Missing in action... again *rolls eyes*

No more apologies... life gets in the way and blogging has to go on a back burner... hey ho! So what's been going on in the Stevenson household since I last blogged? Well life has been pretty much the same old... school, looked after children, Beavers, gymnastics... you get the idea. We have has some good weather though so we have spent a lot of time outside which is always a good thing.

Drew is almost walking... he can stand unaided (when the mood takes him), and I think it will be only a matter of time before he is off.... and then boy will I know it!!! I had a scare with him on Thursday when he started to choke. I did the whole patting on the back thing but it didn't work and he ended up going blue, passing out and stopped breathing. Emergency first aid training kicked in and after a couple of hard slaps on the back a screw came flying out!!! yes a screw!!! He'd been playing under the dining chairs and had somehow got a screw out and obviously though it looked tasty!!! Very scary, but all turned out ok.

I've been doing bits and bobs on the crafting front. I'm getting quite into wool again, and have a couple of projects under way... not sure how they are going to turn out yet, but we'll keep going with them and hope for the best!

I've done a bit of scrapping too... Here are some Sarah's cards May kit sneak peeks. Not my usual colours for scrapping with, but a very pretty and delicate kit.

I also got to play with the gorgeous Jillibeans New England 'Clam Chowder' papers... so up my street and a lot of fun to use.

And don't forget to play along with the challenges over at the Sarahscards blog. This month the challenge is to use paint on a LO. There are some fab examples from the DT.

This is my LO, and is probably the first LO I have done with no patterned paper in, well... ages!!! I really like how it turned out. I created the splatters by squirting paint dabbers with a water mister, then stamping them down on to the card. VERY messy, but great fun... and the kids like doing it too. I also used the dabbers on acrylic stamps for the title and the whirly circle embellishments.

Have a go and leave a link to your work... you may win a prize and as they say, you've got to be in it to win it!

Swimming babies.

This morning we took the boys swimming. It was the first time Drew had been, and to be honest only about he 4th time Harry has been. We went to the pool at my gym, which is soooooo nice and warm. Harry was a bit unsure at first and did the whole clinging like a limpet thing, but as time went on he was happy to start kicking about and 'swim like a shark'. Drew LOVED it from the moment he got in. The only downside for him was that me being a bad mummy left his swim nappy at home, so he went swimming in an ordinary pampers!!! I swear to god it weighed the same as he did when we got out the pool...lol!!!The bonus of going to a private pool was that we could take photos... ok so they're not the best, but at least we have a record of Drew's first time in the water... we didn't get the opportunity with Harry because of all the over the top rules about taking photos in public places. I'm all for child protection, but seriously the world has gone a little mad... you can't even take pics of your own child in a library now!!!

Today has been another beautiful weather day, and this afternoon has been spent in the garden. Rob dug out dome trees that had been killed by the snow, Oliver collected snails, worms and bugs *ick*, Harry picked a dandewion for me *awwwwwww* and Drewpot discovered the playhouse. So 3 dirty but happy children... don't you just love sunny weather?

I've been going to the gym most nights, and I feel so much better for doing so... even though you can't tell any difference yet. Just how is that fair that you tell as soon as you gain weight and can gain so easily, but to shift it takes an age and you have to lose loads before you can tell!!! Any way, I'm not giving up... already the programme I have been given is getting easier to do, so that has to be a good thing right?

I've not been doing much scrapping lately. I finished this LO that was started at the crop a couple of weeks ago. It's one of those things that had to be recorded before it was forgotten... Pegward Cullen... the £1 peg bought by Oliver from a mini industry sale at school!

I got a lovely parcel from Sarahscards this week with these papers, alphas, stickers, sprouts, bazzill half edges and tape in... sooooo excited to play with these and have already done one LO... here's a sneak peak of the first LO, but keep an eye out on the Sarahscards blog to see what I do with them. Don't forget that there are monthly challenges to play along with, and you can win a voucher to spend at the shop... free stash has to be good thing, so why not play along and leave a link to your work :)

Righty ho... it was just a quick one... I need to get back to my book, which has just got to a very good bit... you'll never guess what it's about???

