Long time no blog

OK, VERY long time (April apparently - so where did those weeks go???), so long that I expect no-one ever reads my bloggie anymore (all together now - aaaahhhh).

So, what is happening Chez Katy? Well, wedding plans are (sort of) underway. Venue picked and booked - see pictures - gorgeous, gorgeous 15thC merchants house in Worcester.

Malvern Papercrafters club is up and running, and thriving. At least 20 peeps at every meet so far, with plans to start a separate crop if I can find a blinkin' venue!

Work is OK, just OK but bearable. But then I have my secret plan for world domination to keep me company when the days are dull (cue dark evil sounding laugh - ho ho ho ho).

Been scrapping much more recently, which probably means I am a happier bunny. Certainly having stopped taking the happy pills has (perversely) had the effect of making me more happy - what the hell is that all about??!!??

Here is one I made earlier:

My scrap room is nearly done, but there are no pictures as I keep meaning to take some but everytime I think of it it is an almighty mess and I am too embarassed to show you (not, you understand, that anyone is likely to see this - or indeed get this far into my rather dull ramble).

House wise, another room more or less finished today - bathroom cabinets are up and looking smashing.

Oh and I won a competition in Docrafts and had my first published LO. Got a lovely pink tote. And the winner is - this LO:

Nighty night xxx

Been tagged

Well, about a million years since I updated my blog, but wow has it been hectic! Lots of progress on the house and we move in on Mon and I start my new job Tues. Last day in the temp job tomorrow, then a rest on Friday and cyber cropping on Sat to look forward to.

Right, Suzy has kindly tagged me. The tag is: Start with 7 random facts/habits about yourself. People who are tagged have to write their 7 things on their blog. Then choose another 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment to tell them they have been tagged and to read your blog.

Main problem here is Suzy has tagged all the bloggers I already know!!! But i'll do the prompt anyway.

1) One of my fav films of all times is the slightly obscure 'Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House'

2) I am terrified of wasps

3) I hate avocados with a passion

4) My feet are only a very wee size 3

5) I have a Masters degree in History of Ceramic Design

6) At University my nickname was 'Bob' a la Blackadder (i.e. Kate aka Bob)

7) Despite being in the Brownies for about 5 years I never got a single badge!

Thanks Suze :)

Just stuff

Not keeping up with the daily photos, but done one this morning of my favourite socks (xmas pressie from Gus). Colours enhanced a bit with PS but yes, they are pretty much that bright :). They might be tasteless but they are cheery.

Should be working on the house by rights, but courtesy of my female-ness, am instead tucked in bed with a hot water bottle as hot as I can stand on my aching tum :(. Did the ceiling in the living room and skirting yesterday, Gus is painting the bathroom at the moment ready for the plumber who is, allegedly, arriving tomorrow (already cancelled twice so not holding my breath). Ordered the carpets yesterday, which are seagrass for the living/dining room and coir on the stairs and landing. Wiped out the savings more or less so hope they are worth it!!!

Been on a bit of a scrapping roll this month (for me anyway), but been neglecting my teamies a bit cos been spending spare time scrapping instead of on UKS (sorry teamies). Need to get a hustle on with my CJ next.

Busy, busy day

Have worked hard this weekend. The scraproom now looks like this. The horrid carpet has been removed, and we are in the process of stripping the floorboards which will be exposed with a rug over them. The walls are 'Duck Egg' and the ceiling is 'Parchment'. Am very pleased with it so far.

We have also done the first coat of 'Toffee Cream' on the stairs and landing today, and bought our kitchen doors yesterday - natural walnut with chunky nickel handles, looking forward to seeing it! Due in 3 weeks time.

Feeling a wee bit nauseous from all the fumes (paint stripper plus emulsion is a bileous combination!).

Also picked out my wallpaper, gorgeous peony design :). OOhhhhhh it's all so exciting!

