Project Life Update

I've been a busy little bee the past 3 weekends working on Project Life and trying to get up to date.  It took me nearly a whole day to sort photos, edit and set up my order.  Madness!

I have been super busy and now only have from the 16 April to today and from 26 March to 5 April to complete.  I am not strictly keeping to a double spread per week.  This is the minimum.  Some weeks, like Easter hols are more.  I have got 3 double spreads with extra inserts for those 2 weeks plus the weekend of Sarah's Cards Retreat is a double spread.  I have also added in the missing photos for the previous weeks where there were gaps.  Just need to add 4 photos now for the completed weeks as my order had photos that hadn't printed right.  Still waiting for a reply from photobox about this but nothing has come back after a week and a half which I am not really impressed with.  I thought I would have at least had a reply by now.

Must dash as I have to get to work, sooner you get there, sooner you leave!

Hope to be back in a couple of days time with photos of my progress on Project Life.  But that is all dependant on a certain little girl who we are still eagerly waiting for and is showing no signs of coming.

Tuesday Tallies (24 April 2012)

Well we have had progress! 

Car Seat Blanket

Finished!!!!!!

Pink Pram Ripple

Is now 12 1/2 stripes.

Cotton Wool Squares Pram Blanket

No different.

However, there has now been an update.  Last week the hospital saw my Sister in Law and have booked her next appointment for Monday, 5 days before her due date.  They have also said if there is no sign of things moving naturally they are likely to induce her on Tuesday!!!!!!  This is theory gives me a maximum of 7 days.

Perhaps I should stop blogging and get crocheting.

Wish me luck.....

Tuesday Tallies (17 April 2012) On A Friday

Things went a little pear shaped this week.  I wrote this post on Monday, took my photos then never got wrong to editing and uploading the photos until today.  Due date should now read 2 weeks today not 17 days.  There has been no progress on any of the blankets all week since the photos were taken.  

So this is what I wanted to say on Tuesday:

Although Carole has not posted a link for a few months I am finding that without this weekly post about my crochet progress I am not completing as much as I would like to.  I have a very fast approaching deadline to complete 3 baby blankets that I have started.  You see baby Hyde is due in 17 days time! (insert 2 weeks today now)

I have finished the large cot blanket but I have the car seat blanket and the 2 pram blankets to finish.  This is how they look today:

Car Seat Blanket.


2 more cream/coloured stripes to add and then the boarder. This is my project to complete today, no matter what happens I WILL finish this today.

Cotton Wool Squares Pram Blanket.  

This is a light weight summer blanket and as you can see there is plenty more to do.  Another 36 squares to make, sew ends in, stitch together and boarder.  Leaving this one till last now.

Pink Pram Ripple

And finally one that I started 2 weeks ago.  My Sister In Law didn't want to know the sex of the baby to start with which is why the blankets are neutral.  However, she changed her mind at 30 weeks.  Couldn't resist not making a pink one once we knew.  Ten rows completed with another 22 to do.  Probably going to leave this without a boarder as this is made with the left over yarn from my Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK ripple.  I can get 1 stripe in my blanket and 2 in this out of a ball.  If I put a boarder on I am having to go and buy more wool and will end up with more expense and left over wool I won't know what to do with.  Having said that Freya has taken a liking to this and has commented how it would be nice if her new cousin and her had matching blankets!

Hope you all enjoy your weekend, even if it is going to be a very wet one in the UK (and the rain is forecast to continue for quite a while).

Retreat LO's Part Two

Whilst at Sarah's cards retreat as well as completing the six classes, two challenges and buying lots of stash I also made the following LO's:

As you can see I am loving MME and brought lots of their new release at the retreat.  There a couple of these pages that I need to sit down and add some journalling to but I appear to be having a bit of a journalling block at the moment and I am just not happy with what I have come up with so will wait until I can get the words just right. Also didn't have the right colour alphas with me at the retreat and need to add titles.

It was very different this time as unlike last November I was no longer using a crutch and was able to take my crop bag as well which meant more scrapping supplies on hand which I naturally put to good use.  Plus with an extra bag I could buy more stash than last time and if there is room in your bag, it is just rude not to fill it with stash!

Sarah's Cards

These are the six classes from Sarah's Cards 2012 retreat which I went to a couple of weekends ago in Warrington.


Helen's class:

Lou's class:

Tracy's class:

Claire's class:

Jen's class, just need to add some journalling but I'm not sure what I want to write as I never make LO's about me!:

Ifa's class, not photographed too well as the paper has curved due to misting:

There were also 2 challenges over the weekend.  First was the page kit:

Then the sketch challenge:

I had a great weekend and it was so much fun to meet up again with some wonderful ladies that I met at the last retreat plus it was great to met some new ladies too.


I will be back in the next few days to show you the other LO's I made over the weekend.

