PORTABLE NORTH POLE...

http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/21cbea1ae5ef0cafb85450a7a25d9c86

Susan just pointed me in the direction of this and it is brilliant... Niamh thought it was fantastic - a special message from Santa just for her...lol...x

FRIDAY FILL-INS

#152

And...here we go!

1. Wait! Wait, don't forget it will soon be Christmas (as if you need any reminding).
2. Rudolph followed at once by Dasher, Dancer, Prancer (you get the picture).
3. The trouble is I have waaay too many kids.
4. My husband is many miles away offshore from Great Yarmouth.
5. With a faint pop my Fairy Housekeeper turned up and took care of everything...
6. Santa Claus is shadowy and ominous.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a Christmas Shopping night in Milltimber, tomorrow my plans include another Craft Fair at Fyvie Castle and Sunday, I will be at Fyvie Castle again (so come along and see us)!

That's my answers.... now what will yours be?...x

DIGITAL DOWNLOAD...

Ok...Dyan has set a challenge using elements from her new digital ephemera downloads (which are fab BTW) and this is what I have come up with in a short space of time....x


PS - Need another tutorial n how to upload photos so that when you click on them you can see a bigger image...lol..

PPS - Nip over to Dyan's blog and check out her people of Walmart.... Look at the 6th one down... this made me laugh.. is she for real or what. Makes my trials looking for a swimming costume seem really, really, really trivial in comparison...LM(WS)AO...x

WEDDING VIDEO

Just in case no-one has seen this... I couldn't resist - it is one of my favourite YouTubes...x

MY LOVELY HUSBAND...AND MY LOVELY SON...

Well today my lovely hubby Allan was complaining that I haven't mentioned him in my profile so without further ado, please note that it has now been changed to include him...lol... Was going to add a photo of him but he would probably kill me...


PS - he came home from Australia after being away for 3 weeks on Monday morning and he left for Great Yarmouth at teatime today - hardly time to breath so that means I will be doing all the running around with the kids again this weekend. As we have the Fyvie Castle fair granny will be stepping in but unfortunately she doesn't drive so I have to be super organised for lifts throughout for dancing, judo and football... Morgan is playing AFC this weekend and I am gutted that I will miss it and his dad won't be there either... Stick in Morgan (and the rest of the Colony Colts U11 team) and save those goals, you know you can beat them....Good luck..x

CHRISTMAS BACKGROUND...X

Ok Judy has spoken so changed it is...lol...x

CHRISTMAS BACKGROUND...

Anyone think it's too early for a Christmas background yet???? Bit fed up of this one...

Niamh said something that made me giggle yesterday... we were driving along after nursery and she seen her friend Megan with her mum Moira and she told me that Megan's mummy is an ambulance driver and I said that's right... what is mummy? and she said I was a 'maker'.... isn't that sweet. She then decided that I was 'just a mummy'...

Thought I would also share some christmas gift tags that can be seen on a festive hamper near you from Mitchell's Dairy in Inverurie...

THE CHAPEL, 1 EDINMORE DRIVE, DAVIOT ESTATE, INVERURIE

THE CHAPEL, 1 EDINMORE DRIVE, DAVIOT ESTATE, INVERURIE: "£425,000"

Just been checking out ASPC and have found this up for sale - it's amazing... Absolutely love the galleried lounge area and the kitchen... Good price too... now if I could only persuade DH to move... Daviot Estate is where he wants to live so he could be persuaded (probably not tho!!!)... I can dream can't I...x

CHILDREN IN NEED SINGLE

Just seen this on Jo's blog and had to share... enjoy....x




Can't work out how to put the whole youtube screen on... maybe someone could enlighten me....x

LOTS OF LOVELY THINGS...

I have a thing about hearts and have done since we got married 7 years ago... I used two heart stamps on the invitations, etc (which btw are absolutely bogging now!!!!) and I have been stuck on them ever since so have a look at what I found in my corned beef hash the other night... I thought it was so sweet I had to take a piccie...lol...

I have also been playing about with paper this week but so far have only managed to come up with one card... think I will have to practice a bit more though... its been ages since I did anything with paper...take a look...

Its ok, but not brilliant and nothing near as good as anything Judy or Leigh make but it's a start...

And finally, here is my latest little obsession... I discovered it on Sue's blog and I have become a bit obsessed with trying it out... This is the first one I did while waiting outside Strikers tonight for Morgan who was at his AFC goalkeeping... I love it...

It's called Zentangle and if you google it there are plenty of hints and tips and even some video tutorials to get you started... Have a go... you know you want to...x

BBC TOP 100 BOOKS

I have been reading Dylan's blog this morning and she is very excited about the amount (FIFTY SIX) of books she has read on the BBC Top 100 Books list... I went through it and am ashamed to say I have only read TEN of them, four of which are Harry Potter ones... now those of you who know me will know that I am always reading and can't sleep unless I have a read beforehand no matter how tired I am... so I must be reading the wrong sort of books...lol...a lot of them are classics and that is not really my kind of book... i am more into a good mystery or thriller....x

POORLY CHILDREN

Poor Niamh... she was sick around 12.30 Sunday night/ Monday morning and has been running a high temperature ever since and sleep.. It's a miracle she slept the whole day yesterday and the whole night... she has been up for some breakfast this morning and has gone back to (my) bed to watch DVDs... bless...

