Happy NewYear

I would like to wish everyone who reads this (anyone?!!) a very Happy New Year.
We have had a lovely day today,we met some friends in Meadowhall then went to our favourite restaurant.We are now trying to stay awake!! It's awfully windy outside.

I bought TSBM today and noticed that I am a runner up in the scrapbooker of the year competition.I was surprised at the choice ofthe 9 runners up, some I thought would definately be there are not and vice versa,I guess thats the problem with online voting,it's not necessarily the best entries that make it further but the ones with lots of friends to vote!

I have been trying to jazz this blog up a bit and have done something wrong with the banner, it is repeating itself, if anyone can tell me what to do to fix it I would be eternally grateful!

Eid Mubarak

Well it's Eid tomorrow,New Years Eve too, so a double whammy!!

I will be cooking some goodies today,not sure what yet!

We went to my best friends last night, she had a party and the kids took Sing Star which proved to be a great hit.We didn't get home until the early hours but we did have a nice time.

Went Eid shopping yesterday, managed to get some nice things for the kiddies in the sales.Anyway,off to cook some yummyfood...

I've been scrapping!

Did a quick layout on my lap while watching telly last night.
I took the piccies on Christmas Day.

Snowmen Cupcakes

Layla and I made these on Christmas Day

Christmas Goodies

I received some beautiful gifts from my scrapping friends, I have just found out that my stocking swap on the Pad was Beth, thank you so much Beth everything was lovely, I receieved this beautiful angel tealight holder, sweeties, ribbon, blossoms and someicing sugar cupcake toppers.

Then Laura sent me a fabby Cupcake Survival Kit,all packaged in a video case, what a great idea and Laura you know me well!!

From my advent swap on the Pad I received loads and loads of fabulous gifts and I still don't know who you are,so if you arereading this reveal yourself please! For my Christmas Day pressie I received this lush cupcake tin full of cupcake goodies, I love it and so does Layla!!

I also had a lovely advent swap on UKS, thank you Dizzy and a cute mini album from jake,thanks hun. So I have been spolied by my friends,thank you everyone.xxxx

can't think of a title

Why does blogger insist you think of a title every post?

Well fun and games on UKS last night, thanks to a stupid MD of a publishing house, typical bloke, thinks he knows better then us mere women, well, he might think twice in future about being such a gob shite.

I got my Mukka Express today, it's so cute!!! So now I have had the ready made egg nog (all gone, it was delicious), all my bottles of syrup have arrived (huge big bottles!) and now I have my coffee maker, but I still can't combine everything and make my perfect drink, why? Cos I forgot the coffee LOL !! I need some espresso coffee!!!!

It's cold today, all icy outside, my colds getting better but now Ali is in the throws of it, think we have used 6 boxes of tissues in 3 days.

Layla had a friend sleep over last night, they finally stopped giggling at about 1 o clock I think,now they are playing Sing Star, can you hear them?!!

It's a Miracle

I found out last night that the humble pot of Vaseline is amazing!!
After 3 solid days of constant nose blowing my hooter was looking a lot like Rudolph's, it was also so sore that I was nearly crying. Now, when the kiddies have a cold I always tell them to rub a bit of Vaseline in but I have never followed this advice myself,until last night. I thought why not,well it was amazing, 5 minutes after applying the miracle emoliant my nose was soft and I could touch it without screaming in pain!!It was amazing, such a revelation!! So if you ever have a cold, smother your nose in Vaseline!

My tin of eggnog turned up today,this is gonna be the most expensive eggnog latte ever!!!

wake up and smell the coffee

After falling in love with the taste of Starbucks Eggnog Latte I spent today searching for an alternative to make at home. I have already ordered a can of eggnog from an American food store on ebay,not sure really what it is but hopefully it is the right thing!

I then stumbled across some flavoured coffee syrups on ebay today and thought as I have to pay a courier charge I may aswell buy 6 instead of1, so I have Eggnog, Gingerbread, Almond, Coconut, Caramel and Chai flavours on the way.

Then I needed something to make the lattes in, I didn't want a faffy electric machine that would be a pain to clean ensuring I would only use it once so I found a funky Italian maker, which works on the hob and also makes espresso and cappuccino aswell as lattes.

Hope I get my parcels soon!!

sniff

well this cold is still here,gone through boxes of tissues.
Nas has taken Rosa to Nottingham Uni for her course, it has been so lovely to have family here but I always feel so down when they leave.
Off to plan the Christmas Day menu now

Cold

Have a nasty cold and feeling sorry for myself!
Kiddies have gone to school and Rosa is still in bed! I promised her fish and chips later,so we will go to town and to Rothwells fish n chip shop,the best fish n chips ever!!
Am designing a layout for a new venture somewhere and its looking good, even if I say so myself, had to take a photo of Layla for it and she looks mean and moody!!
Looking forward to the kids finishing school on Wednesday,will be nice to spend some time together,got all sad lat night thinking of how they are growing up too fast, don't know how I'll cope when they hopefully go to uni in a few years,think I'll be an awful mum who doesn't want to let go! Maybe I'll have another baby then and start all over again!

Sad

Well we have had my big sister and her 2 children visiting us from Spain for a couple of days and Nas has just taken them back to the airport. I stayed at home because I am such a cry baby when they leave! Even though they have only been here 2 days the houe feels empty and I miss them. We had a great time while they were here, played Sing Star for hours last night! We still have my neice Rosa staying for 2 days as she has to go somewhere for a course before she goes to Spain for Christmas.

I think we have bought a house! Fingers crossed as the man we are buying from is a little strange!It's a lovely house in a lovely area but we need to change everything in the house,but at least that way we will get it how we want it.

No bravery

A very thought provoking video here

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article11799.htm

We are going to look at a house for the second time tomorrow, I love it,it's huge and has a gorgeous garden.

Went to see my old shop today, it is now a hairdressers, it looks lovely.

We have 2 new Dream Team members today, Karen and Pam. They are both fantastic scrappers and can't wait to see what they come up with for us.

houses

Well we are looking at houses today,bit nervous and I hope everything goes through ok. I rang my sister in Spain last night and we were both looking at estate agents websites at the same time and oohing and ahhing over one particular house, we are going to view it tomorrow,fingers crossed please!

The kids have had yesterday off school as it was progress day where we go in and see how they have done, we were really pleased with both of them,they are both doing really well and working hard and are a pleasure to teach apparently. Well don't know what happens when they walk through the door at home then!! I was really strange to walk round the school again as its the same school I used to go to- very strange, even some of the teachers are still there and there remember me, don't know why because I was ever so quiet :)

Well,more sorting out to be done of the "shop" in the back room today.

A bit of good news at last

Well I haven't blogged personally for a long time as I haven't had anything nice to blog about! We just seem to be going from one bit of bad news to another lately, and I don't want to write about things like that.

Hopefully, if I think more positively good things will happen, well thats the theory anyway!

The news wasn't too good yesterday though, a member of the Lebanese government was assasinated in Beirut which isn't good for the stability of the government or the country. It's not nice having half of your family there and hearing more bad news. I just hope things settle down, we were thinking of going for Christmas but Nas doesn't think its a good idea to travel there right now.

Anyway,my good news. I went to town today and was looking at the mags in Smiths, I picked up The Scrapbook Magazine and put it down again, walked away and then something made me go back.I read on the cover that they had announced the finalists of the Scrapbooker of The Year competition which I had entered again. I was one of the top ten last year. Well, I opened the mag and saw one of my entries there!!! I managed to not scream in the middle of a packed shopping centre!! They have printed 20 finalists entries and the readers have to vote for their favourite. You can vote online here: http://www.practicalpublishing.co.uk/scrapbook/article_162.shtml
So I will be nervously awaiting the results!! They will be printed in next months edition.

Theres a scan of my entry in the mag at the top there.

Well, what a day!

I have had today. I have had a lot to think about these past couple of days but came to a decision tonight. I have left a lot of good friends on a site which used to feel like home and while I am feeling sad about it I will move on. A very good friend of mine left too but not sure if anyone has noticed yet, for totally unrelated reasons but I am glad today is over. Onwards and upwards as they say!

New Forum

Been getting things ready for the reopening of the website,hope it won't be too long now.
There will be lots of great new products on there as well as lots of price reductions and loads of new Paperbag Book Kits and other kits too.

We now have a forum which will link to the shop, we have lots of great new ideas for the forum too, we will be having Weekly Classes which are a bit like a mini cyber crop. The teacher of the class will be online available for any questions and you will create a layout. The first one has been designed by one of our Dream Team members Maria Horton and it is gorgeous.

There will also be competitions where you can win prizes,we have the first one going now so check it out.

This is where you can find our forum:

http://carolinezcraftz.s10.forumsplace.com/

I wish...

I wasn't so naive, I really do

I've been scrapping

Yep,made time to scrap,I had to or I think I would have given it all up for good!!
Took me ages to start though,think I had forgotten how to do it!

We are looking for flights to Beirut and thinking of going during the Christmas holidays. We would catch 3 celebrations then - Christmas, Eid and New Years.I have never been there for Eid before so that will be fantastic,we should feel a festive atmosphere which we never quite get here! I am interested to see what the weather will be like in December,we have only ever been in the height of summer. There is no way it can be colder than here but it will be strange to wear a coat in Lebanon,we are just so used to being mega hot when we are there.I wonder if we will need a heater for the flat?

