>>> Tsukineko Inks! <<<

Just discovered that a local sponsor has them in stock and added half a dozen to my collection. I bought my first half a dozen from the States a few weeks back. These inkpads are brillant! I luv the moonligh white inkpad as it stamps crystal clear on not just paper but also wood and metal! It's even better than Stazon White which I find is an absolute crap! Dunno how those who use it say it's great as the image is so dull and faint! Waste of money!!!

Finished an Advent Calendar for Homegrown Hybrid Dec kit featuring Fruitcake papers. Even filled it up with little Santa choccies too. Will reveal when the images are up on Homegrown site! TTFN!

>>> Martha's Crop! <<<

Went for a Crop today and worked on my Explosion box. It's actually a mini album but ever so tedious... no wonder I don't do much mini album!

Noticed Little Silver Hat has put up the DT works so I can reveal what I did using those luscious ribbons!

Got this little tree from Au Natural and decorated it with load of ribbons!

Decorated a Provocraft Band-aid tin and altered it as an ATC tin to keep all my ATCs (well future ones as I've yet to start making any so far!)

It was fun doing the projects and I've literally used up 3/4 of the ribbons! Looking forward to see what's in store for the coming months! TTFN!

>>> Cyber Crop! <<<

Today's is UKScrapper's Cyber Crop. Well it started on Fri evening and will end on Sunday afternoon. I was asked to prepare a class about a month back. Took me by surprise but this was what I came up with:

My class involved using a transparency frame that I created as well as a journalling block. Thankfully the cyber class went well.

Dominique came over from Denmark for a short holiday. She stayed overnite with us and will be going back tomorrow. She's quite happy there, working for a well-known Danish engineering firm. Her problem is picking up the Danish language.... which according to her is very difficult! Sheesh! Don't wanna be in her position. It was hard work learning French, German, Japanese, Arabic & Spanish during Uni days!

Hubby bought some nuts but guess what! NO nutcracker around... so imagine a plateful of nuts with no nutcracker to open them... felt like cracking them with a hammer!!! TTFN!

>>> Last Minute Again! <<<

Eeks, just realised it's the 24th which means I need to submit my Goal's LO tomorrow. As usual, I've not done anything. I'm left with 2 more goals for this year, using my sewing machine and learning to scrap digitally. Hence, I chose the sewing maching goal:

Ever since I saw layouts with stitches on, I wanted a sewing machine and last Xmas, got my wish! Can't say that I've used it extensively but I'm happy with a tool that I can use when creativity strikes! Never mind that I can't sew for nuts but hey, never too late to learn. As usual, I had to follow some requirements and one of which was to include a non-traditional scrapbooking item. Well, did a Mizuhiki flower using Japanese heavily stauch rice paper. Learnt that skill while doing card-making.

Zac's staying overnite at his nan's tonite. We usually go over to MIL's place every Friday and somehow, the little one managed to worm his way into staying overnite... well, I'm not gonna say no! Less one boy to manage! LOL!

Hubby was supposed to cook dinner tonite but as usual didn't get back till almost 7.30pm. By 6.30pm, I had enough of waiting and when I couldn't get him on his mobile, I did the dinner instead. Made beef rendang and cooked a non-curry dish for Ollie. With this cold weather, nothing beats eating a curry!

Talking about cold, I can feel one of my toes swelling! Urghh! And to think that it's not that cold yet!

There's a cyber crop going on tonite and the weekend on UKScrappers. Not sure if I'm up to it as I've got some DT assignments to complete. Might do a class or so! TTFN!

>>> At Last! <<<

Finally, my AL Scribbles stamps arrived today via surface mail. Bought it at a sale last month from A Million Little Things and accidentally selected surface (god knows how!) and have been waiting patiently ever since! Now I can't wait to use it but need to complete a project. I'm making an explosion box and the decorating is taking longer than usual.

Rite, shan't natter too much.... TTFN!

>>> Whayyyy! <<<

Posties brought me much joy today. Firstly the Royal Mail van with my Back Porch Memories Nov kit. Then the walking postie with my TSL DT Fruitcake/Dasher papers to play with and also my precious Technique Tuesday stamps from Lifetime Moments store! Finally, can heave a sigh of relief!

