Party!!!!

Wow!! We had our housewarming party last night - boy did we have fun! We ended up with around 50 people at the house, many of our neighbours who we hadn't yet met and friends from Scotland.

The weather was brilliant, the garden was packed and everyone had a jolly good time. The only moment of drama came when one of our pals leaned against a candle and set the back of his shirt on fire, he ran through the house and ripped off his shirt in the front garden - he then realised that he was shirtless and surrounded by people leaving the party, so he put it back on very sharpish!

3 of the guys at the party were Irish and one brought a guitair so we had a sing-song at the end of the night - classic.

Remarkably I haven't had a hangover - feel a bit tired but that's about it- result!

20 Years Ago....

20 years ago today, I was in Minnesota, in the USA in a place called Bemidji and I was celebrating my 21st Birthday. I was at University and was a camp counsellor (teacher) at a kids Summer camp. It was one of the best 3 months of my life, the Camp was called Camp Thunderbird (yes really) There was a boys camps and a girls camp separated by a lake called Lake Plantagenet. There was a Dairy Queen in the centre of town and not far from camp , pretty much in the woods was a bar called Squirrels Nest. The whole thing was so darn American and I loved every precious second of it. We had toga parties, we toasted marshmallows and made s'mores. We went camping, we sang songs in the lodge at dinner time, we sheltered in the basement of the lodge when a tornado came by, I learned to waterski, and lived in a log cabin with 12 little girls. Gosh I am having a total nostalgia trip. I emailed the camp this week to wish them a great Summer and got a reply from the camp directors daughter, she is the same age as me and I remember her well, she is now running things with her parents.

Well that's me for today, got lots of cleaning to do today as we are having a little housewarming party tomorrow night. Hopefully I can post some photos.

Princess Pity

hmm not having the best of weeks. Last night I had a phone call from one of our friends, his wife, our friend had passed away. We saw her in hospital on Sunday and she was very poorly. She was not very old at all , in her early 50's so you can imagine we are very sad.

This morning I was back at the dentist round 2 of 3, it was yukky (again) Can't think of much else to write today, not really in the mood.

It's my birthday tomorrow, but all I can think of is that my Mum used to ring me up and sing Happy Birthday, this is my first birthday without her and it makes me sad...................

Loyalty Points at the Dentist?

Yup you guessed it, I was back again to the dentist today, the filling didn't help AT ALL. The pain this morning was excruciating, at dinner last night when the tears were running down my face with pain, Alan helpfully said "yes it is universally acknowledged by all that toothache is the worst pain ever" then he added "wish I could help you darlin' but I can't" Do you think a judge would have convicted me if I'd killed him on the spot??

I was driving Alex across town this morning and the pain was so bad I don't even remember much of the journey, every time we had to stop at a traffic light I rested my head on the steering wheel.

So full of the usual trepidation I set off for the dentist - again! First thing they needed to do was take an X-Ray, you should have seen the size of the X-Ray thingy he wanted to stuff in my cakehole "oh it's a bit big, I need a smaller one" - yes said I "use the ones you use for toddlers". So I managed that 20 second ordeal without wanting to retch (Just!!) Honestly it was like biting down on a toblerone and getting the mountain stuck on the inside of your mouth (a la Billy Connolly). The upshot was ROOT CANAL WORK

OK if you have never had ROOT CANAL WORK stop reading this post and make a promise to yourself to brush 6 times a day and floss every 10 mins to avoid this torture.

He numbed my mouth - no fear of throat closure today, then he starts to drill and he used that drill that is BIG and low pitched and I swear my brain was vibrating and wolves were howling in nearby woods.

Then he tells me I cannot close my mouth, now I don't know about you but most of my dental fear isn't about pain, but it's about choking to death in that chair or retching. So I swallow A LOT when I have various instruments of torture crammed into my SMALL mouth to avoid such a dreaful fate, and now I am told I can't swallow, and the dental assistant (blonde, and aged about 18 ) is pratting about somewhere by my side and not using the sucker up thing to get rid of all the drool. So this was really not easy and sod him I did swallow a few times and he tutted. No matter, I finally braved the ordeal there is nothing sweeter than hearing the phrase "OK you can rinse now" I was shaking from head to toe, but at least it was over.

"OK Mrs Currie, we have only just started I need to see you again for 45 mins this week to finish the job and done't bite on that side because your tooth may crack WIDE open"

OH MY GOD.......................................................

At The Dentist.....again!

