I'm back!!!

Hi everyone,

I'm back!!!!

The man at BT finally found the button to press,

to get us back online!!HeeHee!!

THANK YOU for all your lovely messages I found,

when I finally was able to log on yesterday!

You are all so kind.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

The removal men came at 8am on the Monday and 

7.30am on Tuesday 15th, the completion day!!

I was soooo tired!! Two mornings, getting up at 05.30!!

They left just after 8am.

We finally left at 9.45am with a fully loaded car!!

We took a very steady drive up, which took 3 hours 10 minutes.

We didn't stop and arrived just before 1pm. We then had to wait for the

money to work it's way up the chain.

We finally got the keys at 3.45pm!!

It was cold, drizzly rain while we were waiting but stopped whilst

they brought our stuff in the house.

The lady had left her washing machine in situ!!! So with a bit of help

from the removal men, they disconnected it and took it out.

I called her agent and asked him to get her to arrange her removal men,

to come and pick it up!!

They did the next day.

Our removal men were brilliant and went far beyond what they were there for!!

I don't think the house or garden had been touched since our offer was accepted!!

The grass is so long, it will have to be strimmed before trying to

cut it with a mower!!

I vacuumed the lounge and hall and my Dyson was filled with stuff!! Yuk!

I had to empty it so I could clean the rest of the rooms!

I washed everything down and vacuumed the whole house before we left.

A few days before that, I even weeded the garden!!

There is a lot more to do here than we first thought.

One of the toilets flush doesn't work properly.

Also the shower in the en-suite has got a problem and will need replacing.

Both of the radiators in the bathrooms are rusty and need replacing!

We will probably replace them with heated towel rails.

The list is too long and I don't want to bore you!LOL!!

We went out and bought new lighting today and ordered more online.

I have never seen a house where the lounge, dining room,

hall and 2 of the bedrooms, all had the same

awful, heavily textured paper on the walls!! Yuk!!

Homebase had a wallpaper steamer half price today, so we bought one!!

But we are in, Christmas tree is up and we had a lovely Christmas Day

with a friend that joined us, as he lives close by.

He was amazed how much we had done!!

On the plus side..... the rooms are much bigger than we remembered!!

The lounge is huge and the bedrooms too!!

Now onto my latest card, for the last Winter Wonderland challenge for 2015.

You have until the 7th January to get your cards in,

to be in with a chance of winning one of the prizes.

The theme is Bingo and I am hosting this challenge,

so all the details are to be found here.

I used my favourite Lili Of The Valley snowman stamp!

Coloured with Distress Inks and added plenty of Stickles Star Dust.

It came with the text stamp too.

The frame was the waste from another card

and edged with Sakura Star Dust Coloured Pens.

I had a quick peek at the WW blog and the DT cards are stunning as always!

Do find the time to check them out for some inspiration.

I would like to wish all my followers and visitors

A VERY HAPPY 2016

I hope you stop by next year and leave me your lovely messages!!

I do so love to read them.

Hugs,

Carolxxxx

YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

WE'VE DONE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

We managed to exchange contracts today!!

 

 

It started at just after 9am,

but by lunchtime, we hadn't got

any further than the second person

from the bottom!!

 

The solicitor was not answering her

emails from Emma, our solicitor!!

 

By 2pm, Emma was pulling her hair out,

as there are 6 levels in the chain.

We were going through so many
different emotions.
Anger, worry and frustration!

 

By around 2.45pm I had a call from Emma,

telling me we had finally exchanged!!

 

What a relief!!

We are now moving on Tuesday next week.

 

Because it's about 4 hours travelling time, the removal

company are coming at 8am Monday morning.

They will load the truck with all of our things,

other than our bed, fridge and TV!

 

They will then come back Tuesday morning at 8am,

load our bed etc onto the truck and off we go.

 

They will unload as much as they can, depending

on the light and what time they get there.

 

They will sleep in the truck overnight, all 3 of them!

They will travel back to East Grinstead

on Wednesday morning.

 

One of our friends will meet us at the house.

He is going to help us unpack etc.

 

I am absolutely shattered!

The stress over the last 6 months and the lack

of sleep for the last week has caught up with me.

I am going to have the best sleep ever tonight!!

 

Hubby is already snoring his head off!!

I think I will join him now.

 

I would like to give a massive

THANK YOU

to all my lovely followers, who left me

the most wonderful and caring messages.

 

I feel so lucky to have you as friends.

 

Every time I read them, they picked me up and

even sometimes brought a tear to my eyes.

 

You are all so very kind.

 

Sending you all a massive HUG!

 

Carolxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



And Now!!!!!!

It's 6 months today, since we accepted our first full asking price

on our bungalow!!

And we are still here!!

 

Photos of now as promised!!

