Mini Book

This scrapbook design made with Smilebox

Aaaaaagh!

That scream is for life in general today.
The football went badly...very badly if you're a Man Utd fan...

Add to this the fact that I still can't leave comments on most of the blogs I visit. I thought it was sorted as I managed to comment on two this morning, but, no such luck.

I'm not ignoring you all , honest. I am visiting and loving your Rocking posts and artwork and random thoughts.

Hugs xx

What's Rocking My World Friday (on Friday for once...even if it is JUST Friday).

Oh wow! Can't believe another week has gone by,  but it has, so time for another list of gratefuls (and another give-away!! cue fireworks, applause, gasps of amazement..).....

One thing I am not grateful for is Blogger - apologies to most of you - I have visited your blogs and have tried to leave a comment but Blogger is playing up - if I'm not already signed in when I visit your blog, I can't leave any love in the form of a comment.

So, what am I grateful for this week...

Firstly, for good books - I've discovered a wonderful series  (on Kindle but I'm sure there are "actual" books too) - "The Storm Lords" by Marie Hart. A bit of fantasy plus a bit of "hot" action (euphemism for sex scenes and sorry if you're offended by that) and fighting..well, I did ask for "Fight the Good Fight" to be the hymn at our wedding! Anyone who enjoyed the "Black Dagger Brotherhood" (you know who you are!!) will enjoy these stories.

Another mention for Satellite TV here..I found out at lunchtime that a big favourite of mine had returned to Channel 799 - "Un Village Francais" - two episodes a week of this series, made all the more poignant by me actually having met (and become friends with) people who were part of the Resistance. Special mention to Roland (in real life), who escaped from a train taking him to one of the death camps. 

On a lighter note.."The Apprentice", which is compulsive viewing, if only to see how useless these people are - if this is the "cream of the crop" (or the "creme de la creme" as Miss Jean Brodie would have it) it's no wonder the country is in such a mess.
Discuss: Is common sense a thing of the past?

I'm not mentioning football this week out of respect for those who support teams who failed - DH, DS, my brother, my SIL, my nephew..honestly I'm not gloating! Well, not much anyway - I've had to put up with digs and uncomplimentary comments all season.

Music!!! I'm beginning to think I was born 40 years too early. I just love some of the dance beats (think that's what they're called) and can see myself clubbing - if I was 30 years younger that is..I did try it a couple of years ago when I won a comp. for a night out at Crystal Nightclub in London - had a fabulous time but ached all over next day. No autographs but photos of me with the "stars" - soap stars as it was the after awards party.
Apart from the "trendy" music I'm also enjoying my classical stuff (downloaded from Amazon -the 99 must have tracks) and Adele..seriously there's not a bad track on "21"..and why aren't I on commission? I'm so plugging Amazon here!

And now for something completely different, the LO it  has taken me all week to finish:

Done for a challenge on WeScrap, this is the house I grew up in. It was built in 1955 and ,apparently, I helped build it. My parents rented part of a house in the next street after they were first married and were still there when I was born. When they chose this house I was obviously old enough to register some things as I kept wandering off, only to be found in the next street with the builders who would try to stop my mother chastising me (in those days smacking was perfectly acceptable).
Those were the days when children could play outside all day and no-one would think anything of it.

OMG - getting maudlin here! Must choose s'thing more lighthearted!
How about a giveaway!

Yet again I've bought a book from Amazon that I already had - honestly not my fault this time (well,not much..). No way am I sending it back as it was from Amazon.com.(USA) so postage (which they don't refund if it was your fault) would far outweigh the value of the book.

This one is a mystery set around a coffee shop and I 've read them all up to and including this one.  If you'd like to try it leave a comment and I'll get DH to think of a number.. scrappy goodies to be included as I had a wondrous parcel this week from Sassafrass Lass.

This is one of the boxes from their latest big box sale - six 12 x 12 kits plus lots of embellies and 6 x 6 pads.

And here is the card I made at A Maze of Memories last Saturday:

I'm there tomorrow making a mini book - just need to sort my photos.  I think that's it for this week

Hugs and thanks for dropping by. xx

This Week's Funny

From Victoria on WeScrap - this had me giggling again!

SENIOR TEXTING CODES:


ATD -at the doctor.

BFF -best friend fell.

BTW -bring the wheelchair.

BYOT -bring your own teeth.

FWIW -forgot where I was.

GGPBL -gotta go, pacemaker battery low.

GHA -got heartburn again.

IMHO -is my hearing aid on?

LMDO -laughing my dentures out.

OMMR -on my massage recliner.

ROFLACGU -rolling on floor laughing and can't get up.

TTYL -talk to you louder!



Hugs xx

What's Rocking My World Saturday

Late again - I ran out of Friday.

Some of these gratefuls are actually from last week  so it's a sort of 2 for 1 deal. :)

First has to be the magic of steroids - my right shoulder is (fingers crossed it lasts) pain free and has been since Tuesday. Unfortunately I've now been told that if the effects of this injection don't last for 3 - 4 months it's not worth doing again and I'm facing surgery.  Bit of a downer.

