Phew!

Well, before anyone else says it, I know it's been a while since my last post! Things have just been really busy, I've been, here, there, and everywhere, and haven't really caught up with myself yet. So this will be a mammoth post and I hope that you will stick with it until the end.

Megan got on well in Stoke for her Uni taster session. I was too ill to drive up with her, so I went seperately the next day. I met up with Jo and Lesley, two blogging buddies, who I'd never seen before, but had met through the Graphicus Guild, and continued chatting to here in Blogland. We had a great time eating cake, swapping crafting tips, wandering around one of Jo's local craft shops, and having lunch together. I loved meeting you both, and I hope we can do it again. I then drove to Stoke to meet up with Megan, and had the night with her, before driving up to Darlington the following day to see my Dad on his birthday. I then came home, having driven 600 miles in three days, ugh! I suffer from sciatica, aggravated by driving, so although it was broken up a bit each day, it was 4 hours one day, 4 hours the next, and five hours the next, so it felt pretty constant.

The following week, very sadly, it was my friend's funeral. We all went as a family, as we all knew her very well. The church was packed, and it was an extremely moving service. My two were very affected, and they appreciate me a bit more now I think. I have another close friend who is suffering from Leukaemia, and I am making every effort to keep in touch now, as time goes so quickly, and regrets last a long time.

I went to Stamperama at Stevenage at the weekend, and bought way too much stuff! I got some Martha Stewart punches that I really wanted, and some Mcgill flower punches. I also bought some fab B Line Design stamps, which I really want to play with. I bought some clear Ticket sentiment stamps which I have seen used a lot on other people's cards , these ones are by Katie Pertiet and are really useful. I got some Nesties, some Whiff of Joy stamps, some dinky little canvases, Heidi Swapp clear stamps, Basic Grey clear stamps, Little Claire stamps, Quic Kutz embossing folder and frames etc., etc.! My justification is that I can't go to the shows at Harrogate or Doncaster this year as I'm too busy, so this was a one time blow out!

I saw Kay Carley and Bev Rochester at the show, and got to speak to them both. It was a pleasure to see both of them, as they recalled my saying on their blogs that I would go along to say Hi. How nice they both were. Bev was also recovering from a migraine, so it must have been hard for her to be sociable, and demo too, after being ill.

I have received two blog awards this week, don't I feel guilty for not blogging? The first is from Lynne K and it is the Circle of Friends award.

Thank you so much Lynne for awarding this to me, you are a great blog friend. I would like to forward this award to

1. Anne E
2. Penni
3. lilackat
4. Enfys
5. Lynne

I know that I am sending it back to Lynne, but she deserves it, so I hope that I can be allowed that indulgence.

The second award is The Kreativ Blogger Award which I have received from Lilackat again, I feel guilty as I haven't been blogging that much lately, but will try to do better!

Here are the instructions to accept this award

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog

3. Link the person who nominated you for this award

4. Name seven things about yourself that people might find interesting

5. Nominate seven Kreativ Bloggers

6. Post links to the seven blogs you nominate

7. Leave comments on all seven blogs letting them know you nominated them

I have already thanked Lilackat on her blog, but thank you again, it's such a thrill that someone thinks that I am worthy of a nomination like this. I can currently only nominate six people as Blogger is telling me that I am not following anyone, so I can't check out the html on nominee number seven until everything is back to normal. So here are the six:

1. Anne
2. Rowena
3. Judy
4. Sarita
5. Kat
6. Rach
7. Paula
Blogger has given me my list of who I follow back now!

These bloggers push the envelope a bit, and don't conform to the norm, therefore I believe they earn the title Kreativ Bloggers.

The seven facts about myself...

1. I speak French and Italian passably and I only took my GCSE Italian about four years ago getting an A*

2. I have always been a crafter, from knitting and cross stitch, to sewing, card making, and jewellery making. I like to draw and paint, but is it art? I'm not sure!

3. I have green eyes

4. I am tongue tied, but it does not affect my speech, so it was never operated on.

5. I hate housework

6. My craft room is a mess (you can't even see the floor)

7. My favourite colour is aubergine

So there you go, seven things about me!

I'm also posting a few cards today, just to show you that I have been crafting. They are a mixed bunch, using up old stash, new punches, and those ticket stamps I mentioned earlier. I have used a couple of Tilda stamps, and some Digital images from Mo's Digital Pencil Too. Hope you like!