Here's a LO I did in conjunction with my colour article. Article can be read on the Homegrown blog.

Made use of Fancy Pants Vintage Summer papers and loads of stamping!

Better get my butt offline and do some work! TTFN!

>>> Urghh! <<<

Still no sign of any kit! Now that is unusual as this particular kit usually take at most 6 days to arrive from the US. Quite pissed with Royal Mail now... surely they would hire more people to handle the increased load at this time of the year. They are so quick to take money off you when you get a custom charge yet so slow in delivery parcels! Ohhh, which reminds me that I should be expecting my Technique Tuesday stamps anytime soon.... yeah, I live for stamps... luv them to bits, which explains why I'm not into die cut machines yet.

Spent the day writing an article for Homegrown blog. I'm given the task of writing about Scheming with Colour for tomorrow's blog entry. Trying to give a summarized view is more difficult than anticipated as there is so much to talk about.

Hubby's in London tonite at a cocktail party. How posh! Urghh, that means I've to take the rubbish out as it's bin day tomorrow. Absolutely load that task. Have already informed hubby that no way will go up to the end of the garden and drag the sackful of rubbish to the front of my house! God knows what flippin creatures I might encounter. I don't mind taking those already in the kitchen but not those tucked up near the garden shed. (I do have a very long garden!)

Rite, off to finish up my article... TTFN!

>>> Brrrrr! <<<

Man, the cold has really set in. I'm beginning to really feel it now and I guess I had better start hunting for my gloves and scarf! I know it has affected me in that I go out less and only if I have to, otherwise, I rather stay at home. Nope, I'm really not looking forward to winter at all!

I was expecting my Back Porch Memories kit to arrive but no sign of it! Not to mention some DT BG Fruitcake papers too from Singapore! Now that has taken more than a week since it's departure. Urghhh! Gosh I think I'm gonna be so sick of Basic Grey Xmassy papers as I will be designing for Homegrown Dec Hybrid kit that feature Fruitcake. Not to mention that Trilogy has Blush papers too. There is only so much you can do with Xmassy papers as it's such a specific theme. Might indulge in some altered projects... best way of using up papers! TTFN!

>>> Sunday Lie-in! <<<

Hubby was nice enough to let me have a lie-in! Zac woke up about 7am and both he and daddy had breakfast and went over to hubby's mom's place. Anyway, I heard the key's in the door at about 11ish and reluctantly woke up. Gosh! The new mattress cover was fantastic. It literally molded to your body and I had the best sleep of my life! No wonder I didn't feel like getting out of bed! I guess I will be looking forward to sleeping every nite.

We had guests in for dinner, mainly MIL, SIL and her boyfriend. Hubby made Sunday Roast without the yorkshire pudding. It was nice but I think I have had enough of it as we had it last Sunday too, but with lamb. Hubby cooked beef today but as he was cutting the meat, I felt sick seeing the juice dripping out as he had cooked it medium rare. Somehow I managed to eat it though but I'm sick of potatoes now! Think I'm gonna cook curry tomorrow! Been yearning for it the past couple of days. Somehow in this cold weather, curry makes a good meal!

Have to say it was good of MIL to have the boys for the good part of the morning. Much as I luv them, they can drive me up the wall sometimes... not sure if it's b'cos they are boys and are very noisy and constantly at each other's throats (well, not all the time thankfully) but when you have been with them all day during the week, it does get a wee bit exhausting. You just feel like you want to some peace and quiet and have adult time to yourself! So yeah, was glad to be able to relax and watch TV without the kids whinning around me. Thank goodness I've got a crop to go to next Sunday... more ME time! Hubby can't complain really as he has been coming back later and later from work! This week alone he hardly saw the kids as he was back home way past their bedtime. It's no wonder Zac clings on to him when he's at home... probably feels so deprived of his dad! The poor soul is so swarmed with work and he has to go to London every week!

Took a rest from creating. Off to watch TV! TTFN!

>>> Autumn Splendor! <<<

The sun was shining and it was a brillant day! Decided to take some photos of the garden. There are more leaves falling now and the leaves on my cherry tree have gone completely yellow! That's a very special tree to me as it was my dad who bought it when Oliver was born, to commemorate his birth. He also bought an apple tree as well. Those two do fruit but sadly I've never got the chance to eat either the cherries or the apples as 1) they are either eaten by squirrels, 2) the boys go on a picking spree and pluck them off!

