Saturday 31 March 2012

Cool Britannia

So its Jubilee year, Olympic year  there's going to be a whole host of items hitting the shops, your television and so forth.  Go gripped in a whirl wine of patriotism I rustled up this card. I say rustled up it took me a week a I do tend to duck in and out of projects. Its a skill I am slowly learning to and its most enjoyable, when someone hasn't wandered off with my glue stick .. glares at son.
 So here is my Jubilee inspired card..

A Jubilee inspired card.

Caption Saturday


Wednesday 28 March 2012

Hurrah I won cleaners

Now keeping your child or teenager amused in the holidays in indeed a hard task. In this day and day when families are trying to live more frugally and you are counting every penny. Mr T  has just about forgiven me for  hiring a cleaner for the afternoon which cost wait for it £72.. I was rather gobsmacked at the cost because I thought it was £12.00 an hour but what I didn't factor in was the troop of cleaners that turned up on my doorstep (equated to 6 hours cleaning). You see there was three of them and they were here for two hours. Do you  think I  was has bamboozled? All I know that the cleaning gave me a bench mark to work from as my house is now tidy. Mr T says you live and learn , I was really tempted to get them back and clean my kitchen . Mr T has now furnished me with some more cleaning products after muttering it was half his overtime. I think he was just a bit  annoyed because it meant he would have to wait for his new camera. He has two cameras already but this is a camera you can put in your pocket. ! And T does like his gadgets which I will now have to dust myself.


But wait recently I won a team of cleaners for the day.. So in my mind I have saved £72 pounds. So I can treat myself to something can't I ?... Like a new rug for my sparkling new Front room....


My new Mocha Choca front room
Now the meer cat is my sons not wishing to eradicate all off the ... tat  I mean quality items. I will sneak it out in a while someone.. The only problem is I have one room tidy  whilst i am sorry to say my dining room is now crying out storage storage storage...


Oh yes stylish isn't it.....
So any helps and styling tips for my dining rooms are most welcome.


So one day I will be a domestic goodness oh yes my time will come won't it..?

Thursday 22 March 2012

Colour is all around you

Tara’s theme on her Gallery is colour .. I could put on  the sunset... the sea .. the sky pictures and hark back to nature. So I mused and thought and rustled through my pictures and suddenly  I thought the greatest explosion of colour I have seen in recent times is the Macy's Day Parade. you know how its is I saw the film ' Miracle on Street' and I saw 'Home alone 2 ' ( the one set in New York ) So for true colour I love this picture.




 Notice the' Color Purple' poster in the corner to the giant Duracell bunny waltzing down Broadway.

New york is very surreal at the best of times ...

Dalani Home & Living - Twin Competition


One of the hardest decisions and a distinctive starting point is choosing the type of theme to opt for. With choices such as football,  animals , outer space, fairytale, planes and flowers the possibilities are endless. Naturally any theme will involve matching furniture like bed, tables and storage, as well as selecting key lighting pieces with the appropriate theme and purpose.
As a parent, and head decision maker, it is important to find out what colours and things your children are into. Remember that children are susceptible to fads, and in 2 months they may not enjoy a bedroom completely kitted out in the style of the Action heroes or  Princesses!
You might also consider the gender role. A girl is more likely to favour a fairy or princess theme, while a boy is likely to be attracted to furniture and bedroom lighting that reflect a boat or racing car theme. Though there are no hard and fast rules and often girls like the things that boys like as well !
Alternatively it is possible to adapt them for both, especially if you have two sharing the same room. For example an animal, bird or insect theme will easily fit both.