There are some good people out there you know,I have been thinking about this a lot andthe support I got (or didn't) during the war. I got more support/thoughts from my online friends than I did from my own family. I don't know if thats because they didn't know how to react or because they really didn't care,I don't know. But,it doesn't take long to say "hope you are OK" etc and these messages I got from the Padders and from UKS kept me going when all I wanted to do was hide away.I had some surprising messages and one lovely lady said her son wanted to send us a package of goodies for a child who needed it in Lebanon. We received this parcel and it was lovely,fullof sweets, small games, a toothbrush and toothpaste,soap,pencils etc. It was very thoughtful and we will make sure that it goes to a child who needs it when we get to Lebanon.

It send me thinking though,I would love to collect shoe boxes full of things which a child would appreciate from UK children and take them over there and distribute them to needy children. I just have no idea how to go about it. If anyone has any knowledgs of this I would love you to tell me.

Big school for Layla!

It's Layla's first day at Secondary School and doesn't she look smart?
She is going to the same school I went to which is a bit wierd as someof the teachers are still there.I also know her form tutor which Layla is gutted about! We were both at college together when I did a TEFL course.

Ali is starting in Year 9 tomorrow. They will be at the same school again which is reassuring, just hope it is better than the last excuse for a school Ali went to!

Got a parcel today, I bought some American food from ebay to try.Layla and I have a slight obsession with cupcakes at the moment!! I wanted to try a cake mix which the Americans bang on about so got a Betty Crocker French Vanilla mix with pudding in the mix (makes it moist dontcha know!) and a WHITE cake mix,it is actually white not yellow.Then I got a tub of cream cheese frosting and a box of Kraft Mac Cheese.Now I have never tried the mac cheese but I have hear people talk about it lots,hope its not mingin!!

Couldn't believe the news yesterday that Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray barb. Very sad.

My Lumpy Bumpy Layla

After a nice break away it makes sense in his bloody awful life I seem to lead now that we have another problem,doesn't it. It seems to be any time I enjoy myself some other shit has to come along to cancel the good out.

Me and Layla were visiting an old couple across the road 2 nights ago when I looked at Layla and noticed a large lump on her neck, where an adams apple would be, it doesn't hurt her and she just thought it was normal!

I took her to the doctors yesterday who said it is her thyroid gland,it could be due to puberty or some other abnormality,told me not to worry as it is 99.9% curable. Then sent us to the hospital for a blood test. Now we are waitingto hear and guess how worried I am :(

I am trying so hard not to google "thyroid in children" as I will only freak out more, but if anyone knows anything about it please let me know.

London

Well,we are back and we had a fabby time.
We went on the London Eye, which was great, it was a clear day so we had great views. That's the only touristy thing we did though, the rest of the time was spent on Edgware Rd,which is like Little Lebanon - full of Lebanese shops and restaurants. We spent a fortune on food, but hey, we felt a bit closer to Lebanon,so what the heck!!
We spent each evening in a little cafe where the kids could surf the www and we could have a pot of mint tea and a shisha (water pipe), the first evening we did this I finally felt myself physically relax after so many weeks of tension.
We brought some food back with us and have some good piccies too.

Well Done Rosa

I need to brag today.My sisters daughter Rosa who lives in Spain has done so well in her GCSE's. She got 2 A's and 7 A* 's How amazingly clever is she!!
She also took 2 GCSE's last year and got A* 's , whats even more amazing is that she is only 15, my sister Elaine is the headmistress at the school and she was able to go up a year. She is going to a school in England in September to take her A levels, I think she has set her sights on medicine, I think the world is her oyster, well done sweetheart.

a little break

We are going to London on Sunday and staying in a hotel for 2 nights. We need a bit of a break. We should still be on holiday for another 2 weeks,but hey,a weekend is better than nothing.

I think we will be tourists for a day and show the kids all the landmarks,then we will probably spend a day in Edgware Road, which has all the Arabic shops and restaurants.

It will be a good opportunity to take the new car on a longer journey too,it should certainly be more comfortable and we will have loads of space. We will use sat nav,I have hysterics when Nasser ignores what the woman says and she has to keep repeating it!! I wish I could programme it to say "well piss off then,if you'renot going to listen to me find your own way"!!!

stressful sunday

What a stress ridden day today was. Some family stuff I can't get into here then my will to live dissapeared while trying to get my point of view across to those oh so tolerant 2Peas posters!

Thank goodness the majority of people here can see what I'm trying to say, I don't want everyone to agree with me just be able to see my point of view without calling me a terrorist!

I posted a link to the website by the Stop the War Coalition(I think theres a link on this blog a few posts back) .Now because this website shows the truth they dismissed it straight away as propaganda. It was actually someone on UKScrappers who posted a link to the site, I had never seen it before and it is from that link that we knew about the demonstration Nasser went on in London. The difference in attitudes from the Peas who saw the site and the UKScrappers was phenomenal.

If anyone ever sees/hears me going to visit 2Peas again hit me on the head with something heavy will you, man- do they get you frustrated.

yummy food

We decided to go for a drive in the new car yesterday and tookmy best friend Sam,we ended up in Leeds at an Indian restanrant called Akbars,it was seriously yummy.Then we went to a Tunisian cafe called Sahara for a big pot of mint tea and a water pipe and to chill!!

Today, I really must get things done. Don't think we'll get to Spain, still so much to do in the shop.I also have a "feeling"not to go to Spain, don't know why but these feelings are not usually wrong!!

Keep waking up at night and all the problems and to do lists run through my head and keep me awake for a couple of hours. Thin I'll get one of those memory foam mattress toppers and see if that helps me sleep a bit better.

someone slap me

Feeling a bit desperate,why when everything is over am I feeling worse than ever? Got quite a bit done in the shop but there is still more to do,I am so fed up of it though. However much I do there still seems to be a huge mountain of crap to sort.

I hope that when its done and I'm organised at home I will feel better,but right now I could just bin everything and not have a business at all.

There are starting to rebuild in Lebanon, and are finding more bodies as they move the rubble. Nasser wants to go as soon as he can, Israel are still controlling the sea and air space though so don't know how he thinks he's going to get there.

Getting back to "normal"

that's what everyone is trying to do now. The spirit of the Lebanese people is amazing , they are already moving the rubble, and finding more bodies,including babies. Hezbollah have told the people that they will pay to rebuild the houses which have been demolished and the rebuilding will start straight away.

I feel such a wuss, everything that these people have been through and they are just getting on with things now, I'm here and can't even get my arse in gear to empty the shop.

All our family members have returned to their homes now and Nasser is looking for a ticket to go to Lebanon himself. He needs to see his family and maybe see of there is anything he can do to help there.

I'm trying to make things seem OK for the kids, they have been through a lot too. Layla made some cupcakes yesterday, she did everything by herself and they were gorgeous. We then went (with some friends) to Sheffield to look in a big Asian clothes store,I ordered a suit to be made,which will be ready in 4 weeks. We then went to Kebabish to eat,one of the girls who came with us is thinking of saying yes to an arranged marriage so she tried a wedding dress on,she looked beautiful, it had loads of hand sewn bead work and was very heavy,it even had a train.It was good value at £575 I thought.

We bought a new car on Sunday, a Mitsubishi Space Wagon,it is a 7 seater and very nice. The kids love it, and if they argue then they can sit on different aisles!!

A victory for Lebanon

Well,it seems that the ceasefire is holding for now, Thank God. My sister in law and family and mum in law went back to Nabatieh yesterday and my brother in law and his family are travelling back today. We saw some footage from Nabatieh n TV yesterday and the devastation is horrendous. Now that people are returning I imagine that the true extent of the damage and death toll will come out as they dig in the ruined buildings.

It is a day that many Lebanese never thought they would see though - a victory against Israel. Israel had always invaded Lebanon over the years and so was a constant threat, but now that Hezbollah have resisted them and shown that they will not take another invasion,for once Israels mighty fire power backed by the US and Britain did not win.

I don't understand how governments can bang on about Hezbollah being backed by Syria and Iran,even if there are so what? Isn't the US and the UK backing Israel? What is the difference? During the war I actually heard a politician saying that you should not count the lives of the Lebanese civillians lost the same as the Israelis lives lost, I wouldn't have believed someone could have said that until I heard it myself.

Ceasefire?