The garden in its autumn splendor. Thankfully the sun was out and it was a lovely day!

The leaves in the garden.... guess who won't be sweeping them!

The cherry tree that my dad bought on the birth of Oliver. See my little buddha beside it... my calming rock!

Yup, it's getting much colder now. Have to say though, it's been slightly later this year as compared to last year. I guess global warning is taking its toll. Just wondering how bad will winter be... perhaps not that cold?!!

Oliver spent the day with his nan and even stayed overnite. That freed us of one kid and we went to Ikea to get a mattress cover for our mattress. I'm beginning to free the spring on it and it's very uncomfortable. While we were there, Zac went into the kiddies corner, leaving us free to shop. We picked up a nice comfy mattress cover that was thick enough. Didn't see anything else that was worth buying though!

The nite was spent watching TV, first X Factor then I'm a Celebrity! Gave myself a break from scrapping too. Thankfully all DT assignments have been completed. Now wondering if I should embark on Xmas cards... trouble is it's so tedious! Think I'll just do a few for relatives and buy the rest! Can't stand to do anything so tedious! Now wondering what to do for teachers' gifts too. Not forgetting Xmas gifts for the family too... ohhh, Xmas just comes far too quickly!!!! TTFN!

>>> Thank Goodness For The Internet! <<<

I'm so thankful for IT technology, for the internet, for broadband! It has really open the world up for me and allowed me to communicate to friends overseas. Recently using MSN, I've managed to communicate with the rest of the creative members of The Scrapper's Loft (a scrapping forum in Singapore). It's so good to be able to get together to chat and plan the future outlook of the forum. The forum have undergone a change in management and we are hoping to reach out to more scrappers in the Far East. Scrapbooking has just picked up in Singapore but elsewhere in the Far East, it's very slow. As far as I know, there is a couple of scrapping stores in Hong Kong and Malaysia. All I know there's so much happening back home. Makes me wish I could be back home for good! Gosh, first thing I would do is to give away all my winter clothes.... never ever want to wear it again!

Popped into Au Natural in the afternoon. They just opened a new store near my place and they have such yummy stuff in there. I've even found 12x12 scrapbooking albums too. Gosh! I was more enamoured by their ratten baskets. They had some great storage boxes there! But first, I need to sort my scrapping room out! Just too much crap into there! TTFN!

>>> Eureka! <<<

Brought Zac to the clinic to check up on his nose. Chose today as he's off school due to teachers' training day. Anyway when booking the appointment, I was given a choice of 2 docs, the Quark or an unknown who recently took over a retired doc (the one I wanted to see). So chose the Unknown otherwise I would get the same answer as before. Thank goodness for my choice as he was brillant! Explained to him my problem with Zac's nose constantly dripping throughout the whole year and even when he had spent a month in Singapore, the problem still exist! Well, straightaway, he mentioned allergy! Then went on to explain different causes i.e pets, carpet, dust mites etc. He was really thorough and in the end prescribed antihistamine for him and told me to bring him back in 3-4 mths time. I did ask about an allergy test but was told to hold off that for the moment. Finally, some plausible answer to Zac's problem instead of a stupid viral infection answer that I was given earlier!!!

Popped in MIL in the afternoon. She's so great with the kids... the patience in playing with them and keeping them entertained! The boys absolutely adore her!

On the creative front, altered a tin for ATC. I'm now left with very inky fingers due to alcohol inks! But it was fun! :) TTFN!

>>> Fabbo Customer Service! <<<

Postie brought me a padded envelope from the US! Looked at it and it was from Making Memories. Well, I had requested for a replacement of their paper piercer whose tip had broken off. I like that one especially as the back held needles which I found particular useful. So ripped open the envelope to find 2 packets of replaced paper piercer, 1 epoxy sticker and 1 alpha sticker. OMG! What a fabbo customer service! I just can't believe their generosity and how they truly value their customers! No wonder they are blooming!!!

