G'day, Hola....Hello!?!

Samurai, how do I say goodbye?

2011-11-17T21:19:00.001Z

It is with a broken heart that I write this post. My beautiful dog Samurai passed away yesterday and I'm just grief-stricken. He was so much more than just a dog, you see he was truly my best friend and my soul mate. For the past 13 years he's been by my side through thick and thin and seen me through the darkest times of my life. Times during which I had all but given up on life. But he was there and he was my light and he gave me reason to fight on and more importantly to live on.

Because of him I ended up changing my life completely and meeting the most incredible man who I know I will spend my life with. And here we are Samurai is gone and Kenny and I are full of such incredible sadness, regret and guilt. Nobody warns you about that, the guilt you feel when you euthanise an incredibly loved pet.

My boy was old, he couldn't walk properly due to a spinal disc rupture a few years back, he was riddled with arthritis, he had an internal tumour which we had no idea how big it was or if it was indeed still growing at all, he also had a large tumour in the back of his mouth and more tumours growing on the other side of his mouth which we spotted 2 weeks ago which weren't there about a month ago. There was also an 'inconclusive' diagnosis of Cushings disease and not to mention the laryngeal paralysis. Gosh do I need to go on. This is the first time I've written everything down 'on paper' and that's quite a generalised list not breaking it down into specifics. I could be here all day if I did that!! It was the laryngeal paralysis which in the end gave us the biggest scare where after a walk Samurai couldn't breath and seemed to be suffocating. It was then we made the horrible decision.

We spoke to the vet and organised a home visit, we went to the crematorium to make sure everything would be done properly and he would be cremated on his own and treated with respect we planned and we planned. So yesterday his vet Zoe came over, he was snoozing in my scrapping room, his usual place at that time of the morning as I'm usually sat in there. First she sedated him as he hates needles, oh how he cried when she injected him in the back of the neck and how I cried to see him so scared. It was only momentary more his fear of needles than pain, he ran off to the vet nurse Charlotte for a grumpy cuddle and then came back to his matt where he quickly became sleepy. I lay beside him cuddling him nose to nose as they prepared his paw for the final injection and as she filled his veins with the awful blue poison I stroked him and told him to go sleep, that mummy was there and that I loved him so much and Kenny sat on the other side of him and told him he was there too, and we watched whilst his body gasped for air and sobbed and sobbed.

We went for our last road trip together, all the time I kept looking over expecting him to get up and sit between us like he usually does. He looked so peaceful and so calm, he just looked so beautiful and I still cant stop crying thinking of it. We attended the cremation, determined to see him through to the end, my lips the last to kiss his muzzle and my my hands and arms the last to stroke and cuddle him.

So there it is, everything that was wrong with my boy, my head tells me it's amazing that he lived this long but yet my heart keeps screaming out I didn't try hard enough, I didn't do enough for him , I gave up on him, I let him down, it was too soon, I should have waited, I killed my boy, my soul mate!!! How could I do such a thing!!! How could I give up on him after all the loyalty and love he's given me. Will this pass?? Will I be able to remember all the magical times we had together without this intense feeling of guilt and regret.

I've had so many friends offer me support and kind words knowing how much I loved him and how much they loved him too. I just can't bring myself to speak to anyone though, not yet, as soon as I try I just burst into tears. I'm hoping writing this post may help me get through this. So I'm sending this out to the blog-o-sphere, and to my boy.

Samurai I've loved you like no other, for all the things I may have done wrong in my life there must have been something I did right to deserve such an amazing dog. You were such a loyal, loving and gentle giant. A true gentleman and I was blessed to have had your love. I love you so much and will never forget you my darling boy.

Twisted Sketch #127!!

2011-11-09T22:33:00.001Z

Have you ever wanted to do a layout with a lot of 'white space'....literally?? My layouts are usually fairly covered with patterned paper as often feel I haven't put enough effort into it if theres spare space :o) hahaha my wierd mentality!! Firstly have a look at this weeks Twisted Sketch here......

The twist was "chipboard". Fairly obvious that the first thing that springs to mind is to just use some chipboard, so off I went hunting through my stash to see what I had in chipboard. I found the words best friends and new then that I just had to find some photos of me and my boy.

I kept it fairly simple, 2 photos matted with some paper, a machine sewn border, some ribbon offcuts and a couple of dried starfish I had lying around :o) I just wanted the photos and the title to say it all......Samurai is my best friend. What would I be without him!!

Twisted Sketch #125!!

2011-10-28T18:08:00.002+01:00

Honestly sometimes I amaze myself at how disorganised I can be. Completely forgot to blog this layout, and I have to say it's my latest favourite. I just love this photo of the boy. Have a look at the sketch here.....

This weeks twist was 'BLACK' I figured I was scrapping a Big Black Dog....but also added some little black paw prints for good measure.

Here's my layout, isn't he cute! I used scraps I had left from some Bo Bunny sheets....lots of 'fussy cutting'!

Iceland - Antarctica Training Session 2!!

2011-10-21T12:22:00.001+01:00

Well another amazing week spent in Iceland. This time though we were so busy I didn't really get around too taking many snapshots.

There were 2 main objectives of this trip, firstly more driver training for the staff and secondly more cold weather training for some of the competitors. it certainly was a supermix of interesting people. A Blue Peter presenter, a pair of South African 'Celebrities', a Kiwi, a Pro Norweigian Snowkiter, a Brummie Chef (everyones new best friend) A future whiskey brewer, and the usual mix of polar adventuring, Brits, and Icelandic and Norwegian Guys, little ole me and even littlier itsy bitsy Anna who I'm sure single handedly holds things together and has a built in data bank of what everyone should be doing in that brain of hers!!

First stop was the Arctic trucks factory to have a look at the latest trucks they were working on. Believe it or not the big white truck is an emergency vehicle for bad weather!

This latest baby is going to be converted into a massive 6 wheeler, not sure if its joining us though

This is what the trucks get converted into!! And believe when I say driving them is like MONSTER TRUCKING in the snow!
Really scary, yet so much fun!!

rations!

Day 3 was a travel day to the glacier and the first day of playing in the snow. Anna put together nibbles pack for the next 2 days on the glacier. I just about fell over when I saw how much was assigned to each person. Apparently this is fairly typical rations....scarey thing was I actually devoured ALL of it!! Dare not work out the amount of calories I consumed.

First stop at the bottom of the glacier for us, layer up clothing, harnesses on, and deflate the tyres on the trucks to the right pressure for snow.

The weather was pretty extreme whilst we were there, it took a fair few hours to get the competitors to the top of the glacier to do their practical training. Take note of the little yellow snow truck to right of this photo. Then have a look for it in the photos I took 2 days later!!!

Dig in and keep on driving!

Kenny looking sleepy at the wheel

The competitors learning how to put the tent up in blizzard conditions....we were lovely and toasty warm in our truck, nibbling at our rations pack.

My turn at the helm!! I learnt heaps more this trip. Best time to train is in the worst possible weather conditions, and Iceland definitely didn't dissappoint!! Heavy Blizzards the first 2 days on the glacier.

the start of an exciting adventure together!

visibility getting better

wasn't me!

check out the yellow truck now!

day 3 begins!

