Beautiful site and blog candy too xx

Following a link from Lavendar Rose, I came across this site with some beautiful designs on so please pop along and have a look

Crafting Up a Storm Blog Candy

I shall be back for a better look very soon (probably in the next 5 minutes xx)

Poppies (I hope)

I am hoping that this card is poppies (I'm sure they are). The image is from Joanna Sheen's Victorian flowers CD (but it may be Victorian Birthdays, can't quite remember which)

Lets get back on track ...

Its a belated birthday card now as the lady celebrated her birthday last week but I was a bit pre-occupied and I know she'll forgive me. If I remember rightly, the original decoupage image cane from Feao (?) and I'm not sure if that website is still going. I took part of the image and made a backing sheet using My Craft Studio

why does it happen to me ...

When I go onto some forums, I always read about people who have sold loads of stuff either throuhg E-Bay or Amazon, yet I list a whole load of stuff and nothing goes???????

I have enough of all this and am really fed up with life in general right now - I don't want to fight anymore :-(

Nutmeg ....

is going from strength to strength and it was so nice to watch her washing herself earlier - she's not been able to do that for a while. She's tucking into her food like its going out of fashion Thank you to everyone who has asked about her.

And for those that are worried about me, I had a huge cry at 5pm which is allowed.

Going to settle on the sofa for the evening and watch Merlin and Strictly Come Dancing the today will be over and I can start again

Nutmeg is home safe and well

Apart from having a sore throat where she was under the anaesthetic and a couple of bald patches on her front paws, she is fine. She has some antibiotics to take for a few more days and she will be on steroids for the rest of her life because of something in her mouth (they did explain but I wasn't listening). I bought her home, let her out of the cat basket, she went out for a wee and then came back in and is now curled up on the coffee table like nothing has happened.

As for me, I'm a complete wreck this evening. I thought I had covered everything with regards the now cancelled wedding - then I had a phone call from the engravers in town, apologising for now ringing beforehand and informing me that the wedding knife I had taken in to be engraved was in fact ready for collection !! That just about did me in today and I've been crying buckets for hours xxx

I screamed at the telly earlier today as there was a craft show on Ideal World and the presenter said "so what will you be doing at 9pm tomorrow night?" and I shouted "i should have been dancing the night away with my husband".

Not a good day and tomorrow is on the horizon :-(

Friday 26th Sept

I didn't hear from the vets yesterday about Nutmeg but I'm hoping that no news is good news and the vet, to be fair to her, did say that it could be Friday before I could pick her up as being an older cat, they did want to make sure she was okay so maybe I'll hear today.

I'm not feeling great today - had a daunting phone meeting yesterday and whilst I was on a high yesterday, today the realisation of what I am facing has hit me and its going to be a long hard time and today I should have been packing ready for my honeymoon so that has hit me hard too.

But I won't bore you with all that - that's my problem to deal with.

Have a good day everyone xx

Update on Nutmeg

her blood tests show that she is fine and she has been given some antibiotics. The vets are going to operate on an abcess tomorrow and she will be home either tomorrow or Friday xxx

Not looking forward to today now

Today I have to take one of my cats to the vets to see if there is anything that can be done for her as she is 15 and not very well. I am fearing the worst and also have the prospect of meeting the condescending receptionist. Obviously, owning a pet now is only to be reserved for the rich and poor people shouldn't have them - but we can still love them.

I'm not feeling very strong today and am going to have to pull on all my resources to get me through today.

Windy Tuesday

Its been a very blustery day outside today and we've had some really heavy rain too. Thank goodness I am now tucked up in my house leaving all the elements outside where they can do their worse now.

I have been up to Tesco's this morning for an interview with a very nice man called Callum who interviewed me for a general assistant job in the cafeteria section of the store. Its nothing that I haven't done before and I am quietly confident that I shall be offered a job there. I re-evaluated how many hours I would actually be able to undertake without sending myself to an early grave and I came up with 12 hours with the option on increasing the hours at my own convenience later if need be.

Then this afternoon, I have had a very emotional visit from the Cats Protection League and in return for me keeping my cats with me, they are going to provide all their food and also their vets bills and they have given me a cat box and the first of my cats is booked in to see the vet at 2pm tomorrow. I have to say the lady at the vets itself did appear very condescending when I rang her but that's her problem and not mine. The 2 ladies from the CPL were so nice though and could see I was genuinely upset at the prospect of having to have my beloved babes re homed and thay assured me it was their pleasure to help me out during this difficult time.

