The World of Kazz

New Addition to the family

2011-03-06T06:45:00.000-08:00

hmmm ok I've been rubbish at keeping this up yet again! Can't believe its nearly a year since my last update. a lot has happened in that time, but the most important thing was very recent. I became a Grandmother!!!!

My beautiful daughter Rebekah gave birth to her beautiful little girl Rachael Lily Annabel on 8th February 2011 and she weighed in at 7lb 8oz. Mother and baby are both doing well. Rachael is gorgeous!!! But then I am just a little biased in that opinion.
Here are a few photos to show how the family are all besotted with her.

this is her with Mum, it's so weird to think that my baby now has a baby!!

Grandad is in love again! lolHere is a very proud uncle Lewis trying hard to look cool, but you can tell she has melted his heart too.

Rachael was just 4 hours old when this was taken! I was in awe of the miracle of new life yet again!

Another very proud uncle. this is my Greg he is totally besotted with her! Can't you tell?

My favourite cards made in last 3 months

2010-05-31T03:14:00.001-07:00

This is a wedding card made for my friends mum and Stepdad. She asked me to make it after she saw the birthday card below.
This was made for my best friend Emma. shes an awesome friend so only the best for her.
I made this when Jean left our school for a job elsewhere. She will be greatly missed. I really love how her card turned out although that hydrangea cut is sooo fiddly to do lol.
Im loving using peeloff butterflies on acetate to make the wings transparent. I think the shadow cast adds such a lovely dimension to the cards.
And this is my absolute favourite so far. I used the hibiscus corner feature on Storybook cartridge, cut it three times and cut the centre flower out alone for the top layer. Cuttlebug border embossing, cut'n'emboss butterfly and liquid pearls finished it off perfectly.

lol do you see a theme?

More Easel cards

2010-05-10T10:56:00.001-07:00

I like this one I did the decoupage ages ago but had no inspiration to use it. The easel cards seemed the right way to use it.

the greeting on the holographic panel says "Birthday Wishes" that stuff is so hard to photograph!
Jennie loved this almost as much as I loved making it.
Another lovely butterfly from the Indie Art cricut cartridge.

Easel cards - my new addiction

2010-04-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

I got the inspiration for these cards from the cicut message board and now I've tried them I can't make any other style lol

2010-03-17T10:13:00.000-07:00

I made this card to use up the dimensional stickers which I have had for a while. they look very effective on this card.

this is a Mothers day card made for the grandma of a colleague at work.

Mothers day cards. I made 7 of these for colleagues at work, in varying colour schemes but all to similar designs to the next two cards.
I had forgotten how much hard work the hydrangea cut was so I only made one of those, the rest were roses.

creative February

2010-03-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

February was a busy month crafting.
I made this sympathy in soothing black, white and silver.
There are lots of layers, silver peel off stickers and embossing, finished off with a stamp to say
"thinking of you at this difficult time" Inside is another stamp reading *Praying for you"

Another sympathy card again in black and wite.
I embosssed the birdsong folder on shiny white card and added white pearl drops to the grasses. I also embossed a black piece and cut out the bird to add contrast.

these butterflies are made of acetate and spring out when taken from the envelope. I left this one blank so it could be used for any occasion.

This is my favourite card made this month. It is for my husband on our 25th Wedding Anniversary which is on 2nd March. I just love the backing papers I used on this, they are so textured and pretty.

Daisies

2010-02-03T15:13:00.001-08:00

This is a Dasiy made for a lady whose surname is Teal, the detail inside is posted above. I loved the colour combo on this one.

Gold daisy on an embossed black background. this was very dramatic and sold within five minutes of getting to work lol.
this is the same card despite lookin ga very different colour.

Fab card made by Emma

2010-02-03T14:51:00.001-08:00

This is a fab card that my mate Emma made (under some instruction).

She did such an amazing job of it, lol she really has caught the craft bug.

more Winter Crafts

2010-02-03T14:45:00.000-08:00

And here are some more cards (Told you I had some catching up to do)

The folowing pics are all of the same card but it's so detailed it needs to be viewed from several angles.

Catching up

2010-02-03T14:38:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of catching up to do so here are a few cards I have made.
above is a Joy fold card, which is actually like a large card with a smaller one attached to the front overlaping its fold. It makes an interesting and unique design.

I love this lily decoupage and especially the torn paper effect i used to layer it.

More of the goodness of God

2009-08-23T08:53:00.001-07:00

Me and Christine my wee pal from Edinburgh. Ooh we had a giggle. Love ya loads Christine. one of these days we will go see Cliff together!!!
Lisa and Steve. Steve's a scouser and it shows. What a nutter!!!! He's a bringer of fun and laughter but also has a serious side. Steve I will never forget how God used you to bless me this weekend.
Graham the mad weegie (He's from Glasgow)
Carl came over from Ireland to join the madness on the mainland. Carl you are a joy to know. a real inspiration.
hmmmmm they were hearing voices! Adrian you do make me laugh and I love ya loads bro. and Steve my wee pal from over the water in Liverpool. I so needed a good giggle that weekend and you made sure I got it!!! thanks.

This is the third photo Lisa has shown up in so I wont say any more about her lol.

The goodness of God

2009-08-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

Well its been an eventful summer.I have been blessed with great friends in my life. Many of them unfortunately live a long way from me. However a couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of meeting up with a lot of them for an awesome weekend of fun and fellowship in Manchester. We laughed, we walked, we talked. We laughed some more and enjoyed good meals together. We chatted well into the night before retiring in our hotel and then enjoyed worshipping God together in church.

Many of these friends I had never met in person before (we are interneet chat pals). and yet that weekend it was like we had known each other for years a reunion between long standing friends. Some had burdens to share and we shared freely and bore each others burdens. This brought more love and freedom than we could have imagined. It has deepened our friendships.

We even had the privilege a few days later to see two of our friends finding a deeper assurance of love in Jesus as they gave their lives to Him. since then God is continuing to work on me. I am a complicated person lol he has a lot of work on His hands, but I am rejoicing that He is not shying away from the workload and has begun a new work in me.

He is an awesome God, and no matter how soiled I am, He loves me and He has cleansed me ready for His work. It will never cease to amaze me how God can use even me for His Kingdom. He is so powerful, so wonderful, so loving, so merciful.

WOW what can I say?? I love Him and I always will.

Here are some photos of the weekendSammy and Jon. A lovely couple who are looking forward to marriage next January. God bless you both, you are a beautiful couple.

Ritchie, Emma and Stacey. three wonderful friends who bring fun and laughter into my life as well as reminding me how great God is.

Dan and Lele - another lovely couple preparing to start their marriage next year. You can't help but giggle when these two are around they are such fun. Beautiful and loved children of God! what a joy to know them.

Lisa is a Mighty warrior for God. Satan watch out when this girl is around.
John is a well loved friend who loves God and shares that love with all he meets.

