Tuesday 28 July 2009

A Birdie or A Bogey?? It's All Golf To Me!

Howdy! Quick post tonight as I'm hoping to make cards and cook a veggie sausage bake thing for my tea.

I had a pleasant weekend, with an evening canal walk in the sunshine and a curry from Asda on Saturday and more outdoor pursuits on Sunday. We went to the golf driving range and paid for 30 shots so Himself could test some clubs he's thinking of buying. However, H's back went, 3 balls in, which was most unfortunate, and I'm utterly useless with a golf club, so it wasn't a roaring success. We did manage three gentle rounds on the putting green though, with H determined that I should get my ball into at least one hole in two shots instead of 15. It didn't happen but I did enjoy the experience. And the cappuccino and cupcake in the clubhouse afterwards helped considerably!

Not much crafting time was undertaken but I have produced a set of cards like this:


This was all thanks to K and J at work. J provided the stamp and K provided the idea, so I can take no credit (but I will anyway!). The pp is Jesse Edwards and I rather like it. It's going to be part of my Romantic Glamour set.

Right I'm off. There's a refreshing glass of cherryade with my name on it - mmm!

Saturday 25 July 2009

Ouch Ouch Ouchy!

Who'd have thought that using hair straighteners on a daily basis would be such a dangerous business? I've never, until very recently, been a slave to my "hot irons", but now that I've started flattening my hair, it's become a necessary part of my everyday routine. However, this morning, not only have I singed my ear lobe (yowl!), I have also developed what feels like toothache in my shoulder, which I can only construe as being a Hair Arrangement Injury of Repetitive Strain (or H.A.I.R.S.), if such a thing should exist. I think I should contact the medical faculty. They may want to write an article in their journals about this phenomenon. Or they may just tell me to put up with having wavy, bell-shaped hair and relegate my straighteners to the back of a cupboard. Most likely the latter, then. Sigh.

In more sensible news (or maybe not, actually), last night's Crafting 'n Pizza extravaganza was a raging success; possibly not on a creative level but certainly on a bonding one. Many, many laughs were had. K laid on a fab spread and I stuffed my face more than anyone, I think. We had japes and mishaps galore with the banoffi pies she'd made, including mistakenly giving the "raspoffi" pie that was intended for the banana-hating person to someone else, who didn't even notice the lack of ban in their offi until it was too late! Then K managed to drop an enormous blob of her pie onto the only card she'd made during the evening, which rendered it completely unusable (unless we develop a new line in scratch 'n sniff cards!)!! Oh how we laughed. It was great.

I was reasonably productive, using scraps and bits and bobs to make this selection of tag embellishments:



These will be going in my shop. One month in and no sales yet. Come on people, you know you want to!!

See you later: off to rub deep heat into my H.A.I.R.S.!

Thursday 23 July 2009

Pasta Overload

I never thought I'd say it but I think I've actually gone off pasta at the mo! I think this comes of having had it for just about every meal for the past fortnight (with one or two exceptions, courtesy of meals cooked by The Parents and Himself). Problem is it's so cheap, easy and quick to do, and I've still got one or two pasta meals lined up until I go grocery shopping, so I'd better get liking it again! Never mind, we decided at work to have a Crafting And Pizza evening tomorrow night, yay! I am looking forward to overindulging :o)

Another busyish week of working has meant very little home-crafting. But as the weekend was the final of the golf Open, I did have a little extra creating time at my disposal. Inspired by a Certain Someone who has an interest in various sports, I made this set of cards:


I used some bargain peel-offs I got from work, mounted onto blue sparkly card and cut out. I'm not usually a great fan of peel-offs but I like this effect. The grey geometric design paper is Bridgeport and I used up the scraps making some mini cards:



Also I made a card to add to my Romantic Glamour set:


I really love this heart stamp but I can't remember who it's by!

In between downpours there have been some lovely evening skies outside my flat. I thought this one looked particularly biblical:


Well, apart from the streetlamps, perhaps!

Now I'm off to see what I can rustle up for dinner. Pasta, anyone?

Saturday 18 July 2009

Grey and Gloomy

Rain, thunder, rain, rain, thunder, rain. That's pretty much been it lately. A bit gloomy really. I brought some colour into my life on Thursday night, making a set of wee notecards using my current faves, Bloom & Grow: (rubbish photo, sorry)

Eating cakes at work helped too!

