Countess arms...

Another one of my favourite haunts... an open fire and comfy chairs.. fantastic.. a visit to the dentists and mum & dads for a chat and yummy biscuits.. then off for tea with rich... the dauphinouse potatoes and lamb cutlets were just wonderful.. as were my son's very funny stories! It was a long drive home and my min is wondering if its wheels are ever going to stop turning.. but worth it to see some of my most favourite people... x

just can't get enuf...!

Here I am 'Stampin up' on a tuesday evening after work! that's what you call dedication... reason i'm smiling is because 3 girls from Future (our competitors!) are sitting on the same table right opposite me... eeeeeeek! oh how my life twists and turns... best bit tonight was Loch Fyne and the free bottle of wine! Worst bit... some people must have so many sides to their bed that they must get out of a different one every single day!
Bought myself a shiny new ring today, well 3 actually because a girl shouldn't have to make such tough decisions on her own! Everything in my life always comes in 3's, I worked that out a long time ago. I also bought a pretty necklace to brighten up the afternoon, spoke to an old friend who loves windmills (strange but true), filmed a video and came to the conclusion that property management companies are sharks!

oh what a big one...!

how i wish i was still sunning myself in majorca... beats mondays for sure! driving the wheels off my car racing up and down the m5 and the only highlight of the day was gatecrashing a wake.. yes, it always happens to me! thankfully, I was dressed head to toe in black so I don't think they noticed.. x

The crafters gastronomic tour of the island..

Guess who just found the 'self-portrait' button on her camera... woo hoo!
Yes, I know it looks like it's the evening... but it really isn't! It's just a quickie lunch!!
Jason... photographer, joker and overall entertainer, we couldn't have been in better hands! We were so well looked after and yes, we managed to fit in a drink or two. Memorable moments include the very dodgy Snack bar over the road from the hotel. Turns out they make a yummy ham, egg and chips, just perfect! The deserted Chinese restaurant with more sauce than any chinaman I've ever known (the less said about that the better!), thank goodness for the duck, that's what I say! The super tapas pick-up bar with the wall of water, fantastic chandeliers and bar staff who almost got a poke in the eye! Great food though, big brownie points for Monika. Wellies & Cappuccinos, the places to sit and watch the world go by, great for food... first day and last night... thanks for that Jason... tho because no Sharrrrrrron or Pollydoodles, not quite so much fun. Shame on you Tony.. how could you send them home early?! Just want to say, we all had the best fun because Jason the Rare and his fearless Argonauts & the marvellously, mad & truely wonderful Monika made us feel so special. Every day was packed with laughs, a few tears, more quickies than I've ever had in my life and Foo Foo Fighting!

Crafting Diva Moments... and a sad tale...

Mr Cappuccino Man... it's a sad story of a guy who flew into the island for a holiday & tried to impress the women with his 'rare v medium' story. He said that for every kiss he got, a part of his anatomy would grow! All was going well for him until he had too much to drink one night, went naked & the girls found out he was lying! So to teach him a lesson, the girls put a spell on him & turned him to stone! Let that be a lesson to you!

It was one of those, "I'll show you mine, if you show me yours" moments! Here's the wonderful, wannabe photographer extraordinaire Sharrone just sneakily taking piccies of us all in the changing room! So, I sneakily took one back. Do you think she noticed...? Nah... I think I got away with it... just!

Captured on camera, here's one of those 'dolling-up' moments that only movie stars get to do in front of a mirror this BIG! Crafters do it with a cropodile, some H2O's and a heat gun! Stroke it, curl it, paint it, remove it, just do something with my face to bring out my diva-gorgeousness - PLEASE!

Here's a PG Tips moment... not a Top, Top Tips one! Jason says " I want more... excitement (don't look at us Jase!)"... Sharronne says "I'll start to fold the teabag, then throw it at you, so you can have a go! Then you ask me a question, just don't make it a hard one.. cuz I might just lose it and clock you one with this pencil case! Let's get this over with so I can have that large glass of wine that anna's waving at us...!"

