It's all about attitude

Yesterday evening the antibiotics I had finally crawled into the doctor's surgery to get, started kicking in. There I was stood in my kitchen with my Mum, thinking, "It's beginning...I can actually feel myself just starting to get better. Oh hooray!" And I looked around at all the activity going on around me in that room and remarked to my Mum, "Do you know what I love? I love washing machines, and tumble driers, and dishwashers, and central heating, and antibiotics!" And she replied that these were all things she did not have when she was a young woman. They just plain didn't exist. And she's not 150 or anything!

That thought has rested with me. I began to add to the list. This week I was on the phone to my dear friend Lee who lives in Manhattan, and was trying to explain something to him. "Oh wait...I'll show you" says I...and sent forth an email with a picture of what I was talking about. Less than 30 seconds later I heard the melodic ping of the message arriving on his work computer in downtown New York. I know we sounded like old ducks sitting on a park bench, but we both marvelled that we could communicate so easily and fast with this here new fangled tech-nol-gee. But I am really grateful that I live in world where that is possible. It really is awesome (in the NON-cheesy sense of the word). All these things make my life so much more pleasant and easy.

I think it is not only good, but necessary, for happiness of soul to feel gratitude. A great man once said, "There is a great tendency for us in our prayers to ask for additional blessings. But sometimes I feel we need to devote more of our prayers to expressions of gratitude and thanksgiving for blessings already received. We enjoy so much!" I think of the prayers of my 3 year old. She's grateful for such small things...her nose, the windows, her bed, The Tweenies (by name!), our house, curly hair, rain, sunshine, school...you name it. She asks for practically nothing.

So...this weekend I'm going to ponder just a little more on all that I'm grateful for. Have a good one everyone.

Love
Chrissie x

PS. If you read this, leave a comment...list 5 things you're grateful for (not including family...that's a given) :-D

I'm soooo miiiiiiiseeeeeraaaaaable (hack, hack)

I'm sooooo miserable because I feel so ill still...all my nerve endings are throbbing, my glands feel like they’ve been doing a work-out, my nose is still full of snobs (as they say here in Wales), I sound like a rancid old codger when I cough and coughing makes my brain expand and pound against my temples (I’m sure that’s medically correct...). And sleep at night is just a joke. I was up for an hour around 4am (trawling around UK Scrappers) . I just really feel like indulging in a really good cry...but it would take too much energy. So I thought I'd come and whinge in my 'journal' instead.

Stitches was great fun (apart from the 7 mile walk to and from the car park!). It is just cool to see all the new stuff and see all those other people who just 'get it' like we do! The Scrappers Unlimited gang who were there (me, Fiona, Sue and Julia) gave our vote to Scrapbook World for most hospitable stand. Apart from the lovely products, they had several men in kilts wandering around (just a delight!) and truly scrumptious tablet fudge (which I ate far too much of) and we were offered Scottish mineral water bottles when thirsty, and there was somewhere to sit (ooooooh...to sit down. WHAT a joy…and a pleasant place to get chatting to other traders too). And the lovely Stacey Panassidi of Junkitz was there doing a fab make-n-take and giving out gorgeous pink Junkitz bracelets…we like, we like! She remembered me from Bonanza which I taught at last year. That was really sweet. And she's got a great sense of humour. Well done Scrapbook World. Also got chatting with Tim Holtz after his demo, and he remembered me from Bonanza too. Get me...what a name dropper - LOL!

I also enjoyed seeing Marilyn and the other rep from All My Memories again (she let me queue-jump with her in the cafeteria! And he (I apologise profuuuuuusely…can’t remember his name which is really awful) gave me such a lovely gift when we were leaving…bless him). It is genuinely nice meeting these people though...if they're nice then they're just nice to meet. I just don't do nasty people, it doesn't matter HOW 'famous' or 'in-crowd' or talented they are. Talking of famous...appaaaaaaarently Helena Bonham-Carter was on the Scrapgenie stand just minutes before we got there...she's a scrapbooker it seems. Bit mad eh?! I wonder if they could get a Hollywood Stars Crop going - LOL!


So what did we love product-wise then? Well...we loved the new Hermafix glue sheets that are coming out. Hermafix repo little dots of glue on a 12x12 sheet...so you can easy-peasy glue a 12" length of ribbon or little teensy bits of paper cut into fonts from your Sizzix. We also loooooved (did plenty of stroking) the new colour red Artbin. Suddenly everyone on the Scrappers Unlimited team wanted one…!


As for papers, we thought these new released by Sassafrass Lass looked ych y fi in the catalogue but when we saw them in real life, we were ooing at aahing like a herd of cows.


And we absolutely loved all the new All My Memories stuff, especially the new albums and handbags (handbags I tell you! Fiona was practically dribbling).

However, I have to admit to craft-over-exposure by the end of the day…shock horror…but I was at full-on overload point and could take in no more pattern, colour or product information! How anyone went for two days is beyond me!