Third day on the glacier turned into a complete white out and we ended up having to do an emergency rescue from the top of the glacier. Some Finns had camped out over night but it was decided for their own safety it was best to get them off the glacier. Kenny and I drove up in one truck and Emil and Peter went up in another truck. Amazing sensation not being able to see out the window. At one stage we only had about 3 metres visibility, and kept losing sight of each other. Kenny was driving with the drivers door open and staring at the ground to make sure we were still moving, I was hanging out of the passenger side window, fully kitted out with my goggles on trying to spot the other truck or the people we were looking for.

It really was a pretty remarkable week.....and this is only the beginning......the REAL ADVENTURE starts in December!

Always time to strike up a combat pose.....bit hard to kick any higher though with 4 layers and a harness on!!!

Twisted Sketch #123!!

2011-10-17T18:24:00.001+01:00

Almost completely missed blogging this layout as I was away in Iceland and completely forgot! I did this layout at a lovely crop held by Craft Obsessions and met the equally lovely David and Brenda.

Have a look at the sketch for my inspiration here....

And heres my take on it!

My scrapping room - sometimes the answer is right under your nose!!

2011-10-05T18:36:00.001+01:00

We have lived in this house now for the better part of a year and when we initially moved in it was just assumed that the small box room would be my scrapping room. Firstly by my reasoning because it was small, warm and cosy, secondly by Kennys reasoning....it was the closest room to the kitchen!!! Honestly that man!!!! Everything equates to his stomach :o)

The canoe room

Last week I walked into spare front bedroom to see if the grocery man had arrived and as I stood there and rolled my eyes yet again at Kenny's fully inflated canoe (because every man has a bedroom for his canoe doesn't he!!) I also noticed that somehow his motor-cross gear had seemed to move into the room as well. Hmmm seems all his toys were starting to infiltrate the house, after years of me working on having them stored in our numerous sheds and loft!!

Then I noticed how bright the room was and how much light entered the room all day due to the large bay window, suddenly.....an epiphany!!! You see I love my little scrapping room but what I don't love is that it is on the side of the house which doesn't get the sun and the window is tiny so natural light is minimal making my room dark all day no matter what the weather. Not fun sitting in a room having to use lights to match up your colours! Any crafter will tell you how important good lighting is!!!

My NEW Scrapping Room!

My epiphany of course was it was time to move the canoe out and my scrapping room in!!! I'm sitting here now, typing this post admiring how loving my new scrapping room is. I've always considered myself a fairly intelligent woman so how on earth did I NOT think of this earlier!!! Look how much room I have!!!

Twisted Sketch #121!!

2011-09-28T09:00:00.001+01:00

What a lovely number 121 and what a great sketch! This weeks twist...'punch'. Have a look at it here....

Here's my take on the sketch. I kept this layout quite simple using a die-cut sheet sheet from Bo-bunny, some very old rub ons which I worried wouldn't rub of properly.....it was a very slow process :o)

Shimelles - Scrapbook starting points!

2011-09-21T21:15:00.001+01:00

Oh the lovely Shimelle sets the most inspiring challenges, I've been eyeing off her "Scrapbook starting point" challenges for awhile and had to join in when I saw this one. Basically the idea is to copy her layout up to this point and then take over and finish it in your own style!!

Have a look at all the details

Go to Shimelles' website

Heres Shimelles start point. It finally gave me the courage to scrap my favourite puppy photo of Samurai. Which finally means I've done the title layout for his 8x8 album.

Here's my interpretation! Wasn't he a gorgeous puppy!! Can't believe he's 12 now!

Twisted Sketch #119!!

2011-09-14T08:00:00.003+01:00

Oh what fun....another Twisted Sketch! I spent days looking at this....ummming and ahhhing and turning it round and round. I was determined to use up some more of my Emmas Shoppe collection but it just wasn't happening for me. I went hunting through my paper stash and came across some sheets and scraps from Pink Paislee - Queen Bee Collection, and it all started coming together......

Have a look at the sketch here.....

Turned the sketch on its side and came up with this.....

American Glitter Thickers for the letters
2 Camelot Roses Prima flowers
Say it with pearls and roses swirl
and hand made felt ribbon flowers with a pearl centre

I really love this little flowers and thought I'd make my first ever craft video of how I made them.

BE WARNED: pretty dull, no nice music, my hands keep getting in the way, I burn myself with my hot glue gun and I almost stick the flower to my cutting mat. Not bad for my first video :o)

Crafty Moments Crop!!

2011-09-13T18:13:00.000+01:00

Well last nights crop was a hoot, met some lovely ladies and had a right giggle. Lots of stash envy going on and funny chats about our pets and kids.....(obviously their kids :o))

SO in honour of our conversations last night just thought I'd dig up a photo of an old layout (pre-blog) about my chickens!!!

It turns out I'm not the only slightly daft women who names her chickens. **Waving at Katy**

Of course this is when they were at "Point of Lay" and were cute and young and hadn't as yet turned into garden vandals!!

A new crop!

2011-09-12T13:14:00.000+01:00

Well I'm quite excited!! I love attending crops but only seem to find ones that I have to drive for over an hour to get to!!! So haven't been to many. A couple of weeks ago on UKS I found a thread advertising a new crop group starting up and it's local!!!!

First nights tonight...really looking forward to meeting some new 'like minded' people, and who knows might even get some scrapping done!! Have to get my layout for twisted sketches done now and then have to pack for tonight....gosh what do I take!!!

Birthday Card

2011-09-07T08:00:00.001+01:00

Kennys Dads Birthday today!!! This is the card I made him, hopefully its arrived in time. More importantly though is the bottle of whiskey we sent him. Nothing better for a Scotsman!!! :o) Just in time for the cooler evenings. Happy Birthday MR W!

Feeding Time!

2011-09-05T20:45:00.001+01:00

Been playing with a new toy whilst kenny is away. I'm seriously loving this little HD video camera. The picture is a little grainy as I had it on a low setting and it was dark. But had to share this video of a cranky dog waiting for his dinner!!

Twisted Sketch #117!!

2011-09-03T21:02:00.001+01:00

How time flies!!! I can't believe we're in September all ready. I'm a couple of days behind posting my Twisted Sketch Layout. So need to get that sorted quickly...have a look at the original sketch here......

Now I've been dying to scrap this photo for ages. Kenny took it as an impromptu 'self portrait' at Moors valley park after we had gone for a bike ride with Samurai (in his buggy- ears flapping in the breeze!) It's a goofy shot of us and I love it!

I just adore the new My Minds Eye papers.....glitter, glitter and more Glitter!!

Twisted Sketch #115!!

2011-08-17T20:16:00.000+01:00

Another fabulous sketch from Twisted Sketches!!! It took me a little while to let it sink and numerous hours of paper shuffling was done before I was finally happy to start cutting ....but I'm really chuffed with the results!!

Have a look at this weeks sketch here.....

I've finally got to scrap some photos of my trip to Iceland!!!

I used my lovely new papers from the "Journey Collection" from new company called Authentique. Its a lovely collection in blues and greys with a bit of a travel theme so perfect for scrapping my Iceland trip!

Luckily I had some rose ribbons which matched the blues and some cream rik-rak. I used foam thickers for the title as well as some sticker letters also from Authentique.

The hardest part was punching the holes to weave the ribbon through, well trying to work out how to place them out evenly!!

I love this little cardstock element. its only tiny but the little island that the metal washer circles is actually ICELAND, well I thought it was a cute touch ;o)

Shimelles- Chop your paper challenge

2011-08-14T14:57:00.000+01:00

The lovely Shimelle has an online crop this weekend and have finally found some time to try and participate in some of here challenges. They're open for a whole week so will try and do as many as I can.