Life is a playlist...

Life is a playlist! Well, that's what I was reading on the plane. Here's my 'Lean on me' moment, which was one of the first singles I ever bought. Not quite true, my big sister made me buy it because we said we'd buy the number 1 hit from the charts each week and it was my turn!


This is what I call a prawn salad! 9:45am I'm in Bristol airport having a coffee and a plain, and might I add, a very squashed croissant. 12:45pm I'm sitting outside Wellies with DJ & JW - a glass of wine in hand and a fabulously, fresh prawn salad. How good is that?!
Here's my lemon martini.. it's a tumbler of martini on ice with a slice of lemon in it! No complaints there til I asked for lemon in my martini next time around and got a very silly answer from the extremely silly bar girl! She seriously needed to take the lemon out of her mouth!

Here is one of my rare, solitary moments enjoying a cappuccino and some laughs with the pretty girl in the coffee shop in Palma. She could speak a few words of English and me, my spanish lessons never got off off the starting blocks.. I can only manage 'Gracias'... ! You know, it doesn't matter whether it's cheesecake, mousse, chocolate cake, or almond cake, it looks great but tastes of nothing. What's all that about? And, that's coming from a girl with highly sensitive tastebuds!! x

ps.. there always has to be a ps... I know I'm one of those 'line-things-up' keep it tidy kinda girls, this drives me crazy! Even more crazy than before.. ;-) x

No time for frippery!

This was THE VIEW from my hotel room! Lovely ain't it... I swap the lake for the sea but still don't get to paddle in it... ;-)
The missing ingredient... Sharrone and Polly Doodles

What a journey... ! After a seriously hectic few days of preparation, up til 1am and fitting work in too, it was time to leave for sunny Majorca. Flew out Tuesday, Jason picked me & Dulcie up from the airport & took us for lunch then it was back to the studio to start filming. I don't know about taking time off to go... I feel I need a few days holiday now to recover! What a grueling schedule of filming and twixes! Once in the groove though, I had a wicked time and have met some great girls... Polly Doodles, Sharrrone, Jo... it's been the best fun. Hotel was perfectly comfortable with one of those grazing buffet breakfasts... and no one will believe that I could have had a room with such a stunning view, yet never set foot out of the hotel onto the beach! There just wasn't time for such frippery! With Frippery coming from the french, worthless material - Something trivial or nonessential!) Every day was long, tiring and challenging, not that you'd have noticed. Thank god some of us are Divas so it comes naturally!!!

Going Japanese... sushi...

Phew.. what a busy weekend! Sometimes, just sometimes, this creative stuff is hard to produce to order, particularly when it's decoupage!! I've made one card and it's taken me the whole weekend... how's that for progress?! It's a stamped, glittered, cut, layered, be-jewelled, pop-up extravaganza! Now, I only have one more to make... doh...
I did make time to meet my friends for a Japanese meal at lunchtime. It was a bit of an adventure with some very strange vegetables and I ate jellyfish with seaweed... yikes! The best bit I have to admit was the dessert, which was yummy carrot cake! The sushi was pretty good, though I just don't get it.. soggy rice with the tiniest bit of salmon in the middle, wrapped in seaweed.. I'd rather just have the salmon please... Loch Fyne was much, much nicer... x

lazing around...

Whirring...

My mind is a whirring with ideas for next week. My bed was awash this morning at 8am with tea, a croissant and my sketchbook. There are so many ideas to run with, I think my head's going to explode! Well, not really because I love being inspired. Waitrose beckons because I've no milk, only wine and bubbly, ho hum.. on second thoughts.. don't need to go now..!

p.s. i love you...

From the producers of Devil Wears Prada and based on the internationally best-selling novel by Cecelia Ahern, P.S. i love you is the must-see girly flick this month. Faced with losing her childhood sweetheart, Holly is guided through the months ahead with letters sent by Gerry, played by the adorable Gerald Butler. One letter is delivered each month and these take her back to Ireland and each one finishes with... ps i love you... x
Promoted as the feel-good comedy, there were some hilarious moments and it also made me feel sad. In this world of texts and emails it just goes to show that nothing can replace a hand written letter or card from a loved one. When someone matters that much to you, a sticky note left on the fridge door is special... 'sometimes you have to live life one letter at a time'... great quote! Just better if those letters don't spell out the word "I-D-I-O-T" x

what a mad week...