So I have made it through one of the days I was dreading this week and am still here to tell the tale xxx

Monday, monday, monday

I know people say you shouldn't wish your life away, but I would do anything tohave woken up next Monday and have this week all done, dusted, sorted and put behind me.

I have to try today and concentrate on what I need to do today and not let myself think on what else is coming up this week.

I have such a great network of people I can call on for strength and I can never thank you all enough for that - yet at times like this, I feel so utterly alone xx

get through today girl and tomorrow is another day xxx

Woo-hoo

Sold my 1st item on Amazon.co.uk already.

Fingers crossed for me please thats its the first of many and not my one and only sale

Every little helps xx

clear out started

Listed some books, cd's and software on Amazon.

Gotta start somewhere

where has it gone?

can someone please tell me where my strength and courage have gone as they have both deserted me this morning ???

if you find it, please send it back

saturday update

hi y'all xxx

having had time to take in some advice etc from various people, there are a few hurdles that have to manoervered round before I can just move out, but they haven't put me off my ultimate goal, just moved it back slightly.

Our reduced mortgage payment only stands until the end of November and then reverts back to its normal figure plus some on top for the arrears which have accrued. We don't have the option to 'tag them onto the end' etc etc as all avenues have been explored already.

Sarah too has to have a fixed address to be able to be paroled in November, or she will have to stay in until next April, by which time the house would most definately have gone to repossession and I then run the risk of having an even bigger debt to face than what I have now.

So I have bitten the bullet and will not be selling the house just yet, nor moving out. My initial goal was 6 months to a year anyway and I don't see any reason to change that just now. My mini goal at the moment is to get my Debt management plan started on Thursday when I have my phone meeting and to keep the roof over my head until then. My parents, family and I will still continue to tart it up and have a declutter as if its needs doing anyway, why not do it?

Once Sarah is out and back at work, my payout will go down which I can either plough into my debts or stash away as a nest egg for my new place and then when the decision is made, if I have enough, I can hopefully get a solicitor to take my name off the mortgage so again, when I do go, I have no ties with this place at all.

Sarah will then have 2 rooms she can rent out to help her out. I will of course help her work our her financies as I'm nice like that but it will be at a distance, not under the same roof.

Yesterday, I took a day out from reality just for me. I had gone to work in the morning and was okay and on my way to my 2nd house, I felt quite emotional and I called into a friends house where I cried buckets for about 1/2 hour. Then as I sat in her chair, I could feel myself falling asleep and she asked how much sleep I had had since Sunday. Not much I said. So I rang my next 2 clients, rang my parents and asked my dad not to come round and start on the bathroom as I was going home with 2 nytol tablets to get some sleep. I unplugged the phones, turned off the mobile, took my duvet downstairs with a pillow, got a mug of hot chocolate and a sandwich, put on the telly and woke up at 5.30am today. I had been asleep since 1.30pm yesterday afternoon.

So I lost £33 yesterday - in the grand scheme of things, thats not a lot and I have the interview on Tuesday and it wouldn't look good to walk in like the living dead now would it.You can't put a price on sleep - thats how I will see it anyway.So today is another day and I have to get on and go to work today and face some more people but I feel a bit stronger now and I can hear my body saying "thank you for letting me sleep and recouperate"

Today is a new day ...

On Sunday 14th Sept 2008, my life as I knew it, was ripped to shreds. All the pressures of the past 6 months came to a head and my soulmate left and all our hopes and dreams for the future went with him. My heart feels like it is never going to heal but time is a great healer so everyone tells me and I have to trust in that.

The past few days have been very emotional and very difficult to get through but each day I wake up and I'm still here.

Yesterday I made a decision - I want to rent a flat of my own, and leave this house which I co-own with a friend and rent a flat just for me. Where I can shut the door at night and say "this is mine and I can care for it on my own without having to rely on anyone else", which is what I have been doing for the past 2o odd years because I stupidly thought that bricks and mortar (well plasterboard and breezeblock in my case) brought you happiness and stability - but it doesn't. This house has bought me nothing but pain and I want out of here before I go mental. At 47 years of age, its time I stood on my own two feet and moved on.

I am not closing the book on my soulmate as I could never do that - the door will always be open for him as somewhere down the line, I still want him in my life but I want him to know that its HIM that I want as a person and not just for his wallet which I think is how he thought sometimes and I don't blame him for that in anyway. After taking some time to think over the past couple of days and doing what I have had to do, its made me think to myself "hang on, if you have gotten off your backside and got a job interview next week, why didn't you do that before and help put into the house more?" That was just me being plain selfish and expecting others to look after me - but the world doesn't work like that. You have to go out and look after number 1 and that now is my ultimate goal.

my co-owner is going to have to learn to stand on her own two feet as well as I can only manage me right now and too much has happened recently for me to deal with all that too.

