Kool Kitty Musings

On my desk this weekend...

Well, it's time to get down to something crafty today.

Yesterday I spent most of the day on the sofa with the fire on reading the latest Nora Roberts book from her Boonsboro Inn trilogy. It was a bit of a slog as I've not totally enjoyed this latest series with the exception of the middle book in the trilogy.

However, it needed reading and will be returned to the library soon. :)

Today is another matter, today I need to not end up on the sofa enjoying the heat of the fire and reading yet another book that needs to be back at the library (although I am half way through the one I started this morning! Ooops).

Today, I need to get something made with this little pile of loveliness:

It includes the makings and theme for this week's 52 Cards challenge prompt. ;o)

It's been a bit of a funny week - I have worked from home all week due to the weather playing havoc with how long it would take me to get to work vs. just getting on with it at home.

I have had to ration myself to 1 hot chocolate a day or every other day:

There has been plenty of opportunity for winter warmer evening meals including my favourite comfort food - a tuna melt jacket potato:

Toad in the hole that miraculously came out very well and made for 3 nice meals:

There has been a lot of loitering by the fire in the evenings to warm the bum:

And in the mornings there has been some interesting weather - the ominous red sky indicating more snow:

Then a morning that was just fog and ice:

Followed 10 minutes by the appearance of the sun that made for an eerie sky:

Our snow is sort of melting now, but who knows what the afternoon will bring. There's still plenty of ice about! I'm just happy to say it will be a nice day spent indoors with the crafty stash, a DVD or two, a nice soak in the bath (with my book) and some good telly tonight.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

And I have been playing with my iPad camera!

Behold a phot-laden blog post.

This weekend saw some decoration admiration...

My fireplace in daylight - looking very red and white:

Got to love the festive toadstools that blend in rather well:

They look rather nice at night too:

As does the entire thing lit up:

Last year's festive flowerpot snowman came out and is amongst the bottle brush and vintage miniature trees:

My knitted angel is back at the top of the tree, however she did cause a sensation on Facebook as certain people - naming no names - thought she was rather well endowed and a Barbara Windsor fairy - I will have you know she is praying angelically, it is just an unfortunate camera angle!

The glitter church is back on the tree:

My nested festive dolls are where they should be:

And this year's new bauble purchases are looking delightful on the tree at my mum and dad's:

There will be more posted over Christmas I am sure, but here's my new Father Christmas from John Lewis - he'll be coming to live on my tree next year:

Me and my mum really do have a thing for winter scenes on baubles, especially trees!

After all that decorating I was due one of these... well it was actually one of many:

No greater excuse for a hot chocolate than decorating fatigue!

On Sunday I had a lovely trip up to see my friends and little Miss Anja - and to try out a venue for the Christening party. I was totally honoured and over the moon to be asked to be Miss Anja's Godmother! So wonderful. :oD

We then had an evening by the Christmas tree, which had been prepped Austrian style - complete with sawn off branches to create symmetrical levels and real tree candles:

And in the evening the candles were lit and it was very magical with carols in the background and the tree glowing beautifully:

Anja is a bit of an evening night owl so she loved looking at all the sparkly and twinkly things around while she made the rounds between her daddy and mummy. And I got plenty of cuddles and smiles in before heading home close to midnight! More of a Cinderella than a fairy godmother moment! ;o)

How's your Jubilee weekend shaping up?

Despite the freezing temperatures and gloomy weather in these parts, we are trying our best to keep the celebrations going.

I finally got my bunting up at home, although the pound shop bunting for outside has had an epic fail after 2 days and has come down round the other side of the window.

However, at least my DIY Blue Peter-stylee tissue paper fan decorations are up:

Excuse the lack of paint on the window sill there, the old paint has peeled off rather badly after all the rain.

Inside I have the lounge decked out with more bunting.

It's lovely stuff - you can never have too much. The one reflected in the mirror was from Sainsbury's and was very nice for just £2!

Love this M&S calico bunting, great for the mantelpiece. :)

And I had to add my jubliee-inspired card as the centre piece!

Yesterday ma and I braved the cold weather and rain for walk down into town to see if anything was decorated and basically, we fancied a nice lunch!

Loved this retro chic bunting in one of the windows. It's navy blue and white and really pretty.

I am amazed people were sat outside eating!

Even though it was cold, it didn't stop us having dessert at the new ice cream parlour that has opened. I had an almost patriotic sundae - no blue bubblegum ice cream to complete the tricolour homage.

Today attention was focussed on our jubilee afternoon tea.

I started early by doing some baking:

Red velvet cupcakes...

With cream cheese frosting, of course.

Then headed over for family get together and ended up combing the sideboard for items to use on the table (there are lots of items in there that my grandma had had passed on from further up the family tree). Earlier in the week my dad had been looking for the fabric bunting that had originally been used in my great-great-great uncle's saddler's shop in Wakefield for Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee - not in our possession, but residing safely with my uncle in Cornwall instead. :) Too fragile to use these days, but how amazing for it still to be around and kept all these years eh?