 

All the work tops have been taken off the walls, along

with the storage on the walls above the desk.

Very depressing! 

The wall units are now on the floor, with a section of worktop

balanced on the top of them. Just so we can use the computer.

 

 

Desk top leaning against the wall, along with the under desk shelving.

Dollshouse in bubble wrap.

Boxes full of stash!

 

 

Boxes of paper gone! Packed in crates! 

 

How I hate mess and this is really getting to me!

The joy of being a 'Virgo'!!

The whole house is just piles of boxes and very claustrophobic.

 

We are hoping to exchange contracts today but we don't

think it's going to happen.

They did try last Friday but the bottom of the chain

wasn't ready.

 

All the rest of us are sitting surrounded by boxes, waiting for

the solicitors at the bottom to get on with the job!!!! (SCREAM!!)

 

I think the problem is, that you have no control over what is happening.

Other people are dealing with it and you cannot speak to them and with

some of them, you are just a piece of paper in a file!!!

 

We are very lucky with our solicitor, as she just gets on with things

and is always there to speak to.

She is absolutely brilliant and keeps us informed as to what is going on.

She also has a great sence of humour to ease the stress.

All in all she is the best!!

Even the agent we are buying through says it too.

 

Shame the others are not as efficient!

 

Hope to have good news soon.

Hugs,

Carolxxxx

My Craftroom Before!!

First I must welcome Lia, my new follower.

Thank you for taking the time to join me,

and I hope you enjoy what you see.

Warning........Photo Overload!!!!!

This was my craft room before I had to pack it all away, ready for the move!

First my Dollshouse corner and hubby's computer space!!

Pictures below ----

Printer/scanner/copier, Joy A4 Die machine. (clock drying on top of machine!)

Behind machine, box of masks and embossing folders, box of dies.

Underneath, pink box full of boxes of embossing powders,

next to it, A4 boxes of paper pads, 2 rows deep.

Next to boxes, Watercolour paper pads.

On the floor, more papers and card

In corner , too much to list!!

Includes assorted card blanks in use and huge boxes of Christmas stuff

amongst other papers pads.

On the wall, drawers full of Distress Inks, Stazon Inks, Pigment Inks,

Alcohol ink bottles, flowers, bling, papers, rubber stamps,

acrylic blocks and assorted other bits of craft stash!!

Little heart drawers containing Stickles, Card Candy,

Die cut Leaves and flowers.

Files under desk contain rubber stamps filed in type/company

on acetate in pockets.

Box under contains made cards.

Top of desk, water colour pens, mug with Sakura Stardust pens.

Glues and tools.

Drawers contain Alcohol pens, ribbons, lace, bling and templates.

Underneath, Heart drawers hold flowers.

Other boxes have clay and moulds and made clay items

Too much here to list!! Blue box has box blanks and other blanks too!!

Plastic boxes below and in next picture below

all colour coded papers in alphabetical order!!

Boxes of assorted items including clock mechanisms

and punches. Drawers of spare glue and tapes.

3boxes of Gilding Flakes, next to boxes of paper pads.

Drawers full of embellishments.

Drawers of Vellum, Acetate, cards that I made for Magazine tutorials.

Spare pens, H2O's and Mica Sprays.

  Some of my dies!!

Masks and Embossing Folders

Tomorrow I will show just a couple of pictures of

how my room looks now!!!

It's very sad!

Hope you are not too bored.

 Thanks for visiting and love reading your messages.

Hugs,

Carolxxxx

The Holly And The Ivy!

Hi everyone,

Today is the first day of the Winter Wonderland Challenge,

with the Snowflake Team.

 

The theme this week is

Holly and/or Ivy.

 

I chose to use an old Lilly Of The Valley stamp.

Coloured with Distress Inks and added Stickles

and Sakura Star Dust Pens.

 

 

Our Sponsor for this week is Di's Digi Designs

and the generous prize is

a 12$ Voucher!

 

 

Don't forget you have to be in it to win it!!

 

Pop over to Winter Wonderland blog, for some amazing

inspiration from our talented Snowflake Teamies.

 

I will enjoy, as always, visiting your blogs

and leaving you a message.

 

Hugs,

 

Carolxxxx

A Trio of Trees.

I bought these MDF trees at Ally Pally from Anna-Marie Designs.

 

I painted them with Paper Artsy Antartica Chalk Paint from The Craft Barn.

Added some Crackle Glaze and then a coat of

Paper Artsy Snowflake Chalk Paint.

 

I stuck the trees into the base and there they sat, unfinished

on my desk for a few weeks.

I was waiting for some inspiration as how I

wanted to decorate them.

 

A friend saw them and asked how much I was selling them for and

was quite upset when I said they were for us!!

 

She doesn't know yet, but I have made one for her too, as a pressie!