Here I am again. The week has flown by and it's already the weekend. I've held my tongue, I've held hands; I've laughed out loud, I've smiled inside; I've been disappointed and been surprised; I've been glad to be at home and made plans to be away; I've lived on crackers and steak pie; I've been to pastures new and old haunts; it's been a mad, fast week with trouble at mill and I've loved it. I'm so lucky to be me... x

pickin flowers... a card with attitude...

it's a feat of paper engineering to create a pop-up card with attitude... ! great fun to make and totally addictive...

who'd be a fish...?

not me.. this is the closest I get to living by the sea... it sounds like the sea.. it has a roar of the waves... and some days it's calm and on other days, the water crashes down the slipway with the power of an avalanche.. I wish it was powering my electricity meter... !!

Best buds...!

As you can see, I was trying to climb the bank to the water's edge with grace and elegance.. !
Point a camera at her and what does she do...? .. she's such a star when it comes to everything...
Me and Ginger have had a fab time scrapping... we've stamped, inked, snipped (ouch!), laughed, slept (just a tad) and had a fantastic time, as always. Ginger is my bestest scrapping buddy ever and I really enjoy hanging out with her. Here are our saturday morning snowy pictures. x

snow.. snow.. snow...

yeah, that's right.. we have snow! almost got stuck on the common taking these photographs.. doh.. but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do...!

Yummy chicken and reisling casserole cooking and I'm hoping Ging can make it... sounds terrible conditions out there and after all... she's got new stamps to play with... she's got to get here! x

Mad, or bad...!

Twas the night before Ginger, when all through the apartment, particuarly in my scrapping room, not a stamp was stirring, not even a brad! The bouquets of ribbons were hung up by the rafters with care, in hope that Ginger would soon be there.

Woo hoo, life couldn't get more exciting... Ginger is coming and we're going to scrap all weekend! Countdown with just 1 more sleep and I've had a fab day today... a bit of working, a lot of thinking, good chats with nice people, silly mail from nellies, hot coffee, cold toes and thick tights, a bit of card making and creative headrush, a lot of rubbish tv, food for thought and even food for me, a whole roasted butternut squash, pecans and blue cheese (can you get addicted to butternut squash, I wonder?) and I even fitted in a trip to Hobbs for a taste of their spinach and goats cheese tart! It's been a day of smiling, grinding of teeth, coat on, coat off, deep joy, ink under my nails and guilt... I opened a tub of Lindt chocolates and the rest, as they say, is history! I truely believe that my stomach now resembles a whole butternut squash or could it be a Lindt Chocolate..?!

touch and go... !

those special somethings sometimes take a little longer. And yes, it was touch and go... ! Greg, I do love you more than chocolate.. (well, oooer dilemma... ) as long as it's not Green & Blacks... butterscotch flavour.. you can have all the other chocolates in the world.. honest... well that is, except those truely yummy Lindt ones that melt in your mouth, you know the ones that give you goosebumps and okay... I"m only joking! Here's lickle bruv's card that I managed to slip into the letterbox whilst dodging the traffic and should be winging its way up to snowy Lancaster by now! Greg, love ya loads... x x x

Lickle bruv's birthday...

And, I remember it well... well, as he knows that's not strictly true because I don't remember this moment... I imagine I wasn't quite sure what this new arrival was going to mean to my status within the Szabo family... little did I realise that I was going to be sandwiched between two such lovely people as my brother Greg and sister, Marie. Hey Greg.. December you got married... January you have had a birthday and gone off to Cuba... what have you got planned for February I wonder?! x

yummy papers...

to make yummy cards... I was very good, honest, I just saw what I'd liked and bought it! I love the snazzy flowers and these papers, how inspired am I?! And as Ginger Claire is coming at the weekend, I'm also determined to get some of my BC cards done so I can scrap this weekend, rather than making cards. I have so many photos I want to work on and I want to make a cardbook... can't wait.. only 3 more sleeps... x annabanana rules.. x

Do-lally-me...