So the first challenge I've tackled:

Here’s your challenge: Create a project (layout, card, etc) that is embellished with paper rather than embellishments. Take a piece of paper (or two) and chop it up until you have enough to dress up your page!

Have a look at all the details here

I've made a little card using scraps from a sheet of paper I had in my'scraps bag' I'll add some form of a sentiment to the blank part of the card when I decide who to give it to :o)

New Stash!!

2011-08-14T14:39:00.000+01:00

It has been such a long time since I bought any new stash. I was pretty excited to see all the new ranges coming out and had to buy some!!

I've been looking for awhile for some papers to scrap my Iceland photos with and love the look of this range by a new company called Authentique.

Blues and greys on brilliant quality cardstock.

My favourites though are the new papers from My Minds Eye...they're just GORGEOUS! Embossed with glitter over stunning patterns, how on earth do you cut up one of these sheets!! Would love to buy more of the matching embellishments but they can get a bit pricey so determined to try make my own.

Sunshine

Breeze

Rosy Love

Amsterdam in Pictures!

2011-08-10T23:17:00.000+01:00

Well what can I say about our lovely trip to Amsterdam!! Firstly would you believe it's the first time we've been on a plane together, and our first trip to Europe! Hard to believe considering we always seem to be running around like headless chooks to different countries, just never at the same time!

Typical Canal

Amsterdam was gorgeous a lot prettier than I imagined, albeit really wet!! The heavens completely opened up on us a couple of times but when it was dry.....lovely!!!

Our hotel was right beside the flower markets. Mid week though they were fairly quiet. Still saw a lovely range of flowers though.

Kenny doing what he does best!!

bike parking tower!

Now if it's one thing you can't miss it's the bicycles!! I've never seen a city so catered to being bicycle friendly to the point where its all a bit manic.

Have to say though that one of our highlights was watching this woman struggling with her full size Cello and super impressed when she managed to get on her bike and ride away!! Oh and she was also wearing heels!! IMPRESSIVE!

The Seven bridges

'Seven Bridges' is one of my favourite canal photos I took, it really captures the intensity of the canal structure in Amsterdam and how much the city uses it, plus its really pretty. Make sure you click on it to see the photo full size.

Classic bridge

A Canal boat cruise really is a must in this City, its really the only way to truely appreciate it's beauty. And after hours of walking around a great way to give the feet a break.

Lifting bridge

Fresh Corn on the Cob

We managed to find the local farmers markets too where the smell of fresh corn drizzled in butter was just too much to go past!!

Our final afternoon was spent sitting in cafe watching the world go past ( on bicycles of course) and enjoying a glass of wine and some nibblies.

Twisted Sketch #111!!

2011-07-24T14:19:00.001+01:00

So much to write about!! We went away for a couple of days to Amsterdam and had such a great time. first though here's a layout I did for Twisted Sketches last week. Take a look at the sketch here....

The twist on this weeks sketch was BUTTONS!!! Here's my layout:

I kept the layout pretty simple using one sheet of patterned paper. Used my favourite blue glimmer mist. Used the sewing machine to sew some wavey patterns along the bottom of the layout which I highlighted with BUTTONS.

Twisted Sketch #109!!

2011-07-06T21:42:00.001+01:00

Well first up a bit of house keeping, the Twisted Sketches website has had a little problem with its domain host so has had to move site. It can now be found on www.twistedsketches.org, make sure you spread the word!!

Secondly I've been so flat out lately working on getting through my ETM and Body Combat Qualifications that I haven't had much time for scrapping or anything else!!! I'll post about that another time, more about scrapping now.

I finished this layout at 1:30am Wednesday morning, the day its meant to go live, but I really enjoyed doing it and am pretty happy with the finished result

This weeks inspiration can be found here

I used my Emmas Shop collection from Crate Paper......

Twisted Sketch #107!!

2011-06-24T21:25:00.002+01:00

Another amazing sketch from Twisted Sketches to be inspired by! Have a look at it here....

I LOVED THIS SKETCH!! The problem I had was my mind was racing and kept going off in different tangents. I kept changing my mind which photos to use and then of course that changes what papers you want to scrap with....etc etc.

This weeks twist was 'time' which lead me to thinking about how much Kenny and I value each moment we have with our boy Samurai, he's getting quite old especially for a Rottie so each birthday is a major milestone for him.

For his 12th birthday I made him a very special victoria sponge cake and gave him a whopping piece to eat.

Twisted Sketch #105!!

2011-06-09T18:56:00.001+01:00

I'm a couple of days late blogging this layout but at least it was on the TW website on time!

This weeks twist was 'Summer' so I immediately set out to look for a suitable photo....I found a fun family photo that I've wanted to scrap for ages taken in Australia last time I went home for a visit.

Have a look at the sketch where I got my inspiration from here.....

and heres my layout,

Iceland - Grimsvotn Volcano!!

2011-06-02T23:00:00.006+01:00

What an incredible last day!!! We headed over to the glaciers on the other side of Reykjavik to do some serious driver training....and crikey that was fun. Started off driving ever so carefully, really worried about damaging these incredibly expensive trucks...then after being yelled at profusely by Gisli I began to realise how indestructible these trucks practically are!

We spent most of the day burning around learning how to get 'unstuck' in the snow. How to drive safely over minor crevasses, most importantly though I guess what NOT to do!!

After a days training and seeing as we were in the area we decided to head up to the active volcano to say g'day!! it'd be rude not considering we were in the area!

small step for woman kind

big step for scrapping layout!!!

We stopped off numerous times to have a look at the ground, couldn't see too far ahead of us as the higher we got the thicker the fog.....a very strange atmosphere! It was quite exciting seeing the changes to the glacier the closer we got to the volcano. You need to remember, we're ON A GLACIER that is usually completely WHITE!!! All that black muddy stuff you see is actually ash!!!

The amazing thing was you could dig into the ground and feel how warm it was! Really bizarre!

Emil showing us
where not to stand!

The closer we got to the crater the more crevasses appeared we even found these gorgeous ice caverns, the fun bit was crossing over the ice bridge to get to the other side!!

Luckily there were no trolls hiding underneath and we managed to pass safely.

We got to the top and kept walking out, probably a lot further than we should of , but it seemed like a good idea at the time ;o)

We crossed larger crevasses still and then we spotted her!! The top!

The frozen lake completely blasted away and there still bubbling away in the middle is the top of the volcano, seems small and insignificant in this photo but it really was massive, and just mind blowing to think that the hole above it was completely frozen and level with the rest of the top!!

Managed to grab a quick photo of me before we legged it....we heard ice crashing down underneath us so figured it was time to move!! Love my big puffer jacket, had to borrow it of one of the guys as it was FREEZING up there!

Spent the night in this little geologists hut at the bottom of the glacier, it even had a matching toilet!!

So ..... had an absolutely thrilling week, full of all sorts of emotions. Pretty knackered when I got home, had a nice hot shower and was brushing my hair in the mirror when I think I caught a glimpse of a woman I used to know; strong, active, confident. Maybe she's still there after all??!! Will have to make the time to get to know her again J

Iceland - Antarctica Training

2011-06-02T21:41:00.002+01:00

What a week!!! I’ve been lucky enough to meet and train with some of the amazing people that Kenny has worked with going to the Poles. I also got to know the most incredible female explorer, Felicity Aston. Look her up here to get an idea of what some women are capable of....truely inspirational! Make sure you show your daughters, nothing is out of reach for them!

The red truck was my baby to play with for the week!!

