Thursday 19 August 2010

One of the nice things about holidays...

... is finding sweet little trinkets that you'd never find at home. In an attempt to escape from the overwhelming testosterone of our all male party , I made my own way into Berne for a little retail therapy on my own. This involved a bus and a train ( both arriving to within a  second of their designated timetables) and a sumptuous nussgipfel en route which I now know means a nutty croissant.

Once there, I ferreted out a few favourite shops , most of which involved buttons, ribbons and paper. Have a look at these little gems.

The tin of buttons came to light at an alpine festival that involved beer , bratwurst, sugar cookies and delightful bric a brac stalls. It set me back all of 1 CHF ( about 75p !). I also found the biscuit cutters there and was spoilt for choice - a thousand and one designs but settled for a birdy, a teddy and the sweetest little scallopped heart cut out design.

Not sure what to do with the masking tape yet but who could resist all those colours ? They will undoubtedly make an appearance on one of my layouts in the not too distant future.

The paper birds are Japanese tissue cut-outs, very delicate.

What I haven't pictured is the ton of chocolate I ate on the way home but then doubtless that will be making an appearance shortly too , only not on a layout but on my hips.















Thursday 5 August 2010

Watch the Birdy


I'd forgotten all about this little gem . Bought it years ago at a flea market for £1 then re-discovered it all over again in my bead box. A little silver camera ...

... but the best bit is what you see when you open it up ...



... a little birdy ... but I'm not allowed to call it cute as I promised I wouldn't keep using that word but it is isn't it ?

Just come back from a funny old market at Kempton Racecourse. Youngest son picked up 20 bags of crisps when I wasn't looking ... for £1 and they're only 2 months past the sell by date ! Who would want 20 bags of some vile tasting, football world cup flavoured bag of hydrogenated fat ? An eleven year old I guess. Suppose I'm not even going to get close to his 5 a day today ... if only the governement health guidelines advised 2 Mars Bars plus a pound of lard per day , we'd be fine.

As for myself ? A pink girly back pack and some hair extensions and I still had change from a fiver. Don't you just love markets ? Let me know what you've bought lately.

Monday 2 August 2010

Remind me not to use the word cute for at least a month

I'm in danger of retrograding into a teenager, or worse, a pseudo american with a penchant for twee tat ( try typing that when you're not sober ) . I've just realised that I've used the word 'cute' in the last 2 posts. Next thing you know I'll be calling everything cool ... or worse ... kewl . Mind you that's got to be better than 'sick' which is all I ever hear my children using to describe anything that's vaguely impressive. So what are they going to use when they really are sick or is there another word for that too ?

Week 3 or it could be 33 , I've lost all track of time, of the school holidays. And if we're talking semantics why is it called school holidays as  a) they're not at school, more's the pity and b) this is NOT my idea of a holiday.

Anyway, the piggy bank is empty, I'm fed up of thinking up nutritious lunchtime meals and the grass is as dead as a dodo. Every-thing's looking decidedly jaded and a little bit frayed around the edges which includes me. I've stopped wearing mascara and the washing pile is multiplying like that pile of mops and buckets in the Sorcerer's Apprentice. The boys have lost the use of their limbs - incapable of remembering to carry anything upstairs and unable to get up from the sofa and the fridge is running on empty. The list of 'interesting things to do during the school holidays' has remained untouched on the kitchen worktop and I'm counting the days until September. It's always been my favourite month and now I know why.

Today I took youngest son to a cycling proficiency course that's running for the week. I was exhilarated to think that these things still exist. They seemed to belong to a dim and distant world of school milk and Tufty the road safety squirrel , showing my age again. Actually, I'm quite impressed that I remembered the little rodent's name - must have left quite an impression.




I managed to find a helmet to wear as I accompanied son plus friend to the venue but failed to impress the road safety instructor as I was informed that I had it on back to front . This blew my cover and ruined my chances of winning the covetable prize of  Most Safety Conscious Mum as I'd clearly never worn one before or was too drunk to notice or both. Actually it was morning so I wasn't drunk unless the bottle of rose I'd seen off last night was still in my bloodstream.

I picked them up 2 hours later after a pint or two of coffee and was told that the first hour was really boring as they'd been sat down and made to listen to some safety rules which of course bored the pants off them as they obviously knew everything there was to know already. Oh the arrogance of youth. We then cycled home together whilst they pointed out my myriad cycling errors. Tomorrow I'm going to try and get my helmet on the right way round and brush up on my left hand turns which, according to my 10 year old, were 'pants' .

...and how cute is this ?



Found this little beauty at Accessorize . Looks like it was almost made for scrapbookers - the cutest necklace with scissors, buttons, a ruler , a heart , a pencil and a coin ... although in my case a credit card wold probably be more appropriate or just a bank statement covered in red figures ... but then it wouldn't look so cute now would it ?