I Do Make Non-Pink Cards Sometimes, Honest Guv'!

G'day! It's Saturday, I'm off work and the sun is shining, hoorah! I've been a little less grouchy this week, probably much to the relief of those who have to work with me! I received a present from my workmate yesterday; it was a long ice cream spoon, and I was ecstatic as I will now be able to properly stir my instant cappuccinos in my cat mug (see 1st Jan post) without globules of powder being left at the bottom. Happy days. (Also, it was a good excuse to use the word "globules" - I love that word!)

Last night I went to my cat-owning friend's house for a blether while our menfolk were indulging in a belated Burns' supper. We had our own version, courtesy of my friend's hubby, who'd kindly made us a veggie haggis pizza - yum!! He'd also supplied cheesecake for dessert. My waistline is now somewhat increased in girth but it was worth it.

Some cards have come off my production line this week:

These two are for a commission; I made two as I wasn't sure I was happy with the first one (the brown and pink version). As long as the buyer likes one of them, that's all that matters.

A spring card (can you tell that my fave colour is pink?!)

And finally, more Valentine's nonsense. This is the last one, I promise! Well..maybe..

I'm excited now because tonight my aforementioned, spoon-giving workmate is holding a Stampin'Up party so much craftiness should ensue. I already know what I'm going to spend my money on, yippee!!

Ich Bin Ein Katze

No cards to show today, just an update on the happenings of my weekend. Had a busy Saturday, meeting girlie friends for coffee and an intensive natter amidst the chaos of Ikea cafe'. Then celebrated Burns' night early by partaking of a veggie haggis, neeps and tatties, cooked by Himself, and very tasty it was too. Finally a trip to the cinema to view "Valkyrie", which is about the Hitler assassination plot. We were a tad late arriving so had to settle for the neck-cricking seats off to one side at the front (I was too chicken to squeeze past approx 350 people to get to the only other remaining seats in the middle of a row - oops!). However this didn't affect our enjoyment of the film, which I would describe as "gripping" and "compelling", even though there were a lot of gratuitous shots of Tom Cruise's glass eye throughout and all the "Germans" spoke with English or American accents.

On a random note, I remember seeing a website once where people posted up pictures of Cats That Look Like Hitler.

I wonder if MY cat falls into that category?

Hmm..not really...

Smirk

Good Morning!! 'Tis my day off (yay!) so a good chance to blog although I really should be doing housework (boo!) but I'll forgo that and just wallow in filth for a bit longer. Busy week so far, all go at work, including several new ranges of products, which have caused much hyperventilation amongst the staff as the deliveries are rifled through. Particular favourite is the super-cute range entitled "Smirk", which features an array of cheeky characters centred around love and friendship and other girly stuff. As we unpacked each increasingly thrilling new item, we wondered if our hearts could take the excitement. I just love this stamp:

The other girls think it looks like two bottoms sticking out, but I don't see that - I just think it's SOOOO CUTE!!! Anyone else? Or maybe I'm just weird.

My crafting friend came round last night, we nattered loads, did some stamping and before we knew it, it was 10.30pm! Oops! Amazing how the time flies when you're in crafting mode!

I've even managed to make some cards:

More lovey-dovey ones (are you bored with this yet?), in a shabby chic style (top one) and my new, experimental, "clashy" style (bottom one). Some people have a knack for the latter style, I'm not sure if I can get away with it.

Finally, a commissioned card:

The birds are on a strip of acetate and don't quite fit the aperture as I got my measurements slightly wrong/planned to happen all along (delete as you think appropriate). Quite like it, hope the recipient does too!

OK, I've spent far too long on this, I really need to arm myself with a toilet brush now and get scrubbing. See you next time!!

Crabbit

One of my favourite Scottish words is the one to describe the mood of being grumpy. And usually I would use it in reference to someone else, for instance a work colleague, but today I would use it to describe me. Grrr. Patience zero. Liable to snap your head off for no apparent reason. Not nice. I'm trying to adopt a more "zen" way of living these days and crabbitness definately does not fit into that lifestyle. Hope it's just hormones. I will think of cool, green grass and try to ignore the fact that one of the cats has just been sick. AAAAARRRGGGHH!!! And breathe...