Vampires of course... lol. I'm so loving the Sookie Stackhouse series... I just wish I had an Eric in my life *sigh*

Busy busy busy!!!

Well it's all systems go in this house at the moment and we never seem to have a spare minute!!! Oliver has joined Beavers, which he is loving... no pics yet as he won't have his photo taken until he has been invested into the colony and gets his woggle!!! This will happen after the Easter hols, so I think there will be a LO coming soon.

We have started to potty train Harry. Or should I say TRY and potty train Harry!!! It's early days but it's not going well. He is just so stubborn and there is nothing we can use to bribe him. I'm not giving in this time though... he's not going back into nappies during the day... seriously it's just wrong trying to squeeze a child of his size into a nappy.... lol! So lots of wet patches and a mountain of wet undies... any tips for success would be gratefully received.

Drew pot has started to pull him self up at the furniture which he thinks is very clever. He's still a little whinger, but he is also very funny at times, so with that and being extremely cute, things are getting slowly better with him.

I've joined the gym.... last night was the first time I went, and OMG I can feel it today. Tonight I have a personal trainer session so I am expecting to really hurt tomorrow. This is it this time... I'm not going down the fad diet route anymore. I'm big and that's that, so I just plan now to try and do the best with what I've got... I have to say I actually enjoy going to the gym, so maybe this will be the first hobby I have that doesn't involve me sitting on my bum!!!

A few LOs to share. These were from the March Sarahscards kit. Not papers I would have bought myself, but they were lovely to use. I really like the bold floral patterns, and think that they work well even with the boy LOs. On this LO I used scraps of card to make the same flowers from another sheet of patterned paper, but bigger. I loved the design but the printed design was just too small for what I wanted... I think this works well.

I have to say I am really staring to like working with the smaller size for my BOM too.... although I doubt I'll go over to this size totally.

I printed my favourite piece of music, The Meadow by Alexandre Desplat (yes it's from New Moon), onto patterned paper to form the basis of the LO. I love this LO.... although it doesn't fit in a page protector!!! I really should think these things through before I start!On Saturday we went to the Build a Bear factory at the Trafford Centre. The idea was that Harry could choose a bear who would become his potty training friend. He named the Bear Brian, after Grandad, and chose an outfit, shoes and pjs for him.... Brian also wears big bear pants!!! I think it is helping a bit, as Harry does like to sit Brian on the potty, but not as much as he likes putting his pjs on and taking him to bed.... lol!

I did this LO of Harry and Brian at the Warrington crop on Sunday... not a productive day for me... but what's new there. I only got this and about 3/4 of another LO done. I would like to say I have someone to blame, but I think in truth I have only myself to blame... I talk too much and faff even more! Oh well... crops aren't supposed to be all work and no play are they ;) I also succumbed to the Woodware tab punch. I needed it, I had to have it.... it's now mine, and I love it very much. If there is ever a punch you will use all the time this is it.... love love love it! (Rachael Elliott... your fault, again...lol).

Right ho, another brief update... I will be back over the Easter weekend... probably in an attempt to put off getting my EYFS profiles and planning up to date!

Have a great bank holiday weekend and don't eat too much chocolate!!!

Scrappy weekend!

Well here we are... another weekend has flown by, and we find ourselves back on a Monday!!! We had a good weekend. It was quiet, we didn't do anything, but sometimes that is good.

Yesterday I got these flowers from the boys... it wasn't a surprise as they were made as a planned activity last week... but I acted surprised, and Harry was very proud to tell me that he had made them for me.... awwwwwwww.

I got me time yesterday to do some scrapping. I only managed a couple of LOs but that's better than nothing! This LO went together quite quickly, and I used some of the gorgeous birdy Crate (I think) paper that came in a Sarahscards kit a while back... although to be fair you can't actually see that much of it!!! I just love the large picture of Drew... he was so surprised every time he managed to roll over, and this time I caught the surprised expression before he broke out into a big smile at his cleverness!