Anyway, back to this afternoon...

First of all I had to get my cupcakes finished with their toppers.

They looked fab on the cake stand.

It wouldn't be afternoon tea without a few Mr Kipling fancies. ;)

Continuing on the sweet theme I tipped those lovely limited edition M&Ms into the commemorative teacup and saucer I bought ma... she didn't mind. ;)

The sideboard yielded some wonderful items that were most apt:

The King George VIth coronation mug for our cutlery.

The Queen's silver jubilee mug for the dessert forks...

And of course lots of nice white and blue tableware for the savoury section:

Was rather happy with how my knock-off M&S roast beef, horseradish mayo, and yorkshire pudding sarnies came out. Thanks to Aunt Bessie on that one! Also afternoon tea wouldn't be complete without some scones (cheese in the case - my fave!) and a good cup of tea afterwards.

We were well and truly stuffed and there are plenty of left-overs to enjoy tomorrow.

Mind you I need to bake my brother's birthday cake in the morning and use my final Jubilee decoration on it, can't wait!

Sunshine soirée!

At long last, the sun has returned to these parts.

It has actually been over 15 degrees all day, for the first time in I don't know how long.

The garden bean bag made a brief outing into the garden after work and I managed to get a few snaps of what has finally bloomed outside. :)

My butterfly lavender has made a come back after not flowering last year.

The white rhododendron has bloomed and survived the windy wet weather.

And my allium are finally popping up amongst the climbing roses and spindle tree. :)

{Happy sigh}

Why did no one tell me...

..that my local Boots now stocked Philosophy? And that I didn't need to visit John Lewis in Newcastle just to get my sniffing fix??

Well it came as a very nice surprise while out on my lunch break today hoping to get a pot of the L'Oreal make-up primer I'd tried in a copy of Marie-Claire.

A few more items came home to live with me, including the limited edition 15 ml size of Hope in a Jar which I wanted to try on my skin without forking out the £30+ price for the usual size.

Some Microdelivery face wash to try, and the new Summer Grace fragrance tester.

I was most impressed with the range on offer, and soon I will have enough Boots points to treat myself to a big sized bottle of the 3-in-1 shower, bath shampoo - do I go for Melon Daiquiri a previous favourite, Coconut Frosting or Raspberry Sorbet... Then again there is always my favourite, Inner Grace.

Anyway, I will definitely be trying my Hope in a Jar tonight plus the Microdelivery face wash. :D

Also I managed to snap some of the pots in the garden tonight between sun and rain and also after waging further war against the green fly that have set up camp on my roses and clematis - they are persistent little buggers, especially now all the ladybirds have gone awol.

I do love this time of year when azaleas and rhododendrons are coming out.

The dwarf yellow ones are doing rather well.

The dwarf pinks had a loss in number...

The big pink one only seems to have one proper flower bud at the moment. The other buds could be leaves, but I can't recall how this one looked last year when I got it. So it'll be a nice surprise once it does open up.

Just a shame about the return of frosty mornings after all that nice weather. The roses are loving the weather and thriving, my spring bulbs are a bit less enthusiastic!

Also I can't believe I've still not had chance to post the photos I took at Easter. I think I need to get some of them printed ready for my scrappy weekend away at the end of April - but there are quite a few photos I should get printed for that!

Time for some more baubles I think!

So I was flicking through a few recent pics and thought it time to share some more festive shots:

My knitted angel of JYC fame in her new spot on the tree this year.

I also took some pics at my mum and dad's when we were putting the real tree up (a fine specimen it is indeed) and ma and I have decorated it with just lights, vintage baubles that have been in the family since the 50s/60s (both English and Polish ones that have survived a couple of cat climbing expeditions over the years) and the glass baubles we have been collecting over the past few years, oh and of course the odd sentimental childhood item!

And for once all the pics here are straight out of the camera - got to love cranking up the ISO for bauble pics on green trees! Silver ones are another matter. ;o)

The gorgeous white/silver church ornament my mum bought for my dad this year - it is quite a stonker!

Ma's Gisella Graham winter trees bauble - her favourite, so you know where I get my love of winter scenes from!

The clip on mushroom ornament I bought for ma this year. Mushrooms are big in our house.

One of the oldest baubles in the collection.

My favourite snowflake bauble with my favourite Polish bauble in the background. I love those swirl baubles that have a prismatic opening with lots of pretty colours of glass inside.

Yep, I totally love that snowflake bauble... {sigh}

This little one is simply lovely.

And finally the new addition my mum bought for my brother - a very sweet candy house.

It resides very close to the ornament he made back in primary school that never fails to make it on the tree. :)

Some festive cheer to start the day....

I thought it was time for some more festive photos from around the house:

I just love this bauble - I have a real weakness of any baubles depicting snowy winter scenes!

The fireplace during the day complete with my woolly "reindeer-sheep" - shame about the cable from the lights but I am seriously in love with my wooden laser-cut tree from John Lewis - and of course there had to be a seasonal Yankee Candle burning away, mmmm North Pole.

