Wishing you all a loved filled, dream fullfilled, happy, healthy and everything else that's good 2013!

Let's go for it!! 

I AM SOOOOO HAPPY!

So I was just sitting down for film 2 of our movie marathon and thought I'd flick through some blogs quickly while the kids weren't looking and I spotted me and my advent designs in the Holiday round up 2012 on Print & Pattern... just a little bit excited to say the least, threw my popcorn up in the air and everything!
I love Print & Pattern and look at it every morning to get inspired, see all the fabulous designers and keep up with trends. So to be featured on there is fantastic. After a recent disaster with the design studio I worked for closing and leaving us designers penniless and stranded, I now have my spirit restored and am available for all sorts of work and keen to start new things and projects in the new year.....so if anyone is interested, drop me a line, I'd love to hear from you! 

How are your Christmasse's going? (Is that how you spell it?) Hoping they are special and sweet!

It's here, my favourite day of Christmas.... I hope everyone has themselves a Merry Little Christmas wherever you are. Hang your stockings up and fill them with love if nothing else. See you all in the New Year! 

One more day to go until my favourite day, Christmas Eve. Matching Christmas jumpers in the bag, well sort of. Do fleecy reindeer nightdresses from Primark count? Who wants glamour on Christmas Day... not me! 

Just sending some love and peace around the world today. I think we could do with some. Off to look for Christmas jumpers, there's got to be a couple left somewhere to buy! 

Last day of school today....no more having to remember 70,000 things to take in each day, no more looking for shoes at 5 to 9, no more running past the really organised mums as they come out and we go in! Bring on the cheesy Christmas movies and pyjamas, some nice walks and just not having to be somewhere.....well, for 2 weeks anyway! 

OMG....I won!

OMG....I just won the Tigerprint 'Coming Together at Christmas' competition! I am so so pleased! I've had some rubbish news today so this has bought some happiness back in! You can see it here. Go me! 

So yesterday I went to see my two in their school play. I don't know who writes it but this year they excelled themselves in story line. From what I gathered, although I'm still not really sure, is Postman Pat had a sack of cards to deliver. He started off in a field of snowmen, travelled through time to the nativity, and ended up in Jack and the Beanstalk. There were lots of beans running about, 4 different Jacks and a giant 'Come Dine with Me'. One of my little ones was a mouse who got us all to sing the ever so Christmassy 'Old Macdonald had a farm'. My other little one was a snowman. My friend thought he was a chicken. Honestly my costume was not that bad! Anyway, it didn't matter because they loved it, we loved it and at the end of the day that's what it all about...who cares about the story! 

I'm putting these on my Facebook page for my friends and my sister said she'd quite like to see a carol singing hedgehog. I threw in a squirrel as well for good measure. So there you go sis, just for you! x

This weekend we went to the Royal Albert Hall for a Christmas Sing-a-long. It was soooo magical, I've never been there before and I was awestruck by how beautiful it was. It took my breath away, and I found myself blubbing through loads of songs....especially when all the children in the audience sang Silent Night. That warm Christmassy feeling you get but can't describe was right there in the music. It was perfect. Course, the kids dropped all their sweets on the floor, banged their seats too much and needed the loo during the best songs but apart from that.. we're going again and taking my mum, she'll love it! 

Here it is.... a little bit late but full of love none the less!

Sorry advent calender followers....you might have noticed there wasn't a 15 for yesterday. I had done one and thought I could upload it away from my mac somehow but turned I couldn't....mainly because I'm pretty daft when it comes to techy stuff! I'll put it tomorrow with 17, but for now, enjoy 16 cos I'm off to have tea with the queen and sing at the Royal Albert Hall!

Why oh why is bed so darn comfy in the dark winter mornings.... it's just not fair having to get up sometimes. I actually think I might be half hedgehog and really I am meant to hibernate in a big bed  and wake up in Spring feeling all refreshed. 

My wedding anniversary today....happy day hubbie! Shame we're not on a sandy beach again but I shall get a lot of joy out of my new de-icer...thank you, you know the way to my heart! Also, I'm the lucky winner over on Ilonadrewthis. Can't wait to get my ever-so gorgeous cards in the post. Thanks Ilona!! 

Mouse outfit, snowman outfit, empty jam jar, plastic toy, find a Christmas poem, swimming kit, netball kit, pack lunches, defrost car, walk friend's dog, phone dentist, tidy whole house, friend for tea, clean out rabbits, return curtains to argos when I didn't even order any curtains! christmas shopping, start my accounts, whip up some designs.... this is just a glimpse of what's inside my head today! 

Tree's up! Michael Buble's on repeat, first cheesy Christmas movie watched, still haven't started sending cards... Christmas as normal in our house! 

Off to see my mum in a panto today. She's playing an old hag....aw, bless her.....she was so, er, pleased! She's not an old hag, she's gorgeous... I keep trying to discover her secret, i think she fell in a fountain of youth once. Break a leg, mum. x

It's the kid's Christmas Fayre tonight... sort of nice, sort of an endurance... kids and cakes flying everywhere, no room to swing a cat, my littlest one freaking out that he hasn't won the raffle, husband strangely still at work! I'll be on the tombola between 5 and 6pm with my friend drinking all the mulled cider....come and join us! 
Also...... even bigger news....my design is on the Tigerprint Home page today.....sooooo excited! Have a look here. Dawn Machell's is on first, then mine.....aren't we lucky ladies! 

