Oh the excitement of Christmas is mounting. The kids have been going into orbit this week and particularly yesterday and today when we had a contstant stream of visitors calling in for turkey sambos and mince pies. Santa has nearly arrived and he is preparing the finishing touches..... Can't wait to see their little faces tomorrow morning - hopefully not to early though!

Happy Christmas everyone - hope it's a good one!

Busy busy week this week - it's always the way at this time of year...On Tuesday I went to the arc angels craft club and we made a gorgous altered tin with Christmas recipes which we each made 20 or so of and swapped so now I have 20 yummy Christmas recipes to experiment if I'm feeling brave :-) Either that or it's down to M&S for me this week!

On Tuesday I started rehearsals with the Glasnevin Musical Society for a Gilbert & Sullivan concert in the NCH in January. It's nice to go back to it as I haven't sung with them since May.

Friday we went to the Perm ballet in the Point Depot (Sleeping Beauty). I brought my eldest dd thinking she would be enthralled as she is taking classes but alas no! She fidgeted and whined her way through the 2 and a half hours - asking me constant questions like where's the wicked fairy, when will she fall asleep, when will she wake up yada yada yada. It was a fabulous performance but next time I go with adults. Thank God I didn't bring Lucy Lou!

Last night we met up with our college crew for dinner in Ely - a new cool wine bar/restaurant in the IFSC. It was great fun to catch up but the food was so slow (and cold!) and they messed up some orders. So we eventually got a free magnum of champagne and a large discount off the bill which was pretty good.

Today we offloaded an old suite of furniture so spent the day rearranging the house - moving things to different rooms etc. It always feels good to do that - maybe it's fung shui or somethin'...Tonight I nearly had a Christmas disaster on my hands. All the Christmas things are well hidden in a press which is locked. Somehow Eva managed to climb and get the key. She told me she opened the press and a black bag started to fall on her head so she shoved it closed and then came to tell me - at least that is what she said. We were running out the door to a carol service when this happened. So when I got back I had to secretly move the stuff and restage the press with black bags and then allow her open the press! Phew think I got away with it but Im half afraid she saw more then she told me...cant decide whether to bring back everything and start again! The little minx!




Anyway my projects are up this month on the www.craftsupplies.ie design team and they are suitably festive - well most of them!

Christmas is coming...

The weekend was very festive...today we went to see Eva's school navity play in Church and it was lovely. All the little girls were dressed as tinsel headed angels and all the little boys were sheppards (wearing dressing gowns and teatowels on their heads). Afterwards there was a mince pie reception in the parish hall. After lunch we went out to pick our Christmas tree and I got some lovely shots of the girls setting it all up...Of course when they are gone to bed I will have to rearrange it all as it is a little bottom heavy and ready to keel over... LOL! They haven't quite grasped the idea of 'less is more'.. :-)



This is the first year that it all really makes sense to Lucy. She was singing Christmas carols as she was decorating...sweet :-) and every now and again she would stand back and say 'it's beautiful mama'.










Yesterday I held a scrapbooking class and crop for the girls and it was great - really festive atmosphere. My scrapbooking friend Annamarie from www.thescrapbookstore.ie completely surprised me with the most fab crafty tote (handbag to any non crafters) and I absolutely love it - my new fav handbag! No more Superquinn eco shopping bags for me - I will be cropping in style from now on! I got some other lovely presents which was a complete surprise but it really put me in the festive mood :-)

This is the class I gave yesterday - the attached album went down really well with the girls. Great use of all the little photos we have to display...

Last night we had farewell (takeaway :-)) dinner and drinks for our good friends Niamh & Ollie and their kiddies who are heading to a new life in the countryside next week. I'm really going to miss them as we have been sanity coffee mates for ages and our kids are best friends. There was lots of wine and champers and tears flowing last night and I made this for her to remind her of happy days...

Yay I've made 75 Christmas cards (ok they are minimilaist style ie speedy to make!) and sorted most of the Christmas presents and kiddies clothes so that's a major achievement in the 2nd week of December! Just have to make the 100 or so presents that I had planned before the 25th...

An audiance with Take That live...

Did anyone see them last night. It brought me back to July when we went to see them at the RDS and they were just amazing on tour... The entire audience spent the night dancing on their seats. They seem like such a nice bunch of lads still having the time of their lives...

Wow what a stormy day out there. I went up to Borders to redeem my 20% voucher and I sorted some Christmas presents out. Getting through my list now...Once the Late Late Toy Show has been aired the panic buying in the shops is palpable. I couldnt get a car space at 11.2oam! I'm heading into to the frenzy of Smyths just once tomorrow with my list and that's it -the rest of it will be made or done online! Every year I swear I won't be sucked into commercialism but you find yourself in the same ques every December... Still it's worth it when you see their little faces on the 25th. :-)

It's official...Christmas is coming...