I hope so,I really do

The Rag Doll

I found this on a Lebanese blog, I defy anyone to read it and not cry

Dear all,

I am a little rag doll who has lost her owner. Yesterday she played with me, combed my hair, and showed me off to all her friends. There were quite a few of them, all huddled together in the basement. For a moment I was lost as a little boy grabbed me by the arms and tossed me high into the air, but then my owner rescued me and cradled me in her arms once again.Today, I am discarded, just another toy buried underneath a pile of stones, which used to be our playroom.My owner, that beautiful girl is laying near by, eyes closed, clothes torn, her fragile body coated in white dust. Has she become an angel? She seems to be at peace, I wonder when she'll wake up and keep me safe in her arms. I am a bit scared... I heard rockets overhead, but i'm used to them by now. My owner used to count them, but she is silent now, so I guess she doesn't know how to count that much. People are running around me. I guess the game of hide and seek is over. Quick! Wake up! Let's hide in the toilet!Quick! I see a man wearing a red cross coming towards you, lifting you gently... Why don't you take me along? Aren't I your favorite doll? You promised! You promised!I'm worried now. Your nap usually lasts 1 hour, and since there has been constant bombing you haven't been getting much sleep, but you were never quiet for so long. Why aren't you singing? Why aren't you soaking up the sun, teasing your brother, hiding his slippers?Then I see your mother, the woman who washes me when I get dirty after being dragged around the house all day, but she doesn't pick me up as usual. She is crying and calling your name, over and over. Answer her! Why are you so silent? Where are the others? Why is there so much noise? Who are all these people? Wait! Pick me up! Tell me what is going on!Don't take her away!We haven't finished playing... We haven't... She promised to comb my hair before we left Qana. She promised...

If you want to read more this is the link

Where's Blair?

Wouldn't you think that given that we supposedley had a huge terror alert yesterday in Britain that the Prime Minister would be about to do the job hes paid to do? or maybe just to offer a few calming words blah blah blah? But no,he knew about it but he went on holiday - bet he didn't fly Easy Jet.

The cynic in me wonders how true the terror alert was, it very conveniently took the focus off the war in Lebanon, I never saw one report on it yet the killing continues.

1000 +

Nothing to add really,still the same.
My nephew Jamil has done a really lovely thing, he works in Beirut and rents a small flat,he has given his flat to a displaced family and he is staying in a hotel.

Thank you all for your messages of support and concern, means alot tome.

war weary

This is what they must mean about being war weary. When we ring our family in Lebanon up now they just seem so tired and down,I am worried about my mum in law, she has always been a strong woman ( widowed with 6 children when her youngest was 3 months,parents to look after and all that living in just one room-makes you strong!) but now she sounds beaten, like she can't take much more,she is so sad for all the children who have been killed.

I'm in a weird state too but just keep feeling guilty about it as I am safe, I have food and water and freedom to go where I want to. But I'm not enoying those things, we eat because we have to at the moment, don't think we even taste the food, and although we can go anyway we please we don't feel like going anywhere. Part of me wishes that I was there, I miss everyone so much,I wouldn't want my children there, I don't know if I really want to be there but it's so hard not being there,if you see what I mean.

I don't know whats wrong with me, I can't seem to do anything I need to.I have had no income for amonth now as the shop is closed as I should be moving all the stock home and the website is closed whilst I do this.But, I can't get myself to do it,I can't concentrate on anything.I need a good kick up the bum !

Nasser enjoyed the demo, they walked for 5 hours around London. He said it was so moving when everyone threw childrens shoes at Downing Street to symbolise the children who have been killed. After the demo they went to Edgware Road for some Lebanese food and George Galloway walked in. I told Nasser he should have asked him if he wanted a saucer of milk.

demo

Nasser is going to the demo in London tomorrow, all being well. I was going too but fell down the stairs yesterday and have a bruised bum and side and my shoulder hurts, so I won't be able to go,but I'll be there in spirit.

Just been watching the news and can't believe that people are still calling Hizbollah fighters terrorists, what are the Israeli leaders and fighters then,if not terrorists?

Hizbollah are NOT targetting civillians but military targets, UNLIKE Israel,the death toll figures speak for themselves, surely? For the last couple of days the Israelis have been targetting roads which were being used to receive aid and food deliveries,they have killed 20 Syrian fruit pickers and even attacked trucks with fruit/veg from the Bekaa Valley. They are not just happy with killing so many innocent civillians they now want to starve the rest of the population too.

But it's OK,we can relax now because Tony Blair has postponed his holiday! Join the club Tony, we have had to do that too.

900 dead and still rising

The world doesn't think Lebanese lives are worth much do they?
Most of those dead are women and children,and still Bush and Blair give Israel the green light to carry on.
Makes me ashamed to be British

cupcakes

Here are some of the cupcakes I made to keep my mind occupied yesterday,these ones are mini ones with pink vanilla frosting,sugar flowers and edible purple glitter ;







This is the cupcake stand I ordered from an online shop,it would look better with bigger cupcakes,next time I'll try making muffin size ones.

They made it!

Thank God,our family made it to Beirut safely. I was on pins yesterday knowing that they were travelling,I had to try and look "normal" though as it was Ali's birthday and he had friends around, I spent the day in a kind of daze making about 60 cupcakes for something to do - they all got eaten though so they can't have been that bad!

Hala, Mohammad and kids are staying with Hanna, Hala's sister in Beirut and Leila, Hussain and kids and my mum in law are staying with another relative in Beirut. We spoke to them today and Hala sounded so happy to be out of the south, she is like me and very nervey,I am so glad they are not still there. At least they will be able to sleep at night,they had not slept for 20 days. I am also so glad that they travelled yesterday as today a lot of the roads they used have not been destroyed since then.

I didn't really realise what a state I have be in myself,today now that I know they are out of the immediate danger I have sort of (I can't explain this very well!!)but before I think I was running on adrenalin and now I feel like I've hit a red light and have melted!!!! I just need a good kick up the bum now to get the shop moved home so I can reopen the website and stop paying rent on the shop.Things just stopped since the war started, I simply could not focus on anything else.

safe travelling thoughts needed

Our family are travelling to Beirut today, it has just got too dangerous for them to stay in the south.
While I am glad that they are leaving I will be very nervous all day long until I know they are safe.
The journey to Beirut from our house would usually take an hour but as most of the roads and bridges have been destroyed it will probably take about 5 hours, maybe more. I hope they have enough petrol and I also hope they stay safe and that theyare not attacked by Israel as they travel as it has been done before.
Please send good vibes for them.

Meanwhile, it is Ali's 13th borthday today, he has some friends coming later on for a bbq, but it looks like rain here!

Please sign this petition to stop the war.

Please watch this video

We are going to London on Saturday for a demonstration. Off to get our flags ready. Thank you all for your continued support,messages. I can't always reply but they do mean a lot- thank you xx

Massacre

I am just so sad and angry and depressed - all rolled into one.
Israel have said many times that they are using pinpoint precision attacks in Lebanon,so that means that they know exactly what they are attacking right? So they mean to target civillians and children? Today they massacred over 50 children and women, lots of the children were disabled. Evil bastards.

Day 15

Not a lot to add now- days just seem to be rolling into one,I have just spoken to my sister in law Leila and her children. They say that there are a lot of bombs today and they are getting closer. They are sleeping in the lowest part of the house, a tool shed. It's such a good job that they grow a lot of food in their gardens, also when something is in season,they harvest it and dry it so they always have plenty of food in their larders.

Day 14

Today when we rang my brother in law told us that his family (in our block of apartments) and my sister in law (in a separate house just up the road) are the only ones who are remaining in that part of the town. Everyone else has fled to different parts of the country.That scares me so much.

I understand their resolve to stay put though. They have both worked so hard for their homes and who should dictate that they become refugees in their own country?
Also,when people fleeing their homes are targetted and fired at who can really blame them?
He said that if it becomes that bad and they have no option to move then they will,but for the time being they are staying put.

Tired

As we are managing to speak to someone from the family daily we are noticing as each day passes how tired they are sounding. It's day 13 of the war now and they haven't had more than a few hours sleep at a time either day or night since it started. They are also starting to feel so hemmed in, they can't leave the house apart from early in themorning when they sometimes manage to find a local shop open.

I think it is also harder to endure this time as they have had a good few years of relative peace, and the country was coming on really well and getting back to the cosmopolitan country it once was. You see,the last time when Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 the country was already engaged in civil war, so it was just a bit more shit to endure. A lot of young people didn't really know any difference but now they have had peace and this continual bombing of anywhere and anyone is soul destroying as well as life destroying.

Thank you

to everyone who has emailed me ,or left comments here or pm'd me on UKS or the Pad, it means a lot even if I don't reply please know that I have read it.

I watched some Arabic news last night,they show much more than they do here.They were showing you the bodies of the killed civillians and it was heart breaking.These people they are killing are not men you know,themajority are women and most of all children. The cameras then went around Nabatieh and showed the damage there, it was so hard to believe that the places I walked around and shopped at just last year were now just piles of rubble.

I want tomake a little point about the post I made yesterday about what I read on 2Peas. I do not hate Americans you know-some of my best friends are American!! (if only I could say they were gay and black too,then we could be finished with all the stereotypes in one go!!).What got to me was that the posts I read on 2Peas were,I don't know how to explain it! I read one about how this poster had read some information on the casualties of this war (can't remember the figures at that time but you know that there are far more Lebanese civillians being killed to Israelies), well this woman was posting just to say basically that she didn't believe it and where could she find "real" figures!!!! It beggars belief really,doesn't it? She can see the figures but because it doesn't look good they can't be real and she wants to change them!

Then if a fellow US poster on 2Peas dares to disagree with the popular consensus they are told to leave the country!! I have read posts that say if a US citizen has made it to Lebanon then they can find their own way back too!! I don't know,it doesn't fill me with much hope for the future if people think this way now.

