St. Patrick's Day Parade....

We chose not to go into the city centre for the parade yesterday - there are just too many people, to hard to see and to get a decent vantage point you have to wait for hours in the same spot.  Not something we can easily do with our two small ones....

Instead we went to Swords, a town near the airport and where my DH's offices are.  We were able to see the parade just outside the door of the office and leave our bags locked in the foyer and not worry about them.  The little ones got to sit on the kerb and got a front row seat for the whole parade.  (Apart from mommy standing in front of them with her camera!)

Before we left I snapped a picture of my DD's friends all dressed up for their day out yesterday - remember it was not warm and sunny....

 The parade passed over an hour and we went to have some lunch and then off to see my DH play in his traditional irish band.  We only lasted about an hour as the little one was just too grumpy and upset that she could not run around the pub on such a busy day so it was home to bed for us and we left DH to play.

 So that's how we do it here in Ireland, no pinching, no green beer (that I could find), just a family day out and a bit of fun for all.

St. Patricks Day - Not St. Patties, or St. Patty's Day!!

It's a really big bug bear of mine when the crafty girls in America call our National day, St. Patty's Day OMG where did it come from, cause you would never in a million years ever hear anyone here calling it that.  While I am on the subject also (SORRY!) where did the "Pinch" thing come from?  That one is pure American and not a bit Irish.  Rant over!

A few weeks ago I made batches of St. Patrick's day cards for my mum and I to send to friends and family in America and Australia.

Here are the ones that I made for myself to send out - using my heart shaped punch, scraps of green cardstock and a download that I found free on the web.

 Terrible photo - but I was just about to put them in the post and had to rush to photograph them before I posted them....  There is a little gem in the middle of the shamrock to give it a bit of bling!

I made a batch for my mum too - another freebie image this time from Waltzing Mouse stamps. Here is a snippit of the card - coloured with promarkers and the full image too.

Wishing you all a very Happy St. Patrick's Day - we all have the day off tomorrow, there will be parades and family fun all around Ireland, we plan to see a local parade and then my DH is off to play in his traditional Irish band for the afternoon and we will go for a quick listen then take the girls home and leave him to play into the evening with his friends.

Life is funny...

A few months ago I made a card, I put the card on my blog and for some reason also put the card on my gallery in Two Peas in a Bucket.  The next morning I got an email from a girl in Australia, and some notifications of comments on the card.  Eagerly I opened the comments and they were kinda snippy, and this girl was a bit annoyed with me as she thought that our cards were similar (they were!) and hers was in the gallery ages, and if I had copied it, then why didn't I credit her.  Well I looked at the cards and, Yes!, they were similar, and I had seen one of the things that she had made as it had been featured in the gallery and it was a stunning midnight blue and navy floral Christmas wreath.  Absolutely STUNNING, and it was from that wreath that I took my inspiration and the card came from there.

Anyway - I took time to consider my reply to this lady, I picked my words and within moments of sending the email I got a reply....  My email had explained that I had not seen her card, just her wreath and was blown away by how beautiful it was.  She replied "Thank  You" and if I did lift her idea, it's nice to credit - and our emails went back and forth for a day or so, each time talking a little bit more about our scrapping, crafts, photography and family. 

We outgrew Two Peas and moved to emails and Facebook, where we now talk on the live chat and exchange emails regularly.  Anyhoo - my point is that the old adage "When you get given Lemons, make lemonade!" comes to mind. 

Kathy is now a really good friend, and our lives are quite similar.  She has been rocked with life changing news and is trying to come back from it, but I know she is strong and can take what has been thrown at her.  So life is funny - from snippy email to good friend, and a really good type of happy.

Right - It's ages since I shared some crafty stuff.  I have been working on stuff, 35 cards for a 50th Wedding Anniversary party, and a bunch of St. Patrick's Day cards, 4 for my mum to give family and 8 for me to give to friends and family who are far away.  I will share the St. Patricks Day Cards nearer the day, but here are the cards that I made for my friend Sinead, she is arranging a party for her mum and dad.

Simple Black and White cards, I had given 3 samples to pick from and this was the one they selected.  It was an easy card to replicate and gave my new Hero Arts flourish stamp (a gift from my friend Elaine!! Many thanks hon!!) a really good first use.

Editing and editing photos at the moment....  finally up to date and need to burn some DVD's but the IDVD on my Mac is playing silly beggers...  Need help from a Mac Master, anyone know any?

Have a good day all.  Small bean having her surgery on Friday hopefully (she has a cough and not on form so hopefully she will be well enough).  Teenager going to see Justin Beiber tonight the excitement is HUGE!  Her friend met Willow Smith (Will Smith's daughter) choreographer in town and he is going to take them backstage!!  Hope this works out cause there will be 2 very disappointed teens if it goes wrong.....

Bye!

