FINDING MISHA

Apologies for being somewhat elusive - owing to having been on holiday for the past 10 days at the cottage in Cambridgeshire.  

We came back last night with rather more than we bargained for!

We went out into the garden where there is a bit of wasteground at the back which we have not developed yet.  It has double gates, leading to a supermarket carpark, which have quite a large gap underneath.  Hubby pointed to something in the wasteground and said *look at that*!  I said *oh it looks like a dead cat* to which he replied *yes but it's breathing*.  This was on Saturday lunchtime!  A closer look showed that it was a tiny scrap of a kitten which was pretty much too weak to move.  We are assuming it had been dumped as it was too young to be out.  We eventually managed to pick it up, after a lot of hissing and teeth-bearing and the rest is history!  A quick visit to the pet shop to grab some kitten milk and food, and one ravenous kitten was somewhat pacified and quickly decided that it had got lucky!  Having asked around the neighbours and local pet shop as to whether they knew of an owner, and drawn a blank, the lucky moggy has now been adopted.  The logistics of getting it home have been interesting and involved various visits to pet shops and supermarkets to stock up on basics!  150 miles later (via a trip to Bury St Edmunds to visit my elderly Mum) and *Misha* has a new home and a new name!  We are still uncertain as to the age and sex of it (that will be determined tomorrow at the Vets) so the name might well change but the home won't!  

I can feel a scrapbook page coming on!!!

Love Mandi

JUST ONE!

Just one card today, owing to the fact that occasionally I need to feed the family (shop), make sure hubby has clean clothes (wash) and that we can see the carpet (hoover)!  

Just a quick Christmas card, made entirely with Marianne D's dies.  The colour contrast does not show as well as it looks I.R.L but I was pleased at how clean the black, silver and white looks together.

God bless,

Mandi

CHRISTMAS COME EARLY?

Well I did threaten Christmas cards lol!  Having not sent any Christmas cards or newsletters for the past two years, there are now probably several relatives who think that we have just *dropped off the planet*!  This has not been laziness, but sheer busyness, as we have been bombarded with unexpected hospital visits for all members of the family, as well as the more mundane things.  I used to love Christmas but in many ways that pleasure has gone, largely through the shops beginning their Christmas sales plug earlier and earlier, and as soon as the school holidays are over we will begin to see shops re-arranging their displays to make room for Christmas Decorations and gifts.  It is one of my big *beefs* and drives me NUTS! 

For us, last year's Christmas did not happen ...... well not on December 25th as daughter no.2 got rushed into hospital with very severe anaemia! (We only took her to the GP with a sore throat!!)  What with the snow, and the need for blood transfusions, Christmas Day got cancelled and we had it on 1st January to celebrate the New Year instead!!  I have to confess that I enjoyed it (preferred it even) as somehow it took the panic and exhaustion out of preparing Christmas dinner, and everything that goes with it.  

Back onto the subject of the aforementioned Christmas cards!  I spent the weekend making a huge mess, and so far have done 24 cards.  Thanks to the wonderful Cheery Lynn dies (Dies to Die For) and Marianne D, these were quite easy to make.

Cheery Lynn have a lovely *frame* and I discovered by accident when trying it out on fairly thick cardstock, that whilst it did not cut that thickness, it made a beautiful embossed impression, so I have used that as a background on a few of my cards.

Next job the newsletter!

And then maybe onto Easter cards? !!!!!!!!

Thanks for looking!

Mandi

MAYBE THINGS WILL CALM DOWN?

Maybe things will calm down now and I can get back to *business*!!!!!!  (In my case regain my mojo and make something but at this rate it might well be Christmas cards lol).

Living in West London we have been in the *riot zone*.  Just up the road from us a large PC World was looted, as was Curry's in the opposite direction.  We live on a main road and the number of police vans, cars and sirens passing the house have been unreal.  I have also been disgusted at the number of false reports and scaremongering on Twitter.  I imagine that less than 1% of Tweets have been truth ... and those posting questions to try and get the truth have been ignored.  I have never been on Twitter before this week, and will probably not go on it again, or certainly not as a regular occurrence after this.

*Calm down* also applies to having managed to get THE scrapbook out of the way and handed over ... it seems to have been well received and enjoyed by those who looked at it.  I did have some really neat comments and some not so neat ....... namely *you do realise that you will now have to make one for every wedding and christening that we have don't you?* and *now THAT would be an idea for my 80th*.  Ho hummm ...... and not on your nelly methinks!!!

I am hoping that I might be able to post something creative in the next few days, provided that someone returns my mojo to its rightful owner!

Until then, have a great weekend!

Love Mandi

ANOTHER DIGI

Another digi pic, this time of younger daughter in the garden!

GONE DIGI!

The other day I happened to read a Facebook post by one of the ladies from UK Scrappers, who gave a link to a lovely digital scrap website (digiridoo).  I hardly ever do digi nowadays but just fell in love with the clusters that she (Bernie!) had used on her page.  I got the kit, downloaded it, and in the 10 minutes I had before leaving for a hospital appointment, I came up with this which I really like and is now being used as my wallpaper (PC NOT Lounge!!!).  The picture was of eldest daughter going to a wedding.  I don't often manage to get photos of her but managed to persuade her outside to stand next to the sunflowers that she has been growing

The first sunflower is now out and it is fascinating to watch it turn to face the light.  We haven't grown sunflowers before (actually we haven't grown much before the last couple of years when we decided to get our *outside house in order* lol.).  Sunflowers do have a special meaning to Sarai as after the young lad that she had been caring for at school (she had been his Special Needs Assistant for 8 years) died from Muscular Dystrophy, his Mum and Dad kept being given things with sunflowers on, and sunflowers were put on his grave (I am fairly sure that is accurate ... if it isn't then I will change the post).  Ben's Mum gave a little packet of sunflower seeds to a number of people and they are currently having a *sunflower competition*!!!  

Tomorrow is *D Day* for the scrapbook being handed over.  It is now held together with ribbon as it is too fat to stay together!!!!!!!!  I think I may play around with a bit more digi  as it makes less mess and we are going to have *no fixed abode* for the next few days as we have various hospital appointments etc., so in the words of my favourite comedienne, *bear with, bear with* !!!!!

Mandi xx

FINALLY!

Well I have FINALLY finished THE scrapbook (all 56 pages)that I was asked to do for a fella leaving church on Sunday.  I can honestly say that I have NOT enjoyed doing it (wrong attitude??!) and I am not quite sure what he - or anyone else - will make of it but it is done now!  The problem is that I am all *created* out and havent really got too much inspiration for doing anything else.  Maybe I just need a rest! 

I dont know if anyone else goes through the *why bother* thing with creating.  I have a box full of the cards I have made, and in all honesty very few get sent, although I was really pleased with my sunflower card for eldest daughter as I know that sunflowers are really meaningful to her.  I have   scrapbooks full of pages that I did a while ago and are now sitting on a shelf gathering dust, but are scrapbooks *self-indulgent* (?) as they dont really benefit anyone else ...... so I am having a *why bother* day and can fully empathise with Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore!!!

I have a load of little sewing kits with pincushions that I made sitting in another box, (recycled GU jars lol lol) IKEA flower buckets waiting to be altered, chipboard things coming out of my ears and so on ..... but no inspiration and wondering why on earth I got them in the first place!  I had grandiose ideas of *stockpiling* handmade goods and then getting a table at a local monthly craft fair to sell them but for now the *oomph* has lost it's mojo!  If found, please return to owner ... thankyou!!!

*THE Scrapbook!*