2008 a year of hope?

hi folks,

right now I feel like I'm not gonna make it into 2008, I have flu and its really getting me down. I have been fighting this since before Christmas but managed to keep it at bay long enough to get through the fetivities at which I was expected to sing. I have my friends Elise to thank for that as she recommended these fab lozenges that worked miracles and gave me back my voice long enough to get through the services at church!

Christmas was lovely despite it all! We were expecting it to be very lonely as our daughter is married and we hardly see her now cos her husband won't give us the time of day. Then our youngest son announced he was spending Christmas day with his ex girlfriend. I was gutted at this cos he chose her above us when he's not even supposed to be going out with her any more. But at the last minute he realised how hurtful that was and changed his mind he spent Christmas day with us after all. Then in the afternoon Bekki turned up and stayed with us for a couple of hours too. It was a lovely day altogether. For the first time ever we actually got the turkey in the oven BEFORE going out to church so Christmas lunch was quite early and was cooked beautifully! The church service was really nice and it was good to greet our church family on that special day too. Everyone was delighted with their gifts and we went to visit my niece later in the evening. In every way the day was perfect!

That was last week. Now Col and I are both struck down big style, with headaches, stuffed up noses, sore throats and barking coughs. All we can do is lounge around on the sofa wrapped in blankets and just about manage to get up to make Greg his meals. It's Bekki's birthday today but we are too sick to go and see her and she is sick with it too.

Not sure if either of us will be awake at midnight but wish you all a wonderful new year filled with hope for the future and a deeper knowledge of, and relationship with our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.

Christmas blessings

hope you all had a lovely Christmas and remembered to celebrate the true meaning of it.

the run up to Christmas was very hectic for us this year, Col had his cataract removed from his eye just a few weeks before and had his post op assessment on Saturday morning just gone. They tell him his sight in that eye is now better than average, and he will have the right eye done soon too. it will be weird seeing him walking round without glasses.

I was busy preparing music for church carol services etc then in the last few crucial days I got a stinking cold which went straight to my throat and I lost my voice! Thanks to some great advice form a friend online I found some wonderful lozenges which gave me an instant fix and opened my throat up to allow me to sing.

despite that panic the services went really well and were a great blessing and helped focus our minds on God and his amazing gift to us - His own son!!

It was a lovely Christmas day, fellowship at church praising the Lord followed by a day of family time and lovely food- for once we managed to get the turkey in the oven Before church and it cooked beautifully, that has to be the best Christmas dinner we ever had!!

Next move is to get crafting with the goodies I got for christmas but I think I will leave it for a couple of days cos we are enjoying having a nice clear living room without craft stuff all over the place, I better let us enjoy that at least a few more days lol.

Hope your Christmas was full of blessings too and wish you a happy and prosperous 2008 filled with the joy of the Lord.

Back online and dont Kids say the strangest things !!

YAY I got my computer back!!!!

Well now I'm back I want to wish you all a Wonderful peace filled Christmas, and pray you all know the true Joy of this season.

I had a fab conversation with a kid at school the other day and I just gotta share it lol.

I have a habit of using words in conversation which I KNOW they won't understand and when they ask what it means I say "Go look it up"

Apart from winding them up which is always fun, this increases their vocabulary and helps the word stay in their long term memory. Anyway I used the word "Delinquent" with this lad in year 10 (Age 15 for my American friends) he found it means someone who flouts the law or doesn't pay his debts.

2 weeks later he came to me and said "Miss, we are all delinquents!"

I was confused and asked him how he had worked that out, and he proudly said "Because we all owe a debt to God and cannot pay it!"

I was gobsmacked! and so would you be if you knew this lad lol.

My reply after I picked my jaw up off the floor was "Thats why I thank God for Easter! and it sparked off a great conversation on how God had remedied that very problem.

Oh I love my job!!

