Two challenges in one.

The challenge over at Stamptacular Sunday Challenge is to create a card with spots and dots, and over at Colour Create, it's to make a card with Lilac, Grey, and White. This is the first time, I think, that I've managed to combine two challenges into one card!
Both challenge blogs are fab, so have a look around them.

See post below for another challenge today, and for my usual news.

I love Promarkers challenge.

This weeks (only up until tomorrow!) challenge at I love ProMarkers is to make a card with an animal on it... so here's my little card. I really should write down all the colours I use on the images...

Other news...
So today is weigh in day... and we've had Easter. So on Easter Sunday I had a Creme Egg.... a Marshmallow egg............... and an Aero egg..... and one of my big Easter eggs, lol, and a selection of Mini eggs, Smarties eggs, Milky Bar eggs... then on Bank Holiday Monday I had another 3 Creme Eggs, and another big egg, plus a few mini eggs thrown in. BUT, I have been doing at least 20 minutes a day on the Wii Fit. So, get to the point I hear you say... Well............................ I still managed to lose 3/4's of a pound!!!! Woohoooooooo. Just a pound and a quarter till I've lost a whole stone!! (14lbs in a stone for any American readers).

Just Things Scrapbook.

My lovely friend Jacqui bought me an 8 x 8 pink scrapbook for my birthday, along with some papers and ribbons. I decided to make a little album about me, who I am, what makes me me, things I like etc...
I spent the day at Jacqui's today, and our kids played nicely for most of the day, lol. I began work on my album. Jacqui started hers as well.

This is the start page with a few relevant dates, births mainly. I used my lovely Cricut E to cut out the lettering, and then I outlined the letters with my white Uniball gel pen. I love that pen! I want the album to have a doodly sort of look to it.
The Forever Friends bear is from part of the massive kit that Darryl and Abby got me for my birthday. It is one of the 3D elements stickers.

This is the first page about me being a daughter. I need to make the right hand side yet.

The first side to my me being a mum page.

And this is a candle holder I made tonight with one of the transfers stickers that also came with the Forever Friends Kit. I added some daisy lace to the top and bottom to match the stickers. I always think adding something at the top and bottom finishes of the holder nicely.

The diet...

...is still going well. I lost another 2lbs this week, bringing the total to 12lbs!! Although you can't really tell yet, lol... but my uniform is definitely looser. BUT... I had four Cadbury's Creme Eggs last night.............................................. AND a whole egg, lol.... 60 syns! I'm supposed to just have 15syns a day. Oh well.... it is Easter, and I'll work them off on the Wii this week!!

Knock knock!

It's ages since I wrote in here, sorry!!
Ok... so diet, how's it going? Well I've lost another 1.5lbs since last time I said, so that's now a total of 10lbs, woohoooooooooooooo. It's such an easy diet to get along with because you don't feel like you're on a diet. Lovely.

I have been doing some knitting. I've knitted two scarfs and almost the right front of a jacket/cardi for me... trouble is, knitting almost none stop for a week and a half has given me tennis elbow! It's very painful!! It's ok if you're not using your arm at all, but even just lifting something kills!! I want to do some more knitting because my arm doesn't actually hurt when it's bent and hardly moving, but that's what makes it worse, lol...

Well I've also had a birthday as well which was great!
Justin booked the day off work that day, 25th March, and we were going to go out for breakfast, but had to wait for a delivery van!! Darryl had ordered me a Forever Friends Pick of the Week from Create and Craft which was coming today, and also Justin and Matthew's present was also coming today... which I learned from a poem that Justin had written in my card. It was about 6 verses long and funny, well done chook!
Justin took Matthew to school and I waited in just in case... but nothing came that early. About 11am I decided to nip into town to get a few bits and then home again. The delivery van turned up at 1.40pm, woohoooooooooooooooooo. My Forever Friends stuff was great! Love it! Really lovely stuff in it. My present from Justin and Matthew was the Wii Fit Plus Board and "game", WOW! I really really wanted one of those and was going to buy one in a couple of months so I was really happy that I'd got one.
We went into town again to get a cooked chicken, and then we both went and picked up Matthew from school. Darryl, Abby and Elijah had just turned up at ours when we left for school. Matthew was in a good mood.
We had sweet and sour chicken, and egg fried rice for dinner. Justin had bought me a chocolate birthday cake, so we all had a slice of that after I blew out the candles Justin had put on it. Darryl and Co left about 7.30pm. Abby had also got me a dvd for my birthday, An Education, and also two little ornamants, one was a little vase with Nan on it, and then a birthday bear with my birthstone on it, really cute.
My other pressies were a lovely sliver feather Trollbead from Joan and Steve (Justin's dad and step mum), and some make up bags, they were lovely as well, lots of different sizes, one of which got the job of being my work purse just for change instead of me taking in my normal purse. I also got some money from my dad, and bought some wool the following day and a water filter and a couple of mags too.

