1 year old today! And to celebrate, Bev has launched the Banana Frog Blog, with lots of exciting things planned, starting off with a birthday card challenge......here's what I did....

I used the new stamps that Bev has just sent me, Build a Bloom, Postage and Quirky Numbers.

In other news, only 11 days to go till my holidays, starting to get excited now!

Well, hello there! It's been a while, hasn't it.....

I also made this LO from the same pics - I used SEI Doodley Doo paper, AC chipboard, MM Glitter Alpha stickers, AL stamp, and my Zig dottoriffic pen!

Another digi LO for your enjoyment......paper from FunkyFunky kit by Sausan Designs, Brushes by Jason Gaylor, Gorillas alpha and circle from Beautiful Mess kit by Lisa Whitney, Jen Caputos Bends Action. Am quite enjoying the digi stuff at the moment....but I still love my stash! Hmmm, may have to try and combine the two.....

And then the two of us at the Hard Rock Hotel in Orlando, have used the Funky Funky embellishment kit, alpha and papers by SausanDesigns, and Michelle Collins stamped alpha. LOVE the colours in this kit - really bright and cheery, just what I needed now that the weather has turned cold again!

Well, I am managing to keep up the creativity so far! Here's another Wedding layout....partly done yesterday and then finished while chatting to my buddys on Skype tonight!

I thought it was about time that I did something with my wedding pictures (nearly 7 years later!) so I got them reprinted the other day and made a start. Here are the first three layouts...

Well, it only took me two weeks, but I finally managed to think of a title for these pics. Also, please note the lovely machine stitching! And thanks for the paisley shapes Vic - love 'em!

Sewing machine! Yay! It's the little Janome Sew Mini from Argos, and I have been stitching everything that stands still. So every LO I do will probably have some stitching on it for the forseeable future!
I went on the market yesterday to try and find a stall selling material, but couldn't find one. Mind you, I didn't have long to look, and it is a very big market, so maybe I have just missed one. I will have to investigate further when I have a bit more time....
I have got two boxes that I want to alter, and I cant make my mind up what papers to use! I'm torn between the Avenue Crate Papers, or possibly some BG Lily Kate. Or some BG Blush. Hmmmm..........

Although this weeks cybercrop was a bit bigger, most of the team from UKS got together on Skype last night so we could have a good old chinwag while we did some scrapping! I was feeling quite smug cos I actually managed to finish my LO - I did the Pencil Lines sketch for this week.

And I also did another LO for Banana Frog (above), with some more lush Pink Martini paper, Diamonds Forever staps, and my lovely Zig dotty pen!

Well, have spent the evening taking part in a teeny weeny cybercrop with my buddy Victoria, who decided that we should do this weeks Pencil Lines sketch from Elsie Flannigan. So after the initial panic (Yikes! Need photos! and inspiration!) had worn off, this is what I came up with!

"Welcome to the 2007 edition of getting to know your friends. These are my answers, change all the answers so they apply to you, and then send this to a whole bunch of people including the person who sent it to you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little things about your friends, if you did not know them already."
1. What time did you get up this morning?
5.20am, unfortunately. Or, as a friend of mine put it, "The butt-crack of dawn". And no, I don't normally get up at that sort time, but we had stocktake at work today, so I had to start at 6am.

2. What did you have to eat last night?
Chips and gravy! Hey, I had a hangover and couldn't be bothered to cook....

3. Diamonds or pearls?
Oh, diamonds, definately. I'm dripping in them, dahling.

4. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Actually it was "Dick and Jane" at the cinema at Downtown Disney last January! We don't go to the pictures much, as you can tell!

5. What is your favourite TV show?
Current favourites include Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives, CSI (any of them!), and ER.

6. What did you have for breakfast?
Oh, I was very naughty today. Sausage and egg mcmuffin, hash brown and a latte. Well, I did get up early!

9. What is your favourite cuisine?
Chinese. No, Italian. No, Chinese. Or Italian....

10. What foods do you dislike?
Brussel Sprouts.

11. What is your favourite Crisp?
Kettle Crispy Bakes in Mild Cheese with Sweet Onion flavour.

12. What is your favourite CD at the moment?
Well, recent ones are Take That and Girls Alouds latest.

13. What kind of car do you drive?
A Citroen C2 VTS. Blue.

14. What is your favourite sandwich?
Either plain cheese, on white bread, or a Subway Steak and Cheese.

15. What characteristics do you despise?
How long have you got? Rudeness, tactlessness, bullies. I could go on....

16. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go?
Oooh, easy, this one. Orlando, Florida of course!

