Book Review - The Desperate Diary of a Country Housewife by Daisy Waugh

Fantastic Fiction Review: If you've ever dreamt of a new life in the country, this highly entertaining and candid account of country living might make you think again...Fresh air, rolling fields, Cath Kidston tea towels and home-baked cake -- isn't that what Martha's new life will be? Apparently not. Having upped sticks and moved her young family from the gritty city to Paradise, she discovers things aren't quite that easy. Collapsing kitchen ceilings; a plague of slugs; coffee mornings with Stepford mums and garden warfare with the neighbours are just a few of the trials. And with her husband away working in London, Martha just can't stop thinking about the sexy builder who's meant to be turning the house into her dream home!

I found this book on the shelves of the library and it was the first by book Daisy Waugh that I had read. I have mixed feelings abut the book. I found the format of the book hard to get used to. The book is written in a diary style but is interspersed with newspaper columns written by the main character Martha.

Whilst in some ways I enjoyed the story, as a reader who her self is a country housewife and has always lived in the countryside, I found the picture it painted of country life somewhat unrealistic and rather patronising. Yes, I could relate to some parts but others were alien to the countryside I know.

Probably not an author I would read again.

Layered Card Stock Embelishments at The Works

Look at these beauties that I picked up at The Works the other day. Packs of layered card stock, glittered embelishments for just 99p. How much would they have cost if they had been branded by one of the big scrapbook manufacturers? £2? £3? More? A real bargain and I think they will be just perfect on cards or scrapbook pages. I do love a bargain.

Scrapology July Layout Challenge - M is for Masks

The July layout challenge on Scrapology has now been revealed. This months challenge is all about using masks and the design team choose to scraplift a layout by Liz Qualman.

This is my layout of my gorgeous puddy tat - Tux (Tuxie).

To create my layout I used two different shades of Cosmic Shimmer Mist - Golden Mint and Aqua Lagoon...........

......... a sheet of yellow and a sheet of black card stock ................

........ some die cut flowers ..............

......... and some scraps of patterned paper from Echo Park, October Afternoon (I think) and Fancy Pant, ribbon, a fancy metal brad, Flower Spacer, Thickers from American Crafts and some other very, very old alphabet stickers which I recoloured with ProMarkers.

I started by placing my yellow card stock in a pizza box to act as a spray studio and arranged the die cut flowers randomly on the yellow card stock to act as a mask.

I then sprayed both shades of Shimmer Mist over the yellow card stock. Obviously where the flowers were laid the mist didn't colour the card stock leaving yellow flowers on a green/blue misted background.

When putting together my layout I decided to use the previously white die cuts (now a nice green/blue colour) as embelishments on my layout and fixed them to the page with a fancy metal brad and Extra Large Flower Spacer from The Hobby House.

This was the first time I had used masks and mists and I was a little nervous about using them but I actually quite enjoyed putting this layout together and was pleased with how it turned out.

Here is Liz's original layout..............

......... and the sketch.

Do pop over to Scrapology and see all the layout and perhaps join in with the challenge too.

Hama Beads

Lara has been home from school today. Her school was closed for the day due to the teacher's strikes.

Yesterday I bought her a few more bags of Hama Beads to top up the some what depleted box we have. She spent a good part of yesterday evening and this morning creating small square pictures which she mounted in a 9 x 9 panel onto some of my Black Bazzill card stock (reinforced with mount board) to make a really cute, colourful picture which she intends hanging on her bedroom wall.

It kept her quiet for several hours and she was really thrilled with the finished picture.

Birthday Layout

Scrapping time at the moment is very limited. I'm sure it's just as busy for all parents when it gets close to the end of the school year - sports days, school trips, concerts, shows, etc, etc, etc. and the weekends are no less busy either. At the moment I don't know which way to turn.

A few weeks ago I started a layout at my monthly crop and it wasn't until yesterday that I managed to find a few minutes to finish it.

The layout was of Lara's birthday last December.

I used patterned papers from October Afternoon, Cosmo Cricket and Jenni Bowlin, Thickers from American Crafts, ric rac, Stickers from Bella Blvd, metal rimmed tag, buttons and brads.

Scrapology - June Card Challenge

The card challenge over on Scrapology has this month been set by Laura from That's Crafty.

For my card I used a Ching Chou Kuik Rubber Stamp from Sweet Pea Stamps called 'Purple Comfort'. I coloured the image using Pro Markers and shaded around the outside of the image with some chalks.

I also used some patterned paper from a very old collection from Prima, blossoms also from Prima, self adhesive pearls from The Hobby House, Bazzill Tulle and a sentiment from Craftwork Cards.

