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?
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.
.
.
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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!!!!