A little interlude

 Hi all.
Hope you have all had a fabulous time over the last few days and have eaten and drunk to your hearts content. Did you get some great crafty pressies?

As I may have mentioned, I was working over Christmas, but don't feel too sorry for me - no new jobs came in so it meant I had to sit in the office and watch TV mainly, oh and eat a few nibbles along the way! No Christmas dinner but a microwave roast dinner for one - mmmm yum!! It was ok. I wasn't sad. I sat and daydreamed about my week in the US for most of it and googled how I could return!

I am working right through the holidays, and to be honest it has just been a normal set of days to me, just a lot quieter. I don't mind. It seems a fitting bookend to close this last year and start the new one with a clean slate and hope for the future?

I am amazed to see that some of you have found time to craft let alone blog over the last few days - that's fantastic! I have so enjoyed your Christmas themed pages and cards and seeing what you all got up to. So I don't neglect my little blog for too long while I try to find some time to craft, here is a card I made for one of the girls at work - we had a baby shower for her mid December, before she went on maternity leave - for once I'm quite pleased with it!

Well my afternoon in the office calls again, have a great New Year and I will see you all the other side.
Enjoy whatever you get up to and be safe!!!
xxx

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all my lovely blogland friends....

from Sarah, Harry, Fred and Barney

xxxx

Seven days and a Christmas miracle!

Hello all!
Yes I know it is a lot longer than seven days since I last posted, but things have been so busy and to be honest my feet haven't touched the ground since my last post! I never got to share my exciting news before it happened so sit down with a cuppa and prepare yourself for a long overdue catch-up!

To start with, last Saturday I went here..............

Lille on a weekend Christmas Market tour.

I have to say it was good fun despite the early start, although I can honestly say I have never seen so many people all in one place - not even on Oxford Street!!!

Lille wasn't really my favourite place, too many shops and not enough character for my liking. I didn't really go for the shopping but more to take some cute Christmas photos,

 but sadly I was a bit disappointed here, although the market square had some festive characters in it

The next day, Sunday, I went here...............

cute and chocolate boxy.............

Bruges!

Not somewhere I had ever really thought about going as everyone told me that it was so small you can see it all in a day, but a cute market had to make it ok huh?

Oh my word - I LOVED it!!

 I would happily spend a whole winter weekend here it was so cute and festive and will try to do so next year I think ?

It would be so romantic!
I especially enjoyed the mostly festive music that was played through speakers around the streets, but when Chas n Dave's Rabbit played I actually laughed out loud!!!

The market was cute, the shops divine, and all the quaint streets and buildings were just my style.

 I enjoyed the gluwein and a Belgian waffle (or two) whilst watching the ice skaters

 and felt overwhelmed with Christmas spirit.

Shame we only had a few hours there  :(

No sooner had I arrived home on Sunday night then it was a change of suitcase, a few hours sleep and then I set off for Heathrow the following morning.

My BIG exciting news was a week in the USA, courtesy of work (don't ask me how that miracle happened but it did!!)

We stayed in New Jersey - and this is the view from my hotel room, but of course had a trip up to Manhattan to see the sights.

It was cold, really cold, not like here but a pure raw cold that I have never experienced before.

If I wasn't feeling festive before then I certainly was by the time we saw the HUGE tree at Rockefeller Plaza.

We got to meet some famous faces and it was nice to actually be in some photos for a change!

We climbed the Rock which was so very very high, even thought the elevator took moments to ascend!

And the views from the top over Central Park were amazing

The cops we liaised with were super friendly (and v. cute)!

 I have never been met with such hospitality and goodwill and it was awesome! The week went far to quickly so I cried when I left, and then the fun started.

The journey home was a nightmare and took about 36 hours, but compared to some we were lucky to have actually got here as some poor people are still asleep at the airport!
I won't bore you with all the details but it went something like: 4 hour flight delay, plane diverted to Manchester, not allowed off said plane for 5 hours, 3 hour wait for a train to London, 3 hour train ride to London, scary slippy car ride home!

Whew - I'm exhausted, how about you?
Each of these trips is worthy of its own post, but with the Big day less than 5 away it would take me too long to catch up - I also now have far too many pictures to scrap and no time to scrap them!!

I bought some cute decs at the Christmas markets and some great stash in the US, but will share those when I get a chance to photograph them. In the meantime it's back to the day job tomorrow..........boo!
xxx

A moment of calm before the frivolity

Hello all. Hope you had a great weekend?