I think it looks rather Nordic....

In the kitchen the countdown began again...

And the Russian Doll collection is up on the shelf.

I'm really looking forward to the break over Christmas so I can lounge on the sofa and just wallow in the festiveness. :D

Nordic inspired

We have a lovely dare over on the DCM blog from Fran this week, just perfect for getting you in the festive spirit.

It's all about Nordic inspiration, style trends, colours and well reindeer! Fran's even provided wonderful photo inspiration to get you in the mood:

I'm offering up two cards this week, here's the more traditional Nordic look complete with a Swedish greeting:

Paper: KI Memories
Stamps: Waltzing Mouse Stamps
Velvet Thickers: American Crafts
Dies: Marianne, Spellbinders
Seam binding: The Ribbon Reel
Ribbon: The Ribbon Girl
Other: Acrylic paint, embossing powder, sewing machine, felt, button, twine, 3D foam

It's a bit difficult to pick out the white felt scallop around the heart but it's there. I love how the white embossing with the WMS stamps has come out on the red cardstock, looks like it actually has been knitted. LOL And that zigzag stitch on my little sewing machine, I will be using that more often!

Oh and I actually cut into some old KI frosty papers, but dry brushed cream paint on it to make it more subtle and less frosty for this background. And I did say I'd be using that Marianne bough die a lot more!

And the other card, well it's a more modern colour twist:

Stamps: Waltzing Mouse
Dies: Spellbinders
Paper: American Crafts
Other: Stickles, white gel pen, twine, 3D foam

And if you need more inspiration, here are some twinkly shots of a few old and new additions to my tree this year:

This is one from last year, but I think it fits today's prompt rather nicely!

The festive mushroom is a new addition this year.

As is this gorgeous church ornament my mum bought me. Not quite Nordic, but very glam!

And can I just say I totally love RadLab for these bauble shots, soooo fab to be able to save your own recipe and just apply it quickly to a bunch of photos.

This week I have mostly been shopping...

So like I said the other day, my Christmas shopping has so far been a bit of a failure. For other people.

But not for myself and the house.

I finally got my little Sheep-deer from TK Maxx. The first time I saw him I thought he was a reindeer, but on closer inspection when I went back to TK Maxx this week, he is in fact... more of a sheep. I may yet make him antlers...

 

I managed to stock up on some nice baking items. Some fab baking cases plus accessories, including mini cases which needed a mini muffin tin. Some silicone jelly like baking moulds in Ikea, some nice sized silicone hearts that can either make 4 separate heart cakes, or 2 heart sandwich cakes... festive jelly beans for decrating, and some Christmas sprinkles in Lidl that looked just perfect.

I also finally have a domed cake stand - for £9.99 from IKEA. Hurrah.

More seasonal tableware was purchased in M&S with these red felt coasters and matching placemat.

Keeping on the red theme, I now have a lovely little slow cooker to get me through the winter months and free up the hob and soup pan for other things. :)

I finally managed to find a long and wide scarf in Zara... and didn't break the bank on it. To date all others were too short for wrapping round a few times and creative knotting...

Yesterday the delight that was Boundary Mills yielded a nice shoe shopping experience - so many pretty Hush Puppy shoes in one place. I bought the above in purple, plus:

...in dark brown, and these:

Which are a little bigger than the others, but I think will be fine with an insole or even thicker winter tights. :)

And finally, thanks to Jean, I have been reunited with a good-sized bag of Candy Corn M&Ms:

In addition to the shopping, there has been some making:

It started last weekend with our "annual" gingerbread house-making afternoon... which included an emergency dash for new gingerbread cabins when the IKEA gingerbread houses were opened up and all broken, but will make great cheesecake bases! So as we got to work on these little houses, complete with the white gunky icing included, it was a real fight to keep all the walls and roofs attached...

Lola just watched on hoping to hoover up any victims of the gingerbread house collapse...

Wednesday night I went with Becky to a craft night at her church and we made:

This lovely little flowerpot snowman, who I am sure will appear in many upcoming Christmas-themed snaps.

And this lovely felt heart ornament, in which I finally learnt to blanket stitch - it could have been tidier, but I am sure I could make some more of these with different felts, especially in nordic colours... and cut the hearts with my nestabilities. :)

And although not made by me, had a lovely lunch out in Tynemouth yesterday with my friend Kel, hot chocolate dessert for her:

And the most delicious cherry and almond scone for me:

I loved the chintzy decor in the shop and it was like a real Christmas shabby glam grotto. :D

And speaking of making, I had best get on and get a few projects done while we still have daylight available!

It's arrived at last!

Just picked up the latest In Death book from the library - it's had excellent reviews and I cannot wait to get stuck in... it's currently sitting on my bedside table so I am not tempted to read it instead of getting the tasks I need to do ticked off my list!

