Kool Kitty Musings

The curse of the rattling cough

Beware self-pitty-party-ladened blog post ahead!

So, feeling under the weather earlier this week has gone to full blown nasty cold, aches and pains (thank god for a comfy bed) and an awful rattling cough.

My bedside table contains most of Boots' stock of over the counter remedies for all of the above.

I have zero appetite and managed to force down some soup earlier and some spaghetti hoops for "lunch".

It must be bad! LOL

Apparently croup was doing its rounds among the local primary schools before half term and my mum picked up the adult-friendly version... Joy! ;o)

So, while I've been a bit more with it I have done a bit of trashy reading and trying to navigate my phone - yay managed to sync my phonebook with Facebook now so who knows I may be on there a bit more these days.

Oh well, here's hoping tomorrow is the day I feel well enough and awake enough to make it out of bed and get some of the projects I need to work on made.

At least Alan Carr's show on Radio 2 later should cheer me up - always has me crying with laughter. LOL I also have a couple of DVDs out that I might put on later - I hate being wide away at 2 a.m. yet zombie like at 6 p.m.

 

Back to the honey and lemon stockpile!

Blogging from bed

My sick bed. :(

So much for that evening out for dinner and a movie. Overnight I came down with the lurgy and it has been getting worse all day.

I really hope this a very temporary blip - I've been trying to ward off the worst of it with soup and a few cups of hot water with plenty of fresh lemon slices and gloops of honey. Here's hoping that helps those nasty germs take a hike!

 

And a hot bath in my L'Occitaine honey and lemon bath soak has at least soothed the aches and pains for a bit...

In the meantime I'm waiting for my new phone upgrade to charge battery:

 

Fingers crossed I'll get to grips with it quickly and it will be simple enough to get my address book updated. :)

I love it when a plan comes together...

It's been so long since I had a Photobox order drop through the letterbox, but I have just taken receipt of some of the photos I had printed over the weekend for 2 mini album projects.

Now, I had grand plans to use what remains of my 6x6 Togetherness pad:

 

But I need to cover at least 36 sides of a 6x4.75" mini album and what remains of my pad isn't going to go far enough... soooo with the 12x12 papers thin on the ground now here in the UK it looks like I am going to have to raid some of my other paper stash to try and plug the gaps... question is what will work with Togetherness as the colours are a bit more washed out in this line than say OA's Thrift Store, etc.

Anyway, I have got my paper artbins out and will stick the telly on while I sit and go through my options.

Fingers crossed 2 mini albums for Gibside will be enough to get me through the weekend - otherwise I may have to see about sorting pics for a third album... Yikes!

On a non-scrapping note I picked up this from the library yesterday - finally!

 

So at least I can finish off the series.

Off out tomorrow night for dinner and a movie, we're hoping to see Chalet Girl some film that is not Chalet Girl as have since read the release has been pushed back to March 16th!!! Gah... what to see instead? I was hoping to see True Grit (but with another friend) and not sure at all about No Strings Attached.

The Ribbon Girl Feb colour challenge

 
Make sure you go check out the Ribbon Girl blog for details of this month's colour challenge. Mary and Andrea have put together a lovely prize including some yummy spring colours.  

 

I love colour challenges, all the more so when they feature some of my favourite combinations. Who can resist cream, pink and brown eh?

Here's what I made for the challenge - yes, still addicted to the ruffled look! ;o)

 

Paper: My Mind's Eye
Ribbon: The Ribbon Girl
Label: My Mind's Eye
Punch: Martha Stewart
Pearls: Prima

 

There are some gorgeous projects on the blog from the design team for even more inspiration - happy creating!

Fit for visitors again!

Who'd have thought it would take 7 hrs of tidying, cleaning, hoovering, ironing, and washing to get the house ship shape again... but yes, I have spent most of my Saturday doing the housework. LOL

King size bedding is a pain in the proverbial to iron, but there is nothing quite like freshly ironed bedding....