This was Laura's original card.........

and the sketch it was based on.

Please hop along to the Scrapology blog to see the rest of the team's cards and maybe have a go at creating a card based on the sketch yourself.

Scrapology June Layout Challenge - What a Hoot

This month Scrapology are hosting a Blog Candy Hop so if you have arrived at my blog either from Anita's blog or under your own steam - hello! If you arrived here under your own steam and would like to join in the Blog Hop then why not hop to Scrapology to start at the beginning.

For June the Scrapology design team chose to scrap lift a layout by Cindy Tobey and decided on stitching as our theme/technique.

I used some quite old papers from Three Bugs in a Rug's 'What a Hoot!' collection which I thought perfect for a scrapbook page about the cuddly owl I made last month. Apart from the patterned papers the only other supplies I used were some Bazzill Card Stock and some buttons. It doesn't show awfully well in the photo but I layered up images cut from the paper to add some dimension and also machine stitched around the page and edges of the photos.

Here is Cindy's original layout which uses gorgeous papers from Fancy Pant's 'Beach Babe' collection......

......and, here's the sketch if you want to play along and have a go at creating a similar layout.

If you would like to be in for a chance of winning some blog candy leave a comment below, become a follower of my blog and then hop onto Jill's super blog - A Calendar of Colours to continue the blog hop.

So what needs using up this week???

After having to think what to do with the huge amount of grated cheese I found myself with last week (thanks for the ideas - in the end I froze most of it so that the pressure to use it all up quickly wasn't so great LOL), this week I found quite a few carrots in the bottom of the fridge which whilst still edible were getting to that stage where they needed using.

So, today I made Carrot Cake with scrummy frosting on top. Yummmm. I'm not sure that the kids will eat it (the idea of carrots in a cake doesn't appeal to them) but that's fine 'cos it just means all the more for me.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.....

This post has nothing to do with lemons but please bear with me.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade ........ so ........ when your husband brings home from work a 2kg bag of grated cheese which is almost on its sell by date ............ make cheese scones.... make cheese straws ..... and .....

Yep, tonight in an attempt to use the huge bag of grated cheese currently sitting on the top shelf of the fridge Lara and I made cheese scones and cheese straws (very 1970s cocktail party).

They both came out of the oven looking very tasty and having tried them I can vouch that they do taste as good as they look.





So tomorrow what should I make? Cheese & Bacon Flan? Cheese Souffle? Macaroni Cheese? Cauliflower Cheese? All suggestions gratefully received.

Pinks and Lilacs

A couple of nights ago I stumbled upon The Ribbon Girl blog. The blog provides lots of inspiration as well as challenges, giveaways, etc. I'm really pleased I found the blog because it is overflowing with inspiration.

This month they are running a 'pinks and lilacs' colour challenge and as those colours are right up my street (I blame my daughter LOL) I thought I'd have a go.

I came up with this little birthday card using a gorgeous girlie Lili of the Valley stamped image which I coloured as usual with Promarkers.



The papers were from the Papermania Henbury Lane Collection. I also used lace from Hobbycraft, beautiful Pink Organza Roses from MeiFlowers, Heart Pins from Ebay, Self Adhesive Pearls from The Hobby House, lace and ribbon from my stash and some leaves punched with a 3 leaf punch from L.em.

Scrapology - May Card Challenge

This months card challenge on Scrapology has been set by Zoe Pierson.

For my card I using a cute Lili of the Valley 'Thomas - Letter For You' stamped image which I coloured with Promarkers.



The papers are from BasicGrey's Nook and Pantry Collection. I also used Bazzill cardstock, ribbon, flowers and brads from my stash as well as some very old letter stickers from K&Co which I recoloured with Promarkers to get the right colour.

Here is Zoe's original card......



..... and the sketch.



Please do have a look at the other Design Team cards over on Scrapology and enter the challenge.

Book Review - Mum on the Run by Fiona Gibson

Amazon Description: Laura Swan was dreading the school sports day Mum’s race - but whoever would have thought it could be quite so life-changing?

Sports Day at her children's school is a nightmare for Laura because of the event she dreads – the Mums' Race. She knows the other mothers have been in training for at least three months – even though they're trying to pretend that they haven't. Laura's vowed never to take part, but the morning of the School Sports Day she makes a fatal error and promises her daughter that if she eats her Rice Crispies, she will run. With no escape, Laura is forced to take part and as she moves towards her inevitable humiliation, she is horrified to spot her husband Jed flirting with Celeste the delectable French girl who works with him.

Determined to put up a fight and to show Jed there is still plenty of spice left in their marriage, Laura decides it is time to give her body the work out it has been desperately crying out for. But when Laura makes a special new friend at the running club that she has joined, she gets much more than she bargained for.

