Happy New Year!

Happy new year everyone! Hope you all had a nice Christmas and New Year! We had a lovely time, first one as a married couple, but it was mega busy visiting family! We had a very quiet new year, in bed just after midnight! It is going to be difficult to top 2010 due to the wedding, but you never know what the year will bring. Will have to see what life throws at me this year! I have made the standard new year's resolutions that I have popped below...need to write them down in order to keep track of them...thought my blog would be the best place to do that!

1) Lose weight (put on loads since the wedding so now need to try and shift it again!)
2) Give myself at least one day off, at the weekend, from work. (Been getting far too stressed about work so need to do this for my sanity!)
3) Continue to try and read at least one book a month-not school related! (Did quite well with this last year...think I may upload book reviews on here!)
4) Try to blog more! (Since I have been blogging again I have really enjoyed it!)
5) Spend more time enjoying my hobbies. (I love to make cards and have really got into baking again so want to make sure I spend time doing what I enjoy this year.)
6) Try to relax and not be such a control-freak! (I now realise how much I stress myself out with this!)

Think that is enough to be getting on with. I am going to try and track this throughout the year on my blog so will keep you posted! Any motivation will be greatly received!

Our first task of the year is to start decorating again. We decorated our living room in October and now need to work our way through the house. We are starting upstairs now as the kitchen just needs a lick of paint so will do that last. We are saving up for a super duper wardrobe from Ikea at the moment and on the hunt for some nice wallpaper for a feature wall! Want it to be all cosy and warm but make it look a little more spacious as it is quite a small bedroom. Will keep you posted on any decisions we make...I'm looking forward to it but I don't think hubby is very keen! He will like it when it is all done...and all paid for.

First book review will be coming soon....am in the middle of reading the shopaholic books...got the latest one for Christmas. They really let me just escape into a fun girly world for a little while and are such an easy read! Will also be starting to track weight loss....must dust the scales off!

Thanks for reading.
Arline
xx

Snow Day!!

Can't believe the snow! Conditions here are quite bad, roads are icy and thick with snow! School has closed today so am going to tuck myself up on the sofa under a blanket....soooo cold! A50 just down the road from us is closed apparently which shows how bad it is! My sister is currently stranded in Sunderland-she went up last weekend to go and see a band (from Lincoln as she is at uni there!) and is still stuck there with many attempts to get home. Trains keep getting cancelled, buses are cancelled and taxis refusing to go to places in the North East due to the weather! Bless her...bet all she wants to do is get home! Going to catch up with my marking, do some wrapping up of xmas pressies and perhaps a little online xmas shopping! Stay safe everyone!xx

New hobby...baking!

Well, I seem to have found a new hobby....baking! I used to love baking with my Mum when I was younger. I have recently been watching The Great British Bake Off and it has inspired me to spend some time baking! I made just a few simple fairy cakes for my friend's little boy's birthday party....nothing special! Then I branched out and had a go at a Christmas cake...it seems to have gone well! Smells delicious and I think I'm going to get my friend to test it...she doesn't know it yet! Half will hopefully be going in a hamper of food that we have been preparing for the in-laws and the other half will be for Christmas for my Mum and Nan. Apologies about the quality of the pictures... Please give me your opinions as to how it looks! It is my Gran's recipe and a cake my Mum makes every year so I am hoping it tastes as nice as her cake does! (I can't test it though as I don't like fruit cake...the irony! Lol!)

I have been finding some fabulous baking blogs out there and I have found a baking challenge I might have a go at....might inspire me to get going! It will take a while to get back into it all but I'm really excited about starting again! We have also just finished decorating our living room so I feel like a proper little wifey at the moment!

Really looking forward to Christmas too so am thinking of combining my craftiness with baking and making some homemade treats. I have been eyeing up some Christmas chocolate moulds and cake tins today so watch this space! I also found out that you can create something called cake-pops (a lollipop but cakes!) Never heard of them before....has anyone ever had a go at them?

Anyway peeps...thanks for looking and watch this space for any treats I may have a go at!

xx

Blog Makeover...about time methinks!

Well, now the wedding is all over (:-() I felt it was time for a blog makeover and to rejoin the world of blogging! I have taken up a few more hobbies that I thought I would tell you all about but didn't feel I could begin telling you about those until I shared some of the wedding photies with you! Here are a few of my faves...there are so many it is very difficult to choose and I don't want to bore you all...here we go!

I had ironed some transfers onto hoodies and t-shirts for us girlies in the morning! Love this shot of the four of us!

Me and my Mum before the event! My Mum looked gorgeous on the day...when she tried on the dress she wore when we went shopping, I started crying! Knew it was the one! I was worse than when I got my dress! Lol!My fabulous bridesmaids! They did me proud on the day, running around like headless chickens...I'm sure they can be hired out if needed! Thanks girlies, you made the day really special!This was taken before we went to the Church, just after the girls had helped me get ready. I was so excited all morning!

Here is myself, my stunning two bridesmaids, Becky and Lindsay and Becky's son Dylan who was our gorgeous little Page Boy! This was just before we left for the Church!

