This is for everyone

To one and all...

A short poem

If it didn't bring you joy

just leave it behind

lets ring in the new year

with good things in mind

Let every bad memory flee

that brought heartache and pain

and lets turn a new leaf

with the smell of new rain

lets forget past mistakes

making amends for this year

sending you these greetings

to bring you hope and cheer

Happy new year 2012

Here is to a very crafty year ahead

with more smiling and laughing

Thank you for a brilliant 2011

Claire xx

Not a very Happy day

Well we have had a really nice Christmas

Spent most of it with Paul's family

who are all so nice...

Had some sad times, funny times

but all been really good.

It was a really nice first Christmas back in the UK

If you follow my blog

 you will know that we have two dogs

Tasmin (black cocker spaniel)

Kiya (cream and brown cocker spaniel)

Tasmin is with us at the moment

and Kiya was living with Paul's son Karl

Kiya I have to say is no longer with us

We have had to have her put to sleep

We did the Horrible deed this morning

She will be missed...

and we will think of her often

It was a very hard decision to make

but after talking with a Cocker Spaniel expert

at great length, about her behaviour

her strange ways etc. 

He told us she would get worse

as she got older... so 

we knew it was the right thing to do

She was the softest dog most of the time

but has slowly got more aggressive

Biting myself, Paul and even Hannah.

She had even started to stare at walls

and shake !!!

he told us it was epilepsy

Here she is as a cute little puppy

Here she is with her little teddy

And here are a couple of more recent pictures

Hannah has been spending time with her dad

so she does not know this has happened

Hannah will find out tomorrow.

am sure there will be a few tears

as there was this morning at the vets

Right I am actually going to go and play

I am trying my pens

to see if I can colour as fab as others do.

So watch this space..

Claire xxx

Merry Christmas

Well today went as planned 

We cooked for just four..

Turkey crown with all the trimmings.

TOOO many trimmings

yes I ate way to much...

But then don't we all....

I do hope you have all had a wonderful time

and that you all got lots of Crafty goodies

I didn;t get anything crafty as I got it all when we arrived.

(and I still have not had a play)

Tomorrow sees a very busy day...

I am cooking for all of Paul's family...!!

Yes they will all be here...

So on the menu is

Turkey... Roast Pork and Ham..

served with the trimmings.

only not just for four..

we have a few more..!!! 18

So I can see myself getting up at around 7am to start the vegetables

It will be fun though

as it usually is when whole families get together

(just secretly wish it was mine :o(  ,,, )

I have been to see mum..and she was OK

Once again she didn't know who I was

but she smiled which was good.

Right I am going to go 

Have a snoop about all your blogs

Paul is playing his new PS3 game

so is not very chatty

And I hope to have a picture post soon

I just need to get some ME time to play

Thanks for stopping by

Claire xx

Happy Christmas

Well we have four days left

just four whole days

ARRGGHH

Nothing is coming together as planned

there is so much to do, and no way I can get it all done

I seriously need a magic wand or a fairly godmother

neither will appear so

Pull them socks up and get it sorted

I went into the local shopping center today

and couldn't find anything I wanted

So presents are not on my list anymore

Bar humbug

I just have all the baking and making to do

All in one day.. 

So much is happening

what with Job interviews

doctors, vets etc...My time is not my own...

I do have a quick card to show...

Paul's Christmas card

very basic but I like it

  

Blue nosed bear and friends

I did find the image on google

printed it a few times then made the card

 Here it is close up..

I just have to sneak off and write it

I still have not played with any of my new craft goodies

and it is starting to annoy me...

I want to play...lol

But Christmas comes first..

I do hope you all have a fantastic time

with Family and Friends

If I don't get on here again 

You will hear from me in the new year..

Claire x

I am back

But maybe not for long

I am so so busy sorting things out for

The dreaded day

Christmas

So much to do in a week...

As well as look after Paul's mum

Who has had an operation on her foot

and also her dog who has its leg in plaster !!!

We arrived in the UK last Sunday

And boy it was cold...brrr

But after unpacking the car 

and then spending Monday sorting out

I finally had time for this

 Yes the envelopes that have been waiting for me

And wow was I excited..

