Operation Tomorrow!

So I'm due to go into hospital tomorrow to have my gall bladder removed - hope it all goes to plan and that I can have the keyhole surgery as booked ~ I can't afford for it to be re-booked as my flight to New Zealand is booked for 29 Dec and I can't fly for 4 weeks after the op so fingers crossed that there is no reason to delay it!

Still have a few things to do tonight to prepare and I'm starting to get a bit nervous but in all I'm confident that I'll be up and about in no time and I'm determined to recover quickly!!

It'll be hard having no hubby around to pamper me as he's the best when I'm poorly, he really spoils me, but I'm sure people will pop up to see me and I have my cat to keep me warm!

Tan xxx

UKS Nov wk 4 Challenge

Here's my latest scrapbook layout, done for my UK Scrapper's weekly challenge. It's of my niece Lucia as the photo goes really well with the colours I wanted to use.


Lucia ~ you are such a joy to me


Lucia ~ detail

The journalling reads: "This is my neice Lucia, aged about 12 months in this photo, taken last year. She's so cute & funny & has me in stitches most of the time! She LOVES our shoes & bags ~ already this girl has great taste & takes after her Aunty Tan!"

I got the full 30 points for this challenge, so that's good! It was a nice easy one though. I'm also making a mini book with some of my fave photos of Lucia so I'll upload that when it's done.

Thanks for looking!

Tan xxx

Remembrance & Credit Crunch Layouts

I've just finished anothe two layouts - one is about my Grandad for the poppies kit we had at my Thursday eve Redbourn Crop and the other is part of a team challenge on UK Scrappers.


Remember ~ my Grandad


My Grandad was in the Royal Navy and I'm proud of his achievements. He received a medal from Russia in 1987 for the "50th Anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945" and was also awarded a 60th commemorative medal by he Russian Federation in 2005. The journalling reads: "Remember: Bill ~ William Sydney Ramsden, 1924-2007. Crew on HMS Savage ~ involved in sinking battleship Scharnhorst in Dec 1943."

Sadly, he died suddenly in January 2007, and I miss him a lot. However, I was very pleased he was able to see me marry in June 2006 and to see my sister give birth to his first Great-Granddaughter Lucia. I have many fond memories of him.

My team challenge layout is called Credit Crunch Shoes:


We had to use the words Credit, Crunch, Money or Free in the title, and use old stash and something recycled and/or painted. I went with the credit crunch theme and showcased some of my lovely shoes that cost less than £20 each. The beads hanging from suede on the left came from a beloved pair of boots that I had to throw out (recycled element) and the number 20 comes from old stash bought at my local Crop. The number and the shoe are all painted too, so I think I got the max 30 points for this one ~ my teammates will be pleased!

I had fun making both layouts, though cutting into the damask design to show the teal background on my second LO took ages ~ I was cutting away with tiny scissors well into 3am on Thursday and had a really sore neck afterwards!!

Thanks for looking!

Tan xxx

Flight all booked!

I bookd my flight to New Zealand today ~ I'm flying on 29 Dec ~ so exciting! I can't fly for 4 weeks after my surgery so I'm going to miss Xmas with my Hubby, which we're both gutted about, but I'll arrive on New Year's Eve (though I'll have serious jet-lag so I might not make it to midnight!)

We're going to have our own Xmas together when I get there which will make up for missing each other on the actual day ~ hopefully my sister-in-law and her family will have me on Xmas day so I won't be alone.

I have 6 weeks to go so plenty of time to finish packing up the house, but time flies so I'd better get on with it or I'll end up with a week to go wondering how I'm going to get it all done!

Tan xxx

Making my Xmas Cards

I've had a fun couple of evenings making my first ever Xmas cards ~ I've created two designs:


One is teal and the other is purple, and half of each either have 'Season's Greetings' or 'Tis the Season' stamped on them.


Purple with 'Tis The Season'


Teal with 'Season's Greetings'

I enjoyed the design process and created something I could mass-produce without too much difficulty:


Cards in production

All I need to do is add the purple ribbon (I ran out of Herma then double-sided tape), print the address labels and write in the cards, then I can post them!

I'm ahead of the game this year ~ for a change ~ probably because I usually struggle to find a design I like that doesn't have religious images/text. I know I'm a hypocryte to some, but I think Atheists can still enjoy the holiday season and have the decorations, prezzies, food, parties etc as for me it's about having fun, enjoying winter, and most of all, spending quality time with loved ones. You don't need to believe in Jesus for that!!!

Tan xxx

What I really want for Xmas

I know it's a bit early to be thinking about the big day but all I really want for Xmas this year is to be with my Hubby in New Zealand in time for Xmas Day!


Xmas Robbie

I still haven't heard back from the hospital yet re: when I can safely fly so I'll have to chase them (again!) so I can book my flight ~ it's getting more expensive the longer I leave it ~ DOH!