17. What colour is your bathroom?
Blue and white.

18. What is your favourite brand of clothing?
Sadly, probably Next. Thats mainly what is in my wardrobe, anyway!

19. Where would you want to retire?
See favourite holiday destination above....

20. Favourite time of day?
About 6.30pm, just in from work, sat in front of the PC with a cup of coffee and a bag of kettle crispy bakes, checking my emails....

22. What is your favourite sport to watch?
None! Boring, boring, boring......
23. Coke or Pepsi?
Diet Coke!
24. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Probably more of a night owl.....
25. What size shoe do you wear?
6 1/2
26. Do you have pets?
Nope. Am allergic to everything. Had a hamster called Clint when I was younger, he was a proper escapologist though, he got out of the cage and hid in my parents bedroom for a couple of days.
27. What did you want to be when you were little?
Rich and famous! Or an air hostess....
28. Favourite Chocolate Bar?
Oh, anything really. Thorntons Viennese bars are rather delish.
29. What is your best childhood memory?
I remember being "A Lonely Little Petunia In An Onion Patch" when I was about 6 or 7, something like that, with my best friend Emma from next door. (It was a show for ballet school!)
In fact, I'll show you a pic. I was soooo cute, what happened?

30. What are the different jobs you have had in your life?
I worked for my Mum when I was at school, then I worked in a pub, then was a relief pub manager, and have had various management positions at various different retailers since then.
31. What are you wearing right now?
Slouch jeans, stripy long sleeve top, and a big wooly jumper. It's cold!
33. Do you have any piercing’s?
Just my ears!
35. Have you ever been to Africa?
No.

36. Have you ever loved someone so much it made you cry?
Well, I probably thought I did at the time! But surely the whole point of loving someone is NOT to make them cry, actually. I can't be doing with all this tortured soul stuff....
37. Have you ever been in a car accident?
Yep, twice! Once as a passenger, and once driving.
38. Croutons or bacon bits?
Probably croutons.

39. Favourite day of the week?
Wednesday and Sunday (usually my days off!)
40. Favourite restaurant?
China Delight. Or Frankie and Bennys (simple tastes, me!)
41. Favourite flower?
Don't really have one, to be honest.
42. Favourite ice cream?
Dole Whip, in the Magic Kingdom, WDW. Or Ben and Jerrys (any kind!)
43. Disney or Warner Bro's?
Durr, Disney, of course...
44. Favourite fast food restaurant?
Subway, or the local Chinese takeaway. Mings Dynasty, in case you were wondering.
45. What colour is your bedroom?
Yellow and blue. It was like that when we moved in and we are too lazy to decorate.
46. How many times did you fail your driver's test?
Just once!
47. From whom did you get your last e-mail?
Well, if we are not counting automated ones, it was my sister.
48. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Selfridges, maybe? Would be easy to do in there!
49. What do you do most often when you are bored?
Scrap, surf, read a book, watch telly, eat.
50 Bedtime?
Usually about 11.30 ish

51. Who are you most curious about their responses to this Questionnaire?
Ooooh, everybody!
52. Last person you went to dinner with?
My brother in law and sister in law. And my husband too, obviously.

53. What are you listening to right now?
Mika - Grace Kelly

54. What is your favourite colour?
Pink, brown, black.
55. Lake, Ocean or River?
Ocean, but only to look at. There are too many things out to get you in the sea...
56. How many tattoos do you have?
None!
57. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
I have no idea.
58. How many people are you sending this e-mail to?
Er, none.
59. What is the time right now?
17.49
60. What are you getting for Christmas?
Oh, thats months off yet. Something nice, I'm sure!
61. What do you like better, eating or sleeping?
Eating
62. How many sisters/brothers do you have?
One of each. Tracey and John.
63. What is your favourite random word?
I can't tell you, it's slightly rude....
64. What is your favourite part of your body?
My eyes.
65. What do you first notice about a member of the opposite sex?
Hmmm. I don't really know. I can't remember the last time I looked. Their sense of humour probably.