The kids were supposed to be getting their photos done at lunchtime today but had to cancel due to the bug!!!

Poor Libby as well... I also had to cancel her wee Wii party on Monday afternoon as I wouldn't have wanted the girls coming here well and leaving poorly... she was very disappointed but I have promised here I will try to rearrange it very soon and as it is she is now poorly too, so no dancing for her this afternoon...

Never mind back to school tomorrow.. woohoo!!!!

Life at The Gables

I've pinched this from Life at the Gables and thought I'd give it a go this week since I don't really have any real blog news today....


1. The last band I saw live was some Abba tribute band at the sports Centre (just home!!!)
2. What I look forward to most on Thanksgiving or Christmas is Ellie in panto
3. My Christmas shopping list is (like Liz) still not written!
4. Thoughts of my bed at this mo fill my head
5. I wish I could wear anything I wanted and look great!! :) (hear, hear)
6. Bagpipes are brilliant, especially at the Edinburgh Tattoo
7. And as for the weekend, just been to see Abba, panto costume fittings, rehearsals, football, wii party for Libby on Monday, photographs taken on Tuesday (we have extra couple days of this weekend for inservice)....

Have a great weekend everyone...x

BLOG AWARD...

The very lovely Judy gave me this award this week. Thanks for thinking of me!

The rules are:
I need to pass this award on to five people, post on their blog to let them know I left this award, and then I need to answer a list of questions in ONE word.
So here we go:

1. Where is your cell phone? … kitchen table
2. Your hair? … mousey brown
3. Your mother?… no idea - just tried phoning her but she isn't in!!
4. Your father?… Dead
5. Your favourite food? … depends on my mood
6. Your dream last night?… nope
7. Your favourite drink? … Pimms and ginger beer, failing that a nice cup of tea...
8. Your dream/goal?… happy children
9. What room are you in?… craft room
10. Your hobby?… mmm that's a hard one... Crafting...lol...
11. Your fear?… being alone
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years?… not sure
13. Where were you last night? … making macaroni cheese for 10 (Libby's birthday tea)
14. Something that you’re aren’t?… hungry!! (just had a Subway for lunch)
15. Muffins?… raspberry or cranberry
16. Wish list item? … Doc Martin Boots
17. Where did you grow up? … Edinburgh, Invergordon, Inverurie
18. Last thing you did?… paid some money through paypal
19. What are you wearing?… sparkly t-shirt and bright blue cardi
20. Your TV?… CSI
21. Your Pets?… goldfish/ hamster/ dog
22. Friends? … hopefully lots!!
23. Your life?… very busy
24. Your mood?… creative
25. Missing Someone?… yes Hubby - in Australia
26. vehicle?… Porsche Cayenne
27. Something your not wearing?… glasses
28. Your favourite store? … Tesco...lol...
29. Your favourite colour?… green or grey
30. When was the last time you laughed?… this morning at Niamh
31. Last time you cried?… last week
32. Your best friend?… ????
33. One place that I go to over and over? … Tesco...lol
34. Facebook?… yes only just tho
35. Favourite place to eat?… at home

Very hard to keep to one word! Well you can see that I definitely haven't!!

I'd like to pass this on to some girls who are always leaving such encouraging comments on my blog. Thank you girls !!

1.Sonja 2. Tammy 3. Mandy 4. Dyan 5. Dee

Thanks for looking...x

LIBBY'S 7TH BIRTHDAY...

Well today is Libby's 7th birthday... can't believe she is 7 already... must be getting old then... She has got a new Turquoise DS that she wanted with the Hannah Montana game and I am sure there will be other games later in the day...

It's a bit of a funny day even though it's her birthday... have had open morning at nursery and my very good friend Liz is coming for lunch... we than have parent interviews at school this afternoon(really hope those go well)...

This is the lovely view outside in my garden today - it is bucketing with rain but the sun is shining too... that'll be why there is such a lovely rainbow...x

THAINSTONE... DAY 2...

Well it was a steady day at Thainstone... lots of people in quite a few buying - I really like it when friends coming in and you can bully... sorry did I say bully I meant suggest purchases for them... Today we had the lovely Judy in from Judy's Crafty Creations.. she is sooo lovely... I asked her to bring along a few cards for me so I could choose one for Libby's birthday which is on Wednesday and I can probably hear you saying why doesn't she make one herself (lazy moo that she is!!!) but Judy's cards are just little works of art and I could never make one up to that standard... It is such a lovely card.. This is the one I chose... Thank you Judy.. Hope you enjoyed the fireworks tonight...