Mind you it is very difficult, such a cold day and it's oh so tempting to just dive under the nice fluffy autumn bedding I have switched to. Love my John Rocha pleated set, a bugger to iron but so comfy.

I'm also eagerly awaiting the arrival of some new stamps from the current Waltzing Mouse release to go with my die purchases:

I went for that must-have Nordic Winter set plus a couple of other items, but while I was buying bauble dies a few other must-haves made it into the shopping cart. I hope that Basic Grey flower die will cut well, I had to have it for the leaf alone!

Right, off to get my tea on then crack on with the to-do list!

Anyone for tea?

While out at the Metrocentre Friday night for dinner at Wagamama's with the girls I managed to snag a quick bargain in TK Maxx. I've only been looking a whole year for the perfect teapot, and well, the wait paid off as I now have one.

The price label was over all the info on the bottom, but this little teapot is by BIA and is called the Melon teapot:

 

All for £4.50 and not too big that you're making tea for a small village and not so small that it's just a two cup number.

So It's now ready for it's maiden cuppa!

In the meantime I went browsing on pinterest at more teapot delights, one new teapot is definitely enough for now, but check them out!

 

Source: milkoverdose.blogspot.com via Ingrid on Pinterest

 

Source: tumblr.com via Emily on Pinterest

 

Source: everythingstopsfortea.com via Debbie on Pinterest

 

Source: google.it via Irena on Pinterest

 

Source: google.com via heidi on Pinterest

 

If I'd seen that stripy one I probably would have bought it as well!

Anyway, off to enjoy my cuppa now that it's a bit cooler following our hazy Indian summer heatwave!

Since it's more autumnal this morning

I thought I'd share some photos I took this past week while the weather was glorious.

First up a couple of shots in my garden where autumn colours have definitely arrived:

 

The blueberry bush all red now complete with a very welcome visitor.

 

My former white hydrangea now in very Prima-like shades.

Then I took off for a stroll round the park - it was seriously hot, but an interesting combination of summer heat and autumnal smells and colours and leaves.

 

It took a lot of walking, but I finally found a leaf that wasn't green or brown!

 

The light was just lovely through the trees, there were crunchy leaves everywhere.

 

All the way to the bandstand.

 

I experimented a bit with the AF mode to try and get the leaves on the ground in focus and the rest blurred, really like how this one turned out, just a shame the leaves aren't more interesting leaves. Can't have everything! ;o)

 

This is what they looked like from a distance, so it shows things can look a lot more interesting when you shoot from ground level.

  

I did have a go at trying to capture the sun coming through the leaves but it was a bit hit and miss.

 

And finally as I was just nearing the end of my stroll, a conker fell from the tree in front of me and the spiky shell broke open to reveal a shiny new conker. Alas didn't catch it in a photo, but I picked up the conker and took a photo of what was around. Yet another pretty leaf. LOL

Now I'm just hoping the promised sunshine returns this afternoon. It's a bit cooler this morning with the rain, but I would still like the sun to stick around a bit longer!

A picture is worth...

A few words at least!

I have been a bit awol from the PC of late but here's how my week has looked.

 

My blueberries started ripening at the weekend, I'm afraid I ate the best before realising I should have taken a photo! Oops.

 

Finally one of my lavender plants has flowered again - the others are still recovering from the snow we had this winter I think.

 

I have a little helper in the garden munching its way through the aphid population, I hope.

 

Saturday I was a busy baking bee - I tried out Nigella's lemon syrup loaf. It was very good indeed! But I am still after a nice crunchy tart glaze for my lemon loaves rather than syrup.

 

In case the lemon loaf wasn't enough for afternoon tea, I also made strawberry cheesecake cupcakes.

 

I needed to borrow a teapot of all things, still haven't bought one, but it was a nice spread with lots of catching up.

 

Afternoon tea also included some Razberri Stolli mixed in with my posh raspberry lemon pressé!

 

The weather was still stunning so we headed over to the park to walk off some of the calories.

 

Sunday was the day for an outing... down the coast.

 

A quick stop at Sandsend before heading onto...

 

Whitby!

Where everyone seemed to have descended. It was heaving but lovely nonetheless.

 

The weather was perfect, well perhaps a bit too hot, there wasn't much of a breeze and I ended up with quite a rosy complexion!

 

We managed to enjoy our fish and chips for lunch without too much interference from these guys. Although that was shortly after one had swooped down and taken a whole burger from someone's hands just as they were about to take their first bite!

 

We even went up to the abbey, where there was thankfully more of a breeze then hopped back in the car for the next stop.

 

Robin Hood's Bay - where I am sure we burnt off the fish and chips from the climb back to the car. We were there just as the tide was coming in but my oh my, I was actually pretty surprised that I made it back up the steep hill considering the trek down seemed so long. LOL

Alas no pics of the sheep on the drive home through the moors but it was a lovely day out, and I just needed a few days to recover! LOL Here's hoping the weather of last weekend makes another appearance - who knows Sunday could be bbq day!?

This and that...