Today is the day we should have been travelling to Lebanon.

Stick to scrapbooking

During this conflict I am trying so hard to keepmy political view off this blog as it would only end up a big mess,I know it would.
However, I couldn't resist posting a link to a thread on a US scrapbooking site known as 2Peas
Pease tell me that not all americans are so blinkered?please?
Do a quick search on the NSBR message board for Lebanon, fun reading!
Oh and if anyone is reading this and can make me a "I support Lebanon" blinkie I'd love one.

Got thinking

yesterday about last years trip to Lebanon. Because of the shop (one of the reasons I'm closing it- took me away from my family too much) I couldn't go for the full 5 weeks. So Nasser and the kids went and I followed then 2 weeks later.
I missed them so much and it was lovely when we were reunited,we then went on to have a lovely holiday.But what if, what has happenned this year happenned last year when I was still here? That's what I started thinking about last night when I couldn't sleep!

Nasser spoke to his mum this morning,they are so tired, Nabatieh has been bombed a few times.

Did you know that there have been 350 Lebanese civillians killed so far? One third of them are children. Are these the terrorists which Israel say they are targetting?

The above photo shows a row of coffins, 80 people killed in the war in Tyre- Tyre was a lovely seaside resort,we have visited it many times in the past for a paddle in the sea and an ice cream in the roadside cafes. It has now been reduced to rubble. The dead people would under normal circumstances be taken to their homes and buried in cemetries close to them but as these are not normal circumstances and Lebanon is hotter than it is here at the moment they are having to bury them in a mass grave.

Just rung

Lebanon and spoken to my mum in law and sister in law, it's the first time I have rung by myself as my Arabic isn't that good! We managed though,I just needed to hear their voices. Couldn't stop crying though,felt a right twit! My mum in law told me off!!
They have food and water, thank God.They do go into the garden (we have a gorgeous garden there) sometimes,but have to run back in when a plane comes over dropping bombs.
A lot of the places we enjoyed visiting last year such as a childrens fair ground, a ladies swimming pool and various restaurants have been flattened,gone -just like that.
Hala sounded so tired,completely exhausted.
I am feeling so guilty that I can nip into town if I want to or have a choice of anything to eat.
How much longer must this go on?

The worlds gone mad

I have been wanting to say something along these lines for a few days but have stopped myself and tried to ignore it but hey,if I can't say how I feel on my own blog, where can I.
I do not want to upset anyone and it isn't aimed at anyone in particular either.
You may be aware that as a family we are going through a lot of worry and anguish at the moment,I myself,am finding it very hard to cope with everyday life as I feel very isolated as the problems we are facing are quite unique to us. So I had hoped to visit my various online haunts as a bit of light relief but it seems that wherever I go it is a war zone! I don't know if its the heat but there seems to be threads having a go at people wherever I visit. I am aware that life goes on and my problems are exactly that - my problems but I feel like saying FFS it's only paper, it's not life or death.

There but for the grace of God

It has just hit me today how close we actually were to being thick in the middle of all the fighting.
I have just seen a press release on Sky News advising all British Nationals stuck in Southern Lebanon to stay put, to not leave the house as it is not safe. But to be ready to travel at short notice.
That would havebeen us if the war had happenned 10 days later than it did.
We would have been in Nabatieh,in the South, right where they are killing civillians right now.
I have no idea how they will get to people,as they will be in all different parts and houses.
It hit me yesterday that I might be depressed, just realised that I probably have the symptoms, I can't be bothered to do anything, don't want to eat, am just doing what I have to to get by. But that's nothing to what our family are going through, nothing at all. I don't have a right to be depressed.

getting closer

We have just spoken to our family in Nabatieh and the Israelis have bombed another house very close to us, I know the area the building is in,they have killed amother and her 3 young children. That's what they are doing now, targetting families and just killing them.

My mother in law had had to leave her house and she is staying in our building now. But our family has nowhere to go,that's it,they just have to wait and see who is next.

no electricity

now in our home town which just makes everything harder for everyone.
People are confined to their houses now, they don't go out. Jamil is still stuck in Beirut.
Hope they don't run out of food as Israel have been targetting the food distribution places and milk factories etc.

As for us here,we are still existing,still watching the news, still worrying

it just gets worse everyday

I've just spoken to my sister in law Hala on the phone. That made me feel better as we managed to have a bit of a giggle as well as tears. They can't leave the house so she is missing her daily walks around the mountains as part of her fitness routine but she said that at least the diet is working as she can't eat and sleep!

She had to bring her washing in and rewash it as it was black from the bomb smoke. A bomb landed at a nearby village, far too close for comfort.

As for us here watching it play out on TV we just feel useless, can't eat much and certainly concentrate on anything.

Ali went to France in the early hours of this morning with school, hope he has a lovely time.

Numb

That's how we are feeling right now. Probably not the best thing to do but we spent most of yesterday constantly watching the news as the war was played out in front of us.
The first 2 times I visited Lebanon about 10 years ago now,Israel was still occupying the south and you could hear bombs and gunfire and it turned me into a nervous wreck, but that was nothing to what we would be able to hear now if we could get there.
People can not move from the towns and villages as about 35 bridges have been destroyed for that very purpose. My lovely nephew Jamil who was working in Beirut at the time war broke out is now stuck there and can't travel back to his family in Nabatieh (Nabatieh is where our flat is,you will probably hear it mentioned on the news quite a bit as we are not that far from the border). I can just picture his Mum,my Sister in law- Hala going mad,she won't be able to settle at all until Jamil is back with her. I am really going to miss Halathis year,we always have such a laugh together.
We booked our tickets to Lebanon in January and have been getting things ready and looking forward to it since then and then overnight we suddenly can't go,you feel so frustrated that that decision has been taken away from you. Nasser is still determned to go though and if the airport does reopen then I'm sure he will book a ticket and go.
We can't get through on the telephone today so maybe the telephone wires have been hit,I know we have no electricity to our flat now,as the supply has been attacked.
We have been through this before though and the Lebanese people are very resilient and we will rebuild and we will get there.

no holiday for us this year

We have cancelled the tickets to Lebanon,it's not safe to be there and the airport still isn't open

not again

Fighting in Lebanon again, the airport has been bombed, our town has been bombed, we are due to fly out there in 10 days and I'm scared

Excited

Well we took Ali for a metting at his new school yesterday and he loved it, thank goodness for that! It was the school I used to go to and one of the teachers there remembered me. The head of year seemed really nice, a lot more caring than the place he's at now. He is starting Monday and it is activites week,so a week of Art, then the following week it's his trip to France with the old school - so he's got a cushy few weeks!!
We bought sweatshirts and ties for Ali andLayla because she is starting there in September too. They have been practising tying the ties all evening as they have never had one before,I actually remembered how to tie one and I haven't done that since I was 18!!
We went to Frankie & Benny's for tea, it was yummy yum yum!

I want some sun

Fed up with the weather here, the south seems to have had loads of sun but we haven't had a glimpse for well over 10 days, no rain but just dull days. It's not fair!!
I know I'll probably be moaning that its too hot in a months time when we are in Lebanon! But I can always go and sit in my bedroom then with my lovely AC!

Not a lot been happenning here, we're taking Ali to see his new school today then he can start the day after if he likes, we have just heard that Layla has aplace there too in September,so that's good.

I have started a blog for the shop which you can see here please go and visit and leave comments

fat bloater

Don't know whats wrong with me today, I can't seem to stop eating!! Feel so hungry, wonder why? Wonder if it's got something to do with the moon!
Been in a strange mood all day though, couldn't concentrate on anything and had a felling of impending doom, hope nothing bad is going to happen. The last time I felt like this there was a nasty incident (7/7)
So I'm now watching Big Brothers Big Mouth and hoping a bit of trashy TV will snap me out of this mood.

GET GRACE OUT!!

Yep gripped by BB fever again!
Went to Sam's house and had our usualtake away and BB eviction night session, what a cow that Grace was to throw a glass of water over Susie- great telly though!!
I'm now back home,watching BB live and surfing on my lap top.
Got lots of kits to finish at the shop tomorrow, I'm going to out together another 12x12 kit with bonus paper bag kits as June's kit has soldout so quickly and people are still asking for one,so if I make a bonus kit up and double the number for July I should be OK.
Got some more Tim Holtz ink pads and inks today,so need to find time to play,I never get past a certain part of his DVD as he always sends me to sleep with his dulcet tones!!

busy again

Don't know where the time goes,but it is flying just lately.
It doesn't seem that long since our last visit to Lebanon and now we are getting ready to go again! We need to go and do all the shampoo,shower gel,sun cream etc shopping this week, we always take plenty as it is better quality stuff from here than what you can buy there and its expensive there too.
I need to buy a few pressies, as we usually go every year now we have decided not to buy pressies for everyone as they filled up our cases last year, there are a lot of kids to buy for!! So we are just taking specific things which people ask for this time. I need to get a bikini and underwear for my sister in law-Hala as things like that can be expensive. I then need to think of an English meal to cook for them,each year I make something different and the troops pile into our flat for dinner,I don't mind at all but it is getting harder to think of something.