Bet you can guess which I opened first...lol

And yes you where right

 My spectrum noir pens...the full set waiting for me

(only thing is I still have not even opened the packets)

I am so wanting to sit down and colour

but I think I have time and something else needs doing

I also got these

Yes flowers.. Lots and lots of flowers

Can't wait to use some..

 Then I opened the stamps from Pink gem designs

and all the ribbon I won in a challenge

Some more flowers, 

but these I can put together as I want

stickles and a Tilda stamp

 So much to try and play with

But no time at the moment.

Tasmin has settled in fine at grandmas..

she has taken to sleeping on the step

The step is there to help Paul's mum reach when washing up

But Tasmin likes it there.

I have so much to tell you all 

But it will all have to wait until I have a good hour

to type up the post

I will give you a clue tho...

We nearly never boarded the ferry !!!!

time for me to dash

Hope you have all been OK

I have missed popping by

but will try to make more time

Thanks for stopping by

Claire x

I am on the Celtic Sea

Hello there...I am sat on the ship

it is rather rough...

Hannah is in the cabin not feeling very well

Paul is fine...I am feeling fine

The dogs are not liking it. 

We took them for a little walk

but they where not happy  

So we have decided to check them about 

8pm then leave them until the morning.

Bless them.

I would go into more detail on the going's on 

but I don't have much time on WIFI left 

after talking to family through Skype

Just thought I would leave a short post..

and have a look at others blogs.

I will be back on here as soon as I can

I hope your all OK. 

Will be in touch soon

xx

Goodbye for a wee while

Hello there my blog friends.

I do hope you are all OK

This is my last post until I am able to post

once back into the UK :o(

We do have internet here

but I will not have the time

I would like to say a huge

to all that have decided to follow me this year

you have all made my year very special,

and having you visit my blog has made me very happy

I have met some wonderful people through blogger 

and I do enjoy visiting your blogs back.

You have made me smile and laugh 

at some of the comments you leave
and some of the post's I have read,

but you have all helped me when I have asked

THANK YOU

You have all helped me spend way toooo much money

on one thing and another 

 but

 THANK YOU

as I will have so many nice things to craft with

once I have all them packages open

The ones I have sat waiting for me in the UK

Name and shame time

Toni - Flowers
Although I have not managed to find the exact same
as Toni uses, I have ordered 100's (maybe a few 100) of others in all colours
Toni often adds flowers to her cards and they look amazing

Paula - Spectrum Noir pens
After looking at Copics for a long time Paula showed the spectrum Noirs on her blog... I thought they would be a good way to get started before I buy copics, get to know the basics then move onto Copics.
Chris - Chris often colours in pencil, 
and her cards look amazing, her layouts are brilliant and I often visit her blog just to see how "her lady" is !! her story's make me laugh


I will be back blogging before Christmas
and I am 100% sure my first post will be picture heavy
I plan to take a lot of pictures of our journey over
I will even get Paul to take a couple of me
then there will be a few pics of
THE NEW CRAFT THINGS
Excited
Right that's it from me
will catch up with you all very soon
Once again


THANK YOU

Claire xx

Tuesday today

And I am on a serious countdown

All the boxes are now in a truck 

and the house is empty 
and is one very large Echo

apart from the things that are going in the car

oh and us three

I can still get onto the internet 

but for how long we are not sure..lol 
so this could be my last post until I get to the Uk
or I could bore you again Tomorrow
Did I mention we was moving to the UK...lol

We went out for tea last night but didn't have pizza

we ended up having pork kebab with rice and chips

healthier I suppose.

Today we went into Porto

and had KFC... 

Toast for tea later on...

While in Porto I found a craft shop

Well a shop that had the usual rack of 15 different coloures of card

BUT

they had a stand with Pro Markers in... yes promarkers

3euros and 95 cents each..
which after having a quick look on Good old Google

is expensive
I wasn't going to buy them anyway
as I have pens sat waiting for me..
but I did get a little excited
although I also thought all the years of being out here
the week before moving back I find pens!!