Becoming A Tech Geek

Last week for my birthday I treated myself to a blackberry playbook. I am loving it!  It is great as I can take it out with us and when we have been on long journeys it has kept the kids entertained on You Tube and the net.

The best thing about it is that unlike an ipad if we can't get a wifi signal as long as it is within 8ft of my blackberry phone it uses the phone signal!

Sadly although I can blog I can't add photos and edit.  But you can't do that on a ipad either.

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday

Project tidy went to plan last Wednesday.  To be honest once I had got my lazy a**e up it didn't take too long! However, the dry weather on Thursday was taken advantage of and we went on a family day out.  Check the baby lambs out that we saw being born.  Liam and Freya were fascinated and I'm quite sure it is something they may never see again.

Back to today.  Desk looks like this:

With my expedit looking like this; Apart from a couple and I really do mean just a couple of pages used for my Document 2011 those Studio Calio kits are untouched.  Hence why I have cancelled my subscription.

Underneath the desk is a box of punches and 3 cubes full of wool.  Boxes of wool around various rooms of the house, under the stairs and up the loft too!

I also have a large sideboard downstairs full of scrap kits plus my totes that never seem to get unpacked!

So there you have it, my craft desk.  pop on over to Julia to have a good old snoop at plenty of other desks.

Easter

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter Sunday.  Ours was relaxing with my Brother and Sister in law visiting for a few days.  Kids had plenty of Easter eggs which are being rationed over the next few days!


Two new chickens came to stay!  So annoyed with my Father who rushed in front of me and I was unable to get a picture of their faces when they opened the coop and saw the two chocolate hens sat inside.  After I had got up at 6am to clean the coop I was a little annoyed I missed the look on their faces but you can just about see Freya's beaming smile.  The wrappers were off and were ate before breakfast and before I could get a photo of them with the hens!  


Please excuse the building site in the background as the roof on the kitchen was finished a couple of weekends ago and my Father did what he does best, chuck the rubbish and leave it.  This is his project for next week; taking all that to the tip.

Chocolate flake eggs, that just about lasted to 11am:

Being silly; chocolate ear muffs.  He did have what he described as 'chocolate boob covers' at one point but wouldn't let me take a photo!

Rolo egg from Uncle Martyn & Aunty Deimante and a bunny from Grandad:

As my 36 week pregnant Sister in Law came to stay (she has been warned she is NOT going in to labour at my house when she is 2 hours away from home) my Dad did some DIY!!!!!!  I have only been asking for 3 years for the hand rails to be put back on the stairs after they were removed to strip the wallpaper.  

Liam and Freya did ask what he was doing as if you know my Dad this is a rare rare thing in our house.  He is perfectly capable of doing jobs and to be honest does a really good professional job of things.  Its just the motivation to get started that is the problem and like a lot of men spends more time giving excuses why he can't do something than it would take to do the job.  Then there are the coffee breaks.....and you really don't want to start me on that topic!  

Sadly with everything that needs doing in the house that lovely carpet is going to be the last thing that goes as I am not buying a new carpet to have renovation work done and it walked all over with dirty feet lots of time by lots of people.  

So for now I will just live in a building site stuck in the 80's and try not to depress myself about it.

There are a few other eggs, flake, mini caramel, malteser bunnies and creame eggs hidden away but they are going to be rationed over the next few days.  My kids don't eat much chocolate and it tends to send Liam a little hyper so as they don't know about the other eggs they are staying put and the kids will come down slowly from their sugar high today before they eat any more.


Saturday was Bromsgrove crop.  Libby had very kindly got us all an Easter egg which I tried very hard to keep all for me but I'm sure you can guess who helped me.  This past month has really flown by quick and it feels like only a week ago since the last crop.  I managed to complete 3 LO's and Deb's card class:

All in all a good Easter break.  What's not to like about crops and chocolate?

Family Fun

I just can't believe how cold the weather has gone now the schools have broken up for the Easter holidays.  On Thursday the weather forecast was dry but the expected temperature was still a little on the chilly side, certainly much more cold than the previous week when the sun shone down brightly.  as the weather for the rest of the holidays was just the same we plucked up the courage to go on a family day out.  We packed the sandwiches and drinks and off we set for Shropshire.

Just off the road between Telford and Whitchurch is a lovely family run farm that we have visited a few times but our last visit was 4 1/2 years ago.  Here is some of the fun we had.

We feed the goats and sheep:

We saw these:

  

Had a stroke of these:

Went pony riding:

Played on the zip wire:

Went duck racing:

Bottle feed baby goats:

Watched the steeplechase:

The winner with her rosette:

We then finished off the day with seeing these two little lambs being born:

I'm off the Bromsgrove crop today and hope to be back soon to show you some LO's, including those I made at the retreat 2 weeks ago.