Almost time!

Well people still nothing to report......I think I have made this wee man too comfy as he is showing no signs of wanting to arrive!! I've tried expalining that yes it's freezing here but I will keep him wrapped up warm but he's having none of it!

So tonight I head up to the hospital to be induced, not sure if they start it all off during the night or wait til morning but don't suppose he'll come before tomorrow lol Now that Christmas is over and done with Lily is excited about the baby bless her, in the week before Christmas she was like "what baby?" lol too excited about Santa. She is off to stay with my friend tonight.............I don't envy her one little bit I bet she will be high as a kite!!

So my next post will definetely be announcing the birth! I will have plenty of pics to share too you can bet your cuttlebug!!

Take care all and be back soon (I hope lol)

Been quiet but still here lol

Hello all! ooops didn't realise it had been so long since I last posted anything! I have taken a couple of months off from my DT duties over at Allsorts.......haven't got the energy or inclination to make cards these days lol so will be re-joining the team in February.

Hows everyone doing with their Christmas preparations? I have managed to be organised this year and have done all my shopping and have even wrapped them! All I have left to get are some little bits to go in Lily's stocking. heehee I bet you all hate me lol

My wee man is growing fast, my bump is massive these days! (will put some pics up soon) Just over 3 weeks to go til my due date, so as you can imagine girls going in to labour is starting to obsess me a wee bit lol I have to go to hospital on Monday for another scan to see how much my wee elephant has grown and to see if he has turned or not (he was breech at my last scan a few weeks ago) So I have been trying to keep myself busy with something so the knitting needles have been going nineteen to the dozen, have done a couple of wee cardigans and the cutest wee waistcoat and teddy, well the waistcoat is cute not so sure of the teddy, his head is a wee bit floppy but hey ho it's kept me quiet lol

the pic doesn't show how cute the wee train buttons are lol

Hope all you crafty ladies are getting on well with your Christmas Cards, I just can't face them this year so bought ones it is.................if I send any at all, maybe I will leave the Christmas cards and send birth announcements instead :o)

Allsorts week 27

This week at Allsorts we are looking for cards inspired by Christmas Carols/Songs. I went for this card for "The Holly and the Ivy"

Its been a hectic week this week, I had an appointment on Monday with my consultant to discuss the delivery of the elephant I am carrying and the upshot is that he's unwilling to induce me early. I am to go back in 2 weeks and have another growth scan to see if he's grown a huge amount and also to check if the monkey has turned (he's breech at the moment!). Of course if he hasn't turned it will be c section time, never mind and early induction! Oh the joys, so I am doing lots of hands and knees stuff to give him plenty of room to turn himself but to be honest I don't think he has!!

Then we had a poorly Lily on Thursday night, she was sick all over her bed poor wee mite and was more upset that she wouldn't be able to dress up for Pudsey Day at school than anything else. Then bless her she was apologising for being sick!! Awww how do you explain to a 6 year old that its ok she couldn't help it? She spent all day yesterday just lying on the couch and hardly ate a thing. Thankfully she is much much better today :o) Oh the joys of kids at school...........all the tummy bugs and colds and hair bugs (yup we had a morning with the nit comb last week.....bring back Nitty Nora the Head Explorer I say lol)

Hmmm a lazy weekend is called for I think, feet up on the couch for me :o)

Allorts week 27

What a week I've had here!! I was at the hospital on Tuesday for a growth scan as my bump was measuring really big and it has been confirmed that I am having a large baby! Of course I am glad to hear nothing is wrong but oh the thought of a big baby terrifies me lol. Lily was 8lb 11oz (you'd never know it to look at her now lol) and that was more than big enough.......however it looks like this one will be even bigger!! We were also told we are having a boy! I never knew with Lily as I didn't have a scan this late in the pregnancy. It is lovely to know, I can now give away all the girls clothes I had kept and get some blue bits and pieces lol Now we are just struggling to decide on a name :o) I have an appointment to see my consultant on Monday to discuss delivery options................I am sooo hoping he will tell me I can have an early induction ~ keep your fingers crossed for me girls!!





Anyway, onto the theme over at Allsorts. This week we want to see cards for a child.....easy peasy right? A friend of mine is due her little man any day now so decided to make this weeks card for his arrival:

Teddy and sentiment stamp by Stampin Up, papers been in the scrap drawer for ages, can't for the life of me remember where they came from. Safety pins and little feet are from stash.

Late with my card today as we were on Lily's birthday treat..........we took her and two of her friends to the cinema to see UP in 3d (fabulous film) and then lunch at Burger King. This was instead of a party with 20 odd screaming hyper kids so was much more enjoyable!!!