This is me and Emma. I thank God for sending me such an incredible blessing on my llife in this girl. She rocks. For my cricut friends. the card that got a mention in the Chirp (Give your troubles to God, he'll be up all night anyway) was for Emma.

more summer crafts

2009-08-04T10:43:00.000-07:00

I'm enjoying decoupage again. this pansy decoupage is quite deep with 7 layers.

another decoupage. not quite as deep as the pansies but very calming and beautiful.
this one is much more girly than my usual style. the baasket ws salvaged from a shop bought card, and I added all sorts of flowers, including rhinestone flowers and sequins.
I had these odd shped panels in a card kit and it took a while for me to figure out how to use them. this layout is growing on me andi really like the stamped butterfly which I cut out and mounted on pop dots.
Finally this is the Cross Key holder I made for Emma, to accompany the card which was in the previous post. the cross is cut several times on my cricut machine. Glued together to give depth and then embossed with glossy embossing powder to make it look like a ceramic tile. the top layer of card has a marble pattern on it for extra effect, and the torquoise backing is glittered.

WOW I got a mention in the chirp!!

2009-08-04T10:37:00.001-07:00

For those who don't know- the Chirp is an online Crafting newsletter on the cricut message board. every month they highlight about 6 that have been posted in the discussion forum. It is such an honour that out of the hundreds of projects posted there, they chose mine.

This is the card I made for Emma as a housewarming and encouragement card. Most impoprtantly emma loved the card.

the verse says : Give your troubles to God He will be up all night anyway.
He will not allow your foot to slip
He who keeps you will not slumber
Psalm 121:3
This is actually a fridge magnet made by my good friend Peter, which I thought was perfect for Emma so I put it on her card. (Thanks Pete!)

more summer cards

2009-07-22T16:33:00.001-07:00

This is a thank you Card I made for a colleague at work. I love the new cuttlebug thanks Embossing folders. aI allso used the sizzix daisy on this.

the above two pics are a first birthday card I made for my friend's daughter Laylah. Ilove making personallised cards especially for those with unusual names like this one.I used Paper dolls cricut cartridge for the face, hair and tiara. Plantin schoolbook for the lettering and a lovely tiny flower punch which I borrowed from my friend Chris. I also used the divine swirls cuttlebug embossing folder and the Martha stewart doily edge punch.

The graduation card above was made with a card kit I got free on freecycle. Its amazing what people give away on there lolI quite llike the suimplicity of this one.

Love is in the Air

2009-07-20T07:29:00.001-07:00

When I took Jules and Dans card to work I immediately got 4 more orders for cards. here is the first. almost the same but wthout the personalilsed names

This one used the double heart cut from Indie Art and a gorgeous verse sticker panel with the words of 1 corinthians 13
another named card but this time using it landscape so the cake stands 3 dimensionally in front of the names. I put an extra flap on the back so it still stands independantly.
and finally this gorgeous Bride and groom from the wedding cart I layered the black suit on the groom and the top panels of the dress, which I embossed with swiss dots. the black frame is glitter card.

more cards for June/July

2009-07-20T07:23:00.001-07:00

This is a wedding box album I made for my friends Jules and dan for their wedding in June

Here is a close up view of one side

and the card to accompany the gift.

This is a birthday card I made when I got the Indie art cartridge for my crricut machine. I just had to try out that gorgeous butterfly cut.

Win $1,000 at TheCuttlebugSpot.com!

2009-07-10T11:51:00.000-07:00

oh wow what a prize!!!

Win $1,000 at TheCuttlebugSpot.com!

I have just discovered that The Cuttlebug Spot is having a contest - "The Journey to 1,000"! They are trying to reach 1,000 followers by the end of July and need your help. To enter all you have to do is go to their site, sign up as follower and complete a few easy steps and you could win a $1,000 gift certificate to Custom Crops (www.CustomCrops.com)! GO NOW and check it out at www.TheCuttlebugSpot.com

2009-07-08T10:45:00.001-07:00

WOW two posts in one day!!

This is the isle of St Ninians, joined to the main Island by a bar of sand that has the Atlantic ocean lapping up on both sides and is never covered by tide

I just had to show the card I made for Carol and John to say thank you.

And this cute Shetland pony foal. He was so tiny it was amazing!

this is one of Many fantasic views around the island!

I'm rubbish at Blogging lol

2009-07-08T10:18:00.000-07:00

lol ok so Im rubbish at blogging. July already and this is just my second post this year!!!! And I started out so well too. This year has been weird. Either there is so much happening that I don't have time to blog, or things are so quiet that I never think of blogging cos nothing is happening.

Hmm well whats happened lately?? Back in May I had the best holiday ever! I visited my friend in Shetland, (for my foreign friends that is a lovely island north of Scotland). the scenery there is stunning! here are a few pics

These are puffins and they are so used to people that I didnt need to zoom in they really were this close to me!
These seals were enjoying the sunshine and then came and swam round our boat.

This is Carol's house where I stayed, it is set in a beautiful valley with two lochs on front of it! Paradise!!!!!

Me on the shore. There were so many inlets of the sea, it was difficult to tell whether a body of water was lake or sea!! I figured out if its got boats on it then it is the sea. Shetland people dont bother putting boats on lakes.

This is my friend Carol who I went to stay with, she is the best host ever and I didn't want to come home.

welcome to 2009 better late than never!

2009-04-14T11:26:00.000-07:00

ok so Im rubbish at keeping up a blog!!!!!!

lol 4 months into the year and I am finally posting! its been a busy start to the year. some great things happening and some not so great.

last month I had a bit of a health scare which knocked me for six. I found a lump in my breast and it was confirmed by my Doctor who immediately referred me to a specialist. however in the meantime I had lots of people praying and by the time I saw the specialist, 10 days later, the lump had gone! So that was a massive relief. I am now on a screening programme so will be recalled in 12 months to check up on it. That was a wake up call that made me realise just how precious and unpredictable life really is. I am determined to enjoy every minute I have.

Over easter church had a mission week which was excellent. We heard testimony of God changing many lives in dramatic and wonderful ways., and how knowing God in our lives makes everything come together for good as he gives us the strength and determination we need to get through all that life throws at us.

Crafting has been a slow this year but I've made a few that I will show here.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-27T04:15:00.000-08:00

Well Christmas was actually really nice this year.

I didn't even start Shopping til 22nd December, and put our tree and lights up that day too. Before that I was too busy concentrating on the REAL message of Christmas. Busy with church stuff making sure the message of Christmas got out to all who attended. Preparing music for the Christmas Eve service in which we sang in Arabic (Coptic to be exact). I ws so nervous about that one I was glad we did it first so I could enjoy the rest of the service without worrying, but actually it went really well. The carol Service at school was lovely too. It was great to see that the REAL message of Christmas didnt get lost in all the commercial festivities, and that our children heard the truth of what it's all about. It was good that all the panic of the shopping side was confined to just 2 days so I could really prepare myself for the coming celebrations.

Christmas day was lovely,Lewis Came to church with us and that was a great start to the day. We thought it was just going to be Myself, Col and Greg for Christmas dinner as Lewis went off to his Girlfriends house, but our daughter Bekki joined us too so it was lovely!

Everyone was really pleased with their gifts (including me as I got 2 cricut jukeboxes, which means I will be able to have ALL my cricut cartridges plugged in at same time. WOOHOO.) We haven't heard a peep out of Greg since he got his PSP. And Lewis is off taking photos somewhere with his really expensive digital Camera.

Hmmm Next step is BIRTHDAYS!