I know I've been a bit quiet this week - well I've not had much to report. The weather has been ghastly but I have taken a few snaps of various things and have been rummaging away in my photo folder today trying to delete the naff snaps and play with the decent ones.

First up, it's Father's Day and I baked a batch of coffee and walnut cupcakes to take round:

 

They're from the Baking Magic book and will hopefully be the perfect post-Sunday-roast treat.

 

Although he professes to having no "favourite" cake, coffee and walnut is apparently on my dad's top ten list... although he seems to have liked all the cupcakes supplied to date! This recipe used glacé icing instead of buttercream so will see how that works overall as I've not made glacé since I was little.

In the garden it's been really easy to miss the changes in my roses (which I totally love).

 

Here's one of the Evelyn rosebuds opening one night, by the next evening they looked like this:

Indoors my mini peppers have finally started to turn red:

 

Wednesday night we were meant to be out and about for photography class shooting at the beach.

Well, 3 of us were there before the weather turned and it was called off and we had to return back to the classroom.

Managed to get some post-fish and chips shots though while the clouds rolled in:

 

The surf was up and a lot of folks were out enjoying the waves.

 

This is my favourite shot of the pier, it's so atmospheric and I love the little raindrops in the corner too.

 

And there are some of those mad surfers, although to be fair they were dressed for the weather better than us!

Anyway, I'd best get the cupcakes boxed up and be on my way. ;o)

Chasing cars and other pursuits...

This week over on the DCM blog the very talented Samm has dared everyone to take inspiration from this song to make a card...

 

Personally for me that song is intrinsically tied to much of the best of Grey's Anatomy... I can't help it.

But don't worry, I've not made a Grey's-Anatomy-homage-card or anything...

No, I chose the lyric "show me a garden that's bursting into life" as my inspiration. Because there was a shot of my one and only allium that I took and the allium bursting out always means the arrival of summer to me...

 

So the nearest thing I had in my stash to allium was some left-over rub-ons from Hambly - in fact they were my favourite ever rub-ons they made (the white ones especially) called mod flowers.

 

Paper: MME
Rub-ons: Hambly
Stamps: PTI
Pearls: Prima
Other: Distressing files

 

And with such bold rub-ons, you've got to keep the rest simple, right?

Happy creating!

My poor little blog...

 
I'm sure it has felt rather neglected this past week as I have totally failed to update it with anything interesting... in fact this post is likely to be rather boring as well...

But here goes - the best way to sum up how the past week has been spent would be as follows.

I got the shock of my life when an e-mail arrived from Next to say that my collage frame was ready to pick up... remember this brown collage frame?

 

The one that was going to take 3 weeks to get here. Well thankfully it was more like 2 and a bit weeks - and the frame is now waiting in it's wrapping for photos to be decided on, ordered and inserted!

Last weekend after a fruitless search for the "bbq of my dreams" in local stores including B&Q, I spent far too much time on google over the weekend trying to narrow down my options and reading every review under the sun, until my the weekend culminated in a dash to Argos on Sunday afternoon at 3.30 p.m. in order to pick up my new grill.

 

It's a 47 cm Weber Bar-B-Kettle and is a decent size without being totally impractical to store in my garden or shed. I went for the Argos deal because for £8 more I got Weber accessories with it including the vinyl cover, charcoal and utensils which would save me in the long run. My little grill has been built and is now waiting to be used - fingers crossed the weather holds this Sunday for the inaugural bbq-fest!

What else... oh yes... in amongst all the bbq review-reading-until-my-eyes-went-blurry I read a couple of books on my TBR pile... always nice.

Then Monday I got The Call from the library to say that the new Nora Roberts - Chasing Fire had finally come in!

So I rushed over straight after work to pick it up... and well there went my Monday and Tuesday evenings... but it was well worth it - a very good Nora book and rather memorable. :o)

Last night was photography class - I shall have to get practising with my exposure settings...

Oh and I did of course make time to watch the double-nighter return of...

 

The Apprentice and You're Fired...

And here we are at tonight, just added the finishing touches to my DCM card for tomorrow and now I am off to decide which new book to start on... ;o)

Nothing is ever simple @ Next eh?

So after doing some filing and sorting today I found a £10 off voucher for Next Online that they sent me to try and entice me back to ordering something.

Well, I have been in the market for a new collage frame this time for my lounge wall, over the record cabinet.

I have really liked this distressed frame every time I've seen it in store:

 

It's the bottom one - all higgledy piggledy...

The only thing is, it's £50!

Well that's not the only thing, when you see it side on it has lots of posts and struts sticking out to give it the dimension but it's really noticeable if you see the frame from the side.

Oh and I think the white would be a little lost on my Twisted Bamboo walls.... ;o)

So armed with my £10 voucher I found one that would be much better suited to my wall space and in an arrangement that I originally had in mind.

 

Plus, it was £38.

Or £28 with that voucher discount.

Or so I thought.

