Awww Shucks! The Leibster Award

Well, here I am welling up again... aren't you all the sweetest bunch of people???!!!

I only popped in to check a few things... and saw I had a few comments on my last (rather melancholy) post. I read through... tears clouding my vision, and thought to myself "you silly old fool!" :)

So here I am... saying "Thank you!" to everyone who takes time to read a few lines others have written, and to make a whole lot of us - because I know it's not just me - feel as though we're not all so alone and crazy in the way we feel sometimes.

Big hugs'n'stuff to Sheridan, who mentioned me and listed me in her award blog...

Here's how it works (and I admit to hitting 'copy & paste' for this):

This award is given to bloggers with less than 200 followers, in the hopes that it will bring many new friends/followers.

Leibster is German and means 'dearest' or 'beloved' but it can also mean 'favourite'. The idea of the Leibster award is to bring attention to blogs with less than 200 followers. So, in the spirit of good fun I am passing this award on to five other bloggers. Please stop by and visit them.

The Rules are:

1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

2. Reveal your five picks for the award and let them know.

3. Post the award on your blog.

4. Bask in the love from the most supportive people on the blogshare-other bloggers.

5. Finally and the best rule of all..........have fun and spread the love!
My favorites for this award are listed below. Click on over to their sites and take a look!

In no particular order...

Scatty Chick at Scraps Of Me

Sandra at All Things Pretty

Diane at Pixies Crafty Workshop

Toni (MissTeeJay) at My World... Sort Of

Jules at Scrappin' Mojo

As always, there were so many more I wanted to list... but rules are rules!

I think I chose the people I have done because they are seem to be strong, fun-loving women with some amazing ideas - truly, go visit their blogs and have a sneaky peek :)

Well, although my life at the moment is all miniatures and vegetables I have to make a start on finishing a lot of my old projects. And yes I did just mention miniatures and vegetables in the same sentence... apparently I have quite a knack for making 1:24th scale vegetables. Who knew! Though I admit having been utterly defeated by teeny little onions. 'Nuff said :)

Back to the whole 'finishing off' thread...

I've been asked by the local church to take my mini-books and scrap albums to a craft show. Everyone at 'Unravelled' (the St Marys Church craft club) 'shows' there... and these women are a gifted lot - so I'm quite chuffed at being asked. Of course, it may have nothing at all to do with the fact that my creations are any good, but that I seem to be the only scrapbooker who attends the craft club *lol*

My mum is a tatter and knitter and crochet queen... many of the other attendees are either knitters or card makers (and flippin' excellent they all are at their chosen crafts too!).

So... that will be in June... and I'll have until then to finish off all the tags and pages within each album.

Part of me is kind of looking forward to getting out all my scrapbooking stuff again... and part of me is dreading having so many projects on the go at one time. Still... if I'm crafting then I have less chance to fill me hands (and then my face) with muffins and cake *lol*

Oh... forgot to add that I finally have got a name for that Christmas album...
Elizabeth at Silver Scrappers
is the winner!
I have a lot of handmade flowers to give away too... and have decided that Beth will pick a number between 1 and 54... and the winner will be one of the followers I have already. I really will do that in the next few days - and won't keep everyone waiting for nearly three months this time :)

Mini Album Up For Grabs!

This is the first of my November 'blog candy' give-aways... the Christmas Album that's supposed to be made from cardboard toilet roll inners - but mine is made from kraft cardstock. Details of the mini album are here:

http://patchworkapples.blogspot.com/2011/09/cardboard-tube-mini.html

The front cover looks like this...

So... here's the 'rules':

You DON'T have to become a follower, nor be a 'regular' visitor here. All you have to do is add a comment to this post and wait 15 days for the draw. That's it :)

I'll post the winning name on my blog in 15 days time... That'll be the 25th November, and will try to contact the winner.

So please do tell anyone you think might be interested in 'winning' this little mini-album, and force them to add a comment to this post *lol*

If you need to contact me at all, my e-mail details are in the right side-bar.

Thank you!

Coming Soon... (but not just yet)...

Well, I sorted out a bit of my stash drawers yesterday (I must have been unwell... delirious even - tidying up??!! Atrocious behaviour! *lol*)

At some point in early November, I'll be giving away some stuff - not a lot, just some handmade flowers really. I'll also sort out giving away the LRMA Christmas mini album too...

So, you've been forewarned.