It's Bekki's Birthday on New year's Eve and for once she will be able to spend some time with us on the day. Her and her husband have gone away for new year for the last two years but not this year. Now we have to think of something to do on that day so its not wasted. then on 8th January is Lewis's birthday, and the 20th is Col's So the expense of this time of year is not over for us yet.

ok here are a few cards I made this month. There are a few I cant post yet cos my computer has been reformatted and the photo programme hasnt been reinstalled yet. They will be posted next time.

Where did November go??

2008-12-01T10:42:00.000-08:00

hmmm I seem to have lost a whole month!

It flew by because it was so busy lol not much crafting done.

It started with my nieces 18th Birthday party. It was great to catch up with family who I dont see very often. I even had a laugh trying to get her Dad (My brother Dan) to dance the macarena which was hilarious lol he had no chance of keeping up, he was way too drunk.

I had a weekend in Telford with my beloved, which was lovely even though the Saturday was spent walking round a model makers convention. the following weekend I spent in Glasgow with good friends which was a manic time. I arrived in Glasgow on Friday night at 10pm to find the city centre alive with revellers. I was met by Graham and we had a whacky time online in Christianchat til the early hours. Saturday we met up with many more friends from the chat room. Including many that I had not met before, and discovered that Emma, who calls me "Mum" is only 6 years younger than me! However that fact doesnt stop her calling me Mummy. hmmmm. It was lovely to finally meet John (AKA McTavish) It's really strange how you can meet someone for the first time and feel like you've known them all your life!

Church was great! I like the Scots tradition of having church on Saturday night and sunday mornings. Graham and Sylvias's church always make me feel so welcome. And we all had a great laugh when Graham was told he was going to be preaching on Sunday morning (12 hours notice is plenty lol). As usual god really spoke to me and has started a process of more change in me as a result.

The train journey home was great, really relaxing, until I got to Liveropool that is, when I found that the trains to Wirral were off and I had to get a bus!!

So that was November!! Busy busy Busy! there have been a few Birthdays in the meantime so here are a few cards I did manage to make Do you see a theme?? lol Im really loving these panels from the storybook cricut cartridge and Im really glad I have the expression machine now cos Multicut makes these intricut cuts soo much easier.

Well now it's December and Im expecting this month to be even busier so not sure whe I will get a chance to post again. so in case I dont get back before the celebrations I want to wish you all a Peaceful and Joy filled Christmas.

October, shaky start but getting better

2008-10-19T11:54:00.000-07:00

well October got off to a bad start this year I was soo ill!!

I cant remember ever being that ill. It was a chest infection but gave the worst fluey symptoms I have ever had. High temperatures, fever, sweating, no sleep lack of appetite, shakes and a cough that gave me brain ache. Hubby tried to cheer me up with Chocolate which just made me vomit. Oh I was so miserable that week. The First course of antibiotics got rid of the fever and sweating but still coughing and not sleeping, so went straight onto second course of antibiotics which did kill it off after another week. I have never been so happy to be back at work lol.

The following week things got better. I went away with yr 7 at school. (200 11 yr olds at an outward bounds camp). We had a fabulous time and did abseiling which I was sooo thrilled to do (Wow what an adrenaline rush), climbing, archery, (in which I nearly killed a sheep when my arrow went over the barrier) and caving which baffles me how anyone can take pleasure in crawling round narrow, dark , damp tunnels underground!!, but hey the kids enjoyed it so thats great.

Also on this trip I discovered a new skill which I didn't know I had. I was in charge of a dormitory of boys which consisted of 5 rooms each with 4 boys in them. one of the nights a lad in my dorm was having trouble breathing and it turned out he was asthmatic but his Dr had told him he didnt need his inhaler any more so he didnt have it with him. Well after a quick prayer for help I settled the four lads into bed and did a relaxation reflection wit them, asking them to imagine they were in a nice green valley with a river running through. Enjoying a nice day with those they love. I concentrated their minds on various aspects of the scene to relax him and help him breath clearly. I finished by praying for the Lord to keep his airways clear so he could breath through the night. It worked like a dream and they all drifted off into a deep sleep. Next morning when I checked on them they all asked "Miss, did you hypnotise us last night? It was dead good I slept really well." After I stopped laughing I explained that was an answer to my prayer.
It was a lovely few days away and the boys in my dorm were so well behaved it was a pleasure to be with them.

Back home now and glad to be back in my own bed at night things are getting even better. Hubby has cashed in a bit of his pension so we are picking up our new car on Wednesday. Timing for that was perfect since his previous one has just packed in for good. And to top that he heard he is getting quite a bit more than he was expecting so he has bought me a new Cricut expression machine. OOOH Im so excited about that and cant wait to get it. Im sure that will mean even more cards to show off in here.

Ive not made very many this month with all thats been going on, but here are a couple to be going on with.

I did this one to use the scalloped circles which were given to me ages ago by a friend on the cricut message board. the "Youre in my prayers fitted so well into a circle to use them.

This one was for a card swap on the cricut message board and was made with my new Cricut cartridge (Storybook)

This one came about because of that lovely leaf and stem stamp. I added a gold circle on which I mounted the purple cuttlebug butterfly and a peel off tag mounted on copper cardstock, with hapy birthday in the middle. I added some lovely purple flowers to the top of the tag.

This one has been in my scraps box for ages I cut the border ages ago when I first got my border cutting set but then didnt know what to do with it cos I dont really like peach as a base colour. I saved it by adding the black background to contrast. and the copper butterflies too.

I got an award from Julie!!!

2008-10-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

hi friends,

my good friend JulieH left me an award today I feel so honoured as Julie is an amazing creative person and I cant see how she could possibly take inspiration from me visit her blog here
http://huxtershouse.blogspot.com/

The Rules
1.The winner can put the logo on their blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 5 other blogs.
4. Before listing the nominees give a brief reason why you chose them.
5. Put links of those blogs to yours.
6. Leave a message on the blogs you've nominated.

I am nominating these Blogs because I have been inspired and encouraged by their work on many occasions.

1. Lana http://sweetpeaspapercreations.blogspot.com/
2. Jill http://jillscardcreations.blogspot.com/
3. Jade http://jadiesart.blogspot.com/
4. FeFe http://fe-fesworld.blogspot.com/
5. DeeDee http://deedeecampbell.blogspot.com/

ok so I couldnt fit enough in one post lol

2008-09-21T12:29:00.003-07:00

Here are a few more I created this month.

This was for a teenage girl, handmade batik paper backing. Get well soon, flourishes and flowers all cut with the cricut machine and inked in pink.
This was made for a good friend of mine from church who truly is an inspiration and encouragement to me.
I was really pleased with this one it matched the wedding colour scheme. all cuts done with the cricut and their names and congratulations printed on the computer, I used the swiss dots cuttlebug embossing folder too.
This was ordered by a friend after seeing a similar one in my facebook album. Nicky loves motorbikes.
This was made with a premade aperture card blank months ago but laid aside as I couldnt think how to finish it. I finally decided on the copper butterfly and yellow skittles last week.

ok so I couldnt fit enough in one post lol

2008-09-21T12:29:00.001-07:00

here are a few more created this month

September crafting

2008-09-21T12:18:00.000-07:00

Back at work now but still creating in my evening relaxation time, here are just a few cards I have made this month.