I have a new book..
One I can sit here and write list's in
I LOVE list's they are so helpful 
I just don't have anything to make the list's pretty
like pictures, ribbon or paper
anyway that's my afternoon entertainment
writing my food shopping list for Christmas


We will have Tesco, Sainsburys and any other supermarket webpage open to help with what to get.
We have a fresh Turkey on order already
it is just everything else.
If I was in the UK I would have lots in by now
So this year will be the first year of me being
"A last minute shopper"
one of the ones that's rushing round Christmas eve
and if I am totally honest..I am not liking it
I like to have everything sorted at least a week before
and just have the fresh things to buy
So I am guessing I will be slightly stressed


Presents will be another list
but we are unsure on what will be available
and what's the "in toys" this year
so it may be a case of buy whatever is left.


So I am going to go make a coffee 
and start writing my lists.
Hope your all OK wherever you may be
Thanks for stopping by xx

It has started

Hello there...well it has started..

look

Our life in boxes..although only a few

this is just a few of them...

I will update later on

The men that are packing went for a break 

so I snuck in the living room

to take the picture

Find the card making box !!!!

I will take some pictures later on

before we go out for tea

Now that is going to be fun

What to have !!!

Pizza, pasta, salad,

or some kind of meat with rice

Will have to see what there is when we get there

I fancy a nice Ham and Onion Pizza

Right am going to have another nosey about

catch up with you later

Claire x

hello all

Well today is the day

I shouldn't be on here..

But we are waiting on removal company to arrive

They should be here soon then the packing will commence

Everything is out ready for them

so we are all snug in the study

It is raining and cold

and boring

No card making things to play with

just the internet

and there is only so much you can Google

I do have a card to show

I made this one ages ago...

Again I have used a

Tickled Pink Image

Lil Allsorts Kira

I have used a cuttlebug embossing folder

that has the sentiment on

then added red stick on gem dots.

And a die cut flower

with red ribbon 

Here is a close up of her
she is coloured with Pencil
I can't wait to get to my new pens
once back in the UK
All them shiny new pens 
I just need to watch some copic marker videos
so I know how to use them...lol
I am going to enter this card into
Tickled Pink Challenge - Anything goes
Make it Monday - Lnky
Joanna Sheen - Christmas Wishes


Right they are here...so I am going to help
Thanks for stopping by

Friday once again

Yes it happens once a week

But I like Fridays at the moment

they are my benchmark day !!

Today is the last Friday night I will sleep in this house !!!

Sad but exciting for us all

Next Friday night we will be tootling down a motorway

somewhere either in Portugal or Spain

heading to that BIG ship to bring us back to the UK

ONE WEEK

can you not tell I am excited

Anyway I have a card to show

and a competition to enter..
Tickled Pink Challenge

I have to admit I am a tad addicted to these images

And I also have to add...I WON last weeks challenge.

can you see my blinkie on the side bar

yes I WON

Thankyou Tickled Pink for choosing me

Well Tickled Pinks mr random anyway

It was so so nice to see MY name under Winner

I have my new Image

but I am stressed

I can not use it..

My printer needs ink..so will not print

ARGGGHHH

So today sees the return of

Victorian Christmas Kellita

This time in Green

 Once again the papers are from Clipart Fairy

called Gift of flowers

 She is coloured with Pencil

and I have added gems and a die cut circle

Then once again I have used a calendar for next year
I just need to add a whole just above the sentiment
so it can be hung..
There you have my card..


Now all of the above was typed this morning...
I am now back... it is 4pm..to finish
I have ink for the printer 
and have my new Tickled Pink image printed ready to colour
Excited me
one problem
my pencils are packed at the bottom of the tub
so that's my next job !!
I really really can not wait to colour
Tickled Winter Little Evie
she is so cute.. 
ALSO
We are leaving earlier than planned
we now travel Friday Morning
and are stopping overnight in Bilbao
We at last have found a Hotel that the dogs can stop in
So Thursday sees the busy day of last minute things to do and pack
then early Friday we leave Portugal
Hip Hip Hoooray


Right am going to find my pencils
I have an image shouting at me wanting some colour
Thanks for stopping by xx