It'll be the same 'rules' as before... no becoming a follower if you don't want , no leaving comments on loads of posts... just leave a comment on one post to say "Yes, I'd like that" when it's been written, and then I'll get my beautiful daughter to pick a number from a hat. So you know what's coming...

 Handmade flowers, some acetate (or rather, heavier plastic) butterflies, and a few flowers in a packet.

And the cover of the LRMA Christmas-theme.

So... tell your friends and bloggers that November I'll be giving these away... and hopefully we'll have a little blog-post party and someone (or sometwo) will be happy :)

I'll keep you posted...

just remember NOT to leave any comments for the giveaway on this post... I'll sort out posts and whatnot later on *lol*

To be honest, this post is more for my benefit... if it's down here in black and white (or green and black and a few other colours, in my case) I'll not forget about it - and if I do happen to forget, someone can give me a swift kick up the jacksey and ask "What about that stuff you promised to give away?".

Just don't wear hob-nail boots... thankee kindly *lol*

Fiddle Fart Joy

WARNING... PHOTO-HEAVY - SORRY!

The heading of this post does make sense... honest! I am so happy to have recieved my gift from Helen today.  The woman has to be a mind reader... I had these little Christmas postcards that I wanted to use... but I can't find them anywhere. Then, lo and behold... Helen's packet arrives, and there's a set of the postcards inside! Amazing! And talking of amazing... you all have had a peek at Helen's blog recently...? She's been Fiddle-Farting (see... post header making sense now? *lol*) away at Halloween and once again (as always) doling out the brilliant ideas and fun projects. Go See!!!

Here's my gift from her, which I shall be sharing with my friend LouLou - but not the felt flowers (sorry Lou!) because they may be headed straight for my new project :)

I thought I'd best update everyone on the cute fluffiness that is "The Kittens".

I have to feed them twice a day just to help CallieCat out... she's all worn out, poor wee mummy-kitty.

They are doing well, and are about normal for their age. Ready for the mugshots? I couldn't take a photograph of them all together, as they were exploring all afternoon - in separate directions.

First we have Duchess ... she's going to be a matronly, loving, big fluffy grey ball... and my future SIL's Mum will be taking her on:

She's also very shy and it was so difficult to get a photograph of her at all! I had to play down the brightness and up the contrast so you can see her in this photograph.

Next we have the last born... the little surprise that popped out sometime around dawn the day after all the other kittens had been born. I named her "Aurora Blaze" Aurora means 'the dawn', and she has a little ginger blaze on her forehead. Rosey, for short:

Isn't she adorabubble? She's a squealer... but loves her cuddles too.

Next is the only boy of the bunch... now named "Essex"... because he's grey like a cloud, but with a lot of silver linings. Anyone under the age of 40 may not realise the connection... think "Eddie Moon", Eastenders, David Essex... and "Hold Me Close".  How I love that song!

We're hoping he'll be a churchyard cat, and have a happy home with the Rev. He's playful, and loves to crawl and hide under things - like my wooden chest he's under here.

Last, little firstborn "BellaBella"... the runt of the litter. She only miaows when she hears my voice, and then toddles towards me... she's so tiny and adorable, I may just have to keep her...

As you can see (I hope), BellaBella isn't actually a pure black cat... she's a black tabby. She loves to curl up in my hand and fall to sleep. I swear I could take her anywhere and she'd be content just to sleep tucked into my cardigan... and she's only 3 weeks old!

So.. they are my "Moggy Crew"... all doing well and being happy.

And Mummy-cat Callie is doing okay too...

Keeping watch over her little balls of fluff.

Gorgeous Giveaway

I don't usually go in for blog candy/giveaways (I've never been one to 'win' anything like this)... but this one was a bit hard to resist - I got distracted by pretty flowers and funky alphabets, and before I knew it I was adding a comment and following Tracie's Blog. To be honest, I'd be a follower there anyway - creative designs with understandable explanations on how Tracie got the effects on her layouts. Anyways, pop along, be a follower, add a comment, and... er, no... best not to do all that - gives me less of a chance of getting my grimy mitts on that lovely stash! *lol*

Tracie's Gorgeous GiveAway!

http://lifeandtimesofa12x12addict.blogspot.com/2010/08/and-winners-are.html

Take a peek...

I had promised myself I wouldn't do this... but a quick peek at what's going on over at Rosette's Blog is well worth the trip - very creative and fun! As an added incentive, put your name down for a chance to win some really lovely goodies :)