Have been sorting out our house here lately, just need to empty the back room and start the mammoth task of moving the shop here, it will have to be done before we go away because I refuse to pay 5 weeks rent when I won't be there.
The website has been very busy lately,I have been utilising the Articles section and adding various instructions for paperbag books which has proven to be useful for customers.I made a cute little mini book yesterday from one sheet of Snippetz so I need to photograph that and add it to the site.
The funky peeloffs have been very popular,I have to put another order in for them today, they are peeloffs but not as you know em!

Cheat mark II

Remember the cheat I told you about? Well it turns out that the second entry she submitted wasn't her work either!
I doubt that her name is real too now,she entered as Carole Moxon but I can't find a trace of her.
So what do I think? Do I think that someone entered with copied work and a fake name to try and get free stash out of me or has someone done it to try and cause trouble for me?
Stunned, totally stunned!

BBQ

Came home from the shop a bit early today and found Nasser marinating some meat, he decided to have a barbecue. So he gets the gas one we bought at the end of last summer and had never used (it's the kiss of death for nice weather whenever we buy something garden related!!). But it needs assembling, so that took another hour, then we needed a gas bottle so he pinched mine from the shop heater (hope I won't need it again!!), then it won't fit, so by now it's 8 o clock and everyones hungry so I use the blumin cooker and guess what?
.
.
.
.
.
I burnt it!!!!! LOL!!

Oh well, tomorrow is another day and we still have meat marinating!!

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..

After cleaning the cooker yesterday, I decided to use it!!
Being so busy all the time we resort to take aways far too often than we used to and I am now fed up of them!
So,yesterday I decided to try a new way to cook rice - the Iranian way and it was yummy. You have to par boil the rice (basmati) first, then in a separate pan melt some butter and oil and add sliced potato to the bottom in a layer, then add the drained rice on top, put a clean tea towel on the pan then the lid, turn down low and leave it for about 20 minutes. The result is perfectly cooked rice with a crispy crust of potatoes, everyone loved it and I think I'll be making it again. We had chicken and mushrooms in a sauce to go with it and me and Layla made a pudding. We were looking through some cook books and drooling over the recipes for Lebanese milk puddings, Nasser usually makes these, but me and Layla decided to make one,it was so easy to make and it was gorgeous. Layla wanted to eat all 10 dishes and pretend that we never made it!!

Good luck Layla

Layla starts her SATS this week, if anyone is reading this please send her "do well" vibes!! I personally think they are a bit of a stupid idea, especially as they put young kids through so much stress and worry when the only thing they should be worrying about at age 11 is where their next choccy bar is coming from! But,Layla is a tad competitive and just doing well will not placate her she is aiming to get the highest marks in the school! I suppose that sort of attitude will do her well in the future - we may see her on The Apprentice one day!!
I do wish children were allowed or encouraged to be children for longer, society and everything they are exposed to tells them to grow up fast,I remember when I was Laylas age I was still playing with dolls, her Barbies have been in the loft for the past 5 years. She also has a huge collection of baby dolls she hasn't played with for years and it's not fair cos I love dressing them!! We have dolls that you can feed, that snore,that cry, that grow, that roll over, that crawl and I can't play with them! I think it's time I had another little girl!
While we are on the subject of growing up fast my little Layla started her periods last Monday, although I had an inkling they were on the way it still devastated me to think that at just 11 she has this huge responsibility every month for the next 40 odd years!
She wasn't fazed by it at all,thought it was a great opportunity to demand chocolate cos apparently that's what I do!!
I spoilt her a bit, took her to town for some supplies, a book all about it and I bought her a silver locket to sort of mark the day-bit daft but she might remember it as a pleasant experience when she gets older.

Happy National Scrapbooking Day

I think I'm starting with a cold,hate colds, hate having a snotty nose!!
The weather has been gorgeous for the past 2 days, I actually shaved my legs for the first time in months - nearly broke the razor!!
The kits I put together for National Scrapbooking Day are going very well and I love to see what people have made with them too. You will be able to see all the entries in my gallery,so check them out.
Off to bed now to nurse my cold!!

Cheat

Well, the call for my Dream Team finished and I finally decided on Jakey Walker, Debbie Nicholas, Maria Horton and Laura Godfrey,all fabby scrappers who I am honoured to have on our team, the standard was very high and with over 11 pages of entries it was a very difficult decision. After I had announced the Team I received an email from someone saying that she had seen one of the entries on sale on E-bay under a different name. Sure enough, the photo was exactly the same as one entered, looks like the person had just right clicked it from Ebay and entered it in my comp-cheeky mare! I didn't like to think someone could do that so I emailed her and asked her outright if it was her work but I have not had a reply at all. Meanwhile I thought it only best to contact the person who did do the work,Delaney Gates - she is a fantastic scrapper and quite well known so it was very stupid to copy her work!!! Anyway, after lots of emails back and forth I am so pleased to say that Delaney Gates is now a permanent International Dream Team member of mine!!! So what a wonderful thing to happen after such a nasty start.

Heres some of her work:

Welcome to my Dream Team

Well, I had to decide but it was soooo hard. They were so mant great entries to my call for a Dream Team, but please welcome:

...Jakey Walker
Deborah Nicholas
Laura Godfrey and
Maria Horton

I will be asking some others if they will be a Guest Dream Team member some months, so all is not lost if you did submit.

I would like to thank everyone who took the time to enter and can't wait to see what my Dream Team comes up with.

Thank you to Steph, wo not only helps me for nothing but also brought me some beautiful flowers today to cheer me up after a horrible weekend.

Here is my entry for Kirsty's challenge. I enjoyed this so much,it developed from a 6x6 layout to a paperbag book, and I even made a bag to put it in!

Can't fake it

I'm finding it hard to blog at the moment, I like to be happy and light hearted here and don't speak about real life problems as they don't really belong on the www!

But am finding it hard to be jolly jolly for many reasons,hopeto be back to normal soon, I'll try and upload my efforts for Kirsty's fab challenge soon.

Happy Birthday Layla

My daughter, my youngest, my little baby is 11 today!! Where does the time go? It doesn't seem 2 minutes since she was born, the next morning Nasser brought Ali with him to hospital to take us home, and when Ali saw his sister for the first time and was asked "shall we take her home?" he shook his head and said "no"!!! Thankfully, he soon changed his mind, they still fight like cat and dog though!

She had a couple of friends round yesterday and they played Sing Star and watched DVD's in her new bedroom. We bought her a clarinet as she is enjoying playing it and when she leaves Primary school this year she will lose the one she currently plays.

The new alphabet cutting service I have added to the website is going very well,think I'll be getting RSI soon!

I'm still here!

Phew, I haven't blogged for AGES!! I just haven't had the time, which is a good thing because it means the business is doing well. I also haven't known what to blog about! I am so boring, all my life consists of is getting up, sorting kiddieswinks out, going to shop, packing orders up, going to PO, going home, sorting kiddiewinks out, going to bed and then again!!

Ooh I did scrap yesterday!! I have been wanting to do a doodle layout, so I did!! I used my new big Letterz cut from Junkitz and really enjoyed doodling with my black Sakura Glaze pen, the ink flowed really smoothly and you can get them from Carolinez Craftz!

Brrrrr

Is it me or is it really cold? I haven't been able to get warm all night, I can cope with cold and snow cos I get to use winter papers then but just cold? Don't like that!!

Had a day full of scanning in new stuff on Sunday and days full of packing ever since. I received my new dies today, all I can say is YUM! I have a little accordian folder and inserts, a heart with wings and a fabby big alphabet very much like the undressed monograms! More scanning!

Layla's room is just about finished now,I'll have to take a photo, it's really groovy and she spends most of her time in there,should have done it years ago! We went to Ikea yesterday to look for finishing touches for her room and found some nice bits. It was actually nice to go to Ikea with out the kids, it must have been the only time we have been to Ikea and are still speaking afterwards!!

I've been RAK'd

Got a lovely surprise in the post today, a Hero Arts stamp set I have had my eye on, it contains sweet little buttons, eyelet and photo corner stamps. I am pretty sure that Ginge sent me it as it was hers that set me on the path to needing this little beauty!! So loadsa THANK YOUS and HUGS babe.

The boxes of new stuff are starting to arrive,got 2 yesterday but there are still MANY more to come!! I need to start scanning!!

Still got aching feet!!

