Im Dreaming of a Safe Christmas!

I was looking at some of these images, http://www.digsdigs.com/76-inspiring-scandinavian-christmas-decorating-ideas/ following a link from one of Dan99's posts on UK Scrappers today and realise Christmas is just around the corner! I just wanted to do my bit to remind everybody about staying safe during the holidays - so here is just one small plea for everybody at Christmas - after my many years working in the fire service - PLEASE PLEASE PLEEEEEASE - follow these simple rules to have the kind of Christmas you'll want to remember for all the right reasons!

Place candles carefully and do not leave burning candles unattended. Make sure candles are in stable holders and place them where they cannot be easily knocked down. Keep candles at least 12 inches from anything that can burn. Never leave a room or go to bed with candles burning.

Never Put Lit Candles on a Tree

Do not go near a Christmas tree with an open flame – candles, lighters or matches.

Better still - Consider using battery-operated flameless candles, which can look, smell and feel like real candles.

Check your tree lights - make sure the wires are ok Inspectlights each year for frayed wires, bare spots, gaps in the insulation, broken or cracked sockets, and excessive kinking or wear before putting them up.A new set of tree lights are cheap change them, if you're not sure!

Do Not Overload Electrical Outlets

Do not link light strands, except in accordance with the directions, where they indicate it is safe to do so. Connect strings of lights to an extension cord before plugging the cord into the outlet. Make sure to periodically check the wires – they should not be warm to the touch.


If you're lucky enough to have an open fire - use a spark guard

Selecting a Real Tree

Needles on fresh trees should be green and hard to pull back from the branches, and the needles should not break if the tree has been freshly cut. The trunk should be sticky to the touch. Old trees can be identified by bouncing the tree trunk on the ground. If many needles fall off, the tree has been cut too long and, has probably dried out, and is a fire hazard.

Caring for Your Tree

Do not place your tree close to a heat source, including a fireplace or heat vent. The heat will dry out the tree, causing it to be more easily ignited by heat, flame or sparks. Be careful not to drop or flick cigarette ashes near a tree. Do not put your live tree up too early or leave it up for longer than two weeks. Keep the tree stand filled with water at all times.

Use Only Nonflammable Decorations

All decorations should be nonflammable or flame-retardant and placed away from heat sources, heating vents or lights. If you are using a metallic or artificial tree, make sure it is flame retardant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB6zJUkDsIs - These points are pretty much covered in this video

One final thing - We also used to get an increase in Road Traffic Collisions, particularly those involving people who were driving under the influence! Be aware, that the Police often run early morning breathalyser campaigns - during the party season - you can still be over the limit the next morning if you have had a lot to drink the night before!

Also, even if you dont drink and drive - others on the road might still be driving under the influence - so be extra careful when out - personally - if I can, I avoid driving at night during the festive period - its not always practical I know, but if you're not on the roads, you're much less likely to be involved in a drink related accident!

Wishing everybody a very early safe and Happy Christmas!

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Thanks for returning my Mojo Shimelle - Scrapbook Remix Update

Do you ever have times when you just dont get time to scrap - of course you do, we all do! I also have times when I could scrap - but life gets in the way - and recently - that was my story! So much going on and never quite enough time to sit down and make some magic happen!

Happily though its all changed since we got back from our trip, and I have made 20 LO's - in just over a week! I have had jetlag and scrapping helps me pass the time when I should be sleeping but simply cant! Might as well do something more productive than watching terrible Singaporean TV all night right! Sorry but its just not my kind of TV, not that Im much of a TV kinda girl in the first place to be honest!

I had signed up for Scrapbook Remix with Shimelle (of course) and hadnt had time to scrap any LO's but I have now started and am very happy with what I have done so far! Being challenged to look at my stash and my process in a different way is making me really excited about scrapbooking - and I am using stash like a mad woman at the moment! I find Scrapbooking is a joyful and happy thing to do and its a big part of my life (not least because of the amount of space my stash and completed albums take up!!!)

However, I have two sticking points when it comes to scrapping - I get the basic page done very quickly - then I spend ages on the embellishments! I usually scrap 6 x 4 photos, although I often crop them, and Im pretty good at working out where they need to go, and clusters - they often take forever, so Im working on that too! So if you fancy taking a peek at what I have done so far - here are a few of the LO's Shimelle has inspired me to do in the last week!

I've been working on colour - its an interesting thing to explore the possibilities and to limit yourself to something quite narrow - this one is explores using just one colour and one neutral !

This was an journey into monochrome - and I enjoyed it!

I then spent some time thinking about B sides! Patterned paper B sides - I bought this Scenic Route paper for the B side which is a pretty green grid, a very long time ago! I bought four sheets of it! I never thought I would find a way to use the A side as it was soooo busy, but with fairly plain photos and not a lot of anything else I think it works quite well and would have been done in no time at all,  except for those couple of clusters - that took longer than the rest of the LO to put together!

OK now you have seen I havent been slacking - I might just go and explore Shimelle's next Scrapbook Remix prompt - and enjoy another spot of stash diving - I could be some time!
Once again Shimelle - thanks for helping me to find my Mojo - its sooo good to have it back!

Scrapbook Remix - Catching up

I have been following this class with Shimelle and am loving it, but on the message board was a thread that asked the dreaded question - How much do you spend on your stash? GULP!!! Deep Breath - ok and another one - I'll be ok in a min ...................................................... maybe a few minutes to compose myself............ Ok I'll be honest!!!!

I dont know about you, but Im completely in denial about how much I spend on stash! The last big blowout was in September, I had a great day in Archivers and another even bigger day in Michaels - BUT I was only in the US for a fortnight and everything was at least 40 - 75% cheaper than here in Singapore - so it made sense to stock up whislt I was there - didnt it???? I only buy here when there is a special offer on, and I have a wishlist for things I want so I dont go crazy! You believe me right? Ok well I dont go crazy very often (and if I do, only for things on my wishlist - oh oh did you actually see me add those extra 7 rolls of washi tape to my basket the last time I was in there? OK well I did, but it was half price ............ and it was for a friend - no really it was)

Ive been scrapbooking a long tme, so I have almost all the tools they have ever invented for scrapbooking - the one I use most is my Pazzles - worth every penny btw - as I now spend virtually nothing on Alphas and Embellishments! I have a major weakness for the Chinese Beads and Swarowski Crystals we have here, but since we are expecting a move to the US next year - I guess they will have to last me a long while!

I recently bought a set of Perfect Layers and a Perfect Square, most of my purchases are PP and cardstock, and Oh and I guess, you already know I also have a weakness for washi tape at the moment! Please tell me Im not alone!