They came, they painted, they conquered!!

Well the day finally dawned. D day as in decorating day !! Kirsty was the first to arrive and we had to have a long chat and catch up of course. we then found out that the others werent coming till much later so we promptly dispatched ourselves to Starbucks to discuss tactics lol. She has been expressing concern about me lately as she thinks I am stressed. Its not that its just there is so much going on in my head at the moment. So her grand master plan is to turn me into a list maker. Sort of divide and conquer I think. I have to write lists of things, things to do, things that are worrying me, things inside my head. In fact lists of anything just to get it out of my head. So where do you write these lists?? In a beautiful list writing book of course! So I am now the proud owner of a beautiful new journal courtesy of the . It has a beautiful silk cover and exquisite beaded butterflies and perfectly matches my bedroom colour scheme, of course! lol



Well we finally headed home and started on the decorating. We are painting the lounge and dining room with natural Hessian , and the kitchen with white , yes white! I was in charge of the part above the delph rack because I am the tallest and she was in charge below seen as she is a short arse lol



Yes they are circa 1985 leggings, coordinated beautifully with ankle socks.



Just after tea the lovely Carolyn turned up and we quickly cracked on.



Time passed quickly and tummies were rumbling so i was dispatched to the local Chinese for a takeaway, yummy.



This is just Cas,s order Lmao!!

After filling our bellies we didn't half crack on. Kirsty was painting so fast she seems to have worn out the brush. I, ll dock it off her wages!!


The lovely Liza T finally polled in about 10m ish. You know on 60 sec makeover when the designer comes swanning in and moves everything around? Well you get the idea!! So we banished her to the kitchen with a roller.



We painted until 2.30 am (well me and Liza T stuck it out!!), then curtains were hung rugs were hoovered and cushions were plumped. Apparently its called "dressing the room" lol, and here's the result so far.


Its going to look sooo fabby when its finished isnt it.. I have to say that I think I have the bestest, bestest bezzie mates in the whole world. Thanks each and every one of you ladies, I love you all!!!

Havent time today so tomorrow is all the lowdown on Mr Pickles visit.

Out with the old!!

Yes , the electricians came good, we have light ,heat and cups of tea. Woop woop!! So knowing that the party could po ahead with no problems then I could relax at home in the morning. Well I say relax, you know me!!!! lol. That involved , moving furniture, cleaning and getting the house ready for the great decorate tomorrow. Pelmets came down, new poles went up, Ooh its going to look lovely!! Only one more sleep and then the girls will be here and its all systems go.

The birthday party was great, I love the parties. Today we had a lovely family, 2 sisters sharing the same party. They made gorgeous decoupaged, shimmer mirrors. And the only time the lights went off was so we could light the candles for the cake!!

This evening I have been finishing off articles for a stamping supplement with the theme of Spring. Here's a few sneak peaks.

I havent use the orange and greens for a while but that's where I seem to be heading at the moment.

Shoe watch - Always make me smile this pair.

Let there be light - Please!!

You know when you just think that the day cant get any worse and then it does?? Yup today was one of them days. It started when I got to work this morning to find the corridor absolutely flooded. My studio is in a really old factory and the roof has always been really dodgy and so when it rains bad it quite often rains in , but unfortunately never in the same place twice!! It really poured it down all night so I knew there would be a bit of a problem, but jeez, I could have swum breast stroke down our corridor. Shoe watch could very nearly have been a pair of flippers!! I waded through opened the doors rushed through to get the mop and fell a**e over t*t on another puddle inside. The box of re-inkers, sprays and powders shot into the air and ,I swear down , landed in every single corner of the studio. Luckily not one of the glass bottles ,that the dye re inkers come in, smashed. Can you imagine if they had. So there I am flat on my back soaking wet in a puddle, lmao - not!! Had to sit on the radiator to dry my bottom out.

Well class started and was going really well until the first person came to use the toilet and we discovered that the light didn't work. Now this caused a prob as obviously you cant go for a wee in the dark and you cant leave the door open as its opposite the shop door!!. So one emergency call to my good mate E, who whizzed around to sort us out. It was then we discovered that the water had somehow got into the fan and light so had tripped it. Job sorted , bladders eased we got back to work, when suddenly, no electric at all. No lights, no music, no heaters, nothing , zilch zammo!! Emergency lighting came on so we all decamped to the corridor where we still had lights.

I checked all fuse boxes and nothing tripped so had to ring E again. Well no leccy meant no phone and as reception in the studio is terrible all phone calls had to be made in the middle of the car park whilst still belting it down with rain - lovely. Well out he came but couldn't work it out. I meanwhile kept very calm . Did I eckerslike!! Jeez all I could think was "how am I gonna teach? And what am I gonna say to the kids who were coming to a birthday party tomorrow?"
We were running around the building like headless chickens trying to come up with a solution. We realised it wasn't just me , all the stairwells and most of the other units were out as well. Couldnt get hold of the landlords agent so nothing for it but to call out NYED. Okay only a 4 hr wait, great.

