>>> Start of School Term! <<<

Yah! Start of school term again! Sent Zac to school while Ollie stayed at home with me due to Teachers' Training day. Anyway, got him busy doing his writing, Maths, Science and English!

As for me, did my CJ... yup a bit late but had tons to do the week before. Thankfully I knew what I wanted to put in so it was done fairly quickly!

Can't believe October is drawing to a close. Felt the effects of the clock change. By 5pm, it started to get dark... find it so depressing. Hate it when it starts getting darker earlier and earlier, coupled with the cold, just wish I could hibernate from now till Spring!

Oh forgot to mention that Shoebox Trims is closing down. Tricia send an email last week to say that she now wanted to spend time with family and therefore is closing down her store. Sad but understandable. Somehow, I'm finding this is a trend these days with online businesses. I guess they haven't reckoned how much time it does take to run an online business, the number of hours put in and the stress of doing it all alone. It can take a toll and hence a fair number of sponsors on UKScrappers have closed down. Thankfully, I've got the Little Silver Hat to feed my ribbon addiction! Ohhh, received my DT kit and boy has she packed in some lovely ribbons... so mouthwatering! Had fun playing with them at Martha's crop. No doubt will be doing more LOs with those ribbons! TTFN!

>>> Birmingham Crop! <<<

Whee! Crop today so at 10ish, left the house for utter freedom and privacy to indulge in my passionate hobby! Thankfully, SIL and her daughters left to return to Poole too. Left hubby to mind the kiddies... good for him to bond with his sons! Today's crop is a special one from 10am-10pm. Imagine... 12 hrs of unadulterated scrapping pleasure!

Spent the day doing all my DT assignments and managed to complete a few LOs and projects. Played with my Heidi Swapp alpha masks today and resulted in inky fingers. Luv those masks... way too cool! Together with the Sakura glaze and soufle pens, they create fabbo titles!

Lunch and dinner was provided and for lunch, we had a chicken pasta while for dinner, pizza. Great food with lots of snacks and I just ate and ate the whole day. Felt like a ball when I finally got home.

Shall call it a nite as I'm thoroughly exhausted. Too tired to even scan my LOs.... TTFN!

>>> The Weekend Again! <<<

Wow! The weekend is here again! Ollie and I had a good lie-in and didn't wake up till 10ish! Hubby doesn't do lie-in so was awake and doing housework!

His sister and niece popped in and this was followed by his mom and another niece later. By noon, I had to bring Zac to his friend's birthday party. Decided to stay with him to keep an eye over him. I was given the option to leave but thought he was a wee bit young to be left on his own. Gosh, he played till he literally sweated!

Anyway, he enjoyed himself and after two hours, came home with a goody bag.

SIL and her niece was still around and the kiddies played playdoh. They later left. Sent hubby off to do some grocery shopping. While the boys were watching cartoons, I worked on a LO assignment.

The nite was spent crafting... making up for lost time! Grey's Anatomy kept me company too and boy oh boy is Series 2 a smasher! Not gonna give any clues away but watch out for coming episodes... they will really keep you on edge! Had to also pack for Martha's crop the next day too!

Oh, I literally saw the clock changing time! I was on the PC when I noticed at 2am, it switched automatically to 1am! So had to go adjusting my clock and mobile too. Cool, an extra hour of sleep, not that it would make any difference as I finally went to bed at 4 in the morning! Blame it on Grey's Anatomy! TTFN!

>>> Bye Best Pal! <<<

Ollie woke up at a ghastly hour, even before day broke as he wanted to paint his Spiderman!!! As mentioned, he had a clay set and we had made his Spiderman figerine using plaster of Paris. But we left it overnite to dry and that rascal somehow in his subconscious mind knew it needed painting so woke up very early! I left hubby to deal with him. Anyway, by 9ish, we gals were up and Ollie had already painted his Spiderman figurine, albeit a little messily.

Ellen packed her stuff and then we had a leisurely breakfast. Before we left, I gave her my parting gift:

At 10 to twelve, we left, heading for Digbeth bus station. She has to take the bus down to Heathrow to catch her plane for Prague. She's meeting her hubby there for a short holiday as he's currently in the Czech Republic on business. We were supposed to go with them but due to inability to get babysitter for the boys, we had to give up the idea! I really look forward to the day when we adults can just leave the boys on their own!!!

It was really heartbreaking to say goodbye to her. I'm so thankful she came for a visit and we had a great time going out. I'm so glad that we managed to meet up twice this year, once in Singapore and now here in the UK. We're hoping that we can see her in Shanghai next year. Our plan is to visit my parents, leave the boys with them and head off to Beijing then Shanghai. I find that China isn't a place for kids.

The afternoon was spent with the kids, keeping them from fighting each other and entertaining them. Just as I was about to finish making dinner, hubby called to say that there was a halloween party at MIL's house. Now in my family, things always happen last minute but telling me that I had to be at the party in half an hour was just too much! So we somehow rushed thru' dinner and had the boys dressed up in their halloween costumes.

Well, the boys' cousins were there along with hubby's sisters (he has 3!) There was spooky music, games and of course party food!
The boys enjoyed themselves, stuffing up on sweets and biscuits (a field day for them since they don't eat such rubbish in my house!) Not surprisingly, Ollie was on a high! Anyway, got them home at 10ish and they both went off to bed. I was so knackered that while lying with Zac, I went off to sleep as well. TTFN!

