This is a drive by blog post - mainly because in a couple of hours I have a whole heap of family arriving to be looked after and pampered and I really should be cleaning right now !! But as this weekend will be crazy I thought I better do it now or never.

I have been so busy this week , the closer to the holidays it gets the crazier things get around here so I have upped the cardmaking and made two this week ( actually I made more but I am lazy and haven't taken pictures yet !)



This was inspired by one I saw over on twopeas - it is not nearly as nice but I like it :)

And this one I decide to be a bit different and go for a blue theme the basic grey chipboard shapes are so easy to glitter if you take of the backing and turn them over they are pre-glued for glittering - easy peasy !!


I also made another tin for the tree - I make one ever year with photos of the season inside - usually with ones I take for the Christmas card.



I used a rectangular tin this year and covered it with Wassail and that gorgeous glittered vellum from Papermania. I added the ribbon with my new Cropadile - thank you girls - you were right I don't know how I ever lived without it it is fantastic !


This is the inside - Rachel tired holding for me - well actually it was more like demanded she held it LOL
So I hung it on the door so you could get a better look.



Look at that wild hair thing she has going on - she has a mad head of hair and hats aren't helping matters. She is tlking nine to the dozen now, she talks more than me which is saying something , I have finally met my match with this one. And this week she finally recognised herself - every day she looks at the "baba" on the blog this week she said "look it is me !!" She never realised before.


What other news have I got ?? Well Caitlin did the BIG SING on Thursday, they have been practising for weeks and were so excited to be breaking a world record.
Becca and I went shopping and I had a flashback to the Eighties - when I was a teenager bright clothes and leg warmers and jumpers down to your knees were all the rage and look what Becca picked out !!

There she was sat in her bright green and black legwarmers listening to Wham's "Last Christmas " and it could have been me all those years ago - frightening I tell you !!


Meg got a new collar - it matches the blog with turquoise and red, her last one finally gave up the ghost and she is non to impressed to have it replaced but the bell stops her mauling the birds.



Finally I did some layouts - all the details on how to make this one are over at the DO crafts website.


And this one is for a Christmas Party they are having over at Craftsupplies tonight. Anyway better love you and leave you -I have so much to do it is not funny !!

Welcome guys- now don't adjust your screens or run away I have been playing with the blog and decided I needed a bit of a update. So I played around with Photoshop and some lovely digital goodies and came up with this.
I would like to thank the digital artists who came up with the lovely things I used on my blog

Amy Wolff for the gorgeous papers
Gina Cabrera for the tabs
Miss Mint for the cute little tag and the cutest clip
Ronna Penner for the blue note, notepad paper and the background paper

( gosh it sound like an Oscar speech - I would like to thank my manager, my family, blogger and most of all you for making this blog possible)

There I think that is everyone covered - the fiddling around and putting them together was all me which is why it isn't perfect and the messing about with html code in blogger was all me too that bit seems to have worked.

So after all that faffing I hope you all like it now.

Back to news ( for the Grandparents and Auntie's and Uncles you know ) Things have been going fine, everone is well and I am happy as I have a new washing machine which helps matters greatly. I also took the annual Christmas Card pictures this week - it took two attempts the first one didn't go so well, first off Rachel didn't want to wear "that" hat and second the light went on me, darn that sun disappearing at 4.30 in the afternoon!


This picture is an outtake from the first shoot. Caitlin, bless her cotton socks, dressed up and wore the hat, everything to try and get Rachel in the festive humour. Rachel just thought it would be funny to grab Caitlin's nose instead . I actually like this shot to be honest - it captures the two little madams perfectly. You can see another shot in the new header and yes there were a lot of shots !

I even took one of me in "that" hat - I resorted to wearing it at one point just to get Rachel to look in my general direction. No it didn't work either but you can see how blond my hair is now.
Which I am still not used to if I catch my self in window or mirror I still do a double take even after 6 months of being a blond.


When we weren't wearing silly hats and taking pictures we ended up wearing face masks and taking silly pictures, well Cait and I did - I am not sure blue is my colour but Cailtin thought it would be hilarious.



I also took a picture of this little gem it was purchased on impulse in Dunnes Stores and is the cutest little planner ever. It is pretty and practical and I didn't have to make it which is even better. It was totally love at first sight when I spotted it.


It is a good job I didn't have to make it as I have been busy making other things. Cait and I made our weekly Christmas cards, it is becoming a fun ritual for both of us to sit at the table on a dark and dreary evening and make stuff and I am playing with more things because of it - like embossing powders and glitters, Caitlin loves getting them out so every card is getting layered in them.