Honestly, I am a walking disaster zone. I managed to let the metal bit of a PC unit fall on my leg the other day just above my ankle and blimey it hurt ( I think I said "flippin eck!") SO now I have a HUGE bruise on my leg and the sun has finally decided to come out and I can't wear a skirt.

Over the weekend one of my teeth started to ache - a lot, and I lost a couple of hours sleep last night, so I took myself along to the butcher (dentist) this afternoon. OH MY GOD, he must think I am mental, he had to numb my mouth and I accidently swallowed some of the gel stuff he used . Well my throat started to feel "funny" and so I was convinced I was going to have my windpipe close/swallow my tongue so I sat up and started a right fuss,saying "oh I think my windpipe is swelling OH NO". They got me a drink of water and I was OK but shaking durrrrr! He must dread me coming in!

He gave me a little filling but I am not sure the pain has actually gone away for good, my god the pain this afternoon was awful, I felt like cutting my head off ( I was actually crying!) and I have given birth so I know what pain is Mister!

Wish me luck as I head off to bed with my Ibuprofen.....

A Bit of This and That

Well we have had visitors this week so not had time to do any crafting. It hurts to sit down, I went to see the doctor and she said since I fell over and landed on my tail bone it can take weeks to get better. She had a prod (ouch!) and said "in rare cases (look away now if you are squeamish), the end of the tail bone can break off and perforate the bowel!" YAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHH!!!

"but you don't have that" thank goodness.

Yesterday I had the dratted veneer fitted - I hate that dentist, all seems well so far.

Yesterday, I, who am such a geek was excited to upgrade my iPhone with the iPhone 2 software, but iTunes couldn't cope and I spent 4 hours without my phone working - I felt like I had lost a limb. All good now though, which is cool

I have just picked up a copy of the new look "Craft Stamper" magazine, it's really good. In the past I bought it but was always a bit dissapointed, some of the projects weren't really very much to my taste. The new look mag is bright, modern and trendy, pick one up if you can.

I have just started Cheryl Johnstons online photography course, its a 4 week course so I am hoping I get to learn more about all the twiddly bits on my new Nikon DSLR. Still scratching my head a bit though so wish me luck.

Ouch!

Yesterday Alex and I went into Edinburgh to buy a birthday present for his pal and to go and have a look around Greyfriars churchyard. I don't tend to saunter anywhere and I was running across Princes Street at a crossing with Alex and a young girl (listen to me Grandma!) collided with me and totally knocked me flat on my back at speed. As I was holding Alex's hand I dragged him down with me. What a nightmare, when you are older and you fall over it seems to come out of nowhere and it flipping hurt! Plus I was so embarrassed, trust me to fall flat on my back on the busiest road in Edinburgh. The girl wasn't English and had her iPod in her ears, and I was a bit mad at her, feel awful now as she was sorry and accidents happen hey ho.

Poor Alex grazed his elbow and he was crying, and I landed right on my "tail bone" now it hurts to sit down - ouch!

Anyway we limped away and did go to the church which was fun and I spied an art shop right next door so I got some "Sansodor" and some paper stumps. My Prismacolor pencils should arrive this week so I get to play. Hero Arts have an "awesome" tutorial on using these pencils check it out here .

Can't wait to play!

Text In a Circle

I thought I would put together a quick tutorial on how to create text in a circle on a PC. There are so many stamps out there that use this technique but you can create your own just using Microsoft Word (or Powerpoint) I use Word 2007 for this example but you can pretty much use any verision of Word and the instructions are reasonably similar.

Create a new document, then click on the Insert Tab


Click the WordArt button


Choose a style from the gallery, I generally use the one shown below as I don't want my text to look fancy schmancy

A little box pops up, change the Font here if you like and the size, you can come back later to change these things if you like so it's not vital to change right now

Type in the text you need, separating each phrase with an asterisk or a dash or full stop - rememeber to add one at the end because we are creating a circle!

Click OK and you get this....ewww!

Click on the Change Shape button on the toolbar, and select the Circle shape

At this point you'll see a dotted line around the outside of the circle with grab handles at each corner, use these to click and drag to resize the circle to get the size you need
At this point you can just print this off and the job is done, but you might like to add another circle to the outside of this one. So follow the same steps this time using the full stop button on the keyboard to create dots instead of text.

Now the way that word treats Word Art is different to the way that Powerpoint handles it. In Powerpoint you should just be able to position your cursor over the images and move them around how you want. In Word however these little critters refuse to move unless you format them, so on each of the circles you create, click on them with the RIGHT mouse button and select Format Word Art

Then click the layout tab in the box that appears and Square, then click OK

You should now be able to move the circles over each other to create this type of effect.