 

 

You can't actually see from the photos, but I built up the base

with Plaster Of Paris fabric.

It's a bit like what they use for broken limbs.

It was very messy!!

 

The Reindeer is a Tando one, also from The Craft Barn.

I added the die cut swirls onto him.

 

I loved making this, even though it was very messy!!

 

I hope to have some exciting news next week!

So watch this space!!

Thanks for popping by and leaving me such lovely messages.

 

Big hugs,

 

Carol xxxx

1, 2, 3, GO!!!!

Today is the first day of the new challenge at

Winter Wonderland.

It's The Snowflakes team this week.

 

I have cheated a bit, as I have used a precoloured image.

 

Both the image and the backing paper, are from our generous sponsor,

The Paper Shelter.

 

 

 The theme is 1, 2, 3, which translates to:

1 image, 2 papers and 3 embellishments.

 

The prize for the winner is $15 Gift Certificate.

 

The set I used is called For Santa and is available

in a outline Digi too.

 

 The photo is not very good, as it was taken on a dark rainy day.

Is it ever going to stop raining!!

 

 

I decoupaged the image, adding Stickles and Glossy Accents to the

baubles and star on the tree. Also Glossy Accents on the glass.

 

For the snow I used The American Snow Writer and

sprinkled Angel Dust glitter on it.

 

I found a tool I bought about 20 years ago,

that was when I was doing cross stitch....a lot!!

It was still in it's unopened pack.

 

You might remember, many years ago they stopped people

taking scissors on planes. So they got around this, by making

this very pretty metal circle that had a blade inside.

You could put it on a leather rope and wear it as a necklace.

 

They now sell them as a paper distressing tool and are

now made from plastic.

So my brass one is a bit posh!!

 

I had forgotten that I had it. So it's now out on my desk

and I used it on the edge of the papers.

 

So now......1,2,3...... GO!!!!

And get your mojo working, for a chance to win a brilliant prize.

 

Our Snowflakes Teamies have posted their adorable cards

on our blog here.

So pop over for some amazing inspiration.

 

Good Luck and remember.........Christmas cards only accepted.

I am looking forward to visiting your blogs to see your creations.

 

Thanks for stopping by and leaving your lovely messages.

I love reading them.

 

Hugs,

 

Carol xxxx

NOT.....Christmas!!

I found this commission card in 'Draft'!

 

I do love Fuchsias and was also a favourite for this

lady's Daughter.

 

I can't remember whose stamp it is!

It's a big clear stamp and could be a Woodware one!

It's an age thing!!Lol!

 

 

I coloured it with Distress Inks on Langton Paper.

I decoupaged some of the petals and leaves too.

 

 

I have found quite a few things in Draft, so I may even post

 a few more next week!

 

I am doing a Charity Christmas Coffee Morning tomorrow.

It's at our East Grinstead Sports Club, which is the base for our famous

Hockey World Champions!!

 

Thanks for visiting and leaving me your fab comments.

It's nice to know who pops in!

Then I can pop into see you too.

 

Hugs,

Carolxxxx 

Xmas Hanger

I just found this in 'Draft'!!

 

I bought the letters from the MDF man at Ally Pally in September.

I also bought the word Snow but it's packed away now!

 

Had great fun in decorating the letters.

 

All the embellishments are from my stash that I have collected

over many years!!

 

The Candy Canes I made a couple of years ago using Fimo Clay.

 

I added American Snow Writer to the cones and piles of

Cosmic Shimmer Iced Sow glitter on the top of it!

 

The reindeer is made from a piece of bark and

I bought a pack of them last year.

I added the little bell.

I sold it at a Charity Pop Up Shop a couple of weeks ago!
 

We are still here in West Sussex.

Very frustrating waiting for a moving date.

We are surrounded by over 70 packed boxes and my Craft Room

is shortly going to be dismantled.

 

Thanks for stopping by and your lovely messages

always make me smile.

And boy do I need something to smile about!!

 

Hugs,

Carolxxx

 

Angel - A Lovely Theme

We have our Team Snowflakes challenge at Winter Wonderland starting today.

The theme is

 

Angels.

 

I have used a stamp from Lili of the Valley, released a few weeks ago

 called Heavenly Christmas

 

She is adorable and enjoyable to colour with Distress Inks.

With Stickles added liberally over the image

 

The papers I have had for years

 

 

The metal snowflake charm is from Stamposaurous, which

I bought at Alexandra Palace in London.

 

 

 

Our Sponsor for this week is The Hobby House and the prize

is a £10 parcel from them.

 

 

 

Head over to the Winter Wonderland for all the details.

Don't forget ONLY Christmas cards can be entered into the challenge.

Good luck and thank you for stopping by.
I hope you come back soon and please leave me a messge,
so I know you have been.

Hugs,
Carol.xx