It's my day off today, and I have spent a terribly productive day sat in front of my laptop, still in my pj's, drinking coffee. I did manage to have a shower and get dressed at about 3 o'clock, and then we went to B&Q to get the flooring for the kitchen while the 15% off offer was still on.
So, I am suffering from a severe loss of scrapbooking mojo at the moment. Can't seem to get myself together enough to actually do anything. Need to print some photo's. No inspiration at all. Any ideas, anybody?
Anyway - you have to watch this clip, it is sooooo funny. Make sure you have the sound up or it won't make sense though!

I was given a gentle (ahem) reminder that I may have missed something off my things that make me happy list last night, so here is the thing that makes me happiest of all.
Nuff said.

So, I thought I would join in with todays blog prompt on UKS - to just have a wander round my house and take pictures of some of the things that make me happy. This is what I came up with... Next we have coffee, I like a nice cup of coffee, but not just any old coffee mind, has to be a nice one. The current favourite is Percol Smooth Americano, little bit pricey but well worth it!So, what else. My wedding certificate, signed by Mickey and Minnie, always makes me smile because it reminds me of my favourite place, Walt Disney World in Florida, where we got married on the 29th August 2000.And of course, some scrapping stuff, all those pretty bits of paper and flowers and ribbons always make me happy, even if I am just stroking them!
Then I have my shelf full of Winnie the Poohs to keep me company in my craft room, I always bring one back from my holiday and try to find ones in different outfits each time. So far I have Squirrel Pooh, Eskimo Pooh, Lion Pooh, Bumble Pooh and Safari Pooh!Last, but by no means least - my comfy furry slippers, pure bliss after a day on my feet at work. And the slippers are sat on my bed, another thing that brings me great joy....

Well, I am back from my works trip to Birmingham, it's nice to come home! Here's a few pics from the Masquerade Ball in the evening.......
Me and Maria........ The entertainment for the evening.....G4!
Me in my dress........

Couldn't get any particularly good piccies of G4 as it was dark, obviously, and they were a bit too far away for the flash to be effective. I tried a few with the flash off but kept getting jostled about on the dance floor so I couldn't keep the camera still enough! Never mind!

Saw some of the new stuff we will be getting this season too, some nice bits and pieces....

Well, here we are at the beginning of a new year, it's a good job I didn't make a resolution to blog more or I would have fallen off the wagon with that one already! I haven't made any resolutions, I always think they are a bit pointless - and I'm not very good at sticking to them! I think I would like to change a couple of things this year, look for a new job (NOT in retail!), try and eat a bit more healthily (did I spell that right?), you know, the usual sort of stuff!

Have been dress shopping this week for the big works do coming up next week, it's a masquerade ball! Went to the Trafford Centre one night after work with Claire, but after trying on A LOT of dresses I couldn't find anything I liked, and went home feeling rather fat and frumpy (via McDonalds, which didn't help!). I went shopping in the local town centre on my lunch break the day after, and found a lovely dress in Principles, half price in the sale, so I bought it quickly! Just need to find some shoes now and I will be all set....

Phew! I'm exhausted! Thank goodness Christmas is over with! Here's a few pics.......

Me demonstrating my new remote control for my camera...
Georgina meeting Tickle Me Elmo.....
Three snowmen sat on a fireplace.....
I will be back with something more constructive in a couple of days when normal service is resumed!

Isn't it lovely? I felt a bit sick afterwards though, I think I ate a bit too much icing while I was making it!

Am also very excited as I have reserved a place on Kirstys photography and scrapping day in February - really looking forward to it!

The picture was taken at my brothers house when we all went round for lunch the other week. Speaking of which, here's another LO from that very occasion - haven't I been busy!

Grrr - blogger won't let me upload another picture, I'll have to try again later... done it now!

And Victoria, if you happen to read this, hope you are having a fantastic time! Try not to clear the scrapbook shops of Sydney out of all their stock, at least, not in the first week!