Thiswas made with the cuttlebug birdsong folder the bird on grass image is embossed then the bird cut out from glossy black and stuck on top, I added a few tiny pearl accents for grass seed. Get well soon was cut with my Cricut machine.
I bought these decoupage butterfly tiles to give them a try. I think they are quite effective but I prefer the effect on the daisy to that on the buttefly
This was made especially for my friend to give to her husband, She designed it with me I love the Red and Gold colour scheme It hink it turned out pretty neat.
another birdsong embossing folder card but this time I went over the embossed area with a new colour marker which lays down multi coloured glittery chalk. Pretty neat.
This is my favourite so far this month. Butterflies and flourish cut with Cricut machine and I found a stamp flourish which matches it pretty well too. The colours dont show up well on this but the butterflies and flourishes are made from coppery metallic card and backed in a deep green. Happy Birthday is stamped and then embossed in metallic green too.

Back to work tomorrow so here are my last summer craft creations

2008-09-01T16:03:00.000-07:00

well it may have been a wet summer but it still flew by too quickly

my Good friends JM and Meg got married in Maine USA on 16th August, but for all their English friends they are having a celebration on 6th September which I will be attending. This is the acceptance card I made for it.
The backing of this is made from wallpaper borders which I picked up as a free sample in B & Q. Double layered and matted with black. the Happy Birthday label was made on my label maker and the flutter of red butterflies were done with my new Martha stewart punch. ( My favourite purchase this summer)
The tag on this card was on a pair of Jeans and I recued it when my son went to throw it in the bin. another free sample wallpaper border which reminded me of waves so it had to be a bon voyage card. This I hand wrote in silver. I added some funky fibres tothe tag and put an acetate butterfly on top coloured with permanent markers.
This was my bargain I am so pleased with these. Hand cut butterflies from China. They are cut from very fine tissue paper and then hand painted. I thought they needed to be seen from fornt and back so I sandwiched it in acetate and placed it in an aperture which I cut with my cricut machine. the flowers were also cut with the cricut and everything else is peel off stickers. I put a yellow paper insert in this and placed a square of glittery Gold paper on the insert to rest behind the aperture to back the butterfly.
This one was cut with the cricut too. Col says its a Triffid lol but dont worry its well stuck down so it aint gonna walk off the card

Suummer Crafting

2008-08-23T13:50:00.001-07:00

I'm enjoying lazy summer days making cards to pass the time and really enjoying it too.

This was made with the negative pieces from a peel off medallion sticker. Its a half folded front and there is another circle behind the front one for writing on when the card is open.

The oval here was saved from a shop bought card, I used cuttlebug embossing on the blue panels and cut the sentiment and the flourish with my cricut machine.

This is an unusual fold. Its called a Spring card cos when you open it the front Springs up and stands on its corner as shown here.

I got pretty excited when a friend shared this technique for making Very pretty delilcate butterflies. I love them and they are so easy to do and fun too.

I took it a step further and stamped some of the butterflies in black instead of white to go with this Monochrome layout.

colouring challenge

2008-08-21T08:40:00.000-07:00

I dont do much in the way of stamping, I've never had much success with it but there was a challenge put out on the cricut message board. Aprile sent out stamped images to anyone who wanted to take part and the challenge was to colour the image using a technique called MCPT which basically involves colouring in with ordinary pencil crayons and blending with either Gamsol(Odourless Mineral spirits) or baby oil gel which is what I used.

I scanned and reprinted my image several times to give me plenty of practice (And the ablity to choose the best one to put on my card lol).
As I am going through a bit of a pink and black phase right now I had some negative circle cuts to use up so here it is with a few scroll cuts from my cricut machine

Then I decided to change my colour scheme and went for pink and green. I think I prefer the first card but I do like the sentiment on this

Check out Enfys Blog Candy

2008-08-21T05:32:00.000-07:00

check out this fab blogsite for some wonderful creations and the chance to win some yummy blog candy from Enfys Her cards are the best.

http://going-buggy.blogspot.com/

Even more new cards

2008-08-18T11:49:00.000-07:00

I made this one for my good friend Shelly over in USA she is such an amazing inspiration to me in so many ways.

Close up detail

This was made for my good friend Jeannie and comes along with many prayers Jeannie has been through such a tough time lately losing two beloved members of her family within a week of each other.

here is a close up of the decoupage layering
and the inside
Still thinking of you Jeannie and praying that the Lord will indeed give you all the strength you need at this hard time

scrappin' summer

2008-08-18T11:37:00.000-07:00

I'm enjoying lazy days at home for now, and lots of time for my card making.

This is a Birthday card I did with one of my fave colour combinations Black and yellow is so dramatic

I love this new embossing folder with the candles

I made this for my friend to give to her friends on their wedding day

more butterflies and embossing.

I set myself a challenge

2008-08-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

well today we went to a local car rally where our MPV was parked up in an enclosure with all the others from the owners club. At these events I often sit in the sun and make some cards while hubby and son spend hours looking at and taking pictures of cars.

yesterday I came across an old plastic toolbox full of crafting bits from a loong time ago before the days of cuttlebug and cricut machines. It had bits of papers and card. some old shop bought cards, some interesting pieces of wallpaper and packaging, some sticker packs and a few embellishments. So I challenged myself to make some cards with the contents (I threw in a handful of butterflies cut with my new punch which I just couldnt resist and a few base cards, and adhesives).

I was really pleased with the results.

1/ this was made with a blue pearl base card and the border and large panel are pieces from wallpaper. I put a strip of hologram card behind the panel and the flowers were from a bought card that was in the box. I added a couple of butterflies and some rhinestones.
2/ This was made from a bought card which had a large panel of floral pattern and an embossed scalloped border. I used a small cream base card and folded the front panel back on itself. I cut off the scalloped border keeping a very narrow slice of the pattern on it. and placed that against thefolded back edge. I put the floral pattern inside and cut off the excess. With the excess I made a smaller panel and rounded the cvorners with a punch. I then cut round this slightly bigger on white card twice this was taken from the back of a bought card. I attached one white panel to the back of the floral panel and kept one for inside.

After tucking the panel in just behind the scallop border I placed the other panel directly behind it and added some triple layer butterflies.

3/ this is my favourite one. I used a yellow pearly card base and placed the stripy paper across from corner to corner and added a funky stripe border sticker across the centre and another one across the corners. the flower was froma bought card, but I had to cut out the red layer from the base card. the large pink one is cut from a bookatrix embossing board and I was amazed how well the flower fits inside it.

This last one was not part of the challenge. I made it the other day when my new Marth Stewart butterfly punch arrived. I have been wanting this for so long after seeing what Gorgeous cards my American friends were making with them, It took me a while tofind a vender on Ebay who wasnt asking for more than what it is worth just for postage lol.

The border panel was cut with the punch and I added glitter butterflies in some of the spaces.
Layered panels with corners rounded. the vine was cut n the Cricut from the Home Accents cartridge. the large buttefly is 3 layered First with the cuttlebug butterfly then with one I got in a shape set from QVC Years ago then finally with the MS butterfly stamped with a pattern and inked for colour.
The second pic shows the 3D effect and the 3rd pic is the inside.