OUTSTANDING!!

woohoo
The dreaded OFSTED inspection is over, and they judged us to be an "Outstanding school with some exceptional features" and my department (Special needs Department) got a special mention as "Exceptional"

This is always a tense time for anyone involved in education but it gives a weird sense of satisfaction to have achieved such an accolade from the government inspectors.#

we were told today that one of the inspectors had a jaw dropping experience with our students and they were blown away by how great our school is. I have no idea what that "jaw dropping experience" was but I intend to find out lol

checking in

Been having a break from card making for a while cos things have been hectic at work, getting a little stressed now cos we are being inspected at work to morrow and Tuesday(The dreaded OFSTED). Can't wait til thats over and I hope I will get back to making a few more cards afterwards. WATCH this space.

AT LAST!

ok so the blog has been neglected lately but its not my fault I gave in to all u nutters that kept inviting me to facebook!!
But anyway I had to come back here 'cos at last I can tell you all about the honour I got way back in August.

I belong to a world wide craft forum, in this forum are posts from many many talented card makers from all over the world. Its a great community of crafters, Many of whom are designers for craft magazines and such and its obvious when you see the talent on the boards.

I love to share the things I make on there. The members are so encouraging but also honest I know if I ask for constructive criticism on a project they will give me loads of ideas on how to improve it.

Anyway once a month they publish a newsletter and one of the items in it is recommended posts to look at on the forum, out of all the posts that month they choose maybe 6 to recommend and commend and I was so honoured when one of my cards got chosen.

I was sooo excited back then I was dying to tell everyone but I couldn't!

The reason being that the card chosen was one I had made for Miriam (Sunrise) to give to Katrina(Gymnast) on her birthday. Kats Birthday is today so I couldnt show her card til she had seen it.

I made several of thse fairy cards but here is the one that was commended on the cricut forum newsletter, (Wow such an honour)

Its a large card (A4 folded)
the lilac at the bottom is embossed with tiny bubbles and the name is backed and shadowed with a darker blue very like that in the top of the fairies skirt.

Tha fairy image is decoupaged, (Built up into a 3D image) with glitter added.

A new slideshow

ITS MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

ITS MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

lol I just had to share the laugh I had from the card Col got me.

it says "It's a fact that as you get older you get hugged tighter................."

and inside..

"By your clothes!!!"

I laughed so hard I choked!!!!!
well its only half an hour into my birthday and I need some sleep before facing the day properly so goodnight and God bless.

great start to term

well the first week of term is over and what a week it has been! We returned to celebrations to find our school has acheived an overall 66% of students acheiving 5 A*-C grades in GCSEs. That is the highest level ever and this year group has been described as the hardest year group we have taught.

But even more of a celebration for me was to find that several of our special needs students who did not expect to recieve any GCSEs have acheived well. Some of them getting as many as 4 grade Cs. It is wonderful to welcome them back into 6th form.

New staff have joined our team and seem to be settling well and getting on with existing staff. I was pleased to find that one of these new TAs has served a year as an apprentice in a local church and he has offered to help me with the Christian union which is exciting in itself.

Church has also been uplifting and encouraging. One of our young people has acheived amazing resutls gaining A* in all but two subjects in her GCSEs and even in these two she got As. We have learned that she came among the top five students in the country in her marks. WOW what an acheivement.

Our parish now has a new vicar and his first few services seem to show promise that he will be a great leader. This week we have been encouraged to have great vision in serving God in His power. today we set the date for our next praise and worship evening which is to be on 29th September, preparations for that begin next week.

I have also set a date to begin a craft group to bless our church members and friends with cards of blessing and encouragemnent at difficult times. Who knows what avenues of service this will lead to but its good to be using our gifts and talents to bless those around us.

Let's hope it continues as well as it has started.

Mickey and Minnie anniversary card.

hi there,
I made this card last week and can put it here now as they have received it
I did try to resist using the mickey Cartridge again but I failed. I just couldnt resist this gorgeous image of Mickey and Minnie hugging as it is so perfect for an anniversary card.
this is a silver wedding anniversary card for my friends Sylvia and Graham. 25 years!! Syl if you had killed him you would have been well out by now!!!! you deserve a medal!