>>> A Week Has Flown! <<<

Gosh, Ellen has been here for a week already! She is due to leave tomorrow. Thankfully hubby took the day off and we decided to go out.

Headed off to Melbrick Garden Centre where Ellen picked up some toys for her birdies back in Shanghai. Then we picked up a fabbo pecan and raisin loaf for tea. As it was nearing lunch time, we went to China Town to have tim sum. This particular Chinese restaurant is fabbo for its tim sum. We used to go to a restaurant near Wing Yip but its quality was more pure luck. At times it was great but mostly it was horrid! Hence since discovering this restaurant in China Town, we never went back there. Now if only I can remember the name but it's above Legs 11, a lapdancing club... so very easy to find! :)

Hubby picked the dishes. We tried some new dishes and it was delicious! The boys were satisfied with duck and rice and Zac even tried some noodles too.

After lunch, we headed towards the Bull Ring as we needed to get a birthday present. Zac's been invited to a Wacky Warehouse party this Saturday! As usual, it's hard to just buy someone else a present without the boys clamouring for one. So Zac picked up a Bionicle set while Ollie went for a Spiderman clay set.

Dinner was another dish cooked by Ellen and this time she made ginger chicken. The boys loved it. Later in the evening, I sneaked into my craft room and made Ellen a parting gift. TTFN!

>>> More Shopping! <<<

What a day! It rained and it was that kind of miserable rain, so dreary and irritating! Anyway, managed to get MIL to have Oliver and we took Zac to Birmingham town centre for another spot of shopping! Have to say, I've never shopped so much before!

Anyway, Ellen needed to get some last minute stuff and I need to get some essentials for the house. So we headed toward Poundland where I got stuff for the kitchen. Then spied some craft items and that fell into the basket too. Oh and Toblerone too... not bad for a £1! As it was still drizzling, decided to go home.

Hubby called and asked if we wanted to go out at nite. So somehow he arranged for MIL to have Zac too and we went to Thai Edge restaurant for a good Thai meal. Started off with Tom Yam soup... ohhh it was so good especially on a rainy day.

Then we went for prawns, squids and mixed veggie dishes, most of them spicy. Food was so good! We really stuffed ourselves and finished it off with 3 scoops of chocolate, mango and coconut ice-cream. Unfortunately, as we had to pick the boys at 9pm, so we left. Still it was good to be able to go out sans kids! TTFN!

>>> Lazing Around Literally! <<<

Had to go to Asda to do some grocery shopping and to stock up on essentials. More importantly, to hunt down my Milo as I'm down to my last tin. Did a bit of browsing but found nothing of interest to buy.

We spent the afternoon lazing around and I mean literally! While Ellen read, the boys and I watched cable TV. It's nice to do nothing sometimes. Later in the evening, Ellen taught another curry dish.

As for creating, just plain zilch! TTFN!

>>> Half Term Monday! <<<

Sunday

So much happened that I forgot to blog! Well, I was due to give a class at 1300 and this was what I came up with:

This is a beer mat which I altered to make it a desktop frame. This is the front of the frame. Made use of Fancy Pants papers and loads of old stash.

This is the back of the frame. I decided to make it double-sided so that I can switch over. Pleased to say that the class went well. The cyber scrappers came up with some amazing frames so check out the Scrapitude gallery!

I didn't manage to complete any challenges as my head was pounding quite badly, not to mention a very sore throat too. Weather was dreadful so we stayed in as well.

Ellen taught me how to make ngoh hang (spring roll with mince pork and crabbed meat). It was quite easy and we steamed the dish instead of frying it. It was very delicious.

This is what it looks like although they haven't been cooked. It is usually fried and can be oily but we chose to steam it. I found later that after steaming, you could bake it to make the skin crispy. A much healtier option to flying!

Later in the nite, we adults watched From Dusk to Dawn as Ellen hasn't seen it yet. I remember the first time watching it and was on edge during the part where the vampires appeared. It was such a weird movie. A little farfetched!

*****************************

Monday

Ellen wanted to buy some stuff from Marks & Spencer so we headed towards Solihull. Brought my MIL along as she has a discount card from M&S plus she is a great help with the boys too. Ellen, Zac and moi browsed in M&S while she brought Ollie to another shop. I managed to find a lovely jumper from Per Una as well as a new bra, one of those seamless ones! Ellen got a few items as well. We were quite pleased with our finds!

Then we went to Lakeland but I didn't see anything worth buying in the craft department. Finally we made our way home as we were getting knackered... it's tiring trying to shop and mind the kids as well.

On the creative front, received two good news, 2 of my LOs have been selected for publication as well as a commissioned work requested. The latter will definitely stretch my grey matters but hey, what a challenge! Off to have ponder.... TTFN!

>>> Cyber Crop Weekend! <<<

Today signals the Scrapitude forum cyber crop weekend. Normally I'm quite enthusiastic but I'm down with flu and a nagging cough and it's making me ever so miserable! Still despite that, I managed to do a couple of challenges:

Here's a LO that require the use of a black cardstock. Very easily achieved as I luv using black cardstock! Made use of Making Memories Cheeky papers and old stash lying around.