Allsorts week 26 and the birthday girl

Oh dear just realised it's Monday and I didn't post my Allsorts card on Saturday!! Ooppps!! The theme this week is set by Jules and is "Bring out the Bling"......blingtatstic I say lol The prize this week has been sponsored by Digistamp Boutique and Sally Anne very kindly let us DT members pick an image from the site and I picked the very aptly named Lilly with present image above!! I say apt as this is the card I made for my Lily's birthday which was yesterday.......ohhhh where have the last 6 years gone?

The paper is by Stampin Up and the image is coloured with the usual Promarkers. Ribbon is also Stampin Up, flowers, gems and brad etc all from stash. I've used glossy accents on her shoes to make them look like patent shoes :o)

Here's a couple of pics of the birthday girl.....to make her birthday even more special she lost her first tooth (typical! she is getting her school photo taken today lol) We had a lovely weekend, we went to see Mercedes the Polar Bear who moved from Edinburgh Zoo to our local Wildlife Park a few weeks ago. We also saw the gorgeous Amur Tigers and their three cubs, they've got so big since the Summer!

week 25 at Allsorts and wedding pics

Oh dear I have been a bad bad blogger haven't I? I forgot all about posting my DT card from last week, I meant to schedule the post but forgot all about it......blame the excitement of the wedding. I've had all week to show the wedding pics and again been a bad blogger was just so first of all a few pics from the wedding...................... Hubby in his kilt before the wedding :o)

the happy couple :o)

my wee princess :o)

I am waiting for pictures to be emailed from other guests so will post a pic of me in the dress (with legs and everything lol) when I receive them.

The wedding itself was very eventful! Saturday morning we woke to the news the bride and her father had come down with a sickness bug that the groom had had earlier in the week. Hubby was sent to find a chemist in Gretna Green to get some anti sickness tablets. After a few hours they both stopped vomitting so phew wedding could go ahead. Poor bride had to leave the table decorating to various members of the family as she was feeling bad. Nicky and Ian got ready and headed over to the bar for a last drink (luckily they only had a coke!) Nicky was in the middle of asking his mum to be witness when the realisation dawned on him that he hadn't picked up the marriage liscence from the registrar!!!! He was supposed to have picked it up on the Friday afternoon when they arrived but they had got held up in traffic and arrived in the evening so it had gone out his head. Panic set in as you can imagine. Ian and Nicky set off for the registrar's office which is about 5 miles from where the wedding was at breakneck speed. meanwhile Nicky is trying to get them on the phone. He finally gets an answer as they are pulling into the car park so he runs in to get the liscence and they get back to the wedding venue with 10 minutes to spare!!! The wedding was at 1pm and it was a good job he remembered when he did because they shut at 1pm!

Finally everyone was able to breathe again and thankfully no-one had mentioned it to the bride lol We had the wedding then a lovely meal then there was a couple of hours to just relax before the reception. I went back to our room for a lie down as I was exhausted. We went over to the bar at 7pm and Lily's cough was getting progressively worse and I ended up taking her back to her bed at 8.30pm as she had a high temperature and just wanted to go to bed. Bless her she was asleep within half an hour and I had to miss the reception! I didn't feel too bad tho as the bride and groom had got changed from their wedding gear as the bride still wasn't feeling 100% and they just had a few hours chatting with the families in the bar, they didn't join the disco at all. I think they were just glad to have all the drama behind them :o)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So onto Allsorts for this week and it is my theme this week and as it was the wedding last week I decided to keep the theme running and am asking for wedding/wedding anniversary cards, layouts, presents, whatever!!

I decided to make a wordbook using the fabulous I DO download from Funky Hand. The wedding colours were pink and black so went with these as my accent colours.

Also used for the wordbook: Martha Stewart border punch, cuttlekids tadpole alphabet dies, Stampin Up ribbon (white), crafty ribbons ribbon (black) and various bits n bobs from my stash :o)

Please have a look at the rest of the DTs cards they are really gorgeous!!

Allsorts week 23

Morning all here's another Saturday and what a lovely day we are having here.....the sun is out and there's a blue sky it looks beautiful against all the autumn colours :o) Of course it is freezing lol but I am nice and snug inside with the log burner roaring lol.

This week Brenda set the challenge of a Monochrome Christmas with the added challenge of a sketch. The DT have really some up trumps yet again! My card is made with a candle stamp (sorry no maker name on it) embossed with white powder, the paper I used is by Stampin up with the sentiment sticker and border sticker coming from there too. The ribbon is from Crafty Ribbons.

