yeah - I have lost 3 1/2 stone now!

Yes I was a very clever girl and lost 1 1/2 lb this week to get me to this milestone - I am very pleased with myself. I was a bit disappointed with my weight loss - only 1 1/2 lb - especially as I have not eaten a lot this week because we have been so busy at work I have not had a break for 3 shifts so have actually felt hungry. I know last time I did not eat a lot I did not loose much so it is another reminder to make sure I eat plenty.

I wonder if it may have been because of that sugary fibre stuff I am now taking for my bowels- they are working a bit better now though.

I have been very busy this week on the computer trying to work my way through my new book by Scot Kelby


I have only got as far as page 35 - but have learnt a lot already. I was not naming my photos when i was acquiring hem - hence my pictures folder was full of lots of single photos - so spent ages putting them tidily into new folders and have remembered to name any photos as put on the computer now. I also backed up my photos - I did it last year but it could not read the disc to do an incremental backup so had to do a full one. It was going to take 35 Cd's to hold them all so i went and bought some DVDs and that only need ed 5 which was better but it still took ages. I also followed his instructions to make contact sheets so I know what photos are on the disc - a very good idea - i thought and here are the finished DVDs.

more weight loss!

I lost 2 1/2 lb this week at slimming and I am only 1/2 lb away from 3 1/2 stones loss - I really expect to loose that next week. Though I am not taking it for granted as I have started taking some fibre for my bowels 
(still sluggish) - called Regulase from ** but it appears to be pure sugar and there is no 
calorie content on the container so I may
be taking in far too many - we will have to wait & see next week.

I have been having lots of red days lately and am feeling really tired. I watched a programme 'the truth about food'' - showing the effects of diet on the body - meat eaters did better at sports than vegetarians, but those who ate carbohydrates did much much at sustained energy than those who ate meat. I have decided to have a few green days now to see if that will help me have a bit more energy - but I also think it may be because I have just finished four nights and hardly slept at all.

I have been naughty again at Amazon - bought 2 CD's David Cassidy & the partridge family. They are both lovely and I have been playing the constantly in the car & at home. They took me straight back to my Teenage years and all my David Cassidy posters all over my bedroom walls. I also bought Galapagos DVD & book - I saw one episode of this on the TV and thought it was so good - just had to have it.  Steven also caught an episode after I had ordered it and he was impressed and glad the whole series  was on its way. I also bought a book on Photoshop Elements 5 by Scott Kelby - so need to work my way through it to become more skilled at it.

Done a layout as well - took all day as I had to keep running up & down stairs and rifling throug boxed trying to find what I needed.


I just love this photo of Eleanor - Steven took it with the Panasonic compact camera - 
and I am so pleased with it, that I just had to do a layout  with it and I am quite pleased with the result, but just look at the chaos it created at the dinning at the table - I am missing my craft room so much!

I have a place on the Gogo getaway!

I had an email yesterday telling me I had secured a place on the Scrapagogo retreat in June next year! I am so excited about it and can't wait until then. Lots of other girls are also as keen as me as the UKS gogo thread is a hive of excited chatter and anticipation. The next payment is £100 due end of November so better start saving up for that.

I also had an email about the Birmingham crop in October - there are 3 places left and Julia has kindly said I can have a lift with her & Ali - so I had better try and sort out a holiday date pretty quick. I really want to go to centre parcs at Elevden Forrest - but Steven will not have any of it as he thinks it is so expensive - it is but it looks fab and everyone who has been always goes back for a return visit - which is a good recommendation.

I have been in bed all day after nights so no photos taken - so will dig out an old one just to liven this post up!



This photo was taken last week at Aberystwyth. Jess wanted a special day out before she went back to Uni - so the 3 of us headed out to Wales for the day. We had a nice day - though Jess was much grumpier than she looks in this pic! Even food did not cheer her up. The weather was quite nice until about 5 minutes after this photo was taken - when the heavens opened - thankfully we were on our way back to the car. Sian is at Uni in Aber and was working in Claires so we popped into surprise her. The look on her face when we walked in was priceless!

I have done a layout!

Oh I am so pleased with myself - this is the first layout I have done in ages. I wrote the journalling ages ago - when we came back from holiday in fact - 
when Liam was such a pain in refusing to have his photograph taken all week. 
It was so annoying because the weather was so gorgeous and we were in so many different
 locations and had lots of opportunities to take some really lovely photos. 

I decided there & then to do a layout showing this teenage angst, but it has taken me till now to do it. It is only a simple
layout but it has taken me all evening because I have had to keep running up and down stairs for supplies - back & forward to the playroom to print out different size photos and from dinning room to front room - from work table to computer for journalling.

I may not be doing any exercise but I am sure I have burnt loads of calories up tonight - charging all over the place!

This is another simple layout that I did about 2 weeks ago - it did not take long to do and it is a bit of a cheat because of the patterned paper- but I really wanted to use this gorgeous photo of Jess.