Ladies abandoned class, Dy sits in cold and dark Awwww altogether now. Suddenly brainwave, checking all the supplies in we found that leccy was in fact going to one of the units in the building that is used for storage only. Now this happens to belong to a friend of mine, so with a quick " hello, how are you, can I borrow your electricity supply?", the deed was done , I have lights , heating , phone and more important - kettles lol. She meanwhile is left with nothing, what a pal, Julie I luuurve you lots.

Electric board finally arrived, and promptly decided that it wasn't anything to do with them, sorry and all that - ye sure!!. So after hanging around for 4 hrs no further forward , but at least I had obtained borrowed electricity!! nothing for it but to decamp home where Mr Unbribeable and his girlfriend The Lovely Katie were coming for tea. Lovely scrummy Sunday dinner type meal courtesy of Marks and Spencers and Ben's culinary skills. He then showed me how to use the Sky Plus that I never watch. We had to change the batteries in the remote which promptly stopped working!!!! How can a 7 wk old remote stop working when you put new batteries in??? And yes before you ask they are in the right way round duh! So that's it I finally decide to watch a bit of telly and I cant even change the channel. Nightmare as it was stuck on the X factor channel, and it just makes me cry, not sure if its cos I cant believe this is what I was reduced to watching lol. Have to admit though she ain't half one cracking singer , but not quite sure why she was wearing a table cloth on stage.

So that's it the day cant possibly get any worse, can it?? Not taking any chances , decamping to bed, gonna wait for the morning and round two of the electricians saga.

Just heard that my art journal has finally landed in America 5 wks after it was posted, whats all that about then???

Here come the girls

Ooh girlie nights out all round tonight. First of all "Yes she is a professional woman!" popped round. She was attending her works do and required assistance in getting into her dress. It was an absolutely stunning dress, but it required lacing all up the back like a corset. It took some doing so how on earth anyone can manage that on their own is beyond me. Maybe that's why some people have husbands ( thought there must be some reason!!). Anyway once she was in it and ready for a twirl she looked absolutely gorgeous. And for all those who know her, Yes it is really her!!!!!

Once I had got her sorted and on the way to the ball it was time to prepare myself. Another good friend of mine , The Lovely Emma, went through a very sad time earlier in the year and unfortunately had to give birth to a stillborn baby, the very beautiful Charlie. She is one of the sweetest people I know and together with her hubby Martin have not had the easiest of times. Tonight we were all attending a fund raising event that she had organised to raise money and awareness for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. I was being accompanied by my girlies, The Goddess and The Resident bit of Glamour!!! Ooh don't I look proud of them??

The event went really well with a lot of money being raised. The Resident bit of Glamour contributed a hand painted Blonde Moments canvas to the raffle, and The Goddess won a prize. Oh yes !!! Horse riding lessons!!! lmao. How cool is that? I don't think she was that impressed by it, ha ha. I hope she doesn't decide to recycle it and give it to me for Christmas!!!

And finally no shoe watch tonight as you have already seen them , so , hows about this??

Tight Watch - lol. Look at these beauties. Spotted them as I flew through T K Maxx the other day and just couldn't resist.

Fine and Dandy - Yes Really!!

Ooh my last post caused a bit of a stir!! For all those of you who think that I am feeling all upset about this Christmas, please don't read too much into it!!! I was merely thinking out loud and just contemplating how different it Will be this year. That doesn't mean to say I wont enjoy it, just that it will be different. For a start "the most beautiful granddaughter in the world" is staying Christmas Eve and if that's not worth a million I don't know what is. Also Mr Unbribeable and his girlfriend Katie are going to stay over on Christmas Day night so that's the washing up sorted!!

Got news of a kit that will be available from Mon. Its the 12 days of Christmas Kit and its very limited. Its a mini book made up of pocket pages, each pocket holding a 12 days of Christmas tag. The idea is to take a photo on each of the 12 days and journal about it on the tag. They are really cool, and you end up with a lovely memento of Christmas 2008/09. Ben will prob get these in the shop tomorrow night but you will have to be really quick as there is already a big waiting list. If you cant wait , just email me to let me know you want one.

Next week there will be news of 2 more kits , One is Christmas, and one is Home, I just need to get all the instructions finished and they are done. They will be fab for Christmas presents wont they. Which reminds me, at this time of year we are inundated with requests for gift vouchers. These are always great for pressies and we get lots of hubbies ringing up. But please a word of warning , if hubbies order after 20th Dec there is no way of posting it out to you!!! Stan if you are listening that includes you lol.

Don't forget to check out Tim's blog today. Love , love , love this one!!!

