Paper Obsession

Finally... some news!

Well, we waited impatiently throughout Tuesday, slept badly that night, waited even more impatiently most of the day Wednesday... and then - when I was truly at the end of my tether - received news via email from our mortgage adviser -

Had a number chats some quite heated

However the good news is it is finally approved and has gone to survey

Will be chasing for dates

He doesn't mince words, our mortgage man.. but I had a strange sense of anti-climax - as if I didn't quite dare believe it. And we're not home and dry quite yet.. the survey of our new house will be done early next week. Assuming they don't discover anything dire, we should receive our formal mortgage offer soon after.. by next Friday perhaps?!

So now we can, just about, book the Removals company, start packing.. and start panicking. Foolishly, I reminded Gareth that Shimelle's class started on Wednesday. "And when do you think you'll have time to do that?!!" was the not-unreasonable reply. I can see his point I suppose!

However, while he was watching the Champions League, I managed to rustle up two Mothers Day cards and make a start on the title page of my new album based on Shimelle's class, 'Celebrate Life'. I'm hoping to get this page finished today (just need to add the journaling and maybe a few more sparkly bits).. then I'll be able to post a pretty picture.

Note: This post should have gone out yesterday but I was hoping to have finished my 'Celebrate Life' title page to include here. Sometimes the 'life' I'm meant to be celebrating gets right in the way of blogging and scrapping... ;o)

Something from (almost) nothing...

Well, I wouldn't call it nothing, exactly! This was my desk yesterday.. I've managed to clear it, apart from one or two irritating piles of stuff that I can't quite find a place for. I have labelled drawers and folders, sorted scraps of cardstock and patterned paper into colours and brands, and made a folder for all my clear stamps.

Tonight, and this is perhaps a little embarrassing, I've spent hour or so sorting through all my patterned papers, filing them alphabetically by brand... and writing up what I have on a spreadsheet. Did I go too far?! Yes, probably... but at least I've clapped eyes on every sheet of paper I own - and know exactly where they all are! 

Shimelle's class starts tomorrow.. and all I can say is, I'm (almost) ready!

By the way... we didn't get 'the phone call' today.. so the waiting continues... at least I'll have something else to think about.

:o)

It's a red letter day... and I'm seeing red

Butter wouldn't melt, would it, Harry?

They say moving house is one of the most stressful things you can do, right?

Today we should find out if we are going to be granted the mortgage we need to buy our prospective new house in Eastbourne. We have been waiting weeks for this decision.. it's been a nerve-racking journey of application forms, waiting, enquiries, more waiting, more enquiries... you get the picture.

Our mortgage adviser has assured us that our case will be assessed today and he will call to let us know later. An awful lot hinges on this call!

Meanwhile, the day has not started well... A week or two back I entered a challenge over at The Creative Type (I just happened to have a layout that fitted the bill) - the winner was due to be announced today. Last night I told Gareth, if I win the challenge, we'll get the mortgage and all will be fine. OK, so I didn't win. Eeek. (The winning entry was pretty darn good though I must admit.)

Then, while playing a CBeebies game on my laptop, Harry pressed some strange combination of keys which made everything onscreen turn sideways. Cue howls of frustation and impotent rage!!! When I'd regained some degree of composure I phoned Dell's Customer Care line for help... surely there's a simple solution to this? "Well, yes, but it'll cost you £46," was the reply.

Stuff that, I thought... so, craning my head sideways, I found help online - and performed a simple System Restore. And it worked!!! 

So we wait.. and hope that today will bring us good news so that we can get on with the business of planning our move. If things don't go our way.. well, I just can't contemplate that right now. Fingers and toes are firmly crossed.

Sorting out the stash

Shimelle has set a challenge for everyone taking part in her latest class, starting on Wednesday 10th March. The challenge is to admit you probably have just a little too much scrapping stash.. a few more ribbons, brads and embellishments than you could use in a lifetime.. possibly enough patterned paper to decorate your entire house, inside and out..?

Yep, that's me. I really do have way more stuff than I need (don't we all..?) - so now is the time to seriously make a dent in it. That's what Shimelle's class is all about, finding ways to make Something From (Almost) Nothing (hence the name, obviously).