My week started off at the Arctic Trucks factory, I was introduced to the trucks we were going to be using in Antarctica and we had a reminder lesson on basic climbing skills. Then the real fun began as we headed up to the glaciers to throw a truck down a crevasse!

Check out the 'monster truck' fueling stop, could you imagine seeing this at the local BP???

As for my week, it consisted of a lot of 'firsts'

The first time I saw glaciers ....beautiful!

The first time I looked down a crevasse ....nerve-wracking!

More importantly the first time I abseiled down a crevasse .... exhilarating!!

Top of crevasse

The idea was to practice rescue techniques should the worse happen and we lose a truck down a crevasse. The guys from Arctic Trucks had already been out and found a large crevasse to use, they were hoping that the truck would crash though the crevasse and maybe reveal a cathedral crevasse underneath as well as total the truck to give us a really good rescue scenario. 3 times we threw this damn truck down the crevasse and each time it ended upright on its wheels, looking like it had been driven in!!! NOT what we were hoping for!!! But it did give us a good laugh though.

Crash Attempt 1

Crash Attempt 2

Crash Attempt 3

Never known a truck fight so hard to live!! In the end the guys ended up just turning it over...hehehehe

We learnt how to abseil down safely and use specialized rescue equipment to cut people out of the car, quite an intense training session and hopefully the skills I learnt out here will never be needed!

After a long cold day we headed back down the glacier to a 'country cottage' to spend the night, the best part was a hot tub outside powered naturally but the hot springs in the area, the perfect way to end a busy day. Oh and a nice glass of red!!

Twisted Sketch #103!!

2011-05-25T09:36:00.001+01:00

Oh its feel so good to be scrapping again!! I've missed a couple of weeks because of my exams and assessments but thats all over now!

Another fabulous sketch from Twisted Sketches website, check it out here....

And heres my interpretation, I used photos from my birthday day out at Going Ape, there was no way that one photo alone could capture how much fun I had in the day so had to work out how to add loads more :o)

Now the twist on this sketch was "stop" .....had to admit I did just that, confused me to think how i could incorporate the twist, all I could think of was a stop sign! So from that I got a hexagonal shape which I used on my layout instead of circles in the sketch. I just ended up covering half of it though with embellishments.

I used the lovely Emmas shoppe collection from Crate Paper. never used this brand before and have to admit I really like the quality of the papers, will definitely be keeping an eye on their collections in the future.

Grapevine Queen.....It's Official!!!!

2011-05-22T17:19:00.000+01:00

How excited am I!!! EXHAUSTED but excited. After many months of study and exams, thousands of step-touches, box-steps, grapevines, squats, lunges, hamstring curls, jumping jacks, crunches, press-ups etc etc etc etc and more ETC I so relieved to be able to say I passed my final assessment.

I am now allowed to teach "exercise to music". Well actually this is only step 1 to my final goal but every step counts!!

Royal Wedding

2011-04-29T12:21:00.000+01:00

Oh could she be anymore beautiful!!!!! I've had a good cry watching this wedding, gorgeous service....don't you love a good wedding!!!!

Twisted Sketch #098!!

2011-04-27T15:30:00.001+01:00

Another fortnight gone already and my turn again to produce a layout for twisted sketches. I'd been looking forward to this sketch and had some lovely new papers from 'My Minds Eye' Stella and Rose Collection to play with. I'll definitely be buying some more from that collection, they're just gorgeous!

Check out the Twisted sketch here...

Here's my interpretation of the sketch, the photos were taken on a jetty at lake Conniston in the Lakes District, where we did our Body Balance stretches. it was a glorious sunny morning and felt adapt to be doing "Sun Salutations" :o)

Make sure you go to the website and have a look at what some of the other girls from the design team are producing, their layouts are amazing!

Happy Good Friday!!!

2011-04-22T15:48:00.000+01:00

Isn't Easter a lovely time of year! Especially when we have weather as gorgeous as it has been this year!!

And so today is Good Friday and traditionally its the day we tuck into hot cross buns. Theres loads of varieties in the stores to pick from but you just can't beat freshly home-made hot cross buns. I've been baking most of today, and baking myself in the sun in between dough rises :o)

This batch is glazed and ready to go, I bake a large batch every year to distribute to my neighbours in our lovely little village.

Always interesting seeing a grown man cry as all these buns walk out the door and not into his belly!!!! My poor Kenny.....;o)

On a more traditonal note....they may be delightfully yummy, but take a moment to remember what the cross on the bun represents, and in our household as I was raised a good little Latino girl .....there will be fish for supper...ok it'll probably be Fish Pie but its still fish!!

Have a blessed and safe Easter Weekend everyone! xxx

Our Holidays!

2011-04-20T22:14:00.000+01:00

Well we've been back for a couple of weeks now but been soooo busy I've only just motivated myself to post about our week away! Kenny hired a 6 berth campervan so we could take our boy away comfortably and after deciding we didnt have enough time to head to Ireland we decided to head up to the Lakes district instead.

We had reasonable weather at Lake Windemere ....

Twisted Sketch #096!!

2011-04-13T15:09:00.000+01:00

Well another layout that was done in a bit of a rush, we were away all last week for a getaway in the Lakes district and then when I've come home my printers run out of ink, luckily I found this photo which I had meant to scrap ages ago but never got around to it. This weeks sketch can be found here....

I love these papers from My Minds Eye!! Great colours for a male layout.

I just cant shake the feeling that my layout looks a little incomplete though, just feels a little dull to me and I've drawn a bit of a blank as to what else to do on it....any ideas would be greatly appreciated!!! Or do I stick to a 'less is more' approach.....maybe its just cause my last layout was full of glitter and bling and really girly....really difficult doing frills and flowers on a male layout without it looking prissy :o)

Twisted Sketch #094!!

2011-03-30T13:58:00.002+01:00

Talk about putting myself under a bit of scrapping pressure....have been so busy lately that I didn't round to even looking at this sketch until Sunday...(for those who know me....I'm a very slow scrapper and tend to be the queen of paper shuffling) It's a fab sketch....very inspiring and gets the mind thinking. Have a look here:

Here's my interpretation of the sketch. I used the prettiest of papers from Creative Imaginations - Loolah range
Cut out a great big heart and machine stitched a border around it. Used some glittery red pastels to shade a border around it to make it 'pop' more. Also machine stitch some ribbon to gather it.

I mounted the photo on some black card stock painted with black crackle paint and then got out the trusty foam squares to give it some lift. I wanted my title to hang over the edge of the photo so used clear acetate to stick the letters to.

Spring is here....baby coos in the forest!!!!

2011-03-26T14:54:00.001Z

You can always tell when spring reaches the forest, its been glorious blue skies about, the views in the forest become breath-taking again, and new baby animals begin to appear!!! First on the scene are some little calves, they're just gorgeous!! It's like a little cow creche, they all play together and have 2 naps a day...mid-morning and mid-afternoon, so cute!! It's just the mama cows you have to watch out for!!

It's my birthday!!

2011-03-21T11:12:00.000Z

Well what a fun weekend!!! On Saturday Kenny went out with the boys to play on his trail bike (something he doesn't get to do often) I spent the afternoon with the boy and had a couple of visits from my lovely neighbours with flowers and chocolates for my birthday. In the evening we went out for dinner with a large group of friends to wish Carol all the best for her 6 mth tour of duty in Afghanistan, may she come home safely!!!

