Another start to another week

Had a lovely weekend, well I always do.  I relaxed Friday evening, Saturday I went into town back to the opticians and got a few little bits for the girls, then came home to these wonderful flowers from my husband....arent I spoilt.  They dont look real, but they are


Then I spent Saturday afternoon ironing and sorting out some holiday clothes and watched 2 episodes of miss marple.  Saturday night was another chill night in front of the tv.  Sunday it was a lie in, yes me I had a lie in and did some chores, some gardening and then went off to bingo.  So here I am all ready for the week ahead.

On Saturday I went into Monsoon as they have a sale on and I found a dress, £140 reduced to £70, to £35 and down to £21 well, I had to have it and, on top of that, I asked the shop assistant to put it into a VERY BIG bag because I saw that the handles of these VERY BIG bags are twill, yes twill that you can stamp all over, now that is sad.

I told Paul that I had to go to Monsoon to get a big bag...well if you saw the look he gave me *chuckling*.

So this afternoon I shall be in the craft room having a little move around and make a few cards that I have going around in my head.  Just something to play with really.

Its Derby Dabblers get together this Friday, the first Friday of the month.  If you fancy doing a bit of crafting (card making, scrapbooking, making jewlery, knitting or anything else) please feel free to come along.  We are having a demonstration this month so let me know if you are droping in and I can tell you all the demo and chest that you can make.

Thanks for having a read, I hope that it hasnt rained too much where you are and that its still a lovely warm start to your week.

Sunny Saturday

A sunny Saturday is what we are promised so I am hoping that's what we get.

Who saw the Olympic Opening Ceramony last night?  Wasnt it great?  I really enjoyed it.

Off into town in a while to get my second pair of glasses sorted.  For those that read the previous post about my glasses saga I am pleased to say that with the changed prescription that they did, the new glasses are not causing me too many problems.  I cant wear them as often as I did the old pair but at least I am not getting so many headaches and migraines, which is a blessing.

I think I have another week of mornings only at work, which is really helping me so I hope the sunny weather lasts a little longer.  I dont sit out in the sun shine but I do potter around the garden trying to keep it as tidy as I can.

A clean and simple card to share with you today.  At the last Derby Dabblers the theme was boats and I stamped a few out.  Here is one of the finished cards

Its Derby Dabblers again next Friday.  If you fancy coming along to St. Martins Church at 6.30 for a few hours of crafting with like minded people, then please do.

Well thanks for having a read, dont forget, just a day or two left to make the most of the Stampin Up Special Offer

Bits of news

Great news from Stampin Up, as from next week you can join my team by filling out the forms on line.  How much easier is that going to be so, if you have been thinking of signing on the dotted line, give me a call on 01332 721877 and I can tell you more.  Joining Stampin Up is one of the best things I have ever done as I have met so many wonderful people and I know, I am going to meet many more.

I got myself a new notice board

This is pinned up on the wall in the study.  Hopefully I can keep this one all nice, neat and tidy.

We have been doing lots of pottering in the garden, now that the sunshine has made an appearance the flowers are all coming up so its a bit time consuming to dead head, keep the weeds down and everywhere looking nice, but we are trying.

I am still finding it a constant battle with my blood pressure and the doc wants to see me on a monthly basis.  I am doing all the right things like eating healthy, walking (when I can), mild exercise and getting plenty of rest but, I have seen the doc twice in the last 3 weeks and both times he has increased my medication.  Now its fine to have more medication if it is stopping me from having a stroke but the side effects are making me tired, wanting to go to bed at 8p.m., body and feet swelling, very CBA (cant be a***d).  Hopefully I will get used to them soon and get on with it....moan over.  I am still working half days YEAH but that could change any day now so I am making the most of it whilst I can.

PPI arent we all fed up with this, its on the tv, in all the papers and now I am getting at least 3 telephone calls a day about it.  I have ignored it best I can for a long time now but when my bank write to me with my Annual Review of my PPI on my credit card I sat up and read properly.  I have not used my banks credit card for about 8 years.  I was lucky and paid it all off and swore never to have another one ever again but, I did use it for 4 years.  I rang the number it gave me on the letter from the bank and I spoke to a lovely lady, at the bank.  I have a form filled in and am now waiting to hear.  It seems that I can get back all the PPI that I paid for this 4 year period, even though it was 12 years ago. I dont think it will be much but every little bit helps.  I have also learnt that if you did this through one of the companies that advertise, they keep a % of it, for their fees.  I will keep you informed of how I get on.

