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Friday 30 April 2010

Pictures

Good morning everyone! Thought I'd say a quick hello and show you what I see when I look out of my window in the morning before I go for breakfast...

This is from the beach...

The weather has been gorgeous...35 degrees though tomorrow it's supposed to get to 40 degrees which is a tad bit hot me thinks!
Steven has been doing a great job getting the orders out while I've been working hard on my tan (a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!) though he did have one little mix up which has been fixed...thanks for understanding Helen! I hope the rest of the orders have been ok...if not just fire off an email to me and I'll get it sorted.
I'm going to check out a Scrapbooking store on Saturday called Paper Lane...I'll let you know how I get on.
That's my tummy rumbling so I'll head off. Thanks for stopping by.
Catch ya later x

Wednesday 28 April 2010

I was lost but now I'm found!!

Hello!!! It's taken me a bit of time to settle in to the hotel and the boring chore of deciding which sun factor to use lol. Also took me a bit of time to work out this new little notebook I got. I thought it would be the exact same as my laptop but there are a few things missing which I didn't account for. Another thing is I couldn't find how to write up a post as Blogger is in a foreign language!!! Took a break from the beach...35 degrees people!!! ... and thought I'd have one more shot at it and here I am.
I received this picture from one of my followers/customers Jude the day I left for my hols. She received this card from her friend (Jude...you forgot to tell me her name!!! Let me know so I can give her credit properly :- ) for her birthday. I absolutely love it and the brown and turquoise together is one of my favourite colour combos. Aren't the paper flowers pretty?
Martini Nikki certainly looks relaxed .... speaking of which...I'm gonna head back off to the beach. Hope you're having a good day whatever it is you're doing. Check back in with you in a few days.
Catch ya later x
ps I would love more of you to send me pictures of cards made with Nikki and Ruby to put on my blog! Thanks for this one Jude :- )

Sunday 25 April 2010

Saturday's Workshop

This is gonna be quick because I've still my packing to do!!
Julie took these pictures of our workshop on Saturday. Again we had such a laugh...there's always one that doesn't disappoint {Chris!} lol.
Here we all are: Alison, Agnes, Chris, Me, Julie, Pat and Elaine

Pat & Elaine

Alison & Agnes


Chris & I



Mother & Daughter, Chris & Julie


The four projects!
Everyone enjoyed making the projects and I think we all had our favourites. I always try so hard to make sure I've cut out all the right pieces in the right amounts but I always end up with something too short, too long or missing altogether! Well there was plenty of that this time but we managed.
That's it Peeps...my suitcase beckons. I'll be 'away' for 2 weeks but you will definitely hear from me...maybe not every day but keep checking back to see what I've been up to!
Take care, thanks for stopping by and...
I'll catch ya later xx

Friday 23 April 2010

Holiday here I come...

I hope!! So far there haven't been any signs we won't get away on Monday. I haven't really been preparing much for going away as I really didn't think we would. Today I took the train into town and used the voucher Ryan and Steven gave me for Mother's Day to get a pedicure. It was absolute bliss! Then I returned a few things, picked up a few things, popped in to see Nicole at work then got the train home again. Once home I never stopped so I feel like I've run a couple of marathons.
Tomorrow is workshop day. We had a full house but unfortunately the 2 Annette's can't make it. I got an email from Annette #1 saying her baby horse Aria has to go to the vet school tomorrow morning as she's really unwell with an unknown enzyme in her blood. I really hope Aria will be ok.
Here are another 2 of the projects we are making
This is a little notecard set...the notecards measure 3"x3". I found the tutorial on one of my blurfing nights at Stamping Moments. I used Bo Bunny's Sophie Silhouette pp and SU! Kraft cs.



And here are the little notecards...cute?


Next is this little gift bag using the SU! Top Note die. It's super cute and super quick to make. Another blurfing find. I can't think of where I saw it but will post the details when it comes to me. If anyone recognizes it and knows who I can give the credit to please let me know :-)


Bet you didn't guess there was a paper bag in the middle!
I'm going to finish packing for tomorrow as I'm sure I've forgotten something important for the workshop. Hope you have a great weekend.
Catch ya later x
ps my net book arrived today...ca-yoooot!