Just a quickie, cos frankly nothing exciting has happened to me today! Back at work after my week off - thankfully the shop is still standing, they don't seem to have broken anything and nobody has resigned, so it's all good!
Need to start recruitng some Christmas temps soon, I waded through about 150 various CV's and application forms trying to narrow them down today, and it astounds me how so many 16/17 year olds manage to fill up 3 or 4 sides of A4 paper for their CV when all they have done is 2 weeks work experience and a paper round. C'mon people, do you really think I have time to read all that? Thrilling though it may be to read about the fact they they were a prefect, a member of the chess club and they love Harry Potter books, I pretty much just want to make sure they have a basic grasp of English and Maths. I'm also quite fond of the ones that can't be bothered to actually use the spell checker on Microsoft Word - helloo!! Thats what its there for!
I know, I know, I'm horrible, but for goodness sake, my cv barely covers 2 sides of A4 and I have been working since I was 17!
Anyhoo, now I've got that off my chest I will go and read my new copy of Creative Scrapbooking (and yes, I realise I said I wasn't going to buy anymore scrapping magazines, but I am weak) and possibly do some scrapping, but very quietly cos hubby has gone to bed. Shhhhhh......

Now, I'm not a big fan of reality TV, up to the point where I made a conscious decision not to watch anymore of it (Big Brother was stealing FAR TOO MUCH of my time) but you so have to go and see the video of Dean Gaffney on I'm A Celebrity if you haven't already seen it. You can find the video here and don't worry, theres nothing too icky on it. According to Ste the funniest bit was actually Dec's reaction right at the end when he couldn't talk cos he was laughing too much!

My mum has finally ordered herself a Craft Robo - she couldn't decide between that and the Cricut but the promise of 24 hour technical support from me might have swung it! Although the Cricut looks great, I just think it will work out soooo much more expensive in the long run when you have to buy all the cartridges for fonts and shapes. At least with the Robo you can have any font. any size, dingbats, and so on, and it sounds like when they release the new software it will be a lot easier to make your own templates too. Long live the Craft Robo, thats what I say! And for those of you that might be wondering, I have one myself, and I don't really think there is any point waiting till the new version comes out in December because I don't think there is that much difference. Get yourself one now while they are reduced! (By the way, I DON'T WORK FOR GRAPHTEC!)

Did you go and look at my gallery on Banana Frog? In case you missed it, here's the link again. I've just finished another LO, so hopefully that will be up there soon too. Bev has put loads of new stuff on the site too in the last couple of days, there are some gorgoeus new papers and chipboard letters too.

I have purchased the first Christmas present today - but I can't tell you what it is! (Well, my 20 month old niece Georgina might read my blog, you never know!). I'll give you a clue, he's red and laughs a lot......

So, random picture for today, lets have another Florida one, just trying to remind myself that summer will come back eventually....

Well, I have just about recovered from my trip out to the craft shop in Blackpool with my Mum and sister. Things started out well when we got to the end of the road in my car (which admittedly is a very small, with very "sporty" suspension, Citroen C2) and my sister was going very green about the gills and pleading with us to go back and take Mums car instead as she was feeling car sick. Of course, this meant I couldn't drive as I wasn't insured, so poor Mum had to do it!

We arrived at the shop after a combination of using my Tom Tom sat nav and the excellent directions that Yvonne from UKS sent me, really easy to get to, literally 5 minutes from the end of the M55. Parked right outside and in we went.

The shop was crammed full of lovely scrapping goodies, and there was a lovely big classroom / crop room attached to the shop too. I won't tell you how much we spent but suffice it to say that we probably made it worth her while to open!

Of course, no trip out with my family is complete without me pretending I don't actually know them - and I was given plenty of opportunity to do that when

• My sister took a scrapbook down from the top shelf to have a look, replaced it, and managed to knock down EVERY OTHER SCRAPBOOK ON DISPLAY. Hereafter known as the "Domino Effect".


• My Mum was paying for her stuff at the till, but wanted to round it up to the next £10 to get a loyalty stamp, so went off to find more stuff to buy. So what? I hear you ask. Well, there were two other people waiting to be served behind her, just patiently waiting as my Mum went off to browse again......

I'm sure the lovely lady in the shop (Julie?) breathed a big sigh of relief when we left! Oh and in case you are wondering, the shop in question was Cucumber Cottage Studios in Blackpool. Well worth a trip if you live anywhere near it.