This challenge called for Xmas card using non-traditional colours so went with blues, browns and pink. Think it worked well!

Made a small errand to the Chinese supermarket to stock up on Chinese supplies. We needed to get a big bag of rice as ours is about to finish. Yeah, our main staple is rice. I also stocked up on some snacks too. I can't really stomach the Brits' fondness for crisps as I really dislike potatoes... I guess this stems from a long ago trip to Nepal, when I was trekking up the mountains and all meals consisted of potatoes cooked in different variations but still potatoes... at the end of the 4 days trek I had to virtually skip my meals as I was sooooo sick of eating potatoes! Since then, moi and potatoes aren't the best of friends!!! I'm more into the preserved fruits such as mangoes, plums, olives etc. And also the baked prawn crackers... mmmm! There are also lots more that I do snack on and luckily (for my figure I guess) I can't get them here in the UK so haven't been eating as much as I would have if those snacks were readily available. Each time I'm back in Singapore, I would be eating constantly, even if I weren't hungry but just the temptation is enough to make you wanna eat!

Back home, Ellen taught me to cook beef rendang from scratch i.e how to make the spices for the rendang (akin to curry but the dried kind). Hence, made use of loads of spices such as galanger (akin to ginger), garlic, shallot, lemon grass all grinded finely. It's good to know although it is a lot of work... far easier to buy the spice already in a package. We had a great dinner. The boys went to bed early and Ellen zonked out shortly after. I caught up with my scrapping. Looking forward to more challenges tomorrow! TTFN!

>>> Shopping! <<<

Ellen's 2nd day here. Immediately after the school run, we both headed to Birmingham town centre and painted the town red! Oh well, we just visited a few shops, namely clothes stores where I managed to pick up some sale items... some summer wear (yeah I know it's will be ages before summer hits but hey, I'm an optimistic person!). The best part about going early at 9ish is the lack of crowd. It's so nice to be able to browse about without being elbowed or the fear of being pickpocketed! I think we must have spent about 4 hours in town before heading home for a rest.

Thankfully my insurance certificate for the car has arrived so I'm able to apply for the car tax disc. Eeks I've been a little late for it so we went out again to the Post Office and later another browse in the shops. Then it was time to pick the boys up.

The afternoon went quickly. The boys had their Lego set to build, courtesy from Ellen and were kept occupied. Soon hubby was back and dinner was made. As soon as the boys were in bed, we adults sat down to watch a Jackie Chan movie but Ellen soon conked out immediately due to jet lag. I was knackered too as my flu has now progressed to my throat so I've been coughing and feeling yucky as well.

Postie brought me my Back Porch Memories kit. Just had to stroke it quickly and keep it away. Thankfully I've got a crop to go to next week so will have a good play with it! TTFN!

>>> Muckiness! <<<

Had to send my car to the Renault garage to have it MOT! Told the chap I needed it by 2.30pm as I had no intention of dragging 2 boys on public transport to collect the car... that would be a nitemare!. He was ok with it. Went home on the bus and later at noon, had a call to say it failed as it needed the wipers changed and the handbraked tighten... not sure how this affected the MOT but I had to get them sorted at extra cost... sigh... there goes my stash allowance!!!! By 1pm, I was told the car was ready so I left early to pick it up.

Managed to do quick LO while waiting for my car:

Played with Scrapwork Citrus collection papers (from HG Sept Trilogy) and added lots of old stash onto it! Oh and finally brought myself to cut up the Hambly overlay... they are just too luscious to be used! I'm kinda like using patterned paper as background. Just experimenting with it.

It was parent's meeting at the school too so got my MIL to have the boys. Thankfully we didn't get a bad report apart from the fact that Oliver refusing to work with supply teachers. Whenever his teacher wasn't around and there was a supply teacher to cover, he wouldn't do his work or did very little. So his teacher was quite concerned about it! I wish they would have told us this earlier instead of waiting till parent's day to tell us. Not sure whether his refusal to work is because he's used to his teacher or he knows he can get away with not working with someone else who's new!!! He doesn't enjoy writing much but I always feel that the school system places far too much emphasis on writing at such a young age... what are they trying to achieve? Writers??? The poor kids have years ahead to do writing so why make them do it at 5-6 yrs... I would rather they learn a foreign language instead... far more useful... tell me how many adults do writing? I think they use their mouth more than their hands so why force kids to write at such a young age... sure as hell put them off learning and that is what I'm afraid of for Oliver! Well I will do my best to encourage him but won't force him. If this school system doesn't work for him, then I will have to find another that will but I won't allow this system to turn him off from school!

Later in the evening, sent hubby off to pick up Ellen from Digbeth, the National coach station. She had arrived at 5ish in Heathrow from China and took the National coach up to Birmingham as she didn't want us to pick her up. Gosh I was so pleased to see her. I'm looking forward to spending some time with her as we both share the same thoughts, interests, love of food so it will be great fun to rekindle it once again! She had bought some Lego set for the boys, and I got my Grey's Anatomy series 2 DVDs!!! Hooray!

Spent the nite chatting till 1am in the morning. Tomorrow we will go shopping... TTFN!