Thursday 22 April 2010

Busy as ever

I've been a bit busy the last couple of days trying to get things organized before I go away on Monday...volcano permitting. I managed to add myself to the blog hop... which is growing by the hour.. but for some reason my name is missing. Not sure what happened there as I followed the instructions to the T. I haven't tried a challenge yet but thought this was easy enough and it's a great way of meeting people. Only thing is I haven't had time to do much blog hopping but maybe I can sneak a cheeky bit of computer time while I'm away!
I was in a bit of a dilemma as to what to do while I was away as far as my blog was concerned. Did I want to kill myself to do a lot of pre-posting before I went, take my laptop with me or just leave a note saying 'closed for 2 weeks'? I didn't want to do the latter and I'm going to be leaving Steven in charge of my website while I'm away (I hope I have a website to come back to lol) so taking my laptop wasn't an option so decided to invest in a notebook mini laptop! I ordered it on Tuesday and they promised I would get it by Friday at the latest. I figured it would be compact and light enough to take away and I'd still have my finger on the pulse so to speak. I know I'm supposed to be on my holiday but when you're a one woman business what do you do?
I had a great experience yesterday. Ruby's illustrator Moira invited me to her house to sit beside her while she worked on new designs for me. It was fascinating to watch her work and it made me wish I could draw. It was fab and much quicker to do it this way as I could say there and then if I didn't like something or wanted something slightly different without waiting for emails to go back and forth. Luckily enough Moira only lives 10 minutes away. This was the first time she's ever done this as I'm the first client of hers to live on her doorstep! I think we've got a fabulous character and I'm really excited about it. Fingers crossed it won't be long before I can introduce it to you.
Here's another Ruby card for you. I love all the colours Karen picked for this article.
I've still to have my breakfast and jump in the shower. Still lots to do before I leave so I'll get on it now.
Hope you have a great day....thanks for stopping by!
Catch ya later x

Monday 19 April 2010

Blog Hop

I've just joined my first ever Blog Hop! All you have to do is:



Hope it works!

Catch ya later x

Funny card...

When I was at Karen's in February for the trade show she had made a sample card for a show she was demonstrating at and I loved the stamps she used. She managed to pick me up a set and it arrived in the mail this morning along with this card (not from the set unfortunately!) ...
Both Karen and I (and I'm sure hundred's of other's) can relate to this image big time at the moment lol. I laughed and laughed when I opened it.
It still makes me chuckle when I look at it.
Have a good night.
Catch ya later x

Sunday 18 April 2010

Another week gone and still all flights grounded. I know a few people who have been affected by the volcano errupting this past week. One of my Noah Ark pals was supposed to be going to Goa on Thursday of last week and has been re-booking her flight ever since. Fingers crossed she'll get out tomorrow but it's not looking great. They say it's supposed to get worse before it gets better but I think they're doing the right thing. I know I wouldn't like to be flying if there was a risk of the engines stopping. Unfortunately people are stranded all over the world with added expense they hadn't planned on. I'm supposed to be going on holiday very soon but that could be in doubt now too.
Karen's 3rd card using Shopping Ruby is just fab! I'm not a mad lover of yellow though I do use it but I really like the colours Karen used along with the yellow of Ruby's dress.

Donna's made a gorgous card using Dancing Nikki, colouring her dress in yellow adding some stickles to make it sparkle. So now I'm thinking I'm a yellow convert!!

I got my hair cut and coloured today...no more grey yaaaaaayy!! It was really nice just to sit for a couple of hours, read a magazine and not feel guilty lol. Afterwards I returned a few things and gave the American candy store a wide berth. I figure I would just be tempted to buy more Root Beer and that wouldn't be any good for my figure :-(

The projects are well under way for the workshop on Saturday. I'm really pleased with the way they've turned out though I ran out of some papers and had to order more from Hayley. I should easily have everything done and dusted by the end of the week.

I did a bit of blog hopping and decided to check out what Annette has been up to....she's only gone and made some gorgeous crochet flowers!!!! It's been a long while since I've done any crocheting but I'm willing to get the old hook out and crochet up a storm if Annette will teach me...hint hint!!

It's that time so I'll say goodnight and wish you all a good week.

Catch ya later x

Saturday 17 April 2010

BGT is back!!!

Did anyone see Britain's Got Talent tonight? I'm so glad it's back on...the tv has been rubbish since Skating On Ice finished. I missed the first half but managed to see the dancing dog, the little girl singing Vera Lynn and the boy drumming. I loved the dog...I wonder how long it took her owner to teach her how to dance like that...very clever pooch!

Thought I'd show you another one of Karen's cards from this months CM&P. I love the crystal swirls ...it must have taken her ages to place them all! Day Off Ruby is looking particularly pretty and the colour combo is fab.



These are pictures I took of my daft dogs tonight up at CB. When Rocky sees a stick he wants me to throw he usually lies back on his hunches and stares at the stick then quickly looks at me and back at the stick again. Well, when I saw this 'stick' I told him there was NO WAY I was gonna throw this one and he was on his own lol. Ruby tried to help him but he's too fast for her!