Thanks everyone for a great day!!

A bit blurry...

...but what a cute picture! Taken by Darryl I think on a mobile phone.



Elijah x

Mother's Day.

So yesterday was Mother's Day here in the UK. I was working as usual but I still had a nice day both at work and at home.
Matthew gave me these beautiful flowers on Saturday when I got home from work.



When I got home from work on Sunday, there were even more presents waiting for me. Matthew had given me the teddy gift set and his little flower card on Sunday morning, and then Darryl had called round on his way to work and left me the big card in that fab bag, along with a little teddy glitter globe, and the I love Nan mug. All lovely.

On the weight loss front.....................
I lost another 2.5 lbs this week!! Total after three weeks is now 8.5lbs! (I must remember to buy some more Curly Wurly's later and freeze them!) Justin and Matthew are also eating more healthily with all the extra fruit and veg, and roasting things in Fry Light instead of oil. Justin has lost a total of 4.5lbs, and Matthew 4lbs! We all still have a choccy fix at night as well, a lovely Hot Chocolate and a chocolate bar... Curly Wurly, or a Finger of Fudge, Freddo, or a 2 finger Kit-Kat, so I don't feel like I'm missing out on not having my chocolate.
Most mornings, at least four mornings a week, my breakfast consists of 2 x bacon, 2 scrambled eggs, 1/2 a can of baked beans, 1/2 a can of tomatoes, and lots of mushrooms! Love it!
What a fab eating plan! LOL!

Penny Black challenge, and some photo's.

Woohoooooo, I made a card! This is for the Penny Black easel card challenge. I used two of the stamps from the Jolly Follies stamp set, I love them, they're so cute!! I changed from the normal blue colours usually used with snowmen because of the holly on the snowman's hat! I think it works...

Below are some photo's taken on Darryl's 21st. He looks grumpy on one, but he wasn't, lol. Plus he's finally had a hair cut!

This photo was taken by Matthew using my DSLR camera, I think he'll make a great photographer!

Me with my boys xxx

...and again.

And Elijah, who's now 4 and a half months old in the hoodie that I knitted for him.

Woohoooo

Another 2lbs gone, 6lbs so far!!! AND an inch and a half off of my waist!!! WOohooOOooOO

I really must make a card.....

Slimming World!

I started doing Slimming World last Monday, and this week after a really EASY week I lost 4lbs!!! Brilliant! I can't believe how much you have to eat to lose weight! I'm eating tons!!!! Plus I still get to have a chocolate fix at night, so I have a frozen Curly Wurly and a Highlights Hot Chocolate.... lovely................. here's to another weight loss next week!!
I'm doing the Extra Easy plan. Have a look at their site SLIMMING WORLD, and click on the Free 7 day meal plan at the bottom of the page so you can see just what sort of thing you can eat. Amazing!

I love Promarkers challenge card.

This weeks challenge at I love Promarkers is to make a Spring card following a sketch... this is my interpretation. I realised I haven't actually got anything Springy!!

I used the gorgeous Pink Parfait papers from Do Crafts Forever Friends collection.
Promarkers = Cool Grey's 1, 2, 3, Tulip Yellow, Canary Yellow, Buttercup, Tan, Ivory, Pastel Pink, Blush, Baby Pink, Powder Blue, Cornflower Blue, Mint Green and Soft Green.
I also attached a little lace paper border, and if you look closely, you can see I glittered it.

Other News.

Well, Darryl turned 21 safely, and is now in Cambridge spending all of his birthday money. He got almost £400!!!!! Goodness knows what he'll come back with. I have to cook southern fried chicken soon... yum am starving already!! I may just have to nick a wing or something...

Snowing!

Click the arrow to see the video.

So it's snowing again... This is Matthew and his Polish friend, Arek (proun Arrick) playing in the back garden. They couldn't wait to get outside when it started. It was falling heavily and in big chunks... Justin would have been happy at work, lol, he loves it snowing and says that if he's freezing at work, then it may as well be snowing.

The card below I made for my friend. The colours aren't quite right, as I used my mobile which is better in outdoor situations. Anyhoo, used my gorgeous ProMarkers to colour the puss in and some stickles glitter to liven up the bubbles...



It's Darryl's 21st birthday tomorrow. Blimey. He's coming over at 8.15 to pick up his birthday money - £120! So that he can spend it in Cambridge with Abby and her mum tomorrow. I think his dad has given him £100, so he'll have a good day out! They are then coming back, leaving me with Elijah and then going to the cinema. I've then go to cook southern fried chicken and southern fried chips while they're out. By the time that's all done, they should all be home and Justin should be home from work as well. I had to buy chocolate cakes etc today also, which Darryl gave me a tenner for, lol.

Handmade box.