Rocking Dolly Parton

Yay!! What a find in Asda,s music section. Christmas CD,s at £3 each, yes £3 each. Now for someone who believes she was made for the job of Mrs Christmas this is indeed music to my ears. Plus I have the go ahead from Mr Unbribeable who allows me a small window to play them ( not before Dec 1st and not after the 25th). Every year I spend a fortune on all the latest ones and they are all the same, usually rubbish lol. But one of my £3 ones is going to be a firm favourite. It has a lot of the older songs on it and includes classics like Jim Reeves singing Marys Boy Child, Gloria Estefan singing Silent Night, and a great version of The Little Drummer Boy by one of my faves Johnny Cash. But whats really rocking me at the moment is Dolly Parton (yes you heard me correctly!!!) singing Hard Candy Christmas. Its about no matter how hard you feel Christmas may be this year, if you just get on with it in a happy frame of mind you will soon get thru it, and bounce right back!! This is the chorus

" I,ll be fine and dandy

Lord its like a hard candy Christmas

I,m barely getting through tomorrow

but still I wont let sorrow bring me way down."

This Christmas is going to be a weird one, It will be the first Christmas without my partner and best friend of 15 years. As if that's not tough I only have one of the kids still at home , they are all descending on Christmas Day , but its not the same with a half empty house on Christmas Eve. Plus they will all be leaving on the night to go home or to their partners parents. Now I am not wanting to moan but I cant help feeling how odd to go from a noisy household to this. Maybe I will feel better when I get all the decorations up after we have painted the room. But as Dolly says I,ll be fine and dandy I,m sure!!!

Anyway you need to get yourselves to Asda and get the Cd. Its called Absolute Christmas and is an absolute steal.. Another beaut one is The Christmas Covers with a cracking version of White Christmas by Billy Idol.

And while you are in there grab a pair of these beauties. Again £3. Yayy

It is sooo cold and these are great for in the studio. Take note anyone coming this week and next that fingerless gloves and scarves are essential items of equipment lol. C,mon ladies you know my place is chilly at the best of times so why are you suddenly shocked when we are in the middle of a big freeze everywhere.?? Ha ha . Mind you I work you so hard sometimes that you have steam coming out!!

blog hopping

OK now its time to do a little blog hopping. First you just have to get yourself over to Tim's blog. He is on Day 8 of the 12 tags of Christmas. They just get better and better don't they? Don't feel overwhelmed by all the techniques and materials used. You are not meant to do them all at once. They are just tasters of everything. You may already have some of the materials, so start there, or you may want to learn a new technique this week. He will leave the tags on his blog for a very long time, so you can reference back and forth whenever you wish. (Christmas 2007 are still there) If you do need anything extra to complete any of the products just click here and hopefully we wont have run out lol

Next blog hop is to Claudine . She has got the most gorgeous little village on there, with step by steps and downloadable templates. They are painted with her scrummy paints , and she has made adorable embellishments with her sticky back canvas. All available here. I am definitely going to recreate this. How much fun would it be to have the faces of your family peeping out of the windows. Love the fact that the transparency of the paints allows the writing opn the paper to show through!!

Next to one of my bezzies, the getting slimmer by the day Kirsty Wiseman . She is celebrating her 1000 th post. Yes 1000!!! How amazing is that?? I love her to death , and if I didn't know her and had never met her , I would still love her to death by just reading her blog. She is the funniest and sweetest person I know. She has been dealt some not nice cards in life, and I think many of us forget what she has to go through every day. She talks about the nasty comments she receives on her blog, and people are always surprised that we get these. Unfortunately it seems to come with the territory and does take a lot of getting used to. One horrible comment can far outweigh the many lovely ones sometimes. So a plea to those of you out there who like to leave us these messages, my grand ma always used to say " If you cant say anything nice then don't say anything at all". We don't ask that everyone likes us or agrees with everything we say or do, we just would rather not have negativity start to hinder our enthusiasm and pleasure in what we are trying to achieve. She is offering a prize to one lucky person, all you have to do is leave her a comment and ask her a question. Easy isn't it ?? lol Go go go!!

If you fancied a go at creating your own blog but didn't know where to start then hop over onto Teesha Moores blog where she is giving you step by step instructions on how to go about it. Hey even I can understand it, and that's saying something. i have long been a big fan of Teesha,s and own quite a few of her prints, I just love the vibrancy of her work. If you are new to her then go check it out!!

So that will give you all plenty to look at wont it. Today we had a special birthday in the studio. It was Sarah,s 18th. She has been coming to me for about 8 yrs week in and week out and it has been fab to see her blossom into a gorgeous young woman. The last few weeks have been fantastic for her, she passed her driving test, got a place at uni to study medicine and turned 18. What else could she wish for. Oh yes, me to embarrass her on the blog lol Sorry Sarah but it had to be done babes. Here she is with her birthday cake, and before you ask about the candles, they were all "Yes she is a professional woman" could find, and if you add them up they do come top the grand total of 18. I know, I know , but it was the best we could do at the time lol