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?

A pretty short and sweet answer for me today - I love colour - from the brightest and most mood enhancing pinks, yellows and oranges, to the murkiest browns and olive greens - I'd honestly be hard pushed to pick a single colour, or even a group of colours, that I could say were my favourite.

The part of the prompt which interested me most though was about scrapbooking affecting my environment. I must say I have noticed recently that I'm drawn to patterned/printed clothing which previously I would have thought was pretty ghastly. I used to be the lover of all things plain and practical when it came to my wardrobe - but over the past few months I've become more drawn to different items (usually thinking "Mmmm, wouldn't that make a great page/LO/embellishment?"rofl) The picture of myself in my last post is a prime example - the flowery top with it's yellow, orange and green blooms on a beige background would have made me gag before, but when I saw it on the hanger - I was excited by the different colour combinations and the various looks I could therefore achieve with the one piece.

However, whether it's down to my own style evolving through scrapbooking, or the scrapbooking/fashion world mirroring each other more and more - I'm unsure :)

Will catch you all later my blogging buddies :) xxx