Are you all getting ready for Christmas or have you been super prepared and have finished all that already??

I planned to put up some decorations this year but have so far only managed two bits of tinsel and a fairy, so not even going to photograph that just yet!!! I did put the office decs up at the weekend so everyone had a nice surprise yesterday morning, and as I will be spending the entire festive season there I wanted it to be cheerful!

Cards have gone out of the window this year apart from the ones I made the other week and now it seems I have NO spare time between now and the big day. I will certainly miss the last posting days if I tried to make more now unless I  decide to get off my butt when I get home from work in the evenings rather than blobbing out in front of the TV!!

It is non-stop here in Ratsville and over the next week I am on a mission to visit as many continents as I possibly can - cue the exciting news........................

............................................no, actually, not just yet, just in case it all goes wrong again tomorrow I will hold fire for now!

I am very excited though as I am off to Lilles and Bruges Christmas markets at the weekend for a little festive photography and the spot of eggnog or mulled wine! It means the boys are off to Grannywen's on Thursday night and will just have to manage for a week without me - not that Harry is talking to me at the mo - I trod on him accidentally yesterday and he STILL has the hump with me!! To make it worse he couldn't even go and sulk in his house as I was cleaning it at the time - oops!

My lips are sealed!

Greetings all. Hope this short post finds you well?
Have been out today to my works Christmas do - yes - we have to have it early to be ready to cope with everyone else's in the run up to Christmas!!!
It was great fun - fancy dress, lots of wine and entertainment and I was still home in time to watch I'm a celeb!!! Brilliant!  Will find some pics and post my outfit as soon as I can!
In the meantime my exciting news has been postponed for a week which I am very sad about but with the current weather situation it's probably just as well -  and it means I get to cuddle my boys for a bit longer too!
Sadly it means that you will have to wait a bit longer too!!!

Sorry................................xx

Boxes, Little Boxes.

Fred loves boxes, any sort of boxes!
My crafting stash ones provide a great climbing frame and adventure playground all in one - great til he slides off on a stray piece of 12 x 12!!?
But this weekend we have been fighting over these - tissue boxes, as I nurse a snotty cold and Fred and Barney fight over who gets to steal the box and who gets to climb inside it!!
Harry of course isn't the slightest bit interested in the boys antics, and prefers to watch from under a cushion as he quietly nibbles the sofa!!!

As the rest of the country is slowly getting getting festive with pre Christmas snow, I thought I would share this warming Autumnal LO. It has been cold and grey here today and bloomin' freezing! I am thinking about putting some decorations up, despite the fact that I am not really having Crimbo this year, but not sure which ones I can get away with that my little elves won't munch and ruin for me!

The next few weeks are going to be very busy,  and I wont be here much, but I do feel quite full of festive cheer, so will probably make the effort!  Still can't share my exciting news, but probably will do so in a couple of days time!! It will more than make up for not having a proper Christmas this year!!
XXX

Go Go Go!

Hello all.  How are you in this cold / snowy weather?
I have to admit that I am still in my PJ's again!!! Yes I know, lazy moo, but in my defence I didn't finish work until 4am this morning, so have ruined my day off by having to sleep thru most of it!!!
Looking out on my patio it looks very very cold and frosty and I can see some of my lovely potted plants have suffered with the frost. Mr Squirrel is looking for nuts in the grass but I haven't thrown them out yet so he will just have to be patient!!!

So, what's new? Another busy week, which included a baby shower, some very exciting travel news and a panic about some required rat sitting! Next Sunday I have to go away for work. It's a BIG trip and I will tell you about it later but I need to organise a visit to GrannyWen for some long term rat care - not sure how she will feel about that as it will involve more than just talking to my boys thru the cage - she will have to get them out to play or they will go nuts!! I can see the panic in her face now and she frets in case they wee on her carpet!!!
:)
I also need to contact the people I need to visit on my trip and organise where we are going to stay - and plan how to sort myself out as we get back on the Friday and then I go on another little weekend away - Lille and Bruges Christmas markets on the Saturday morning!!
It's all go go go here in the rat house, co's then I am back at work and then back to Grannywens for an early Christmas weekend and then back to work as I am working over Christmas and New Year - oh gosh - I am exhausted just thinking about it all!!!

Harry who?