Anyway Mickey and Minnie are cut at 5" and boy are they fiddly to put together! there is no way I could do them any smaller. The heart shaped card is made by cutting two hearts at 5 1/2" and fastening them together. Mickey and Minnie are placed so that the whole card is supported on their feet. It doesn't show up very well in the picture but the white ribbon across the corner has "Happy Anniversary " written across it in silver. And I finished off with rhinestones on her shoes and ribbon.
Once again I wish Graham and Sylvia God's richest blessings on their anniversary which is tomorrow and pray for many happy years to come ahead of them. Go celebrate my friends you deserve it.

Blackpool Chatroom meet up

Yesterday was the big Christian chat meet up in Blackpool.
we chose a great day for it, the sun was cracking the flags although it was a tad windy.

I met up with Kat(Gymnast) Jamie(Jammie Dodger) and Miriam(Sunrise) along with 3 other members of their family at the hotel right on time. Introductions followed while they continued getting ready to go out.

On the walk to central pier we were welcomed to Blackpool by Godzilla crashing over the rooftops.(not really but hey it sounds good)We met up with Steve(MagicmanS and Andrew(Strummer) on the pier and pursuaded Miriam and Kat to accompany me and Neil (Miriams youngest son) onto the Blackpool eye which is just a glorified ferris wheel really.That was hilarious as Miriam was terrified and her face will never be forgotten. We then proceeded to give each other whiplash injuries on the dodgem cars, it's amazing how much aggression comes out between a bunch of friends as soon as they get in those things lol it was fun.

Miriam was true to her word and pinched the fellas bums at every opportunity. I think Steve was quite traumatised by that experience. We enjoyed a lovely fish and chip lunch followed by the Dr Who exhibition, in which Steve found a portrait of himselfand Greg found the company a bit slithery.Greg and Kat got carried away in the tardisand Neil got a little choked by the clockwork man.Later while shopping Andrew had an identity crisis and couldnt remember whether he is Welsh or Scottishand it rubbed off on poor Neil.


we said our goodbyes to Andrew who went to join his family and went back to The hotel for a meal, after Steve had secured his room for the night. Jamie then proceeded to beat me at Pool after the greatest comeback in all time. he started off rubbish having only potted one ball to my six but then proceeded to down them all when I only had the black left. But not before he bet me a tenner I couldnt get myself out of a snooker situation which I did with no problem. I wont let him forget he owes me that tenner.

The meal was lovely- real Italian pizza yummmmmmKat and Miriam were all dolled up at this point

I decided to drive through the illuminations while the others went by tram up to the ball room so I could then continue my long journey home.

lots of hugging as we said our goodbyes, but before I was able to join the illuminations traffic Greg was asleep so I decided it was a waste of time going through that incredibly long and slow queue of traffic and just went home.

It was a very long but very satisfying day of fun and friendship meeting up with people I have got to know so well in the chat room.

Looking forward to the next one.

ch ch ch chip and Dale!!

oooh I do love my hubby!!

My birthday pressie arrived today and even though its not my birthday til 2 weeks on Friday Col said I can open it and play now!! so WOOOHOOOO I got all those lovely disney Characters to make for my cards !! Here is my very first one and of course it has to be Chip, and a thank you card for Col. its a blatant scraplift from a friend on the cricut message board who posted a similar card a few weeks ago. It was so cute I just had to do my own version of it!


ooh I'm so excited now but Im gonna be good and resist mickey, minnie, donald, daisy, pluto and goofy until my new cutting mats arrive (I hope they come soon)


hmmm why did that come out underlined and in blue? I havent a clue how I did that or how to undo that! -- the mysteries of blogging!!

a very special project for some very special friends.

hi friends.

I have been working on this project for a while now, (not least cos I've been nagging Graham to find the photo since May) It's a Silver wedding anniversary card commissioned by my friend Graham for him to give to his wife Sylvia.