Please come and join us this week we are being sponsored by Bunny Zoe's Crafts and there's a fabby stamp as the prize :o) And it's only 9 weeks til Xmas so you know you need to get another one of those pesky Christmas cards done lol

Lily and I are planning a girlie day today as Ian is away out for the day to his son's stag do......a day's hospitality at out local footie club (haha local Inverness Caledonian Thistle's ground is 45 miles away!!!) I'm not expecting him back til the early hours so Lily and I are going to have a DVD and treat evening............I even bought a bottle of alcohol free wine so it feels like a grown up night.

Last night I got my backside in gear and ordered the pram for the baby, can't wait for it to arrive so I can have a play lol. Of course then I suddenly thought............."OMG that must mean I am ACTUALLY having a baby then!!" it's only taken me this long to get used to the idea lmao What can I say I am a bit slow on the uptake :o)

Saturday again.....how did that happen?

WOW these weeks are flying past one minute its Monday morning and I am getting Lily ready for school then all of a sudden its time to post the Allsorts DT card!! Bet the time doesn't fly for long, less thann 12 weeks to go until Bubba Panda is due, bet the time slows right down then lol (Sorry girlies but that means only 11 weeks til Christmas lol)

This week at Allsorts, Gro wants Halloween projects to get us in the mood for the spooky night :o) I went for this wee Halloween bag which I will be filling with some treats for Lily (its got a Rice Crispies Square bar in the pic.....its all I could find lol I would have bought some sweets but I would just end up eating them!)

The bag is a template on the Funky Fairy Halloween download, the colours in the download are fab and there are 4 printable bags to choose from, printed straight onto lightweight card and voila! The tag is from Stampin Up and the wee ghost was on a hairband that Lily had a couple of years ago and when it broke I salvaged them :o)

A few Stampin Up buttons on the back (sorry about the rubbish photography this week!)

Looking forward to hopping round your blogs to see your Halloween items :o)

no cardage but some knitting to show

I thought I'd share the poncho I have been knitting. It is for one of the wee girls I look after for her birthday later this month. All I have to do is put the fringing on the poncho (ugh not looking forward to it I keep putting it off lol) Emily is happily modelling it for you......good job she's too young to realise its for her lol

baby clothes!

Awwww I dragged out the box of baby clothes out this morning to see what would be suitable for either flavour of baby! It's making me all emotional to see all the wee outfits that Lily used to wear........how was she ever small enough to fit them???

Found this cute wee tigger outfit that Ian bought for Lily while I was in the hospital........I was almost crying lol!! This picture was framed for everyone's Christmas present that year! Aww look at the chubby cheeks on her......what a wee podge she was at just 6 weeks :o)

Off for some more reminiscing lol....................

Got a dress!!!

After 5 hours of traipsing round Inverness on Saturday and just as I was thinking I was going to have to attend this wedding in the nude I tried on a dress in Monsoon and it was the ONE!! First dress that didn't make me look like the side of a bus or old or just plain stupid!! Ran out of time to get shoes so will have to make a return trip next week but a huge sigh of relief that I have something to wear lol

I tried it on to show hubby but forgot to get him to take a pic so until I post the wedding pics here's the pic from the monsoon website:

Hope you're all having a lovely week, only a few more days til half term here (oh the bliss or working part time) Still not much crafting going on.....must get my butt in gear lol

Allsorts week 21

Good morning Good morning girlies!!! How are we all this Saturday morning? I am scheduling this post as I will be shopping today for an outfit to wear to my step sons wedding in 3 weeks. I'm not really looking forward to it to be honest.........why is it we can never find anything to wear when we have an occassion to go to but when we are skint or not going anywhere we find stuff all the time!? lol



This week at Allsorts the theme is to use "kraft" in your creations. This week we are sponsored by the fabulous Pink Petticoat and as part of the DT we were sent the Big Fella kit to use. The prize this week is a free download and if you use a Pink Petticoat download to make your entry you will be entered twice!


I have used the birthday cake download and three of the modern papers from the kit. I've used brown paper for a layer as I don't have any kraft card left, its been embossed with the Argyll folder on the cuttlebug. Sentiment stamp is by Stampin Up as is the clear button (backed with brown paper thanks for the tip Kath), ribbon is from Crafty Ribbons. The image is coloured with my usual PMs. This card will be winging its way to my little (ok he's not that little at 33!!) brother for his birthday next week :o)


Can't wait to see your creations this week and good luck in the prize draw

thankyou card

As it is only 3 weeks til the my step sons wedding in Gretna I thought I better get a shufty on with the thankyou cards!! I want to keep them simple......partly because I like the style and partly because I am too tired to make them too complicated lol

The spotty paper matches the paper I used on the invitation and the style of stamp is the same.

