when i should have been preparing for the crop.....

..... I got out a paintbrush and created myself a huge canvas for my new kitchen!!!

now I really must get on with sorting out my supplies and pictures!!!

Kit for the crop

The kit is all ready for the crop and here is a sneek preview of what I have done with the kit this week (and I still have untouched paper )!

New Crop Dates Announced

We have new dates for your diaries for our crops at Maidstone / Bearstead:

* Obviously we have the 3rd March booked 10am to 6pm (or later if there is enough demand. It is not too late to book your place.

* Next date is Saturday March 31st 10am to 6pm

* Then we have a WEEKEND booked 6pm Friday 27th April to 4pm Sunday 29th April. We will have places for day scrappers too on either the Saturday and Sunday. The accommodation is dormitory style - clean, comfortable and simple and on the farm so no excuse not to scrap 24 hours a day!Future dates will hopefully coincide with the last Saturday of the month.

Book asap - esp for the weekend to guarantee your table and bed! Check out our blog http://doodlingdaisys.blogspot.com/ for updates too.

We are very excited about these crops.

I personally have managed to scrap this weekend too - I was at the Coney Hall crop on Saturday and then managed to scrap into the early hours. The photos I have taken of my results are not very good so I will rephotograph in natural light and post them soon!

Valentines Day

Well the day has started very well - I am now the owner of a new troll bead - it came accompanied by a handmade monochromatic card, a little card and a what do you call them??!! Folded paper which you used to make when you were kids- where you count the chosen numbers, choose catagories and then open the flap to see the message!! Chris was apparently on the internet looking up origami sites and on the phone to his sister and neice trying to remember how to make them!!! What a romantic he is - he has certainly been earning brownie points this year!

The new bead is called carribean - it goes beautifully with my other birthday beads (it is the blue and turquoise one):

Morgan on the otherhand is having a terrible time with his eczema - we even went back to the doctors yesterday but it got worse over night!! He woke screaming during the night - cream and antihistamine finally got him back to sleep but look at his poor face this morning! He looks like he slept in a bramble bush last night! Anyone got a miracle cure?!

Looking forward to going to the Coney Hall crop on Saturday...I really must get some photos prepared!!

Speak soon!

Snow Layout

Well I impressed myself by actually scrapping pictures that I took that same week. The layout was completely different from the initial plan and it became a double page rather than a single page layout but I am happy with the result. I used KI Memories letters, shapes and ribbon but kept it clean looking (I love that main picture - hence I printed it big!)

The planning for the crop on the 3rd March is going well and we are getting alot of interest (not everyone can make the first crop but it should get busier and busier if everyone who has expressed an interest comes this year!)

I succeeded in getting to the bottom of my ironing basket this week - maybe I wont do any more washing and then it will stay empty!! (I think there is a flaw in that plan somewhere!!)

Freya wants to do some scrapping today - so she is patiently waiting for me to get away from the computer!! Wish me luck....

Snow, snow, snow

Well the country has been covered with snow today - a very healthy layer too.

We woke to this scene out of my bedroom window this morning!

Then we got out and played - we bought some sledges a couple of weeks ago in anticipation of this day!! We dont have hills around here - but they enjoyed whizzing around on them anyway! We were pretty proud of our snowman too - the only one standing on the green today - but sadly he has melted by tonight. Morgan understandably didnt like the snow dribbling down his neck when the snowballs hit!

Weekend News

This weekend was one of getting things done - Darling hubby decided to cut his hair with the old clippers on Saturday - my lovely 2 year old asked if he could have his done too - bearing in mind we are meeting our friend Sarah next Monday for a chat, haircut and tea, a cut for him wasnt critical - even though it was getting very long! He now looks like a bit of a thug!!I took some pics today and it doesnt look quite as much of a shock as it has done for the last 2 days (maybe I am just getting used to it?!) Any way here he is, with the little bit of hair he still has - I have convinced the grandparents that this is a hair strengthening exercise and it will grow back soon:

I braved Bluewater on Sunday - aghhhhhhhhhh, it wouldnt have been so bad had a not got a whinging, whining, crying 4 year old in tow - who wanted things bought for HER. As a result she got nothing and I had a massive headache for the rest of the afternoon! Poor little Morgan was as good as gold although weary after walking for so long - lucky I dont have any money to go back any time soon! But thanks to my Mum and Dad I have a new pile (of very swiftly purchased) clothes for my birthday. I dont think however, Mum and Dad will be offering to come shopping with me again after Sundays traumas!