Dearest printer,  just because I have many, many designs to print out today does not mean you can get all cranky and start chewing up my paper, do you hear me!!! Arrooooooooo....that's me howling like a snow fox! 

So it's snowing all over England, yey.....but not where I am, boo. 

Ok, so everyone I talk to (apart from my friend Emma) seems to have all their Christmas shopping done and dusted. The kids are even bringing home Christmas cards from school. I haven't even started....I have no idea why... what am I thinking, it's time for me to get a wriggle on! 

I love a bit of John Lewis... it's become part of my annual Christmas outings. We all go up and down, down and up the escalators, look at all the decorations and fairy lights and feel all soft and cosy and fuzzy. It's just one big bundle of shoppy Christmassy-ness. 

A snapshot of my husband who's a happy man with a tin of Quality Street by his side.
And my uber-talented friend Dawn Machell is joining in the advent action too (not that it's going to be hard for her as she posts every day anyway, so no ducking out at day 5 Dawn! ) Open hers here

So the little ones ran downstairs to open their advents and fell out over who had more chocolate per mm than the other! Ah, xmas bliss!

Almost Advent time!

Woop woop, it's almost time for 24 days of advent calendar joy. This year we have 4 in our house....it works really well cos I can bribe my little ones to get dressed and ready for school so early it's amazing! 

Anyway, this year I'm making a promise to myself to post an advent picture each day all the way up to Christmas Eve. It's a challenge for me as I'm generally a good for nothing lazy blogger so here goes... anyone else want to join in, we can link to each other's blogs. Come on, let's do it! x

A little bit of Summer!

Some of my work on the other side of the world in Pumpkin Patch Australia. Sooooo nice to see, especially in this wet and winter weather! 

happy halloween!

I notice that lots of blogs show beautiful stylish pictures of halloween loveliness at this time of year. Well, this is how it rolls in our house! My little ones normally start WW3 over which trick or treat sweet holder they want to carry, then eat a years worth of sweets in half an hour and go nuts. My husband then bans sweets in the house for the next 17 years. Whilst I stay at home handing out more sweets to scary teenagers who haven't really dressed up but still want chocolate. It also coincides with my son's birthday who by the end of half term week has turned into a present wanting, cake eating monster... lovely, can't wait! 

i spy...jim jams!

Spotted in BabyGap, not one, but two pyjama sets of mine! I love their little skinny pyjamas, they look so cute on little ones. 

Loving Autumn

I'm generally a Summer person through and through but this year I'm really enjoying the turn of Autumn.... blue skies with a nip in the air and leaves beginning to fall...it's all a bit lovely. 

Heads, shoulders, knees and toes....

You know the game where you draw a head, fold it over, someone else draws the body and so on ... well, a couple of weeks ago, I took part in a little bit of illustration fun over on the v.talented Ilona Drew's blog here

Mine's the cat's body. It's a weekly affair... just let her know if you want to take part. Go on, you know you want to! 

Locked out!

I've been having one of those weeks where nothing has really gone right. The best bit was yesterday when I put my front door key (I'd taken it off the keyring and didn't have time to put it back on) on the rubbery bit of the gear stick whilst I legged it around getting stuff and taking kids everywhere. Meanwhile my lovely little key managed to get through a tiny hole in the gear stick rubbery stuff and disappear down into the car. I turned the car upside down with my son crying that we were going to starve to death and he would never play with his toys ever again...a little bit over dramatic but still!  Luckily my lovely father-in-law came to the rescue with a handy bit of wire and a bit of car know-how.

Yep, my week has been a lot like that! 

Ben

So I'm looking after the in-laws tortoise this week but every morning I've been to feed him...can i find him... can i heck! Ben the tortoise lives in the lap of luxury in a paddock sized enclosure by the compost heap. My mother-in-law gets v. worried if she can't find him and I'm even more worried that he will decide to make a run (well, slow trundle) for it on my watch! So every evening I call in to see if he's back and he's sitting there happy as larry chewing his cabbage... chuckling to himself that he fooled me again! Not funny tortoise...not funny at all!!! 

harvest happy!

My big little one was a tomato today in her harvest play.... in fact I think she might have even been a spanish tomato. She was fabulous and I was really proud...I love feeling like a proud mum on these occasions. My little little one was a BBC olympic news reporter and he was pretty amazing too... especially as he had led us all to believe he hadn't learnt any of his lines and then he said them all perfectly! He's a dark horse that one! 

I hate mondays!

This morning I really thought I had mastered the art of getting to school early...i was actually there before the bell rang which, if you know me, is more than amazing. Of course, I knew it was too good to be true when my daughter wondered why everyone was carrrying extra bags in. Apparently it was school photo day and as a little extra this year, everyone was meant to bring in an outfit representing the month they were born! So exit me...running home to get two complete winter outfits for them to wear. There's always tomorrow!