Gosh I'm hooked to 'I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Outta Here!' David Gest is such an entertainer! He makes me laugh! Have to say that the entire team seem to get on well with each other. They appear pretty helpful. Will be interesting to see how they get along as they spend more time with each other!

TTFN!

>>> Dental Care! <<<

All four of use trooped to the Dental Surgery today for our 6 monthly checkup. As the dental surgery is located in the town centre, we decided that all four of us schedule it at the same time. Our appointment was for 10.30am so I sent the boys off to school first while I went to Staples! Grabbed my A5 folder and also A5 sheet protector (why are they sold more expensively than the A4... just can't understand the logic!)

Picked the boys up from school and headed to town. I'm horrible in recognising directions. Somehow, the route that I've taken so many times, I just went blank and at the roundabout, instead of turning where I was supposed to, decided to go past it and then realized to my horror my mistake! Too late and I was stuck in a horrendous traffic jam at the roundabout, and a big one too! Flippin nitemare just to get back to the turnoff I was supposed to go! I reached the Dental Surgery exactly at 10.30am! Going home was equally a nitemare too, missed a turning and ended up at exactly the same roundabout I wanted to avoid. In the end had to go back to where I had come from and then headed toward the town's small roads to get out of the city centre. God knows why at 11ish am there is a massive jam!!! Finally got the boys back to school and went home to rest.

Did a bit of housework. Folded all the 3 loads of clothings. I don't mind washing them but just loathe folding them. It requires a lot of motivation to fold them! Then I had to clean the dryer's filter as it was beginning not to dry the clothes properly. Made use of the vacuum cleaner to clear out the dust that had collected. Once done, the dryer was perfect. I hardly put the clothes out to dry as the weather's crap for drying clothes.... well, it just feels so damp and cold and I've to put them in the dryer to dry them again. So what's the point of doing double work!!!

In the evening, caught 'I'm a celebrity, get me outta here!' I had a good laugh and there are an interesting mix of participants. Will definitely be catching series. Right, best go off to sleep as I've got an early start tomorrow! TTFN!

>>> Sunday Bloggers! <<<

Today's Sunday Bloggers is based upon inspiration:

Where do you find your inspiration? Especially when going through a dry spell? Do you remember a specific moment when a light bulb went on "click" and you knew you had to get home to scrap!! What common day objects do you now view with a scrappers eye?

Ever since I started scrapping, I've began to look at things around me with a scrapper's eye e.g. when I see colours, I see how they are combined and take note of it and see how they can be applied to my LOs. Sometimes I look at bill board and take note of the graphic designs, same for advertisements in the media. I look at them more closely than before. I've even scrapped a LO based on a paper towel as I was inspired by the mosiac designs on it! I carry a notebook in my hangbag so that when I see something interesting, I will note it down for future use. Yup, these days I use my eyes more than before, really looking instead of merely glancing.

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

The day started out lazy! Not surprising the 2 boys woke up mega early. We decided to go to Asda as the boys needed new wellies and I had seen some Spiderman ones there. Rather than hopping to the nearest one, we thought we go to the Mega Store in Minworth. Guess what!!! NO BLOODY WELLIES at all in the boys' section. Loads of them in the girls section but nada, zilch, nothing for boys! Boy was I so pissed!!! In fact the entire boys section of clothing literally paled in comparison to the girls... I was just so annoyed! To come all this way for nothing! Never mind that, felt a desperate urge for a cake but did they have anything interesting? NADA again... couldn't even find any chocolate cake to buy so ended up with profiteroles. They didn't even stock my fav Golden Lights crisps too! Just felt so disgusted!

MIL, SIL and her two boys popped over for a short visit. The boys were excited and rushed out to the garden to play. The boys are about the same age with them so they all played well. Hubby did the dinner tonite. He made roast lamb and we had a western meal with mash and roast potatoes. I didn't mind so much as it's ok to have a Western meal once in a blue moon. The lamb was cooked well.

Finally completed my unmounted red rubber storage. The folder is now a wee bit too big i.e. I've far too much stamps! Think I will pop into Staples tomorrow to get another folder. TTFN!