Catching up with photos

Done a wee bit of catching up on the Her Space:My Space photos. Here are my attempts at Curvy and Alive. Can anyone guess what the curvy one is???

Way behind with my photos...

But here are 'Bricks' and 'Blue' :O)

These are pics of my gorgeous Edwardian house and some anenomes that Gus got me to say sorry I didn't get the job, bless him.

Some progress

Craft room now looks like this:

Following an undercoat of paint. Hoping to get the first coat of duck egg on today if I can drag my arse away from the computer.

Anna's tag

A - Available or taken: taken, by Angus
B- Best friend(s): Tommy P (luv ya babe)
C - Cake or pie: cake, but would rather have a choccie biccie
D - Drink of choice: vouvray please
E - Essential item you use every day: my Origins face cream
F - Favorite colour: brown
G - Gummy bears or worms: I think i'm gonna eat some worms.
H - Hometown: now Malvern, but originally Brum.
I - Indulgence: vino plonco.
J - January or February: January, like snow.
K - Karma: probably bad...
L - Life is incomplete without: love.
M - Marriage Date: hopefully Sept 08.
N - Number of siblings: 1, my gorgeous bro Paul x.
O - Oranges or Apples: apples, but only if they are English.
P - Phobias or Fears: wasps (((shudder)))
Q - Fave Quote: I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception.
R - Reason to smile: little Leo.
S - Season: summertime.
T - Tag 3 or 4 people: NO!
U - Unknown fact about me: I couldn't tell the time until I was 12!
V - Vegetable you don't like: avocado (that might technically be a fruit).
W - Worst habit: shouting at Gus Gus.
X - x-rays: not that I recall....
Y - Your fave food: Lindor chocs, blue cheese, aubergines.
Z - Zodiac sign: Gemini.

Stuff

Scrapajack crop today, went with Jo again. Thanks for a great day Jo, not at ALL envious of all that lush Kuretake stash! Did a CJ and DLO but (as usual) finished neither. Got some lovely PP but was very restrained today. Looking forward to Rosie's crop on 2nd April too. I love having a whole day just for scrap (and, it has to be said, LOTS of chat).

Here is my photo for today - "play" - of my lovely Leo enjoying his favourite toy. Really pleased with today's effort. Isn't he cute!

My space: Her space pics

My (poor) efforts....

Retreat

Last weekend I joined Suzy, Jude and Elaine at Sarah's Cards retreat in Northwich. Great fun, the girls are such a laugh! Classes were a bit girly for me but enjoyed putting my own slant on the kits (which seemed to attract attention - not sure of the good kind - from the teachers!).


Anita and Julie were such talented scrappers, loved their work and classes. Learnt so much but it was so hectic I didn't manage to finish a single thing!








Was poorly Sunday (IBS, no change there then) after a pretty grim meal in the evening on Saturday (Elaine made sure they knew it too!), and was up at 5am, but at least it gave me a little more time to work on my Lanzarote mini book....















Suzy works on Lianne's page kit










Elaine's ribbon stash - not at all jealous!

Home sweet(?) Home

Well, we have started work on the house. ALL the rooms need to be stripped - these were some of lovely sites awaiting us when we first got the keys. The room with the tasteful orange and blue wallpaper will be my scraproom.

There are also some lovely features though - the cast iron fireplaces are stunning. The house is Edwardian, built in c. 1905. We are going to try to keep the decor in keeping and have already ordered a fab slipper bath, something I have always wanted.

We got the whole of the bedroom and bathroom stripped yesterday, but having come down with a horrid cold virus I wasn't up to anything today except resting and sleeping. Am off work tomorrow so hope I am feeling better.

Progress reports to follow!

Finally, a new place

We finally got the keys for the new house yesterday. It wasn't as much of a scene of devastation as I expected - actually, although it ALL needs stripping down, it is a lovely, lovely house. My scraproom is a lovely size and cosy as it is in the loft. Can't wait to get it done and move in.