The flaming thing hasn't deducted anything at checkout so now I have to wait until my statement comes in to make sure it's been deducted and the most annoying thing of all is that it's not expected to come in for pick-up for 3 weeks!

Gaaaah.

How difficult does it have to be, is there any wonder I stuck to buying in-store rather than trying to order online.

And this collage frame better not come damaged like the first red collage frame did, that's all I can say. Took ages to sort that out.

Maybe it's just Next and collage frames. LOL

Saturday sweets...

Ahhh, lazy Saturdays are always the best.

I attempted to do some scrapping this afternoon, but have had trimmer trauma with my MM trimmer... fingers crossed I managed to fix and reassemble it ok as it's now cutting a lot cleaner, but I was really worried for a moment there! Eeek... it's still my most reliable trimmer of all the trimmers I own. Which is a few.

While the weather was nice I snapped a few photos in the garden.

 

The lovely rhododendron.

Blue pansies - my favourite kind.

 

My gorgeous frilly pink tulips are out and enjoying the sun.

 

The border is looking very lush - such a difference compared to how it was a year ago when still covered in gravel with a few planters of conifers for decoration...

 

I just love these seriously tiny daffodils.

 

And my yellow dwarf rhododendron - will be great to see how this spreads out.

Also I got down to some baking this afternoon as well.

 

I made a batch of coconut and pineapple cupcakes for tomorrow's dessert.

 

And while the oven was on, I thought I'd make a half batch of oatmeal and raisin cookies... I only had one, promise!

So, now that those are out of the way I think it's a quiet evening in and I may just start the next book on my to be read pile.

 

Giving Cecelia Ahern another go - I loved her first two books, but didn't really like "If You Could See Me Now" and gave up after that.

Fingers crossed I'll like this one! A break from the hist-ro marathon. ;o)

One sweet weekend...

Had a great time cropping Friday night (even managed to bag myself a corner chomper...) and a wonderful time out Saturday afternoon and evening with Zoe and her girls and then when Zoe and I went out for a curry in the evening - will definitely have to do that again soon!

Yesterday my mum and I were originally planning to hit Newcastle for some prime shopping action, but she wasn't feeling up to it and I am quite glad we didn't go as we'd have both been flagging.

Instead we decided on a relaxed Mother's Day so I promised to make desert for a family take away evening...

My little baking project started out looking like this...

 

And ended up looking like this....

Yep, Hummingbird Bakery Strawberry Cheesecake cupcakes.

My mum was so impressed, she got the cake stand out!

 

And I am happy to report they were a real hit.... most delicious, and have been requested again for Easter weekend... we'll see... I might have something chocolaty up my sleeve for Easter weekend since I'll have had no chocolate since that dollop of Nutella on my Shrove Tuesday pancake!

Also this weekend, my collage frame went up... loving it!

 

My little patch of garden is looking very lush and is soaking up every drop of sun available:

 

And after buying tulips for my mum, I am rather wishing I'd bought some for myself...

 

Very nice indeed...

 

I also had some nice post today...

 

Something tells me I'll be using those on my next card project!

Oh and finally... I finished this:

 

As predicted by Zoe, I did cry... quite a bit, but it was a very good read. :o)

Can't beat it!

 

When that wad of photos arrives from Photobox... ready to go into a new home, whether an album, in a frame, on the wall... or some other creative place...

 

I've had this frame from TK Maxx a number of months and just couldn't decide what to do with it - but I thought this scanned photo of my grandma was perfect. I've already scrapped the photo, but think it deserved to be in a frame too. ;o)

 

The Next frame is looking good with all the pics in - let's hope it looks just as good over my dining room table and the wall it'll be hanging on won't need repainting when the Lion picture that has been hanging there since before I got the house comes down...

 

And tonight's smoothie was a surprise winner... Black forest frozen fruits from Sainsbury's, a couple of fresh strawberries, and a teeny hit of Coke Zero which pulled it all together nicely and gave it a slight tingly fizz and made it not too tart or too sweet... I think this is one I shall be revisiting in the summer months a lot!

But since tomorrow is a green day and I should have more syns to spare, I might try the Banana Strawberry smoothie that calls for a tablespoon of peanut butter... ;o)

Mission accomplished!

Photos sorted for my next project, plus my collage frame, another frame I've had some time, and yet another little project I'm hoping to start working on using these fab digi papers and elements - let's just hope my printer is up to the job:

 

There are 3 sets of paper, a freebie basics set, and 2 sets of elements that I went for by Crystal Wilkerson - and the good news is if you order them this month you can still use the 50% off coupon! Just follow the link here.

So those were what I decided on for my little baking album (yet another Paperchase binder that hopefully won't be outgrown this time!).

 

And speaking of baking, here's a slice of the lemon loaf. Very nice it was for breakfast too... plenty more left for pudding tonight.

 

It's just lovely out in the garden at the moment. My dad was round earlier with some new acquisitions to plant... the washing is out drying on the line, and the bumble bees are buzzing around. Not a bad start to the British summer! ;o)

Guilty pleasures

Yesterday I finally got my mitts on the latest In Death book...

