Still raining

Well yet another thunder storm and cloud burst as I sit here !!! when will the rain stop and the sun come out again. For me the weather influences my mood if the sun shines I'm happy and motivated to do things. Guess the weather and a chest infection explains why I've been so unproductive this week. Finally went to the doctors and now have antibiotics so hopefully I will start to feel better soon.

Did go out to lunch yesterday with Dawn and it was the first time I've left the house in over a week but was home by 1.15pm exhausted.

This is a layout I did on my weekend away. The photo is of Eric and Ben.



Ben just adores his Grandad and copies everything he does. We were at a BBQ at our son's, now Marc is completely obsessive about grass and 10 times worse with his own and would really have liked to stop us all going on the lawn but of course he couldn't, so just as we were about to leave Eric bent down and pretended to get the grass to stand back up and naturally Ben had to help.

The page is based on a class by Fiona Beckman of the Design Collective and is about different ways of hiding journaling. On this page there are two lots of hidden journaling, sometimes what you want to record may be personal and not right for everyone to read or other times it would spoil the look of a page. I wanted to record the story of Marc and his grass and Ben copying Eric but it would have detracted from the page, hence hiding it. Can you guess where.

Hope to meet up with Vikki and Ben tomorrow and just generally have a chilled out weekend.

Poorly

Well I've been feeling rotten since Thursday !!!!! ache all over and RA has flared, suspect I caught a chill in the caravan and it doesn't take much to tip the balance. Feeling a bit better today and was supposed to being seeing Vikki and Ben But now I'm up to a visit Ben has come down with a tummy bug. Haven't seen them since before I went away so getting Nanny withdrawal symptoms. Going to try and meet up Saturday.

Haven't done any scrapping booking since coming back from my weekend away. Combination of feeling rotten and no inspiration at all. Had a LO sitting on my desk for over a week now but just can't seem to get going.

These are two I did when away and our based on Design Collective classes. Photo's are from Eric's holiday on the IOM.

That's the second time I've scrapped this class by Karen Miller as I loved it so much.


and this is my take on a class by Jennie Leon. Course it helps having such gorgeous photo's to work with.

I'm Back

Had the most wonderful weekend. Despite the awful weather four thunder storms and torrential rain! Last year we did the laying on the beach and exploring the area so we felt quite justified in staying in the caravan and scrapping..Dawn and I both managed to complete four LO's so either I'm getting quicker or she has slowed up to my pace LOL.

We ate huge amounts of maltesers and drunk buckets of earl grey tea and thoroughly chilled out. I did eventually decided to venture out and wanted to get some photos of the beach and sea but before we even set foot on the sand the heavens opened again, so took a few very bad shots and ran back to the sanctuary of the caravan.



Came home to a beautifully clean tidy house and 5 very happy to see me doggies...

Weekend away

I'm off Saturday morning for a long weekend away with my bestest friend Dawn. We're going to the same place as last year as it was so lovely. A very quiet caravan site in Caistor. 50 yards from a beautiful sandy beach and 50 yards from the takeaway.... BLISS!!!!!

We're planning on doing lots of scrapping and eating huge amounts of maltesers. So it's Eric's turn to dog sit while I have some much needed chilling out time.

Mac is back to the vets tonight, after a week of very strong antibiotics his leg is no better and he is very sore.

I'll leave you with a photo we had taken a few weeks ago of my family, Vikki's husband had to work so we thought it would be good opportunity to get an up to date family shot, of me, Eric and our two children and grandson.....and yes it will be scrapped some time soon. It was to big to scan in one piece so I had to stitch it and am really chuffed with the result.

See you all next week.

This weeks effort

at a design collective class .. another Karen Miller class. The object to learn paper folding... wasn't sure whether to attempt this one as I thought it looked really complicated but in the end had a go. In hindsight I should have thought about it more and not chosen such a thick paper but it was the one I wanted and worked well with the photo's of me and Lucky. Had to free hand draw a heart shape then glue the paper strips into place not to hard BUT stitching it onto the paper was tortuous LOL ended up having to Pierce the holes first. I am really pleased with the end result of the heart but of course messed up at the end and decided the LO needed something else. I used some nasty cheap rub ons which looked really naff and ended up having to cover them up with the strips of paper. Oh well .live and learn. Tomorrow brings a whole new set of classes.

I've used Dream Street papers (near and Dear) Cameron and Corey, prima flowers and a few felts hearts. The title was cut on the CR.

We've had a good weekend,I had a wander round town Saturday morning with Dawn, then a BBQ at our sons Marc in the afternoon. Little Ben was in good form and delighted his Grandad was back from his hols. Ben can be a picky eater these days but whatever Eric eats Ben has to eat as well, it's so funny to watch.

Have to seriously get thinking about next weekend as Dawn and I are off for a long weekend away. We plan to scrap scrap scrap and eat loads of Maltesers...

Normal service is resumed.....

Eric arrived home Wednesday yay !!!! the dogs went absolutely mad, barking and crying all at the same time. It was a good ten minutes before I dared move in and get a much need hug. So I've had 2 good nights sleep and breakfast in bed and feel back to normal. He's had a wonderful holiday and the boys now have some new stories to tell and keep us amused for a few years no doubt. AND .....Eric has taken some lovely photo's of all the bikes and fantastic photo's of the beautiful scenery so I have loads of scrapping potential ahead.

