> On Display! <<<

A few stuff that I've done:

For BackPorch Memories Jan Solo kit. Played with Chatterbox Together papers. Boy were they so yummy to play with!!!

Managed to capture the frost in the garden. LO based on a sketch by Becky Fleck.

Played with the warholizer and luv the effect that I just had to scrap it!

Had to make some cards as I will be needing a few to use this year. Played with my cuttlebug and embossing folders. Even used a couple of die cuts!

Here's what I did during the Xmas period! My best friend requested for a birthday planner and this is what she got. Incidentally, she made me a double sided apron... so lovely too!

Utilised my Scarlet Lime kit papers hence the kaleidoscope of colours here! I wanted it bright and cheerful, just like my best friend. As usual, added stamped images too. Bought a set of months in French (from Purple Onion Designs) and used them. So fun! How remiss of me not to take photo of the tags... glimmer misted, distressed and stamped as well!

TTFN!

>>> News On The Street! <<<

Gosh this has a whirlwind week! Routines started, moi the chauffeur again to the boys and everything back to normal!

The start of the week was extremely cold. Snow fell but only a little but the temperature was below 0 degree celcius so it kept the snow on the ground for a while, making driving conditions pretty bad, especially in place where they were not gritted (like the slope up to my driveway!!!) The boys didn't go back to school till the 6th and had a field time playing in the snow.

My little punk sweeping the snow off!

Since my Nikon 18-55mm broke (it became stuck and while removing it, heard a crack and that was it! Kaput!) I was devastated as it was one of my well-used lens. I've got another 55-200mm lens but not suitable for closeups! Hence I was debating whether to get another 18-55mm with VR. Then mid-week, a friend mentioned she got the 18-200mm lens... which got me thinking of the possibility of switching to that as I was constantly changing between my lens! Anyway, after a few searches on the net, found one selling rather cheaply at John Lewis! Didn't hesitated and got it straightaway! So today, I'm a proud owner of a monster lens.... who would have thought I will be so excited over a piece of glass!

Isn't she a beauty?!!!

I cherish the thought of not having to change between my lens now! Gotta go sell off my 55-200mm lens. It's no longer needed! Next on the list is a Nikon flash gun SB600! I need that badly!

Finally the last piece of good news is that I bought my air tix and I'm going home in summer! Yay!!!! Have been on the hunt since the beginning of this week and managed to find cheap fares provided I leave before the middle of July. After that, fares increased to double the price! I just couldn't believe it. Again after a few surfs, found a travel agent which sold the cheapest flight fares. Then hubs told me to check Emirates site and I discovered that it wasn't that much dearer, in fact it was £15 (overall fare) more to get from Emirates site. In this economic climate, I reckon Emirates is less likely to go under than a travel agent (which I've not used before!) so I ended up booking on the Emirate site. What more, I even sorted out meals as well as seating arrangements too (gotta luv the internet, god knows what I'll do without it now). So now my electronic tickets are all printed out and kept safely. Will even check in online a day before departure! Now I can sleep easy. In fact, this year's flight fares is far cheaper than last year and I thought I had net a bargain last year! Which makes me wonder, how do they set a flight fare... imagine a seat selling for £450 can suddenly double to £900 at certain periods.... just doesn't make sense! I supposed it's the same with Next clothes where one may find a coat for £80 and during sales, drop to £30! You just wonder, what is the nett price?!!

I'm sure I'm gonna regret slightly for leaving before term ends as the boys will miss out on a fair number of activities... most likely sports days, parties etc. BUT I'm not paying double price fares during school hols! That's daylight robbery!

All I can say, this has been a happy week for me! ;) Let's hope next week is equally good! TTFN!

>>> Desperate! <<<

to try and get cheap flights to Singapore during the summer hols! I have to admit that I CAN'T look after the boys during the 6 weeks by myself! I'll go bonkers! That's why either I need to go back home or have my parents come up. Seeing that they aren't spring chickens now, it's much better for us to go over instead. Anyway, why the heck do I want to hang around the UK during summer? Weather is diabolical at times and I need to get away from this country to refresh and recharge! I can't tell you how last year's trip made a big difference to me, having had time off housework, cooking and being able to hang out with friends once in a while while my parents looked after the boys. I came back recharged and full of energy. Not worn out like the other moms who couldn't wait for the school term to start. Most of them were complaining how they had had enough of their kids. Well, I didn't feel that way, instead, I had a great time with them (only b'cos I wasn't with them all the time! Ha!)