>>> Another Day of Creativity! <<<

Was in a creative mood again and managed to complete another two LOs:

Ohh, best pal Ellen arrives tomorrow. Can't wait to see her. As usual, hubby had to clean the house inside out... god knows what for as she will be here a week and will get to see the actual state once the boys have gone through their routines! TTFN!

>>> Tuesday Mutterings! <<<

It has been a busy morning for me! Well, every Tuesday that is! We have to get up extra early as Oliver has violin lessons at 8.20am in school. Then, it's photography day too so had to ensure that the boys were groomed. They both desperately need a haircut actually. Zac is looking more and more like a girl with his long hair, long enough to be tied into a ponytail! As for Ollie, his hair is getting a wee bit messy! Gotta get it sorted this weekend! Urghh, this weekend happens to be Scrapitude cyber crop too and I think I got my hands full!!! Will somehow try and do some time management. Luckily my class is on a Sunday at 2pm.

Spent the morning sorting out my photos and printing them out. Managed to do a LO in the afternoon as part of Homegrown DT assignments. Made use of August Hybrid kit:

Then in the nite, completed another LO:

Gosh the kit is full of stuff and absolutely luv Heidi Swapp silhouette words... just gave me an idea how to re-create it on transparency! Luv Luv Luv Cherry Arte papers... they are so easy to play with!

Bedtime was a nitemare! I usually calm the boys down by reading to them and then putting them in bed with hugs and cuddles. Hubby is now at home. He read to them and then started playing with them... getting them high! If he really expect them to calm down to sleep, he gotta be kidding! The boys now in a high state of emotion refused to sleep and was chatting, playing etc. Really PISSED me off when he does that!!! And when he can't control them, he passes the buck to me. So here I am, scolding them for not sleeping when in the first place it was hubby's fault for getting them into an excited state! MEN! They just don't bloody think sometimes!!!!

In the news, so much hoo haa about Madonna adopting an African boy! What's the big deal! She can't have kids naturally anymore and maternal instinct has kicked in so what's wrong with adopting... beside the poor kid is in an orphanage despite having his dad and family around!!! There's so many couples trying to adopt kids overseas as it has proven very difficult to adopt a baby in this country. This country's press has an unhealthy obsession of sensational news! They should concentrate more on the dismal state of the healthcare and try to get something done with it instead!!!!

Ohh, just found out that Channel 5 has set up a cable service called Five US... featuring all programmes from the US namely CSI!!!! Let's hope they will bring in more US programmes... can't help it as I grew up watching a lot of US programmes on TV. Somehow, it's more entertaining and the language is easier to follow. The UK ones are ok too but somehow the different accents just throws me off. I find it easier to understand American accent as opposed to British.

TTFN!

>>> The Dreaded 'H'! <<<

H is for Housework! Yeah, I did it. After the school run, came back and sorted the house out as hubby is coming back today. Got the vacuum cleaner out and literally hoovered the house down, including under the sofa! Recently had to move the sofa out of the way and was shock to find the amount of rubbish under it, including toys and the kiddies' toothbrush!!! So I did a thorough job out of it and by the time I was done, I was really knackered. Probably lost some calories at the same time!

Have to say I was a proper housewife toda! Cooked a storm for dinner... made curry for the adults and baked chicken wings for the boys together with some vegetable dish too. Got the kids ready for bed and by the time hubby came back, Zac was already asleep. Ollie heard his dad came back and quickly ran to the door. Not surprising, his dad had bought some Lego Bionicle sets for them so Ollie was in seventh delight! I had to ban him from fixing and he took it to bed.

As for creating, with my CJ out of the way, was looking forward to doing a LO but was just too tired so ended up in bed watching America's Top Model instead! This was then followed by Jade's PA and later CSI! Gotta luv Living TV... absolutely rock with great programmes! TTFN!

>>> Sunday Bloggers! <<<

Here's today's theme:

CROPS - You either love them or hate them - What makes the "perfect" crop for you? What environment works for you?

I do love them! I'm fortunate that I've got a choice of 3 nearby crops to attend to in my area. There's probably more but due to distance (I dislike driving long distance!), have strike them off my list. There's Martha's crop which is held every last Sunday of the month from 11am-6pm. Sometimes she has a full dayer which is 10am-10pm. It happens only about 3-4 times in a year. In fact there is one at the end of this month... cool, can't wait!

Then there is the Moxley crop run by Lisa and finally the Junction 7 crop run by Chris and Andrea. The latter is a new one. Both of these are held on Saturdays, the former, 1st Sat of the month while the latter somewhere in the middle or end of the month.

I do enjoy going to crops. To me, it signals 'me' time, the ability to scrap sans kids & hubby and to indulge in my passionate hobby. It allows me to meet up with other scrappers too.

I don't have much requirement apart from there must be sufficient tables and chairs, good lighting and a shop supplying scrapping stuff will be gratefully appreciated. As for environment, as long as the people attending are friendly, I'm fine... can't abide by those who bitch and spread illwill to others...

****************************

Yeah, finally completed my CJ after toiling on it for 3 days! My fault entirely for humming and awwing and not doing it earlier! Here's a peek of it:

Made use of all the old papers and stash that I had. In fact I'm now trying to use them up as much as possible so my mission for the CJ is to unleash the old stash.

Duh, just found my car licence reminder and I'm way overdue... ahhh so is my MOT and car insurance too... Oct is a horrid month as all these 3 are due this month... gotta get them sorted tomorrow morning asap!