Next is BBC4 for buying and showing "Spiral". I watched the four remaining episodes last week - four days in a row at lunchtime.  Great storyline, good acting,some gruesome bits and justice almost triumphing in the end. Good stuff.

Then comes MTV. In the absence of anything decent to watch in the early evening I've resorted to MTV and the chart shows. I can craft or read whilst listening and half watching (with the occasional bit of "dancing" - I use the term loosely).

Friends are next - they have been as supportive as ever this week.  Today
Diane (a very talented cardmaker) gave me a lift to and from A Maze of Memories. It was a demo day with Lindsay Mason who designs stamps for Personal Impressions and is also Ranger accredited. We saw some gorgeous work, learnt some new techniques and also did the Make & Take - a lovely card. Pictures will follow when I've gone mad with the glitter - my card is destined for my great-niece's birthday.

DH David has been quietly supportive this week and has uncomplainingly put up with below par meals - Tuesday & Weds were not good days and the last thing I felt like was cooking. I really do need to go and do some grocery shopping today.

I am officially addicted to my Kindle - it's just too easy to click on a book and find it downloaded 30 secs later. No waiting for it to arrive, no finishing other books before starting a new one. I'm going to have to limit myself in future - although each book is relatively cheap, it still mounts up ..eek!!

I'm still very happy about Man Utd being champions and may actually enjoy watching a match (if we're on TV tomorrow) knowing that it doesn't really matter if we lose.
Next Saturday is Champions League final - I have a bottle of sparkling rose which will be nicely chilled by then. I shall imbibe during the second half whether we're winning or not. :)

I think that's it for this week.
Thanks for popping in.
Hugs xx

A Good Laugh for the Weekend!

A friend posted this on WeScrap and it's so funny I had to share.
She found it on the web...so many thanks to whoever originally posted it!

After Mr. and Mrs. Fenton retired, Mrs. Fenton insisted her husband accompany her on her trips to Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, Mr. Fenton was like most men; he found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunately, Mrs. Fenton was like most women; she loved to browse.




One day Mrs. Fenton received the following letter from her local Wal-Mart :




Dear Mrs. Fenton,


Over the past six months, your husband has been causing quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and may be forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against Mr. Fenton are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.




1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's carts when they weren't looking.




2 . July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.





3. July 7: Made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women's restroom.





4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official sounding voice, "Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right way."





5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&Ms on layaway.





6. September 14: Moved a "CAUTION - WET FLOOR" sign to a carpeted area.





7. September 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told other shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department.





8. September 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, "Why can't you people just leave me alone?"





9. October 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.





10. November 10: While carelessly handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.





11. December 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the " Mission Impossible" theme.





12. December 6: In the auto department, he practiced his "Madonna look" by using different sizes of funnels.





13. December 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled "PICK ME! PICK ME!"




14. December 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed "OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!"




And last, but not least ..





15. December 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, "Hey! There's no toilet paper in here!"





Regards,


Wal-Mart


Patti Barber, Office Supervisor IAccounting Unit, Behavioral Health Services

NSD Challenges

Thought I'd post the LOs I managed for the WeScrap Crop - I only managed another two but that's something..oh, and I also made two tags that fit one of the May Challenges too.

This first one is a colour challenge (and also the May Challenge for Scrap Club - I rotated the sketch :)).
Photos are from 1996 and DS's b'day trip to  Legoland.
I used the May "Fun House" kit (papers are by Echo Park), ribbons from stash and a bingo number from the old game I found at Dad's. Title by Me and My Big Ideas.

For the second LO we were challenged to use our favourite embellishments - buttons in my case.
The photo is of my Mum (note the "look" again!) and aunt c. 1933.

For this one I used the April "Whimsy" kit (papers and stickers by Girls Paperie).
The "j" is for their names - Mum was June and my Aunt is Jean.
Buttons are from the kit and  my Mum's old button box. There should be 4 blue ducks but one literally flew across the room when I was snapping the post off.
The Tatty Teddy is an old phone charm.

And finally the tags. The challenge was to use "tape" on your project.

 The tag on the left is made from packaging - corrugated card and the paper from some TH goodies. I used some of his tape down one side.
The other tag is made up of lots of bits and pieces on a Kraft tag. There are two different tapes as a border on the bottom - can't remember the make (poss. 7 Gypsies?) as I had to unpack them to store them.

Thanks for visiting.
Hugs xx

What's Rocking My World Saturday

Due to issues beyond my control (thanks Blogger! And why do I keep having to sign in, even to leave a comment on my own blog??!!!!) this is a day late.
I'm keeping it short and sweet:

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

'nuff said.