Well I slept well last night, must be because I was in my own bed.My feet are still achey though!! Have lots of emails and orders to catch up with today.
Some sad news though,Lemon's husband passed away suddenly yesterday, I think she must be shocked,bless her. I spent the day with her on Saturday and she was so happy. Hugs and prayers being sent your way Lemon,xxx

Empty pockets and aching feet

Phew, back home from a manic 3 days at Stitches! Where do I start?! I had a ball and can't wait for the next one, enjoyed the socialising far better than all the stash buying, but you'll be pleased to know I managed to do both!!
Mum drove me up on the Sunday and it took an hour to move the last 3 miles!! There were so many cars entering the nec, there were so many shows on all at once. Mum came in for about an hour then braved the drive back home. First we met Lily the Lovely one and Lyn and Mandy and Kirsty, who are all lovely and mad!! Lots of catching up and gossiping then we actually got to look at the stands!
Placed a few orders and collected some catalogues, kept worrying about getting to my hotel as I had to get a train but it turned out to be dead easy, just a 10min train to New St then the hotel was round the corner. But,bloody hell it was a bit mingin!!!! There wasn't even a duvet on the bed it was a sheet and a hairy blanket then a throw type thing! The TV remote didn't work, and I couldn't get a signal on my mobile the first night but did the second, don't know why!! Couldn't even charge my phone because they were so tight as all the sockets were not normal ones but round pins.I've never come across that in a hotel before!! But after all those gripes it didn't cost the earth, it was somewhere to sleep and the fun days with fabby friends more than made up for it!! I've already told Lily and Lyn that we're booking REALLY early next year!!
The second day I met MGC and Lemon,placed a few more orders :) and collected a few more catalogues, the last day (today I think, it's all a blur!!) was spent with Lily and Lyn again. Did some fabby makes and takes with Stacey from Junkitz and Tim, all of them are really lovely and it was so good to talk to them again.
Boy am I glad that I was there till the end, me and Lily and Lyn were at the Provo Craft stand just at the right time as we got to buy LOADS of goodies at HALF the dollar wholesale price!!! Carrying all that stuff home was worth the extra 6 inches to each arm now!!
To sum up I spent, spent, spent and chatted, chatted, chatted and it was brilliant to meet old friends and new.
Now I need to sleep!!!!

Yum Yum Basic Grey!

The new BG papers arrived yesterday and what can I say? YUM!! I even treated myself to a collection pack of all 5 new ranges!! Although mum liked the Urban Couture and I don't really,so she can have that pack. Not that keen on Hang10 either, I absolutely love ColorMe Silly and Oh, Baby Girl! The colours in those 2 ranges are just yummy, I want to eat them :)

For the shop,I made the new papers into Paperbag Book Kits like I always have done with BG and they have nearly all gone already, as have the AMM totes,thought I might be stuck with those for a while but it doesn't look like it.

Have so much to do again, I did want to nip to town today and get my hair cut but don't think I'll manage it now,have about 20 orders to pack and a class to teach this afternoon. I'll have to go tomorrow,and I need to get uniforms washed and ironed ready forMonday cos I won't be here. Ooh so much to do and so little time to do it in.

Have 3 orders on the way from the states now, all confirmed this morning! Some yummy stuff from Maya Road, bits and bobs from another place and some new dies including a whole alphabet which I'm hoping is very similiar to the BG monogram ones - have lots of plans for this one!!

Happy Birthday Grandma

My dear Grandma would have been 96 today, Happy Birthday Grandma!!
She passed away 4 years ago andI swear I miss her more now than when it happenned.

Visitors from the Isle of Wight

The kids are on half term this week, and their cousins from the Isle of Wight are visiting for a few days, so Ali and Layla played with them all day yesterday.

Our Thai meal was delicious, it was buffet night but because we were vegetarians they brought us 2 dishes cooked just for us,which I thought was a lovely touch.

So much to do again today,I think my AMM pink totes are arriving today, I already have a waiting list of customers to ring when they arrrive!! It was Claire who sold them at the show,when they all saw her tote filled up they wanted one!

I had a nightmare last night!! Dreamt that I went to Stitches and spent 3 days looking round this small room with not a lot of stands there only to find when I got home I had missed the larger room full of scrummy stands!!! Not sure where that dream came from!! It sure did frighten me though!!

Lushy

Feeling a bit brighter today,could have something to do with the Lush massage bar we road tested today!! :)
We are about to go out for aThai meal tonight, just me and Nas, the kiddies are out, yummy I can't wait!
Got a little bit straighter in the back room today,it will soon be my "shop",yeah, no more overheads!
Looking forward to my weekend away,but if Nas is reading it won't be fun AT ALL,just lots and lots of work finding new goodies!!

Feeling a bit low

It must be the weather!!
I'm just feeling ever so low lately, hopefully I'll feel better soon,hate feeling like this.Just want to hide away from the world!

I'm going to start moving things soon,have decided to move the shop into the dining room until the loft has ben converted,that way I won't have all the overheads of the shop and will be able to(hopefully) afford for the conversion.

What a HUGE job that is going to be!! Watch out for some bargains in the shop!!

I've been tagged ....

Five snacks I enjoy

1. Pumpkin seeds
2. Pickled onions
3. Gherkins
4. Olives
5. Houmous

Five songs to which you KNOW all the lyrics

1. Come Away With Me-Nora Jones
2. Adore - Prince
3. Rent- Dido
4. High -James Blunt
5. anything by Princereally!

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire

1. Go with family to Mecca to do the Hajj
2. Build a villa in Lebanon and buy the family there a new house and a house forMum and Dad
3. Stock a scrapbook shop with every product imaginable, have a massive cropping space,a creche and a coffee shop in it and not have to worry about if it is making money it could be my "play thing"!!!
4. Help as many charities as I could
5. Have more babies

Five Bad habits!

1. Not keeping on top of housework
2. Not keeping on top of my business accounts.
3. Not eating breakfast
4. Spending FAR too much time on my laptop
5. Picking my feet!!!!

Five things you like doing

1. Spending time with good friends
2. Cyber shopping and real shopping!
3. Watching a DVD with the family
4. Sitting in the sun with a good book
5. Watching the snow fall outside when I'm snug and warm inside

Five Favourite toys!

1. My laptop
2. My ipod
3. My mobile
4. My Craft Robo
5. My Fuji s55001.

Things would never wear, buy or get again

1. Leggings!!!
2. Blue mascara
3. A bikini!
4. Decorative edged scissors
5. A "record" by Black Lace :)

Birmingham- here I come

Yey, finally got round to booking my hotel room tonight, 2 nights away, bliss!
Breakfast with the girls at ScrapbookWorld,then 2 days of looking out loverly new stash!!

Rang Scrapbook Magic today to tell them how stupid I think they are for closing the mag, don't think it will make much difference but it made me feel better!

I have had some strange requests from "customers" in the shop, but the one I got today must be the strangest of them all. A young man came in and asked if I could help, to which he replied "I hope so, I am wondering if you have a spare Bible"!!! It feaked me out a bit actually as he had starry eyes and it's not a normal question for a craft shop,is it?

Things people have asked me for over the years are:

"hats for chickens" = those paper frills you put on a rack of lamb!!

boot polish

caps for dyeing hair

rice cooker

top up cards for mobiles

piano wire

and now a Bible,whatever next???

Madness

Not had much time to update this blog lately,I have been drowning in a sea of parcels again! Have loads to pack today, still, I'm not complaining -I would rather be busy packing than not.

Found out the awful news that Scrapbook Magic magazine has folded, the March issue is the last one.That totally sucks, it's such a great mag with fabulous designers in there. I really hope they manage to find work elsewhere but on a purely selfish note it stinks cosI loved that mag. The decision was no doubt made by some stupid man who only thinks about money and hasn't got the brain to give it a bit longer and GET IT IN MORE SHOPS!

Well, I got my entries in forBOB, don't think I stand a chance in this one though,I know of some brilliant scrappers who have entered.I was pleased with my layouts but not pleased with how they looked scanned in and stitched together, think my next purchase will be an A3 scanner.

Has a lovely time on Saturday, a friend came to scrap and we had a good laugh and gossip. Ali you had better have entered the new scrappers category, that's all I can say!!

Anyway, back to work.....

Sour Grapes anyone?

Another busy day ahead for me.Yippee!!!
I did it again with the hotel for Stitches, said I wouldn't leave it until last minute like last year, what have I done? Yup, left it till last minute again!! Goingto stay for 2 nights all being well instead of just one,I need the break this year!

Did a layout last night and I love it, I think it's one of my best and I did it balancing on my knee in the front room while everyone was watching telly. I didn't have all my supplies around me just some I thought I would use, and it came together really well. Now,if I manage to get another 2 done today I may enter the BOB, we will see! I really love the UK competitions, so nice to see people we know winning them-well done to everyone who enters.

busy busy busy

Have been so busy this week,I had so many orders yesterday but I couldn't manage to pack them all up with 2 helpers! I don't like leaving them till the next day but I just ran out of time. So,I've got all that to finish today, then I need to get all the monthly kits finished and out, then I need to make up a Love Lines Junkitz kit too. I had to order more copies of TSBM yesterday!!! Must be some great layouts in this edition:)

I went a bit mad late last night ordering some CHA releases!! Oh well,it's all luberly stuff!

Just adding some CD's to my ipod as we speak, I'm adding Shakira - this CD reminds me of when me and the kids spent some time with my sister in Spain one summer, we sang along to Shakira in the car every time we went anywhere!! It became known as the "Karaoke Car"!! That was a gorgeous holiday, there was a heatwave in Spain-imagine the heat!! We used to go out at night until the early hours of the morning and it still hadn't cooled down any- just my kind of weather! We drove to Benidorm for a day,to go to Aqualandia-a water park,one day in Benidorm was enough for me, it was full of English people!!!! I like to go on holiday and live like a local, my best friend once went on holiday with some family and they took a bottle of salad cream with them when they went to a restaurant!!

Anyway, back to the grind stone!