I absolutely adore this picture of Dylan! He was a star all day, so good and we had a good old boogie at night....a future breakdancer me thinks!

Here is our gorgeous little flowergirl, Florrie! She didn't make it down the aisle-think she was a little overwhelmed, but kept us entertained for the rest of the day and looked so pretty in her dress!

This is one of my favourite pictures of Steve. I was so pleased he liked the surprise of his Mustang and I was so relieved it had shown up!

This was one of our first photos as Mr. and Mrs. Mellor! We had a dramatic exit...the doors opened and the clock above them fell and smashed everywhere! Luckily noone was hurt but it definitely made for an exciting exit!

Here is one of the group shots of our two immediate families together with our wedding party. They don't scrub up too bad do they?!

This is one of my favourite shots as it really shows the venue off! It was such a lovely day, the weather was brilliant. This shot looks as if we have been photoshopped on! It is real, I promise you!

The cutting of the cake! I couldn't believe how many people were taking this picture...it was like the papparazzi had arrived!

And finally, our first dance! I really enjoyed this...Steve kept making me giggle as he said he felt really silly everyone watching him 'dance' as we circled round and round! Lol!

Here is a write-up of the day that I wrote for the newsletter of the wedding forum I was on which helped me so much throughout all of the wedding plans! I warn you....slush alert!!

I won't bore you anymore but post this and then tell you all about what has been happening since!

Thanks for looking...hope I haven't bored you silly with all the photies!

Arline

xx

Hair and Make Up Trials!

Today I went with my bessie mate and bridesmaid Becky, for my wedding hair and make up trial! Piccies are below...what do you think?! I think the front looks better when the curls have dropped...ones with the veil are from when I got home after getting windswept walking around town! Please excuse the dodgy one in the mirror! Becky had a lovely bun on the side, I was fascinated when the hairdresser was putting it up! We had such a giggle today though...fab day! Thanks Becky!xx

Bridesmaid Dresses!

Well, I picked up the two bridesmaid dresses last year and paid the balance. They now just need to be altered when it gets nearer to the big day! Becky has bought her silver satin shoes to go with her dress....£3!! What a bargain from BHS! Lindsay is still on the hunt for hers. I wasn't sure whether the colour was going to be ok as the swatch was a bit grey but they are a lovely shade of purple-possibly a bit lighter than we wanted so we are going to take one to the suit shop to match the colour with the men's ties. Here are some pics!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! Thought I'd take a bit of time to update my blog. As we only have 7 months till the wedding -eek!-most of my posts are going to be wedding related! Haven't had chance to do much crafting recently apart form making some wedding invites for somebody! I've had a blog makeover as you can see-tried to get colours that matched the wedding colour scheme but couldn't! I like it though, nice and fresh for a new year! I shall be posting quite a lot today, uploading lots of pics and getting you up to speed with wedding details!xx

Blog Candy Winner!

Well I'm a little late posting this but here goes...all of the entries were gorgeous and it was really hard to pic but the winning card is....

This gorgeous card belongs to Jac and this was the first time she had entered a blog candy competition or a challenge and I think she has done an amazing job! Using a Forever Friend image won me over I think-loving these at the moment! Watch this space for some Christmas cards with the new range on! It was definitely pink and girly but not too fussy-simple and classy! Thanks Jac-gorgeous! Thanks to everyone who entered, I wish you could all have won! Shall post later with some pics of birthday cards and pressies-had a fab day! Thanks for looking!xx

Wedding shoes!

Last weekend Steven and I had a trip to Ashbourne to a bridal shop that has tons of wedding shoes and I purchased my wedding shoes! So exciting! They were far too expensive but gorgeous all the same!

We are also having a meeting with the florist on Sunday to try and sort flowers out-can't believe how excited I am about flowers! Lol! Only 11 months to go now-it is flying! Back to school next week as well so it is all going to get a bit manic!

Haven't done as much crafting as I'd have liked to but please don't forget to have a go at my birthday blog candy! Thanks for looking as always!xx

Some more fab candy!

Jacqui has also got some fab candy available on her blog celebrating reaching 130 000 hits! Wow! Not surprising though when you look at her stunning creations! Go take a look!xx

Bev's fabulous candy!

Bev has some fabulous candy up for grabs on her blog! She is celebrating having over 400 000 hits as well as having 1098 followers! What an achievement! Her cards are fab too-lots of inspiration-make sure you go over and take a look!! It is only open for a few more hours-go quickly!!xx

A Very Crafty Weekend!!

What a busy weekend it has been! Friday night and Saturday afternoon I spent with my future sister-in-law making a scrapbook for brother-in-law to be as it is his 30th birthday next weekend-bit of a rush job but we were pleased with the end product, may have converted her to cardmaking and scrapbooking too! Lol! Then Saturday night I spent with my bessie mate Becky and we had a craft evening where we made some ATCs! I really enjoyed that as I haven't made any for ages!! Then today I have spent most of the day in Nottingham but when I got home I decided to take part in some challenges!

Here are the three ATCs that I made when Becky and I had our little craft night! I used some Forever Friend stamped images, coloured in with Pro Markers and used some of the Daisy and Dandelion paper pack which is lovely!