 

And can happily report that it didn't disappoint... so nice to be back on track in this series as the last couple I haven't found as memorable.

But I spent most of the day reading it cover to cover and was really sad to turn the last page... no new book in this series until November now. :o(

But as to my other guilty pleasure....

 

My mum popped round this afternoon so we could try out another Hummingbird recipe.

This time it was something to use up some of my lemon stockpile, so we tried the lemon loaf cake. Will try and take pics tomorrow as it's currently soaking up the syrup glaze...

But it's scheduled to be dessert for Sunday dinner tomorrow. Let's hope it's good!

And speaking of tomorrow, I really need to get a Photobox order sorted out. 18+ photos to track down on my computer and prep plus need to, at long last, decide what's going in my red Next collage frame.

 

I know, I'm so rubbish - it's still waiting to be filled and go on a wall - one of my resolutions for this year along with getting the glass top cut for my Hemnes chest:
 

It's almost April and neither are done!

Getting there...

At long last I am starting to feel much better and hoping to get back to normal service now here on the blog.

First up I have played a little catch-up with this week's DCM dare which was to create your own embellishment and use it on a card.

Well sometime at the start of the week I had a really good idea of what I wanted to do for this dare. Then Thursday came and I'd promptly forgotten what I'd wanted to make by then.

Then I went to make my card with a certain embellishment in mind, a DIY crocheted flower I was going to design my card around.

Another spanner in the works happened when the rest of the card just didn't work with the flower on it!

So I have admitted defeat and this card features a little DIY banner that at least adds the finishing touch in a nice way. :o)

 

Papers: Crate Paper
Ribbon and twine: The Ribbon Girl
Stamps: My Cute Stamps
Die: Papertrey Ink
Other: Promarkers, Liquid pearls

 

Also I thought I'd share some odds and ends photos...

 

My Christmas present amaryllis has been doing very well positioned over a radiator and close to the boiler - so much so it has had two sets of flowers and has now moved to the conservatory where it is less hot.

 

Last weekend at our scrapping retreat I had something nice and new to stroke.... mmmm the AC cardstock swatch which is just lovely and means I can now easily identify my favourite shades for when I run out.

Last weekend was rather a productive one. I got my Chicago Mini-album made from scratch including some time spent painting those blessed chipboard pages!

 

But I think the shabby chic white paint look was well worth it - and the mix of Cosmo Togetherness with OA Thrift Shoppe was just perfect for my photos... so here are a few snaps of the inside:

 

That first stop - a trip to Bath and Bodyworks right before a tornado hit and we were evacuated to the basement to wait it out. Never a dull moment shopping with us.

 

That holiday we seemed to go up quite a few tall buildings for a view of the city...

 

Ah that bead shop - an easy way to part with a lot of money in a most pleasant way!

 

My Uncle Wlodek's homemade lemon vodka is famed in his neighbourhood, so he always has mini dixie cups on hand for entertaining... It was very potent but very nice stuff!

 

This photo of me and my cousin Basia really cracks me up as both of us have the exact same pose without having realised it... apparently my mother believes this to be genetic... I just think we'd do quite well at synchronised standing.

And as you saw on the cover of the album I used the Tim Holtz rosette die kindly loaned for the occasion by Gill - well... you know what happened don't you... I just needed that die and the new one to play with:

 

So watch out for these on many more projects to come!

I also started and almost finished my snaps of 2010 mini-album at the weekend too. I had a major boo-boo mistake on punching my jan/feb calendar pages - the kind of boo-boo you can't easily come back from and find yourself having tantrum breakdown and swearing fit over... but it all came good in the end and I paid better attention punching the rest of the calendar pages!

I still need to do the cover and journaling and other bits and bobs but here are a few shots of the inside as it is:

 

Ah, marble slab ice cream and words of wisdom - a perfect combination.

 

I used some filters on my photo prints and was really glad I did as they worked much better with the BG Blush papers I used.

 

I just love that strawberry shot - it just sums up summer for me.

Anyway, depending on my progress with my new read I might finish this album off tomorrow, we'll see!

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)

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.

Been clicking away and action-ing...

Thought I'd share a few pics I took the other day - ok so I clicked away and took 179 (many of those didn't turn out so well as I'd not realised I'd left my SLR in manual mode after a play!)...

  

This one was inspired by a photo shared on the JYC forum, I had candy canes so leapt out with my camera into the snow-ice to try and take a shot... with, er, manual on by accident.

 

Pioneer Woman's Lovely and Ethereal action is very good for getting some nice effects on photos that were originally dark and very red (due to fairy lights).

 

I had the fire on last night for full effect plus countless candles...

 

Here's a shot of some of this year's new baubles... I love that red and white one - and it really works so nicely on the mantelpiece.

 

Thew mantelpiece looks quite nice and dreamy in this pic - the joy of actions!

 

I tried some Bokeh as per one of Shimelle's prompts - the original photo was pretty dark, but it lightened up nicely. Difficult to make out but this is another new bauble - the nativity scene in cut crystal inside the bauble...