So, a bit more about my digital picture frame for Paula - here's a picture. It has a 7" widescreen display, remote control, and you can put a memory card directly into the side of the frame, or connect it to your camera via USB, or connect a USB pendrive directly to it (as shown in the pic on the top right). It runs off mains power and can either sit in a flat surface or be wall mounted. You can play pictures, short video's, music, or do a slideshow with music and pictures (all very clever!). Paula, I bet your Dad would love one for his holiday pics! Don't ask me how much it was though, it was a present so I don't know. Oh yeah, and the manual is hysterical for mine, obviously translated from chinese by someone who doesn't speak either chinese OR english. Quote - "Dont irradiation for long time under the fierceness sun" er, what? Keep out of direct sunlight, do you think? Or "All jack are mini, please aim at". Nope. No idea at all. And the ENTIRE MANUAL is like that.....

I think thats all for now. I finished a LO last night butI can't show you yet because it is for Banana Frog. Oh, did I mention I got a box full of the most fabby stuff from Beverley at Banana Frog on Tuesday? Luvverley stuff it is, stamps and papers (including the gorgeous, strokeable Dream Street Cafe Chic range. It's a bit wet now where I keep dribbling over it. Joking!).

Oh yes, and we have purchased most of what we needed for our mini bathroom refurbishment, just need some time to actually DO it now!

Thank goodness, today is the first day of my weeks holiday, it's just so nice not to have to be worrying about work!

So what have I been up to? Nothing much exciting during last week, just work. Got quite a bit of sickness at the moment so it's quite difficult to get anything done, specially as we are getting busier on the run up to Christmas. We had a power cut in the shop at about 10 to 5 on Saturday afternoon (just as I was geting ready to skive off a bit early to start my hols, grrrr). Turns out it wasn't just the shop but the whole town and quite a large part of the surrounding areas too. We had to evacuate the shopping centre, in the freezing cold and pouring rain, fortunately they allowed us retailers back in before too long! I ended up locking everything up and coming back later when the power came back on to lock up. Not the best start to my holidays, really.

Yesterday was my birthday, don't ask me how old I was. Alright, you twisted my arm, I was 33. I got some lovely presents, a digital picture frame, a tabletop easel that I wanted and some yummy Thorntons chocs from Ste, money from my parents and Ste's mum, and some scrapping stuff from my sis. Hmmm, now I wonder what I will use the money for? Stash, anybody?

And to that end we are taking a trip out to a scrapbooking shop in Blackpool tomorrow - hope it's good, the money will be burning a hole in my pocket! I'll let you know what it's like, and what stash I come home with!

I will leave you with a piccy of a LO I did this morning, Seuss Landing at Islands of Adventure with the Christmas decorations out.....

.....and I just can't hide it! Why, you ask? Well, today I became a member of the Design Team for the rather fabulous Banana Frog! Yay me!

I didn't mention it when I entered because I get teribly superstitious about these things and didn't really want to jinx myself, but I'm really happy to have been chosen, it's made my week! Thanks Beverley!

We had to make a LO about ourselves (eeek!), a card and an altered item. I was slightly worried about the card as it's not something I have ever really done, but I was quite pleased with how it turned out. Want to see? Here you go....

I was also really pleased with how my altered item turned out - I've been wanting to try something like that for ages and I'm glad it finally gave me the push to do it. Keep an eye on the Banana Frog website for some fab stuff from the new members of the design team!

So that was my exciting news for the day! In other news (!) we went to my brothers house for Sunday lunch, roast beef with all the trimmings followed by a delicious home made apple tart, in fact my mouth is watering at the thought of it. Yummy. The whole family was there, including my niece and nephew fresh off the flight from Florida (I don't know how they were still awake!) and gorgeous Georgina, looking like a proper little girly with her blonde hair and her sparkly shoes. They were such pretty shoes, in fact, that I had to take a piccy of them specially....

Oh yes, and can I say hello to the fellow members of the papparazi, Tracey and Mum; Steve says he is going to have to buy Georgina some shades before she gets blinded by all the camera flashes.....

I thought I would have a bit of a change - got rid of the black and gone for a nice white instead, what do you think? Might even go and design myself a new blog banner while I'm at it.....