What do you think girlies? All comments gratefull received...........its so not my usual style I'm not sure lol

WOW this is an amazing blog candy!

Jak @ Crafters Kitchen has an amazing blog candy to giveaway here

The prize is one of these babies.......A Quickcutz Silhouette!! An amazing giveaway I am sure you'll agree, the candy is running til 29 Ocotober so what are you waiting for girlies.....get yer butts over there and join in lol

ALLSORTS WEEK 20

this week over at Allsorts the theme has been set by Lisa and she wants to see you use Autumn as your inspiration this week. Not too hard with the weather outside and all the leaves blowing!

Paper: no idea it was part of a blog candy prize

Flowers and brad: from stash

Ribbon: Crafty Ribbons Christmas box

Sentiment: Stampin Up!

I wanted to keep the card simple this week.....partly because I am still not able to get my hands on all my craft stuff after the kitchen refurb and also because it is for a young friend of mine who is moving away and as she's not a cutesy girl I thought this suited her better.

Please come and join us over at Allsorts, we really do love looking at all the entries :o)

kitchen pics!!!!!!

Here we are as promised some before and after shots of the new kitchen!!

Ian has just walked through the old doorway.......... which is now the main run of units

the old run of units...........

which is now the doorway

back door area..............




and finally the full view :o)

And just to give you a taste of how we were living here's a couple of pics of the living room lol

Isn't my hubby a clever boy?? lol

Allsorts week 19

Morning girlies!! Good Lord its Saturday again (where has the week gone, it only feels like Wednesday here lol) so that means it's a new challenge over at Allsorts. This week Kirsten is challenging us to have "snowflakes in September" a theme we are all getting into our heads now the leaves are falling from the trees and the weather is turning colder! We had the log burner lit last night as it was freezing here, oh it was lovely to be so toasty!!

My card had to be one I could make without a craft table as the craft stuff is still in boxes and the table I used to use is now in the kitchen being used for it's intended purpose (a bit strange I know lol) so I have actually left myself withough a craft table!!! I am not impressed with myself, I usually think these things through more.....I blame the pregnancy brain of course........lol this baby has a lot to answer for!

I made a few of these beaded snowflakes last year and they are great for sitting on the sofa surrounded by thread and beads so opted for that. Please come and join us over at Allsorts and who knows you might just get yourself in the Christmas mood and get a few cards done early!!

catch up....

WOW I didn't realise it had been so long since I last posted.......shame on me, but as you know the kitchen refurb is well under way so I am claiming that as extenuating circumstances!! It is nearly finished now, Ian is painting it now and hopes to be finished and all back to normall in the next couple of days. I am sooooo looking forward to getting my house back to some semblance of order...........there are boxes of kitchen stuff everywhere. My poor hands are in an awful state I could do with a serious manicure lol. However as I say we are on the home straight so I will be back later in the week with some before, during and after pics :o)

I realised I hadn't posted any pics of the samples I made for the crafty ribbons challenge. It was a mystery challenge.......we didn't know until the ribbons arrived what the theme was. It was a fabulous box of Christmas ribbons, I have to admit they were all gorgeous and I loved playing with them. We were asked to decorate the box sleeve that comes with the ribon boxes and then whatever else we came up with :o)

The NOEL came from an old Chrsitmas card......I like that type of recycling lol

not the best of pics I am afraid to say but was taking them as I packed them up for posting!!

and a card for good measure lol

I would heartily recommend the Xmas box to anyone, the ribbons are perfect for all your Xmas projects!!

Well I am off to load up my lovely new dishwasher........it arrived yesterday and it is my first dishwasher I have been wanting one for years so I am the happiest panda around lol Nighty night girlies back soon with the kitchen pics

soooo behind!!

Here we are its Sunday night and I haven't even got round to posting my DT card for this weeks Allsorts challenge. This week it is Deb's challenge and she wants "something for the boys" so I made this card using a stamp I found in my craft box, SU paper and ribbon and the letters are cut on the cuttlebug. I sent this card to my step dad as it was his birthday this week :o)

The kitchen has been a saga this week, delayed deliveries, nowhere to put anything and a house where nothing goes right combined to make it a nightmare!! The weekend was particularly stressful as Ian nearly electucuted himself rewiring some sockets (ohhhh men!). To be honest Ian isn't the most patient of men when it comes to jobs like this and he tends to lose the head a wee bit so the air was blue more than a few times when things weren't going his way!! Of course combined with my pregnancy hormones it has been a bit of a tearful weekend too!