Exciting Scrapbooking Day

Well today was very exciting - Debbie Jewell and I discovered an awesome venue for a new crop in the Maidstone area - it is going to be perfect for day or weekend crops - so we have booked the Saturday 3rd March as our first full day crop which will run 10am til 6pm - very exciting - watch this space or log into www.UKScrappers.co.uk , if you want more info!! as we are also hoping to hold a retreat weekend in April!

I managed to get my first bit of scrapping done this week since all the upheaval of the kitchen. I took up a challenge by my friend Louise to complete a layout using a sketch supplied by her (see it below), it moved me away from my usual style of 1 photo per layout which was fun and forced me to use these lovely pics of Morgan munching on plums in France last year!

Finally, the kitchen now has a beautiful tiled floor - not grouted yet admittedly - but that should be done on Monday. Just the worksurfaces and a bit of finishing off to do - yeah!

Kitchen Talk

Well the tiles have arrived - just need to be laid - so feel like an end is in sight...then I can get on with some much overdue scrapping at my kitchen table!! Here are a few pics of my kitchen a couple of weeks ago (I will post a new pic when it is finally finished!)

Apart from sorting out my study (so I can now get in and sit on a chair!) and an afternoon of unexpected tea and coffee with my friend Becky, it has been a quiet sort of day. I was going on to talk about why I scrapbook - but I will leave that now for another day as I seem to have a little girl with a blocked nose and a high temperature who just can't get back to sleep even though she has had the neurofen and water - I think I will hit the medised next (thats just for me!!) Night all

My First Step into Blogging!!

Well here I am, dipping my toe into the blogging pool.....
This month has been a month of chaos and change. We have ripped apart our downstairs - the wall has come down between the kitchen and dining room, our old kitchen removed and a new one installed. It seemed a simple task, we boxed up the kitchen put a set of cupboards, microwave, kettle and kitchen basics in the living room and left Simon the Kitchen Fitter to do the transformation! But 10 days without mains water and washing-up in the cloakroom. centimeters of dust through the house, living in one downstairs room with 2 young children, basic cooking conditions, days without electricity or water or heating and making endless cups of tea seemed to last for months not weeks. But ..... an end is in sight ... the kitchen is in.... we are now waiting for a tiled floor and worksurfaces...so we are nearly there - hurrah!!
Scrapbooking has been on a real back-burner for this last month but the camera has been out and busy.
Morgan started nursery 2 mornings a week - it started so well but by week 2 he decided he had been enough, so had to be peeled off me literally kicking and screaming - he wouldn't play or participate in any activity at nursery - the teacher described him as stubborn but very affectionate! Last week he was genuinely ill - I just hope he will enjoy himself again soon !
Chris and I both had our birthdays this month - I had a fantastic day, having coffee with the girls (whilst the kids were at nursery), lunch at David Lloyd with the kids and Debbie, Vicky and the babies and out to dinner with Chris to The Swan in West Peckham - a fantastic meal. I had some lovely pressies - the biggest surprise was a beautiful Troll Bead Bracelet from my darling hubby with 6 stunning glass beads and a silver bead from each of the kiddies with their initials on them!!
Two days later we celebrated Chris's birthday with a take-away, but what a nightmare it was to think of a pressie for him - he is now the proud owner of a professional set of kitchen knives (he is very happy with them - and I love 'em too - they look lovely in my new kitchen!!!)
Morgan has experienced his first snow - it wasnt very deep but it was enough to go out and make snowballs - his first reaction when he touched the snow was 'it's disgusting' but he coped much better than Freya did on her first encounter with it....btw she loves it now!
I think that swiftly brings us up to present day for the year... watch this space