>>> Whoopee! <<<

More stamps came from me today. I had ordered some unmounted stamps from Purple Onion Designs. Gosh, she has some amazing stamp collection at great prices and reasonable shipping costs too! As usual succumbed to my fetishness for stamps and ordered 3 stamp sets, Great Circus alpha, Vintage labes and ledger stamps. Been eyeing those Great Circus alpha for a while and I know Technique Tuesday does them but separately in upper case and lower case and they are clear ones so obviously more expensive! Here, I got both UC and LC for a fraction of what I would pay for Technique Tuesday stamps. Just can't wait to have a play with them!

Spent the afternoon sorting out my unmounted red rubber stamps. Currently I've them in a plastic bag, tucked in a box and seldom used. So what I did was to laminated the stamped images on A5 sheet, cut up the stamps individually and stuck them onto the laminate. Then each set is individually filed into a folder for easy access! Hopefully, now that they are not out of sight, they can be used more frequently. Majority are Mobe & Leaves Memories stamps with a few from Paper Artsy too. I've been meaning to do that for a while but I guess the arrival of my Purple Onion stamps kinda kicked my butt into action! Thank goodness for my Kai scissors too! It sure as hell came in handy! I do love stamping and find them a great asset in layouts.

Rite off to watch the results of X Factor... TTFN!

>>> Toot! Toot!<<<

Woo Hoo! I was alerted by a friend that my layouts have appeared in Creative Scrapbooking December issue (view the online version here, pages 34 & 50). Kewl! Have to say, seem so surreal seeing them in the magazine!

Just had another email requesting 2 more of my layouts for publication so quite pleased! At this rate, I can stop buying the local magazines as I get a complimentary copy if my LOs appear! But it can be quite a hassle as you then have to pack the LO up carefully and send them off in pizza boxes! Unfortunately hubby threw out a fair number of pizza boxes so I'm now down to less than half a dozen and these have already been used!

Hubby's trip to Poole has been cancelled as he was informed he wasn't needed for help with the extension as BIL isn't doing anything. Seriously, the rate they go, they will be living in a freezing house over winter as currently there isn't any central heating at all! Pity my SIL... no wonder she's coming up over Xmas to stay with her mom.

Gosh, if hubby ever leave me without central heating, he would have had an earful from me!!! He did once, during Xmas 2000. At that time we had the old gas boiler and he had forgotten to order some oil so we ran out during the Xmas period. The day we were supposed to get delivery of the oil, we had a call to say it was cancelled as it was the day of the big freeze and all roads were literally frozen! Never mind that, we had guests too! Ellen and her hubby and hubby's old friend staying with us! So can you imagine.... no central heating and extremely cold as well! I really blew my top and we had a massive quarrel! I swear if I could have left him, I would but I already had Ollie who was a wee baby at that time! Anyway, he never forgot to check the oil level in the tank again and we never ran out. Then last year, we switched to gas as it was getting a hassle to get oil delivered. Our gas tank happens to be in the back garden and the only way through it is via the extended side of the house and we were informed that in future, for health and safety reasons, they couldn't delivery it via the house. So we took the plunge and got it sorted! Thank goodness, no more worrying about oil levels and delivery! You now wondering why we had oil in the first place, well, the previous owner had it and when we inherited the house, we just kept on using it.

Just got my last copy of Scrapbook Answers from the news agent. Pity it's the last as that mag offers great ideas! My next fav is Scrapbook Etc which I get them in Singapore due to massive price difference in the UK! I've not seen Creating Keepsakes for a while but then I tend to borrow them from a friend. I'm trying to limit my ownership of magazines due to lack of space! Off to have a browse... TTFN!

>>> Just So Mundane! <<<

Life is just so mundane that I've got nothing to say! Normal, boring life. Well, I did manage to post off Zac's Infant school application form way ahead of deadline (8th Dec)! I've chosen the same school as Ollie and keeping my fingers crossed that he does get the school. Only until I see it on paper that he's in that school, can I stop worrying! Imagine the logistical nitemare having to send them in 2 different schools. The school I want is considered a wee bit out of my address range but Ollie got in by virtue of putting his name on the waitlist. We transferred him in Feb 04 when we got the call that there was a vancancy in the school. Although Zac should get in due to his brother being there, I will only believe it when I know for sure!