For those crafters reading this, its a "Bookatrix" card so if you've not seen them before you can google that to find the tools.

There are many parts to this card so a few photos

It has three pages each one a little smaller than the one behind. the top page is made of vellum (Translucent paper)

on the left are silver bells with three hearts on them and down the middle is a rope plaited with three cords. and of course on the right is that lovely photo (What a handsome couple they are).

behind the bells on the left is a scroll with the verse from Ecclesiastes 5:12 " A cord of three strands is not quickly broken" this was chosen by Graham and is the reason for the three hearts and the three stranded plait. It signifies the strength of their union with one another and with The Lord.

Behind the photo is another scroll. This one is blank for his own message.

The oval at the front is not actually part of the card. Its part of the stand which I made for them to display it on.

The fourth picture shows the box in which the whole thing is presented.

I wish Both Graham and Sylvia richest blessings for their anniversary on the 4th September and many more years to celebrate ahead of them.

Lazy Sunday - Awesome God!

Sitting here enjoying the warm sunshine on my back, thinking "Ain't life Grand" Had a wonderful worship service at church this morning. Thinking about how important it is to not just read and study Gods word but also to put it into practice and let it guide our every step.

Now resting in his presence and giving thanks for the safe return of my friends Harry and Viv who returned this week after a year on mission in Tanzania. Oh it was so good to see them again. Also giving thanks for the 5 babies that have safely arrived in this world in the last 2 months to add to the joy in our church family. We now have three little boys and two little girls to cuddle on a sunday morning.

One in particular is a testimony to the amazing power of prayer and the grace of God. He was found to have cysts growing on his lungs when he was in the womb. All through the pregnancy his Mum and Dad were anxiously praying and holding on to the hope of healing. They were told that his chances of survival were slim and even if he was born alive he would need an operation straight away. WELL ! he was born on 28th July this year and is fine he didnt even go into the special care unit. Our God is an AWESOME God !

This afternoon I am scrolling through the pages of my friends' blogs and found, on JM's blog, that he has a guy coming to his church in September that I worked with in beach missions many times back in my teen years.

I have to go to that event! It will be so good to catch up with Gus. not sure if JM will be back from USA by then, but I will go anyway (Good job it aint too far from me lol)

Ok so now Im gonna sign off and go spend some time outside in this beautiful sunshine.

God bless my friends
love you all.

GREAT Customer Services!

WOW Provocraft sure take customer services seriously !!

I told them about my problem with mats not lasting very well and that I have been through 12 mats since I got my cricut machine in March. They were fab and just said they can replace up to 6 of them but need a US address to send them to.

I gave them Listers address in VA a week ago and WOW! he has received them already!!

hopefully I should have them in time to get playing with my new Cartridge in September.

I'm absolutely gobsmacked at this Service! If that was a UK company they would have insisted on seeing receipts and asked me to return the faulty mats first- but no messing about with Provocraft.

WELL they have definitely won my loyalty!! I would recommend them to anyone.

They have me totally hooked on Cricut and Cuttlebug products!

What a beautiful day!!

sitting here enjoying a rest between attempts to tame my jungle that used to be a garden. Don't think I will get to make any cards today but that's ok.

I'm happy anyway cos last night Col ordered my birthday pressie and got confirmation that it was on its way. OOOOOHH I'm so excited I'm getting the Disney Mickey and friends cartridge to use on my cricut machine. So watch out this autumn there will probably be lots of Disney cards coming out here. Ony problem is I will have to wait til half way through september to play with it!! ggrrrr. I cant wait to see Chip and Dale making their way onto my cards I love those cute lil chipmunks.

tonight me and Col escape for a night out. We are going to see The Bourne Ultimatum at the cinema and then out for a meal. Really looking forward to that. Greg is gonna go play with his pal Josh for the evening. so we are Freee. Hope he has a fun time too cos he's working his socks off with me in the garden today.