On this card I embossed Rudolf with white glitter embossing powder and glittered up every inch of the felt border too - the whole table was a wash of glitter by the time we had finished. You will find glitter in your dinner if you aren't careful in this house !!


I also went mad with the white embossing powder on this layout too which you can get a better look at in the close up.

I have actually had this layout waiting to be scrapped for ages and never got around to it but thanks to Caitlin I am pulling out my stuff and playing for the first time in ages.


Finally I leave you with the pink version of the wreath in Caitlin's room ( of course !) very girlie and spot the embossing powder even made it on to the birdie !! Instructions for it are the next post down.

Here it is the black and green version of the wreath as promised it was made for Becca's room, there is now a pink one for Caitlin's room too - picture coming to a blog near you soon :)




I was asked by Mindy for the instructions and so here they are

3 sheets 12 x 12 papers
I found that thinner papers work better - I made one tonight from thick paper and it didn't look as smooth.
2 sheet of Cardstock thicker the better, you could even use chipboard for the base if you wanted it to be really sturdy I just used Cardstock .

Lots of ribbon for your trees and bling to make it pretty.

Liquid glue I used Magic Scraps

Instructions

1) Draw a 11 inch circle onto your base card and cut out - next draw an 8 inch circle in the middle of your 11 inch circle and cut it out leaving you with a 3 inch ring shaped base

2) Cut your paper into 3 x 3 inch squares and put glue at one end.

3) Fold these squares loosely in half and glue together at one end to make a tube.

4) Cut 5 slits into this folded tube to make the "ribbon" effect

5) Glue the tube to your ring Continue all the way round until finished

6 ) Cut out 2 triangles from card for the trees and decorate with ribbon and then glue to your ring add a message to the bottom if you wish and attach a ribbon to hang it up with.

I hope these make some sort of sense LOL

Back to news - it was another busy weekend which seems to be the norm for us at the moment and I doubt it will get any quieter as Christmas approches at breakneck speed. Caitlin had a party and Becca had the optician's to check out if she needed glasses or not.

Becca has been getting dizzy and headachy recently but the optician says she has 20/20 vision so it isn't that. It turns out it might be related to the ear problem, her ear was a little infected so she is being treated for that instead - yep team that up with horse riding and cross county running trials and you have a busy weekend.

Another person who hasn't been feeling too well is my little bro Mark he has also been nagging me to update the blog - so here is the update Mark and you are right I need to take more pictures as I had to dig up an old one of you :)


I will get to see him in the flesh soon and it seems like forever since the last time so I can't wait.

I also was back to making Christmas cards - this one was made with the clear papermania stamps , I love the tag one it is so versatile as the middle greeting is changable.

I will leave you with my layout for the November Challenge Creativity Life - pop over if you want to win lots of goodies.

THEY'RE BACK !!!!




Mum and Dad were here over the weekend fresh from their holiday in Oz. They had a marvellous time, so much so they didn't really fancy coming home to freezing cold, damp Ireland ( don't blame them there ) and they brought back a ton of pictures and lots of stories.


I love that they took pictures just for me - like this one of the butterfly it is one my Mum took for me, how cool is that ? It is cool because they think I am the one into photography and pretty things and because it is of my birth country. Thanks Mum and Dad it means a lot and was the best present ever.


They also got to see lots of people - my Auntie Chris and Uncle Kevin, my Cousins Phillip and Steven, some old family friends ( Hi Sue ) and my Godmother and her husband. And apparently they are all checking in on the blog - no pressure or anything you understand.
I would love to go back to Oz myself - it is on my "things to do before I shed this mortal coil " list


What else have we been up too ? Well we made cupcakes,

Cait and I did anyway, it was part of her star chart rewards. I love that she picks creating things as a reward as well as treats and stuff. We found the wonderful Bakerella site recently while blog-hopping and Caitlin is so excited about the cupcake pops that they are on the star chart this week.


Cailtin also managed to read 20 books for the MS Readathon and qualified for the Cross country running team - I didn't know she could run so fast, she definitely didn't inherit that one from me !!


Becca has been doing her bit too she is now on a committee at school which is organising a shoebox collection for needy kids, she took all the spare Christmas wrapping paper with her to school the other day. She is getting more independent ( and I am trying not to panic while she does it ) and going out with friends and has that teenage condition of a phone permanently attached to her. She also let me take this picture willingly without bribery or threatening - miracles will never cease !!