Another award! and nominated twice!

2008-08-01T14:42:00.000-07:00

This is the Wild Woman Award

The Purpose of the Award is to send love and acknowledgment to women who brighten your day, teach you new things and live their lives fully with generosity and joy.

Thank you so much to Michelle (http://bcr8iv.blogspot.com/)
and Lana (http://sweetpeaspapercreations.blogspot.com/) for your nominations I feel so hooured!

Wow It's hard to think who to pass this on to, as so many of my blog friends deserve this, but here are the first ones that come to mind. Some because of their unending inspiration in the great hobby we share and their friendship and constant encouragement. Others because I am in awe of how they have come through storms that would make most people shrivel up and die, and they have done so with an attitude of unselfish generosity reaching out to brighten the lives of as many people as they can touch, (and give us all a good laugh on the way).

JulieH http://huxtershouse.blogspot.com/
Enfys http://going-buggy.blogspot.com/
Jeannie http://www.aplaceformycards.blogspot.com/
Dee http://dees-specialthings.blogspot.com/
Shelly http://www.cardsbyshelly.blogspot.com/
AnneMarie http://revelationknowsnothing.blogspot.com/
Jayney http://welshtabby.spaces.live.com/

Thank you all for being such a special part of my life. I love you all and pray God's greatest blessings on you and all you love.

what to do now? copy the pic into a post on your blog and nominate those who you think deserve this honour, giving a link totheir blogs. Oh and dont forget to post a comment on their blogs to let them know they have an award.

Even more new cards

2008-07-31T16:33:00.001-07:00

lol couldnt fit them all in the last post and cant be bothered going to make a slideshow so here are some more.

Ok this is another fairy dufex decoupage, I just love the effect of these they are quite addictive

a simple card made with papers I got free from my magazine subscription and the cuttlebug butterfly. I cut out a portion of the flowery patterned paper . then cut out some individual flowers to layer them on top. Added a congratulations panel and some rhinestones in flower centres.

This one was a bit more complicated lol I stuck a piece of floral paper to card and then cut out a portion of it to cover the part of the front of the card leaving a flap to fold round the back to hinge it. I then cut out the gaps between the flowers with a craft knife and stuck it so it opened on the front of the card. I used pink and purple blending chalks around the edges of the textured base card and added a cuttlebug butterfly and 2 smaller punched buterflies. I put rhinestones in the flower centres and on the large buttefly to finish. I stamped a happy birthday greeting behind the flower screen.

last but certainly not least is this card I made for my message board friend Jeannie way out there in Alabama. for this I got my good friend Chris to cut me some leaves with the Maple leaf cut n emboss set which she has. I cut ovals with the cricut and computer generated the greeting on it. Jeannie is a butterfly lover just like me so I had to include the cuttlebug butterfly.
I forgot to take a pic before I sent this so Jeannie scanned it for me. the base card is actually a pearlised white card and the leaves are two shades of green. what I am amazed at is the leaves still look curled even after their airmail journey. Chris always laughs at me when I start curling leaves and wings on my fingers lol.

more new cards.

2008-07-31T16:13:00.000-07:00

hi friends, thought it was about time I posted some more cards since its summer ad I have lots of time on my hands NOT!! lol

This is a Bratz image from the web printed on glossy photo paper and decoupaged to give dimension. The pink panel is a piece of laminated card I saved while cutting out Maths games at work lol These are two images of an Acetate card I made. the acetate makes a 5"x5" card.
The circles were cut on George and basic shapes cricut cartridge, and shadowed. as the card is clear I had to put a matching circle on the other side to hide the adhesive. (only decorated one page of the card so far, not sure what I will do on the other one but it will be in a circle placed exactly behind the first so the look of the card itself is unaltered. the baby fairy is dufex decoupage and very metallic in appearance. I finished off with some George flowers with pearl centres and an Anitas Dimensions butterfly inside.

This one is made completely from scraps. My hubby uncovered the decoupage butterflies sheet while clearing some paperwork so I decided to sit down and make them, then I went through my scraps box to find the papers to back them. The branches are cut with the cricut Home accents cart. I used some stickles to give them sparkle too.

This one was made to try out the new cuttlebug embossing borders/ I embossed a piece of white card first with the border and then with swiss dots. I added a bookmark cut using the bookatrix embossing board with a silver peel off greeting on it and attached that to the embossed card with a flower brad and a piece of purple chiffon Ribbon. Across the bottom I added some silver ribbon and topped that with another purple chiffon bow. then I stuck the whole lot on the front of an embossed pearly purple card and added rhinestones in the flower centres and voila!!

I got an award!

2008-07-14T11:51:00.000-07:00

woo hoo I got an award!
Thank you Cathy!
pop on over to Cathy's awesome blog at http://calowaycreations.blogspot.com/

The rules of this award
1. The winner can put the logo on her/his blog
2.Link the person you received the award from.
3.Nominate at least 7 other blogs to win this award.
4.Put links of those blogs on yours.
5.Leave a message on the blogs you've nominated to receive this award.

I would like to pass this great award onto these following blogs
http://www.aplaceformycards.blogspot.com/ JEANNIE
http://www.cardsbyshelly.blogspot.com/ SHELLY
http://deedeecampbell.blogspot.com/ DEE DEE
http://jadiesart.blogspot.com/ JADE
http://sweetpeaspapercreations.blogspot.com/ LANA
http://huxtershouse.blogspot.com/ JULIE
http://bcr8iv.blogspot.com/ Michelle
http://random-ramblings-of-a-crafter.blogspot.com/ CRISSI

new cards slideshow

2008-06-22T16:32:00.001-07:00

Dreams can come true!

2008-06-16T10:37:00.000-07:00

hi friends

I just heard about this dream wedding contest and about Norma Anne Chattin who is a fellow crafter. Go check her out on this link and pleeease vote for her

http://photocontest.freedom.com/cbs12/dream-wedding/profile.php?itemid=65

her story is amazing and just shows how important Scrapbooking can be and what a difference it can make in a life.

Proud Mum's boasting time

2008-05-20T15:43:00.000-07:00

hi friends,

I got a lovely surprise the other day.

On Saturday, Jump4Joy (Church outreach to People with disabilities) went to visit the college where my son and other members of the group attend. We went into the gallery and found two items which my Greg has made on sale in there. I was speechless, just staring at the first one I saw and then Greg dragged me round to show me the other one and I was even more gobsmacked they are BOTH gorgeous!

Then I got a bigger shock when I saw the price on them. they are both being sold for £50 each!!!

heres a picture of Greg and the two items he made. Thinking a bit of creativity has rubbed off on him after all.

In loving memory of Aunty Josefina Merruarutia

2008-05-12T16:19:00.000-07:00

well I have been so busy lately and life has been so stressful I havent had a chance to update recently.

Aunty Jo passed away on 28th April. In the end it was a peaceful departing surrounded by family who were all sharing good memories, the best way to go for her. As she was a single lady with no children we have been given the job of sorting out her estate, so the next few weeks are going to continue to be difficult with dealing with probate and distributing things and inheritance among the remaining family. Prayers would be gratefully appreciated.