Bogged down with "stuff"

Truely I cannot tell you what I have been doing - really the weeks fly by and the days all melt into one big blob of mommydom.  What I can tell you is that I:

• rubbed snotty noses
• dispensed spoonfulls of Capol and Nurophen
• did mountains of laundry
• worked at my proper job
• went away for the weekend
• crafted a little but not stuff that I'm too proud of
• tried to keep house tidy
• brought small girls to appointments
• kissed boo boo's
• negotiated many truces between the warring factions....
• & tried to sleep but my back is not good at moment so my bed is not my friend

Really time is something that I find seems to fly by - whizzing past and I don't feel like I am living in the moment, rather the days are being run and managed by others and not the ones that should be doing it.  I run on busy 90% of the time and sometimes my body and mind need time to stop and smell the flowers.  The last few days have been me reaching for the last of my reserves and gosh I feel so low - tired, worn out and impatient.  So weekend here I come and OMG I am going to try and repair and try and do something that might renew by flagging spirit.

Right - whinging over....

I had great fun taking photos of Miss S - wow she has the most expressive face and magical eyes.  She is a dream to photograph and these are a few of the ones from the session.  Her brother Mr W was a charmer and I will share him soon.

A couple of weeks ago I photographed an 11 week old baby Miss C - her photos turned out so lovely, I will share one of them with you but will show more soon....

Crafty stuff being done too - some St. Patrick's Day cards and some 50th Wedding Anniversary cards that I made for a frined, so have been busy but will share soon.

Nite all - and Audrey, I told you I was blogging!!!

Dolly Rage....

Our small bean has been in strange mood since she was so very stick.  She has been so angry, so loud, screaming and shouting more than she normally does (and that's a lot!).  Her anger is mostly vented towards us but it's so funny to see her shouting at her dollies to!

These photos were taken on Tuesday when she spent about half an hour trying to put a nappy on her dolly.  Can you see the packets of baby wipes she had taken out and few minutes later she had emptied out the whole packet to use on her dolly.

I just wanted to share with you a link to a lovely girl in the USA that sells a monthly card kit - this kit lands on my door every month and I just love the cards.  Sometimes I don't get the chance to make a card and with this kit I now have a stock of cards that I can choose from and now have something for every occasion.  If you like getting packages of love in the post - this is just for you.  I think that it costs around €15.00 every month (postage! Yuck!).... but sooooo worth it!

Here is the link - http://mynextthirtyyears.com/my-monthly-crazy-for-cards-kit-club

This is a little selection of the type of cards that you get in kit form - perfect for sitting on the couch and making while watching a movie!


Go on girls - Give Shanna a go, you will love the cards!!!

Right - more real stuff soon, it's sitting on my desk waiting for mojo to return and finish it!  Have a date with a lovely 3 month old baby to take some photos on Saturday, TYPICAL Man United are playing and I have limited time with the family, but have to get back to my family... Need more hours in the day!!!

Ta M

Small things...

We were invited to a wedding in October - a couple who work with my DH.  During the day I took lots of photos and gave them a disc of all the good ones from the day.  Being a bit of a squirrell, I kept the invite out in my office on my craft table and it has sat there looking up at me for months -  waiting till I had time to do something with it. 

At the same time my oldest DD got fed up with the display of photos that I had put up in her bedroom and evicted the photos and frames out of her bedroom to the office, and they ended up on my craft desk too!  So yesterday afternoon I had a spare half hour when small bean was at playschool and Shannon was busy playing so I played too!  I used some older Pink Paislee papers and then just forced myself to use the wedding people decal from the invite, the ribbon and then I cut off the titles and used them too. 

The gift is now wrapped and ready for DH to bring to work with him tomorrow.  The bride and groom didnt ask for this but I think they might like it. 

Stalking Mr Postie at moment for the few new bits I have bought - hate having to wait!

An update on small bean's health.... She is going for surgery on the 11th March, she is getting her stomach peg inserted and hopefully life will improve for us all then.

Ta Michelle

Sunshine - my only sunshine....

I created this LO a few weeks ago, it has sat in my kitchen waiting to be photographed for a day that the sun shone so I could pick up the details of the LO.  The photos were taken from our rental car on the evening that we arrived in Boston last summer.  The sun was low in the sky and it was like a huge fireball and I was delighted with the photo - don't think they will win any competitions, but I just like them.

So - I was browsing Two Peas in a Bucket and saw a lovely LO using Crate Paper Restoration line (which I had bought and just loved!!).  The LO was stunning and I forgot to  book mark it for myself but this LO came out of the inspiration, so it's kind-of a scrap lift.

This LO is not my normal style - it's far more grungy and distressed.  Sometimes it's nice to work outside  your comfort zone, and making something different.  These papers are just fab and I think the colours are more autumnal and muted than I would normally use.

I have not bought any glimmer mists paints, but I think I might have to just branch out and buy a few now as they give lovely texture to the LO's.

Last Friday we had a girls crop night and I started something that I am excited about - it's more pink and ruffles, but it's sitting on my desk waiting for a the arrival of a cutting Die that I just bought and when it arrives I will be excited to finish it.

Just photographed the items for my next blog entry so I am an organised woman today!  Yah - love the feeling, even if it only lasts 1 day!!!

Bye All.......