Oh and I'd also love a Cuttlebug, 'Santa'! (o;

Tan xxx

The big clearout

So I've started the big clearout in preparation for emigrating to New Zealand ~ my spare room is already full to bursting with stuff I've emptied out of various cupboards and haven't gotten rid of yet and the house is starting to look like a tip! It's also really hard getting rid of things when I'm still living in the house as I'll be using a lot of stuff for a few weeks yet, so I'm finding it really tough, especially with the mess that I'm making ~ I'm trying to keep it all in the spare room but there's only so much that I can fit in there!

I'm thinking of hiring a hall or function room in the village in order to have a big jumble sale ~ that seems the best idea for selling most of my miscellaneous household items and old clothes as putting it all on eBay would take months and most stuff will have to be collected due to postage costs, so hopefully I'll be able to do this instead then eBay or dontate anything left over. I really need to make some money to live on over the next few weeks as my £60 incapacity benefit doesn't even cover the basics so hope people will buy my stuff!

Now I just have to put my strict head on to force myself to part with my beloved belongings!

Tan xxx

Hubby layout

I've been missing Rob like crazy so I did a layout of him ~ it was very therapeutic and I spent ages looking through all my pics of him ~ very enjoyable!


The journalling reads: "This is my husband Rob. He's my best friend, my life, my Rock. He really looks after me and does all the housework and most of the cooking too ~ I'm so lucky! We've been married for 2 years and he still makes my tummy flip when I see him ~ he's gorgeous!"

I really want to get a proper printer as mine is rubbish at printing photos and the ink runs out really quickly ~ I'll have to save up when I get to NZ as I won't be wasting shipping costs on my current one!

Tan xxx

Redbourn Herts Crop - Thurs 4 Nov 08

I went along to the Redbourn Herts Crop on Thursday night, run by my friend Diane and had another enjoyable evening scrapbooking and chatting with the ladies ~ they really are a lovely group and I wish I could bring them with me to New Zealand ~ it's going to be tough getting used to another group ~ even though I haven't known them for long, I feel really at home and I've really bonded with Di as we're both going through similar times and we've spent lots of time together over the last couple of weeks, so I really enjoy their company.

I didn't make much that evening as I was gassing too much, but I was able to hand over my 6x6 'About Me' page that everyone makes for their Members Class Book. Although I'm only going to be attending a few crops Di still asked me for a page so people would remember me ~ I thought that was really nice so I did my best and the results are below ~ I really enjoyed doing this and it only took me an hour or so:



The journaling reads: "I'm chatty, friendly, creative and passionate. I love making new friends and having a giggle. I also love art and crafting, especially sketching, making cards and scrapbooking." Pretty much the same as my intro on this blog site!

Of course I couldn't fit all of my favourite things onto a 6x6 page so I just picked the things I really love at the moment.

The fonts were freebies downloaded from a favourite site of mine called www.dafont.com. The title and brackets are Sketch Rockwell and the list is Dymo (like the label maker!) Another great freebie font website is www.fontspace.com.

Tan xxx

Date for op!

I finally have a date for my gall baldder surgery! It's booked for the afternoon of Dec 1 so with any luck I'll be able to fly to New Zealand before Xmas - depending on how well I recover, how early you're allowed to fly after having this type of surgery (they inflate your abdomen with gas and it can travel around your body so that could be dangerous on a long haul flight) and how much it costs to fly at such short notice at this time of year. I really want to spend Xmas with my husband so I have fingers crossed that it all works out.

Of course this also means I only have 3 weeks to pack up our belongings for shipping and to sort out and sell/donate what we can't take with us!!! Anyone that knows me will know this is going to be a huge effort for me as I'm terrible at throwing anything away and have accumulated 10 years of stuff that will need sorting through, so I'm going to have to be really strict and only keep hold of the really important items that we can't replace. Without Rob's help it's going to be really hard to let things go, but it will mean our new home is clutter free and hopefully I'll be able to make some money from some of my junk!


Wish me luck peeps!

Tan xxx

My first crop

Today I went to my first crop (Redbourn Crop Circle) and made my first scrapbook layout!

The group was really friendly and helpful, and they all made me feel very welcome. I had such a great time and was really pleased with how my layout turned out ~ especially as it was my first one!


Layout


Journaling

The Redbourn Crop Circle is run by Danny C ~ details of the next crop can be found in the Cropping Central forum on the UK Scrappers website.

Tan x

Hubby's arrived in NZ

So Rob left for New Zealand last Sunday - a very emotional day for us both! His sister came with me to the airport and we both clung to each other sobbing like small children when he went through the gates.

The nights are the hardest as there's a huge empty space in our bed that even my cat cannot fill, and I miss him constantly - there's so much I miss about him I'm not even going to start listing everything - it'll be boring to anyone else. Let's just hope my operation will be soon so I can join him before we both go mad!

You can find out how he's getting on at his blog: http://robskiwiadventure.blogspot.com/

Tan xxx