My last picture is my Rootbeer float from last night...how fab does it look! And look what I found in my cupboard...my A & W mug!! Donna asked me how to make it and what Rootbeer tastes like. For those of you who haven't heard of a float (shock!) or tried one (horror!) a float is made up of icecream (I use vanilla) and a fizzy drink of your choice. I've had it with diet coke and Fanta and both are yummy but I have to say Rootbeer is my fave. I can't compare the taste to anything over here. One of my friends says it tastes like Germaline but I'm guessing she had a cold the day she tried it lol. I'm going to the mall tomorrow to get my hair cut and coloured so I might just have to pick up another one. I'll check if they have Mountain Dew Elaine!!
That's all my news for tonight. Hope you've had a great Saturday.
Catch ya later x

Friday 16 April 2010

Rootbeer float!

I've had a manic few days...yesterday I never sat down once unless I was driving. By the time I dropped Sadie off at home about 9:30pm my legs were aching and I went straight to my bed!!! I can't tell you how wonderful that was...me being in bed by 10 pm...doesn't happen very often that's for sure lol.
Here's the project that I made the other day and gave to my neighbour. I originally saw it on the PTI blog and it was a three compartment bag for clippings, coupons etc. but since we aren't into coupons as much over here I decided I would make it a notecard holder. It would also make a super cute gift bag...you could put makeup in it or sweets or just about anything.
Here's the front of it...you get a bonus of Nicole in the background!
I used 2 clear boxes and stuck them together with my snot gun

Here are the 2 notecards...I made three of each one. I love this pp from MME



I changed the notecard slightly for the workshop to tie in the back of this pp.



As we have three projects to do I'm aware of completing them in the time we have so try to make them time consuming to a point!



I computer generated the sentiment.

And finally here's what it looks from the side. The gift bag measures 4 3/4 x 4 3/4 and the notecards measure 4 1/8 x 4 1/8. So what do you think? I hope the girls will like it.
Now here's something exciting I came across the other day when I was in the EK Mall



A & W rootbeer!!! Can you say Woo Hoo??!! I grew up on this stuff. It's a burger joint and my biological dad was the manager of one of the stores when I was about 5. They have a Papa burger, Mama burger, teen burger...I don't think they have a sister burger or anything like that lol.
When I was at the mall I noticed a new American candy store and made a beeline for it. I was hoping I'd find my favourite strawberry Twizzlers there. As soon as I walked in I saw the rootbeer and grabbed a can. It is now in the fridge and once I've posted this I'm going to crack it open and have a rootbeer float...yuuuuuummmeeeee! I had a wander around and they had everything you could think of...even Lucky Charms cereal. They had strawberry fluff and original fluff and finally I found what I was looking for...strawberry Twizzlers!!! Normally I would have grabbed a pack and not thought about the price and I'm going to sound really really REALLY mean here but for a very small pack with 6 pieces was £2!!!! I know it's imported and the exchange rate sucks at the moment but man o man...even I wasn't going to pay £2 for it! I'll wait till I go home next year and bring some back :- )
So that's it for tonight. Hope you guys have a great weekend. I'm off to have my rootbeer float!
Catch ya later x

Wednesday 14 April 2010

Karen Rocks!!

Did anyone get a copy of Cardmaking & Papercraft today? Well my bff pulled it off again! She was commissioned to do another article...this time on gems and she decided to use Ruby Fairies!! She's done an amazing job as always....here's one of the 5 cards she did using RF.

You'll know by now that Daydreaming Ruby is one of my 8 favourite Ruby Fairies ...well, I can't let the other other's know now can I lol. Still haven't had my Copic lesson from Karen but hopefully the next time she can show me a few tricks.

I went to see my neighbour today. I found out on Friday she was diagonosed with cervical cancer and when I dropped off a card and flowers to her on Saturday night she invited me and a few other neighbours over today. It was by chance they found it and she's amazingly positive. She's had 3 chemo sessions and sadly has lost her hair but she appeared at the door this afternoon with the most phenomenal wig...you'd never know it wasn't her own hair. Carol is such a lovely person and I hope and pray everything will be ok. I was putting together one of the projects for next weekends workshop and decided to give it to her along with a plate of brownies I baked which she loved. I've taken pictures so I'll post the project tomorrow.

My new glasses are ready so I'm going to pick them up in the morning. If I get a decent picture of me with them on I'll let you see them. You can let me know if they make me look intellectual!

I'm off to start cutting all the bits for the first project. Hope you've had a good day.

Catch ya later x

Tuesday 13 April 2010

Hello Goodnight...

Crazy day today...I was all over the place and unfortunately not long enough in my craft room so this is just a quickie. So quick I haven't even edited the pictures so my apologies for my mess in the background!
I made this card over the last 2 days...I think it's a case of less is more. I probably should have left the ribbon and lace flower out but I'm a bit addicted to them at the moment!
Another stamp I've had forever and now I've used it will definitely be inking it up again soon.

What do you think of the centre of the flowers? Can you tell what I used?

Here's a close up. They look like those little balls you see on cookies and cupcakes but they are the long neglected Beadz I've had in a drawer like....FOREVER!!!!