My first task is to get my stash organised, which is what I've been up to today. My cardstock, papers, stickers and embellishments are in a bit of jumble, it has to be said. I have stuff downstairs in the dining room shelves.. and I have stuff upstairs in the newly converted spare room/craft room. Not ideal!!! So today I've tried to get ALL my scrapping gear upstairs and sorted into my lovely IKEA shelves.. so that by Wednesday, (a) I'll know what I own, (b) I'll know where it is, and (c) I'll have it to hand without needing to run up/downstairs to fetch it!

Here's my craft area in the dining room:

And this is my new craft room (it used to be Charlie's room, hence the little boy curtains and wallpaper border):

It's a work in progress.. but I think I'm getting there. By the time it's totally sorted we'll be moving house, no doubt, then I'll have to start all over again.. but I'll worry about that when it happens. I'll post piccies of my freshly organised craft space tomorrow.. that's a promise.

Some scrappy discoveries

I seem to have been glued to the blogs for the last few days and have created nothing new.. shame on me! However, my boys have both created some lovely art - and seem to be developing very different styles! Charlie likes to put hand-prints on everything, while Harry just loves to make train tracks in paint.

Despite my lack of creativity this week, I have managed to bring my Google Reader under control (now down to a mere 23 subscriptions)... and have also discovered some interesting blogs and sites...

A website called ScrapScene - 'the who's who of scrapbooking' - am I the only scrapper who didn't know about this? It contains all sorts of scrapbooking news, along with design team calls and useful articles. Definitely worth a look.

Over at Get It Scrapped!, Debbie Hodge is running a free class called 'Scrap "Your" Story'. It's a series of 11 weekly lessons, posted each Tuesday, designed to get you scrapping about yourself. The first one, entitled 'Yourself: Who are you right now', is on the website now. It looks pretty detailed, and I doubt I'll commit to it, but could be useful if you've been meaning to scrap about yourself but keep putting it off.

From a link on the Gauche Alchemy blog, I discovered the Submissions page for Scrapbook Trends, Cards, Bead Trends and Simply Handmade magazines. I only have one copy of ST (the December '09 issue) but it's a fantastic source of inspiration, the layouts are just gorgeous.. and SO beautifully photographed. It would be a dream to be published in those hallowed pages.. so I thought why not have a go?

Well, you don't get anywhere if you don't try, right?!

I could go on, but it's getting hard to type with a little one on my lap..

Oh, just one more thing - I did sign up to Shimelle's new class 'Something for (Almost) Nothing' - so if you have too, see you in class! ;o)

And they call it... Muzzy Love

First day of March and Spring has sprung! Today was so glorious, after all the dismal weather on the weekend, that I couldn't help grinning all the way to Charlie's nursery this morning. I just hope it lasts.. for a while at least.

Here's a layout I did yesterday..

• Harry at six days old, just after a feed and giving me a beautiful gummy (ok, windy) grin.

• Evidence of the origin of his all-consuming obsession with muslin cloths (which he now calls muzzies).

He was a very sicky baby for the first few weeks so I constantly wore a muslin over my shoulder to soak up the inevitable post-feed bloops. Ever since, he has wanted a muzzy with him pretty much all the time. Thankfully he's not too fussy which one he has (and we do have LOTS of them).. although recently he has started insisting on a muzzy with a label.. and the blue ones are definitely his favourites.

I used my brand-new set of 'Red Tag Sale' alpha dies on the Cuttlebug to cut these letters out of Bazzill card and blue felt.. aren't they yummy! [..and the die set was only £20 on eBay..bargain!]

The papers and duck stamps are October Afternoon 'Ducks in a Row' (of course). 

I am currently debating whether to sign up for Shimelle's new class, 'Something for (Almost) Nothing'.. it's all about making the most of your stash, putting it to use in different ways and learning some new techniques along the way. It starts on 10th March and runs til the end of the month.

I just can't resist a Shimelle class and I'm sure I will end up joining in.. my only problem is that it overlaps with Dina Wakley's Art Journaling 101 online class, which runs from 22nd March to 16th April . I signed up for this a few months back (when it was an archived class) but didn't really get very far. Now she's running it again live, so to speak - so it's my chance to have another go - and maybe succeed this time (I hope)!