Poor Mac is in the wars again, he's been a bit stiff all week which I put down to no walks but after a very short walk Wednesday evening his leg with the metal plate started to swell up. He's been to the vets and has an infection. Ideally it would be best for the plate to be removed but because of his age and a possible weakness in the bones which caused them to break initially we are trying to keep it in. So he's on a course of very very expensive antibiotics. Course his insurance doesn't cover the leg !!!!!

My little Rulu was 11 yesterday.... only seems like yesterday that I brought this tiny little fat bundle home from my sisters. I first got to see her when she was just an hour old (she's Rocky's and my sisters dog Lulu's offspring) and then spent as much time as I could with her everyday until she finally came home with me. Let me tell you she came complete with compass, back pack and grappling hook.... she was a nightmare LOL.

So the last job on my list of rotten jobs to do whilst Eric was away didn't get done so I'm going to do it today..... Sorting out my desk (groan) ..... no more scrapping until everything is sorted, tided and filed....... but I did finish a LO yesterday, just waiting to take a photograph then I'll share it...

At last

At last Eric has got to see some racing! After a completely rotten day of non-stop rain yesterday, the sun has finally put in an appearance and they have gone from waterlogged to dry roasted LOL. Final day tomorrow for the boys as they catch the early ferry home Wednesday morning and all being well should be home early evening. The TT racing carries on for the rest of the week but for the boys that’s it game over.

Spent a lovely relaxing day with Dawn, scrap booking of course. I’ve been working on a Design Collective class, not finished yet but may get to do some more on it tomorrow evening.

Vikki and Ben are coming over tomorrow and I also have a hair appointment to get a trim so I’ll look nice and presentable for the returning biker …..

Scrap lifting with a twist

Each week I receive 4 classes from the Design Collective. This week not having a whole lot of time I thought I'd have ago at what I thought would be a fairly easy class "scrapliffting with a twist" by Karen Miller. Well it was a whole lot harder than I imagined trying to get 4 types of paper to work together but finally I'm happy with it. Just as well as the new classes arrived in my email box this morning. I've used a mixture of Basic Grey and Fancy Pants paper, the journal stamp is Autumn Leaves and the title and flower are chipboard from my stash and a few prima flowers to finish off.

The photo is of my son and daughter and was taken after they both arrived (unplanned) together bringing Eric's presents for his birthday the next day. We had a lovely lunch in the garden and Eric managed to get a rare photo of them together "JUST PERFECT"

Dogs are now suffering from clinical depression LOL. Marc came last night and gave them a good play in the garden but I think it's safe to say they'll be pleased to see Eric Wednesday and so will I.

Being a glutton for punishment I decided to get all my small summer clothes out today and wash and iron them. I have fat, medium and small clothes depending on how much I weigh. Nice to see the small section put in an appearance LOL. My weight does go up and down, I like to think it's because of the steroids but that isn't the whole story more like my malteser addiction.

Been raining all day today on the Isle of Mann and yesterday's racing was cancelled as the weather closed in over mountains and it wasn't safe for the helicopter to fly.... forecast is more promising for tomorrow.

Thank goodness it's Friday

Tiscali have finally sorted out the email problems yay !!!! spent 3 days thinking I'd done something wrong then Dad told me most people on Tiscali were also unable to send out emails ... whew !!! that would have taken some explaining when Eric gets home.

Dogs are now officially going stir crazy, despite the gorgeous weather and being able to be outside they are fed up BIG TIME especially of me LOL. I tried playing with them in the garden tonight. They were not impressed with my brave efforts and I've ended up with the mark of Zorro across my tummy from Mac... thanks pal....

In between sorting out dogs and entertaining all my visitors who come to make sure I'm OK (I've called them Suzy Sitters LOL) actually joking aside I really do appreciate people visiting and ringing, I've been working on a class from the Design Collective, it's called scrap lifting with a twist by the very very talented Karen Miller. At first look I thought oh that looks easy. Well think again girl, trying to get 4 papers to work together if not using a kit (which I'm not - oh no that would be to easy and why take the easy option when you can make like hard) isn't easy. Karen says she was impressed that I did it, well if she'd seen the little hissy fit I had it might have spoilt the illusion. Dawn was here yesterday ( we always try o have a scrap day once a week) and observed it all, actually Dawn almost finished a complete LO whilst I was still pushing paper around. Anyway I almost finished it then messed up !!!! have thought of a way round it but have had to put it to one side and catch up on some card orders first.

Yesterday Eric and CO decided to watch the racing from a different spot and went up the mountain. Unfortunately for them the police forgot to open the road up afterwards and they were stuck up there for ages.... I expect by the time they return it will have turned into a funny story... Hope Eric is remembering to take lots of photo's and journal it all as I want to do a scrapbook for him of their TT adventure.

Via text I asked if he was having a good time.... the reply (he's a man of very few text words) "BIKER HEAVEN"

Weather forecast is great for the weekend yay no muddy paws...