Before this bout of crotchetiness struck I made yet more Vally Day cards:

I think they turned out quite well. But maybe I need to turn my attention to other festive occasions now, before I get Valentine-burn-out.

And now, in Part One of an occasional series entitled: Free Things To Do In Edinburgh On A Sunday Afternoon - the National Museum of Scotland is where Himself and I ventured to spend a couple of pleasant hours yesterday. This was our third visit in recent weeks as it's so vast there was no hope of seeing everything the first time round. If one were to read the bumf about every single item on display, one would be there for almost as long as Scotland has existed. All very interesting though. And entirely free, especially if you eschew the cafe' and settle for a cup of tea and a HobNob at home ( as we did).

Well, my mood has abated a little, thanks mainly to the delicious chunks of marzipan I have just thrust into my gob. I love marzipan in any shape or form and will quite happily munch my way through a block of the stuff. Why spoil it's exquisiteness by wrapping it around a cake? People who dislike marzipan must indeed be the spawn of the devil.

Bye for now!

Like your nuts spicy missus?

Howdy! Today is, as they say, all well with the world. My world anyway. Yesterday I meant to blog, but time ran away with me. I was quite a busy bee. First I got my housework done, with lots of "help" from the cats:

Thanks, guys, your input was invaluable.

I made some gift tags:

Attempted some baking (not my strong point):

These are florentines but they were a real faff to make and I had to break all the burned bits off before photographing them. They taste nice though.

And I made spicy nuts:

These are coated in honey, olive oil, cayenne pepper and rock salt and roasted in the oven for a few mins. Delicious! WARNING: Any nut-allergy sufferers should probably avoid this recipe as it could be harmful to health. (A Nut-Allergy Sufferer writes: "You reckon???!!!!?")

And I also made some cards, but no pics yet.

Tonight I'm off to a friends' to watch a chick flick. Wonder if I should inflict my florentines on her?

Cat Casserole, anyone?

Oops! Distinct lack of blogging recently, eh? Perhaps because there's also been a distinct lack of crafting and a definate lack of positivity around here :0( But never fear - for it is BACK!!!

Slightly:

In the form of some Valentine's notecards, specially designed for the purpose of leaving those little romantic messages around the house for your loved one to find (blech - do people actually DO that sort of thing??)

And a couple of Vally cards, using felt embellishments made by my own fair hand. I'm always reluctant to fork out for premade embellies if there's the slightest chance I could rustle up something myself. I love using felt; this range I might call something like Heart'felt' Wishes...

And another...

Work today, the first time I've worked a Sunday in a while and it felt odd, but quite enjoyable. Some cards were made and the other girlies and I got very excited about acetate and giant paper clips (sad, aren't we?) so look out for some creations of the plasticy and clippy type very soon.

Last night's dinner was Hearty Pasta Soup, which certainly lived up to it's name. Corrie has been in the pot, licking the remnants, damn her. If she's not careful she will find herself literally IN THE POT. Hmm, cat casserole. Has potential. And me a vegetarian too.

See ya soon!

Where Oh Where Has It Gone??

My mojo, that is :0( My resolution to craft every day has been broken and it's only 6 days in!! I don't even have a pathetic excuse, unless "My fingers are too cold!", counts. I have a list of items I want to make. I just can't get started. So no photos today of my creations. Instead, a handmade crimbo pressie from a Certain Someone who is more creative than he gives himself credit for....

A nifty set of coasters made from circuit boards!! They're even rubber-backed to prevent scratching of one's coffee table! I was deeply impressed with these.

In health news: Yesterday at work I bashed my bonce on the corner of a desk. At least one of my resolutions stayed true as I turned the air blue with choice expressions of irritation - thank goodness there were no customers present!! As a result of this mishap I now have a lump behind my ear that is near enough the size of my head. Come to think of it, maybe it IS my head. I was always prone to exaggeration after all.

I hope to return forthwith once my mojo stirs from hibernation. Watch this space!!!