The second LO was done for a class over on UKS. The Twilight Addicts social group are holding a mini cyber crop over 2 weeks, and this is the first time I have managed to play along... although I do hope to get more done this week. The class required you to use a favourite LO as inspiration... I have so many LOs that I like but this one (scroll down to Paola Etta) caught my eye the other day whilst I was blog hopping. You also had to use something blue... I used a blue tape measure cut from a sheet of Cosmo, and some blue Jenni Bowlin alphas, and use something fantasy related. I have included the butterflies as my something fantasy related and although you could argue that they aren't... in Breaking Dawn Bella watches Rennesmee sleep and describes it as 'a flickering of colours like a handful of butterflies were scattering from her thoughts', so it's good enough for me. The final element was that the title be a line from one of the Twilight Saga books. I chose 'You are the most important thing to me now. The Most important thing to me ever'.

I love how this LO came together in the end, and I have to say I am so going to have t buy that butterfly punch!!! I borrowed one at the retreat last weekend, and did a few punches to take home... I also kept the bits I had punched out from, and I'm glad I did as I like how I used them here. I have been eyeing the punch since Sarah got it in stock, but thought i wouldn't use it much... but now I just don't care... it's so pretty!!!

Right, I am off to take advantage of having no looked after children today... I might go and get the water tray out for Bear and Drew pot. Having to only dry and change 2 children is better than 3!!!

Retreat weekend!!!

After all the months of waiting and planning the first ever Sarahscards retreat is over!!! And it can be called nothing more than a roaring success. I took my camera, fully intending to take a ton of photos and took the grand total of.... NONE!!! I am so bad, I sometimes wonder if I can call myself serious scrapper... I mean how many serious scrappers manage to take no photos whatsoever!!!

It was great to meet up with the DT again... although Nat was missed (so inconsiderate of your friends to get married that weekend!!!) It was great to meet UKS teamies and to finally be able to put real faces to UKS names.

Friday started out with lots of lifting and carrying to set the shop up and get everything ready. This had advantages as I got to see just how much gorgeous stash there was, but the disadvantage of needing to spend a silly amount of money on the gorgeous stash. Favourite purchase this weekend has to be the Martha Stewart birds on a wire punch... it is seriously fantastic and even if you think you wouldn't use it that much, I think you really would. I used it on 3 of the 4 LOs I did this weekend, so in my eyes it has already paid for itself.

The classes all went well, and the delegates seemed to be happy with the one that I designed... either that or they were just being very nice to my face so I didn't cry... wouldn't want to be going all Tracy on everyone now would I ;)

The class kits were amazing and you got so much in them, that you'd easily be able to create more LOs/cards with the left overs. With my kit you got a woodware paper ribbler.... I love mine and use it all the time. It was really funny seeing just how difficult it was for some people to be able to rip and screw up paper... there were a few jaw muscles tensing, but I was really pleased that people were happy to step out of their comfort zone and give it a go.

I was quite impressed that I managed to finish 4 LOs... especially considering that I actually like them too. I thought I was a slow scrapper, but I have to say that I can probably hand that award over to Rachael. Although her LOs are so amazing they look like they have taken a lot of time and effort, so I'll let her off. The papers she used on her first LO soon sold out after everyone saw how she had used them (I'll post a link to the LO once it has been blogged). And tut tut to Rachael... you have only made me really, really WANT a pretty butterfly punch AND a super duper tab punch!!!

This LO was to remember one of those to remember the silly things kids say when they are little. When Oliver was about 2 1/2 I refused to share a bath with him after he had done a wee in the water. He said that it was ok as he had only done a wee in his own side of the bath, not mine!!! Boys eh... dirty, dirty, dirty!!! The papers are by Prima and are just so much fun... I had to have them and the chipboard too.

This LO was obviously to show what Drew got for his first birthday... I don't like doing the typical birthday party LOs, but do like record their birthdays in their albums... I love this LO.

I love this photo of Harry and Drew pot asleep on Rob. When Drew was a tiny baby he would only ever go to sleep in the papoose, and on this day Harry snuggled up too and had a nap... it was one of those moments when I really did think awwwwww, I want another!!! The thought probably disappeared the moment Drew woke up.... lol!!!

This LO is of Drew and Jonas... my best friend's gorgeous little man, and was based on Sarah's retreat class. I really hope Drew and Jonas grow up to be friends... his mum is the best.

