10 Birthday Things on the Tenth

Happy Birthday to me!

I thought in celebration of my birthday, that I would share 10 wonderful presents that I have had in adulthood.

This little piece of beached glass in the middle of the photo, was given to me this morning by my wonderful boy.  He found it at the weekend when they went out for a walk while I did some spring cleaning and he knew I would love it and managed to keep it a secret.  He was so proud of his find as he knew I didn't have any in my collections of shells and stone.  I love it.

My locket and chain is one of my very favourite possessions.  My Dad came shopping with Management and I to look for something perfect for my 21st birthday many moons ago and one of them bought the locket and the other the chain.  There is disagreement about who bought which piece and I can't remember and I don't care, I just love it.  I wear it most days.

My passport.  Strange present you might think but it was one of the best birthdays ever.  Management wanted to give me an early birthday present, the evening before my birthday, to cheer me up after a pants day at work.  It was tiny and I duly opened what I thought would be a small in value present.  I was SO cross with him for ruining my birthday by giving me such a big present early!  Then he revealed that I wouldn't be going to work for the next 2 days as we would heading to Paris VERY early the next morning and coming back at the end of the weekend.  But there was more...  He had originally planned to take me to Paris to see France V England in the what was then, 5 Nations, but he hadn't received conformation of tickets (thousands apply and some people are lucky).  He booked this alternative trip for my birthday instead but then got conformation of tickets for the match so we went back to Paris 5 weeks later!

These Promarkers appeared in my previous post. They were the ones sent to me by a fellow QVC Craft Forum member and we had originally planned to swap something but she said she would give them to me as an early birthday present.  It never fails to amaze me, the kindness of the on-line community.

I received this cheque from my Mother-In-Law this morning.  Money is always nice obviously but you can see from the note that it is specifically for crafting supplies!  In the past she has given me tokens for Hobbycraft as it is the shop that she knows.  However, we were talking over Christmas about how I like to shop in various places on-line and from 2Peas in America etc and so she thought money would be better.  She telephoned just now to remind me NOT to spend it on the children or the house.

I love amber, it reminds me of tigers and matches my red hair.  These earrings are the first amber items Management ever bought me.

I was blown away when I got this ticket for Scrap-a-Mia in 2010.  Management had overheard a scrapping buddy and I talking about it and went off to find out more and bought it.  He was a bit worried as he didn't know anything about it or if I would like it etc but he chose so very very well and I had a total blast.  And again in 2011.  Really hoping they run it again this year too.

My cake stand is technically not a present from someone else but bought with birthday money so it counts right?  I love this style and it was just right for my craft room.  It houses my special ribbons and lace offcuts and washy tapes etc.  Shame about the shocking photo.

My favourite thing to make in my Kenwood is Delia Smith's Little Sticky Toffee puddings so I must really find some more low fat recipes to make.  I love baking but I love cake mix too.  Another shocking photo.

My Nikon was a present from Management with some Christmas money added in.  It is now 2 years old and I still don't know how to work it properly (clearly!) but it is on my list of things to do now that B has started pre-school (first morning today and she ran all the way there!)  I did an OU Digitial Photography course but didn't really make the most of it and I've forgotten it all so I will go back through it.  I love digital - the ability to get instant feedback on your shots is something I will never tire of.

And that blurry teal pattern there?  That is the most wonderful card made for me by Jaki - thank you Jaki!  I'm looking forward to a day of pampering tomorrow when Management is off and I'll be opening my presents when he gets home tonight so there is yet more of this birthday to come.

10 on the tenth is brought to you by Shimelle and this month she is sharing her fave layouts from 2011, which are all fabulous, obvs.

Bye for now

xx

10 Things on the Tenth

This is my first time of joining in with Shimelle's 10 Things on the Tenth but it seemed a good time to share some stuff that has been growing on me over the months.  Its been that kind of season really... :-)

Every scrapper understands...

1) The shame of someone in the supermarket pointing out a letter sticker attached to your left breast.  (I did not do that.  It was not me.  Oh no.)

2) The fear of cutting in to a cherished piece of patterned paper, or even worse, the trauma of cutting into an okay piece of patterned paper and then turning it over only to find that it was the reverse of a cherished piece of patterned paper.  (I couldn't bring myself to use the "wrong" side so it found its way here instead.)

3) The aggravation of realising that you have started to stick down your title but you are missing a vital letter and they are super sticky and won’t come off, so you have to cut up another letter to fill in the gap. (That "r" is not really an "r")

4) The inability to say no to your favourite brands in the sales even though you already have enough stash to scrap a layout everyday for the next hundred years.  (Can. Not. Resist. My. Minds. Eye.)

5) The delight of finding something in the recycling bin that is just right to be made into an embellishment.  (Rock salt cannister that became a desk tidy and name badge for Scrap-a-Mia.)

6) The shock of finding that a small untrained “someone” has attempted to modify one of your finished layouts.  (Remarkably no small fingers or any other body parts were damaged during the modification of this layout.)

7) The frustration of waiting for a pizza box shaped parcel through the post.  (This particular parcel wasn't pizza box style in the end but the frustration was the same, especially when I thought it was my actual parcel that had been damaged / lost.)

8) The surprise of finding that the 5 minutes you said you would be in finishing this layout has actually turned into rather longer and it is now the early hours of the morning. (This layout took rather longer than the allotted 2 hours for the sketch challenge....)

9) The determination for people to wear suitable clothing so that it matches your intended paper choices.  (I swear this was an accidental wardrobe choice, but hey, it worked.)

10) The complete and utter delight in creating something magical from a simple photo, some paper and a glue stick, that helps us to unwind, to relish the big and the small, to remember the positives, to use those photos we take, and to tell our stories as only we can.  (Nuff said really.)

Or is it just me?

Well I hope you have a wonderful weekend and for those of you interested in the Rugby World Cup, I really hope you enjoy that too!  In the meantime, have a great time perusing other people's blogs to see what their ten things might be this month.

Bye for now

xx