I hope this will be our dream house and we will love it...

Pics to follow!

Snow everywhere!

We have about 6 inches of snow here in Malvern, Leo wasn't sure at first but seems to love it!

Not seen so much snow for some time. Had a very long walk home tonight as nothing could get up the hills here! Took about 40 mins but Gus came to meet me, bless him, so didn't have to walk on my own for most of the way.

Malvern looks stunning in all the snow, such a beautiful place, am glad we moved here.

First Scrapajack Crop

Went to the scrapajack crop today with Jo. Had a fab day - time flew! Jo is fab and so easy to talk to, relieved we got on so well. Looking forward to the next one now - 10th Feb.

Karen did a fab class with some yum Gin-X PP, made a wall hanging (Disney - of course) and got my CJ cover done. Will be making another wall hanging of Leo for my scraproom wall :D.

First 12x12 of the New Year

Fittingly is a LO of - what else? - my poochie Leo, having a wonderful time at Christmas.

Am so pleased with this LO and just love that paper!

Moved out!

Up at 5am this morning to meet the removers in Madeley. Finally moved out of the old house - took the camera of course to record for the scrapbook!!! Removals men thought I was bonkers taking pics of the very large lorry which appeared.

Now there is just the small task of completing our purchase and moving into our new home...

New year, new blog

Well, one new year resolution should be to update my blog! So will resolve to do so weekly (we will see if that actually happens!).

Lots and lots gone on since November.

Sold the house finally first week in January, we are due to complete next week. New house seems fine, survey showed nothing of concern so we are pressing ahead. Am already trying to decide what to do with my new scraproom - can't wait!!!!!!

Christmas was good - we had a nice time at Jackie and Bob's, very relaxing, and I was just over the cold enough to enjoy myself.

New Year's Eve was fairly hectic, not to bed until 4am (took me a week to recover). Was coerced into doing karaoke on the Playstation, which was very embarrassing (good job I had a drink or two...).

Need to get back into the scrapping. Got some lovely bargains in Lakeland to inspire me to scrap more, and going to a crop with my new friend Jo next week which I can't wait for!

Really surprised how much I am enjoying work, shame it is only a temp post really, but hopefully I will get until end March at the least. Time I started looking for something more permanent I think.

Other thing I must do right now is lose some weight. Am such a chunker after xmas! Hoping to lose a stone, but half is probably more realistic. If I can fit in my trousers i'll be happy. So, no wine in the week and no snacks. One chocolate treat a week. Wine at the weekend of course ;).

Sooooooooooo fed up :(

Well days pass, with no contact from solicitors and still no indication of a moving date. Meanwhile I am surrounded by boxes and we can't find things cos we have packed them (we think). I am going slowly insane sitting around the house with nothing to do except fill more boxes. Can't get into scrapping because I can't concentrate for more than five minutes at a time. Haven't even got out for more than one walk today because it has chucked it down all day.

Feeling downright sorry for myself :(.

Ooodles of fun and some exciting news!

Well, back from Orlando and feeling incredibly jetlagged. Have slept quite a bit which I expect was a bad idea but I am feeling ill and so tired. Oh well...at least I didn't have to go to work this morning.

Had a wonderful time in Orlando, it was really relaxing and I felt so chilled most of the time which was a nice change for me. We did loads of stuff but didn't push it too much so we weren't knackered all the time. Best bits were Mickey's Halloween Party, Mission Space and Soarin' but the highlight was the meal at Victoria and Alberts - probably the best meal I have eaten in my entire life!

On the last night of the holiday Angus proposed to me - I was expecting it but it was still really nice and I couldn't get a stupid grin off my face for hours and most of the next day as well. Ang's Mum was really chuffed and I was pleased cos I wasn't sure she would be that bothered.

Angus has two interviews to go to so we may be moving sooner rather than later which is fabulous news as well.