I did start my dad off finishing one book (Amanda Quick's Wait until Midnight) and starting and finishing another (Liz Carlyle's Two Little Lies) so it hasn't been a total loss.

Tomorrow I really need to see about getting my photos sorted for our scrapping weekend away at Gibside... just two weeks to go! The question is whether I can find a mini-album project to work on (like last year) or if I need to plan for "proper layouts".

Eeeekk...

But tomorrow is another day, I am now going to put my feet up and catch up with my V+ recording of Hawaii Five-O and I may just start the next book i

Steampunked!

Well, this week's dare over on the DCM blog comes from the lovely Rein and it's to make a card in the Steampunk style.

Now I must admit altered art and all things collagey is something I have shied away from, as those who are really fab at it make it look so easy, when in reality I find it pretty hard to let go and create with "no rules"!

So I sought out some spiritual guidance, and some er... stamp guidance from the ever-inspiring Gill (the queen of all things altered and arty) and this is what I came up with:

 

Paper: 7Gypsies
Stamps: From Gill's vast collection...
Ribbon and twine: The Ribbon Girls
Little bottle: 7Gypsies filled with some sand from my M&S candle vase ;o)
Dies: PTI, QuicKutz
Button: PTI
Metal clock: 7Gypsies
Tissue paper: 7Gypsies
Other: Distress Ink, PTI vintage ink

 

I am rather chuffed with how it came out and I am even more glad that the worthy recipient liked it. ;o)

Now I need to ignore the overwhelming urge to go buy more Distress ink! here was me thinking 2 pads would be enough... ha, how wrong I was! I used Gill's Pumice pad on this card and now I rather think I need one of my own.

In the post...

 

My little Adele CD order arrived today...

 

I have some of the tracks from 19, but thought I might as well get the full album while I was at it...

So I'll be playing 21 first while I do some pootling about online before the new Masterchef starts tonight. :o)

Ribbon Girl creations

When Andrea and Mary invited me to be a guest designer for The Ribbon Girl the answer was a resounding YES!!!

So with the lovely items they sent me (which fitted nicely into my existing Ribbon Girl collection) I got to work on a few cards...

 

Paper: My Mind's Eye
Ribbon and twine: The Ribbon Girl
Stamps: PTI
Dies: Nestabilities
Button: PTI

 

I think I am going to be on a ruffled ribbon kick for a while - I love how this particular ribbon looked all ruffled up. :o)

 

Papers: MME
Ribbon: The Ribbon Girl
Stamps: My Cute Stamps
Dies: PTI
Other: Copics

 

I love this particular shade of silky crush ribbon... it's very yummy stuff!

Well, there will be more Ribbon Girl cards here on the blog this month... not that that's new! ;o)

We were lucky...

 

The rain held off, in fact the weather was really mild and we managed a long walk down the beach and through the sea mist...

 

Then we headed off for our prize, a lovely ice cream. Or in my case a rather delish bubblegum sundae.

 

Most delicious, I have a real soft spot for bubblegum flavoured ice cream. But next time I will definitely be trying the lemon meringue sundae!

Today I have finished off watching Emma - it has to be my favourite BBC adaptation of any period book... I just love, love, love it! Perfectly cast, the costumes are exquisite, the photography so rich, and the music just wraps it all up nicely. Even the opening credits are fab!

I also watched Iron Man 2 whilst making a few cards, one of which is for a special request from a family friend, so I can't share it until I know the recipient has seen it.

But here is a sneak:

 

The perfect excuse to use some of my new seam binding from The Ribbon Girl. :o)

And now, I'd best go get an envelope sorted for this creation so that I can drop it off with my mum and dad when go round for Sunday dinner.

Rain, rain go away...

At least for the rest of today!

I'm hopefully off up to the beach later with Zoe and the girls - armed with the camera. Or at least we will be if the sun stays out. From constant rain this morning I currently have a craft room flooded with sunlight. Ahhhh...