On Sunday Kenny had organised a pre-birthday surprise which was an absolute blast! We went to Go-Ape tree-top adventure park (yes we are the romantic couple aren't we!) (I took him zorbing last year!) lots of swinging, climbing and balancing....well attempted balancing, check out the vids!

Twisted Sketch #092!!

2011-03-16T16:43:00.001Z

Well this weeks sketch was a great one! So many different ideas popped into my head. I ended up turning it on it side ( I seem to be a fan of doing that to practically all the sketches I used!) And decided to use a multitude of photos just to make life difficult for myself :o)

Take a look at the sketch here.......

Heres my take on it, the fiddly bit was trying to scale and print out all the smaller photos.....a little bit of a tedious task but a great way to sum up our week away without having to write about it. Must remember to put a date on it somewhere too!! Hope you like it!

Finally joined the bunting club.... more faffing but it does look cute!! The alphas are actually plain mini white foam letters by Papermania which I coloured with a gelly roll pen. They come up lovely and glittery!!

And of course a little pleated flower embellie.

Happy Pancake Day!!!!

2011-03-08T21:58:00.000Z

Well what a day!!! Spent the afternoon buying treats for the chickens....trying to sort out an over zealous case of chicken pecking!! And as it's Shrove Tuesday had to make some pancakes for my man. He seemed quite pleased with a tower of blueberry pancakes covered with more blueberries, some strawberries and drizzled with golden syrup....mmmmmm

Twisted Sketch #090

2011-03-02T20:06:00.000Z

I absolutely LOVED this sketch!! I have absolutely no reason why, but it just leapt off the page at me and admittedly I did this layout before sketch #88!! Have a look at it here.....

First thing I did was turn the sketch around and started from there. I finally used my favourite sheet from BoBunny's Midnight Frost Collection.....have you seen it??? Absolutely Gorgeous!! I shaded the edges of cardstock and patterned paper with some shimmery pastels. I raised the photos with foam pads from the masks I made for them underneath.

The 'twist' on the sketch was 'Frames' so I incorporated this onto my layout with some good old fashioned sewing....and yes it's meant to look a little messy!

I used my trusty Robo to cut out some snowflakes which I then covered in distress stickles. I had some lovely blue pearl flourishes which I cut up and positioned to finish my layout. I was really pleased with the finished layout as I finally got to use these photos of Samurai 'trying' to catch his snowballs.

Really must blog more

2011-03-01T21:06:00.000Z

First a bone to chew on.....INDOORS!!

Well I've finally gotten around to downloading photos off the camera!!! Had to post some photos of Samurai's b'day. He turned 12 at the beginning of February and we made a right fuss of him on the day. Can't believe my little mans been with me for 12 years!! Seems like yesterday I was picking him out of his litter at 6 weeks of age and 2kgs weight. He's been my best friend and closest companion ever since.

I made him a special birthday cake - a Victoria Sponge with jam and cream and his name dusted in icing on top.

Does it look like he wants a piece???

Took him ages to take it off the plate, I've trained him too well and he wouldn't touch it as its on a 'people plate' and not a doggie bowl.

Eventually he went for the grab and ended up taking it to his bowl.....awwww bless!! Very happy dog!

Hope you enjoyed your birthday Samurai, mummy and daddy love you lots!!!xxxx

Twisted Sketch #088

2011-02-16T18:31:00.000Z

Very excited to show case my first layout as a team member for Twisted Sketches. I had a slight panic attack when I looked at the sketch and faced that huge brick wall.........scrappers block.........not a good sign for my first layout. But once I picked out a photo to use things got easier :o)

Firstly take a look at the sketch .........

Here's my interpretation.......

I decided to keep things fairly simple and concentrated on making my pumpkin as the focus point. I layered him up cutting each layer a different size. Scrunched each shape up and then re-flattened it. I distressed all the edges with some distress ink and used a white gel pen to draw in the stitch marks around the edges. The mouth and eyes I cut out of cardstock and painted them with black crackle paint. A flower made out of some black lace and some green stickle swirls to finish things off.

Happy Valentines Day!!!

2011-02-14T18:08:00.000Z

Can't believe I haven't updated my blog for over 2 weeks!!! No excuse really especially as I have layouts to show!! Firstly a little Valentines Card I made my partner last night...

Also I had to share a sneaky pic of my valentines day present....my gorgeous man doing the vacuuming! And no I didn't ask him to take his shirt off......thats how I found him!! Bless him he was giving me some time to finish off my first layout for Twisted Sketches before I 'got in the kitchen and made his dinner'!! Awwww what a man!!!!

I'm a Twisted Sister!!!

2011-01-23T14:33:00.000Z

I'm very excited to say that I've made the design team for Twisted Sketches. I was so pleased when I received an email from Anam asking if I wanted to join the team, they had so many applications, still can't believe they included me. :o) Anyway my work will be on there website every second week.

Its a great website, every week they provide a sketch and add in a word as a 'twist' then its up to you to interpret it anyway you want to. So looking forward to more scrapping this year!

Twisted Sketch #083!!

2011-01-15T22:36:00.000Z

Here's a sketch from Twisted Sketches which I love!!! The twist on the sketch being...MAP! Now strangely enough it was the twist that pulled me in rather than the sketch. As soon as I read MAP I knew I had to scrap a photo of one of Kennys adventures.

My interpretation of the sketch

I love this tag that I saved from a White Stuff Jumper, it has a teal metal ring which matched the colours of my Layout, just added the word South Pole in little alphas to it.

Used my robo to create this letters with 2 matts, one slightly bigger than each other, distressed each layer and glued them all together. each second letter is then attached with foam squares to give the title a little more variation in depth.

Home-made Christmas

2011-01-13T13:40:00.000Z

Trying to work on some layouts but thought I should update my blog with a couple more xmas pics.

Well here's my very first Christmas fruit cake!! I was quite chuffed with the final product, plenty of fruit and brandy and very tasty. And yes...that's a little rottweiler on the top of the cake....do you not know me by now ;o)

And yes of course my traditional Samurai Christmas cards. I wasn't going to bother this year with hand made cards as I didn't have a lot of time but it may be Samurai's last year with us as he's almost 12 now and my friends and family have always gotten a Christmas giggle out of them.

First Layout for 2011!!

2011-01-10T20:48:00.002Z

Pencil Lines Sketch #219

Very excited to say that I've managed to complete my first layout for the New Year and even used a recent photo....one of us stirring the christmas pudding and making our traditional christmas wish. I used this very lovely sketch from Pencil Lines for my inspiration.

Stash and Tools Used:

Gorgeous christmas papers are BOBUNNY NOEL

White Glitter Thickers

MM Red Glitter Foam Alphas

Distress Inks

Fiskars Border Punch

Bazzill Cardstock

ITS 2011!!! but heres some Dec Snow pics....

2011-01-05T20:10:00.000Z

Well its been an obscenely long time since I've written in my blog....talk about a couple of busy months, with the move, mum visiting from oz, Kennys parents here for xmas, then new years etc etc. Well as you can imagine absolutely no scrapping done at all. Just thought I'd load up a couple of Dec type photos.....

hello

Catching snowballs!

Where's the flavouring!!

Chickens hate snow!

Family photo :o)

Snow Patrol!

We're Moving!!!

2010-10-31T21:41:00.000Z

Well haven't had the time to write my blog for ages!!! We're in the process of packing, and moving starts tomorrow!!! The most annoying thing is that BT can't get an engineer out to sort out the line in the new house until November 22nd!!!!! Which means no phone and NO INTERNET til almost December!! ON NO!!