Rachel is now 20 months old and an absolute drama queen she loves to put out her bottom lip and wobble it and I constantly have to try and keep a straight face when she is doing it because laughing is not the reaction she is after. Her favourite phrase is "I scared" which started during Halloween and seems to have stuck.


We also lit sparklers on November 5th just for an excuse to mess really not because of the whole Guy Fawkes thing don't you know.
I did loads of Crafting- some for work of course, but I made this card as part of the Christmas card production.


I also made this wreath - there was a fabric version in a magazine and I got a mad notion that I could make it out of paper if I tried and that is how this all got started.


I can tell you it takes 3 sheets of Papermania Christmas line 12 x 12 and 2 pieces of card one for the base and one for the trees and holly and lots of ribbon.


I actually made another on this evening - smaller, black and lime green and very trendy, it is for Becca's room I have no pictures yet but will take one, Cailtin now wants one too for her room - look at what I have started !!

Right here is it the BIG update - honestly how do the people that blog daily and with big long postings do it ? I barely have time to sit let alone do all it takes to blog more than once a week. Any way I digress the kids have been off all week on Half Term and it was such a busy week what with a Pumpkin festival and Halloween and Mask Day and Line dancing which is maybe why blogging it all was so hard.


First was the line dancing - Caitlin had a class at Brownies with a proper teacher and won a certificate for best dancer in her age group, she loved it - Nana she must have got that skill from you I think because I still have two left feet.


They dressed up in cowboy stuff but do you think I could find a cowboy hat in this town? Every hat in the costume shop was gone due to 30 Brownies all dressing up so we had to improvise.

Next came Mask day at school - this happens every year on the last day of term before Halloween, the kids make a mask and bring money in for charity to enter their mask into the competition - this was Caitlin's puppy and she won a homework pass for her efforts.


Last weekend the Pumpkin festival was on in town and it was as BIG and exciting as last year. We went down for the opening ceremony on Friday - it was a sight to behold I can tell you

They had pumpkins carved by local school kids lining the street that are all alight and then they switch off the lights in the town and a Parade of fire walkers on stilts and samba dancers and drum band came down the street and it ended when a huge "chandelier of light"was hoisted into the air. It was a fantastic atmosphere and the girls had a ball, Becca with her friends who I was introduced too and Caitlin with her friends from school, even Rachel had a ball dancing to the band like a mad little Ewok.


Sunday at the end of the festival was a huge firework display - every year it gets bigger and better. There was so much on all weekend , fancy dress parties and pumpkin Olympics and an organic market. The town really does itself proud .



Then if course we had that mad snow out of nowhere. It came down in blizzard like fury and then was gone the next day in quite balmy conditions for October - now don't tell me the weather isn't completely crazy nowadays.


Which all led nicely up to Halloween - we carved pumpkins, Becca decide she wanted a Hello Kitty pumpkin could I find a pattern ? No of course not so I had to draw it free hand and carve it that way - it was hard but she loved it.




I made another banner this time for the window -

Well actually it was Caitlin's idea but she wimped out of the production half way through "Halloween" it did take a while to complete as every letter was inked and embossed with black glitter embossing powder.


I also made these bottles with labels found on the web to decorate the treat table and bagged up over 50 bags of goodies which vanished as if by magic at a rapid rate on Halloween.


Mind you our house did practically say come on in trick or treater's we didn't go too mad but you could tell we had goodies.


Our own little trick or treaters got ready - Caitlin decided to be the Queen of Heart's mainly because she loves that red dress I think so we made up a plate of tarts to go with it and added hearts to her costume and crown.

Rachel had the cutest pumpkin outfit and although we weren't sure how she would react to the whole thing due to a week of her being frightened of the "wooooh's " as she liked to call it .

But she loved the whole thing , she loved answering the door to the kids and kept giving away all the goodies and when we finally got out ourselves she adored ringing the bells and saying "dank u" to everyone - we actually only went to houses we knew were taking part and were friendly which I think helped.
The worst thing about it all is we ran out of sweets - I am astounded at how many called I mean we had the 50 bags and a huge bowl of leftover "just in case" sweets and then we got 3 more bumper bags of sweets from Jennie's and we still ran out - mind you one group admitted to calling twice and some kids had sackfuls of sweets so must have gone to every house in town. I made a sign up for the door saying "sorry it is all gone" at about half past eight and we got 5 more groups call to the door - one group even stole my sign !! Go figure !!

Next year I am just going to pack up more or do what a lot of people did switch all the lights off and pretend to be out LOL


Finally I will leave you with a layout of last year's haul as I have been a lazy girl and haven't scrapped a thing - starting to wonder if I remember how too.