Here are some boxes that I decorated for my sister-in-law.

How green is our tree this year?!! Depending on how you look at it, it is either very un green (the colour) or extremely green (eco)!

This is last years tree that died in about May. (We had bought one with roots). It stayed in the corner of the garden, going more rust colour each month, so we decided to spray it white with fake snow and bring it back in the house for this year. I quite like it but you can't go near it as the snow comes off and the needles are finally falling from it.

I'm feeling really grotty today. Just a sore throat and thick head but I need lots of love and chocolate!! Thankfully it wasn't last week I was feeling like this or I would of missed the hen night of a work friend. We went to a Sing-a-long-a-Abba night. I'm the one in the blue outfit.

I was so close to sorting my craft room. I managed to sort a bit of it and I do know what I am going to do with the space but before I could get it finished, it has been invaded by loads of stuff from the dining room. We went shopping a couple of weeks ago (for boots) and came back with carpet. (Well not actually back with it as it had to be ordered). All of the stuff from the dining room needs to be sorted so it will be ages before I get round to moving it. The photos show the bit of the craft space that is sorted.

P.S. I didn't get the boots and I didn't get them the next time I went shopping but I did get a great coat!!

We had a few days in Cornwall visiting my parents last month. We managed to have a drive out and visit Mevagissey. This is a great picture of mum and dad. Dad had just spilt ice-cream down his shirt and mum got her thin lips with him but by the time I got the camera out she was laughing at him. No matter where we go, dad manages to spill something down him. He has been banned from eating doughnuts!!

Not a single post in October. I am a naughty blogger!!

I did go to a crop near Weston-Super-Mare last month. It is run by Michele from crafts 4 Eternity. Over the past few months we have done lots of layouts and craft projects. Here are some of them. Each month we are given a kit (usually 2 sheets of double sided patterned paper, 2 sheets of coordinating bazzil and some embellishments) and instructions to do a layout. She always provides an example which is stunning. The day (10-4p.m.) costs £10.00 Then if we feel like it we can do a craft project which costs £3.50. Again she provides a kit and instructions. There is plenty of hot drinks and lots of cake!!

Here is her link to our crop pics. http://www.crafts4eternity.co.uk/gallery_images/index/crop-gallery

Check out her blog and challenges if you have time.

Thought you might like to see some cards I have made and sent to people as I don't seem to do much sharing.

My feet are killing me!! Yesterday I went to Ally Pally with a friend and we walked miles looking for bargains. I have always gone on a Saturday before and found it very busy. Yesterday it seemed quite quiet. Not sure if it is because Sundays are quieter or if people are cutting back on spending. I bought a few bits but wasn't planning on getting much. Photo to follow.

I have been following the progress of Craft fairys craft room. How gorgeous and I don't have room envy at all no not one bit!!! She also has some prima flowers blog candy. Very scrummy. If you have a spare hour or two have a nosey at her blog.
http://craftfairy.blogspot.com/

I thought it was about time I put something crafty on my blog so here is my recipe box I have just finished. It started life as a card index filing box. I painted the edges with acrylic paint made for metal and gave it a slight distressed look with sepia versafine ink applied with a sponge. I cut out panels from some K and Company paper and distressed the edges then stuck them onto the box with modge podge. When it was dry I sealed it with another coat of modge podge and then added a few embellishments and stamped the title.

We have just got back from a lovely week in Wales. Here are a few of our holiday snaps.

We are back from holiday in Wales. Had a great time but the worst thing is not having access to the internet. I have spent a few hours checking up on what all my blog buddies have been up to. Here is a link to some candy I have found.
http://fluttabyz.blogspot.com/2009/07/my-blog-candy-giveaway-gorjuss-girls.html

http://magnoliacardsbykimpiggott.blogspot.com/

http://thecraftyden.blogspot.com/

http://craftyemma.blogspot.com/2009/08/its-candy-timethis-post-will-remain-at.html

http://theidlecrafter.blogspot.com/2009/08/blog-candy-alert.html

http://indicards.blogspot.com/2009/07/who-wants-candy.html

http://scrappingwithvision.blogspot.com/2009/08/my-own-sweet-tooth-add-on.html

At the beginning of June Dale had his leavers ball. I can't believe he has finished school. It only seems 5 minutes since it was Craigs.

I have had my parents visiting this weekend which is always nice but this time was a little subdued owing to the fact that their beautiful fluffy faced dog had to be put down last Wednesday. He was an absolutely gorgeous dog they rescued about 6 years ago when he was about 7 years old. This is a photo of my dad persuading him to have a bath.

I have been very busy with my life. I have 2 new jobs!! One is working a few hours a week in Morrisons which I wasn't sure I would like but am loving it. The other is still working in the school but I now have a permanent contract for 15 hours a week. (It was because I didn't have a job come September that I got the Morrisons job). Any way, as I now know I have money coming in, it means I can spend money on craft stuff and I have.

Last Sunday I went to the Newbury show and got a few bargains. I didn't photograph my purchases but I have started using some of them so there will be photos to share soon.

Me and some crafty friends get together every now and then and we were together yesterday. Sandra and Hannah hosted and we had a great afternoon scrapbooking and then we had a meal using a Raclette. http://entertaining.about.com/cs/cheeseinformation/a/raclette.htm

Happy Fathers Day Dad. I know every girl thinks her dad is the best but me and my sister know we've got him.