De-Christmassed

Well, that's it. The Christmas decorations have been taken down and the pine needles swept up and the cats have attacked my baubles for the last time (until next year). I'm not sad, it was a lovely Christmas but it's nice to tidy the place up and start thinking about the next festive event - namely Valentine's Day. I really need to discipline myself to craft because I hope to get a little online shop going this year and so far I have no stock made. So I will try to motivate myself with Vally Day stuff like the toppers I made last year...

As you can see I was very into bears!

It's been a very pleasant weekend so far. Last night was spent indulging in good conversation, Celebrity Big Brother, a wee glass of wine and my leek and parmesan risotto, which, if I say so myself, is rather blurvely (see prev. post for definition). I enjoy cooking. I think I am a fair-weather vegetarian in that 90% of the time I do not eat or enjoy meat but every so often I will lapse into carnivorousness. In my opininon a meal does not have to contain something that once breathed in order to be tasty! My risotto being a prime example, mmmmm!

Made the baby boy card I was commissioned to do; not all that happy with it but the recipient seemed satisfied, phew...

Sorry about the slightly rubbish photo. I keep forgetting to take them until the light has gone!

To finish, a bright and cheery card to herald the onset of spring (?!). I actually made this by candlelight during a power cut ("looks like it too!", some of you may quip), so it holds "special" meaning for me (a bit). See ya next time!

Second Post in a Row! Woo Hoo!

First day back at work after the New Year festivities and it was fine except it took approximately one hour to vacate the multi-storey car park after closing, as the whole of humanity had descended on the shopping centre in one go, or so it seemed. Why no one has any grasp of the fairly simple concept that if you let one car out in front of you the queue will ACTUALLY MOVE, I really don't know. Sigh.

I mentioned a fave Christmas pressie in yesterday's post. That's not to say it was my ONLY favourite; oh no, I did VERY well for gifts this time and will probably make use of another tonight when I soak my over-used feet in a selection of pampering products provided by a thoughtful personage :0) I might need to do some crafting too. (If I don't that's a resolution broken already!) A baby card is required and although I did recently make a Girl card as shown below, it is actually a Boy one needed this time.

Also need to pull my finger out and get on with writing Thank You cards for aforementioned blurvely gifts (that's my shortened version of 'bloomin' lurvely' for those amongst you who may be hard of thinking). I made the embellishments first:

then assembled the cards:

and I'm quite pleased with them, they're sort of rustic.

Ouch, my sore shoulder is back to torment me again. Time to vacate the computer. A foot bowl awaits!

Well Hellooooooo There

and welcome to my blog! :0) It's looking a tad bare at the moment but I hope to soon fill it with plentiful niceness! As you can see, the cats were suitably "thrilled" to celebrate the start of another year of eating, sleeping, eating, sitting still and occasionally eating.

The dawn of 2009, the beginning of another era (and a rather snazzy diary too!)

As ever, I have come up with a massive list of resolutions destined to be broken within about 2 days. One of them, of course, is to blog as regularly as possible (with the exception of boring days where the most exciting thing to occur is my fat cat Corrie actually moving). Other "highlights" include:

• To eat more healthily and ensure I get my 5-a-day (and that doesn't mean 5 Belgian chocolates, of which I have a post-Christmas plethora - yummy!)
  
• To never accept a plastic carrier bag in a shop again (the other day I purchased a cute shopping tote with a view to eco-friendliness - and stood watching like a dumb fool as the salesgirl PUT IT IN A PLASTIC BAG!!! Which defeats the object somewhat.)
  
• To stop saying things like "fiddlesticks!" when I'm cross and start using proper sweary words (sorry, parents) because my associates are beginning to think I'm some kind of freak.
• To craft religiously (every day!!????) and stop making feeble excuses as to why I can't be bothered.
  
• To take regular excercise and thus become toned and athletic, yada, yada, yada......
  
  
  Will I keep to these rules of life? Only time will tell.

One of my fave prezzies this crimbo was this:

A very well-chosen gift from my Secret Santa at work who knows I am a coffee-fiend and that I like cats! My own personalised mug! I just love it.

Well, I've given myself neck strain trying to get this post written because I am new to blogging and a complete technophobe to boot - the tension is unbearable. So I am going to hit the "publish" button now and hope for the best.....