Oh well that's enough rambling for today byee

Tear bear

not sure if I'm gonna actually get away for a holiday this year but I am enjoying being at home with the family and getting lots of time for crafting.

I even got to try a new technique today which turned out so cute. I have been contemplating making one of these for ages and saw the cutest one today and had to try it.

Here is my tear bear. he is made by simply tearing pieces of mulberry paper into appropriately shaped and sized pieces (Mostly just ovals).

I need more practice to get them right but Im quite pleased with this as my first attempt.

heres another slide show of cards

Exploding box album

I made this for my niece and her new husband. a little something special to showcase a few of their favourite wedding/honeymoon pics in. I left it empty but when they have chosen the pics they want in it. I will fill it and embellish the pics for them.

Each "page" inside can hold a photo 3"x3" or 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
The shny surface on the lid and the gold surface with cream hearts inside was made from the balloons at their reception. I cut a piece of the balloon material. Stretched it across a square of card and stuck it on the other side. Then I heated it up with a hairdryer to make it shrink and pull tight and smooth.

my cards (Trying again lol)

some of my cards

- Get Your Own

here are a few more. I told you I was on a roll lol


hmm for some reason the card behind the "Its a boy" circle appears pink in the photo but it is actually a very pale lilac.

I've been busy making cards again, here are a few of the things Ive made. Today I have been on a roll using up pieces I had cut out ages ago and never got round to using. I restricted myself to making cards without cutting any new shapes out and every card had to use up at least one shape or embossed image from my stash.

Do And Mikes Wedding day

ok time to blog the wedding itself, lol

It was fantastic! Do looked Gorgeous, and Mike scrubbed up pretty well too. Litle Mikey was absolutely adorable and I shed a tear or two to see him formerly give his mum away in the service and even make a speech and propose the toast at the reception, so grown up for his 11 short years. Mikey is now so proud to be a Murphy!

The ceremony was perfect, so moving I nearly choked as I read 1 Corinthians 13 for them from "The Message" The service was lovely and the minister was very clear about how important the Christian aspect of marriage is. Rick who is also a minister and is a close friend of Do and Mike gave a wonderful address about the importance of unconditional love in a marriage.

The reception was lovely. The best part was that my son Greg, who is very difficult to understand when you dont know him, was able to order his own drinks all night and the bar staff took the time to listen properly and understand him. He was so proud that he was able to get things for himself.

We danced til the wee small hours and many took part in the karaoke too I was amazed when Do got up and sang her heart out even though she cant see the computer for the words. I danced so much I ached for 3 days afterwards. Here are some pics

wedding part 2

I also spent a very hectic week putting together 90 order of services for the ceremony. this was nerve wracking as it had to be perfect. Do and Mike were very pleased with the results. I also created some place settings for the top table which were an extra surprise for them.

hmm I just realised I didnt take pics of the monkey gift tags I made for her to attach to the pressies for the two tiny tots involved in the wedding.

The last thing was of course their wedding card from me and my family. this was extra special. All 3D. and Do cried when her husband read out the various elements of it out to her as she felt it.

the names "Dorothy and Mike" are embossed on the top, inside left the scroll contains the words of 1 Corinthians 13 which I read out at their wedding.the brass bookmark on the right has three hearts with the words "Love Never Fails" on it. In the centre are two wooden roses with the stems bound in a heart shape and a tag reading"Bound together in love".

On the back I added a greeting tag that said " We pray that today marks the beginning of a long and happy marriage where you both together with Mikey will be bound together in a love that is unconditional and eternal, have a fabulous wedding day you both deserve it so much"

This has special significance for Do as we have only recently rekindled our relationship after years of hardly ever seeing one another. We are from a very disfunctional family in which both of us have found that the love is far from unconditional. We have both been marginalised by the family for very different reasons. But from each other we have found the unconditional love that should mark all families. Being involved in Do's life this past year and especially in her wedding plans has made me feel part of a wider family again which I have not known for years.