The boys went off to bed early tonite... guess they were tired out. I'm knackered too as I've been keeping late nites too. Gosh, need to finish up my DT assignments before Thursday as Ellen arrives that day... doubt if I'll have much time to scrap after due to entertaining her and also it will be half term for the boys the following week! Busy weeks ahead... TTFN!

>>> Day of Creation! <<<

All I did mostly today was work on my CJ.... apart from running a few errands here and there. Thankfully MIL had Zac and she brought him out to the city centre. Then at 4pm, she came over with him and switched him for Ollie. So thankfully had only 1 boy at a time!

Oh was awoken at 7am by the front porch alarm signalling a visitor! Leapt out of bed to find the Royal Mail van pulling away. So went downstairs to take my parcel. It was Homegrown Sept Hybrid and Trilogy kit. It was sent a little late as Steph had a problem with the Chatterbox Doodle Genie. So CBX has apologised and sent a CD of fonts for the time being instead. Gosh, there were tons of stuff in the parcel and I'm just dying to play with them! I'm normally not a fan of K&Co but their Addison papers are just soooo gorgeous! You have gotta see them IRL to really appreciate the designs on them! As for the Maya Road car chipboard album, I think I'm gonna make a mini album of the boys in PLAY! I think I've tons of photos of them playing! Well, I just have to stroke those papers and put them aside.... need to finish my CJ first!!!

TTFN!

>>> TGIF! <<<

I used to welcome Friday with open arms when I was working but now as a SAHM, makes no difference to me. Instead Friday means tons of washing to ensure the boys have their uniforms ready for Monday! These days, Friday means another week has flown by again and ever so quickly!

Attended Ollie's assembly today in school. His class did a performance on the The Cycle of Life charting a person's growth from baby to old age. They did well and I managed to catch a few good shots. The lightning in there makes it difficult to take fabbo shots or maybe it's just me! Played with a few settings in the camera to achieve this bright shot.

Upon reaching home, worked on Scrapitude cyber class project and am very pleased to say that I completed it. Here's a sneek peek but can't reveal what it is yet. The cyber crop takes place next weekend 21st-22nd Oct.

School run came and we headed towards mom-in-law's place for dinner. Normally see her on Thursday but since Ollie has soccer practice that day, we switched to Fridays. Knowing I'm on my own, she decided to keep Zac with her for the nite! Ollie wanted to sleep over but as he has Mandarin classes on Saturday, we decided he will stayover tomorrow instead. She's gonna meet a friend in town tomorrow and bring Zac with her. She's great!!!

Rite, need to make and decorate a Circle Journal that I'm taking part at the Scrapitude forum. Posting date is near and I'm far from the finished project! As usual, another last minute stuff again! Thank goodness there's a Jackie Chan movie on tonite to keep me company! TTFN!

>>>Stash Galore! <<<

More scrapping stash came for me today. Firstly Homegrown DT kit for August! Yup August... what happened was that Steph sent it to Singapore (since I was there the whole month of August) but somehow it never arrived in time and it only got there 1 week after I had left Singapore. Got my dad to sent it to me, instead he chose via surface mail!!! Awhhh! So finally it has arrived! I had already informed Steph about it and she was cool! So now I've 2 DT kits to play.

Then postie (parcels are delivered separately by Royal Mail van as opposed to letters by postie on foot!) brought me my ribbon stash from Shoebox Trims. The theme this month is Christmas and there's a lovely selection of traditional red, green and gold. Mmmm, aren't they lovely?!!!

I'm gonna be a single mom for the next 5 days as hubby has booked himself a walking trip with an old friend in Norfolk! Don't envy him as it's getting cold and certainly don't wanna freeze my butt out walking in this weather! I don't see any problem with the boys as I find that they behave far better when he's not around as they have no one to turn to when I scold them. Usually hubby will give in to their sobs and demands as he's such a softie!!! And when he can't handle them, he usually passes them back to me! Without him around, they are in bed early like 8pm instead of 9 and they sleep off straightaway instead of nattering about.

Yah, saw Grey's Anatomy and each episode gets more and more exciting! Kinda leaves you begging for more. I'm hoping that Ellen is able to lay her hands on the 2nd series DVD. After that, switched to Film 4 to see another Korean movie. This time it's about a man who was imprisoned for 15 years as a kinda experiment and then when he was let out, he was determine to find out who had imprisoned him. It was a little surreal and had no idea what happened in the end as I fell asleep. Let's just say it wasn't as interesting as the supernatural one! TTFN!

>>> More Goodies! <<<

Hooray, my brother has arrived in Manchester. Will be good to see someone from home!

Decided to do a canvas for my parents as an advance Xmas gift. Quite pleased with the result:

Here's a picture of them taken with the boys at the Kelong in Indonesia. Played with Rhonna Farrer swirls v2 stamps and my new Art Warehouse stamps. Tried the new Dew Drops inks too and they are brillant! They don't stain the clear stamps at all!

We left the house at 7.30pm and arrived in Manchester about 9pm. i had printed off a map and all was fine until we were supposed to turn into Blackfrairs Street but somehow it wasn't the street we turned to and we spent the next half hour roaming around Manchester City Centre! In the end had to ask a cab driver for directions! Always happens when we go to Manchester!!! Definintely a satnav is on the wishlist!!!

