Where Do I Start?

First before I get down to the goodies... I need to say that I am sorry that I had to desert you all for so long but June was not a happy month for my family. Unfortunately my stepfather was taken ill and died. My mum needed a lot of backup at this time and lots of arrangements had to be made. I only have one brother and he lives in Belgium so I took on the arrangements and notifications. It was not helped by family feuds which lurked in the background. It is amazing that at a time like that people can forget what has happened and still be self serving and egocentric. It does make me feel quite sad when things like that happen. At the end of a life we should be remembering and marking a life lived and now gone....but some people have long memories and cannot put things behind them for even one day. I suppose that people are people and we all have our flaws...I just wish that old differences could have been put away for at least a while. So perhaps you understand why I have not been around for a while.

On a brighter note, my CT girls have made a wonderful Collab Kit for you all and there will at least one new part announced every day for the next 7 days. I have also made some little add ons to give to you all too...a little sorry from me or being AWOL that will add to their kits. I know it says "June Collab Kit" and it's almost July but the delay is down to me...sorry!
But it doesn't stop there...oh, no, there are also QP's and Brag Books too made with the girls kits, some by them and some by myself. So don't miss out on one little part of this brilliant kit over the next week!!
The theme of the kit was gardens and flowers, so it's full of pretty elements and cute little bugs and things.
Today is Ab's part of the kit and a little add on from me. I have made some watering cans and flowers to add, plus a seed packet journaling card and some stamps. I hope you like them.
You can download Cens Add On here

And checkout Ab's brilliant contribution then visit use the link below to visit her blog to collect her part.

Get Ab's Part of the kit here

Todays post is short but I am catching up with the things I didn't do.......loads of that, lol!! But I'll be back to morrow with more CT Goodies and a bit more chat, even sad times have things that make us smile. Take care and enjoy!

I escaped..eventually!!

I can't believe it..we have had two warm days in a row..no rain but lots of sunshine!! Perhaps summer has arrived at last. Mind you our summer normally only lasts about 3 days, so I had better make the most of it today or I will have missed it!!Lol!

I am pleased to report that on Sunday morning I woke up and recognised most of my fingers...gone were the borrowed ones, the little fat sausages and there were mine..normal looking fingers. It was like they had been on a crash weight loss program overnight...all except one...there is always one in everything that has to be different!! But we are definitely going in the right direction 3 down, one to go!

I need to tell you about my great escape this weekend..I almost didn't make it!! Lol! So how many of you have tried shopping for goodies recently...lots I am sure, creams and potions, makeup etc. Well, on Saturday afternoon Charlotte, the lovely Lilly and I visited a department store to have a browse there and for me to quickly buy some bits.....did I say quickly? That's not strictly true..we wanted quick but the ladies behind the counters had other ideas. I felt like I was being eaten alive it was like a feeding frenzy!! Normally I shop at drugstores or supermarkets where I just pick for myself and pay..so simply. Imagine my surprise on approaching the first counter..an immaculately groomed lady in a suit..with makeup the looked like it had been applied by Michael Angelo himself, slide round from the other side of the counter and smiled sweetly at us...that's when the problems started!! Me being a friendly soul..never did learn the lesson my mother taught of not talking to strangers...so when she asked if she could help I got drawn into conversation of what I was looking for. After 10 minutes and umpteen sprays on the wrist, samples of colour on my face etc.......I lied - I said I'd be back and hurried on to the next counter smelling like a poodle parlour!! It was then the next one got me!!! This one was wearing a rather fetching outfit..a top with oriental influences and trousers all in pristine white..a cross between a fashion model and a dental assistant. More to the point she was a devil to get past..no was not in her vocabulary!!!

Well, by now I was starting to feel just a little intimidated. This one too had makeup that looked flawless...that inadequate feeling was slowly creeping in as I caught sight of myself in a large mirror!! This one too had creams and potions.....yes you got it..more small streaks and trials of magic creams..she had ones that would give me beautiful skin..guaranteed.. at a price...a very large price..in fact so large that my husband would have had a stroke if I had mentioned the figures involved!!! Thinking that I would rather not inflict such a fate on him..he is a nice man really....I managed after a further 15 minutes to move on and by this point I felt I really should leave before I gave in and bought some costly item just to escape. So we started to move discreetly towards the nearest exit....but there was at least three counters between us and the door..... each with their consultants eagerly on the lookout for there next victims. I whispered out of the side of my mouth to Charlotte "Look like were talking"...OK so she thought I was crazy...we were talking..so what was the problem? But two steps more and..yep..we were caught!!