My saddest decision though is that of my beloved cats - they have to be re-homed and I have resigned my self to that and am trying to get that arranged within the next couple of days as I can no longer afford to keep them. The pain of losing them can't be any worse than the pain of losing my soulmate and I know they will be cared for wherever they go. If I had the money, I would take them to woodgreen animal shelter but they ask for £40 per cat and I don't have £160 to spare right now. So I have to think of something else.

So, wish me luck everyone and if anyone knows of a gang of workers who will get the house into a saleable state and who are willing to be paid in bacon sandwiches and cups of tea, please point them in my direction as I am truly going to need divine intervention to help me through all this

Second Dutch Card

This card has simply been printed direct from GFC and had some gold peel off put around the edge

Balloon card for Bernie's dad

Morning all - woken up to some sunshine which is really nice - hope it lasts at least a few hours.

Anyway, I have made this card using Greeting Card Factory for Bernie's dad - I printed the card onto linen card stock and then decoupaged the layers - it looks like it has been embroidered on the scan.

Hope you like it xxx

First Dutch card

One of my clients has asked me to make 2 cards for a Dutch couple he knows that always send him a birthday card and Christmas card every year. So I have googled the correct wording and here is the card I have made for the lady - her name is Lies but it is pronounced as in Lisa but drop the "ah" sound at the end ( Leece). I used a template from the Just Cutters 2 cd for the windmill itself and the Sassy Chic My Craft Studio CD for the tulips. I printed off one of the flowers sheets and cut out the tulips to put on the corners of the card. I then used a metallic sakura brown pen to put the "wood" on the sails. I was asked to keep it flat as it has to go to Holland so I do hope the gentleman likes what I have done. I now have to do one for the Dutch gentleman

Two greeting card factory cards

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Card for my dad's 87th birthday

My dad is a very proud Welshman who's parents had to move to Cambridgeshire when he was 10 to look for work as the mining industry in South Wales was diminishing. So what better card to make for him than one of the La Pashe sheets. I have used the miner on his own and made him look as if he's stepping off the card itself to go home for his tea after his shift.

Hey, guess what...................

Its raining again - just for a change LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Hope you all have a good day (and a dry one)

Catch you all later and thank you for stopping by

be good til I get back and no talking to strangers :-)

Did it rain today or what????

The weather bod this morning said we would have showers today. SHOWERS???? it was a torrential downpour - I don't think I have ever seen rain that heavy LOL. I thought I would be canoeing home instead of cycling. Waterproof trousers aren't all they are cracked up to be either - a bin bag over my shoes and tucked under my chin would have done a better job :-) The rain bounces up from the road surface and gets inside the bottom of my waterproofs and soaks my trousers so I can't win. I was so glad I was indoors when the heavy rain came down though - I would have looked like a drowned rat otherwise LOL. I haven't seen a weather report for Friday yet but I'm not too far from home workwise tomorrow so I think I'll be okay.

And with that, I am going to love you and leave you this evening and settle down for some sleep,

Take care everyone xxxx

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Re-vamped card

Right then people's, I took on board everything that had been said and have re-vamped it. I have also tinkered with the silver peel off that looks a lot more wonky in the picture LOL. Personally I think the pink frame sets off the rose a whole lot better but I'd be interested in what you think too xxx

So what were you doing at 4.30am????

This is what I was doing ......... making an ATC. I couldn't sleep as it was pouring with rain and it woke me up so I thought I would get up and do something and hopefully feel tired again. So I went into the Hobbit room (for those that don't know, The Hobbit Room is my craft room - Bern says its for small people i.e = ME lol) and created my latest ATC. I painted the background with some H2O's. Added a glitter sticker that I happened to find lying on the floor , a slither of vellum that was lying around and 3 adhesive stones. I then added a spare rub-on onto the vellum to finish off

Looks better in the flesh .................

It looks like there are black dots all over this flower but it is in fact Sakura Clear glitter pen and it does look a whole lot better in the flesh. I'm not sure its one of my best cards if I'm honest and I will debate over it before I decide to send it, Its the same flower as I did in a recent post and simply done with 2 layers this time and layered onto some red holographic card. The jury is still out so helpful comment would be appreciated xxx