Her funeral was lovely! a time of happy remembrance and family reminiscence. The funeral directors handled everything so sensitively and the priest did her proud with a very suitable requiem Mass. It was a celebration of her life and she would have been so pleased to know that.

Through all of this we have been very conscious of our God's sustaining power and guidance, He has been faithful as He promised and kept us united and at peace despite the sadness of departure.

A few more cards

2008-04-22T10:36:00.000-07:00

hi friends,

The first one here is a get well card for Col's Aunty Jo who is 83 and had an operation on her hip

We had a crafting evening at church and only 3 turned up so we decided just to "play"
My friend Chris had this new flourish Sizzix die which I just had to try. I love the contrast of the black, white and red combination. someone on the cricut board commented that she was surprised I left the butterflies off this one. Well I've been thinking about that! watch this space lol.

Man's card

2008-04-16T12:28:00.000-07:00

Here is my entry to Michelle's blog candy challenge over on http://bcr8iv.blogspot.com/

It is made with the motorbike from the Going places Cricut cartridge with the S from George and basic shapes. It is very blingy as the base of the motorbike is like chrome and the top laye of the S is cut from an irridescent colour glossy card. the back ground paper is actually made from a wide wallpaper border with a strip of purple/blue translucent irridescent tape across the top. The "Happy Birthday" is a silver peel off sticker which I think looks very effective on the silver card smoke cloud.

WHY ARE MEN SO HARD TO MAKE CARDS FOR?

A message from our Heavenly dad

2008-04-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

Indescribable - amazing God

2008-04-12T05:38:00.000-07:00

These butterflies are taking over

2008-04-02T12:47:00.000-07:00

First one is hand made paper backing and butterfly. Using the paper that I cut the little butterflies from to make that easter card I posted. After cutting these few I looked at it and thought, I would mat that piece up and use the negative space from those butterflies and I think it worked pretty well.This one is so much more girly than my usual style. I had this patterned paper that I just had to try with the tried and tested three butterfly combo. I think the metallic gold works well with the floral patterns. and I used peeloff letters and made the greeting look like it was falling from the sky
This one is a sympathy card for a close friend of mine whose father has just died. It was so hard to come up with a suitable card for her. the closer the friends/Family the harder it is to create the card that is just right for these sensitive circumstances.

I am not sure how to finish this last one off. The pattern is a metallic giftwrap and the dragonfly is part of that. the only add on embellishments so far are the three tiny crystal flowers and the metallic purple butterfly. I left the top half free for a greeting of some kind but not sure what!

Any suggestions will be gratefully recieved.

Why? by Nicole Nordeman

2008-03-29T14:50:00.001-07:00

more flutterbies

2008-03-19T14:11:00.000-07:00

ok so I havent finished with the embossed butterflies yet lol heres a few more to be going on with

Easter card for swap group

2008-03-17T10:40:00.000-07:00

hi friends,

I organise a card swap on the cricut message board and this months theme was Easter of course.

To me Easter is the most important celebration of the year so I wanted to capture the true meaning, because of this everything on this card is symbolic in some way of the meaning of easter.

The colour scheme of Red and white is significant in that, because of Easter the bible says
"Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be washed whiter than snow" and encapsulates the reason for Easter. (Woohoo freeeeeeeeeee from guilt, it is soo good to have the assurance of forgiveness)

The central icon of the cross is three layered to make it stand out and signifies that God (3 in1) made that huge sacrifice on the cross for me.

The egg is probably the best known symbol of easter and signifies that out of something that appears so dead and cold comes new life.

The butterflies are most definitely my favourite symbol of new and transformed life and stand for the transformation that comes about in a persons life when they know Christ and His transforming power.

I wish you all a happy Easter and pray that you too will know the blessings that God can extend to us because of Christ's amazing sacrifice. WOW his love is amazing!

seven random things about me (I've been tagged)

2008-03-14T09:53:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged
Here how it works:1. Link to the person that tagged you and leave a comment on their blog, so that their readers can visit yours. Enfys tagged me! 2. Post the rules on your blog. 3. Share 7 Random facts about yourself on your blog. 4. Tag 7 random people at the bottom of your post, linkingto their blog. Let each person know by leaving a comment on their blog.

ok seven random facts about me.

1 I am so crazy about butterflies and moths that I ince had a pet moth for all of the two weeks of its life as a moth. Monty was an atlas moth (google it lol its big)

2. I am English born and bred and have never left the British Isles not even for a holiday.

3. I have been married to Col for 23 years now and since I was 19 when we married thats way more than half my life time.

4. I have 3 grown up children. Rebekah is 22 and married, Lewis is 19 and Greg is 21 but he will always be my baby as he has Down's syndrome and is soo loveable I never want him to be far from home.

5. I am an active christian and love to sing praises to my God, because of this I help to lead worship at my church by singing in our worship group.

6. I love papercraft and card making (But if you are reading this blog you will know that already lol)

7. I work as a teaching assistant in a busy high school.

I am tagging

Lana
NicViney
Tomianne
Regina
Michelle(Bcr8ive)
Samm
Sharon(GrammaS)

monochrome butterflies with a touch of red

2008-03-09T07:11:00.000-07:00

hi friends,

this is my entry into Enfys' Challenge over on her "Gone buggy" site the challenge was to make a card in black and white with just one other colour. It's yet another version of my embossed butterflies theme these are taking over lol I've sent several of these to friends already lol.

the shadow behind the butterflies is black, I have added the red by backing with a red layer under the white top layer which is embossed with Birds and swirls from cuttlebug, and added a little bling on the bodies of the butterflies. these are red peeloff dot stickers.

I thought ths would make a good Ruby wedding anniversary card with the touch of red and with the two butterflies facing each other.

Hope you like it Enfys

butterflies and embossing crazy

2008-03-04T13:49:00.000-08:00

hi friends,

I've kinda gotten addicted to cuttlebug embossing for the time being, and I am really enjoying the cards I am creating with it. here are a few to be going on with.

Disney characters are so cute!

2008-02-15T16:30:00.000-08:00

hmmmm Ok I'm going through a disney stage right now, enjoying making cards with those cute characters, but also rediscovering cuttlebug (Great embossing)
heres a few more

a few more cards

2008-02-12T16:32:00.000-08:00

hi friends,

just a few cards I have made recently

Catalyst 1

2008-02-07T13:54:00.000-08:00

well at last I have seen my prayers answered regarding some real evangelism happening at SJP (the School where I work)

YFC staged an event called Catalyst and used the school premises to do so. It is an ongoing initiative intended to bring the youth of Wirral together and to encourage and equip them to go out into the world and spread the good news about Jesus and his amazing plan for our lives. To raise up a generation of Young disciples prepared to stick their necks out to declare their faith to the world.

Well it happemed last Saturday and it was incredible. there were over 300 young people there and a team of about 60 volunteers to see that the whole thing went smoothly. There were two live bands playing lively Worship music, Video presentations. A challenge to social action to put our faith to work in the world, a Talent/testimony spot a challenging message and a call to prayer where young people responded by coming forward for prayer with the ministry team and asking for God to equip them for the task he is preparing them for.

