I have been so remiss in neglecting this blog but oh, boy, does real life have a habit of messing up the best laid plans!  


So what has been happening recently then?  Well, we have been away to the Wales on holiday, then spend a long weekend in the Lake District.  A group of us went to London to hear an African minister preach (he'd come over for a special event).  Work has been busy, to say the least, but clients are being slow in paying me, which is always a real trial, and I am now in the throes of the start of the annual tax season, with the January filing deadline looming ever closer.  Plus, my son has (drum roll here please!) almost completed my Heavenly Crafts website!!!!  


He has put in so many hours of work, and it is really taking shape now and looking good.  Soon, hopefully sometime this month, it will be up and running and my blog will be transferred over to the website, so watch this space ;)!!!  The shop part of the website may take a little more time as I actually need to get some serious designing done so I will have some items to sell.  This designing is kind of complicated by my day job (after all, I do have to earn some money to pay the bills, put food on the table and so on!) and by the fact that I have actually entered two designer contests!


The first one of these is at The Studio, and the first challenge was due in on Saturday.  This year, the contest is being run on an anonymous basis (in theory) and we all have alias ID's so when people vote for our designs, they won't know who we are and will be voting on the design rather than for the person.  The first challenge kits have all been posted now and here is a slideshow of all the entries:






Why not go to The Studio and take a look yourself?   there are some really lovely kits there and they are all available as free downloads, although you may have to register in the forum first.  Then while you're there, you can vote for your favourite three designers!


The second contest I've entered is the Funky Playground Designs 2010 Designer contest, which is being hosted at DigiscrapAddicts.com.  There are two categories, new designers and established designers.  I have entered the new designers category and here is the preview of my entry:







There is no public voting in this contest, which I actually prefer, and there are no eliminations until challenge 2, so I already know I have made it through to the next round!  You can find the news designers kits here and the established designers kits here.  All the kits are available as free downloads, so why not go along and snag some gorgeous creations, lol?


It is actually really good experience entering these contests (although totally nerve wracking and stressful too ;) ), as you then see what everyone else has come up with, find out what styles are popular, etc and you always learn something new with every kit you make.  I have no expectations of getting through to round three in this contest, although obviously I would love to get even further than that ;).


Anyhow, that's most of my news so far so 'll leave you now and go get ready for work!


Happy scrapping!