Dalani Home and Living have created two amazing competitions to help design your home.
Competition One
Everyone who completes the first two steps will recieve a £15 off Dalani voucher, and exclusive to my blog, a chance to be the lucky Ninja Killer Cat reader who wins a £50 voucher:
1. Sign up to Dalani by clicking 
2. Visit the  Dalani homepage then email clairtopl@aol.com and tell me the name of the brand in the sale at the top of the Dalani homepage
Competition Two
Dalani are giving two lucky readers across the blogs participating in this promotion a chance chance of winning a £250 voucher.  To be in with a chance of winning this you need to visit the  Dalani website and select a number of items of your choice, to the value of £250 that you would like to use to revamp a room in your house. Once you have selected your items, simply comment below on what the items are and why you have chosen them. Please don’t paste links. The competition ends 2nd April at 9:00am. 





 Myself I would choose some of the natural history cushions to accent my sofa and my new carpet which is being layed Monday the carpet will be of a Mocha colour  so I would choose some of the natural history cushions to accent everything. I would also choose some lighting , I must admit I am rather partial to the Liberty lamp. So now I am on my way to revamping my front room I shall have to sweetly talk to my husband about the other rooms in my, I mean our house that need doing. that's of course after he, I mean I have painted them !

Tuesday 20 March 2012

I won a race..... time to get fit..


So you know when you enter competitions and  think I'll never win that... Well I did ... I won an entry into a race . I will be doing the 3k walk jog run. I understand I haven't got much time to get fit.. so any help is welcome from companies or individuals is welcome



The Derbyshire 10k and 3k Walk•Jog•Run, sponsored by Stratstone Mini, is set to return on Sunday 1st April 2012.
2012 is Olympic year so why not dig out your running shoes and support your local event and local sporting charity!

Hotel Chocolat You Crack me up !





This is what they say on their web site Hotel Chocolat


"An irrepressibly upbeat egg cast in 40% milk chocolate and bursting with our cheeriest chocolates, from smiley face pralines and happy chicks to classic Easter bunnies - Includes 12 chocolate brownies, cookie pralines, chocolate fried eggs, solid chocolate bunnies and chicks cast in milk and caramel chocolate and more.

The story of our extra thick eggs – When we first started making eggs 12 years ago, we were advised by industry experts to use the least amount of chocolate by making them as thin as possible and to arrange the chocolates around the outside of the egg to make it look as big as possible. We did the opposite and made ridiculously thick shells with all of the chocolates hidden inside for extra Easter excitement."



Superior packaging makes for a delightful present.
And I am eyeing up the container to make use of that ...!


The Egg


Is a very thick 40% chocolate bundle of happiness.


You open it and and it just screams quality and Eat me too !








The menu invites you to a scrumptious selection of goodies




You are spoilt for choice with the menu.




What's inside the egg!


-  12 chocolate brownies, cookie pralines, chocolate fried eggs, solid chocolate bunnies and chicks cast in milk and caramel chocolate and more. 





They do make me smile....




They look so happy you don't want to eat them....






Then again perhaps you do !




The thickness of the chocolate is breathtaking.




The egg may well suit different tastes there is no need to make individual eggs for the family as they can all share this.  Now Josh liked everything whilst Mr T took some convincing of the use of sea salt within chocolate. We are educating prehistoric pallates and this egg was a brilliant starting point.



A fantastic egg, that is great value for money.
The full selection of scrumptious Easter goodies can be found Online, and the You Crack Me Up egg can be purchased online for £26, or of course you can visit one of the many shops .

(Disclosure I was sent the egg for review and my words and thoughts are entirely my own )

Friday 16 March 2012

We are going on a Bear Hunt

I love this book it is so magical so many can be bought to life with this book it is unbelievable. I use this with with  autistic , SEN sessions and it is brilliant.


The family  are going on a Bear Hunt full of bravado and over flowing with confidence!


"We are going on a Bear Hunt,
We're going to Catch a big one
What a Beautiful day !
We're not scared !"


 The repartition is wonderful repetition of the "We can't go over it. / We can't go under it. / Oh no! / We've got to go through it" kind, and frequent onomatopoeia ("Swishy Swashy … Splash Splosh … Hoooo Woooo") will maintain interest for even the youngest of listeners. And the poetic language en thralls even the youngest of readers its pure delight.

and also how it encourages the preposition of language ie "We can't go under it"


 The ability to be able adapt your surroundings this to this book are  only limited by your imaginations from having a bear cave play corner to going throw  some " Swish Swashy ' long grass.