I hope that you have a lovely day and that those that dont like the heat, manage to stay cool. Thanks for having a read.

One year ago today

One year ago today, we went for breakfast at 8a.m. with all the children and grandchildren

A few hours later we became Mr. and Mrs. Anthony


Now where did that year go??  I woke up this morning to fantastic sunshine pouring through the windows (I forgot to close the curtains), the sound of birds twittering (actually it was the magpies going crazy cause I had the windows open).  I came downstairs to a pile of cards and pressies and a cold cup of tea (cold because Paul made it before he shouted me to get up) sigh..... Here is the card that I made for Paul

And the one I got from Paul

Got lots of other cards, thank you so much but I wanted to share this one with you from my mum


No she didnt make it, I think she had it made by a lady on the East Coast but how thoughtful. 

And this is one of the presents Paul got for me, who said romance is dead?  He thought it would look lovely in my craft room
Off to the docs in a bit, to get blood test results and then Paul is wining and dining me at my favourite place.

Have a lovely afternoon and evening and thank you for having a read

Sunny Sunday?

I just want to remind you of the special offer from Stampin' Up!  It is that wonderful ribbon and brad pack FREE on all orders over £45.  I have seen some lovely items posted in blog land using the ribbons, brads and everyday enchantment papers so I have had a little play this week.

I saw this

 

lovely bright card that Mary Ann Reiner made back in January so I had a go and made a couple myself, along the same lines, which are here.  

 I love to decorate the insides of my cards.  It leaves a little less room for writing in but still enough to say who the card is from.

I have used  the Adorning Accents textured impressions embossing folder from the Summer Mini Catalogue which ends on 31 August (not 31st July like I have been telling everyone oopps).  You get 3 folders for £7.95 and they emboss beautifully.  The Everyday Enchantment 12 x 12 papers, which are £9.95 in July and whilst stocks last.  The butterflys have been created from Calypso Coral and Poppy Parade card using the Beautiful Wings embossing folder which is £10.50 and pearls. Not forgetting the Pool Party Card.

The next order will be going in on 28th July so please, do get in touch if you would like anything.

Thanks for having a read and I hope you have a great day, whatever you are up to.

Happy Anniversary Mum and Dad.  This is the card that I made for them, the photograph isnt so good but I am sure that by now you are used to my photos.

Today we are off to Preston YEAH.  Katerina has a new apartment and Paul and I are taking her boxes and boxes of bits ready for when she returns to the UK, at the beginning of September.  Mum will get it all cleaned and spruced up and make her bed, arent I good.  I am hoping to nip to a certain little shop whilst I am there too but, I havent told Paul yet.

This is a photo of the plants behind our pond.

The very green plant in the middle is called a castor oil plant and I think it is lovely.  A few weeks ago I asked if I could grow some of these, from seeds as it was just full of little black seeds.  The advice I was given was "you cant grow castol oil plants from seeds, you need special conditions and you have to graft new plants" Well I was confused so I got some seeds, dried them out and tried to split them....no success.  I got some more seeds and split them immediately and planted them up.

They have been in my kitchen window for 3 weeks now and this is what I have got so far.

 

 I shall keep you updated with their progress.

Have a lovely day, whatever you have planned and thanks for having a read.

Weekend has arrived

yes, the weekend is well and truly here and the weather is due to improve, what could be better?
Happy Birthday to Paula today. I know that you have had a few SU surprises and hope you have had a wonderful day.  This is the card that I made for Paula

For those that dont know, I make my own candles.   These are what I love most and if you visit me you will usually find at least one candle in a cup flickering away. 

Yesterday I was lucky enough to be given these absolutely georgous coffee cups.  They will be made into candles and pin cushions. 


 
 Speaking of cushions, two of my handbag cushions are packed away to go to Katerina's new apartment tomorrow.

Thanks for having a read today and have a wonderful evening.

Tuesdays Twitter

Not enough hours in the day to do it all so the blog is getting a little behind, hope that you dont mind too much.

This is Katerina

I am in the middle of getting bits and pieces ready for Katerina. She is in Cyprus at the minute but will be coming back to Preston uni at the beginning of September.  She has organised a new flat for this year so Paul and I are off to Preston this weekend to get it all set up for her.  When I say set up I mean dump all the things she dumped with me (boxes and boxes of them).  I will make up her bed cause I know she wont get in till very early hours of the morning.  I guess I will give it a good clean as well.  I have already washed, dried and ironed all of her clothes that she left here, such a spoilt child, but I love doing things for her.




