Missing...

I've been missing, my blog has been missing a few entries, my days have been missing a few hours and my weeks have been missing a day or so. In general I am on the look out for a few spare hours each day! Let me know if you find any :)

I haven't done anything really exciting that has been taking up all my time, just working, sleeping and eating and trying to fit in some crafting but the working seems to have taken over slightly. I had to make the difficult decision to leave some of my creative teams as work is just so busy (and it should really come before my hobby in my priority list) and looks like it will be as busy for a little while yet.

I have managed to do some crafting and of course the spending and buying has continued :) so I have some bit and pieces to share

Sweet Shoppe Designs

Kay Miller Designs

The LilyPad/Kate Hadfield

Eva Kipler Designs

Funky Playground Designs

Well, I'm off to my bed now in preparation for some serious Christmas shopping tomorrow!

Those Calendars...

A few people have asked which digital kits we used to make our magnetic advent calendars that I shared a few days ago.

The snowman calendar was made using Little Joys, by Zoe Pearn it is available from Sweet Shoppe Designs

The red and green calendar was made using Homespun Holidays and GingerFellas from Nitwit Collections and Cinnamon Sticks, by Melissa Bennet from Sweet Shoppe Designs. I hope this information helps!!

Magazines...

The people at Papercrafts magazine have done it again and they just released another fantastic special edition that I *need* to buy, PaperCrafts Gourmet is full of projects based on the theme of food - and who doesn't like food??? Anyway, the lovely people over there at PaperCrafts are kindly sharing some delicious recipes with bloggers around the world

Cheesy Garlic Drop Biscuits
Alisa Bangerter
This is a perfect recipe to pull out if you are short on time because there is no rolling or cutting. The cheese and garlic add extra kick to a plain biscuit, and kids love them. They are the perfect accompaniment to serve with soups or stews, and are great served with a salad.

INGREDIENTS
2 c. flour
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. butter or margarine
1 1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese
1 1/4 c. milk
Chives (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Mix together dry ingredients. Cut in butter with pastry cutter until mixture is fine. Add cheese and mix well. Add milk and stir until just moistened. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Sprinkle top with chopped dried or fresh chives if desired. Bake at 400 degrees for approx. 15 minutes.

Enjoy Halloween Tag
Designer: Alisa Bangerter
SUPPLIES: Cardstock: (ivory) Dye ink: (Black) Stewart Superior Corp.; (Summer Sun) Stampin’ Up! Specialty ink: (Mango Lemonade color wash) Stewart Superior Corp. Color medium: (black chalk) Craf-T Products Accents: (black brads) Making Memories; (chipboard bat, moon) Melissa Frances Fibers: (black striped ribbon) Pebbles Inc. Font: (Black Family) www.dafont.com Adhesive: (foam tape) Finished size: 3" x 4 1/2"

1 Make tag from cardstock. 2 Crumple tag and smooth out. Spray edges with color wash; let dry. Apply chalk. 3 Ink chipboard moon; let dry. Chalk edges and adhere. 4 Ink chipboard bat; let dry. Adhere with foam tape. 5 Print sentiment on cardstock; trim and tear edges. Chalk edges and adhere with foam tape. Attach brads. Attach ribbon with brad.

Poor, neglected blog ...

Anyone left visiting this poor, abandoned blog will probably be thinking I have run away to join the circus. We just seem to have been really busy. Not doing a lot, but doing enough for me to just run out of time for blogging. However, a few of my friends have given me a nudge (see, sarcasm does work!!) and I am here again.

It's been half term holidays for us this week and my Mam took the week off too so we've been out and about having a few adventures. On Monday we went down to Middlesbrough, to where I go for a monthly crop for a lovely day doing my friend Gail Milburn's 'glue and stick' class. We had a really lovely day making advent calendars using a baking sheet and magnets. Everyone used the same design and just made them their own with the papers and embellishments. Mam made a snowman themed calendar in pink and blue colours and I made a more traditional red and green coloured one. They are both hybrid calendars, all the papers except one piece of patterned paper were printed from digital kits.

Yesterday we went for a day out to the Yorkshire Dales. We visited Richmond, Leyburn and Hawes and spent a rather scrummy half hour tasting cheese at the Wensleydale cheese factory. Of course we had to bring some home too and it is simply delicious :) The weather was sooooooooooo cold though, at 2.30 in the afternoon it was only 2 degrees!! These photographs don't really show how cold it was - I should have taken a picture of my blue hands and rudolph red nose!!

Tomorrow we are going out again, down the coast for a walk, a bit of a poke around some shops and fish and chips beside the sea - I shall wear my thermals.

I have managed to do some crafting in between these adventures, hopefully I shall manage some more at the weekend - I am feeling very inspired now to do all sorts of Christmas crafts :)

Blowing my own trumpet ...

Because if you can't toot your own horn on your own blog then there is something seriously wrong. I have two tootity toots today. On Saturday I flicked through the new Scrapbook Inspirations magazine whilst I was in The Scrapbook Shop and I have a layout published in there which made me happy.

Today my smile grew even bigger as the postman delivered a package from America with a copy of Papercrafts Magazine Card Creations 6 and I have a card published in there too. It's a fab magazine, I've only flicked through it but if you make cards then you really must by a copy, it seems to be jam packed with great cards, scrummy eye candy :)

Also, I spent a while playingwith paper over the weekend

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A spot of shopping ...

I have a lovely friend, Joanne, who is a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. She's currently sitting in her house packing up an enormous order for me and some other friends from the stampin up catalogue that I ordered. Some stamps, colours and a load of new punches, including the new scallop edge punch.

I've already got the Fiskars threading water scalloped edge punch but I wanted one without the holes too. I can't wait! Also, to go with all my lovely new stampin up stash I went to the crop at The Scrapbook Shop yesterday and bought lots of lovely new May Arts ribbons, Gill makes the nicest ribbon bunches and I just couldn't resist them :)

I've been busy with school stuff and attempting to get my printer fixed and working again, it's very temperamental and seems to choose days when it doesn't want to do any work - usually when I *NEED* to print something out, but I've still managed to make a few cards and crafty things.

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Now I'm off to finish some projects before I go into town for a shopping trip with my Mam, it was payday on Friday so now we're beginning to think of Christmas parcels and gifts :)

Andrea xxx

Catching Up ...

So, here I am catching up - again!!

I have been poorly with a flu type virus. Oh my goodness, I knew I was poorly when I had no energy for either making cards or online shopping!

These cards are some of what I have been up to during the last few weeks.

I have been tagged by Gloria this week too.

1.) Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

2.) Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3.) Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4.) Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 facts about me~

1. I have blue eyes that change to turquoise in the summer sun.

2. I have a degree in art, textiles and technology - ha! electronics and metal work - like I've used these skills in my life :lol:

3. I love to wear stripes

4. I am a hopeless cook - if I have to cook then I make sandwiches :lol:

5. My favourite country to visit is Italy - sun, sea and ermmm..... pizza!!

6. I am incredibly shy

7. It's taken me all week to get this far, my brain is boggled thinking of 6 so number 7 has been abandoned!

I tag:

Annette

Clare

Cindy

Kate

Jacque

and anyone else who reads this and wants a challenge :)