That's me for tonight...I'm off to take the dogs they're final outing...where's a kid when you need one???

Catch ya later x

Monday 12 April 2010

It's all go

I'm without a car this week. Part of me panics because you don't realise how much you rely on your car until you don't have it. We've been car sharing for almost a year so I'm pretty much used to it now ...we're lucky because if I really need to get out I can get the train about a 30 second walk from my front door! Today I was meeting a friend for coffee at D'Lish (don't tell Annette because it wasn't her!) and I could have got the train but decided to walk...it took me half an hour but it was a gorgeous day I didn't mind. It also meant I could have a piece of banana nut fudge loaf and not worry lol.
This is another card made by Ann. I love the minky-brown and turquoise together...an unusual combination but it works and I think the colours really suit Dancing Nikki.

You can see all the layers in the picture below.

When I was hanging out my laundry on Saturday I noticed a ladybug on one of the boys t-shirts. To me a ladybug symbolizes my Grandpa who died in 1996...(I did post a story about it but I can't find it!)...and I hadn't seen a ladybug for a long long time...possibly since last summer. So you can imagine I was extremely happy to have a visit from this little guy. He didnt' hang around for long but I'm glad my Grandpa came to check up on me.


That's it for tonight...Steven's hounding me for the laptop so I'd better let him have it.
Thanks for stopping by.
Catch ya later x

Sunday 11 April 2010

Glorious Sunshine

What a beautiful day it is here in Glasgow...the sun is shining and when I was out in my car earlier the temperature registered 19.5 C!!! I took the dogs to CB and we walked for almost 2 hours and even then I could have gone longer. Both Rocky and Ruby were feeling the heat and they've been laying flat out the backyard ever since we got back. They really can't take the heat. If I hear even one person moan about the heat after the winter we've had I'll go through them like a dose of salt!!
Here's a little card I made the other day using another un-inked I came across when I was having a rummage. It's a Great Impressions stamp my sister got for me.
I used a piece of Basic Grey Kyoshi pp and Bazzill and SU! cs

Some teeny tiny buttons finished the wheels of the bike and a little bit of glossy accents on the basket makes it shine.
I hope you've had a great weekend enjoying the sunshine...I'm off to enjoy what's left of it!
Catch ya later x

Saturday 10 April 2010

Happy Birthday Annette!

It's my friend Annette's birthday today...hip hip hooray!! I hope you have a day as special as you are Annette :-) I have a habit of remembering someones birthday a week or so before the day and then totally forgetting to send the card or wishing them on the acutal day. One year I was so pleased with myself for remembering Annette's birthday. I bought her some flowers and left them on the handle of her front door with her card as she wasn't home. She called me a while later thanking me for the flowers and then gently broke it to me I was a month early lol!!!
This is her card....virtually...because I still have it in my possession!
Another super cute Penny Black image. The paper is Lasting Impressions. I still have a gazillion sheets and I must remember to use it more often.




This is my attempt at 3D...don't look too close at the white bits...I must have cut the flower out when I wasn't wearing my glasses! It's also only one layer so I wonder if it counts hee hee. I covered the flower with Glossy Accepts to add a bit of interest.


There's a rumour that the weather is supposed to be nice through till Monday. Yesterday was nice and the temperature got to a tropical 13 degrees C! It was so nice to feel a bit of heat in the sun. Maybe spring has finally sprung?

Hope you have a lovely weekend what ever the weather.

Catch ya later x

Friday 9 April 2010

I received some fabulous 3D cards in the mail yesterday from Gaynor and Ann...this time they were Nikki's. I love them all and thought I'd show you this one first. This one is made by Ann...the colours are gorgeous and I wish you could see it IRL because my photography skills aren't doing it justice.
Gaynor said Ann uses either Copics or Promarkers and stamps the image on pearlescent paper and that's what gives the image the shimmer.



Look at all those layers!!! Thank you Ann...your cards are beautiful.
I hope the weather stays dry this weekend. I'm taking Rocky and Ruby to visit Rocky's breeder...I always hold my breath until she says he's looking great! No doubt I'll be up at CB too catching up with the girls.
Catch ya later x

Thursday 8 April 2010

Hello everyone! Another day closer to the weekend...Is it just me or does anyone else think this year is going awfully fast?
I'm ashamed to say this Penny Black has been in my workroom uninked for a good couple of years. I was having a bit of a rummage the other day and there it was begging for a bit of love so this is what I came up with...
I have a bad habit of buying lots of things and not using them straight away. I can't believe I neglected Pink Toes (with a name like that how can you use another colour???) for so long. I used more of my MME Quite Contrary paper...Don't think I'll get tired of this range any time soon.

I used the glitter sparingly...yup I did...for just a bit of sparkle.

Here's a closeup of my 2nd lace flower....love it!!!
Catch ya later x