From buying sexy lingerie displayed alongside the gherkins at Tesco to struggling into the last playsuit in Topshop, this novel is full of humour and Laura is a true heroine for our times. A sparkling, witty novel, that fizzes off the page.

This was the first book by Fiona Gibson that I've read and I really enjoyed it. Mind you I've said that about all the books I've read recently! LOL. Fiona Gibson's style of writing really made me want to keep reading and I found it hard to put the book down.

Full of humour the book had me chuckling and also cringing as the main character Laura went from one embarrassing situation to another like making a fool of herself by spectacularly falling over in the parents race at her children's school sports day, being caught rifling through the bedroom of Celeste the beautiful woman who works with Laura's husband to try and find a hairdryer to dry her wet dress after not quite making it to the toilet in time at Celeste's birthday party, getting stuck in her stomach reducer girdle thingy and having to get husband Jed to cut her out of it with a pair of scissors.

I really liked Laura and loved how her character evolved through the book. This really was a great read and I can't wait to read more of Fiona Gibson's books.

Scrapology - V is for Vine

As promised yesterday, here is my May Design Team layout for Scrapology.



The layout for this month's scraplift challenge was created by Liberty Chance.

I used patterned papers from Bo Bunny's Peacock Lane collection, Bazzill cardstock, flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, Letter stickers from Adornit and some lace.



The Vine was handmade using this tutorial from Gabrielle P. It was incredibly easy to make using some paper flowers and some florist tape.

Here is Liberty's original layout and sketch.

Do pop over to Scrapology and see all the Design Team's layouts and perhaps have a go yourself.

Scrapology - April Card Challenge

Over on Scrapology we have a card challenge going on at the moment. As many of the Design Team are also card makers it was decided to introduce a monthly card challenge to the blog too.

Elaine from Quixotic Paperie set the challenge which is to incorporate charms into a card design, either as a focal point or to accent the design. The challenge is running until the 15th May when Elaine will choose a winner. The lucky winner of this challenge will win a £10 voucher to spend at Quixotic Paperie.

I decided to make an Easter Card using an image stamped with a Magnolia Tilda Bunny Stamp. I used Papers from Basicgrey, Flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, punched leaves, a scrap of purple trim leftover from another project, A 'Happy Easter' sentiment and of course a charm. The stamped image was coloured with Promarkers and stickled.





Do pop over to Scrapology and see all the cards created by the Design Team and maybe have a go at designing a card yourself. The closing date for entries is 15th May which gives you plenty of time to get creative.

Our new monthly scrapbook challenge was launched on Sunday too ...... but more about that later.

Book Review - Paradise Fields by Katie Fforde

Fantastic Fiction Review: It's not as if Nel hadn't enough on her plate already: organising a farmer's market in the beautiful Paradise Fields and sorting out a house full of animals are quite enough to keep her busy. But then her old friend Sir Gerald dies, and soon afterwards his son, accompanied by his glamorous but eccentric American wife, takes up residence in The Big House. Distressingly, it seems that preserving the meadow's way of life is not on their list of priorities. Nel takes up arms, determined to fight for the meadow and the market she loves. But whom can she trust? She's pretty sure her friends Sacha and Vivian are on her side. Her sensible boyfriend Simon, a real estate agent, seems to want to help, but something tells Nel there's a conflict of interests. And then there's Jake, the infuriating yet attractive stranger who kissed her under the mistletoe. Maybe she's been a celibate widow for far too long...

For my 9th chic lit challenge book I turned again to one of my favourite chic lit authors, Katie Fforde. I've never read one of her books that I haven't liked. I enjoy her style of writing which is witty and easy to read and every time I read one of her books I can imagine it as a screen play. Yes, her books have predictable 'Happy Ever After' endings but, I like that. The only disappointment with this book was that I found the ending very rushed - the main character, Nel , went from despair to happiness in one final hapter. That aside, all in all this was a thoroughly good read and highly recommended.

Hoooo Ray!

Last week whilst blog hopping I saw some amazingly cute felt owls on the Anj's Snowy Bliss blog. They were so sweet that I quickly popped along to her Etsy shop and bought a copy of the pattern. Yesterday afternoon after our Easter Egg hunt I set about making my owl and a couple of hours later 'Hoot' had been created. Needless to say he wasn't MY owl for long as he was soon adopted by Lara.



Here he is in all his glory - Really cheap and easy to make and one little girl is very pleased with him.