Tomorrow's the day!!!

2010-10-24T21:47:00.000+01:00

Shimelles' new class starts tomorrow, definitely looking forward to it. Its all about writing and journalling, I'm hoping it'll help me improve my journalling in my scrapbooking.

Pedal Powered Walkies

2010-10-19T17:47:00.000+01:00

Have finally done a layout if Samurai's latest mode of transportation. I was scrolling through Pencil lines website and came across this sketch to use as my 'inspiration'. I used Bobunny's 'Olivia' range of papers, plus a sheet out of their 'noteworthy' pad. Hand cut the flowers out and then covered them with rock candy distress stickles give them a little more dimension. Painted some grungeboard flourishes with a metallic teal ink (which took a bit to dry.....I got it everywhere!!!) And then of course got out my trusty craft Robo to make a scalloped matt for the main photo and to cut out the title. Must order a new blade for robo soon as the letters were a little rough so I think the blade may be getting blunt.

My New Job - Canine Physio Assistant

2010-10-17T20:30:00.000+01:00

Well it's been ages since I've blogged so I thought I'd add some photos of me at work. Check out my lovely bright purple uniform!! There has been a few sad and quite heartbreaking cases as work lately so I wanted to write a little about the perks at work. Besides getting Samurai's tablets and food at cost price the best perk of the job is getting to work with some very cool dogs and their owners. Currently my absolute favourite client is a Bull Mastiff called ....wait for it.....ROMEO!! He's an absolute giant of a dog, the photos really don't do his size justice! He's an absolute gentle giant, really playful and really loving, you just have to watch out for those sloppy kisses...eck!

So Gorgeous!!

2010-10-05T11:57:00.001+01:00

I've been scanning in a lot of Samurai's puppy photos this morning and I'm sure I've fallen even more in love with him! I'd forgotten what a gorgeous little puppy he was. He was only 6 weeks old, slightly cross eyed and weighed a whole 2 kg, my handsome little man and he's still just as handsome at 46kg! I love my doggy!!

More Birthday Cards

2010-10-04T21:56:00.000+01:00

Well its the month of October and to me that means 2 very important things......

1. I get to buy something silly for Samurai to wear on Halloween .....and
2. Its my 2 very best friends birthdays this month!!

I've made their cards....hopefully they won't look at my blog before they get it! Just need to get the presents!

Last one for September!

2010-09-30T22:28:00.001+01:00

I managed to squeeze one more layout for this month with Kenny away. Still using up my "My Minds Eye, So Sophie" papers. I love using multiple photos as it seems to tell more of a story but it does make things a little more complicated though.....some more to shuffle round my cardstock. I splattered some glimmer mist on the cardstock first to give it a more textured look, waited til it dried then ironed it profusely as it wrinkled up a bit.

I dug up the antique sewing machine I inherited off Kenny who in turn got it off his mum, it's an old Singer which she used to use when Kenny was a kid so I'm pretty sure it's older than me!!! Anyway its a cracker of a machine, perfect for scrapping and I managed to zigzag an almost perfect circle!! Nice to know I can still manage a machine. Mounted all the photos on some chocolate cardstock to make them pop a little more, threw in a tag with some journalling, a couple of staples, some fab foam thickers and I'm done! No time at all...pat on my back.....note to Mel : 4 days of paper shuffling!!!!! :o)

mmmmmmm.......

2010-09-30T22:02:00.001+01:00

Got the munchies 2 days ago for a bit of cake and of course with Kenny away baking a cake is highly dangerous for my waist line!!! So I whipped up a batch of lamingtons, best thing about these is that you can wrap them up and freeze them individually so you can thaw them out as required. I expect they'll all get defrosted once Kenny gets home :o)

My favourite Layout....

2010-09-29T22:12:00.000+01:00

Well ATDML are asking what our favourite layout is. I decided to go through some of my old layouts and post one of them on my blog. This is by no means my all time favourite of favourites layout but it certainly holds a special place in my heart and everytime I look at it, well it just makes me smile. I did this one in a UKS cybercrop class, it's a fairly simple layout, no fussycutting, no fancy letters, no expensive embellishments. But I love the way it turned out and I think it showcases the photos really well. It captures what Samurai is like when he's sleepy, looking so cute and cuddly ( well he does to me) and I just LOVE the last photo of him with his eyes scrunched up after finishing his yawn.

New Stash!!

2010-09-24T18:02:00.001+01:00

Well ordered some lovely new papers from Bo-bunny''s Olivia range. Also order a bazzill match grab bag which is supposed to be 10 sheets of co-ordinating bazzill but I'm really not convinced they match at all!!! Wish the photo was better so I could get your feedback!

New babes in the forest!

2010-09-18T15:25:00.000+01:00

We had a lot of little cuties in the forest over spring and summer and now that summers coming to an end its lovely to see some late additions!!

Mavis seems to have a little calf who is just GORGEOUS! Mavis is my favourite cow in the forest.....being that she's a hairy coo it's our own little reminder of Scotland. Not sure if the calf (who I've decided to call Ginger), is actually hers or if she's adopted it. It doesn't look hairy enough but time will tell I guess ;o)

Two more spotty foals about as well, even prettier than the others. Haven't thought of any suitable names yet, anyone got any ideas????

Cards Cards Cards

2010-09-15T19:53:00.004+01:00

Seem to have lost my mojo for scrapbooking lately but I've had to make a couple of cards this week for birthdays coming up. The first was a belated one for Kennys' dad, and no I wasn't slack and made it late, they were away during his birthday! He's an avid lawn bowlsman ( is that what you call them????) so used that as a theme for his card. The giggle inside is a 'lawnbowls joke':

A little old man boards a bus with a bowling wood in each of his front pockets. He sits down next to a beautiful young lady, and she can’t help but glance quizzically at the man and his bulging pockets.

It’s an uneasy few minutes before, finally, the little old man can take no more. “Bowling balls,” he nods reassuringly.

The lady seems a little shocked, and stares on. Moments later, she says: “Does it hurt as much as tennis elbow?”

Two more birthdays coming up this week for a couple of friends of mine so created the first with a bit more of a classy feel....for a classy type of gal :o)

And the second card very pink and girlie for a girlie girl!

One Last layout for August!

2010-08-30T22:15:00.002+01:00

Well I finally managed to sneak in one last layout before September. I was using one of Shimelles challenges of trying to use 4 different patterned papers. Did make my mind tick for quite awhile, especially trying to tie them all in together somehow. Hope Kirsteen likes it!!

A very wet day out at Stirling Castle

2010-08-25T22:32:00.001+01:00

First stop -a visit with Ma Broon!

As we were in Stirling to have lunch with Kirsteen a visit to the castle was a must (oh and a scrapping shop!!)
It was such a wet day and the rain really came down on us at the castle...but as Mr Connelly says....there's no such thing as bad weather....only the wrong clothes!! Lucky for us we had our waterproof jackets, wish I had my wellies though!

wet wet wet

the palace bit

trying to hide from the rain

misbehaving!

he wishes!

Festival in the Sky

2010-08-25T22:12:00.000+01:00

boarding pass ready

Well the fringe festval is currently on in Edinburgh and there is LOADS to do! Kenny treated us to something special one night. They've got an amazing set up in the park just under the castle whereby you get strapped into your dining chair and they crane you all up to 100feet to enjoy the views whilst you have a drink or dinner. We decided just to have the "bubbles in the sky" experience. It was absolutely pelting down rain all evening but amazingly 5 minutes before we were due to go up the rain stopped!! Didnt get to enjoy too many views as it was fairly cloudy but we really enjoyed the experience......and the bubbles!