No, I didn't really want any intelligent foundation, or moisturising lipstick..not even 12 hour eyeshadow!! Whew..one down and only two to go...we were that much closer. But I hadn't reckoned on the lady closest to the door! I think she was there as she was good at catching the runaways like us. Just when we thought we had made it..she pounced!! aaah!!


Thirty minutes later !!!! we managed to get through the exit and stood on the pavement breathing deeply, relief flowing over me...I had made it, I had escaped!! OK so I looked as if I had a nasty skin condition with streaks of colour down one side of my face..and yes I did have rather a strong smell, but it was a nice smell...or should I say the 20 smells that had been sprayed on me had all been nice on their own..mingled they were slightly changed and more than a little overpowering.....now you know why the heavy breathing..oxygen please, I could hardly breath!! Is it only me that finds perfectly groomed, immaculately dressed, hard selling women so hard to say no to...or is it that they don't understand when you are saying no? I felt so like I had been in a danger zone and I had made it out alive..the relief!!


Of course the downside is we had to make a trip to the super market where I purchased some cream and a few bits in my own time off the shelf.....not top of the range but I had that safe feeling..mind you I did look over my shoulder a couple of times when I caught a flash of white out of the corner of my eye...just in case!! But it was fine..I got a gripe on the paranoia and settled down and back to basics.


Today's freebie is a coordinating paper pack..no plains just patterns. The way I look on it you most probably have loads of plain textured papers in your stash and perhaps these will be of use to mix with them. They have a doodley feel to the flowers and the colours are bright.


You can download them here


The beautiful Lilly visited on Saturday and what a difference a week makes!! She is sitting up on her own and so proud of it too!! Mind you she looks like a sparrow about to take off...the little arms have to be held out to help her balance..so cute!! Here's a layout I did of one of her pictures...she almost got the arms down in this one!! Go Lilly!

Before I go I have a couple of link to some freebies my CT girls have got on their blogs for you all. Tracy has a great QP on hers..its called Car Wash...great for men. Well, it should be them do the car washing!! She has one with a photo to show you how it will look.

Kim has some great word art for Dad's on her blog. So drop by and snag it in time for Fathers Day.I have to dash now, so take care and have a great day....and stay away from department stores!! Lol!

I've been wondering.?!!??

You'll be please to hear that the little fat sausages are slightly more finger like today...not quite like fingers but vaguely similar...it's an improvement..just!! They still don't like typing....and they let me know it!! Reminds me of my kids when they didn't want to do something..great at making their dislikes known!!

But with time to stop and ponder a while, instead of constant tapping away on the old keyboard, I've been thinking..always trouble there!! I have some questions and I hope some of you lovely ladies can straighten them out for me. My first one came up when I found a large hairy spider in the bath..he was so big I could see his wellies!! Honest, they were shiny and blue!! Obviously he didn't want wet feet! But I'm straying...my question is......do they fall into the bath..or do they climb up the plug hole? My logic says if they climb up then why don't they climb down again? What do you think?

The next one is slightly harder to work out......my cat is moulting hair everywhere..it's on his bed, on the floor..even drifting around in the air...even in my tea, yuck!! So, how come he's still covered in hair? The way I see it if a man shampoos his hair and you start to find hairs in the sink, within a few weeks he's doing a skinhead impression...or at the very least his hair is on it's way to meeting the back of his neck!!! So how come my cats still got hair and not a bald patch in site? If we could crack that one I think we just might get rich, lol!! So get your thinking caps on ladies!!

Now you can see the sort of critical questions that have I have been occuping my mind..real thought prevocking life issues. But wait...there's more!!! No don't groan...this is serious!! I love toast for breakfast and while I was struggling with my left hand, trying to remind it that it did know where my mouth was....I drop the toast!!! Yep, it fell jam side down and made a horrible yucky mess on the floor...don't you just hate that!! Now my question is......why when you drop toast does it always fall jam/butter side down? It does really...I thought, OK, the floor a mess so I'll try it again...and sure enough...jam side down!!!! How does it do that? Is it intelligent toast that just wants to wind me up?

The final thing that is causing me grief is my blog header!! Why oh why does it keep going west!! I fix it and then...it's back...on the left!! Who keeps moving it? I am making a new one...but will it to be a rebel and not stay put? I have all but pinned and stapled it but it still gets restless and in the night it wanders....grrr!! It should be nicely placed but some unknown force of nature is tempting it to wander. It couldn't be me..I nailed it down hard!! Or am I missing something?