I have had a bit of a scrapping day really because 1) booked the Gogo getaway, 2) spent all day on the computer looking at UKS , bloggs and scrapping things. 3)  Done a layout.  4)found a crop in Birmingham that I quite fancy going to in October (here) - I must email them tomorrow to see if there are any places left. I really want to go but Steven wants to go away in October and this is date is the first date that we can go away so it may clash.

Gogo getaway??????????????????????

I had a letter from Scrapagogo on Monday about their planned retreat in June next year - it sounds lovely but I discounted it because it was so expensive. Since then I have been thinking about it and thought - what do I do for myself - not a lot. So I have had a long think and I am
going to go for it!!!

I have been swayed by the tutors especially Fiona Beckham and Jane Dean. I admire their work tremendously and it would be good to take some classes with them.


The other tutors are Shimmelle Liane and Mary Ann Walters  - whose work I also admire. 

The last scrapbooking event I went on - well actually it 
was the first and only event, was the scrapbooking and photography day in February this year with Kirsty Wiseman and it was fab and lovely to put faces to the many names I see on UKS.

I think looking forward to this will keep up my scrapbooking momentum because at the moment my craft room is empty and all my stash put away in boxes and bags in preparation for mum moving in soon. So I have done no scrapping and I miss it. I have a couple of pages in my head that I want to do - but with all my stuff displaced it is not as easy - but not impossible.

I am going to post my cheque today - I hope it does not bounce!

I have reached my first target!

Yippee last week I lost 3.5lb and that got me to (and beyond) my first target of 3 stone. I was very chuffed as I did it in 16 weeks. this week I have lost a further 1.5 lb and have now lost 3 stone & 4lb.

My weight loss is starting to slow down now - but I don't really mind as I don't feel like I am on a diet and I am certainly never hungry. I still have not cheated - I have not had any chocolate or sweets in 16 weeks. I was bad on Saturday though and had a whole half pint of cheese sauce to myself!. There was not much food in the house except for a cauliflower and I could not eat that on its own so had to make a cheese sauce with fat and a load of cheese to go with it - but I still lost weight and I did enjoy it - but should not make a habit of it really.

I have had to have some new uniforms at work as the tops were very baggy. I was going to try and hang on a bit longer but everyone said I needed them and in fact they look very nice. Still kept the size 24 trousers as the waist bands on them are unbelievably tight and at the end of a night shift they are a very snug fit indeed.

Jess & I had seen some nice handbags - with a little Scottie dog on -( can't remember the name of them though) and Steven said he would get me one as a congratulations on first target gift but when we went to get one - in fact I did not like the strap and they looked silly so I have not had my treat yet. Initially I had said I would treat myself to a gym membership but as I still have not used the Pilate's machine or done any walking or any exercise I think that is a waste of money that I have not got.

Talking of handbags - I have been rather crafty and decorated a bag to hold Nickys 40th birthday present in. Thats not like me at all as I am usually a pureist scrapbooker - not in to altering things at all - but here is the proof.

The bag was a plain black one from the House of Fraser with the Loccitane goodies in that I bought for her birthday. I wanted to use it but to cover up the HOF logo - so covered it with a sliver star and a star made out of DCWV glitter paper. I hand cut the '40' and the added lots of silver stars (peel offs- a dirty word I know but they finished it off nicely!). I think it looks fab and so did Nicky

I have had to buy some new trousers!

Yes when I started this diet I was wearing size 24 trousers but soon had to buy some size 20's & 18's. Well the size 20 are now just far too big and look silly so I had to buy some more. I ended up with some more size 18 from Sainsburys - they only just fit as the Ann Harvey ones I usually have measure up very big - to make us big girls feel we can fit into smaller sizes I think! These new ones only cost £10 so it does not matter if they do not last long.

I tried some tops on but they did not look right as my boobs looked very odd. Jess & I decided that as I am still wearing my old bras - perhaps I should get measured correctly for some new ones - then perhaps the tops will look better. 

I recieved a new book this morning about journalling from Memory Makers. I think journalling is such an important part of a layout - but I don't feel I do it as well as I could so I am going to devour this book in an attempt to improve my journalling.

My scrapagogo September kit has also arrived. Its not great this month - not a lot in it for £25.00 and I already have the heidi Grace papers - which I picked up cheaply from the QVC shop and have not found them easy to work with.


I actually preferred the monthly kits from Mod Scraps - her choice of papers was much more to my taste - but her customer service was rubbish and I don't really feel confident to start up with her new venture because of this. At least Scrapagogo is reliable and very efficient - I really must start to use the kits more though.

Not sure how much scrap booking I will get done for a while as Jess goes back to Uni next week - then my mum moves in with us - after selling her house until she can find a ground floor flat at the Ceaders. She is moving into Ross's room - so i will have to move all my scrapbook stuff out and pack it away.