Paul and I will have been married a year on Monday.  Can you believe a whole year has passed us by, I cant and can you believe that I still dont have my wedding photos?  There is a little story behind the photographs.  We had to pick just 30 from about 500 which was tough, but we did it.  We wanted them in a certain sequence, as you do.  We gave the photographer a copy of the sequence and the lady who did the photos didnt get a copy of this.  She put our photos is another order??? in the last of the photo albums (he isnt doing these any more) and told me that if she changes them around she will ruin the album.  Okay I said, I will find my own.  I went into town and found a lovely album from Marks, I was so pleased with it.  Before I took it to the photographers, I showed Paul and that is where we noticed that the decoration on the front of the album, was upside down.

Back into town, back for another album, back home.....pages torn.  Back into town, back for another album, checked it with the assistant, we had a laugh about me changing albums again, back home, showed Paul and what I didnt see from inside the album was that the spine, on the outside, was broken but the sales assisnt in Marks would have seen this.
Oh yes, I went back again, as nice as pie and explained what had happened.  I got a totally different album.  The sales assistant couldn't believe all the hassle I had had, which wasnt her personal fault.  Another sales assistant went to see the albums that were on the shop floor and can you believe, the ones I took back previously, were there for sale???  Anyway, Marks and Spencer refunded the total cost of my album and gave it to me as a wedding present, how lovely was that?
I am also in the middle of making an Anniversary card for Paul, just run out of time at the end of each day.

STAMPIN' UP! ORDERS ARE HERE yes, I have lots of orders here at home for lots of people.  I would be great if I could get all of these distributed by the weekend.  If you have something that you would like to collect please get in touch so the we can arrange a get together.  Speaking of which, got a couple of get togethers coming up this week, ohh, how I love those.

Well thanks for having a read, hope you have a lovely afternoon and evening and I shall be back with some cards as soon as I can

Tuesday Twitter

We still have lots of strange and changeable weather.  We have had so much rain that mum and dad have a little brook in their garden, honestly.  I was going to take up some rubber ducks today but I didnt.

Well Sunday I took a trip to Melton Mowbray and joined in with about 19 other ladies for a table top sale at Claires

Photo from Claires facebook page

If you missed this you really missed a wonderful time.  All the tables were brimming with good quality crafting goodies, new as well as used at fantastic prices.  Everyone had a great day, the weather was kind (drizzled just a bit) and the burgers were fantastic.  All the staff (and the families) worked so hard and I do hope that they know it was appreciated.  If there is another one, which I am sure there will be, I will let you know as it is something not to be missed.

About 4 years ago I met a fellow crafter from Sandiacre.  We corresponded for a while and today I have gone to send her an email to find that her address in no longer on my contact list.  The reason I want to get in touch is because she said if I ever saw a particular stamp, could I get it for her.  Well on Sunday, I found the stamp which is this one.

I had used it on a card that she purchased for the birth of her grandchild... so, if you are reading this blog, please get in touch.

No cards to share with you today but I will get my finger out and get some photographed.  Thanks for having a read

Soggy Saturday

I had a lovely evening at Derby Dabblers last night, we had a couple of new faces and its always lovely to meet new friends.  I hope that they enjoyed it as much as I did.

Here are a few photos of our bamboo.  This bamboo is about 6 years old and each year it puts up 3 or 4 new shoots which, when we see them, decide whether to keep them or not. The second photo shows the new shoots best. Well this year,  the new shoots have grown in just a few days, without us realising it and there are lots of them

We arent too sure what to do with them so I am just going to take regular photos to see how they progress and share with the girls (and yourself of course).

The weather forecast for today isnt very good, depending on where you listen to the forecast tells you the different amounts of rain we are going to have, not good.  I shall be going out early to do my weekly shop and then getting all the ironing done throughout the day as well as a good sort out of bits and bobs, my favourite passtime.

Here is a card that I made that I dont think that I have shared with you before.  It is based on one that Anne sent me for my birthday.

Have a lovely day and thanks for having a read today.