Wednesday 15 July 2009

"Silence" (or not) of the Lambs

Apologies for slight absenteeism from blog, it's been a bit mad around here the last few days. There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to get everything done! On Monday I worked frantically to get the final card made for my Diorama class, which is tonight (nothing like last-minute, eh?!)! And here's a sneak peek:


I just love those Bloom & Grow papers!

On Monday night the Work Girls and I had another crafting and eating session at J's (she has the house to herself at the mo) and she'd laid on a sumptuous salad fit for several large kings. We gorged mightily on roasted rosemary potato wedges, cheese, coleslaw, cous cous, pesto pasta, rice with veg, various salady bits, and then jelly and ice cream for afters! And she insisted we took the leftovers for our lunches the next day! Needless to say, after all the eating and merriment we were a little sluggish for crafting, but I managed to make a simple thank you card for an elderly relative who'd been generous to me:


Tree stamp is by Studio G, papers from Craftwork Cards, wording is from a delish Woodware stamp set and the frame was cut out on the Cricut.

Himself and I managed a wee jaunt on Sunday, up into the Pentlands at Castlelaw to view a "hill fort" and "earth house", which I'd thought might be of interest. They weren't. And the driving rain didn't help. Much more noteable was the walk we took down to Glencorse Reservoir, which passed through a working sheep farm. We were able to stand and watch a group of collies herding a flock of the woolly beasts out of a field. There was something pastorally delightful about being so close to the "action". Himself said, "Have you never seen One Man and His Dog??" Not in real life, I hadn't!

The walk also took us past a military firing range, in which there is Danger Of Sudden Death if the red flags are flying! Luckily they weren't but I was perturbed by other signs warning us not to touch any "military debris" in case it blew up! I had visions of land mines and hand grenades but apparently this was not the case - phew! Even if I'd had my camera out (I kept it in my bag during the rain in case it got water in it's "innards"), I wouldn't have been able to take pics as there were yet more signs prohibiting this. Interesting place though.

When we walked back past the farm, we saw that all the sheep had been herded into pens and that the lambs and mothers had been seperated. The sound of the lambs' panicked bleating as they milled around in their pen upset me a little, as they must not have known what was going on. Apparently it was something to do with weaning and thankfully not that they were going to end up on someone's plate (yet!) but still disturbing none the less. Sigh. I'm not very good when it comes to the harsh realities of life!

Finally, to make up for the fact that I have no photos to show from our countryside expedition, here's a pic Himself took of a lovely sunset outside my flat the other night:

Nice, eh?

Thursday 9 July 2009

Jabberwocky

Just stopping by to update while I'm in the "mood". Great day on Tuesday, taking a walk with Himself at Swanston (pretty Conservation area, thatched cottages, the Pentlands, Highland Coos, etc) and then cappucinoes and delicious cake (I thought it was carrot, H said it was treacle, either way it was yummo) on the verandah of the New Swanston Golf Clubhouse. The weather was cloudy but warm so I felt vaguely holidayish.

Then it was off to the Crafting and Chinese Chowdown at J's for me and work for H (aww!) The C&C evening was as good as I'd expected. We oohed and ahhed over J's amazingly organized and fit-to-burst-with-stuff craftroom, and then crammed our faces with a DELISH takeaway. I had mushroom chow mein with sweet and sour sauce poured over it and chips on the side. Words cannot describe the enjoyment. And the leftovers were even better reheated the next day. The piece de resistance was J's homemade strawberry tarts. We discussed piercings and a bizarre DVD of J's hubby's, entitled "Jabberwocky", hazarding guesses as to what it might be about!

Then we got down to a good hour or so of crafting. Not everyone felt too productive but I did, luckily, and managed to produce a wee collection of mini cards using scraps and some pretty flower stickers:


I'm not sure whether to stamp a greeting on them or just leave them blank. Either way I think they make a nice set.

In other craft news, my Circle Flip-Up Book class was another small but understated success - I think. I will post more photos soon. The August class list was released at 5pm last night, with another stampede of bookings on the "hotline". I suggested that our tickets were probably selling out faster than Take That's! I have no classes next month for I will hopefully be in Holiday mode by then.