Woke up to the sound of 'Fairytale of New York' (one of my all time favs) and was instantly transported back to many happy Christmas nights out. Hope this one is going to be a good one. Have already started to think about what kind of tree we will get this year and how am I going to make my Christmas cards on time etc etc. I love the run up to Christmas (once you take out the element of shopping ques and traffic jams) so it's great that it's December finally and we can all go Christmas mad and get into festive season. The first of my Christmas parties is tonight with the girls so that should be a larf!

Found this today on www.blogthings.com - some hilarious quizzes! So it's sexy waves for me then...what's yours?

Your Ideal Hairstyle:

Sexy Waves

What Hairstyle Is Right For You?

Don't forget about the Scrapwest blog tonight at 9pm!
www.scrapwestblog.blogspot.com

What a week...

Last week Eva had a 3 day virus and this week it's Lucy's turn. Have been housebound on nursing duty for what seems like 2 weeks and feeling like it's time to go on a holiday again (I wish!) . Ended up in Temple St A&E last night as Lucy's temp just wouldnt settle down and it was the 3rd day. I don't handle 40 degree temps very well - usually go into a blind panic but on this occasion I think I made the right call to take her in to be checked. I think she was close to a febrile convulsion so I wasn't taking any chances. Three hours later and we were back in our beds none the wiser but her temp was under control. Oh the joys of motherhood!

Last Sunday we took the girls to the National Musuem at Collins Barracks. We live really close to it and have been meaning to go for ages so we went to see the 'Soldiers and Chiefs' exhibition. It was pretty impressive but the girls got bored as they wanted to see the dolls house on the 2nd floor. I love this piece as the detail is amazing.
Then when I looked over at Eva she was about to sit on a 17th century chair. I nearly leapt out of my skin when I saw her about to sit down so I grabbed them by the hand and got out of there promptly.
Just as we were leaving we noticed the RockChic exhibition which is a huge display of electric guitars from famous celebrities. I quite liked Bono's one - all that doodling... and there were a few that looked like they had been altered with alcohol inks! LOL! Well worth a visit on a rainy Sunday afternoon...

Had a peek at the Tom Kat wedding this week in Italy. Didn't she look absolutely radiant...don't know what said young beautiful aspiring hollywood actress sees in middleged millionaire leading hollywood actor (LOL!). Funny thing is it seems to be the real thing...




I've just spent the end of the week nursing my eldest dd who has had a spiking temperature for 2 days. Went out to dinner with the girls to La Stampa and when I got back in true and typical fashion she was in a crazy fever shouting out loudly and eyes rolling in her head. She's had it for two nights now so if there's no improvement tomorrow we will be going in search of anti b's....



I made some more jewellary this week with my new bead stash...trying hard not to make yet another blue necklace (well it is my fav colour!). I'm kinda pleased with my efforts.. here they are..

OMG what a day I've had...left my house at 3.15pm to bring the kids over to their pals and have a cuppa with my friend Niamh and in the rush to get everyone in the car I banged the door behind me leaving my keys in the back of the door. Thank God for good neighbours - my lovely neighbour Bill came to the rescue jumping walls and using coat hangers to try and fish them out in vain. Eventually I got a locksmith out 2 hours later (the poor kids were frozen and traumatised ..convinced they were sleeping on the street tonight!). He tried opening the door with ...wait for it...a piece of plastic!!! I was horrified. He said 99% of the time a piece of plastic will open any door that isn't locked - scary!!! Thankfully the new door we had installed last year is a bit of a fort knox door and he failed miserably with that technique. 90 minutes later in 3 degrees weather he fished the key out and we got back in after a 3+ hour saga!!! So relieved to get home and it makes that current radio advert for the homeless 'when did she lose her keys?' take on a whole new meaning for me! Have just started to thaw out now!

Anyway...went to see my new idol Mr Daniel Craig in Casino Royale and he was fab! Move over Pierce as he makes you look like a flake. I'm not a huge fan of Bond films but it seemed to be a more touchy feely kinda movie with all the white knuckle stunts to boot. Pretty impressive when you realise that the guy in the opening scene does his own stunts - you know.. the guy who jumps building tops in the BBC ad! The glamour was great too and the amazing scenery of Montenegro and Venice was a bonus. Definitely one to see on the big screen...



On Sunday (just before the storm kicked off) we took the kids to the Natural History Museum and the National Art Gallery. They had a ball and loved all those stuffed animals. Lucy kept telling me how cute the tiger was etc etc (bless!). When she turned a corner and saw the enormous Hippo standing there in front of her...well lets just say it was time to leave!

Just spent 1 hour tidying away the kids clothes...still no scrap canvas done :-( Ok updated to say my guilty conscious got to me so I did tidy the house and then finished my two layouts for the www.craftsupplies.ie design team - will post them up later when they are up on the board. Just watching the totally addictive X Factor now before we go out to see the new Mr Bond...I didn't see any problem with Mr Brosnan but we shall see...

As my dear mum would say 'it's a day for the fire'. Dh has just left with the girls to go to ballet and girls brigade and i have the day to myself - bliss! I really should clean the house but I really couldnt be bothered. Think I will tackle a scrap canvas and I keep buying them for those pressie's I plan to make and never do. SO today might just be the day....