I leave with some DT LOs done for Homegrown. This is from their October Trilogy kit that consisted of papers from 7 Gypsies Capri, Imaginsce Exotic East & Cherry Art Little Friends. I'm done with my projects and still have lots leftover! Might use some of them for making Xmas gifts



TTFN!

>>> Chinese Movies! <<<

Why on earth do they show them at such unearthly hours! Internal Affairs 3 was on at 12.10 am and try as I could, I just couldn't keep my eyes open to see it and my fav actor, Andy Lau was acting in it too! Sigh! Channel 4 is brillant for showing non-English films but they are often screened after mid-nite. I once catch Bollywood movies too and an all time fav of mine. I find them very interesting and secretly luv the dancing part! LOL! Will have to keep my eyes peeled for more non-English films. The French movies are great too. Just wish my cable supplier have a Chinese channel... will definitely subscribe to it! Really miss watching those movies... TTFN!

>>> Busy Tuesday! <<<

Tuesday is always a busy day for us! In fact the day starts early as Ollie has violin lessons in school at 8.20am. Hence that means we have to wake up an hour earlier so that we can leave the house by 8.15am (the latest)! It's a real struggle as the boys, strangely enough, have to be dragged out of bed!

After school, Ollie has another violin lesson, this time with the East Birmingham String Ensemble from 4-5.15pm. This takes place in the Junior school so thankfully we don't have far to travel and for the past few weeks, I would hang around till 4pm. I think next week, I shall try another strategy and go home instead, give them a quick bite and then go back. Such a pain having to hang around for half an hour.

Had to pop into the shop to get some groceries and I did just that... didn't have the mood to browse around the shops... somehow this cold just makes me wanna stay at home. Hubby told me this morning that we have been asked to go down to Poole to help his sister & brother-in-law. They are in the process of extending the house by themselves and it's taking an awfully long time to do so! Currently they don't have any central heating and have borrowed 2 portable heaters from us. I told hubby he could go down himself as it would just bore the hell outta me being there as he would be away helping BIL while I've to mind the kids in a house that is heaterless!!! So he might just take Ollie with him instead. No doubt he will be staying with his uncle who lives in Swanage. Moi, I rather stay at home, be surrounded by warmth and watch X-Factor and CSI on TV!!!! I'm not trying to be anti-social but I'm still having this dreaded flu and although it hasn't flared up so bad this week, I'm feeling rather chesty. Hence, I rather keep out of the cold so as not to tempt fate! As for Zac, his nose is constantly being blocked so I prefer that he isn't exposed to the cold unnecessary until I get his nose checked out! He can't be having viral infection all year round, as suggested by the Quark doctor in our surgery!

I've this insatiable urge to eat chocolates!!! Don't ask me why but this weather encourages me to eat far more than other seasons! Cooked a storm tonite, make fried wan tan for the boys while I did curry for myself (hubby out for dinner tonite). As it was a hugh pot of curry, I look forward to eating it tomorrow as well. They say an overnite curry taste superb and it's TRUE! Had to grab a bar of Toblerone and some dried pineapples. And shocked surprise a 6-pack Golden Lights crisps! I've already consumed nearly half the bar of Toberone and 3 packs of crisps! Oh dear.... such a pig!

Update on my hand, well, the blister that formed yesterday has gone flat! It looks like a scab instead! As for the main burnt, well, it is dry and shows no signs of blistering. In fact, it looks as if I had a really bad scratch that took the skin off as opposed to a burnt! Here's how it look today:

Excuse the image but having to twist my hand and trying to photo it at the same time isn't easy! But isn't the aloe vera a miracle cure... it doesn't look as bad as I feared it would. More liberal application of aloe should clear it up in the next few days!

Rite off to do a bit of scrapping... TTFN!

>>> Monday Blues! <<<

Thankfully it isnt so cold today but chilly enough to keep me indoors! Spent the day doing a LO and watching TV. Immediately after school run, I would tune in to the Wright Stuff, followed by Trisha, then onto ITV3 for the news and later Loose Women. Call it boring but actually I doubt if I really watch it as I like the sound in the background while working on my LO!