Eventually got to my brother's hotel room and found my lovely pair of pink Croc sitting on his luggage! They look more gorgeous in real life.

My parents had bought the boys each a superhero outfit, Ollie had a spiderman outfit and Zac, superman. They couldn't wait to wear them.

Left Manchester at 10.30pm and finally got back two hours later. Made a mistake of turing to Film 4 and found a Korean movie on... boy was the storyline absolutely fabulous! It was about a group of army personnels sent to an island call R Point to search for some missing soldiers. Anyway the island is completely haunted and there was supernatural forces at work that eventually killed all 9 but one soldier and he was left insane! And the best part, when another group of personnels were sent to rescue them, they only found the living person but the rest had conveniently disappeared! Wow! That was one super scary movie and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Obviously it came with English subtitles!

Postie brought me my DT goodies from Scrapitude. It consisted of Dream Street papers and boy are they so yummy! There are two versions of it, a female and male version. But I need to get my class for next week's Scrapitude cyber class sorted first before playing with those papers! TTFN!

>>> Great News! <<<

Best pal Ellen called me from China to say she's coming over next Thursday! Whoopee! I'm totally delighted and she will be staying a week with me before meeting her hubby in Prague. Yup, I'm excited to bits but a pity she has to come during the half term. Will have to see if MIL can have the boys on some days. Gosh it will be so fun to hit the shops together! Will definitely arrange for an adult only dinner one evening.

Postie brought me more stash. Got a few new Dew Drops inkpads that is supposedly be able to use on non-porous materials. Will have to play around to see if it works! Also got some Art Warehouse stamps too. Definitely can't wait to play!

Spent the morning filling in application forms... really bore the s**t outta me! (I can think of stuff more interesting to do!) So tedious and wondering if I should bother but am getting progressively bored to tears staying at home.

Zac has got a party invitation! My little boy now has a party to go to... most of the time he sees his brother going to one but hey! he now has one to go to as well!

My dad informed me that my brother has left for England. Somehow persuaded hubby to drive me to Manchester as in my current state, I'm in no position to drive for 2 hrs (to and fro). Probably leave about 7pm to avoid the traffic! Gosh, can't wait to get my Crocs! :) Mom managed to repair my fav jade ear-rings too, a pair of dangling ones with teardrop jade at the end. Somehow I had dropped one of them on the driveway and it got squashed under my car! Pissed the hell of me it did! How on earth I managed to do that!!!

On the creative side, just found out that 2 of my LOs have been selected for publication. Cool! However, sometimes wish they inform earlier as I've gotta rush them out tomorrow!

Rite, it's late and that dreaded flu is playing havoc with my consciousness again! Not to mention having a nose that is completely block! Darn this flu! TTFN!

>>> Shopping! <<<

The best time to go shopping is at 9.30am where there's hardly anyone around and you can browse to your heart's content! After the school run, drove to the Bullring where I had a good nose around which I couldn't on Saturday due to the crowds! I was particularly looking for Crocs shoes and found a store in the Bullring that sold it. Then I called my dad to ask him to get one for me. It costs about £18 to buy in Singapore as opposed to £30 here! Why the difference I just cannot understand! Anyway will be seeing my brother this Thursday in Manchester to collect the stuff from him. I wanted a butter colour but there wasn't any so my dad got me a pink one instead! Oh well, can't wait for it... definitely need wide shoes as my toes tend to swell during the winter period... every year it's like that so I can't do anything about it! I might get a Crocs Aspen, a closedup pair later in the year... pity they only have 4 colours (black, navy, red and white).

Postie brought me my Hambly Studios overlays which I had to purchase in Singapore... kick myself now for not buying when I saw them up close and personal! At that time, didn't think much of them but now regretting dreadfully. Anyway got 4 overlays to play with... gosh they are so gorgeous.... can't understand why no sponsors in the UK have them.

Made some beef rendang tonite and it was delicious.. that dish is so morish! Hubby was stuck in London and wouldn't be in till almost 11pm. Anyway, when he came back, joined him for dinner again! (I had already had dinner with the kids!) I luv my curry.... have no problem eating them everyday if possible!

Check out the new sketch blog called Pencil Line. A few well-known scrappers have shown us what they have done with sketches.

Wanted to do a LO but my flu was affecting my consciousness! In the end, gave in to sleep! TTFN!

>>> Feeling Low! <<<

I can feel a flu coming on. Whole body's aching and literally knackered!!! Didn't help that my SIL and her 2 boys came over to visit including my MIL so had to do a bit of entertaining. By 5ish, I was ready to go to bed but had to resist! Thankfully the boys didn't make such a din but I was only too happy to see them leave at 6pm. Got my boys ready for bed and sent them off early. Hubby was suprised to see me in bed by 8pm.

While turning the channels on TV, happened to see Live Birth on channel 5. Decided to watch it and it brought back memories of my birth experience. I was more interested in seeing the caesarian birth as I had one for my 2nd one (had to due to very bad, complicated experience with natural birth for the first one!) It was very interesting to learn about other women's birth experience.

By 10pm, I had to call it a nite! My eyes just couldn't keep await any longer... TTFN!