My boys are pretty lucky with their dad too. They can't be with him today as he is on his bike along with thousands of others doing the London to Brighton Bike Ride for the British Heart Foundation. We are all very proud of you Gary.

Just got back from a crop. Never been to a proper organised one where someone else makes the cuppa. It was in Weston Super Mare and run by a lovely girl called Michelle. I haven't taken a photo of my finished layout but I was really happy with it. We were given a kit with some scrummy papers from paper crate. The best bit was we got to look at all the lovely stock she has. Check out her site.
http://crafts4eternity.blogspot.com/

Just found some lovely blog candy up for grabs at
http://cazzytime.blogspot.com/

Last Monday I said goodbye to my old banger. It was still OK but there are things that would need doing to it soon. (New gear box, fix the leak so water doesn't come through the internal light, sort out the small oil leak!...) It has been a wonderful car and has always started first time no matter the weather.

Using the scrappage scheme we now have a new member of the family. Craig loves it as it is group 1 insurance and he can now afford to insure and drive it. I bought it from a company called Pebley Beach in Wroughton and they were brilliant. If you are thinking of getting a Suzuki, I would recommend them.




P.S. That is sons parking not mine!

How much mess can you make when you create 1 card!!

These are the samples I took to club.

Finally got round to taking some photos and putting them on the computer.

At craft club last Wednesday we did one sheet wonders. I handed out a few templates and we all made some cards. I got all of the templates from putting one sheet wonder templates into google. I used one I found at splitcoast stampers. All I need to do now is add the embellishments and a greeting. (This pattern used 6" square double sided paper from a challenge at Verve stamps and made 4 cards). I didn't have any double sided 6" paper so I used 2 pieces of 6" paper and made 8 cards.

Happy Birthday baby sis. There is a reason I am wishing her a happy birthday here and she is not opening a card. I took it to work to put in the post and forget to take it out of my pigeon hole. Sorry. Might even send you chocolate to make up for it or maybe I will just eat it and think of you!!

Dale is now sweet 16 so I made him a cake. Looked OK but tasted foul. One of his favourite films when he was younger was The Italian Job so I decorated the cake using the film for inspiration.

Easter has been and gone and saw us visiting Wales. We had a great time exploring the area around Aberporth/Cardigan. I would recommend visiting the Fforest wildlife centre where we all did some canoeing and hubby and youngest son went kayaking. The walks were beautiful. When we visited the information centre, they told us about people seeing otters early in the morning so we set the alarm for 4.30 a.m. (I didn't know there were 2 4.30's in a day)!! By 5 we were on the bank and saw absolutely nothing for about an hour then in the murky water below us we saw a shape moving. A quick description would be - it looked like a dead cat being pulled through the water on a bit of string. Later we did see an otter tail disappear into the water when we were in the canoe so we could of stayed in bed!

Here are a few cards I have made recently. Maybe I should of taken the photos before putting them in the bags!

Gosh it has been a long time since I posted. No excuses. I have taken some photos of things I have been doing but haven't got round to putting them on the computer yet. A couple of weeks ago we visited my parents as they are having a sort out ready to move. One of the things they found was a box of slides. We have now got them transferred onto a disc and this is one of them. I have always loved fish and chips and here is the proof.

I have been looking back on some of the posts I have written and realised I haven't told you about me becoming a Stampin'up demonstrator. My reason is not to the hard sell and do lots of workshops but to buy lots of stuff at a 20% discount. There is a commitment to sell £250 every 3 months but that shouldn't be too hard to do as I have made up my wish list and it comes to about £750!

Here are a few links if you think you might be interested in the products or becoming a demonstrator. You can send me an e-mail if you have any queries.

stampinupmelissa@live.co.uk

http://www2.stampinup.com/gb/eng/ Home page for the UK

http://catalogs.shoplocal.com/stampinup/index.aspx?pagename=shopmain&fsid=e0cf817d-2765-41ee-be99-b913452e7429&storeid=1042907&circularid=14073 On line brochure.

During the really cold spell we had a few weeks ago, our central heating broke down. It was like watching an episode of House as they tried to diagnose the problem. First it was a something circuit board, next it was a pipe leading from the boiler, then the little blue box in the airing cupboard followed by a visit from an electrician who said it was the thermostat. Each time they thought they had sorted it the boiler had other ideas. Fortunately we have a few electric heaters and a neighbour lent us their calor gas fire. Any way by last Friday they finally sorted it and we thought it would be the last we saw of the gas men.

At the weekend we decided to finish the hallway. Gary decided not to use the holes already drilled from the previous threshold as they were not central so he drilled a couple of new ones followed by the shout "MELISSA. TURN THE GAS OFF"!!!! The photo is showing how clever he is at finding the pipe in an inch of concrete and drilling through it right in the middle!

Here is a link to one of my blog friends. She is giving away some blog candy. Without Hazel I wouldn't of found some great sites so if you have time, follow some of her links and you never know where you will end up!
http://www.craftyhazelnut.blogspot.com/

I can't believe that it was 21 years ago I became a mum. This weekend we have been celebrating Craig's 21st Birthday. He had a party on Saturday night with a mate who is also 21 but don't ask him to tell you about it as he won't remember. He doesn't remember his dad having to put him to bed!!!



The cake is for both of them. It wasn't exactly what I wanted to make but I was a bit limited on decorating stuff as the cake shop was closed (due to snow) and the local supermarkets had very little choice.