Shabby Chic

Saturday was National Scrapbooking Day and also the May Scrap Club.
This month the LO/technique was "Shabby Chic" - so lots of distressing and inking was called for.
We were told about this in advance so that we could bring along any trinkets/bits of jewellery we'd like to include on the page.
This is my LO:

A photo of my Mum in the late 1940's with a dog who may (or may not - my Aunt was a bit vague when asked) have been called Nell. Handmade scrunched flowers, a Prima alpha for the title and random pieces of my Mum's old jewellery - broken chains, two brooches (the bird and the blue roses) and a pendant watch.
When I finished it I realised it was just the thing for Bev's challenge on the WeScrap "Favourite Things" NSD Crop - the crop started on Saturday but we have all week to submit our projects - I'm hoping to do most of them if I can summon up the energy. Three hours sleep a night is just not enough!

Thanks for dropping by.
Hugs xx

And the winner is.....

I used my random mumber generator (aka David) and this is the result:

#3 Virginia!

Congrats Virginia - I'll pop the book in the post later this week.

And finally..here is the card that Virginia sent to me last week.
The failure to upload on Friday was totally my fault.
I found this out when I made the same mistake with the LO below.

This was my LO for the Scraplift Tag Challenge on WeScrap (part of the NSD Crop).
Photo is my SIL at Christmas 2006 and the papers are by My Mind's Eye, the
rub-ons are by Fancy Pants.

The LO is the fastest I have ever done - 30 minutes (my team lost btw. :() but it then took 10 mins to upload.
Found out why when the organiser of the tag said that she'd had to resize mine as it was 23mb!
In my haste, instead of resizing the pixels to 400 x 400 I'd resized the pic 400 x 400 %. Doh!!
All rectified now and you can see Virginia's stunning artwork.

Have great week everyone!
Hugs xx

What's Rocking My World Friday (with added Mail Art, a giveaway and a small rant).

Yes ,it's Friday again (well it is for another hour and a half) and time to reflect on the week.

First grateful is one I missed last week - good old M&S. I took advantage of being in Oxford (for the trial) and managed to pop in and look at all the Per Una goodies. OK ...I bought as well. I also bought some summer pj's from their essential line - a bargain at £9.50 but what really clinched it was the fact that they came beautifully folded and tied up with wide purple ribbon. :) I managed to get the ribbon off without undoing the bow - soon to be appearing on a LO or card.

Second is David who arrived home on Tuesday (even if I did fall over again going to greet him on the driveway) and has been taking days off in lieu for having worked over the Bank Holiday w/end. We haven't done much but it's been nice having him here again - it was a lonely w/end esp. as my mojo has gone missing big time.

Next are friends who emailed or phoned to see if I was OK or sent lovely messages via blog comments or even...sent me Mail Art.

This beautiful envelope arrived yesterday from Virginia and really cheered me up. Inside was an even more gorgeous card.

A card which Blogger won't let me upload at the moment. Knickers!

I'll try again later.

Tomorrow is Scrap Club at A Maze of Memories. My photos are sorted and random bits of jewellery have been gathered (it's Shabby Chic this time). I have great hopes that this will kick start my creative urges. And if that doesn't  it's a Crop day on WeScrap . I'm already signed up for Scraplift Tag.

Now for the giveaway.

Yet again I've managed to order the same book twice from Amazon.
It's a mystery set in the world of bookbinding.
It's in search of a good home so if you're interested leave a comment and I'll have a draw on Sunday. There may even be some crafty goodies in the package. :)

Blogger still won't let me upload the card so now for the rant.

I am very, very happy that Man Utd have reached the final of the Champions League. In fact the way they played on Weds is one of my gratefuls for the week (esp. after the way we was robbed on Sunday!).
Since the final is at Wembley this year (about four stops away from us on the train) I rather want to go to it. Consulted DS and ,yes ,(even though he supports Arsenal) he'd come with me.
Online I go.
When the tickets went on sale in February the cheapest was..£150!! I kid you not. Thanks UEFA for thinking of the fans - NOT!
Still, I thought, once in a lifetime etc. etc.
Only to find that all the tickets had sold out shortly after going on sale.
Bear in mind that the two teams are going to get only 25,000 tickets each that leaves an awful lot of tickets that should be available.

Well, they are available, if you're willing to take out a second mortgage. The cheapest I could find was £1,500 for one ticket. Much as I love my team I can't afford that and I doubt many other fans can either.

I really think these "ticket agencies" should not be allowed to get away with this..it makes my blood boil and if I swore I'd be swearing a blue streak.
Time for my Paper Voodoo pad (newly arrived from USA) to be brought into action methinks.
Wonder if anyone's running a competition to win tickets?
I might be lucky..well I did win us a week for 4 in Portugal with tickets to the France v England game at Euro 2004 (simply by using a credit card)...could it happen again?

Still can't upload the card - apparently the server has rejected it. :(

I'll keep trying....
Hugs xx

National Scrapbooking Day Crop (online).

Missing

Missing, one mojo (I've only managed four challenges this month instead of my usual nine) along with the desire to do any cooking, the ability to watch a TV programme that doesn't involve sport and anything fun.
If found please return - a reward may be offered.