Just a quickie today as I am off to work this afternoon for a late shift! I haven't been up long as I had a really bad nights sleep - my doorbell was rung repeatedly at about 1 am and eventually I had to get up to see who was there - supposedly a pizza delivery guy who got sent away with a HUGE flea in his ear! Seriously - you don't realise how odd this is - my flat is tucked away, off the main road and even my postman usually forgets it there - so how did this delivery man find it?? It was all very odd and my suspicious detective head wonders if it really was a delivery guy - I only heard his voice on the intercom, and he was a bit odd, so I sat up for a bit waiting for him to try to break in the back door!!

on a lighter note........

Here's a quick LO I made on Sunday - couldn't resist with all the current Harry Potter hype about at the moment - sorry!

Have a great day xxx

dot.com.christmas

 I need to share these with you.
 Yes, I know, gasp, I appear to have made some Christmas cards already!!! Bit early for me and not my normal style either, but make them I did!

Several weeks ago (sorry, it's taken me a while to find the time) I was sent some crafting goodies to play with by the dotcomgiftshop.  They sent some decoupage shapes, ribbons and 3D toppers all of a Christmas theme, and this was what I came up with yesterday.

 I have to say that I am quite pleased with them, and the Basic Grey Eskimo kisses papers were just the right colours to go with the toppers. I used green backing papers out of the Papermania range for the olde world style cards, and some sentiments from craftwork cards.

They also sent this cute set of nesting boxes - had to find a co-ordinating set of papers to cover them with and the Papermania - Secret Garden pack seemed ideal.  Now I am going to fill them with craft goodies to tidy up the Zone!

Thanks for stopping by.
Sarah xxx

Pyjamas at lunchtime!

Yippee!

It's the weekend again already. Not sure where the week went, it started out being really hard work but all of a sudden here I am, in my PJ's catching up on blogland and heading back into the Zone!

 This LO was by far one of my favourites from the Getaway - and there are still more to come............ It was from Lorraine's class, and I thoroughly enjoyed the idea and all the cutting out that it entailed. Making the little stepping stones out of paper clay was inspired, and I think you will agree the finished item is stunning! (Even though the photography isn't - it's so dull and dreary here today!!)

I had a fab night out last night, with my great chum Megan at one of our favourite haunts - Browns, Shad Thames! We consumed many yummy cocktails and enjoyed lots of nibbles including their fab baked Camembert  - mmmm yummy! As we walked back to the tube along the Thames it looked so pretty - it was all lit up on a delicious cold misty night, and we thought how lucky we were to live in this city - such a great place and so magical! Sadly we were a little too pickled to photograph it!!
xx

Oh me, oh my!

At the GogoGetaway, if you haven't already heard, this super fabby talented lady joined us for fun, frolics and photographs. 

BIG Yaaaayyyyyy for Kirsty Wiseman!!!!!

She took some super pics of yours truly and made me look real perdy!!!

I lubs them a whole BIG lot!!

This is me, now, at nearly forty!

Me having had a mostly horrendous 2010 but now recovered and functioning and raring to go.

I likes how I am now and know what I can deal with and cope with and it has made me stronger!!
As I chase Fred and Barney out of mummy's papers for the umpty millionth time and watch them nearly fall off the sofa into my cup of tea, I smile!
 I like my little old life, what I do and who I do it with! I like my mini spur of the moment adventures, and my futile attempts to find time to scrap them and the people I have met along the way.
Life is good!
Yesterday I touched a boys knee and I liked it!
Who knows what tomorrow will bring - bring it on.
xxx

Oh the weather outside is frightful!

So I am having a cosy idoorsy pyjama Sunday today.
It is cold and grey and wet outdoors and the boys and I are all snuggly and warm, (well they are asleep inside their tent) after a late brunch of toast and soldiers, coffee and fruit juice. And yes, they all had toast corners too!
I've been in the Zone, loafed on the sofa watching rubbish TV and enjoying all the new Christmassy adverts, and have had a great relaxing weekend - just what I needed after the last few weeks activities and before the next few weeks begin - it's scarily not long til Christmas you know, and there is lots going on in my world!

I also thought I would share two LO's today, the top one is from one of Sam Ball's classes at the Getaway which seemed somewhat apt today, being Remembrance Sunday,  and the second is another I made whilst there, although not one of the classes. You can't see it but I can tell you the leaves are crackled accented to within an inch of their lives. I can't seem to help myself when it comes to Squirrels, this little chap was in Dulwich Park, but my little chums in my back garden have reappeared too and are busy munching the nuts I threw out for them this morning!
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.
xxxx