Little things that make me happy...

I know I said in my last posting that I wanted things to go back to normal but OMG I had forgotten how exhausting normal was!!! The school run, Playgroup drop off and pick up, dancing, Socatots, homework and Miss Molly having to be dragged backwards through the slush in her buggy! I am SO glad it's Friday and the weekend is here...

Ellie's ruler out on the deck last week measuring 8 inches of snow!

The snow is finally starting to melt which is a relief as we just can't seem to cope with it in this country! Paul, Ellie and I lived in Canada (Newfoundland) for a couple of years where they have some serious snow but they have the resources to deal with it...(they have to though or life would grind to a halt for 4 months of the year!) Our pavements here were hazardous at best and the icicles hanging from the buildings (although very pretty) looked lethal! Saying that though, everything did look beautiful covered in snow...Last Friday we had to drive to the nearby villiage where Paul's folks stay and collect his Mum to take her to the supermarket as she was nervous about driving down into the town. The scenery was amazing...

Trees that looked freshly iced pies

The last remaining red phonebox in the area...how much nicer are they?!?

Haybales in the snow

Bennachie in the distance...

...and the road ahead.

Me and my camera.

Have spent a lot of time in the house the past couple of weeks - apart from the odd outing, and have been photographing little things around the place that make me happy...here they are.

The bargain tealight holders I bought in Fat Face in Aberdeen - reduced to a tiny £1.50 each! Bought 5 not really knowing what I'd do with them...perfect hanging on the dining area light.

We did a jigsaw together last weekend. A 1000 piece montage of old Ladybird books - some of which I had when I was little!

Another houseplant that seems to be surviving! Got this Ponsieta from my lovely friend Lesley over Christmas and it's still alive - it's a miracle!!!

My little teapot for one...bought it from the Avon catalogue last month - tea tastes so much nicer when it's poured from a pot!

The teeny bottle of Hendricks that Paul found...too cute to drink.

Bought this a while back in Laura Ashley...it says it all.

The jewellery hanger that Paul brought home after a trip to M&S one evening (an impulse buy apparantley!)

Storytime with the boys...and cosy slippers!

After school trip to the sweetie shop...

Onto some crafty stuff...have been filling in my 365 challenge calendar (sort of) faithfully each evening and finally got the title sorted. Here's how it came together.

Made a frame (from old envelopes!) and used it as a mask on the page

Used the same stamps as the calendar pages

Added some doodles and Distress Ink

Cut some letters and numbers out using the Cuttlebug and coated them with Glossy Accents

Started out punching holes along the bottom edge and stitching but it didn't look right so added eyelets and ribbon instead.

Will stick the pages together once I'm sure I don't want to add anything else. Each month I can pull the design of the whole book together by using the materials from the double page layout on that month's title page. Need to get cracking with February!

Went sledging last Sunday, here's some pics of the action...

Paul testing the hill...to make sure it was safe for the kids!

Molly all cosied up in the wagon...

...so cosy that she's taking her gloves off?

After this it was off to the nearby coffee shop for hot chocolate and scones...thankfully my cousin showed up so he took me, Harry and Molly back up the hill in his car!

And finally, Molly Moo's wardrobe remix yesterday. She wore the hat most of the day...

Love those slippers! That's all for now - have got some blog links to share and some other bits and pieces but my bath is waiting and it smells divine! xxx

More Snow?!?

Are we ever going to get back to normal? By normal, I mean all up by 7am, kids back at school, eating lunch at lunchtime (and not at around 2.30pm) and not staying up watching the box sets of West Wing till the wee small hours - will life as we used to know it ever return?!? Kids are still off school and the forecast is for at least 2 more weeks of this! Can't see them going back tomorrow, they went out to play in the garden earlier and poor Harry was up to his armpits at some points!

Finally made it to the hairdressers yesterday - have had to cancel 2 appointments recently because of our Chickenpox outbreak. Had a lovely relaxing time complete with a hand and arm massage and a good gossip with Colleen. She made a gorgeous job and I came out feeling like a new person. Met Paul and kids for lunch then did some shopping for supplies for my February pages and some other projects I have in mind...

Got these beautiful papers and a few other bits and pieces but sadly no Craft Stamper - did anyone else notice the date was wrong for when the February issue was out? 1st January 2009 - glad I'm not the only one that does that, I'll still be writing 2009 till at least May! Anyway, got a copy today - yay!

Also bought this wee doll for a friend who's just had a baby - how cute is she!?! Has made me want to make some little dolls for Molly...will show you the results if they turn out well!

Packed up all the Christmas Decorations yesterday and it was only when the tree was away we realised the the Amaryilis that I planted back at the start of December had grown huge! How amazed was I?!? Not got the best track record when it comes to house plants so I'm really proud of this!

Finally got round to taking some photos of my 365 Calendar project with the 'days' on. I think it will evolve as the weeks go on - don't have a title yet but am in the process of making it and there are some other bits that I plan to add...love that it can develop though and have started to plan February's pages too.

Looked at lots of different papers but none of them seemed to quite work then remembered I had bought a few packs of Blonde Moments papers a while back and the Minaisie Moo ones were perfect. I didn't want to measure and cut out so I was a bit lazy and used Stampin' Up punches.

I also didn't want to write on the days of the week - thought it would look too cluttered - so instead I set eyelets in each Saturday and Sunday tag and threaded ribbon through. I probably should have planned a bit more carefully and only had 7 tags running across the page but I'm looking at this as a learning experience and will take what I've learnt from this month onto next month!

Got this gorgeous sign from my Mum and Dad at Christmas - put it up in my study and it's perfect.

Finally Mini Wardrobe Remix...

That's all for now! xxx

Happy New Year!

So here it is...2010! Hope you all had a good time bringing in the New Year...our party kept on rocking till around 2.30am - a good time was had by all! Went to Mum and Dad's on the 1st for dinner then drove home leaving Harry and Ellie to stay there - Harry's bed was a casualty of the party...some enthusiastic trampolining on it by one of James's wee friends! Now shopping around for 2 new beds... Anyway, onto my progress with the 365 Challenge...

Only started last night, I am ashamed to admit - have spent the last few days in jammies, playing games, watching films and eating far too much Christmas cake...it's been fab! But last night I knuckled down and in the end it only took me about an hour all in...got some more done tonight so I'll post photos of the finished January pages tomorrow. Here's how it looked last night...

Started with a plain Kraft paper book from Paperchase

The pages are around 30cm square, using a double page layout for each month

Inked the edges with Black Soot Distress Ink stamped around the edge with a Tim Holtz flourish stamp using Stampin Up's Taken With Teal inkpad

Added another Tim Holtz stamp with black ink

Stamped (yet another!) Tim Holtz design on the bottom corner and added some wee Blonde Moments hearts

Stamped large Blonde Moments hearts over the middle of the pages

Added more Blonde Moments hearts and circles and wrote 'January' inside the large hearts

Scribbled some doodley bits to finish

That's it so far. Tonight I sorted out the paper for each day and started inking the edges but then dinner was ready (Chinese from M&S) and I haven't made it back off the sofa...! Will finish it tomorrow - have been writing an event from each day down to transfer over...

Still loads of snow here - Paul took the boys sledging today. The two of them had on so many layers they could barely move! They had a great time, Harry came in looking like a snowman saying "That was absolutely fun!"

Off to bed now - night!