Up in the sky!

Lunch with an Absolutely Scrapulous Gal!

2010-08-25T22:03:00.000+01:00

Well after all this time we finally meet! Kirsteen is another of the original Absolutely Scrapulous Girls so we've been part of the team together for almost 4 years! It was really wonderful to finally meet face to face and catch up, will have to make sure its a regular lunch date any-time I'm up in Scotland. I've decided to make it my mission to meet all the girls on the team at least once! I'd love to organise a scrapping weekend for the team but that could prove to be quite difficult considering we all live at opposite ends of the UK. You never know though :o)

Walk along Cramond River

2010-08-25T22:02:00.000+01:00

Feeding the birds

Family photo

I'm in Edinburgh!

2010-08-22T10:04:00.000+01:00

Well we've been in Edinburgh for the past couple of days and having reasonably good weather which apparently is unusal for Scotland....I don't believe Kenny, whenever we've come up the weathers been fine!! Had champagne in the sky last night......lovely! Photos up soon.

Shimelles Scrapping With a Sketch!

2010-08-16T23:28:00.009+01:00

Finally I've managed to complete a scrapping challenge instead of a photo challenge!! This challenge was to create a layout using this sketch as a base.

Here's my result, I've updated the photos too.

I love these glittery thickers!

Shimelle Challenge: Scrapping with whatever you have left.

2010-08-15T23:04:00.000+01:00

The idea of this challenge was to make something using only scraps. I made a tag for Kenny using one of the photos he took of a spitfire the other day at "By Gone Days"

Shimelles Photo Challenge : Craft in Progress

2010-08-15T22:59:00.000+01:00

Here's my scrapping table looking more like a tip!

Shimelles Photo Challenge : At home

2010-08-15T20:59:00.000+01:00

Well what else would I take a picture of but my new mixer!

Shimelles Photo Challenge : Zoom Out

2010-08-15T17:28:00.001+01:00

Just in time to see some horse and carts go by!

Shimelles Photo Challenge : Smiles

2010-08-15T17:19:00.000+01:00

How quick and easy was this challenge! Lucky I've got 2 boys with 2 great smiles!

Shimelles Photo Challenge : Below the knee

2010-08-15T16:46:00.000+01:00

Jeans and flip flops??? That's what our weather is calling for at the moment!

Shimelles Photo Challenge : Up Above

2010-08-15T16:16:00.000+01:00

Well this was interesting...earlier today as I was getting photos the sky was so grey I decided to shoot it through the gum tree. I was lying in our drive way looking up and about to take a shot when a nosey dog appeared wondering what I was doing lying on the floor.......

This afternoon the sky had cleared up so I used the sign post as a different vantage point....

An hour later we're back to grey skies again!!

Shimelles Photo Challenge : I saw the sign

2010-08-15T15:56:00.001+01:00

This photo challenge is simple enough....photos of signs!! And of course where we live we've got lovely country signs!!

Our house sign

New Forest Sign

Our street sign

typical country sign

Shimelles Photo Challenge : Through the glass

2010-08-15T15:14:00.000+01:00

Well here's a shot of my hot chillies in the green house...if you can see through the dirty glass (I draw the line at cleaning the glass on the greenhouse!) I like the smudgey effect though!

Shimelles Photo Challenge : Man Made

2010-08-15T14:45:00.000+01:00

Well this is even better than man made......it's WOMAN MADE.

I designed it, built it, painted it, felted the roof, battened it and have done this many times over as everytime I've moved, it's moved with me! The kennel is now 9 years old and still standing with a couple of minor repair jobs...all done by me! And yes Samurai had to slip into the photo, well it is his kennel!

Shimelles Photo Challenge : Get Close

2010-08-15T14:07:00.000+01:00

Well had a little mooch around the garden as I was determined NOT to take a photo of Samurai (he's usually the subject of my photos) Came up with this.....

Shimelles Online Crop!

2010-08-15T13:48:00.001+01:00

Welcome to a weekend of scrapbooking!

Well now that the show is out of the way I can try and do some of the challenges on Shimelles Online Crop!! If only I could find something to keep Kenny Busy with :)

Results - The Ellingham Country Show!

2010-08-14T22:31:00.001+01:00

What a fun day! Seeing as its summer (supposedly) it's country show season. We went to The New Forest Country Show 3 weeks ago, By-Gone Days last weekend and this weekend, The Ellingham Show. Quite a big show I imagine it to be how the Brisbane Ekka was in the old days. This year as its my local show I decided to get a bit more involved and enter into some of the different comps. So I entered a Dorset Apple Cake, a Lemon Cake, a greetings card, and 7 photos in 4 different categories, architecture, new forest ponies/ donkeys, humour, close up.

My results:

3rd for the Dorset Apple Cake, I was pretty happy with this result as it was only the 2nd time I had ever made one and in total I was competing against 12 other apple cakes!

First for my Acrylic Butterfly Cards, spent ages designing this on my robo machine!

The biggest surprise for me though was winning 2 categories in the photography section, completely unexpected and I got quite excited about it. I think I may have even done a happy jump up and down and clapped my hands dance.....Kenny roaring with laughter of course, he was really proud of me...awwwww! :)

I was then approached by the president of the local photography group who when he realised it was me, said he was really impressed with my photos and would be really keen for me to join the group....I was so flattered to be asked and am really looking forward to learning a lot from them.

My new toy!

2010-08-13T16:59:00.000+01:00

I christen thee Aida!

Is it wrong to be this excited about a new kitchen appliance???? I remember the days when I used to get excited about buying new climbing gear! But anyway I've wanted one for years and now that my life revolves around cooking and baking it's my perfect accessory. I think Kenny realised that anything that makes cooking easier or quicker can only be to his benefit. So its the present that keeps giving back to him!!! That's my man!!! :o)

ohhh shiny!

She took some coaxing to get her out!

Its a buggy trailer now its a buggy pram!!!!

2010-08-13T16:32:00.000+01:00

Although we won't be using the term pram around Kenny as it's not "man" enough for "his" dog so its still just Samurai's buggy. Got this converter a couple of days ago and its fab, now the 3 of us can go for lovely walks together.

Childhood favourites!!

2010-08-04T20:17:00.001+01:00

No these aren't pasties!!!! They're CHILEAN EMPANADAS!!!! One of my favourite traditional dishes that we used to eat a lot of growing up, mainly at Chilean festivals usually held at 'La Cancha' (The football ground) I made these for dinner Sunday night......my very first time!!

Each country in South America has its own version of the empanada, a lot of versions are fried but the chilean empanada has a pie like crust and are baked (traditionally in a large stone oven) The Pino (filling) consists of mince fried with onions, cumin, oregano, garlic, paprika, raisins and a black olive and a slice of hard boiled egg. May sound strange to you non-latinos but they are YUMMY.
I was pretty pleased with my first attempt, they definitely look the part, just needed a little more filling. Still, I think my mum would've been impressed :)

Last layout for July!

2010-08-01T20:38:00.000+01:00

First day of August- just needed to load my last layout for July which I finished last week though.

My Minds Eye Papers, finally used some stamps I bought ages ago. Cut the alphas with my robo machine and painted them with black crackle paint then matted them with bright paper to make them stand out. Tag under the photo for 'hidden' journalling which between you and me I still haven't written!!!

