Goodbye goodbye 2010...

You know, I can't wait until I can write here about what's going to be so great about 2011... and I've moaned more than enough about 2010(!), so for now, just take my word for it and know that a great year is on its way :) celebrate my friends!

If you want to join in Art Journal Friday this weekend and let out how you feel about the New Year (and the old!), I've posted this month's over on The Scrappy Tree :) have fun!

Love, light and good health to you and yours in the New Year :)

Gayle xx

Happy Birthday my darling :)

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas! Only now am I starting to resurface ;) Thank you again to everybody who took part in our Christmas Eve party (see this post if you want to see what we got up to!), I really enjoyed visiting everyone and hope we can do it again soon!

The 28th December is my fiance's 25th birthday (he's catching me up slowly, honestly!) - I did make him a card but didn't put his age on it; even though he hasn't said anything about getting older, this time he seems to have mentioned his age more than on previous birthdays! FINALLY not just me sensing the unstoppable march of time ;)


I find it so difficult not to put flowers on things, but managed to refrain this time around ;)

Well, we had more falls and injuries here this week if you believe it, poor Df fell a few times on the ice right onto his knees a few days ago, and now that the ice has melted and supposedly the peril has diminished(!) my poor Nan fell over the dog bed and cut her leg just today! We are a disaster area, my brother's windscreen shattered as he got to the end of the driveway going to work on Christmas Day! You really do have to laugh ;) nevertheless I am looking forward to turning a new page for the next year in just a few short days :)

I can't tell you how excited I am for this New Year to come :) I quietly feel that 2011 is going to be a really good year... let's see shall we? )

Gayle xx

Welcome to the Christmas Eve blog party!!

It's here it's here!! Welcome to the Christmas Eve blog party!! The snow is still here...

...the tree is up and the presents are out...

...the Christmas village is all lit up...

...the homemade mince pies have been tasted...

...and we've even got Christmas milk!!!

Between us we've had our fair share of falls on the ice over the past week, and some came off better than others (isn't this pitiful?? :-D) ...

...but my Nan has just arrived, we've all finished work and we are ready for Christmas! My Christmas Eve has taken a similar path for past couple of years and I always look forward to it :) I usually have a fun morning at work followed by an early finish, and then home to get the final bits and pieces all together while we wait for Nan to arrive from the other side of the country, and then we spend some time together followed by some wine and some scrapping - life is good! I just love the change of pace and being able to enter that little bubble of Christmas with my family :)

There are going to be a lot of changes over the next year in our home life; among other things, this time next year I will be a married woman! I am super excited to get our wedding date confirmed in the New Year (we have been engaged for over 3 years so it's been a long time coming!) and am looking forward to the time away with our families and friends :) there is more to come so watch this space!

I don't know about you but I feel like Christmas has really crept up on me this year - I blinked and all of a sudden here it is! I don't really feel like I've had the time to enjoy the run-up to Christmas, but I really wanted to make time to enjoy today, so welcome to our blog party! Nine of us wanted to celebrate this final day where everything comes together before the big event tomorrow, so let me introduce the eight to follow :)

Julie - A Creative Journey Through Life

Leanne - My Little Life Of Scrap

Kristin - Places, Things & Me

Sherry - Sherry's Simple Blog

Barbara - Baraginie And Co

Diana - The Scrappy Tree

Michelle - Happenings On This Side Of The River

Kelly - Journal Journeys

Each of these ladies has something to share about their experience of the festive season, so hop on over for a visit! Your next visit will take you across the pond to Minnesota and the lovely Julie, who I believe is experiencing some serious snow ;)

I'm going to settle in with my family and some Christmas movies, but before I go I wish you and yours a very merry Christmas - hope that Santa brings you all you wish for :) Gayle xx

Christmas is on its way...

All quiet on the blogging front this week... but we're gearing up for the Christmas Eve blog party on Friday! It will start here at 6pm (GMT), when I'll be posting the list of blogs to send you on your journey and to get those festive feelings going for the weekend! Have fun and don't work too hard this week! :)

Gayle xx

Snow day!

When I went to bed last night, there was no snow, no frost, maybe a little sleet that came down as I was driving home from work. This morning? This is what was outside! Do you remember my post from a week ago with Bill and Ben? This was them this morning :)

I can imagine they were less than impressed! From the same post last week, I put up a photo of the sun shining when I walked out of the front door in the morning; well this is that same view today:-

The photo below is our usual way out to the main road in the morning; around that corner and up a steep hill lies the main road, but I didn't get up there today...

What really fascinated me was that yesterday there was nothing, no snow at all, and overnight there was a good 10cm of snow on everything - look at the poor plants! And the table! We sat there for barbeques in the summer!

The cars had a lovely layer of snow on them :) when we went out to get things from the car it was dark inside because of the snow :)

The photo below shows the view from my bedroom window; across the bridge and to the right is where my stepdad fell on the ice just over a week ago - none of us went down there today! The dogs loved the snow on the walkway at the back of the house today, and had great fun with breaststroke through the snow on the driveway at the front :) Millie, our black Scottie dog had a great white beard!

My favourite thing about the photo below is the amazing colour of the sky; I just couldn't believe how beautiful it was :)

This last photo with the sun shining through the trees was my absolute favourite of the day :) the sun shining through the snowy branches was just beautiful :)

I don't know if it's the snow or the impromptu day off work but I was feeling really festive today :) on Christmas Eve we are going to have a little blog party talking about anything to do with the beginning of the holidays :) me personally, I will be finishing work on that day, maybe posting a project I've worked on, and talking about how I'm feeling about Christmas this year :) if you have a blog and would like to share your post with us on Christmas Eve, send me an e-mail at gtillyer (at) hotmail (dot) com or leave me a comment on this post by midday GMT on Sunday and you can join our blog party! Look forward to having you with us :)

Happy weekend everybody :) stay warm!