So you can see where I'm coming from, I am surrounded by all these questions and no answers! I need to know these things so when Lilly gets a bit bigger I can make sure she understands the important issues in life.....not like grandma who is still struggling to find answers to life's little dilemmas.

Right I know....give you the freebie!! So I will.

Today it's an overlay, plus I've included the sample papers that I made. On two of the samples I used this overlay and then added a crumpled one on top, the third I just used this one. So have fun and play!! It is Commercial and Personal Use.

You can download it here

What do you think of my new label? I think it's brilliant!! One of my wonderful CT girls Linda made it for me and she has really come up with a great design!! I LOVE IT!! It's just so me, down to the watering can!! Your wonderful Linda......thank you sooo much!! Have a great holiday, you deserve it!!
Before I go if you fancy a bargain check then out Studio Style Designs, lots of the girls have sales on this weekend. Don't forget to check out my new Summer Chicklettes Kit whilst your there it's still 40% off!!Well, time to go as the sausages are sizzling again and need a little rest. So have a great weekend and relax a while!!

New Kit and a New Freebie

Hi..I'm back. Well, I cam back on Sunday evening as planned from my Holland trip. Monday was busy!! I was rushing around all day, I do rushing quite well having had so much practise. My emails had mounted up and were almost overflowing out of the PC!! How do they do that? I was still trying to do three things at once in the evening...until I forgot that when you turn quickly and move away...your feet need to turn first. OK, so it's elementary...I know..but my mind was three steps ahead of my body and the body just didn't catchup!! So bang down I went!! The result was a really sore hand..with rather large sausage fingers, lol!! I look like I borrowed them from a friend...a friend who was several times larger than me, lol!! So Tuesday was a no day as it was my right hand the one I use most......especially for falling!! Wednesday I was back after some painkillers and a support but the support irritated me so much that I took it off......that was when I think I irritated the fat sausages more than the support had got to me!! OK, so I thought they couldn't get much bigger...wrong...again!! Last night they had excelled themselves and if it hadn't been that they hurt so much I could have sworn they weren't mine...but they were, unfortunately!! So today I am treating them with a little more respect in the hope that I can get my old fingers back...these ones have attitude..and they don't fit on my hand!!! So it's one finger, left handed typing today and it is so slow..I don't do slow!! I suppose I have to accept it will be a whole morning job at this rate. I did try to persuade my DH that he would type for me...that didn't last long as he kept trying to "adjust" my wording!!! So back to one finger!! Lol!!

Today's freebie is one I had made a couple of weeks ago and I hope you like it. It reminds me of the nursery rhyme "Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow" Hence the title.
The papers a little grungy and I used some of my little flower faces doodles. I told my DH that I had made some grungy papers and he thought I was saying I was grumpy...me? As if I would, lol!! Poor man must have thought he was in for a hard ride!! But it was worth the misunderstanding to see the look of relief when I told him he had misheard, lol!!

You can download them here

Got to tell you about my new Kit. It is in the shop at Studio Stlye designs and yes for the first week it's 40% off as usual! It's called Summer Chicklettes. I just loved those little ladies and so I thought I would do an updated version with Lilly in mind. It's full of summer colours, scalloped edges and felt bits. You get a choice of two different frames which I think makes it more versatile. Have a look.

Summer Chicklettes 40% off this week

I did a fast little layout of Lilly last week using the kit and as usual she looked great..that cute little face!! I wish I had her skin..perhaps I shouldn't wish for that...I already have a strangers fingers and that's not working too well!! Lol! It's a pretty basic layout but for me Lilly's picture makes it one worth keeping!
I have been really lucky and Jessica, Kim and Linda have done fantastic layouts trying out the new kit, they put mine to shame, lol!!. First is Kim's and what a bright fun page it is!! I love the word art and the way she has used the little felt butterflies. This picture is just perfect!! A beautiful layout Kim!!

Credits: Summer Chicklettes by Cens Stuff, Blog template 101 by Bunny Cates - tweaked, Font is Mia's Scribblings

Jessica used the two types of frames and what a brilliant job she made of it!! The scalloped heart looks great tucked just behind the frames. I love the pictures and those lovely little faces! The folded paper edge works so well here Jessica, nice touch! A lovely page!
Linda's layout has some great extraction on it. It's clever how she did it, that baby is just popping out of the frame, lol! I love how she used the papers too. It looks like it was a great birthday. Thanks Linda for an other great layout!!

Before I go Kim has a brilliant freebie kit on her blog called My Guy. Ideal for fathers Day, don't you just love those colours!! Drop by and snag it!!OK, so my one finger type is getting too big a bore..so I am away!! See you all soon and remember when you turn...feet go first, lol!!