The sun has also meant that the crocus have come out:

 

And the hyacinths are really coming into their own:

 

And now, I'd best stop watching Emma:

 

And get myself sorted for this afternoon's outing. :o)

Ribbon galore...

Well, this week it was my turn to set the dare over on the DCM blog - not only did the DT have some lovely stuff to play with, but there is a sponsored prize too from The Ribbon Reel.

So I set a recipe challenge to make a card that featured the following:

• Two items of ribbon/trim/twine
• One or more buttons
• At least one heart element

Go check out the DCM blog for more details!

Here's my card...

 

Papers: MME (my favourite collection of theirs!)
Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Dies: Papertrey Ink
Ribbon, pins and button: The Ribbon Reel
Felt: Papertrey Ink (Terracotta Tile actually matches the "red" paper in this line)
Other: Copics, Stickles

 

I have a couple of creative projects to do this weekend, plus some ice cream to try... which I am rather looking forward to!

Happy weekend!

On my read pile...

I've just finished my latest read and updated my Shelfari list with it only to find that I've now read 14 books so far this year... crikey... I think I need to cut back on the reading a little now that I have less than 5 books out from the library! LOL They upped the maximum to 20 loans at any one time... blimey.

Shelfari: Book reviews on your book blog

Alas my last read was less than wonderful and I was just itching to get it finished so that I could finish it, but I hope the other books by Liz Carlyle are more in line with those titles of hers that I have enjoyed.

Heaven only knows when my addiction to historical romance shall come to an end. I am not sure these can be classed as bodice rippers (ooooh the shame) but I got a bit burned out on chicklit - nothing really new or fun there at the moment.

I am looking for some new authors to try - either historical romance or chicklit so suggestions gratefully received!

The only book I am really hoping to get from the library at the moment (and I am slowly moving up the reservation list) is the last in the Bride Quartet series by Nora Roberts. It hasn't been my favourite series, a bit blah and predictable... but it's the last book, and I just want to read it already! LOL

But I really must get my nose out of my books and attend to the blog and making stuff to share... Now that the days are getting longer and I am actually leaving the house and even work in daylight it might get a bit easier to resist the temptation of getting lost in a good book.

We'll see!

Rainy Sundays...

Well now that the winds and gales have died down, we have rain.

A lot of rain...

Well what else is there to do on rainy Sundays but stay in where it's nice and dry?

I started off my day (unintentionally) with another book. I only meant to read a few chapters before getting up... and well, ended up finishing it around 10:30 then got down to my creative to-do list.

Can't share any pics just yet... but I did take some photographic evidence of the green-fingered creations my dad has supplied for my conservatory (it is definitely very spring-like on the window sill). I think he is just secretly pleased that he has new window sill space to fill with pots... not that I'm complaining.

 

The potted hyacinths are coming out, and it looks like I won the white ones!

 

The lovely daffs have come into their own over the weekend and smell lovely too.

 

Crocus watch continues, we are getting there. Hopefully I won't miss the big event, as being out of the house during daylight hours I have missed a lot of the changes in the domestic plant life.

Christmas Journal: The End

 

OK, so it might be over a month late... but I have finally finished my Christmas journal!

Hurrah!

And it has meant that I have at long last been able to put my Christmas stash away. :o)

So, it was just the January entries left to go - obviously my resolution #2 to stop procrastinating requires some work...

 

And resolution #1 isn't doing so well either... but hey.

 

Some nice fluffy Thickers to start the month, and since it's a tradition to watch the NY's Day concert from Vienna this had to be a wintry/snowy inspired page.

 

The prompt for the second was all about childhood and innocence... well, I cracked open my white chocolate orange... and it made me realise that when we were little, our chocolate selection boxes never lasted into January!

 

Lots of vintage KI on this one...