Wet Wet Wet

Wet wet wet, that was a great group wasnt it.  Unfortunately this is how we are all going to be today, if we venture outside.  The weather lady gave us a forecast of rain and she was right.  I was up at half 5 this morning with all the noise of it.
In keeping with the wet wet wet theme, at Derby Dabblers its a theme of boats tonight, so apt.  If you fancy coming along to Dabblers, please do, the more the merrier.  If there is enough of us we may have to build an ark......

I have had an SU order arrive and here are a few of the Thank You cards I made this month.

 

 I totally missed the stamp set in the book, its called For Everything and at £18.95 for 11 stamps (the wooden ones are £23.95) it really is a bargain.  I teamed up Pacific Point, Calypso Coral and Pear Pizzazz, I just love the names.  I dont know how I missed it but so pleased I found it. These cards are a case from a card I saw 2 years ago and for some reason totally forgot all about it.  You can see the original card HERE

I just want to say a big thank you to  YOU.  Yes you for reading my blog.  There are quite a few people out there in cyber land who nip on and have a look at what I have written so thank you.  Have a fantastic Friday and I hope you stay dry.

Everyday is Enchanting

Did you know that during the month of July....Everyday is Enchanting. Why?

Spend £45 (plus p+p) and you can get all this, FREE

Everyday Enchantment Ribbon & Brad Pack (127279)

Ribbon :-
1/8" (3 mm) Organdy Ribbon
2 spools: 10 yards ea. spool
1 Lucky Limeade, 1 Calypso Coral Brads 3/8" (1 cm) Printed Designer Brads
30 brads: 6 ea. of 5 designs
Coordinating colours: Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Poppy Parade, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede


AND

back from Sale-A-Bration by popular demand,  the coordinating Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper--only available while supplies last for £9.95 (126154)

I thought I would share a photo of my daughters with you, they have changed a bit from the little picture on the right hand side of my blog.  This was taken last night

I presume that they were in a club.

No cards to share at the moment as I am working on some.  Thanks for having a read and I hope you have a lovely afternoon and evening, despite the weather forecast.

Midweek Musings

Wednesday and what a damp mid week we have. I have been told that the forecast is going to be wet but warm for the whole of July, if that is the case I will certainly be ready for my Summer holiday in August.

Well it was Amy's 7th birthday yesterday, where have the years gone.  We went to visit her on Monday and spent a lovely couple of hours with all the girls.  Here is the card that I made for Amy's birthday.

I loved making this so if there is anyone reading this that would like a similar card for a child, please let me know as I am desperate to make another one.

It's Derby Dabblers craft club this Friday night.  If you fancy an evening of crafting with like minded people then please, do come along to St. Martins Church Hall in Allenton.  You will be most welcome.

Stampin Up have some brilliant offers on at the moment and although I am a little late, I will tell you all about those tomorrow.  Just not enough hours in the day for me I am afraid.

How about this card

I dont know who made it but it is smashing, I have a feeling it was Paula but, it could have been Alyson, using the Just believe stamp set from Stampin Up, guess who is going to be making a couple of those, me.

Thanks for having a read today and have a wonderful evening

Sunny Sunday

Good morning from a lovely and sunny Derby, well it is sunny at the moment.  I had a wonderful girly day out yesterday and cant wait for the next one.  Jayne did a fantastic job driving as the weather conditions at times werent very pleasant, lots of rain and spray from the roads.  We did some shopping and then had lunch before setting off home again.  The day went by in a flash and I dont mind admitting that by half past 8 last night I was snoring in front of the tv.

I just have to tel you about the brilling offer Stampin' Up! have  for July Do you remember the sale a bration papers, Everyday Enchantment?  Well for this month (while stocks last) you can get ribbons and brads to match the papers with a £45 order FOR FREE

 

 And, as the papers were so popular they have brought them back, so if you used all yours up, you can purchase them, a pack of 12 papers, double sided 12 x 12 £9.95.

 

 I know this is going to be a popular offer so I shall be putting in an extra order on Thursday 6th July, I dont want to miss out on the brads and ribbon offer.  If you would like to order anything, just let me know 01332 721877 or send me an email.

I promised you some photos of my garden, well I promised the girls really as they miss the changing seasons in the UK.  Okay so at the moment we are getting 2 or 3 seasons in a week but here is what we have out at the minute,

Add caption

Blogger has a mind of its own when putting my photos in position on the page, no matter where I want them to go, blogger puts them where IT wants them to go....I dont argue.

I hope you have a great day and thanks for having a read