>>> Day of Crap! <<<

Woke up with a stinking headache and I was supposed to go to the Moxley Crop! Had to pm Lisa that I might not make it! My fault really as I stayed up till 4ish in the wee morning to finish a LO. Had a striking idea and just had to do it... one of those LO that you just can't wait!

Anyway, spent the morning relaxing, doing a bit of laundry and generally watching TV most of the time. Then we had to send Ollie for his Mandarin class. After that we headed to Birmingham town centre to run an errand! BIG MISTAKE! The traffic was bad and the bloody city was swarming with people and the crowds served only to augment my throbbing head even more! I was getting more and more irritated as the minutes went by. Thankfully we couldn't stay long as we had to pick Ollie up! I think in future we will go somewhere less crowded.

Hooray, The Scrapper's Loft E-zine is out! I can now reveal my LO entries for the magazine:

This LO was based on an inspiration from a bag. I made use of the rectangular designs on the bag and incorporated it in my LO. Luv the effect of it! Papers are from 7 Gypsies and made use of Making Memories philly chipboard letters and Heidi rubons. Also used Daisy D's rubons and Deluxe Design chipboard shapes.

This LO was done based on an article relating to using paint. Hence I tried to create my design around using paints.

Found out from my dad that my brother is coming to Manchester this Wednesday. Hooray! Have already asked him to get me some curry paste, spicy chicken powder (to be used with chicken wings ... my boys luv them) and some superhero outfits (for the boys obviously!). I'm very tempted to ask him to get me a pair of Crocs too as they are so much cheaper there. Hubby doesn't fancy driving up on Wednesday nite so I might have to go on Thursday morning immediately after school run... not sure if it's a good idea as I might hit morning rush hour. It takes about 2 hrish to drive there and I'm hoping to get back before 3pm for the school run. Will see if I can persuade hubby to go on Wed nite instead!

Rite, off to put on my thinking cap as I've got a CJ to make and do! Dun wanna wait till posting day to do .... TTFN!

>>> The Weekend's Here Again! <<<

Friday's upon us again! Gosh where has the days gone?

Spent the morning surfing around and discovered Making Memories Ledger papers! Fell in love with it but unfortunately none of the sponsors on UKScrappers stock them apart from one who has a booklet of 6x6 which I'm not so keen! Then someone pmed me a website whereby you can literally print out those ledger kind of papers (thanx Lianne!) So that's what I did and I'm gonna create a LO from it!

Managed to start on a LO too before I had some errands to run. Would have done it after school run but it drizzled and I didn't fancy going out in the rain. Why on earth does it always rain during school runs??? Sigh! It just causes a lot more headaches and traffic jams!

Got hubby to get some Indian takeaway from Planet Spice. It's a balti shop that serves fabbo Indian dishes. Usually go for my fav... King Prawns Blangadash with augbergines, mushrooms and egg. Ordered the usual stuff like nan bread, popadums and a spinach side dish too. We seldom order takeaways as I find the selection rather pathetic... I'm not into greasy food so majority of the takeaways are out. Don't order Chinese either as I feel they are not up to standard. Maybe b'cos I'm just fussy but when you do eat Chinese food everyday, you certainly expect the best when you order a takeaway otherwise why bother!!! The boys had mash but I'm looking forward to the day when they can share an Indian meal with us!

Right, got ideas churning around my head and eager to put them down on paper! CSI is on but they are all repeats... gosh I'm dying to watch the latest series now showing in the US! Sigh... think I'm living in the wrong country! TTFN!

>>> Free! <<<

Time that is! Today marks the day I have 6 whole hours free to myself in the day, no kids, no noise, no fuss and no mess! Just pure, unadulterated free time to myself to do what I want!!! Yes, finally I can safely say my baby years are over! So what did I do??? Scrap furiously of course! LOL! Yup, did 2 LOs and even then when 3pm was approaching, I couldn't believe how fast it flew! Why is it when you are having fun that time flies so quickly and when you are doing boring mundane stuff that times actually crawls!

Here's my work:

Created using papers by Fontwerks, part of BPM August kit. Just documenting my boys sleeping pattern... they do love sleeping with each other despite having separate beds. I suppose it shows how close those two really are.

Using Basic Grey papers for this LO. I'm trying to use up my stash so turning to a lot of old papers in my possession. Here's my eldest starting his first day at Year 2 in Sept. Gosh can't believe it's his last year at Infant School. Time really flies!

Well, as it's Thursday, Grey's Anatomy is on tonite! I really 'heart' that programme ... never fails to make me laugh! I also watch the Janice Dickingson Modelling Agency too. Just wish that they would bring in Project Runaway...

Postie brought me my luscious papers from Papermaze... Gosh! The new collection from Fancy Pants, Free Spirit and Wildheart are just amazing! Also the LilyKate ones from BG is equally yummy too... very Japanese like papers with images of bamboo and sakura etc. Just need to find some great photos for them! TTFN!

>>> It's Official! <<<

Whee! I can now reveal that I've made it to the Design Team of Little Silver Hat, a company that sell luscious ribbons! Cool! Can't wait to own more ribbons and play with them too!

Felt very inspired this morning and created a simple LO:

Made use of my Urban Lily Extreme papers and tried acid-free corrugated paper too. Quite pleased with the outcome as I was inspired by the scrolls on the paper and decided to incorporate them onto the LO! This is a picture of Zac on his last day at DITF Pre-School. He had a party and later a graduation ceremony. It was sad to see it was his last day as he thoroughly enjoyed his sessions at the school.

