Some old/new layouts and some new stash!!!

Here are a few LOs I had in Scrapbook Magazine, which I haven't shown on my blog before. They tend to keep hold of them for a while, so it's always a nice surprise when I get them back. Not as nice a surprise though, as this bundle of stash which I got in the same parcel!! It's a Four Ways Kit which will be featured in Issue 45 I think. I haven't heard of the manufactuer before, but it's fab stuff, with some massive die-cut shapes, plus bling, funky bouncy stickers, stickers with little beads inside, plus ribbons and even a set of stamps, plus more! I'm thinking of doing something different with this kit, maybe a door plaque or a pinboard or something..... hmmm will think on....

Oh! Should have said! Got my laptop back (did I tell you this already?!) It's actually in my possession now and all working brilliantly. And all my pics. Tell you, won't be going back to PCW again, and was really shocked how many of you have had the same experience with said company. Thanks for warning me!

Oh and here's a question for you. I've been pondering something the past day or two. I am a little obsessed at the moment with "using stuff". I get really stressed sometimes when I see how much paper I've got and how long I've had some without using it. Examples of this range from having something 4(?) years - which if I bought it that long ago is probably fairly hideous and I don't care too much - Maddie will probably have it. Then to stuff I've had for 18 months, to stuff I bought at Ally Pally only last September. Now it dawned on me that many of my scrapping mates and acquaintances (judging by what I see and hear them buy) have WAY more than me. And I have a fairly decent output too. So, does it matter that I have loads of sheets of paper waiting to be used??? And that's a genuine question. Should I be stressing or should I be accumulating to be used at a point in the future "whenever" and "if it takes my fancy"?? I don't really save stuff anymore, I mean, I'm really good at breaking into alphabets and cutting paper - I'm not one of those who can't use stuff it has to be kept to be stroked..... Comments pls!

I've been tagged!

1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before? I made a fascinator!

2. What are your New Year’s Resolutions? Lose weight, drink less alcohol, drink more water.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth in 2009? No. Wow!

4. Did anyone close to you die? No. Although there was a lot of death around in 2009. Was glad to see the back of that year. Several people I am close to lost dear ones.

5. What countries did you visit? France, Germany.

6 What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? More money and a new car and a new job. Plus children who sleep!

7. What date(s) in 2009 will remain etched in your memory and why? 9th January. And also 25th April - I was bridesmaid to Clara my school friend!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Going back into the workplace!

9. What was your biggest failure? I didn't lose any weight but I can't think of anything I really failed at! (thats because I am perfect ;) )

10. Did you suffer any illness or injury? Urgh. Lots in 2009 it was never-ending, which is unlike me but sure you know all about it!

11. What was the best thing someone bought you? My River Island vouchers were a huge hit!

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration? All my children's. They're stars even when they can be too much at times!

13. Whose behaviour appalled and depressed you? Again, you know who you are.

14. Where did most of your money go? Clothes and scrapbooking.

15. What did you get really, really excited about? Going to Disney and Germany.

16. What song(s) reminds you of 2009? Poker Face

17. Compared to last year are you... happier, same, poorer,

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Going out for walks. Scrapping. Seeing friends.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Staying in watching crap TV. And Five films. Too naff.

20. How did you spend Christmas? At home with all my family! It was mayhem!

21. Did you fall in love in 2009? Nah, not so much!

22. What was your favourite TV program? Desperate Houswives!

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't this time last year? No. I still hate the same people (only one or two!!!). No-one new, although I do have less respect for some people than I did last year.

24. What was the best book you read? Ooooh hard one. Um, I read so many books and so many have stuck in my memory. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See, The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K.Lee, When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng (was particularly good). Plus many many more...

25. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you? I was 35 and stayed in with my best friends Lu and Stu and Jon!

26. What was your best musical discovery? God knows. I am really into Florence and the Machine and La Roux. Plus Jon got me Ministry of Sound 80s Electronic Anthems this christmas which is amazing!

