Happy New Year!

Hope everybody had a great Christmas and New Year, with lots of lovely pressies and yummy food! We had a nice week in Germany with my family - quite laid-back and relaxed, not like previous years, the children must be growing up at least a little bit, lol. We saw a fair bit of my brother and his girlfriend and also my gran, which was lovely (although, occasionally, I wish my brother was a little less opionated and more accepting of other peoples' ways...), and had quite a few outings after the holidays to keep the children amused and help them burn off energy.

When we got home, we had a second Christmas at the in-laws, where Santa had left his presents (couldn't take them all on the plane, now, could we?), a very quiet Hogmanay and then more visits to relatives on New Year's Day. We have finally caught up on all the sleep we didn't get, but that's pretty much all we've done since we've been back. So now I'm looking forward to the children going back to school and nursery and to getting the house back in order big style. First stop: crafting table!!! It is a disaster area, but I need to be able to get back into it properly!!!

Which leads me on to the next bit: here's my entry to this week's DCM challenge all around the word "new".



I did manage to make a couple of "new baby" cards, to boost my stocks as people always seem to be asking for new baby cards. I used Doodlebug stickers which I have had for quite a while, Doodlebug buttons, matching Doodlebug stripey paper on the girl card and DCWV paper on the other. They were quick and easy to make, even in the limited space my table currently has to offer.

Last, but not least, something that I posted before Christmas, when I had kind of said I wasn't going to post anymore and when people were very busy: Pay It Forward! Saw this on Helen's blog, liked it, signed up and now really want to keep my part of the bargain.

''PAY IT FORWARD : handcrafted gifts :) I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this Pay it forward exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. So basically, if you comment, I’ll send you something crafty that I’ll make! Once you sign up, copy and paste the above paragraph on your blog, and three other lucky people will be recipients of your handmade work. I found this on Helen's blog and really like the idea.''

That's all for today, thanks for looking! And hey: it's nice to be blogging again :)