I made this box from K & Co Blue Awning cardstock pad. The top of the box has a suedey feel to it. It is for my friend Cheryl, as it's her birthday on Valentines Day, and I have the day off work, woooohoooooooooooooo!



I added some ribbons, roses, and Cricut cut leaves.

...and then filled it with toffees!

Click here for instructions on how to fold an Origami Box.

Have a go at making the box, they're really easy... well alright, there's one fiddly bit, but once you've done it, it's easy!!

Other News.

Matthew has tonsilitis... awww. He's now on antibiotics and was going to be staying over his friends house tomorrow night, but not now. He's still managing to suck/chew the Drumstick lollies ok though, so no need to panic yet.

Matthew - Just Dance!

I bought the Wii game, Just Dance, yesterday. Matthew loves it! I had 15 minutes on it earlier today, took me ten minutes to get over it! I'm so unfit. I must have a go on it everyday!!
Click on the little triangle to see the video.

We went to dad's yesterday and had dinner. Dad cooks the most perfect pork chops. I stitched a little more of my Christmas sampler, and again a bit more today. I really need to finish the blanket I'm crocheting as well. I've only got to go round it three more times...

This photo was taken yesterday morning. It was snowing quite heavily for about half an hour, it snowed again in the evening and settled over night, but was gone by midday.

Christmas sampler

I haven't stitched any of this for ages!! Thought I'd better do a little bit today. It's such a busy picture, with so much to look at I love it! I shall do some more on it tomorrow, but take the Humphrey's Corner - Fishing one with me when we go to dad's tomorrow night for dinner.

So below is my progress... today I completed the left hand patchwork part and then backstitched it all. I thought it was better to backstitch each finished section otherwise it would be too overwhelming at the end.
The little bit of sandy colour is the beginning of a lion standing with a lamb.

Other news.
Matthew is playing Wii Resort basketball, he's getting quite good at it. I'm still waiting for my Wii Just Dance to arrive... that'll get me moving, *cough*.
Matthew is loving swimming at school, he can still only use floats, but he's getting more confident in the water. He's also loving playing a recorder. I bought him his own recorder and printed some music sheets off of the internet for him. I think he takes after his grandad for liking musical instruments. He loves playing on grandad's electronic double keyboard organ (I'm sure that it's called something other than that...) that's upstairs at dad's house.

Matthew is staying over his friends house again this Saturday night, and I've got Sunday off work, wooohoooooooooooooooo, a lay in at the weekend!!!!

Stitching - In Dad's Shoes.

This is little Humphrey standing "In Dad's Shoes" from "Humphrey's Corner"... awwwww. I stitched it to go in Matthew's room. I think I started stitching it before Darryl moved out last July so that it was ready to go in Matthew's "new" room... well I'm not the quickest of stitchers. That's not strictly true really, it's more that I get so far and then stop, plus I've got far too many hobbies and I start off really enthusiastic and then go onto something else. Well I'm never bored!! LOL!
Ok, so here he is, washed and framed this morning, ready for Justin to hang up later in Matthew's room.

A little bit Witchy *cackle cackle*

So yeah... spur of the moment, decided to dye my hair yesterday. It was dark anyway, but I thought it needed refreshing. I bought dark brown............. Justin say's it's black, lol... and looking at these pics, yeah, it's black!! :-O

So what do you think???

PFP challenge, creatures great and small.

This is a first! The challenge was set today at Passion For Promarkers and I've got my card done on the first day!! Wooohoooo!
I used my lovely House Mouse stamp and used backing papers from, I think, K & Co. I can't be entirely sure as I bought them from a stationery shop.

Colours used - Leaf Green, Forest Green, Holly, Cool Grey's 1 and 2, Pastel Pink, Cocktail Pink, Orchid, Amethyst, Aubergine, Tan, Ivory, Satin, Blush, Vanilla, Blossom, Berry Red, and Pine.

Passion for Promarkers challenge, and a leaving card.

I'm late entering this one, but I only got my Promarker pens on Friday!! Then had to work all weekend, so I only got change to make this card today.
Passion for Promarkers set the challenge to use Pastel Green and Blossom colours mainly on the card. The papers I used are from the Forever Friend Parfait new range, they're gorgeous!!



Below is the card I've made from myself and Cheryl to give to our male supervisor at work who's leaving in a month's time. I used Joanna Sheen's Messy Rabbit stamps and background sheet. Promarkers to colour.

Penny Black Something Sweet Challenge.

I'm late entering this challenge as there's a new one tomorrow!! But, I was waiting for my new Penny Black stamps to arrive, along with my fabby new ProMarkers (see post below!!).
So the challenge was to create a card along the lines of Something Sweet. So here's my entry.
Penny Black Saturday Challenge

This photo shows the Stickles Star Dust glitter on the white background behind puss, and also I used Anita's 3D glaze on the balloons.