27. What did you want and get? Pretty much everything. I am fairly spoiled.

28. What was your favourite film of the year? The Hangover???

29. What did you want and not get? Enough sleep and Julia Roberts-esque legs. I also started the year thinking I wanted another baby. I didn't get one. And now I definitely don't want one!!!

30. What one thing would've made your year immeasurably more satisfying? More cash!!! Less pain. Oh that's two. Sorry!

31. How would you describe your fashion concept for 2009? Skinny and baggy (clothes, not me!)

32. What kept you sane? Wine (how sad actually)

33. Which celebrity or public figure did you admire most? Dannii Minogue went up in my estimation, as did Cheryl Cole.

34. What political issue stirred you most? Iraq. I just want our boys out of there :(

35. Who do you miss? I miss lots of people all of the time.

36. Who was the best new person you met? Sarah, Helen and Donna. I met some other new people who are fab (Claire C for one,) and got to know better some who were just aquaintances (Rachel from school).

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned. It's all just too precious and so short. And in just one day it can all change. I took action on that when I realised just how fragile life is back in January.

38. Quote a song line that defines your year. I can hardly remember what clothes I had on yesterday, This has tested me enough, my brain just can't compute this last one.

...and breathe!

Well, yesterday appeared to have been a great success and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Morag's classes were a hit, and as usual so was Cleo's shop! I felt like I didn't stop all day, but I guess I must have done as I did 3 LOs, 2 cards and a mini-book! It was lovely to see all the regulars, and some who don't come so often, and we even had one or two new people too! I hope you all enojoyed it as much as I think you did. I've already had requests to arrange another Cropaganza, but it's going to have to wait a while for me to recover!!

These are the Love Muffins I bought for Deb, Rach and Rach. They were very very sticky. But forced down nonetheless.

Here are my 2 cards. A valentine card for Jon and an engagement card. Oh and my mini book which I love!

These are our special raffle prizes! Cris won first prize and I was truly worried for her safety! Aloootttt of people wanted that kit!

Here are my LOs, and yes I know I need to find another H! And Julie bought me these to say thankyou for organising the day. Wow, she certainly knows me better than I thought! I can't wait to get stuck into them, maybe tomorrow. Thanks Julie, you really shouldn't have xx

tempted???!

If you're not coming to the Cropaganza tomorrow, then this is just a couple of things you're missing out on..... (the large pot in my fridge contains 30 portions of a very yummy chilli!)

and all was well!

Yes, I am feeling calm, positive, happy and fulfilled this evening. And if that is just a tad too bright and breezy for you, well I do have toothache and a sore throat, but really my spirits can't be dampened! And these are the reasons why:

1) I have spent another lovely day with my scrapping buddies. I did two LOs, and added to one I did last night, plus a couple of simple cards. We giggled, we shared, we gossiped, we ate cake, and stroked stash. What more could I want?! I even used up some old *like, so last season* stash which gives me such a good feeling too!

2) I know I have another day like that coming very soon!

3) My husband has proved to me this past couple of weeks just how supportive he is of this expensive, demanding, space-filling, time consuming and (what's the word?) exclusively-female hobby I have. He's not so bad after all. (steady on).

4) My laptop is back in the land of the living (along with my car as per previous post - SO happy about that!). I don't have it in my hands yet, but it's on its way, with a DVD full of retrieved data, a new hard drive, fully restored with the latest Windows and my (Jon's) pocket is only £95 lighter. (Thankyou for all your advice and comments.I was all set to chuck it on a skip before I blogged and you left comments, Thanks!!!)

5) My bathroom is not going to be such a costly job after all. And I have come to terms with the mess and chaos in the meantime.

6) I have something very exciting happening on Monday which I can't tell you about just yet (although it's not scrapping-related so don't get too excited!)

So that's that. We do have a little sadness in the house at the moment, Cam is having some real problems which Jon and I are dealing with, but it's breaking our hearts. Parenting is just the hardest thing ever isn't it??