Book Review - A Place Called Here by Cecelia Ahern

Fantastic Fiction Review: Since Sandy Shortt's childhood schoolmate disappeared twenty years ago, Sandy has been obsessed with missing things. Finding becomes her goal - whether it's the odd sock that vanished in the washing machine, the car keys she misplaced in her rush to get to work or the graver issue of finding the people who vanish from their lives. Sandy dedicates her life to finding these missing people, offering devastated families a flicker of hope. Jack Ruttle is one of those desperate people. It's been a year since his brother, Donal vanished into thin air and the sleepless nights and frantic days aren't getting any easier. Thinking Sandy Shortt could well be the answer to his prayers, he embarks on a quest to find her. But, when Sandy goes missing too, her search ends when she stumbles upon the place - and people - she's been looking for all of her life. A world away from her loved ones and the home she ran from for so long, Sandy soon resorts to her old habit again, searching. Though this time, she is desperately trying to find her way home!

I loved this book. It was so different to other chic lits I've read - it wasn't a boy meet girl love story. It was an original and imaginative story about being lost and being found. I really liked the main character Sandy Shortt (who was very tall) and sympathised with her obsession with things that go missing. A great read from Cecilia Ahern and thoroughly recommended.

Book Review - A Valentine's Kiss by Lucie Hart

Fantastic Fiction Review: This Valentine's day Imogen is going to meet the man of her dreams. If only she can discover who he is...At a gloriously over-the-top house party in the balmy South of France, British trainee chef Imogen finds herself playing blind man's buff with a host of impossibly handsome men. And then one of them kisses her. It's the most perfect kiss she's ever experienced in her short - and frankly, to date romantically disappointing - life. Sweet, sexy and full of promise. Imogen wants more, but by the time she recovers her wits sufficiently to remove her blindfold her mystery kisser has disappeared. Could her Prince Charming be one of her fellow-chefs, Dimitri or Bastien? Both are clearly interested in her. But there's also enigmatic Latino hunk Enzo, good-times-guy DJ Cheyenne, aristocratic Amaury, and the American visitors - Archer and Everett...So many men, so little time. And Imogen can't just keep kissing men until she finds the right one...can she?

This was another debut novel mentioned on the Chick Lit Plus website and having throughly enjoyed 'Postcards from the Heart' which was also another debut novel mentioned on that website I decided to give this one a try. I'm glad I did.

The story was set in France with a culinary background to the story which made a nice change to the majority of novels which I've read lately which have tended to be set in the US or UK. The book was quick to get into and I liked the main character Imogen and like how her personality developed and grew throughout the story. Once the 'Valentine Kisser' had struck I was eager to find out who he was although the blurb on the back cover did kind of give it away.

A really good read - marks out of 10! 9/10

Scrapology - B is for Bunting

For April the Scrapology design team choose to scraplift a layout by the scrapper Sarah Youde. The layout featured bunting so that was our theme. My layout featured a family photo taken a few years ago, shortly before my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary.



I used patterned papers from Echo Park, some letter stickers from K&Co (which I recoloured), some string and to make my bunting I used the Technique Tuesday's 'message in a banner' stamps.



The spiral flowers on the layout were made from scraps of Echo Park paper. There is a tutorial for making those flowers here on the Technique Tuesday website. This was Sarah's original layout.



And this was Lynn's sketch.



Those Technique Tuesday stamps are great to use and so I went on to create another layout using them.



I used more Echo Park patterned paper, Bazzill card stock, flowers from Petaloo, buttons, American Crafts Thickers and made more of those spiral flowers.

Do pop over to Scrapology to see all the gorgeous layouts the team have created. This months layouts are all so different and real feast for the eyes.

Crop Day

Today was my monthly crop. I hadn't actually been to the crop since January due to other commitments so it was nice to go today and spend a day scrapbooking and catching up with the others. I managed to complete two layouts and part finish two more.

The first layout I actually started at Debden but it needed to be finished.



I used white Bazzill card stock, patterned papers from Scenic Route and Echo Park, ribbon, buttons, self adhesive badge from Flair Designs, a piece of a very, very, VERY old Creative Imaginations transparency and alphabet stickers. I've made several layouts with white card stock backgrounds recently and quite like the effect.



The second layout I put together was based on a layout by Gabrielle Pollacco. I used Patterned Papers from Cosmo Cricket's DeLovely collection, Bazzill card stock, ribbon, a paper doilie (thanks Anita), brads, blossoms, unbranded chipboard accent and Heidi Swapp bling. The title was cut on the Quickutz. The frilled border was cerated by pleating strips of white paper which was punched using a Martha Stewart border punch. It took 8 x 12" strips of paper to go all round the edge! After pleating an sticking the first two strips and realising how much more I had to do I did wonder whether it was worth it, but I do like the end result.