M.I.A.

Another week passeth!

Some sneak peeks from my Pumpkin and Aubergine class (loving this range!!)...

Where is the time going???

Birthdays By the Bucketload!

I can't believe it's been nearly a week since I last blogged! Bad, bad blogger!! But it's not as if I've been doing nothing; far from it. There has been a plethora of birthdays, including my own and I am feeling quite positive about being officially "mid-thirties". I had a very pleasant birthday even though I was working during the day and had no particular plans for the evening other than to soak in a bubbly bath. It was lovely to hear from all my friends and family, and to receive some fabbo gifts and cards (including a first attempt at a hand-made one by A, which I was very impressed with!). On Sunday I arrived at the tail end of a BBQ held by my friend C to celebrate her own and her daughter's birthdays. I took with me a card for the daughter which was my first proper attempt at paper piecing:

The pp is from the Sweet Stack by DCWV. I love cherries!

One of the pressies I gave was this little chap:

I didn't make this, although I wish I could say I did. But I am increasingly keen on giving handmade presents, and as they are "doggy"people, I thought this was slightly unusual!

Also at the weekend I cooked the heartiest pasta bake known to man:

It contained spinach-and-ricotta-filled-pasta, aubergine and mozzarella and it provided several very generous portions! Our waistlines expanded mightily but it was worth it. Just looking at the rich colours made me feel all autumny.

Finally, I completed my custom order from Etsy in a couple of evenings; 30 Delightful Doggies mini cards in total!

I like being busy!!

Don't Worry Be Happy!

Hello folks! All is well with the world; I don't start work until 2.00, I've made and eaten raisin pancakes for brekkie and my mojo is back from the dead! For the moment anyway. So I'm making the most of it!

Produced a new item for my shop yesterday. My Dad and I came up with this concept because we are both worriers and our heads are always full of anxieties. We both know it helps to get things down on paper. Hence:

A Worry Book! The idea behind this little notepad is that you keep it in your bag or by your bed, etc, and whenever something is vexing you, immediately write it down in here. That gets it out of your head and you can let the little character on the front do your worrying for you. Even better, when the problem is sorted and the worry is a thing of the past, you can just rip the page out and throw it away! This would be ideal for all you neurotics out there! All I did was cover a simple notepad with pp and I hand-drew and coloured the wee creature on the front. I plan to do a whole set of these! Will they catch on, I wonder?

I finally used my Pumpkin and Aubergine stamps! Her birthday is over now so I can show the card I made for my Mum using them:

Really enjoyed making this. The paper ribbon was given to me by a kind personette; it's not something I've used before but I think it adds a nice touch. The pps are from the My Minds Eye Wild Asparagus set. Talking of P&A, all the Halloween stuff arrived in the shop last week (squealage!!) so I am now planning my class in earnest! It's all very exciting.

I liked the colour scheme of Mum's card so I went with something similar and made this rather "abstract" card:

Bloom and Grow pps, more paper ribbon, and the embellishment is one I kind of made by mistake when fiddling around for my Recycling class! Which, by the way, is tonight. Oooerr.

Well, I'd better go. I need to work on P&A stuff and also I've received my first custom order through my Etsy shop!! Woo! It's all systems go round here!!

Courgette Crazy!

Wow, that is some lovely weather we've been having the last few days! I do think September can be a great month (and not just because it's the month of my birthday!) and days like this make the onset of autumn a lot more bearable. There have been some lovely sunsets but of course I have not had my camera handy to capture them. I think I need to permanently have it hanging round my neck and take it off only to shower and sleep - it's the only way I'll remember to use it!

I had a busy, but enjoyable, week at work; it was pretty non-stop, so it was a nice finale to be taken for a meal by my good friend A on Friday evening. I'm not sure how we actually managed to consume any food, we were talking so much!

I've been cooking quite a bit and actually had some baking success with a banana loaf cake that amazingly turned out just like it was supposed to! I have also been working my way through a glut of courgettes because they were on offer - putting them in everything from pasta to frittata to fritters! And I'm not sick of them yet!

Only a couple of cards made in between all this culinary cavorting - a final card for my Reuse and Recycle class:

It really has been like pulling teeth, trying to get these cards made! I was under pressure to use the bottle caps that people have been saving for me, but my original idea to fill them with Glossy Accents and seed beads failed miserably :o( The Starbucks coffee cup cozy has made another appearance and I'm liking the lined paper, but am not filled with confidence about the class as a whole. Well, it's on Wednesday, so we shall see what happens...

This one I'm liking a lot more:

The toppers were given to me by my crafting friend V, printed off from a CD by Polka Doodles and I really enjoyed using them. The greeting is from Craftwork Cards, the papers were scraps from my stash. Quite a fresh and funky look I think.

OK, that's it for now. I'm peckish, so I'm off to make something out of my remaining courgettes and hope I don't turn into one!

Lazy, Lazy Day...

Well, after a full-on, busy weekend and Monday at work, I decided that today was going to be a do-nothing-but-the-essentials-and-not-feel-guilty-about-it day! That's not to say I've done absolutely zilch; no, I took Corrie to the vets for a check-up (she so loved having her bum prodded again - not!!), paid my car insurance and made a mozzarella, courgette and mushroom tart that will hopefully last me several lunches when the onslaught of work begins again!

Other than that, I was lazy. Haven't even done any crafting, so luckily I have a couple of projects from my ultra-productive Friday to show:

Continuing the shades of autumn theme with this card for Earth Tones Set 2. The stamps are from the Clear Choice Pressed Leaves Set and the pp is Bloom&Grow.

Also this little set of nautical-themed notecards:

The stamps are from Woodware's By The Sea set, watercoloured with brush markers, and the pp is DCWV's All About Boys stack. Obligatory Candy Dots on there also!

Apart from working at the weekend, I had a nice meal cooked by Himself before we went to watch the End of Festival Fireworks from a good vantage point in the Braid Hills. Very impressive they were, too - pity I hadn't got my camera with me! I am obviously not a natural-born photographer - I'm sure I would NEVER let so many photo-opportunities pass if I was!

That's it for today, now I'm off to indulge in more slouchiness on the sofa!

Cosy Indoors

In preparation for a full weekend of working, I have a day off today - wahoo! It's utterly miserable outside so I plan to cosy up indoors and not go ANYWHERE! The other reasons for my plan to remain in hibernation are that I am afflicted by allergyness, which is causing constant drippage from my nose (and I don't want to be accused of having swine flu if I go out in public), and that I have just whacked my kneebone on a metal bedframe (yes, the spare bed in my flat has a metal frame; I am not currently residing in Her Majesty's prison cell!) and it feels the size of a grapefruit now. I also wish to rid myself of a stubborn headache that has plagued my bonce for a couple of days now. Yes, I'm a bit of a wreck really. But happy with it :o) especially as I might actually get to do some crafting later.

This week I have finally completed my Reuse and Recycle cards and more people have booked into the class - woo! I also made a card to complete my Romantic Glamour set:

I think the stamp and pp is Jesse Edwards, but don't quote me on that!

A wee set of mini cards to "herald" the onset of Autumn:

These items will be going in the shop later.

Finally, a card made for my Flora and Fauna Set 2:

The wee stamps on the last two projects are from sets called Pressed Leaves and Friends Forever by Clear Choice. The pp is Bloom and Grow.

OK, now I'm off to put a cold compress to my rapidly-stiffening knee and console myself with a cup of coffee that might, or might not, have a tot of whisky added to it - well, I'm not planning on going anywhere, am I?