>>> 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!

>>> 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!