God's presence in that place was so intensely obvious. It was awesome and has taken me all week to come back down to Earth lol

here is the Catalyst website http://www.catalyst4wirral.com/homepage/

All I can say is WOW Bring it on !!! Come on Lord let's get on with the next one (Which is in April)

Hubby's Birthday

2008-01-22T11:01:00.000-08:00

Sunday was Col's birthday he is now 60!!!!!! boy that makes me feel old to be married to a 60yr old! Celebrations were quiet with just family going out for a nice meal together. Hopefully we will get a weekend away later in the year when the weather is a bit better.

The card I made him doesnt look like anything special really but its very personalised. Col had a cataract removed from his eye recently and is amazed at the improvement in his sight! Its better than its been since he was a teenager. he has worn glasses since he was 12 and now doesnt need them at all on his left eye and next month when they operate on his right eye he wont need glasses at all any more. As you can imagine this is a big deal for him and has given him a real boost so his card had to reflect this big change in his life.

I cut his name out in a frame using the cricut design studio, I covered the name in a layer of vellum so it looked hazy and underneath is an oval with the words "you may be over the hill"

on the third section of the trifold card is a cut out of a hill with the number 60 falling off it and another oval with words "but at least you can see your way down!" This was also cut with DS but is kept uncovered to show the improvement in his sight.

a few cards

2008-01-17T11:30:00.000-08:00

hi friends,
I realise I havent posted much in the way of crafts lately so here are a couple more pics to feast your eyes on

Looking Forward

2008-01-10T10:10:00.000-08:00

hi Friends.

2008 a year of hope.

I hope I get well soon so I can launch into this year and start looking forward to all it will bring.

I am so bored being stuck at home sick. Knowing my friend Meg is just a few miles away in Liverpool until the 23rd and I cant get any chance to go see her is so annoying. I had so many plans to show her the joys of our beautiful country but they have gone down the drain.

Meg I am determined that we will meet up before you fly back to the states and I pray that happens sooner rather than later. Someone warn Pizza hut of the oncoming invasion!

I havent made any cards for a month now so I guess I had better get organised and get cracking on my valentines cards for a card swap group I am in. Problem is that inspiration on design is slow coming when you are sick too.

I am beginning the new year with an attempt at something I used to do all the time and found VERY beneficial in my spiritual life.
I intend to memorise the whole of Romans chapter 6 before the end of this month. I only started yesterday and think I have got v1-3 sorted

"What then shall we say, shall we go on sinning so that Grace may increase? by no means! we died to sin , how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death?"

Yay I typed that from memory and then checked it I only had to change two words.

I have let my discipline of memorising the word of God slip, this was something I used to do a lot of when I was younger as I fully believe that this is a way of allowing God to speak to us, he brings these things back to our consciousness when we need them (John 14:26) and I do believe that by commitiing his word to memory it helps us to grow closer to him and more lilke him. Now that would be a new year resolution worth making!

Well I better go and do something useful so bye for now and God bless you all. May 2008 truly be a year of hope for you and your loved ones.

2008 a year of hope?

2007-12-31T13:22:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-26T07:09:00.001-08:00

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 !!

2007-12-18T12:51:00.001-08:00

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!!

2007-11-15T16:06:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-11T15:38:00.000-08:00

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!

2007-10-20T04:11:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-15T12:44:00.001-07:00

ITS MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

2007-09-13T16:35:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-09T12:29:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-09-03T08:02:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-02T08:44:00.000-07:00

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 yummmmmm Kat 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!!

2007-08-28T07:12:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-08-26T12:43:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-08-26T07:22:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-08-23T14:30:00.000-07:00

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!!

2007-08-22T04:32:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-19T10:30:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-17T13:41:00.001-07:00

Exploding box album

2007-08-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

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)

2007-08-16T04:54:00.000-07:00

some of my cards

2007-08-16T04:50:00.000-07:00

- Get Your Own

2007-08-15T16:38:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-08-15T16:14:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-14T06:28:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-07T17:11:00.002-07:00

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.

what will I use this for?

2007-08-07T17:00:00.000-07:00

ok so many of you have been nagging me to blog more. I did warn you that I would be useless at this so I,m thinking of using it as a forum to show off some of the things I am creating. Been mega busy with my nieces wedding lately so lots to show about that. First here is one of the invitations I made for her Months ago.

As my niece is blind everything I make for her is 3D so she can feel them and it helps her visualise it.

Here are the favour boxes I made for the women at the reception. I also made holders for lottery tickets which were given to all the men at the reception.

Lister's last night in UK

2007-06-22T15:45:00.001-07:00

ok this one is also a bit late, but not as late as the last one.

The plan was for JM to meet Lister at 6pm in Liverpool. JM was 4 minutes late but that was ok cos Lister was a LOT later. I had planned to meet them both at the museum at 6.30, however since Lister had not turned up by then I decided to go meet them at the station instead/ WHAT A MISTAKE !!!!!!! Liverpool is a huge building site right now and the usual pick up point of Lime street station is out of bounds.

I decide to drive round to the other side of Lime Street and see if there is any parking over there.
I get to the junction to go up the other side and find loads of "No right turn" signs so I change lanes and go straight on. however in my mirror I see lots of cars turning right. "How Strange" I think to myself. Next I come to a new junction which says turn right for Lime street so I turn right, only to find myself faced with 3 LANES OF ONCOMING TRAFFIC!!! I panic and mount the kerb to avoid a disaster. I sit there shaking for a few minutes then as the traffic clears I do a U turn and go back. As I come off the kerb I feel the car bottoming on it and start to worry, the car is making strange noises from the rear.

I make my way back to the museum car park and phone JM. Lister is STILL not in so I phone home and ask col to give me Jans phone number off our computer. when I get through she says she put Lister on the train at 2pm. Where could he be? in the mean time I have to top my credit up and I am getting loads of random texts from different people.

I decide to be brave and try get to Lime street again as there are no parking spaces at the museum. This time I make it safe and park in the station car park.
When I finally meet up with JM I am shaking and have a banging headache. I told JM about the car and he says he hopes its ok too.

Lister FINALLY ARRIVES at 7.30 and ask did I get the text. At this point I look blank like a typical blonde. He had got some stranger to text me to tell us he would be late in. But in the chaos I hadnt picked up that text. Anyway panic over we go to wetherspoons for a lovely meal and chat. After we ordered our meals JM left the pub and went in search of some pain killers for me (He's such a sweet guy). Lister shows off his UK photos and tells us all about his adventures while we laugh at his discovery that you dont need three bathrooms to survive! before we take him on a whistle stop tour of Liverpool.

We take in St Georges Hall, both Cathedrals, the Liver buildings, the Radio city tower and of course Pier head where Lister gets a glimpse of Wirral and sees for himself the big river between my home and Scouseland.

then begins the epic journey to Manchester. I'm listening hard for the noise in the car again and am relileved that it is nowhere near as bad as it was earlier. We make it to Mancs where we dropped Lister off at 11pm. On the way home I express my relief about the car not making those awful noises any more and JM tells me he was praying form the minute we got in the car. After returning via Liverpool I finally rolled into my drive at about 12.30 KNACKERED but glad the evening ended better than it bagan.