I cannot believe it is the night before The South Wales Crop and I have a really busy 3 days coming up and I've been sat around doing naff all most of the evening. No get up and go today. And no voice either. 'The cold' has moved through:

Stage 1. The throat from hell; on to
Stage 2. Breathing through your nose could be an issue as you have snot enough for all mankind; ...and it is now rapidly heading for
Stage 3. Full blown, cough-till-your-muscles-ache bronchitis.

And no voice. Talk about the hoarse whisperer (mwaaahaaahaaaa). I try to tell myself it's sexy, but who am I kidding?

South Wales Crop tomorrow (as mentioned), then on Sunday evening I'm picking up Sue and we're meeting Fiona at Julia's house for a little PJ party (I said we should all do each other's make-up and be really girly! LOL) and then all 4 of us are heading up to the Stitches trade show at the NEC on Monday. We get to stroke all the new products coming out...and possibly stroke Tim Holtz too, if we can get close enough (heh heh heh).

And as of this moment...I. Am. Not. ORGANISED! And, quite frankly, can't be arsed either.

It'll be fiiiiiiiiiine.

C xx

Pass the Lemsip & Toast...Happy Valentine's Day!

Danny and I went to Newport last night to have a Valentine's meal (as he teaches guitar on Tuesday nights so it couldn't be today) but I felt so bleuh by the end of it we bagged the movie we were planning to see in Cardiff and came home. On top of that, I had an IBS attack on the M4 which is NOT fun, I can tell you. Anyway, by the time I got in bed, I couldn't decide which part of my body felt worse, but I think the throat eventually won and managed to wake me up at least 5 times in the night, due to the cutting knives that were obviously scraping down my tonsils every time I swallowed. Oh joy.

So I woke up this morning feeling like poo on toast. Well, creamed scrapings of poo on toast with a garnish of cack would be a better description of how delightful I felt. All I could manage to do was moan and carry on sleeping with my mouth open because I couldn't breathe through my nose.

Poor me.

And then my lovely lovely lovely man brought me up a Lemsip (BLESS the man who invented those...they really do help me every time) and a plate of toast...the toast was resting on a serviette cut into a heart shape, and the toast itself had been cut into the letters, "I Still Do". And then he gave me this Valentine's card that he'd made...MADE I tell you. He'd torn paper! He'd stamped! He'd even...hang on to your eyelet setters...raised up the middle part on pop dots. Heavens to Betsy, if I didn't know better I'd say he was gay.

I did ask him where he'd bought the stuff to make the card and when he told me the shop, I said, "Ooo yes...they sell some srapbooking stuff don't they?" and he looked at me like I was slightly moronic and said, "Um. I don't know. I didn't go in and think, "Ooo look...that looks nice!". I bought what I needed and I left. No browsing. Effective shopping".

Men.

He's definitely not gay.

Forget big bouquets of flowers and weekends to Paris. When Danny and I were first together he brought me toast in bed then too, cut up in the words, "I Love You". "I Still Do"is all I want.

Happy Valentine's everyone.

Great Quote...Great Woman...

God never gives me more in one day than I can handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much. (Mother Teresa)

It's already 2pm and I need to do so much more with today... Better get off the computer and do it then eh?

Have a great weekend anybody out there who reads me.

Chrissie x

Sing-a-Long-a-Scrapbook!

Well, the scrapbooking evening last night was a great success...all the people who came just loved it and were practically bouncing out the doors, demanding another scrapping evening soon. But, what was even more fabulous was the free concert we were privileged to hear!

The Pontarddulais Male Voice Choir, the most successful Welsh male voice choir at competition level, practice in the school on Wednesday evenings and have a concert this Saturday...so we got a free concert of our very own. Scrapbooking along with Men of Harlech and Sweet Georgia Brown was truly memorable!

Diolch yn fawr a da iawn!!!!

Roll Up, Roll Up...

...Git your scrapbookin' 'ere. I'm teaching a beginners class tonight at Celyn's primary school and I realised it's been ages since I've taught total beginners, it's almost scary! Between the lot of them they don't own one paper trimmer, they've never even seen a brad, let alone heard of one, and Pritt Stick is de rigeur cos they won't have Hermi, that's for sure! Anyway, I created this layout of Celyn's first day at nursery school as one of the two classes and I'm quite pleased with it, even if it is fairly basic. I was yabbing to Julia on the phone doing the 'Day' part of the title and the D went wonky. Ho well! Got to go and pack up 10 kits now, write and print the handouts, and buy some munchies to keep them fed and watered.

Ciao!
Chrissie x

Not wanting to be a sadcake or anything, but...

YIPPEE YIPPEE YIPPEE!!!

Ahem. Compose yourself, compose yourself. It's just that I've been tagged. No biggie. Just my first. No sweat....

Thanks to Just Jools for the tag (inked around the edge, and with THE cutest ribbon) and such fab questions too.

What scrapbooking lines/products/etc. do you dislike?

I really don't like one of the last (pre-CHA) Basic Grey lines...Fusion (see piccie). Picture yourself in a dodgy hotel...bit tired looking, trying its best but needs a damn good interior designer to gut the place. As your eyes glance around, look either at (a) the bedspread (just the fact that it's a bedspread... but I think I'm losing the plot here...focus Chrissie, focus); or (b) the curtains. What do you see? You see that damn Fusion paper in material form. It. Is. Minging.