So the hunt began... popped into Thomson as I booked with them last year. Unfortunately the date I want to leave doesn't offer much in terms of discount. However, leaving a week earlier would.... mmm have to check the school calendar! The school recently sent out a leaflet about taking kids out of school during term time for holidays, which they kinda discourage! Anyway, seeing that it's the last week of the entire school term, where everything is being cleaned out for the next school term, I can't see the Head saying 'no' to my request! During that period, the kids either play with toys or watch video most of the time. So I can't see my sons losing out in terms of lessons. In fact they get to start their hols a week earlier! ;)

But seriously, a day difference in flight dates make a BIG difference, we are talking about paying double the amount if you leave a day later! How ridiculous is that! I'm not surprised parents chose to book their hols during term time especially when the price is far far cheaper! Blame it on the travel agents and those involved in holiday pricing for jetting up the prices during school holidays! It 's not fair!

Think I'll hunt a bit more before getting the tickets... I won't sleep easy until I know I'm booked to go home! Miss my dad so much! TTFN!

>>> Battle Of The Wills <<<

between mom & youngest son! So I decided to cook a 'vegetarian' soup containing of chinese cabbage, carrot, seaweed, vermicelli and fish tofu. Soup was made using bean paste and vegetarian stock. Called the boys down and both turned their nose up when they realised no meat was available. I do try to have a vegetarian meal once a week so as to detox. Don't like them eating too much meat in a week. Anyway, the eldest sat down and began to eat and even had second helpings. The youngest decided he didn't want to eat and had his head on his arm the whole meal, whimpering away! In the end, told him he either eat or go to bed as I wouldn't put up with his nonsense! So the whimpering got louder and I brought him upstairs, changed him into his pjs and put him to bed. Dad tried to console him to no avail. He was determined to make himself heard! I told hubs he was not to even attempt to make an alternative meal for him. He eats what is on the table otherwise too bad! I've seen instances where moms give in to their children's dislike of food and end up cooking different meals for different child... bloody ridiculous! Parents should be in charge not the kids!

Anyway, after half an hour in bed, the little mite decided that he wasn't gonna win as both of us ignored him. So he did the most sensible thing, went downstairs and ate his dinner! Every single morsel of rice was gone and he even had a bowl of cereals after that! And then afterwards, acted as if nothing ever happened!

Moral of the story, stick to your guts and break their resolve. Kids are there to test your limits and see how far they can push. Give in and you are slave to them! I didn't and my son now knows better than to throw a tantrum on the dining table! Now to get them to eat curry...... :) TTFN!

>>> On Display! <<<

Here's a couple of LOs done with Homegrown Scrapbooks Fall Survival kit:





And here's what I did with BackPorch Memories Jan Solo kit:

Featuring Chatterbox Together papers. Ohh, they are fab, a far cry from their 2005 range! LO was also done as a challenge in the forum.

TTFN!

>>> Happy New Year! <<<

All of us had a lie in including the kiddies and we didn't stir till 11ish in the morning. Felt good not to have to get up so early. The afternoon was spent taking a walk down the beach in Poole. Daft thing to do as it was freezing cold and after a while, I gave up and went back to the car to take cover. Wimp! But the cold and moi are not best mates!

The boys loved playing with the sand and we kinda limited them to sand only as they would go to the sea if they could!

Moi, all bundled up and still feeling the chill!

Having a great time chilling out here. Managed to complete a couple of pages while I'm here. Yup, brought my scrapping stuff here but limited to Homegrown Fall Survival kit as I'm still working on them. With the boys engrossed with their cousins, I had time on my hand and made full use of it! TTFN!

>>> New Year Eve! <<<

Can you believe it? It's the last day of 2008! Gosh, this year really flew fast! Just can't believe that it's almost over. Well, I had a good year.... got more involved in my boys' schools, more scrapping opportunities, travelled a fair bit, generally, a great year for me! Not sure what 2009 holds but fingers crossed that it will be just as good as 2008, if not better!

Saw goodbye to Ellen and her hubs! They were going back to her hub's brother place. Parting was sad but no tears. Told her I will seek her out in Aug. Fingers crossed it will happen!

