My "Baby Boy" is 8 today!!!

Well this is only my third crafty attempt this month I think!!! So much to do and so little time!

Yesterday we all went to the zoo- had a great day. In the evening I had a Kent Wide Down Syndrome Group meeting to attend so at nearly 11pm last night, I managed to sit down to make a card. It was a card for a very special little boy who is 8 today- I cannot believe how quickly it has gone- he has grown so fast.

Today I had to go to the nursery where I will be starting work for a review meeting and handover and the rest of the day we are just all spending at home as a family. Lots of hugs and games for my special ones I think.

The card I ended up with is a bit ...er...different....from what I a comfortable with, rather a bold design for me but I came up with the idea and just had to go with it as it was fast approaching midnight and I was shattered. I used buttons to conform to not only the DCM "Who's pushing your buttons" dare but also Just Bex "Button it" challenge. I was just sewing on the wording and I thought it might be nice to sew on a few kisses too, but they looked like more buttons!!!!! hmmm.

Anyway, must go ........a Doctor Who cake is waiting to be eaten!! yum, yum

A moment for crafting!!!

Not planned exactly but I managed to snatch some craft time on Friday night. It was Mother In Laws birthday bash on Saturday and late Friday night had a phone call from Father In Law saying how dissapointed they were as they couldn't get the Birthday Cake they wanted. They were after one of those with a photo on it but all the machines locally were not working! SO at about 9pm Friday night I came up with this mad idea to make something for here to stand next to her cake. FIL eventually emailled the piccie across about 10pm and I set to work...half asleep!!!Not quite the "frame" I initally planned, but quite please with the result given the timing. I planned to use much more sewing on this too but at about 11.30pm, after I had eventually decided what papers to use (blush) my sewing machine decide to be a bit temperamental and I wasn't in the mood to fight with it.

Been working on de-cluttering still and I am really itching to get back down to some "proper" crafting!!! I am thinking Christmas, I must be organised this year!!!

Just Bex, July challenge- How Charming.

Loads of challenges on my to do list....another one I can cross off though!

Long time...no craft!!!

Hectic as hectic can be!!!!! It's been a mixture of hospital appointments, broken down cars and complete chaos at home as the building work slowly takes over the house. What is't packed in a cardboard box is piled hign in a corner and I am really feeling the urge to "spring clean!" Pointless at the moment but I couldn't resist running around cleaning windows this morning in a vain attempt to feel like I had achieved something at least!!
This week we have roof joists and I am am asking any kind bloggers that pass this way to keep their fingers crossed for a fine weekend as tomorrow the old roof tiles are being lifted ready for the extension tiles to be laid BUT this isn't being done until after the building inspector has visited next week!!!!!! I can picture laying in bed and having rain pouring through the ceiling, or opening my eyes one morning and seeing the sky!!!! I am so impatient to get painting and decorating and basically making things "normal!"...well as normal as normal gets in our house.

Anyway, my little craft room is as chaotic as the rest of the house really. I have moved nearly everything into it, but it all needs completely sorting and organising the new storage areas! Feeling complete crafty withdrawal symptoms I left the excitement of the footy match and ventured into my crafty chaos with a large glass of wine, all set to make a card!! Got the basic design made up, but the lighting is so poor in there I couldn't make out what was white cardstock and what was cream or ivory!!! Feeling pretty fed up, I left it half finished to make up today.
Chris is such a darling, he came home tonight- big grin on his face- you know he has been up to something! He got me a few t-shirts from Next last week and one needed to go back- he not only took it back but replaced it with another one he knew I wanted, but for twice as much money!! Not only that he had popped into the DIY shop in his lunchbreak and got me a lovely little crome desk lamp. Really cute it is, he got it all put together for me. Carried up to my room where I was finishing off last night's meagre effort and "presented" it to me! Unfortunately...he didn't buy a bulb!!!LOL Not a problem I hope as I am after getting a daylight bulb for it if I can.
Right, enough of the waffle, need to print the insert to make my card creations for AUGUST officially........erm...blush.....well 1 I think!!!!!

10 years ago today.......

...... I married my Mr Right!!!!! I will be the first to say we have had some tough times to cope with, but never between us as a couple. He truely is my world.

So much for not getting each other anything though, a beautiful boquet of flowers, a "Guardian Angel" pen ( to keep me safe ) and a couple of tops from Next!!! I got him....er...well...I gave him the DMC Haberdashery card I made last month!! (BLUSH)

We are having a nice take away and a bottle of wine tonight and tomorrow the kiddies are off to stay with their Nanny & Grandad for a few days. Not going anywhere special- with the building work really coming along, we just haven't the spare cash...just ordered our outside lighting which was reduced, luckily we saved ourselves £40.......hmm tempted to spend that £40 on some scrummy Hero Art Xmas stamps I have my eye on...but no, slap my wrist I MUST be good!

Have been slowly but surely moving bits and bobs of my crafty stash into my new craft room. Today we moved the table...after I had eventually cleared all the stuff that had accumulated on top!!! I am seriously having crafty withdrawal symptoms. I am one of the people who likes constructivity. If I do a job , I like to do it to the best of my ability and do it properly! So with dust, sand and cement all around us, kiddies sharing bedrooms temporarily I am just bodging jobs as I go, just to make room and try to have as much "normality" in the house as possible.