Gayle xx

Christmas Eve Blog Party!

An invitation to all the arts and crafts bloggers! I want to invite you all to take part in a blog party this Christmas Eve! Myself and the lovely Kel at Journal Journeys decided that finishing work/school/whatever usually occupies you during the week ready for the holidays is definitely worth celebrating! Lots of happy dancing (a la Snoopy) going on over here :)

Come and celebrate the beginning of the holidays with us!! Share a project, a recipe, a Christmas thought, host a giveaway - you choose!

If you have a blog and you'd like to take part, all you have to do is e-mail me at gtillyer (at) hotmail (dot) com with the address of your blog by midday GMT Sunday (19th December 2010) so we can get our blog list together, and be ready with your post on Christmas Eve! The theme will be 'The Holidays Start Here!!"

Looking forward to hearing from you :) season's greetings!

December Daily

Just thought I would share some of the photos I want to use for my December Daily from one of our frostier mornings this week :) as you can see, Bill and Ben are feeling the chill...

Defrosting the car has become a daily necessity...

...but at least the extreme cold means the sun is shining :) I love this view up the street when you step outside my parents' house in the morning and look right :)

...and even though it's cold, I like the feeling of being hidden away while sitting in the car with the engine running waiting for the windows to thaw :)

Happy Friday everybody :) xx

Happy Birthday! (and stepdad update!)

Happy Birthday to my Nan! This is her card on the left, I got this gorgeous stamp in the sale recently and wanted an excuse to use it :) I can post it here because she doesn't read blogs ;) she should have had it with her today, but unfortunately the weather is affecting the postal service as well as everybody else so hopefully it will arrive tomorrow! She's coming to visit us at Christmas so looking forward to Christmas Eve!

Also need to say a BIG happy birthday to my dear friend Kristin (whose card I won't post here because she DOES visit my blog and she also hasn't seen her card!) - please go visit her blog and wish her a wonderful birthday! Kristin, wishing you all the best for today and a fantastic year ahead :)

I also need to say thank you to the well wishers :) my stepdad had the op yesterday and we think it went ok! Waiting for them to put a plaster cast on his leg and do an occupational therapy doo-dah to make sure he's ok to come home and mobilise in the house, and then we will have him back where he belongs :) it's so sweet to see my parents missing each other, oh bless! They are a bit lost without each other, even when it's only 15 minutes down the road ;)

Wishing you happy hump day :)
Gayle xx

Look out!

Only a few days into December and disaster is striking already! I went out to a Christmas do on the weekend and saw 5 people fall over! Admittedly two of them had drunk a little too much and tumbled on some steps (ouch!) but the other three all became victims of the icy conditions :/

Yesterday morning my poor stepdad became the next victim; he was out walking the dogs and slipped, breaking a bone in his knee and tearing the quad muscle from the bone - OUCH! That's his x-ray in the picture above. Thank goodness he had his mobile phone with him (which he NEVER takes anywhere) and was able to phone home - poor soul couldn't get up off the floor :/ we went to get him up, dropped the dogs off at home and then went straight to the hospital... and then waited 14 hours for scans, doctors and an available bed! Phew! Accident & Emergency was a seriously busy place yesterday, can you believe so many people can fall over at the same time?
The sign above should say 'Ystafell Blaster' which is 'Plaster Room' in Welsh - my stepdad had to have a brace put on overnight to keep his knee immobilised until they operated today.

He's in surgery right now to put his knee back together :) we've got everything crossed for a good result :)

Gayle xx

Meet some of my friends :)

I want to say a big welcome to the newest member of The Scrappy Tree design team - Diana!
Diana is a fab scrapper and absolute queen of cards, layouts, mini books, and everything else she turns her hand to!
I love how she has such a definite style and you can always tell that a piece is hers just by looking at it :)

She's going to be a wonderful addition to the team, I know I always feel inspired looking at her work :)

You can read some more about Diana by clicking here to go to The Scrappy Tree, and if you click on the picture of her face at The Scrappy Tree blog you can see some more samples of her amazing work in her scrapbook.com gallery.

Talking of inspiring, can I also invite you to support another talented scrapper and friend called Michelle - she's been shortlisted by Little Yellow Bicycle for a beautiful LO using photos of her gorgeous son and she deserves your vote! You can vote on their Facebook page here or on their blog here - thanks for your support! Michelle has a blog called Happenings On This Side Of The River where she shares her fantastic pictures and wonderful layouts :) go visit and say hello! Have to mention that Michelle makes some great cookies :) (this will make more sense if you visit her latest blog post!) and even though we're miles apart across the pond, Michelle has not only shared some of her recipes with me but even sent me some to taste last Christmas! Now there's a scrappy friend indeed ;) xx

Last but not least I'll share a little something of mine :) today is December 1st, and so begins my first December Daily! I love the idea of documenting your December (of course these wonderful girls like Ali Edwards and Shimelle always make such amazing looking projects that you simply have to want one for yourself!) and intend to give it my best shot this year :)

I'm following Ali Edwards' December Daily this year - I admit to being a little intimidated last year because her album was just TOO amazing ;) but she went with a simpler design this year and I thought I could give it a bash :) This is my album ready to go; I finished the front cover and the basic pages inside, and I'll probably share a few pages here as I complete them throughout the month :)



I know what I want for page one, but have yet to get some good photos! Watch this space :)
Happy Hump Day everybody :) Gayle xxx