To going outside when its wet and going through the mud " Suelch Squerch"




To even making  a Bear with two "googly eyes" and a "Wet shiny nose "


Your only limit is your imagination or your childs with is unlimited of course !

Thursday 15 March 2012

Happy Birthday card for a girl ( handmade )

 I have just got into making cards I am a bit sparodic to me honest but I do try my best.

This is one card I made for my nieces in July she will be 8 years old. I have just made the purchase of some titanium crafting scissors and believe me they make all the differance.





so did you all think I am going in the right direction ?

Friday 9 March 2012

The dreaded call from call .. your child has had a bad accident...

 Its the phone call you all dread  when you child has gone on a school trip / holiday . I will be honest I was apprehensive about my son going skiing especially as  he was going  with the same  Ski company and he is the same age as that fatal coach crash and its the exactly the same route. But we had assurances that all would be well as they company is extremely  good at what they do and   and I as a parent had every faith in them and in the school.

So it comes to yesterday  I receive a phone call   starting with the words  your son . ... has had an accident.. So  I got emotional as is natural .. ( I wasn't sobbing down the phone ) practicly takes over as I was very calm. It appears my son had stumbled on the ski slopes and had hurt his collar bone. he was airlifted  off the slopes ( He was in Courmayeur,Italy so it is right on the slopes of  Mount Blanc )

Courmayeur, snuggled at the end of Italy's Aosta Valley next to the Mont Blanc Tunnel to Chamonix, is a ski holiday, dream destination.









He has had three x rays and his arm is in a sling and he cannot move it at all. We have got to get this checked out on Monday as this will be four days since the accident. So I will update more as I know the medical details.


Would such an incident put you sending your child on holiday again.. 


It hasn't for me .. it is my sons personal choice if he goes skiing again after all Life is for living and for risks though sometimes the risk is a little to close to home!.

Tuesday 6 March 2012

Much loved toys ...

My son when he was younger  was very much that pragmatic child such as when asked what his teddy was called he simply replied " Teddy " And when he got an Easter  Bunny  yes you guessed it it was called" Bunny "

My son moonlighting as Doctor Who outside his  Tardis.



My son also used "Bunny " as a pillow when we travelled but as you can see from the picture  this " Bunny " is quite bulky.

So this Christmas I was intrigued to see my niece with a soft toy Unicorn, she showed me her toy but it was also a pillow  a ' Pillow pet' !

 My son when he was younger would have loved this sort of toy/pillow and I would have bought him the Easter Bunny 'Pillow pet' and yes he still would have called it " Bunny '


Children love stuffed animals based on the way they look.  The Cream Bunny My Pillow Pet has a great cream colour that makes up the body.  It also has two long ears like you would want to see on a bunny stuffed animal.  It has a puffy tail, a smiling face, and two big eyes.  It also has a nice pink nose.  For some extra colour there are multicolored spots on the bottom of the ears.  The soft plush materials that these stuffed animals are made out of look excellent as well.  Overall, I would say that the White Bunny Pillow Pets look cute and are a stuffed toy kids will enjoy , and many a parent will be happy at the sound of a snoring child.



Sunday 4 March 2012

Silent Sunday 04/03/2012


Party Acceptance card handmade

I made this party acceptance card for my friends 50th Party in May I thought as it was her special Birthday in May her 50th that I would make an effort when writing an acceptance.

Such  things now seem to go by the wayside in this age of email acceptances and text .. So i thought it would be nice to be old school and traditional.

So after getting lost in the craft department of my local garden centre I purchased some crafting scissors, spot on glue , double sided tape and a craft magazine ... (which was 1 hour away and not really local at all Mr T muttered. )

I don't think I did too bad  ! what do you think / and remember I am just a beginner!

A party Accpetance card