Scary Movies

Had a real lazy day at home today, updated the website with loads of atered stuff then watched White Noise,bloody hell it was scary!! Had to stop half way through and chat to some friends online before I dare go watch the rest!!! I am such a light weight now,I used to be able to watch any type of film when I was younger, but now Scooby Doo scares me!!! Just hope I dare go to the loo in the night without turning every single light on first!!

Have so many orders to pack tomorrow, Elizabeth is coming to scrap too,so that will be good,I can get her to help pack - she likes that!!! I did manage to scrap 2 layouts on Saturday,not sure if I'll be able to manage another 3 though.

Have a poorly tummy so I'm off to bed early- wish me sweet dreams and not nasty scary ones!!!

I hate housework

Got up early today to tidy up, we're going to friends for dinner tonight and din't want to come back to a mess so got up early and have done it!

I intend to scrap today, I'm hoping that if I write it here it will happen!! Going to get the orders done then the rest of the day is mine. A friend might be popping in to scrap too, so it should be fun.

The only trouble is that half my stash is at home and half my stash is at the shop, andI always end up nicking stuff from the shop anyway!

Scrapbooker Of The Year Layouts

I've had boxes and boxes of stash arrive today,one of them being the latest Scrapbook Magazine with ME in it!
I can now share the layouts with you

I've actually scrapped!!

Shock, horror I made time to do something creative last night and it felt good!! I never get the time to scrap at the shop as there are always orders to pack or kits to design and I have been so frustrated lately because my hobby started this business but now I have no time for it :(
I have loads of kits to use and I did want to enter the Best of British competition but I won't have time now, however I brought some bits home and I managed to scrap a small jigsaw book. I wanted to show a way to use the BIG book ringsI now stock andI think it has turned out quite nice. I'll try and take a photo later.

Have to think of something for the class tomorrow, I think we'll do a tag accordion card/book.It is getting so hard to think of something to teach them every week, especially as it's cards and they all have a liking for peel offs!! I have tried to get them into scrapbookig but to no avail. Which reminds me,I was offered another job a few weeks ago, a Craft Coordinator for the Council,it would be 10 hours a week but I can't fit it in now. They said they would hold it open for me until I know what I'm doing but I don'tknow if I fancy it, they would want me to teach on top of that aswell and find more tutors. I find that I'm losing patience for cards and just want to concentrate on scrapbooking,and they want card classes and parchment and sometimes even table decorations!

Anyway, must go shower and get myself off to the shop,I think Elizabeth is coming this morning.

I've been tagged

This is going to be difficult I think looking at the questions! Here goes:


First time you got kissed:
OOh I can't remember, probably when I was about 14, my mum had a restaurant in a local nightclub and I helped out from about the age of 13 so it was probably one of the glass collectors there!!!

First time you drove a car:
I have yet to experience this. I need to learn to drive but don't really want to

First time you scrapbooked: when you look at your page do you love it?
I was a member of one of those book clubs which suck you in with a good offer then send you crappy books for years.They sent me a book on scrapbooking andI loved it, my first pages were A4 and involved lots of stickers, decoratine edged cissors and cropping the photos into interesting shapes like stars and hearts. I can't stand to look at them now and am changing a lot of them

First time you went on a date: where did you go, and with who?
OOh, probably with one of the afore mentioned glass collectors, and as we both worked in a nightclub we probably didn't "go" anywhere. Oh, I remember going to the rival nightclub to count heads to report back cos then we got in free!

First time you cooked for someone: was it yummy?
I made a cake for the glass collector when he left to join the Army, I was heart broken for a week! Proper cooking, meals and stuff would be when I met my husband, Nasser. We were living in Germany and I was a veggie and he only ate halal meat so we had a lot of veggie stuff, but we didn't have kids then so we had time and money and used to eat out a lot.

First time you got on a plane: where did you go? Were you scared?
I was 16 and we went to Florida, wasn't nervous, even when there was a problem,the under carriage wouldn't go back up and the plane had to dump all the fuel and land again. It delayed us for hours and they gave us all a £5 voucher!!

First time you shaved your legs: did you cut yourself?
I think I was about 13 and wish I hadn't started then as there probably wasn't much there! Used an electric shaver and was scared that I would cut myself. Only manage to do it now in the summer!!

First time you put on make up: looking back how did you do? Did you look good or like a clown?
I had a really good book from M&S by Barbara Daly so don't think I looked that bad! Used to spend aged getting ready to go work in the nightclub. I had a lot of electric blue mascara and cerise lippy.

First time you moved out of your home: was it an apartment, house, etc?
I left home at 18 to go to Uni in Luton, I wanted to get the furthest away from home that I could! Rented a room with a Baby Belling cooker plugged into a socket and a tiny plastic sink! Then moved into a shared house which was a bit better. Then moved to Germany and lived in a flat above a shop with Nasser, when we came to England we rented a council house for 3 years until we bought out first house which we are in now

I have a Kirsty Wiseman original

I received a fabby paint can today, decorated by Kirsty for my birthday. It is so gorgeous and so me, Lollipop Shoppe is my favourite BG paper and I love all the ribbons and blossoms. Kirsty is such a talent and so lovely, she rang me today too and I feel so honoured to have this in my sweaty little mitts! I'm off to lick it some more!!

swimming in a sea of paper bags

Had to unpack boxes and out the shop back together again today, in between customers, anwering the phone, entertaining reps and packing orders, phew - no wonder I'm exhausted!!

Had a lovely lady ring me up today saying that she had placed an order yesterday and could she pay over the phone, she said that she found me in google and chose me because she has a good friend called Caroline, so glad I'm not called Barbara then!! Iloveit when people tell me how they found the shop, in fact I now have a feature on the website which asks customers where they heard about us.

Had people visiting the shop and ringing up to ask about paperbag books after the success of them at the show. Surprising how many people had not heard of them or seen them before. Must remember to pick up the white bags tomorrow, have managed to find some the same size as the brown ones just white.

Big Brother was fab tonight, quite shocking really how they turned on Chantelle and Preston, everyone was lying for the same reason yet they pick on them. Can't stand Pete and rapidly going off George,never liked Barrymore. I think I want Preston or Chantelle to win.

there's no business, like show business

Well after a lot of packing of kits and boxes the show went very well.
Not mega busy but better than last time and a lot of fun.
Claire came to help and she was fantastic, she has a great speil all about paperbag books and she never got fed up of explaining about them to every customer! They allloved the books she had made and if I had had the AMM tool totes inI could have sold loads,when they saw Claire's all loaded up they were drooling!

I spent some birthday money on goodies for me, got a Colorbok folder full of stickers, some of them are a bit naff but I can use all the alphabet ones and I loved the folder!! Also got some gorgeous paper flowers,I loved them,bought Claire and my mum some, just hope they liked them as much as I did! Found the Blonde Moments papers, a few Urban Lily, some stiches rubber stamps, buttons, Debbie Moore embossing magic powder, alphabet stamps,Frills big brads, ribbon-think thats it.

Went to a trade warehouse today, anything but unpack all the boxes and put the shop back! Got to do all that tomorrow.It took us ages to find,my mum gets lost easily!! Bought some nice paper flowers and ribbons and other bits,need to add them tomorrow.

Happy bloody Birthday to me

Well another year older and bugger all from DH again

Got loads to do today,a craft show to get ready for tomorrow and orders to pack

can't think of a title

Well Simon has done some of the changes to my website,I have a scrolling thing for news, the gallery is now integrated into the shop,I can use vouchers and discount codes and I can now accept PayPal! Heres going to change how it looks a little bit but keep my colours because everyone loves the purple! I have to have a play now and learn how to use evrything, PayPal terrifies me having never used it before.

It all kicked off last night at UKS again, and the community forum has gone for a while until they work out what to do. It's quite sad really,I used to love UKS and was there a lot of the time but now I don't feel like I belong there anymore. I hope things change and it becomes more like it used to be but to be honest, I can't see that happenning.It's just got too big.

Got loads to do today, have to make up lots of kits for a show on Sunday and my lovely friend MGC is coming all the way from Manchester to help me, I love her!! Bought 1000's of paper bags yesterday and have more to pick up on Friday, I have also found some white bags, so that will give customers more choice. Have paper bag kits to make up as I have none left now and people keep asking when I will have more in. Hopefully will be able to sort it out today,but if the new papers arrive today I will have to make them into kits too. I need more than 24 hours in a day!!

Oh well,off to work....

Ch ch changes!

Feel like I have achieved something today!! Still loads more to do but I made a start.
I am having a revamp of the website, a bit of a makeover!! I'm also going to specialise a bit more in altered arts.Ooh, I have some gorgeous Maya Road stuff coming too,don't know if I'll actually be able to bring myself to sell it or keep it all for ME!!!

Ali came home from school and told me this today:

"When I was 4 years old my Fairy Godmother asked me if I wanted a long memory or a long willy, I can't remember what I told her"!!!

Treating myself

Had a lovely crop at the shop yesterday.The only trouble when I have crops is that I get to have a good nosy in other peoples stash and I inevitabley end up going on a shopping spree when I get home!! So far I've treated myself to the new Tote and Shoulder Bag by AMM in pink and brown from www.paperarts.co.uk I've seen some gorgeous stuff from Maya Road that I'm going to buy until my own trade shipment arrives, www.jillybeans.co.uk has some lovely ribbon slides and other bits that are going into my shopping basket when I have finished with this entry!! Still,it is my birthday on Saturday,so this can be my present to myself!