We also got a very exciting booking today for Fyvie Castle's Victorian Christmas Fair (hope we are not expected to dress up as Victorians...lm(ws)ao...) It's a two day event on 28th and 29th November so I don't think there will be much sleeping going on til then as we have lots of mini events before that.... so hope to see some more potential victims.. I mean friends there... that's it for now - I am absolutely exhausted and am of to bed... still have earlyish (is that a word???) morning as Morgan getting picked up for football just after 9am and Ellie has panto rehearsal at 10am...x

THAINSTONE... DAY 1...

Well that's us back from Thainstone - was fairly quiet for a while then picked up and got quiet again and then there was another surge later on.., all in all a not bad day... we were also at the Toddlers this morning before packing up and head over so it's been a very busy day.. just having a 'nice' cup of tea (the tea at Thainstone was disgusting - must be really cheap teabags!!!) and got the flask and teabags looked out for tomorrow... of to bed in a mo after I have checked the takings for the day... Try to come along tomorrow if you can - it would be great to see familiar faces.. Oh yes and Sandra from Crafters Haven in Banff (Scrap Attack Sandra) is there too...x

PACKED UP AND READY FOR TOMORROW...

Well that's the last of the stuff packed up and in the car.. table cloths ironed (ironed I hear you say).. for those of you who don't know me very well ironing is not really part of my everyday vocabulary.., one of those pointless exercises that I do very rarely..lm(ws)ao... Have ironed Morgan's judo suit as well - he has a competition on Saturday that I am going to miss-go Morgan.. I will be willing you to win...

It's one of those really busy weekends - have an event first thing tomorrow and then pack everything up and unpack it again at Thainstone for two days and on top of that I have had to organise the kids social lives too - Niamh and Libby have dancing tomorrow after school and Morgan has judo. On Saturday Morgan has his judo competition.. Libby has a party and Ellie has dancing in the afternoon so I have had to organise lifts and babysitters for all this as well with Allan not being here... joy...really looking forward to Thainstone tho even if I am a bit nervous. More so than last year I think... Right of to bed now so I am bright and breezy for the morning - hope I have remembered everything!!!...x

MADONNA...

Tonight I have been busy with Cupcake stuff and I am crapping myself that I haven't done enough...AAARGH... you should see some of the beautiful stuff that Jude has done.. it is gorgeous and I would never be able to do that in a million years... anyway this is what I have been listening to tonight while painting and glittering... I just love this album and part of me bought it because I love the cover too-it is very art journally/collagey if you know what I mean...lol.. not sure if you will be able to enlarge it to see it properly but just go out and buy it, it's a fab album..x

WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH RED CUPS

Can anyone tell me what the deal is with the red cups at Starbucks... bear in mind the nearest Starbucks is 20 miles away from us and I very rarely go into town but I have seen this mentioned in loads of blogs lately and am curious... is it going to be worth a trip into town to sample one of these delights or not????...let me know pleeease...lol...x

BOOK CHALLENGE...

Anyone else up for it - I found the idea on Jo-B's blog Captured on Film and I thought it was a really good idea keping a list of the books you read - her challenge was to read a book a week for a year which I think for me is hopefully going to be quite an easy challenge as I read all the time (she says..lol...). So is anyone else up for it? I am going to start with the book I have just started called Cross Country by James Patterson... Happy reading if you do decide to take part....x

FIRST PAGE OF MY OWN JOURNAL....

This is the first page of an art journal just for me... not sure I will be sharing any more of it with you tho.. will see how I feel and how emotional it gets.. I started this from the prompts given by Sara Whitemire on the Caspiana blog, the second of which is to make the journal 'your own' so that's what I did and I am going to try and work my way through it step by step as I need a good shove in the right direction... She has a daily prompt which was posted a while ago and I downloaded it and printed it of - I have been reading lots of books and articles about journalling and I know there is no right or wrong way to do it but this give me the courage to get it down on paper and once I have done this I will hopefully have a better understanding of it... I am also keeping another two journals... one of which is about my kids and some of the funny things they say and do so watch out for pages from them.. I am really lucky that my new good friend Sonja is doing this too because as she says 'nobody really gets it' which is sooo true.. anyhow better go and make tea for the brood as they will all be starving no doubt... hope you enjoy the page...

Allan went away this morning only to be bumped and now he is at the airport waiting for a flight to Australia so I am all alone with the kids and will have major babysitting to sort out for this weekend at Thainstone...AAARGH.. why are they never here when you really need them...x

IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME....OH NO IT ISN'T...

Thought I would change my blog background today - can't seem to find one that I really like so this will do for now... Have a really lovely christmas one lined up but I think it is still waaay to early for that just now... what do you think???...x

CROPPING...

Hi guys... yesterday I spent the day in crafting heaven - a whole day crop with no children....bliss!!! (well apart from Elaine's two little ones who were absolutely adorable and nothing like Elaine...lol...)... I took along my good friend Susan who I have recently converted and she is very talented for a beginner but then she does have a bit of a head start on the crafting front as she is primary school teacher...lol... (oh and a Brownie leader now as well)... Here is a picture of her enjoying the day...

Today I have spent doing nothing much at all - just faffing about as we say - I did managed to get some hearts done but it has just been a day for snuggling up... the weather is disgusting and I don't think their could be any more rain to fall... the wind is howling too...x