I thought I would get a chance to catch up properly

before we left but unfortunately not. Today has been a day of chasing my tale and re-arranging nail appointments four times - but that is another story.

Anyway, we are out of here tomorrow to go here - sometimes, life is so tough! See you in two weeks.

If anyone is looking for the scrapbook album post, it's a few posts further down the page - thanks Kirsty for the blog pimp!

Anyway, enjoy the view and I'll see you all in two weeks.

Natalie x

I'm going to need a holiday after this week.....

That's handy then :-)

Still so much to do. Work is pretty frantic as nobody will do my job when I am away so I will come back to a nightmare anyway, so trying to be as organised as I can be before I go which is proving hard to fit everything in.

A bit like trying to sort out all the holiday things for four people that you have to do. Friday cannot come quick enough although it's getting here very quickly.

The boys are at a Chelsea football club this week for four days and they are absolutely loving it. They seem more excited about it than going on holiday - I'm sure that will change when we arrive on Friday!

So being a dutiful mother and wanting to make things fair, here is a picture of Kian at Ethan's football birthday party at the end of June this year. He is a born goalkeeper and just as keen as his brother now. They both start playing for Maidenbower United in September and they can't wait - I keep telling them it's not Manchester United but what can you do.

If you love on-line classes, then why not havea look at this site http://www.ustamp.blogspot.com/ . It starts today and looks like it could be fun. Not bad for about £12. Don't know much more than you see but we'll see.

As much as I wanted to, it doesn't look like I will get to play with my Stampin' Up stuff before I go away now, so hopefully when I come back and the boys are back at school, I can start playing. A few friends have offered to have parties for me in September and October, so that should be fun too and definately gives me something to have to get organised for.

Anyway, a pile of ironing is calling my name, so I will try and catch you before we fly.

Have fun!

Natalie x

So much to do with so little time.......

Well, I managed to put in my first Stampin' Up order and am eagerly awaiting it's arrival. With any luck it will arrive Monday if DHL manage to find the right address this time! Not that I'll have alot of time to do anything with this mind you.

The boys have gone to Hampshire with my mum today. Although they may be a little bit too old now, there was a trip to a steam train station and it just happens to be Thomas the Tank weekend too, so they've been there all day. I hope the weather has been better for them than it has been here all day - it's been awful.

This is our first Saturday without our children at home and you'd think that we would have a fabulous day planned, but with the weather being the way it is, we've done all the housework, started packing for the holiday and generally done some jobs.

I've also done my next two projects for the Scrapbook Mate Design Team and the first one went up today.

It had to be a monochramatic project although we were allowed to use white, cream and black if we wanted to. It's mainly using Making Memories bits with the odd bit of Hambly Prints, Prima and KI Memories thrown in for good luck!

Okay, that's it for today, going to go get on with my list.

Have fun!

Natalie x

Well, Zoe came around last night......

and we ooohhhed and aaahhhhed over the Stampin' Up Starter kit and played just a little - poor lass has been in hospital and hadn't been out of the house in weeks, so I went and picked her up and she came and stroked with me just for an hour before I had to take her home again - I think she was pleased to get out of her house and I guess nice to have a change of scenery. Managed to put my first order in (with some extras for Zoe of course!) so with any luck that will be here early next week.

Been frantically trying to do everything before I go away next week - why is there always so much to do?

Got a couple of DT pieces to do before I go away, which if I don't get done tonight will get done tomorrow (yay, I've got a day off work!) or over the weekend. My mum is taking the boys on a steam train on Saturday so Damon and I have actually got a day to ourselves on Saturday - it's unheard of, I almost don't know what to do! Although, one look at my "List of things to do before we go away" should give me plenty of ideas!

Mum and a friend are going to be painting our kitchen while we are away (I love my mum!) so I've got to get that organised and the kitchen emptied before we go away too. Then new flooring down when we come back - should look fab. Then onto Ethan's room, which is in desperate need of an overhaul.

Anyway, hadn't put any pictures on the blog yet, so thought that I would leave you with a layout that I did for the Scrapbook Mate DT blog. It's a layout about my oldest son and what he is like now that he has just turned 9 - can't believe it, what happened to my little baby boy?

You can click on the pictures to see them bigger if you want to.

It was KI Memories week and I was trying to show that you can use their Lace cardstock as it is but you can also use it as a template. I covered some with embossing paste and then peeled back the cardstock to leave an embossed image (see the white patterned squared with the buttons on.)

The photos are never as good as the real thing but you can see a close up of the white doodling and the embossing paste above too.

Just had a thought too. I've currently got quite a few 12 x 12" scrapbook albums for sale. They are all brand new, still in packaging and are canvas covered. I'm after £5 each and the postage is £5 for up to three albums to be posted out. If you want anymore, then I'll have to work out what it is, but I have the following colours:

Light blue, Navy blue, Red, Cream, Purple, Light Pink, Hot Pink, Khaki.

Here is a picture of one and just to give you an idea, I've got "about" 10ish of each colour. If you are interested in any, please contact me via the Email Me link above. Don't forget that I go on holiday next Friday, so if you want them before I go, best be quick. I can take cheque, paypal or bank transfer. Great for those scrapbooking layouts, you Stampin' Up ladies!

Okay, that's a few pictures for you then. Got to go and cross some more things off my To Do List.

Have fun!

Natalie x

Aaarrrggggghhhhhhh.........................

My Stampin' Up starter kit arrived today! Had a good nose but had to pack it all away. Zoe's going to come around tomorrow and help me stroke it.

Planning on putting my first order in tomorrow night and then with any luck it might just get here before I go on holiday next week. We're off to Menorca for two weeks and I just can't wait. Two years since we've had a holiday and five years since we've been away for two weeks.

Excited? Me? Never!

Have fun.

Natalie x

Well, let's see if I am any better at updating this blog....

Having had a blog before and not updating it enough, I have left it alone for a year. Now that I have gone part-time at work and my boys are getting bigger, then I am hoping (!) that I will have a bit more time to be creative and that I can share some of my creativity on here.

I have just signed up as a Stampin' Up Demonstrator as I love love love their products. Love that it all co-ordinates for you and you don't have to think about that. Just waiting for my starter kit and then I can get working on my samples.

I'll come back and update when I've got more to share.

Natalie x