Right I really should o and catch up with the washing now... it would be a shame to not take advantage of the sunny weather we are having at the moment. Be back later in the week (hopefully)... and maybe even with more LOs to share.

No more babies in this house :(

Yesterday Drew pot had his first birthday... I can't believe that this past year has gone so so quick!!! And even though I do not want any more children, there is a part of me that is very sad that my baby is a toddler.

He had a fabulous day, and got the biggest sit in fire engine ever.... well apart from a real one!!! Of course we had tears and tantrums from Bear who thought that it was his and didn't want anyone else in it! We had a little party at lunch time with a few of his friends, and the chocolatiest bear cake after tea.... so chocolatey that we have given a couple or paws away as it runs the risk of causing serious artery furring if it stays here!!!

Today Drew has gone to stay at mum's for a few days... so sad to see him go but he will be spoiled rotten and will have lots of fun.

One of the reasons he has gone now is that this week is the Sarahscards retreat in Warrington. So excited but also very nervous about having to stand up in front of so many people and teach the class... I'm sure my LO is no way near as good/interesting as the others being taught. Also I haven't taught for ages... and even then it was to teenagers not adults. Still a weekend in a hotel with no children has to be good right?

Last Sunday it was crop day and I had a great time as always catching up with skinny Jen. I managed to get slightly more done this time, and just had to finish a 3rd LO off when I got home.

This one was to mark the sad day when Oliver decided that he didn't want trainers from the discount sports shop, but wanted the rather pricey Adidas Stormtrooper trainers. I thought it would be a few more years before this happened... not at 6!!! Still the paper the trainers were wrapped in is lush, so had to be used on the LO.

This LO is of Bear dressed in Oliver's cowboy costume... he only likes it because he gets to play with not one but TWO guns at the same time.... double trouble!!! And can't do LOs for itsy and bitsy without doing one for ditsy!!! This was to mark the day that Drew finally started to crawl... and yes he is a little terror now and leaves a trail of devastation behind him.... but he is also a bit more content now he can get about (emphasis on bit). I used the delicious AC heatwave paper again... I just love this and will so have to buy yet another sheet... although I don't think I'll be cutting all the little arrows out again... what a pain that was!
Right that's all for now folks... off to get the car valeted after too many travel sick children episodes... it is loooooong over due!!!

Back after the retreat.

I'm back.... again!

Not doing very well with the new years resolutions am I? Well to be fair the only one I'm not keeping up with is the blogging... oh and the weight loss, I guess something things never change!

So where have I been and what have I been doing this time to count for the lack of blog activity?

Well unfortunately not been anywhere, but I have had a mini trauma. At the end of January someone reported me to Ofsted for a number of reasons... I didn't know about this until I got a knock on the door from a particularly uppity Ofsted inspector one afternoon. She went through all the complaints/allegations that had been made, and by her attitude it felt as though I was guilty until proven innocent. Fortunately I had all paperwork up to date, and the children I had with me that day responded well to her questions. When she left her parting shot was about discussing the case with a colleague to decide if any further action was going to be taken. So as you can imagine I as left pretty shaken and upset. Even though I knew that all the complaints were totally untrue, it still shook me that someone could be so spiteful as to want to try and get me into trouble. It was only last week that I got a letter from Ofsted stating that there 'was no evidence of non-compliance with the Early Years Foundation Stage Welfare Requirements'.

So after all the tears, then the anger I am now calm and collected. My initial thought was to try and keep it all quiet, but I have nothing to be ashamed of. So there you go... reported and cleared and still being a good childminder.... even if I do say so myself.

So now all that is done and dusted I will once again try to make every effort to blog update each week.

I have a few LOs to share. These were done using the January kit from Sarahscards... gorgeous delicate colours, and even though I'm not a huge fan of floral papers I really liked using these. This LO was done last night... back to my favourite bright mix and match... I had a bit of an American Crafts thing going on last night... there are 3 different ranges on this LO and I have to say I am loving the new Heat Wave range... will be defo buying more of this at the crop on Sunday.Right not really much more to say at the moment... it was meant to be a quick post while the kiddos are napping after being at playgroup this morning... will be back soon as no traumas are planned to be happening in this life anytime soon ;)