After they left, it was a mad rush to pack and get ready as we were invited to Poole to spend New Year's Eve with my SIL and her family. Didn't even have time to sort the house out. As soon as hubs got back from work, we were off to Poole. Got there 3 hrs later and had a good rest till mid-nite:

Yup the kiddies stayed up late too and we welcomed the New Year with party poppers and champagne (only for the adults)!

Cheers! Happy New Year to one and all!

TTFN!

>>> Soon To End! <<<

I'm sad that my time with Ellen is due to end soon. She's also a crafty lady too but not in scrapbooking. She does quilting, box making etc. The best thing she did was to teach me how to make boxes. We spent Tuesday afternoon making a paper one and decorating it with my paper stash! Wednesday morning was spent making a fabric box! Gosh it was so fun! Best of all, I can make use of my existing stash as well!

My fabric box done under the watchful eye of Ellen. Thanx for teaching me! You're a star! That box will house my enormous amount of inkpads! In fact it was measured to fit them! :)

The last nite with Ellen and her hubs was spent going out to an Indian restaurant at Star City. Sheesh, the food was simply delicious! Unfortunately they didn't sell alcohol so when we got home, we indulged instead! But I will definitely go back to that place. In fact there was a constant flow of Asians eating in that place which only goes to show that it's a great restaurant especially if their own kind visit them! You know a particular restaurant (be it Chinese or Indian) is good if their own kind frequents it! That only means it's authentic!

The starter.

King prawn curry

Spinach with chicken

Nan bread

Us, all dolled up.
Hey, nite out as adults with no kids so gotta look good! Thanks to MIL who had the kids!

TTFN!

>>> Shopping! <<<

So the sales have started and boy have I been spending!!! Well, nothing crafty but loads of clothes, shoes and makeup! Figured I got enough stash to last me a life time so decided to turn to the fashion side instead. Not really a clothes person but had to satisfy my urge for cardigans and shoes. I'm desperately trying to get into wearing heels, high ones that is and bought myself a pair of 3" heels. Will be practising wearing them in the house so as to get used to it! Nothing worst than falling flat on my face!

So together with Ellen, hit the highstreet stores and frankly, I got bored after a while. You go into a store and the clothes are just hang on the rails and you have to riffle through them. Frankly, just bore the hell outta moi doing that... find it so messy and a big waste of time. I much prefer if they were hung according to designs instead. Makes it easier to look for clothes. If a store looks messy and I've to hunt through stack of clothes, I won't even bother going in, no matter how much discount is given!

On the crafting side, been creating a birthday planner for Ellen. I promised her one and I'm in the midst of it and enjoying myself. I had a parcel came on Sat but the blinking postie didn't bother to ring the doorbell and slip a note instead. Moi, didn't realised it was Sat and didn't go to the Post Office till 4pm and found it was closed. Urghhh! So annoyed with him... why couldn't he just ring the doorbell! 3 cars on the driveway, obviously there's people at home at 9.45am! In fact we were having breakfast! That's the 2nd time it happened too! And it's my DT kit as well.

Oh well, off to create... got tons of LOs to do.... TTFN!

>>> Boxing Day! <<<

So it was our turn to host the Xmas dinner. Hubs bought a large goose and proceeded to cook the Xmas dinner by himself! He's a great chef when it comes to Western meals (I suck at cooking it as I usually grill/bake too long... much better at Chinese cuisine instead!).

Have to say, hubs did a great job cooking the goose but not before stinking the house with vinegar the nite before! It was well received by the guests which consisted of SIL and her family (x4), my best friend & her hubs (x2), MIL & FIL (x2) and my family (x4).... in total 12! We had a great meal. I guess the best part was my best friend coming over from Shanghai, China to spend the festive period with moi! We chat online constantly but nothing beats being able to chat tete a tete. I was ever so pleased to see her! I leave with photos of the meal:

The cooked goose!

After it had been cut up by my FIL!

Yorkshire Puds... something you can't go without! Believe me, that plate was cleaned out by the end of the meal!

The Vegs.

The Finale: our boys played for the guests as they wanted to hear them, having heard about them playing in concerts! They didn't disappoint!

The next few days is gonna be fun, fun, fun! TTFN!