Just pondering and having a quiet night in after all the excitement of the weekend.. ;-) x

Oh Xmas Tree...

Oh Xmas Tree... how lovely are your branches... ! Well, they used to be but now I've chopped them off to save having to keep finding pine needles in my knickers throughout 2008! No pain, no gain, so they say... thankfully, even though I managed to get rid of everything else green and garden-like, I did save the secoteurs.. I must have had a premonition because I can't imagine why else I would have rescued them from my giant garage sale.. so twinkly tree is now very bare and branchless and destined for the big dustbin in the sky.. bless.. x just in time too...

Mums...

Lois has the right idea... she's definately a Szabo! Oodles of charm and a right smiler... yeah, fits the bill perfectly... us Szabo's just celebrated another fantastic birthday party at Birches Park! Full marks for attendance with 100% Davenports, 60% Wingfield's and 80% Matthews's... how knacked was I after arriving in the morning, helping with the buffet, smiling my way through the afternoon and then driving home... everyone had a great time though and it was lovely to see all the family.. here's to my birthday.. woo hoo! x

a bit of a pub crawl...

Well what are Fridays all about if you can't go out and have a drink.. or two... ?! I do love a challenge and packing and then making sure I had everything for mum's birthday party before I set off to Chelts.. phew.. it's more like a military operation than a friday night jollie! Me & Dom decided to 'Do Chelts' so we landed at the Wine Bar early evening, went over the road to Strada for something to eat, then had drinks in HDV before meeting up with the lads and girls in Morans! Best bit as always, HDV... my most favourite hotel, and then went back to Doms for a long sleeeeeeep zzzzzzzz

Happy Birthday Mum... x

Today is my mum's birthday.. 75 years young and she says she still feels 39! I love my mum to bits... we holiday together, craft together and most importantly, she keeps my dad smiling and never grumbles or complains about anything.. she's a bit of a looker... loves a glass or two of something alcoholic.. plus the odd cup of tea of course and will put anything between two pieces of bread... my mum loves to whistle and thankfully, my dad just loves her doing what she enjoys.. she never stops stitching and is the number 1 canvas queen... she has given so many little children a great start in life... loves having crunchie fridays... can make a mean paprika chicken... her favourite colours are red, green and blue... never wears black... has walked the cotswold way.. still doesn't mind staying in youth hostels... has very green fingers... is mum, grandma, great grandma, sister, aunt, wife, cousin and good neighbour... but best of all she's my mum... and I love her.. xxx

above and beyond...

Massive brownie points to the very nice man in M&S this lunchtime who helped me in my search for cheese sauce. Yes, I did think of making it from scratch but as I've bought the readymade version before and it's been yummy, I just thought I'd ask... He couldn't see what I needed and was so very apologetic, so I put my cauliflower and leeks back on the shelf and went to find a readymade version for tonight's supper. Low and behold, 10 minutes later I'm still trying to choose between the aubergine parmigiano or the cauliflower cheese when I'm accosted by none other than 'my man' waving a jar of cheese sauce at me. He'd been and found it from the other side of the store, asked the ladies opinion of it, which was good, so how could I disappoint him. How lovely that someone will still go the extra 10% above and beyond to help a customer. Which just goes to prove that if you smile at boys, they will smile back and if you challenge them... they will more often than not, rise to that challenge! Motto of this story is... smile... and make life more challenging... !

Happy New Year...

I have a tinkly little tiara and a bit of party spirit to see in 2008! Out with the old... in with the new... forget the tiresome ones... keep in touch with the live wires... take up the new challenges... make friends with radiators and ditch the drains... trust your instincts... think wise thoughts.. plan more holibobs... scrap more... eat colourfully... drink as much as you did last year... dance your way through 2008 and all will be well... x