I also HATE peel offs. The delightsome sheer laughing joy of having a friend phone me from around the corner at last year's Stitches to tell me that she was spying on a certain 'card celebrity' (who shall remain nameless) who was in the process of buying a shedload of holographic teddybear peel offs.... THAT is the only use for the things...they are fabulous fodder for a good mock. But then peel offs aren't really a scrapbooking product anyway. Still, I had to make the point.

What is the hardest thing you have ever had to scrap?

My wedding photos because they're very lovely and they're of one of the best days of my whole life but I've taken so long to do them (done a couple of pages) that I actually don't like the paper I started out using, although the colours are perfect (is it scrapbook snobbery...because they're not 'trendy' now?). So I feel the need to redo, but then I have memories associated with the 2 pages I HAVE done and oh it's such a dilemma.

What technique do you use more than any other?

At the moment it's circles, waves, circles, curves, and oh...what the heck...circles. My Circle Scribe's never seen so much action.

Ever been published?

Yes, in The Scrapbook Magazine.

What's the smallest scrap of paper you save?

Scraps of paper. Can't be tiddled with them. I give them away to scrapping buddies who grab the carrier bags full to their chests and glance around the room in a "keep off, it's MINE" manner. It's got to be at least half a sheet of 12x12 for me to keep it.

Ever have any scrapbooking-related injuries?

Sticky-Willie-Related Irritible Bowel Syndrome Trots. I really had to watch myself at the last retreat so I didn't end up in the toilet. You think I'm joking?... Apart from that, no not really. Nearly burnt myself on a heat gun a couple of times but not anything really.

Finish the sentence "If I wasn't a scrapbooker, I would spend my money on....."

Well, this question suggests that I spend out on scrapbooking stash, whereas (hopefully) I actually EARN money from scrapbooking...and then I go out and buy the other stuff I need/want.

Give us your best storage or organisational ideal

What is this 'organisation' you speak of? Chuck it all in the Artbin and hope for the best, and then borrow what you can't find is usually my method of working (bad Chrissie, bad, bad, bad)

You just won a week-long scrapbooking cruise for 5. Who's going with you?

I'm sort of with Jools on this one...you waaaaant to say your family but the words that actually fall out in a rush from my scrappy mouth are JuliaFionaSueAmber. It wouldn't be any fun being on a scrapbooking cruise without my scrapping buddies (I could name another 10 people at least but as they are my lovely team on Scrappers Unlimited one feels that one should ask them first!). The fifth place would go to George Clooney who would be our Scrap Slave during the cruise and keep us topped up with iced drinks and delicious nibbles... Ah hang on...including me, that makes 6. Dump Clooney overboard.

After you've answered the questions, tag six of your scrapbook buddies!

Ah. Right. Six scrapping buddies who also blog. You'll have to give me a day or two...

Of Pants and Duvets and Jiggling Boobs...

This time LAST week we were in the throes of the Newbury Time Out and bless me, it's a whole week later. Where does the time go? I'm going to be an old age pensioner before I know it...

And what a fab Time Out it was. Everyone kept coming back with one particular comment (apart from the classes being great, and the food being great, and the challenges being great...). What a relaxed, chilled out, calm, peaceful retreat it was (which everyone loved). I'm telling you, the atmosphere was so laid back, it had a pillow and a duvet. Not so much swing your pants as put on your big big pants and a comfy set of of PJs.

Duvet. Talking of which...

The hotel staff, bless 'em, hid my duvet on Saturday night. After the retreat finished and we'd tidied up and packed up, most of us headed for the bar and just chatted, and laughed about Sue's comment about changing your pants (had to have been there) among other things. And one by one people either left or went to bed. Finally at about 1am Sue, Fiona and I headed upstairs. I went to go in my room and I couldn't get in...the hotel seemed to think I'd left and my key didn't work. So I had to disturb Sue and Fiona to ring down to reception for the lovely little duty manager to come up and let me in. Hooray. Finally get in the room...no duvet. Where's me bl**din' duvet, thinks I. Now I knocked once more on Sue and Fiona's room. "My duvet's disappeared." I think they took another half an hour to get to sleep because they were in gales of giggles. Beggars.

Anyway, it turns out housekeeping (bless 'em and all their cotton dusters) had put one of their own duvet covers on my duvet. Of course. As you would. Sigh. Duvet found, I finally get into bed. And then I lie there thinking, "Where's my new AMM tote bag and Basic Grey notch tool?" as you do (my pressie to me for organising the retreat). I realised they were both still sitting in a box in the corridor where we'd been sorting out all the goodies for the prize-giving. Couldn't sleep. Some pesky scrapbooking fiend would come along and nab them, evil swines. Get up again, get dressed...trot downstairs (boobs a jiggling and no shoes...I wasn't bothered about putting on either a bra or footwear...I was on a scrapbooking mission and a girl has to do what a girl has to do). I found the box (hooray) and hauled the whole thing upstairs. It's now 1.30am or more. If they had CCTV they must have thought I was barking.

Good point.