Only other card made so far this week, a baby card in the same "vein" as this one. I hope H didn't think it was too "girly" for him to give to his friend; he might have been too polite to say..

OK, best be off, loads to cram in before work!

Monday 6 July 2009

Birdwatching and Mound Exploring

Wah!!! I've not done my grocery shopping yet and although I've had a good dinner, using up veg and potatoes and cheese, I'm severely lacking in any tasty sweetmeats to treat myself with while I craft; just a few forlorn choc-covered peanuts rolling around loose in the cupboard. It's a sad situation, to be sure :o( Will have to make up for that tomorrow. I'm quite excited because the Work Girls and I are planning an evening of Crafting & Chowing Down on Chinese Food 24 hours from now. It's been a while since our last get-together, so it will hopefully be productive AND fun!

A pleasant weekend was had, with a Saturday afternoon walk up Blackford Hill, past the Royal Observatory and down to Blackford Pond: places I have not seen since my childhood (and that wasn't yesterday!). I can see why people become birdwatchers because the pond is a haven for feathered creatures and we sat, fascinated by their antics, for ages. There were swans and gulls (why? It wasn't the seaside!) and cute, fluffy baby Coots with gangly legs and feet bigger than their entire bodies! Also ducks and geese. And we found somebodies' keys and luckily located their owner - there were so many keys crammed onto one ring he must have been a prison warder or something!

I actually took my camera for yesterday's jaunt, to view a Neolithic monument called Cairnpapple, in West Lothian. We were dubious of paying a fee to visit something that seemed relatively basic, but when we were told it's the oldest surviving monument on the Scottish mainland, we were more impressed. We investigated the mysterious burial mound (which has been reconstructed under a concrete dome) and the various pits and ditches that surround it. By far the best thing was the view 360 degrees around the hill. And the gorgeous weather.

Aforementioned "mound".

Inside the burial chamber.


How did they move some of these enormous rocks??

Part of the view from "atop" the mound.


It's a pity I don't know how to do panoramas.

After that, we went for a woodland walk in nearby Beecraigs Park and took pics of the gaggles of geese that surrounded the loch:

They were very tame.




They didn't even mind us going near their baby:


Then we went home for tea and to watch the last 8-and-a-half hours of the men's singles final - how LONG did that go on??

All in all a VERY nice weekend!

Saturday 4 July 2009

Doodled Doggies!

I wish I could say this hot weather liked me as much as I like it. But the truth is, it doesn't really suit me at all. Everything seems to take about 10,000 times more effort to achieve than normal and I feel I've done little more than mope around sluggishly all week. There have been a couple of refreshing downpours and today looks promisingly sunny as opposed to the mizzly humidity that has had me drooping like a stick of old celery. I have downed copious vats of Lucozade in an attempt to acquire some fake energy but to no avail. I think I need a holiday. Which is why I've finally booked some days off work - yay! Roll on August!
Today I hope to relax; I'm getting my hair cut, which is something I usually enjoy. I've let my hair get far too long this time and it does nothing for me because it's so thick and heavy. If I go for the chop I will probably lose about 2 stone from my head!
My Doodled Doggies class was small but perfectly formed; a nice group of ladies and a good atmosphere. I had them making these:




I just love these gorgeous "Man's Best Friend" stamps from Woodware! I doodled the frames myself for the ladies to use and added Doodlebug rub-on letters and Papermania adhesive pearls. The kennel was drawn using the Cricut Doodlecharms cartridge and embellished with pen and rb-ons. The stamped images were shaded with Whispers markers and the class added their own doodled borders to finish.

Next week's class is the Circle Flip-Up Book. Here's a sneak peek:


The new Bloom & Grow Papers and stamps from My Mind's Eye lend themselves nicely to this project...


This is another wee card I made to add to my Pastel Tones set. The stamp is Studio G and I coloured the flowers with a pink Souffle pen.

Finally, some new Anita's ribbons arrived in the shop yesterday. I snapped up a few in nice, earthy tones..

Right, I'm off to have some leftover Pasta and Broccoli Bake for lunch and then get my hair sliced off. Byeee!