The burnt on my hand looks awful and I've been applying my aloe vera constantly. It isn't painful unless touch and I've left it uncovered by plaster as I want it to heal faster. Luckily it's in an obscure area so it can be left in peace.

Decided to make miso soup for dinner as I figured it would be lovely to warm the body. But being lazy, decided to do a big pot with everything in it... so there were chunky meat balls, 2 different types of seaweed, carrots and vermicelli. Thank goodness I'm able to buy miso paste and seaweed in the Chinese supermarket. It was just delicious and even the boys ate the seaweed without any fuss! Thankfully there was a little leftover so guess who's gonna have a good lunch tomorrow!

I leave with some DT LOs....



TTFN!

>>> Sunday Bloggers! <<<

Here is today's topic:

Do you celebrate bonfire night = and if you do, what did you do this year? (or plan to do tonight?) Upload your firework shots (if you have any) and describe your celebrations!

I don't particularly celebrate bonfire nite but hubby has decided that he needed to burn the garden rubbish and chose this particular nite to do so. So as soon as dusk came, he got the bonfire going. He had even bought a special container for burning too. Anyway, dressed as warmly as I could, I went out to take a look. Have to say it was impressive. Here are some pictures:

Here's hubby special container for burning his garden rubbish. He actually managed to clear all of them by 10pm!

Have to say, I'm impressed with how clear this has come up despite moi taking this picture in total darkness! Maybe I'm doing something right with the camera after all!!!!

Here's a close up of the fire! Have to say the warmth from it was glorious!

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

Burnt my arm rather badly today... all hubby's fault. He had put a Shepard Pie meal in the oven without any baking tray. As I was taking it out, the container buckled... suddenly vision of the food spilling on the floor flashed before my eyes so quickly rushed to the table. Somehow it did spill out onto the table but a little drop fell onto my hand as well.... Bl**dy hell! Felt this burning sensation and quickly washed it under cold running water. That little drop has literally taken the skin off my arm! Then I plucked off an aloe vera stem and liberally spread the sap onto the burnt area! The aloe vera plant is a useful plant in the kitchen as it helps soothe burns that you might get while cooking. It simply speed up the healing process and even prevents nasty blisters from forming. Here's how's bad I've been burnt!

The watery liquid is the aloe vera sap. I was applying it as liberal as I could. Just hope it doesn't scar but I've got my faith in the aloe vera for it's quick healing process!

So much for today... thankfully the boys slept through all the fireworks that was going off tonite! I went off with them too. TTFN!

>>> Bonfire! <<<

Sounds like it judging by the number of fireworks going off constantly even at 9ish pm! Was treated to a colourful display of fireworks going off but after a while, got bored! Spent the evening, part watching X-Factor and printing out my photos as I've ran out of them for scrapping!

I was awoken early this morning by the Royal Mail which only means a parcel has arrived for me. It was my DT kit from Homegrown. Gosh it's early as Steph had only posted it out early this week. All thoughts of a lie-in flew out of the window when I was the papers... lush! 7 Gypsies Capri, Cherry Arte & Imaginsce papers. Gonna have a ball playing with them!

Hubby had to pop into office to do some work as he has got a few projects going on. The morning was spent coaching Ollie on his writing and his Chinese. Later brought him for his Mandarin class and Zac and I then popped into MIL's house.

Hubby picked Ollie up and both went to Woolworths to buy a toy. We do a point system with the boys.. for good behaviour, they get a point and when they reach 10 points, they get a toy. Well, Ollie reached his mid-week and was pestering me to get him a toy. I told him to wait till the weekend. Anyway, the poor soul was so overwhelmed by what he saw in Woolworth that he couldn't decide what to choose!!! In the end, he selected 2 Japanese Lego figures. At this rate, I doubt if we need to get anything for them for Xmas!!!

Well, off to scrap! Got photos, got new papers, got CSI and Grey's Anatomy to keep me company the whole nite.... TTFN!

>>> TGIF Again! <<<

Another week has flown by again. Got ready for school run and found my car window completely iced up! Like I'm gonna stand in the freezing cold to scrap it off... went to get a jug of lukewarm water to throw and wham! ice gone! I know I shouldn't do that but no way am I gonna scrap ice off the windscreen!