But we finally have some base units fitted now and the hob and oven are fitted and connected so at least we are back to being able to cook lol Here's hoping this week is better with less tantrums lol

busy busy busy

Hello girlies and I hope you're all having a lovely Bank Holiday Monday! Not much of a Bank Holiday here the kids are at school and I am working as usual boohoo lol

It is all go in the Panda household and Mr Panda is ripping out our kitchen to replace it so the place is like an absolute bomb site. Every time I look at it though I am just thinking of the finished look, we are changing the layout as well as the units so it is double messy as there are walls being torn down and a doorway being boarded up!

Sadly the crafty stuff has had to be packed away for the time being as we are storing lots of stuff in the living room for the time being........so if I am quiet you'll know why. I am relaxing the stresses by knitting though so I am still crafting in some form lol. I am halfway through a lovely cabled poncho for a Xmas present for one of the wee ones I look after. Then it will be time to do a wee cardi or two for the baby lol

have a faby day whatever you're doing girlies..............it's back to the pandemonium for me..............

allsorts week 16.......my challenge

Morning girlies!! It is my turn to set the challenge over at Allsorts this week and I have banned rubber!!! Yup no stamped images..............I have relented though and will let you have digital stamps/images.

I went for stitching for my card with a computer generated sentiment. I made a batch of cards for an aunt who was leading a week of meetings at her church in London and she wanted cards to give everyone at the end. She gave me a list of bible verses she wanted me to use and I got to decorate them how I chose...............but not too feminine as they were for man and women. It was quite a difficult brief to follow but I managed it and made 30 cards. She must have liked them though cos she has ordered some more!!! (heehee more stash money lol)

So I am keeping my fingers crossed that the idea of no stamping hasn't sent you all running for the hills and you will join us this week :o)

1 bag for three challenges

Felt great after I put Lily to bed tonight (fingers crossed this is the end of the pregnancy exhaustion for a while lol) so headed straight to the craft table (bugger the dishes lol) Over at Truly Scrumptious the theme is "anything but a card" hence the gift bag; there is a colour scheme over at Charisma Cardz of lemon, pink and green and the ABC challenge is B for buttons

Image: Anya by the Greeting Farm

Sentiment, cardstock and buttons: all Stamping Up

Flowers and ribbon: from stash

It is lovely to have something to blog!! I have been working on a couple of top secret bits for the mystery challenge with Crafty Ribbon...............they'll be up for show as soon as the ribbons are available to buy :o)

Allsorts week 15...

Where oh where has the time gone? Week 15 already over at Allsorts it has gone really quickly!! This week the theme has been set by Jules, our newest dt member and it is a doozy girlies...............we have a sketch to follow.....ok easy peasy.........but you also have to do some tearing...........gulp...you want me to tear my pretty papers? It was hard but I managed it (just)

Image: no idea it was a swap, coloured with whispers and promarkers

Paper: again no idea it was in my stash

Ribbons: Crafty Ribbons

Flowers and Gems: from stash

Also used: Glossy Accents on her wings

I can assure you that the edges of the paper are torn, not sure if you can see it in the pic. I tried to take a close up but they all came out rubbish! Come and join us this week and have a ripping time (groan....I know I know lol)

The Sugar Bowl challenge 17

The challenge over at the Sugar Bowl was to follow the fabulous sketch by Judy and to use flowers you made yourself. I really liked the sketch so I got my butt in gear and had some fun :o)Image: Gorjuss Girls set 2, coloured with promarkers

Paper: Stampin Up

Cardstock: scraps from drawer

Ribbon: crafty ribbons

Flower punch: Stampin Up

Back to school :o)

Lily has gone back to school today (and not a moment too soon lol) She looked very smart and grown up in her new uniform, can't believe my baby is in Primary 2 already.............ugh where is the time going?? I am glad the holidays are over at last, not that I don't LOVE spending time with Lily but she was soooo bored and she was missing her friends. Her class has changed a bit this year as we have had to lose two teachers at the school due a huge drop in the roll numbers (the class that left to High School was 30 and the new P1 were 9!!) Lily's P2 class have been split according to their birthdays and the eldest 7 have gone to a P2/3 class and the other 10 are in a new P1/2 class. Lily has her birthday in November so she is young in the class so she is now in a 1/2 composite class. I'm not worried about her learning rate tho as the methods used for teaching is ideal for composite classes as the kids are taught in small groups according to their ability. I am sure she will love P2 as much as P1 :o)