I stumbled across this today on one of my craftsupplies pal's blogs (thanks Caroline!) and I'm gobsmacked as it's spooky. Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a bit of a thing about the colour blue -no kidding!
So what's yours then???

Your Power Color Is Blue

Relationships and feelngs are the most important things to you. You are empathetic and accepting - and good at avoiding conflict. If someone close to you is in pain, it makes you hurt as well. You try to heal the ones you love with your kind and open heart.

What's Your Power Color?

Another crispy day again. Took a trip into Yellow brick road bead shop today and came away with enough beads to make all my Christmas pressies for family and friends. It's a great little shop and you can spend hours in there having a browse... I made this a few weeks ago and my sister is wearing it to her Christmas party tonight. Just love that venetian glass!!!

Oooh there's a nip in the air today - very crispy indeedy. Spent a lovely morning in Borders/Starbucks having a chinwag, followed by an hour in the park with my friend Niamh and our kids trying out the kids new scooters. Got some great Autumnal shots as the sun was going down...



Hard to believe a few short days ago we were sitting on a beach..*sigh*. Just flicked through my holiday photos today and found this classic picture of my youngest - so typical of her...little lady with attitude! It's crying out to be scrapped!






We took a boat trip out along the coast of Peurto del Carman and stopped on the way back to view a small coral reef in a glass bottomed boat. The girls were facinated by all the fish - I was too especially when you look down and see crabs crawling on the ocean floor and a few yards ahead there is an abyss which goes on and on. Makes you feel very insignificant in the greater scheme of things IYKWIM! :-)

How about this for a taste of Summer on this cold Novemeber day - love those Lanzarote sunsets!
Last weekend we celebrated my little one's 6th birthday with a princesss party for 20 of her friends. The kids made these tooth fairy boxes and they went down a treat. Lots of potential scrappers in the room LOL!
And here's my two little princesses having a ball in true princess style. No princes invited this year and the palace was in remarkable shape afterwards as a result - not to mention my nerves!

I taught a class on Saturday and we had a really great day. This month was an accordian album which I made to display my grandmother's photos. I have a number of photos from when she was a baby right through to her wedding day and I love them dearly. Can't wait to see what the girls from my class do with their accordian albums.

Well the launch of Scrapwest blog was a great success and there was fantastic work produced for the first theme. It was really strange how there were so many similar themes running through even though no one had a preview of what was posted. Spooky!


Speaking of Spooky it's that time of year again. Yesterday we took the girls to the Botanic Gardens for a walk and met up with some friends. Look what we found there-the most amazing pumpkin patch. It looked like something straight out of a movie. I got a chance to stretch the legs of my new Canon and got some fab shots to scrap.

Anyway Happy Halloween!

Tonight's the big night - getting excited now! It's the launch of the Scrapwest blog
http://www.scrapwest.blogspot.com/


Guaranteed to have lots of challenges and inspiration...

Thanks Eva oh techie one! :-) Still experimenting with the gadgets so please bear with me. Any complaints for sloppy presentation to the management in writing please...

Ok anyone know how to move the slide.com thing so it's not taking over the whole page! Help - wish I was more of a techie! Oh Eva - where are you???

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

On Saturday I started a new job - an instore craft demonstrator. I had a great day, doing my crafty thing, meeting lots of lovely ladies. Some were more than willing to be my lovely assistants - which gave me a giggle... It's only October and already I am truly sick of Christmas cards!

This week I'm getting ready for my next scrapbooking class on Saturday. Also looking forward to the big launch of scrapwest blog on Friday at 9pm - how exciting this is going to be!

Last weekend myself and two scrapping pals Annamarie (www.thescrapbookstore.ie) and Eva went to Ennis to host 'ScrapWest' a full day's workshop of scrapbooking classes and some retail therapy in the West County Hotel. We had such a great day - lots of familiar faces which is always nice to see when you start to teach a class and some new faces. Really enjoyed the craic both the night before and on the day. This is the layout I taught my class. Love that Basic Grey Urban Couture Damask paper - all that cutting was worth the effort! Some of the girls had their doubts when I showed them how much to cut out!

Let's try that photo thing again shall we!

Having a lazy day today. It's raining outside so what's a girl to do then! The girls are busy painting masterpieces at the moment so everyone is happy. I gave a class in scrapbooking yesterday and the girls produced some lovely work. This is the layout we did.

I really like those Urban Lily papers - so versatile! I also love the cutting techniques - it really makes photo's take on a new dimension. The photos in these layouts were taken by my sister in law a month ago and I think they are just fab.
This is all the work I did in the last month - I've been busy. Really liking altered art. My latest attempts have been a pizza box.

Check back later

Happy Day Memories...

Scrap to remember the good times

Welcome to my blog! I've never done this before so it's all a bit strange but I'm sure I will get used to it! I'm mad about scrapbooking and altered art so this will be a great way to record my projects. Now I'm off to figure out how this blog thing works!

Back later..

Elaine