>>> Merry Christmas! <<<

The day started early, not surprising! Oliver woke up first, demanding to open his pressies, followed by Zac shortly. Anyway, got them down and the ritual began! Have to say, this year's pressie were modest compared to last year. What do you buy for them when they do have literally everything, well, almost! They do get toys throughout the year. The biggest items they had was a huge box of Lego set each which both boys luv to play with.

The setup! Makes it easier for me to take photos!

The squeals of joy! Oliver went thru' his pretty quickly while Zac was still looking into his santa's sack!

The finale for Oliver!

The finale for Zac!

The aftermath!

The afternoon was spent at Mil's place where we had our Xmas dinner. There the boys were greeted with more pressies... toys again. As if they don't have enough! I sometimes wish their aunts would give them money instead of buying them toys which generally become a white elephant after time! Needless to say, we gave cash out instead of buying useless pressies and getting stressed out for nothing! Since I'm usually in charge of the present buying, the practical side of moi refused to buy stuff just for the sake of buying! So MIL, FIL, and the bigger niece and nephew were given a handmade money wallet (with cash in it) instead.

I'm off to recuperate and have a chill out nite. Christmas time just stess me out and frankly speaking I much prefer to take a holiday instead of indulging in all this unnecessary expense! I would imagine it would have stress out a hell of a lot of people who unfortunately lost their jobs due to the credit crunch. TTFN!

>>> On Display! <<<

The Homegrown Winter Survival Programme is currently on. Enjoying the kit as it's packed loads and I've been trying to use them up as much as possible! Along with it comes a weekly PDF filled with inspirational works from the DT members. This last for 6 weeks. Here's what appeared in the first 3 weeks of the PDFs:

This LO is for a song challenge and I chose to use Britney Spear's title.

Just completed a mini album and another LO which I will display as soon as it appears on the PDF. TTFN!

>>> 2 Days To Christmas! <<<

2 days to Christmas and I suddenly realised I've not brought the boys to visit Santa! We always make it a point to see him in his Grotto so made a trip to Melbicks Garden Centre to see him. Currently, it's a yearly ritual until I guess when the boys are old enough not to believe in Santa anymore! At the end of it, they both got to choose a toy. Managed to snap a photo of them with Santa as well (now that's more for moi, actually more for my pages!)


As for myself, I headed towards the craft section for a nose and all I bought was 2 pens! That's right, 2 pens, a black journaling pen in nib 0.4 and a sparkly brown pen. They did sell Nestabilities but as I can get it far cheaper on the net, gave that a miss. Couldn't really find anything that was worth buying... thank god! TTFN!

>>> A Weekend Of Fun! <<<

So I had a party to attend tonight and have nothing fanciful to wear. Headed off towards the Fort to try and get something. While hubs sorted the boys out, I went hunting and found a lovely black, sparkly dress. Even better was the price which was reduced to half price. Also found some heels to go with it. I chickened out getting a 4" heels as there's no way I could walk in them, let alone dance! Eventually settled for 2.5" which is high enough for me!

Sil and her boyfriend came along with us to the Xmas party. We had a great nite. SIL and I danced the nite away. It has been ages since we hit the floor so we took advantage of it. I probably lost the calories consumed for that nite I reckoned! :) I leave with some photos...

Hubs & moi

Sil & moi

Have to say, luv my black dress! Just have to ensure that I encase it in a plastic bag if I ever do carry with me as the sparkly bits do get everywhere! TTFN!

>>> Finally, It's Over! <<<

The school term that is! Oliver finished his yesterday due to his Headmistress leaving (for retirement). Zac ended his term today. I can't tell you how pleased I am not to have to get up early to sort them out for school. It's getting progressively colder too and therefore harder to get up early in the morning.

I made some Xmas tags (as opposed to cards) for the boys' classmates and some little gifts for his teachers.

I didn't go overboard as I'm quite busy with DT assignments and didn't want to overstress myself. I also made a fair number of Xmas cards and made use of my Cuttlebug and the embossing folders. OMG! Have to say I luv them! I had such a field time playing with it that I've no doubt it's gonna be used a fair bit now. I managed to add stamping into it and it was a good mix... stamping and dry embossing.


Went out for a curry nite with work colleagues. Meal was great and you could bring your own drinks so my friends did! Had a great time!

Ordered a king prawn chef recommendation curry. Made it madras too and it was absolutely delicious!

My dessert! Ohhh, it was another killer too, absolutely fab!

Off to create some pages now as they are long overdue. TTFN!