Anyway, here are my latest projects (I will take better pics tomorrow!):

Fun and games!!!

We've had our run of 3 now - car died, laptop died, bathroom floor died. So it can't get any worse, can it?! I took all your pieces of advice, thankyou for all your comments. Sorry to hear that most of you have also been through the same laptop/photo losing nightmare, but I have now sent it in for a second opinion. As I didn't actually press the factory reset button it's all still there, so let's see if The Man #2 can retrieve it all and make it better.

Finally, after more than 2 months of maxing out at 2000 revs and not being able to go above 30mph unless going downhill (not a bad thing, after all, I am a reformed character following the Speed Awareness Workshop), and at least 5 trips to the Garage, my car is now at long last fixed and running smoothly. Just the bathroom to contend with - a slow leak has ruined our bathroom floor and we need a whole new one. It's all money isn't it!!!

Still, I'm feeling positive! I have done a bit of crafting this weekend, and have a whole week of it planned now! Tomorrow I'll be having another mini-crop with my buddies, making the most of Jon being off. And then of course, Saturday is not far away!!!!

So, here are a few things I've done this week. Only cards, but it's good to use stuff up and therapeutic to be making something nice, when I have all this c**p going on around me! ETA; The second card below was based on a card shown originally on Lilybean Paperie and then after seeing Deb and Rach's!!! Can't take the credit (although seriously mine is nowhere near as good as its predecessors!)

And finally, please say hello to the newest member of the (extended) family. Unfortunately, Charlie isn't mine, he lives with Mum, but I've fallen in love with him, and am working on Jon to get one of my own. He makes the smell and the hairs and the pawprints worth it. He's deaf which is really weird as it's instinctive to make silly mummy noises and say things like"come and give mummy a big slobbery kiss you gorgeous little poochy pooch".

Learn a valuable lesson from me :(

Last week I realised my laptop has been going very slowly, so I started deleting old files, photos etc. All week I'd been meaning to get out and buy some CDs or a USB stick to store all of my 2009 photos, so I could clear some space off my laptop. I managed to save a few pics on a small USB stick, and then spent alot of time organising all my photos from Disney, our holiday to Germany, Christmas, New Year, the snow, and Cam's birthday all into one folder ready to send to Photobox and save to disc. Before I managed to do that, my laptop died. Completely, totally, absolutely, dead as a dodo. A very tearful trip to PC World confirmed what I suspected and The Man told me that I had little hope of retrieving anything, or even bringing my laptop back to life. I have brought it home while I spend some time thinking what to do, but my options are limited.

I am trying to keep this in perspective and remember that I have my memories, and most of all, I still have my children (!), but to say that I am gutted to have lost all those photos is an understatement. I can't find the word to describe how I'm feeling! Jon was trying to say the right things by telling me we have the memories and what's a few photos...we can take the kids out in the snow again.... but he doesn't get it. Not only will we never have photos of Bella in the snow at aged 2 again, or Cameron's 7th birthday, but in a way he was devalueing (sp? and is that even what I mean?!) my hobby that is so precious and important to me by dismissing the photos. In a way. Does that make sense??? Photos are such a huge part of scrapping after all!!! I have a whole pile of snowy stash upstairs which was just sat on my desk waiting for my snowy pics to arrive from Photobox and now they won't. I feel lost. I have crops to go to and classes which need photos and I don't know where to start.

And while Jon was trying to console me I brought up the fact that our old PC is still in the garage 4 years after dying, with all our baby pics waiting to be extracted, when he informed me that had gone to the tip ages ago.....I don't think that part has actually hit me yet.

I know in the grand scheme this is nothing. I do have many photos printed, and also saved on disk - albeit not in a very organised way - and I know in time I'll get over it. I just wanted to share my misery with other scrappers who might just get how I feel.

Any words of sympathy gratefully received :(