It must be weeks since I have made a card!!!!!! I am going to spend a bit more time organising my crafty stash and then I will have some serious crafty catch up to do!!!

One step closer.....

......to getting my craft room. We have been umming and arrhing over whether to do this but today we finally took the plunge!!!

We have put Amelia in Jack's room to free up some much needed space downstairs whilst the building work goes on. At the end of the day it will only be for about 8 weeks (we hope) but even once the extension is finished, we need to decorate the new bedroom, which Chris and me are having. THEN, decorate our old room, which Jack is having, then move him in. After that Jack's old room will need redecorating for Amelia.I just couldn't wait all that time to get my craft room and free up the conservatory again so we decided this was the way to go!!! I am just keeping my fingers crossed they don't keep each other awake all night!!!

Still got lots and lots of shuffling around and organising before I can really start on my craft room but thought I'd take a few before shots as I slowly reclaim some space for ME!!!! We were going to throw away the canvas covered shelf unit but I hijacked it for some storage!

Now...what colour shall I have?

A day out away from the rubble!

Took the kiddies to Groombridge today. We haven't been there since August 2005 and last time Amelia was still in her major buggy and we struggled getting around and missed out on the woodland walk which is a elevated timber walkway through the trees! Made up for it today and went around TWICE!!!! They both adored it. Jack was in his element, swinging on ropes, climbing through pipes and generally being the little daredevil he is. Amelia amazed us both and showed us just how much her mobility has improved over the last two years.

Took loads and loads of pics but here is one from August 2005 and one I took today. The one from today is one of my favs....just waiting to be scrapped!!!!

Dilly Dally Dingle strikes again!!

Buiding work really starting to get to me and getting more frustrated that I am getting nothing done around the house or craft wise!!! (well a few rows of knitting and shuffling a few papers around!) BUT things got thrown all over the place this week when an opportunity arose that was too good not to go for!!
My friend who has a little boy with Down Syndrome called me last week to see if I was interested in my name being put forward as her son's Support Assisitant at nursery. The previous assistant is moving on and someone will be needed for 6 hours a week, term time for the next year until he starts school!! I said yes, but didn't think things would go any further as I have no "professional" childcare experience.
Well on Monday I received a phone call from the nursery and had an interview there yesterday!!! It seems as suiable to my needs as I am ever likely to get. Two days a week, for 3 hours each day. They are flexible about my start time as they know I have got to get Jack to school & go in with Amelia to help her get settled in routine! They also mentioned that I could do an NVQ during that time so that if I decided that I wanted to go down this route... I would have a basic qualification behind me.
It seems ideal to be honest and the staff there seem lovely. Now I am left to sort out finances and see if is actually worth my while once National Insurance, Family Tax credits and travel cost are taken into consideration. At least it would get me out the house for a while and perhaps even give me some of my own identity back that I have lost along the road of motherhood!
( ..and a few more pennies to spend of craft stash!!)

Busy doing nothing!!!

That's what it feels like at the moment. I am rushing around, trying to keep afloat and just keeping my head above water. Went out for a while today and came back to find my kitchen covered in dust where the builders were working outside next to an air vent. Cleaned it all up and stuck a piece of card over the vent! ( how handy does white hammered card get!) I know it is just a taste of what is to come, but I wasn't prepared for it just yet. BUT as you can see from the pics, things are moving along quite nicely and today we have some floor joists!!! Welcome to my dining room!!!

Chris is at home this week and we have been playing out tin the garden for most of the day. The children seem to love their new trampoline and we were kept very busy attacking the ivy that has overtaken the trellis on one side of the garden. We are slowly cutting back, digging it out and replacing the trellis with fencing.....Amelia has this habit of using the trellis like a ladder!! HMMMM....if only I knew then what I know now!!

No crafting as such today apart from a bit of knitting but I do have to tell you where I very briefly stopped by at the weekend!!!! After dropping Jack off at a birthday party, we had about 30 minutes to kill before Amelia's party started...so I persuaded Chris to drive around the industrial estate near Rochester Airport to have a quick nosey at OYSTER STAMPS!!! How can this place be so close and me not know about it!!!! (SAD, SAD, SAD!!!) I was like a kid in a sweet shop so many lurvly goodies to see .Unfortunatley time was against me BUT I will go back very soon when the kiddies are ot with me!!! A little cuttlebug machine is calling my name!!!

In search of likkle canines!!!

Oooo....found this pic whilst searching though some old mags! Aren't they cute!!!

Busy, busy, busy!!

A mad, mad day yesterday. Started fairly early, dropped Amelia off at me mums and drove down to Maidstone to collect a bargain 10ft trampoline!!! Reluctant to give up another chunk of my garden ( seeing as I have just lost a huge chunk of patio with the extension!!) but desperately in need of something to keep the children occupied in the garden while the building work continutes.

After that we dropped into the local plumbing merchants shop to discuss a few thing for our new bathroom, came home with another mountain of catalogues but we think we are almost decided.

Then it was a mad dash to have lunch and get the children to the parties they had been invited to.......and make 2 cards inbetween!!!

Thank goodness I had alread made up a batch of QK flowers last month- I made 2 the same design, definately a "Less is more" challenge for Just Bex!!!