Passion ! a bit late

2007-06-22T14:46:00.000-07:00

ook so I said right from the start that I would be rubbish at keeping this up.

hhm whats happened since then ??
PASSION!!!
yes I know it was ages ago ! 10th June actually lol but wow it was awesome

Took my friend Paula with me which was fab as its absolutely AGES since we had a good chat.
the bands were fab

Replenish, LZ7, TBC Burn Band, Cathy Burton, 100 hours, were great but the highlights were

Y Friday (One of my all time fave bands)

I had never heard of Salvador so wasn't sure what to expect but WOW you gotta be impressed with a band that can get a crowd dancing to their very long sound check while they sort out microphone problems. they were AWESOME !!!!!! Very fast beat dance style Latino Music.

Then the one I had been waiting for JACI VELAZQUEZ -- WOW she has a voice like an angel! she is married to the lead singer of Salvador and they play sooo well for her, but then we get an added bonus. She invites them to join her and sing a piece together . They said its their first joint gig well THEY NEED TO DO MORE!!!! cos together they ROCKED !!!!!!!

the night drew to a close with the awesome vibes of DELIRIOUS?

wow have you ever had the feeling of being trransported directly into the presence of almighty God ????

well worshipping along with "Majesty" followed by their new version of "Our God Reigns" did just that for me.

While Jaci was singing I turned to my friend and said "is it just the clothes or is she pregnant?
Paula reckoned it was just the fashion she wore but as the night drew on I became more convinced she is pregnant but she said nothing. Next morning I hear her interviewed on UCB and sure enough she announced she is 4 months pregnant!

We had a great day over all and my friend Paula went home with an extra child she sponsored with compassion UK, shes a little worried about how her partner will react to the amount of money she has committed, but I'm sure he will understand.

Meeting Lister yesterday

2007-06-04T13:50:00.001-07:00

hi again,

Yesterday was quite an eventful day, it started at the unearthly hour of 6.30am when my alarm went off to signal my mad dash to get showered and ready to get out by 7.am in time to pick JM up from his home in Liverpool at 7.30. I thought I did well running only 10 minutes late at this point.

As we approached Manchester airport and were presented with a choice of Terminal 2 (turn left) ot Terminals 1&3(straight on) We realised that we had absolutely no idea what terminal Listers flight was coming into and we had approximately 10 minutes before landing time. ~We decided to go for 1&3 as we had twice the chance of being right. We parked the car by terminal 3 went in and found an information desk.

We were then informed that yes Listers flight was coming in at Terminal 2 at the other end of the airport, but thankfully it was running late and wasnt landing until 9.05 (it was 8.35 by now).
We began the long trek to terminal 2 and were grateful for the moving walkways.

We got to terminal 2 at about 8.55 and checked info screens to find Flight 734 from Philadelphia had landed already. so we got ready to meet our visitor.

Ok here's the explanation for what came next just so you won't think JM and I have gone completely off our rockers. Lister is a fan of the British TV comedy Red Dwarf in which Lister is the main character, in the show he calls his coworker Rimmer "Smeghead". Because of this I have nicknamed Lister himself as Smeghead in our chat room. And so I made a welcome banner which reads "Welcome to England Smeghead"

The character of Rimmer in the show is in fact dead but his character has been brought back in the form of a holographic projection this is indicated in the show by a silver H on his forehead.

SOOOOO. JM and I position ourselves at the arrivals gate awaiting the imminent arrival of Lister, we hold out our banner and each wear a silver letter H on our foreheads.

and we wait.....

and we wait......

and we get strange looks.......

and we cause a few giggles..........

One lady walks past and shouts "It's good to see the dwarf aint dead".

We look at each other and giggle too. We must look like complete weirdos we think.

still more strange looks

as we wait........

and wait......

we begin to question if we are sure this is the right terminal and reassure ourselves that it must be as the flight number had appeared on THIS screen.

and we wait..........

getting hopeful every time we see a tall person's shadow approach the etched glass doors.

an OBVIOUSLY American guy in the biggest Stetson we have ever seen walks past, checks us out and laughs. JM thinks he has a cheek to laugh at us, at least our strange appearance is temporary and for a purpose.

Then JM spots a tall guy with long hair... is it Him ???? but I point out that Lister does not have a beard, hhmmm but is that a false beard???

By this time I had been holding my camera poised for so long it died, so we were unable to catch Listers initial reaction.

and we wait

and wait.. until

YAYYYYYYY out of the arrivals gate walks LISTER

About SMEGGING TIME !!!!!!!!!!

we wave our banner and cheer.

After Lister receives the mandatory Kazz hug we begin the walk to find FOOD which we all feel is desperately needed at this point.

I remove my H and place it on Listers head and I am shocked to see that he actually leaves it on as we walk through the airport.

We decide to treat Lister to a traditional English breakfast, which was actually pretty mediocre so I do hope one of you other chatters treats him to a better one while we are here.

This is Lister in the restaurant, where I realise he is actually a lot calmer and quieter than I expected him to be.

The following discussion reveals Lister and Hobbits surprise about my dreadful lack of knowledge of 80s heavy Metal Christian Music, and my shock at discovering there was any such thing in the 80s. My only excuse is that I was a good little brethren girl in the 80s and was taught at the time that even Cliff Richard was a servant of Satan for being in the debauched Music industry. so there was NO WAY I would be in anyway into such terrible things as Heavy Metal!!!!!!!

This is also where I find that Hobbit just cant help himself from pulling scary faces whenever he sees a camera.

Is that really Hobs or is it a Madame Tussauds dummy of Stan Laurel??

After this came what has become traditional when Hobs meets tall people.

The height comparison photos!!

As you can see here, Hobbit and I are approximately the same height, but Lister is ummm errrr ummm a LITTLE taller!!!

We then proceed to the railway station where Lister hopes to get a train to Birmingham to meet Matrix girl. and he has yet another very british experience QUEUING!!.
Here he is queuing up to buy his train ticket and also the point at which I find out that his wallet is not big enough for British money!! haha so not everything is bigger in the USA.

We discover that the quickest way to Birmingham New Street is via Crewe and the next train is in an hour and a half. so we sit in the cafe and chat some more over a drink until Hobbit and I have to leave. We leave at 1pm to begin the mad panic to get home in time for me to lead my disabled outreach group at 3. Hobbit is nearly falling asleep in the car which is quite worrying when you realise that he is supposed to be leading worship in church in a few hours. lol it was a strange kinda day, but well worth all the effort to meet and give our friend a proper welcome into our beautiful country.

Lister we hope you have a fab time while you are here, it was fantastic to finally meet you, after all these years chatting online.

blogging whats it all about?

2007-06-02T12:54:00.000-07:00

hhmm blogging, such a strange word!

being someone who has never kept a diary, let alone a public journal, Im not sure where to begin.

I have enjoyed reading some of the posts on my friends blogs. (Man I hve some strange friends!!)

Maybe I will learn from all you lovely people.

Kazz - the real me.

2007-06-01T17:47:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

I'm Kazz, a perfectly sane and sensible wife and Mother. I know some will disagree with this description but thats's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I am married to Col who just loves to embarrass me in public with his stupid jokes. We have three grown up Kids who live to cause me as much grief as they possibly can.