In the afternoon, did another LO too although it's not completed yet. It's nice to be able to scrap just myself and not for assignments. I do luv DT work but you have to make special effort to ensure it's THE best whereas scrapping for myself, I can experiment and try out stuff. Here's a few more LOs I've done last week...

This LO was done earlier this year but left uncompleted and as I was sorting out my papers, found it and decided to finish it off. Hence the style is a wee bit off but did the best I could. Paper from KI Memories Holiday Collection, kit by The Scrapbook Stand (under Shirley).

I'm not sure about this one. Followed a sketch that I did but it didn't come out the way I wanted but heck... I'm allowed to experiment and can't achieve perfectness all the time!

Rite, off to finish my LO ... TTFN!

>>> Great News! <<<

Wow! Received 2 great news, all scrapping related. The first will elevate my scrapping profile while the second will allow me to indulge in more scrap stash! Shhh! Can't reveal more until the official announcement but I'm walking around like a cheshire cat tonite!

Enrolled Oliver in a String Ensemble held by the East Birmingham Music group. Thankfully they have their practice in the Junior school so we don't have to travel far. Ollie enjoyed the attention from the gals there (most of them in Junior school). I've now have to find a way to get him from the Infant to the Junior school without having me to be there. Might have to seek the help of the After Club people....

Felt guilty as I indulged in more scrapping paper from Papermaze who's have a 15% off at the moment. Got some lovely Fancy Pants new papers and Basic Grey LilyKate (they are sooooo lush). I shouldn't really as I'm expecting some kits to arrive from Homegrown. Received an email from A Million Little Things who informed me that my goods have been shipped... via surface mail... how the flippin hell did I select that???? Gosh now I've to wait at least 4-6 weeks for my Rhonna Farrer scribbles alpha to arrive ... yup I finally succumbed to temptation but I had my eye on them for a while and since the price was right, just couldn't resist!

Right off to do some scrapping... didn't manage to do any last nite and the urge is getting stronger! TTFN!

>>> Create! <<<

Spent the morning creating a class for the coming Scrapitude cyber crop later this month. Can't reveal what I'm doing but it's an altered item. Can't say it was simple either that's why I'm just trying out... may change to something easier... see what happens.....TTFN!

>>> Sunday Bloggers! <<<

It's time again for Sunday Bloggers and here's the topic:

PET HATES..

if you had to list the top 5 pet hates.. the things that physically make you go "UGH"what would they be? what peeves you? What can make you leave a room!? Have a think and show us all your top five!

Here's my top 5 but I'm sure I can list more!

1) Smelly People

Ohhh, I just can't stand next to smelly people otherwise I'll gag! It's even worst when autumn/winter is approaching as people feel that they don't need to bathe often or wash their clothes but not realising how smelly that makes them. And I don't mean homeless people... I'm talking about those on the street and even pretty lass too... They look so good from a distance but close up to them and they smell horribly! Eeks!

2) Those who take things and don't put them back where they belong

Hubby's the main culprit. I'm by nature an organised person where I've stuff where they are supposed to be. It annoys me to bit when hubby use stuff and merely chucks it around so that when you want to use it, it's not where it's supposed to be... talk about wasting time hunting for it and it's often when you're in a hurry to use the item! Just gets me so mad when he does it!

3) Carpets and net curtains

When I first moved here, I was amazed at how much carpet is used in homes as I come from a country where carpet only exist in hotel rooms! Even while living in France, people don't generally have carpets in their homes. Anyway, while house hunting here, I grew to dislike carpet more and more as I found them to be rather disgusting (the musty smell) and the bold prints that exist! Thankfully in my home, the only carpets in the house is the stairs (no choice due to kids) and the master bedroom (haven't got round to decorating that room yet). The rest of the house is carpet-free! I remember when I was househunting with boyfriend, we went to view this particular house and the chap showing us around was literally boasting about his Axminster carpet... god! they were the most horrid, hideous design I've ever seen. He even wanted to charge us extra if we wanted the carpet! I wish then I could have told him to take the carpet and stuff it! Goes without saying that we didn't put an offer in! As for net curtains, just find them very old fashion and do nothing to enhance the windows! Needless to say, got rid of all of them when I moved into the current home as the previous owner had left them in.

4) Pet Poos!

Especially to those who keeps CATS! My bloody neighbour's cat is constantly coming over to our garden to poo and especially in the sandpit area! Piss the hell outta me as (i) that's the boys' play area & (ii) it bloody stinks the place out! Why can't it poo in its own place! Also it annoys me when you see dog's poo on pavement! Why can't the owner pick it up and throw it away... I'm sure they do it in their own home so why can't they do it in public places??? It's so annoying when you get poo on pram's wheels or worst when the kids accidentally step on it!

5) Rude drivers/people

It's pisses me off when you give way and the other driver fails to acknowlege it. Same goes for people too when you open/hold doors for them and they walk past you as if the door has automatically open for them. What's wrong with saying 'thank you'. I know how it feels when I've to struggle opening a door and getting a pram through and I always make it a point to acknowlege my appreciation when someone helps me.

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