 

The 3rd was about looking back at Christmas and favourite memories from the season... well I had to get in one of the only family pics to come out ok (oh and a bit of that lovely real tree!).

 

Got to love a bit of Love Elsie "Noel".

 

The 4th was about reminders for next year. Well, I never got a chance to try the Baked Alaska recipe from Sainsbury's this year. I really wanted to try it as I have never ever had Baked Alaska, and well... it sounds very delish!

 

KI Festive and a cute little snow person from MME. :o)

 

The 5th was about packing up and putting things away... All my decorations went back in their boxes, plus a gorgeous Christmas card that arrived in Jan will be coming out next year for maximum festive enjoyment. :o)

 

Crate galore here, and my favourite set of foam Thickers - only have a few numbers left from that set. But I love the font!

 

And the last day of Christmas... well, my Christmas journal is finished for this year, but the stash is ready to come out for Christmas 2011!

 

I went to town a bit with Basic Grey's Eskimo Kisses stash! But what better reason to use it?

 

I had one page left to round off the journal... and used my yummy AC Moxie stickers and glitter MM stickers.

 

So there it is, the whole journal finished. It has had to move out of the 2 Paperchase binders it was living in and is now held together with book rings and I made some acrylic covers... but I just wish my Paperchase binder could hold it all!

Let the creative times begin...

  

Well, now that I've finished Indulgence in Death I can cast my mind to non-reading matters.

Alas wasn't a truly memorable tale in this series, and it has all become a bit formulaic when past characters are introduced with the same run-down and I do start to count the paragraphs in until the same old descriptions of Eve and Rourke are trotted out.

But does this mean I am going to stop reading the books?

Heck no.

In fact it probably means I will go back for a re-read of the earlier ones...

I do still believe there are fresh and exciting tales to be told in this universe, and the next book, Treachery in Death, sounds like it has a good plot basis to it.

Here's hoping I can get it reserved at the library soon and be nearer the start of the queue to read it. ;o)

Violets...

Well, those are one of the flowers at the heart of this week's dare on the DCM blog.

We're in a new month (already!) so it's a flower of the month dare. :)

I dug out some stash and didn't use any of what I planned to use!

 

Instead I ended up using Kioshi scraps and some of my mulberry flowers (cherry blossom I know, but hey, they did the job here!)

Papers: Basic Grey
Rub-on: Basic Grey
Die: Nestabilities
Other: Mulberry flowers

 

Once again it's one of those cards that looks a lot better in real life - mega pop with the flowers.

Anyway, I'm hoping for a bit of a creative session this weekend. I'm in dire need after the past week!

Hope it was worth the dash...

 

Just after finishing my tea, the library rang to say that the latest JD Robb had finally come in for me - phew I started at 21st on the list sometime last year...

So off I pootled back in the car, the rain thrashing down and the wind howling, grabbed my book (made a slight detour back to the car for a Whispa!) and now back home. Just need to put the fire on, fluff the sofa cushions and get comfy!

At least it has made the decision of choosing my next read all the easier - got to get through it asap so it can go back for number 22 on the list! :o)

Looks like it's going to be a ribbony month!

 

And it all begins with Seam binding being in da house!

I have some other yummy stash to play with this month as well. ;o)

I have no idea where the weekend went.

Had a great crop Friday night, and did intend to get my Christmas journal finished.... well it's still got a few entries to go!

Saturday I had a few things to do, but managed to start another book when I got in from the crop in the wee small hours, as I was too awake to sleep.

Sunday Ma and I went to IKEA... well it has never before happened in my life, but we got there around 10:40 and were queueing for the tills to open, and out by 11:05!

Then went to the Metrocentre and quick trip into Costco and we were back on the road home after 5!

Finished another book Monday before meeting up for dinner and a movie:

 

Very good!

And last night I started the last book in the Hathaway series by Lisa Kleypas, finished it at 1 this morning. :o)

 

So tonight, I will have to hit the hay a lot earlier but which book to start next?