If at anytime you want to change the text you have typed, click the Edit Text button to re-open the text dialogue box.

That's all there is to it - enjoy!!!

Craft Room Tidy Up

ooohhh I am pooped, I have spent all day tidying up my craft room and as a result I have some things I need to sell. No photos yet but just to give you an idea...(P&P will be charged at cost)


12x12 clear plastic stackable trays - 6 of them £17.50
Argos Cupcake Tree thing in Pink £5
Making Memories Foam stamps 2 sets, flowers and Alphabets £7.50
Whispers Ink Pad Caddy £15
I also have a BIG stack of 12x12 papers, including SEI, BG, American Crafts etc etc that are too heavy to post but if you live in Edinburgh you could pick up , and I would like £35 for the lot, I'll post pics soon.

There is more to come so email me if you would like further info.

Off to See Kung Foo Panda tonight, should be good!

Blogtastic

So the other day I was looking at my blog counter thing that rates how far up (or down) the "hit parade" a blog is on Crafty Blogs and I was like "eh?? Suddenly my blog is popular for no good reason..." then I realise that that nutter (I mean that in a nice way) Kirsty Wiseman had bigged me up on her blog so that accounts for it. She gave me a brilliant blog award so I need to pass this on to ...........Stamping Mathilda, a very talented lady

Thanks Kirsty for thinking of me - it was the post on the trip to the dentist that did it for her LOL!!!

Difficult Decision

Well after a lot of thought I came to a decision over the weekend to take a break from magazine projects for a while. I have been extremely lucky to have my work published over the last few years and it is always a real thrill to see something I have made in print, but I was starting to struggle with the time committment required so I am stepping back for a bit.

The good news is that now I think I will be able to re-charge the creative batteries and come up with some designs I can share on the blog. I haven't done any crafting just for me lately. I have friends with weddings coming up and would like to do some stuff for them too. So here's to some more posts with pics.

I have also signed up to do an online photography class, so hopefully I can get my creativity going there - who knows SHOCK HORROR I may even get chance to do some scrapbooking!

Some Cards...

Thought I would post some pics of cards I have made in the last few months...

Banana Frog Stamps.....
My Minds Eye from Sarahs Cards


Scenic Route...

Great Day

I went along to the Stampin' Up! Experience in Edinburgh on Saturday and it was brilliant, I won't reveal more just yet since there are a couple more happening this week.

I got to meet Shelli Gardner who co-founded Stampin' Up! She is sooooo lovely, I had to get a picture of her - I'm the one that has the hamster cheeks on the left!

She obviously knows how to pose for a picture but I look like some dopey fan! She really inspired me to get cracking with my first SU! workshop. If you are in or around the Edinburgh area I am taking bookings now so please get in touch. I am also planning a workshop at my house, so if you want to come along and not have to host at your own house, please email me and I will send you details.

Ginger

Well I have been busy taking pics of lots of stuff with my new camera,still on the ol' Auto Mode but still quite chuffed with what the camera can do. Just had to share this picture, this is Ginger who lives down the road, he/she is quite a character and very nosy.

Dental Trauma

OMG I am soooo embarrassed, I went to the dentist this morning to get "scaled and polished" and for them to prep my front tooth for a new veneer. A couple of months ago I was chewing my nail in a meeting and PLING! the veneer on my front tooth broke in half and fell onto the desk. I was gutted!

Any how I go to get my veneer-less tooth prepped and my god I think I would have preferred root canal work and that SUCKS! The dentist needed to take an impression of my top teeth and they use a kind of plastic horsehoe filled with putty like stuff, now despite the fact I am quite a vocal person (aka BIG GOB) I have small "dental arch" so they had to use the smallest one. I have had this stuff done before and I don't like it. I'll tell you why, they fill that bloody horseshoe to the top with that stuff then thrust it in and up into the roof of your mouth and the stuff squidges out the back and is very prone to making me gag - I am really vomit phobic and I was scared to death. So it happened this morning, I am horizontal in the chair and dentist shoves it right up into the roof of my mouth and the unthinkable happens I start to gag and can't stop, I sat bolt upright heaving away, waving my hands about saying "take it out, take it out" ARRGGGHHH! I have never seen a dental assistant jump back so fast. It was horrible. I can laugh now but at the time it was a nightmare. They were making a false veneer for me so I had to do it another 3 times after my gag fest. They had the sense to sit me upright for the rest but each time they did it I had to endure it for about 3 mins for the putty to set and I had to concentrate REALLY hard so I didn't barf.