Popped into Samaritan charity shop and found some buttons. Bought at least a dozen packets of buttons for only £3! Lady at the store said they will be more coming out so I guess I will be popping in next week to check it out. I tend to use a fair bit of buttons on my LOs these days and don't fancy buying those scrapping ones as they are extremely pricey not to mention very samey in look!

Brought Zac to nursery and I was asked if he was allowed to accompany a teacher to Tesco as the nursery had won a prize and they were going to collect it! So he did and he was telling me his little adventure. How he went to Tesco in a taxi car and they bought bread (baguettes actually) and how he ate a piece and liked it! So cute!

Taking a break from scrapping as I'm a little spaced out. I guess once it starts getting colder, just wanna hibernate till Spring if possible! Just wish I could really hibernate.... or even better moved to a warmer country eg. Singapore or even Australia as they are heading towards summer! What I give to be in a warmer climate now.......... TTFN!

>>> Freezing! <<<

Wow! Felt the full blast of the chilly wind today. Woke up this morning with the heater on so the house was nice and warm. It wasn't until I opened the front door for the morning school run that I suddenly felt the full blast of the cold! And there I was in three-quarter trousers, sockless, scarfless and hatless! Eeks! But it was too late to go hunting for my winter wear! Sigh... I guess that's it... autumn is well and truly here and time to dig out those winter wear for the boys and myself! Really not looking forward to it! :(

Had to leave the heater on the whole day as it was particularly cold today! No way was I about to freeze in the house and was looking at the boiler to see if I could crank it up higher! In the end, took a nice long hot shower. Looks like I will probably be showering more often as well just so to feel the warmth of the water.

The morning was spent finishing up my magazine assignment. Then embarked on a LO as I've got tons of unused kits begging to be used! My Homegrown DT kit should be arriving in the next few days so looking forward to it! Here's a LO created yesterday using K&CO Addison papers from Homegrown Hybrid Sept kit. Those papers are just so luscious... I'm really not a K&Co fan but lately their papers have been absolutely gorgeous!

Picture of moi taken in Bali, Indonesia in 1998... god only knows what I was thinking, having a snake around me! Eeks! Anyway, those were the days when I was single, carefree and kidless! Would luv to visit Bali again this time with the boys! They sure would luv the beaches!

Just heard about the Xmas plans ... the entire clan of hubby's will be descending upon us for the usual Xmas dinner... groan! Initially we were supposed to go to MIL's house but the venue was changed to ours instead! Sigh! Oh well, since hubby proposed hosting it, he can jolly well get the house ready which I no doubt he will as he's so anal about it! Thank goodness majority of his family don't drink! So not looking forward to Xmas... I used to travel whenever it was the Xmas season during my younger days... unfortunately, travelling at this peak period is pretty foolhardly as the fares somehow double in prices! Did ask once about going home and it would have cost about £800 per adult an air tix to fly back... usually pay half of that! Talk about daylight robbery!

Right off to watch Grey's Anatomy but these days, having the entire Series 2 on DVD, I'm not so bothered about catching it on TV! I think a hot shower beckons!!! TTFN!

>>> Belated Halloween! <<<

I was too knackered to post last nite. In fact I went straight to sleep while lying down with Zac in his bed and stayed there the whole nite!

The afternoon was spent working on a magazine assignment. Then in the evening we went over to MIL's place as it was hubby's dad's birthday. We had dinner there and I watched part of the Banquet (movie starring Zhang Ziyi, the lass from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) that Ellen brough me. That DVD refuses to play on any of the Sony DVD sets that we have but will only play on cheap DVD set. Boy am I so pissed! I told hubby he had to get a £20 brandless multi-region DVD set (yup we saw it in an Indian store). I'm fedup of our sets not wanting to play some DVDs acquired from the Far East! It's just so annoying! And most of them have to be Chinese ones that I'm craving to watch as well! Gosh, I'm so missing the Chinese movies from the Far East, especially the kung fu ones...

We had some trick and treaters coming to our door and they went away with sweeties. I don't particularly celebrate Halloween, and don't really want the boys to have sweets either... in fact I don't buy any for them but then it's only b'cos it gets them in such a hyper state! It's so hard to get them under control when they go into that state!

Rite, off to create... TTFN!