Been finishing off the star book Jane helped me to make on Saturday, it's looking good!! Everyone liked my dome aperture box I had decorated!! They even said I should send it in to the Basic Grey gallery,we shall see!! If only I could work out how to see my new camera to get good close up shots!

Watched Ella Enchanted DVD tonight with Layla,it was quite good actually,better than I thought it would be. We tried watching Lemony Snickett the night before but I gave up and went to watch BB, what the heck is that film all about?!!

Happy Birthday Elaine

It's my sisters birthday today,so HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELAINE, she is 10 years older than me and lives in Spain, in a gorgeous flat with a swimming pool,with her 2 children,I love her to bits and miss her.

Have loads of orders to do today,have to tidy up the shop and prepare for the crop tomorrow, sort a class out for the crop and I have 5 people coming for a blummin card makng class today too.

I was asked to teach at after school clubs a week ago, no chance!! I can just about handle being a tutor for the Council because that is teaching adults but kids? I don't have the patience!! They have been asking me to teach some more scrapbooking courses but until I've got rid of the shop I can't really take anything else on. Last year,I was teaching 3 courses for the Council (scrapbooking, parchment and card making) every week and 2 classes a week at the shop, I wonder now how I did it. It's not just the teaching you have to write the courses yourself,prepare and then marking, phew!!

Must dash, I'm sat here typing again when I should be at the shop!!

Scrapbooker of the Year

I received a box of stash today as a prize for being one of the Top Ten Scrapbookers of the Year in The Scrapbook Magazine. The mag is out on 3 February, can't wait to see what the layouts look like in there. Also hope they send them back to me soon.....

Had a lovely evening online chatting with some wonderful friends -love you all!!

Am thinking of some changes todo with the website, lots of ideas floating about. I think I'm going to specialise a bit more in Altered Art,I added some gorgeous little boxes toady,they would look so nice decorated.

Anyway, I'm off to bed, so tired.....

Lush

Well we ended up at Meadowhall last night with some friends then we went to Wicker Street to eat. Guess what new shop they have in Meadowhall? LUSH!!! I love this shop and used to buy from them when they were called Cosmetics To Go, many years ago!
I bought some Snow Cake soap-smells like marzipan and icing, it's delish. Some Champagne Shower Jelly - this is a lump of wibbly wobbly jelly to spread on my wibbly wobbly belly in the shower!!! A massage bar to enjoy when the kiddies are asleep!!! Some lip balm,tastes like white choccy and some Honey I Washed The Kids soap.Got a huge bottle of some shower gel free as a special offer too. Can't wait to go back!!

Have to go open up the shop now, got to finish the Monthly Paperbag Book Kits then start on the fibre strips. Then a quick trip to the wholesalers this afternoon to see what goodies they have to tempt me wih.

Eid Mubarak

Have been feeling a bit sad as a lovely lady fromUKScrappers, Debra passed away today, I was lucky to have met Debra at MK Bonanza a few years ago and she was a lovely lady. But even if I had never met her I'm sure I would be feeling just as sad, she has left a husband and three sons and my heart aches for them, I think a lot of us today are thinking "there but for the grace of God, go I" It's also difficult to explain to our "real life" friends or family why we are so upset, especially if we haven't met that person, but I think the bonds we form with online friends can be as strong if not sometimes stronger than those we have with people we have met.I hope you know what I am trying to say!

I hope you rest in peace Debra, and I hope her family and friends can find solace and good memories in Debra's scrapbooks.

On a different note, it's Eid tomorrow, so Happy Eid to anyone reading this who celebrates too, how likely is that one?!! Layla had the day off school today because she was ill so she doesn't want to take the day off tomorrow, I suppose I should be glad she likes school so much! Ali, on the other hand is more than happy to have the day off! Nasser has already said he will do someones garage roof tomorrow,so it's not going to be a very exciting Eid day! If mum will watch the shop then me and Ali will go and viisit some friends in the morning,then I think we will end up at Meadowhall in the evening.

Curry and a Chick Flick

Had a lovely evening last night with my best mate, Sam.We went for a curry first at a lovely little restaurant called Al Raj then onto the cinema. Can't remember the name of the movie, it had Heaven in the title and Reece Witherspoon in the film, it was BRILLIANT. A really lovely easy to watch girly film,I'll definately be buying it when it comes out on DVD. Then we decided to go to New york!! Got chatting and we both fancied it so will be keeping an eye out for bargains.

Got a few scrappers coming into the shop to crop today, so I need to go and clear some tables! I make such a mess when it's just me there fiddling about with kits and stuff.

Finally managed to read upon the Cathy Z class about an encyclopedia of my ordinary life thingy and I really fancy doing it. I have a lovely pink and green kit which I could use, I just need an album. What I really want is a pink suede A4 one which I can add bits to the front of.

It feels cold today and I don't really want to move, but I suppose I'll have to....

Holiday booked

Nasser booked our flights last night,we are going to Lebanon for 6 weeks this summer, all of us together so there shouldn't be any dramas like there was last year!! I'm looking forward to spending time with the family and in our lovely flat but I hope I manage to stay well as I usually get awful tummy problems and even ended upon a drip one year. Last year I took about 4 packets of Imodium and only used 3 or 4 tablets.

Looking out the window now it is so dark and dullI can't imagine the heat and sun we get in Lebanon,we had to have air conditioning put in out bedroom as it was so unbearably hot being the top flat, the aircon is so gorgeous- I love it, it's so fantastic to walk into the room from outside and be instantly cool. I don't think we need to do anything to the flat this time,but no doubt Nasser will find something to do! It's great to have so much space there,wish we could afford the same kind of space here, the living room must be 6 times the size as the one we have here. The marble floors are practical and cool but I must admit to enjoying getting back to carpeted floors after 6 weeks!

I supppose I had better think about something new to cook the family this year, I have made them a full roast dinner with Yorkshire Puddings!!! before and they loved it, but boy , was it hot cooking that in summer!! Last year I made lasagne,salad and garlic bread and had everyone round. But I can't think of what to do now. They also liked the trifle I made one year and a pineapple upside down cake went down very well.

Well, BB is back!! It will be interesting this year,seeme to be so many freaks in though,noone really normal except forRula and George Galloway, and the girls(and Pete Burns) look like clones,bet they'll all be fighting for the mirror in the bathroom.

Bag Lady...

I really must go and pick up the 750 paper bags I ordered today, I am so glad to have found such a local supplier, they always ask me what I am doing with them as I buy so many(500 just before Christmas and I don't have one left now hence the need to go and pick up more). I really must remember to take a finished book to show them. They seem very confused when I try and explain we make them into little books!! Think they are more used to their customers using them for sweets or veggies!

Half day today at the shop, thank goodness for that -I need a rest after yesterday, not used to this working lark after a lovely break! I can hopefully get someof the new stuff on the site this afternoon,I need to make some new fibre packs up too. I have loads of gorgeous balls of fibres imported from Turkey,they are so lush I don't want to sell them!

As most people are taking their decs and lights down we will be putting ours up( if I can find them!) as it will be Eid soon. I need to buy the kids an outfit each,but we are not buying loads of pressies as they had some at Christmas and then Eid was about 8 weeks before that and we bought them all sorts them. We have just decorated Ali's bedroom and he bought some DVD cupboards from Ikea at the weekend and one is full and the other is empty so I think we'll buy him some DVD's. Layla's room next!! I am sick of the house being in disarray, we need to do Layla's room, a new bathroom, finish the kitchen Nasser started 3 years ago, then the back room and the hall, oh and our bedroom needs finishing after 5 years, then just the small matter of converting the loft so I can set up shop there and close the bloody shop! Not much to do then....

Day 2

Almost forgot I had started this blog!

Was up very late last night,but it was worth it! I have somewhere that feels like"home"now -thank you.XX

Lots of orders to pack again, just nipped home to delete some stuff that has sold out in the sale.

Had alovely new customer in the shop today, she lives in Germany and is married to a soldier, she said she can't buy much over there so wants to live in England and come to my crops and leave her hubby there! We had a lovely chat about when I used to live in Germany.

Well I did it anyway....

I have been thinking about getting a blog for along time and have finally given in!
What a day today has been!! A good friend of mine wasn't treated very nicely because of me in an indirect sort of way :( But hopefully it's all sorted now:) We both believe in Karma.......

I spent a few hours in the shop packing orders ready to be posted tomorrow, despite not being officially open until tomorrow when we start our HUGE sale, a customer popped in as she saw the shutters up and lights on!

Nipped into town with Layla later on as she needed some new clothes, she grows out of them so quickly, then back home to sort out some new packs of blossoms for the shop as I have sold out completely.

Don't think I am really ready to go back to work tomorrow!!! It has been so nice to just relax and chill for a few days. Although at first I couldn't get used to it, On Christmas Eve when I had packed the last orders and cleaned the house I was like "OK what do I do now"!!! I was not used to not having anything to do!Soon got used to it though!