I have managed to make three cards and combine them with six challenges! So here is the first!

This is for the Friday Sketchers challenge which was this fab sketch which I really enjoyed using and it is also for the Just Magnolia challenge which was the theme of friendship. I have used one of my Magnolia stamped images that somebody gave to me, coloured in with Pro Markers and the papers are from Daisy and Dandelion pack and a DCWV pack. I really like the purple and green combination although the 'friendship cupcake' is a funny colour-not sure if I'd eat that if someone gave me it! Lol! I added a flower-using Becky's top tip! (I love it when we have craft nights as she gives me loads of fabby tips!) Her top tip was to cut green flowers in half to make it look like the flowers have got leaves behind it!

Here is the next card that I made:

The two challenges that I have taken part in here are the Papertake Weekly Challenge, which was this fab layout, and My Time to Craft which is the theme of Christmas-trying to get ahead of myself with Christmas cards! I used one of my Elzybells Christmas stamps from last year, coloured in with Pro-Markers and I used the new Papermania Christmas papers which are really funky!

And finally...

This card is for the Dottie's World challenge which was the theme of romance and Cutie Sunday challenge which was this lovely sketch! I used one of the already coloured in images of Dottie and George-this image is sooo cute!! Then I used peel offs which I coloured in to fit my colour scheme-have been getting into using my peel-offs recently as I have liked colouring them in so that they co-ordinate with my card. The pink background paper has got a slight pattern on but looks a bit pale, this card does look better in real life I promise! I think if I was to use the sketch again I'd probably use a bolder pattern as a background-thought it might be a nice anniversary card for a young married couple!

That's it for now!! Thanks for looking!! I have got to make my brother-in-law to be his 30th birthday card this week so shall post that when I get a min! TTFN!xx

Birthday blog candy!!

Hi everyone! It is my birthday on 19th September so have decided to celebrate my last birthday as a 'single gal!' with a bit of blog candy!!

In order to enter my blog candy I would like you to make a 'Happy Birthday' card and post it on your blog linking back to this candy! You can make it using anything you like and can combine it with any challenges you may be taking part in! I will choose my favourite to win the candy!! I love anything cute or pink and girly but love something a bit different too-few hints for you! Lol! Hope you enjoy joining in and good luck!! I look forward to seeing what you all make!! The closing date will be 7pm Saturday 19th September and I shall post the winner on the same evening! Don't forget to post a comment here linking to your card on your blog so I can come and visit you!

Some challenges!

Had a bit of a craft spurt yesterday! Lol! Have made four Christmas cards and have done 4 different challenges-not bad for a few hours yesterday afternoon-hehe! Firstly, I am really sorry about the picture quality-my camera is playing up, really think that we need a new one. They are a bit blurry!

Here is my first card that I made for Friday Sketchers challenge. Loved the sketch but my measuring didn't go to plan so might have to have another go at this sketch! I love the image! The paper is from the new Daisy and Dandelion paper packs and the image is one that Becky stamped for me-so cute all snuggled up under their blanket.

My second card that I made was for Sketch Saturday challenge. Loved this sketch and really like this card. I used a Tilda Santa image, again from Becky, and used the same papers as above. Used some velvet ribbon in Christmassy colours as well as finishing it off with a few flowers. I don't often make A5 cards but thought this sketch suited the size of the card.

The next card I made was for the Cutie Sunday challenge. A great sketch again and I included a little heart charm on this one. Think if I made this one again I'd do it on an A5 card too as I was struggling for room a little bit on this one! Made this with another image from Becky, same papers as the others as well as some of the new Papermania Christmas papers too. Love this image-so cute!

My final card was for a challenge I haven't had a go at before but I really enjoyed it! This card was for the Just Magnolia challenge. The DT cards are gorgeous and full of inspiration. I decided to make Edwin into a little tag and tucked him in his pocket! He is so cute as Santa Claus! I definitely will use this sketch again.

Thanks for looking. Hope you liked them-hoping to do a few other challenges throughout the week including some I haven't taken part in before! As for now I best do some school work-got soooo much planning to do! Eek!

Thanks again!xx

Bridesmaid Dresses and Invites!

A couple of weeks ago my bridesmaids, mum and I went shopping for dresses! First shop we went in, first dress my sister tried on, we bought! Have posted a pic of the dresses-won't be that colour though as we have gone for a 'dusty lavender' as our colour scheme is purple and silver. All very exciting! Here is a link to the website in case you want to see the exact colour!

We then spent the rest of the day trying to work out the sort of invites I wanted. Inspired by Becky, Mum and Linz we came up with the following! Has different sections to fit all the different information-this is draft 1 though! Obviously the writing on it won't be handwritten, I will stamp or print it and I'm also thinking of using a heart stamp I have bought which has all different fonts of 'love' in the shape of a heart and then emboss it on the front (replacing the current small heart) am going to have a bit more of a play around so will keep you posted!

Am going to try and make some Christmas cards this week so hopefully will have something crafty to post for you!

Thanks for looking!xx