So now I have a false veneer that quite frankly looks like Bubba teeth, and tomorrow I am hopefully going to meet Shelli Gardner from Stampin' Up! she is from the USA and has the all-American perfect smile..............I shall bring a fan and hide behind it like Emily from Little Britain.

New Camera

ooohhh my new SLR arrived today, a Nikon D40 - I am a newbie to the digital SLR brigade, Kirsty Wiseman advised the D70 but I wimped out cos they are only available via ebay and I was SCARED of being ripped off.....soz Kirsty I is a scaredy cat xxx

I am very excited about it, but even though I am a gadget geek I am a bit scared of all this ISO, focal length blah-de-blah, hey ho I shall learn dammit!

Ohhh this Saturday I get to meet the CEO and founder of Stampin' Up! Shelli Gardner in Edinburgh, it's OK I don't have a private audience but I still get to meet her. If you want to come along , it's free just drop me an email!

Rant Alert.....................You have been warned

Ohhh I just love Sundays, I love the Sunday papers, well I love the Sunday Times mainly. Now we have moved to civilisation, i.e we have a corner shop and not one of those dreary Tesco Express jobbies, we have our paper delivered every day. It's bliss, I am in love with Caitlin Moran, Giles Coran , AA Gill and even gobby Jezzer Clarkson, their writing often has me giggling and thinking too.

SOOO yesterday I am reading this piece about how a school in Scotland has stopped making Father's Day cards for fear of offending single parent families and lesbians!!! I just about choked on my toast and went "oh my God look at this PC nonsense rant rant rant...." then OMG I realised they were talking about the school our son currently attends.!!!! I am flabbergasted, stunned and frankly bloody angry. How DARE they!! Alex's class all made cards, but some other classes did not. Has the world gone mad, why is is the minority rule? It'll be Christmas cancelled next by these interfering mad people.

I was ready to chain myself to the school gates in protest, I was hoping for a queue of TV station vans lining up with huge satellite dishes, I did my make up and had it all planned out, my impassioned speech about how mad people are diluting our culture and wrapping everyone up in cotton wool.............................................but zilch.............nowt.................the worlds media stayed away and apparently no-one I spoke to reads the Sunday Times. So my preparation was in vain, not even a squeak from the school either. WELL if any of the teachers responsible for this idiotic idea read this - SHAME ON YOU FOR BEING SUCH IDIOTS!!!!

Thank goodness we are moving schools this year, good riddance I say........................I did warn you of the "rant fest", I am orf to bed...

Yo Ho Ho............and and a bottle of rum

Check us out......................... Alan and I were invited to a "pirate party" last night by one of our new neighbours - what a flippin' hoot we had. Pity I look like Vanessa Feltz in my wig ROFL!


Fancy Dress is such a flippin' hoot. Alan and I have been together for about 12 years and never been to a fancy dress together. He is "ginger" and looks so funny in this outfit, plus I persuaded him to have eyeliner, what a palava getting that applied on him - his eyes were watering like mad, ha ha!

Some of the outfits were just brill, 3 people came dressed in sheets with min-fans on string round their necks, they came as........................"3 sheets to the wind". The host was dressed up as captains birds eye I spent the first half hour laughing my socks off at all the outfits! Not laughing so much now though - got an ickle bit of a hangover bleurgh!

In Love With Stamping

Just a quickie post this morning, just wanted to tell you about a great new forum for stampers its here www.inlovewithstamping.com . It's a forum for all sorts of stamp addicts and for Stampin' Up! demos and "fans" too, check it out!

One of those Days

Yesterday we went to an "induction" afternoon at Alex's new school. We are going "private" next year, never thought we would but it just happened and it seems very right for us.

His new school is very old and very traditional in the centre of the city and I have fallen in love with it, kinda reminds us all of Hogwarts!!

So we had the head of the school give us a talk in the most gorgeous school hall yesterday and I was totally choked up. It was such an inspiring speech delivered by the most charismatic man I have ever heard speak in a school and I am beside myself with excitement and pride and can't wait to be a part of it.

5 mis before we arrive some silly sod reversed straight into the front of the car - as we were waiting to park......................grrrrrrrrrrrrrr it nearly spoiled the "ambience" and I swore like a trooper (nice!!) thankfully it was only minor and we had such a nice couple of hours I didn't care at all.