 

I also tried it on my little mug of candy canes.

 

Here's the new nativity bauble on the tree - nestled in those silver branches.

 

A shot of the tree - can't get a decent full length photo - so this will have to do. ;o)

 

Here's another new bauble - the snowy house...

 

And a snowy scene on a flat bauble - it's very unusual.

 

And lastly - my giant Polish bauble (bought in a heat wave in August in Poland!).

I'll be using a few of these pics in my journal - speaking of, have some catching up to do tonight!

Someone did a little decorating...

It was that kind of day yesterday where I needed to clear head space between various tasks... so of course, what better reason than to get the stepladder out the shed and get stringing lights up and pulling baubles from boxes...

 

The fireplace is a red/white affair... and looks much better now that I added those gorgeous pine cone baubles. You can't go over the top with this sort of thing at least.

I found a new home for my wintry Matryoshkas, the one above was from Accessorize a few years ago - I didn't like the one they were selling this year for the price they wanted.

 

And this one has been appropriated from my mum... I just love the winter scene....

In other news I have finally got this on iTunes:

 

Oh and tonight, I shall definitely be trying my new fuzzy PJs - minus 6 it was last night!

December first

And I'm still stuck at home... more snow over night (no news there then!).

But I have taken a few pics including my new advent calendar put to use:

 

It's the one I bought in M&S a week ago, and has a very cool message to Santa bit on the back:

 

Although I don't think Santa can help me with that request!

Also it was below minus 2 this morning, so the perfect excuse for porridge with a twist!

 

Am debating whether today is the day I put my tree and decorations up or not... hm...

Winter seems to be sticking around...

But at least my boiler isn't leaking any more!

However the snow seems to be a permanent feature for the next few days at least.

 

While it kept coming down I did a few things round the house and tried to catch up on my DVD rental list!

 

I finally got out my Winterland candle (fave ever Yankee Candle Christmas fragrance) - it seemed very apt!

 

Before it got dark, I went out with the camera for a walk in the park.

 

It turned out to be a bit of a short walk as the snow started coming down again.

 

Who wouldn't want to live in a Park Lodge like this?

 

The bandstand at the top of the hill looked especially nice, beyond it there were loads of kids flying down on sledges!

If it's going to be like this again tomorrow, I may stay under the duvet to finish my book!

Also today was my day for the Project of the Day on the Banana Frog blog:

 

Stamps: Banana Frog - Christmas Elegance
Dies: Nestabilities
Other: Stickles

 

It's all about masking magic for this one. :o)

Another Christmas card I've not posted yet is this one:

 

Papers: My Mind's Eye
Dies: Papertrey Ink
Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Felt: Papertrey Ink
Bling: Doodlebug
Other: Distress Stickles

 
Right, off to have my tea and see what's on telly tonight. :o)

It all started with snow...

 

Yesterday morning... the first bit of whiteness of the cold season.

Not fun!

After getting home from work discovered my boiler had leaked water at some point during the day. Thankfully an engineer is coming round tomorrow to see what's what.

The snow is still here, and will be for the next day at least. I love snow if I have no where I need to be or need to use my car!

And when snow melts it generally turns to ice which I hate even more.

Anyway, on the creative front, here's my card for this week's DCM "Spotty Stripy Christmas" dare:

 

Papers: Echo Park
Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Felt: Papertrey Ink
Dies: Papertrey Ink
Bling: Prima
Other: Stickles, 3D glitter paint

Those Papertrey greetings work really nicely on these little journaling cards from the Echo Park line.

Well, I'm off to get the fire on, and catch up with some of my V+ recordings! Last night's Nikita for one. :oD

Friday catch-up

 

I managed to meet up with a very special friend today for a catch-up, ruminations on life, a few giggles, and of course my first seasonal Starbucks from the Christmas menu. I went for a Peppermint Mocha (the most coffee I will ever manage in one cup) even a latte is too strong for me but this certainly hit the spot - and of course it was accompanied by some fruit toast....

I also spotted this year's Starbucks Christmas CD, but will have to look at it more closely another time to determine whether it's one for the list or not.

We had a good flick through my new addition to the cook book library:

 

I may just try one of these recipes for the next crop... who knows, but it won't be one that calls for 8 egg yolks! LOL

We also ventured into TK Maxx - it would have been rude not to, and given the sheer amount of AC 12x12 album kits including a lovely Dear Lizzy one... I am amazed we walked out minus a kit... Will have to see if they get any other Dear Lizzy ones in in the range I really liked.

On the scrapping front... something has come out of its box ready to be added to...

 

And speaking of Christmas... take a look at the Christmas cactus I am currently plant-sitting...

 
Right, I suppose I'd best see about ordering Pink Martini's Christmas album... wonder if it's up for download on iTunes yet? I noticed there was a new Pink Martini track on the Starbucks album so... am rather hoping it will be on their new Joy to the World album.