We've taken Samurai out for a couple of rides in his buggy this weekend and he loves it! Thank goodness! Money well spent :o)

Samurai's new buggy!!!

2010-07-30T11:01:00.001+01:00

Well the old boy is finding things a little more difficult to get around, so we got him his own wheels. Still trying to get the stroller conversion so we can take it for a walk but for now Samurai gets to ride in style......... (Kenny powered!!)

Daddys Home!

2010-07-29T13:42:00.000+01:00

Well I finally got around to loading this video. Samurai missed his 'daddy' terribly while he was away working and was so thrilled when he came home......

One happy dog!

Busy Weekend!

2010-07-27T21:13:00.000+01:00

Well not really a busy weekend...just slightly preoccupied with the fact that Kenny came home on Friday , so been spoiling him with lots of home cooking, and generally just chilling out together, how I've missed him!! Samurai was VERY excited to see him home again!! Did manage to finish another layout on Saturday though. When I bought my "fit flops" all I kept thinking was I must use this disc as an embellishment! Also managed to finally use some old basic grey die-cuts that I've had for ages, and glimmer misted some plain prima flowers.

My first 8x8 Layout!

2010-07-22T18:01:00.000+01:00

I bought the cutest 8x8 dog album last week with the view to create a 'Samurai' album (of course) I managed my first 8x8 layout the other night and quite happy with the results! Also used distress crackle paint for the first time on the slide.

More Stash!!!

2010-07-22T17:51:00.000+01:00

Well a couple of posts from me today...firstly I received a lovely box of stash from Zoe a couple of days ago. Lots of lovely alphas and doggie embellishments, my favourites being flocked dog bones...keep an eye out for those on a layout!

It's Sunny Again!

2010-07-19T12:04:00.000+01:00

Thank goodness, summers back I was getting a bit worried it had disappeared for good!! All the ponies have come down from the forest and its 'pony crèche' again out at our front gate.

My Scrapping Room!

2010-07-18T20:52:00.000+01:00

I thought it'd be kind of nice for my fellow scrappers to see what my 'scrapping space' looks like. This is my favourite room in our house. It may be that I took so much time and effort into setting it up! All the furniture I hunted down second hand on ebay and in charity shops, I then sanded it all down and then painted it. It really did take me days and days to do but I was so pleased with it. Just a shame I couldn't paint the walls as well!!

I got up this morning and it was pretty horrible weather so the perfect opportunity to give my scrapping room a complete clean and tidy up and to unpack all my stuff from the crops. Definitely had to blog a photo, I haven't seen it this tidy since I first set it up!!

Scrap Cafe Crop!

2010-07-17T22:05:00.002+01:00

Another great crop with the ladies from Scrap Cafe!

This months crop challenge was to use this sketch for the basis of a layout. Amazingly this time I was highly motivated by the crop challenge and actually managed to complete a whole layout, even if it did take me the whole crop :o) The fiddly bit that took so long were the chip board letters which I covered with patterned paper, sanded the edges smooth then distressed them to make them stand out more. After that it was pretty much smooth sailing using some of Tim Holtz alterations die cuts and then a little victory dance for Mel's amusement when I finally finished it.

I was quite pleased with the finished layout, and to sugar coat it even more I actually won the scrap challenge!!

Very Chuffed!!!!

Pizza box delivery!!

2010-07-16T19:58:00.000+01:00

It starts in a box.................

I love buying things from Craft Boutique!!! Its always so exciting when it arrives, it feels like you're receiving a present! The postman came early this morning and delivered it at 8:30, I left in til 17:00 until I opened it my perverse way of making the excitment last :o)

Then its wrapped up like a funky gift........

Don't you just love this paper!!! Last time it came in tiger stripes!

Then you get your stash!

Awwwww he loves me!!! :o)

2010-07-14T17:52:00.000+01:00

Had a lovely surprise delivered this afternoon, an incredible bunch of flowers......2 dozen long stem roses!!! How spoilt am I. The sweetest bit was the card and I'm not 'mad' at him, just missing him a lot as I've barely seen him for the past 6 weeks. Can't wait until he's home for longer than just 2 days.

2010-07-13T15:34:00.001+01:00

Well I finally finished the layout that I started on Saturdays crop!! I was inspired by a sketch and LO in the activity pack of issue 46 of Scrapbook magazine so decided to 'lift' it. Struggled a bit at first matching the papers and purple (not a colour I've scrapped with before) hence me spending the crop shuffling PP a lot. Quite please with the way it turned out although I have decided I'm crap at doodling, must practice that more. :)

Kington St Michaels Crop

2010-07-11T17:18:00.000+01:00

What a fun day!! It was great to catch up with Jacqui again and to meet the lovely ladies from her crop. Mind you I really needed to go for an extra long run today, they make gorgeous cakes in that crop!!!! As for my layouts, I forgot my box full of embellishments!!! I cut out 2 photos, some PP, shuffled, shuffled, and shuffled again. In the end I didn't even complete 1 Layout! Crikey that's bad, Mel's going to be giving me crap for ages!!!

Crikey it's Hot!

2010-07-09T22:41:00.000+01:00

Well its been a warm day!! The forest pony's and cows have been feeling it, quite a few were out the front today. Its one of their favourite spots, this is a photo I took from our gate, I do love watching them!! I'm sure their favourite hobby is causing traffic chaos!
Its almost 11pm and still around 19 degrees!! I'm packing for a crop tomorrow in Kingston St Michaels, catching up with Jacqui so really looking forward to it.

Well here I am!

2010-07-08T16:23:00.000+01:00

I've finally caved and joined the e-blogging world...many thanks to Kirsteen who I'm sure subliminally convinced me into it! I'm hoping to focus this blog on my photography and scrapbooking which of course focuses on my life and those around me. Along for the ride will be the little love of my life, my rottie Samurai and of course the BIG love of my life, mi amor Kenny. So for my first post my fav photo taken at our 2 year anniversary on May 26th. How lucky am I to have such a hottie for a partner :o)

G'day, Hola....Hello!?!

Samurai, how do I say goodbye?

Twisted Sketch #127!!

Twisted Sketch #125!!

Iceland - Antarctica Training Session 2!!

Twisted Sketch #123!!

My scrapping room - sometimes the answer is right under your nose!!

Twisted Sketch #121!!

Shimelles - Scrapbook starting points!

Twisted Sketch #119!!

Crafty Moments Crop!!

A new crop!

Birthday Card

Feeding Time!

Twisted Sketch #117!!

Twisted Sketch #115!!

Shimelles- Chop your paper challenge

New Stash!!

Amsterdam in Pictures!

Twisted Sketch #111!!

Twisted Sketch #109!!

Twisted Sketch #107!!

Twisted Sketch #105!!

Iceland - Grimsvotn Volcano!!

Iceland - Antarctica Training

Twisted Sketch #103!!

Grapevine Queen.....It's Official!!!!

Royal Wedding

Twisted Sketch #098!!

Happy Good Friday!!!

More Holiday Videos

Our Holidays!

Twisted Sketch #096!!

Twisted Sketch #094!!

Spring is here....baby coos in the forest!!!!

It's my birthday!!

Twisted Sketch #092!!

Happy Pancake Day!!!!

Twisted Sketch #090

Really must blog more

Twisted Sketch #088

Happy Valentines Day!!!

I'm a Twisted Sister!!!

Twisted Sketch #083!!

Home-made Christmas

First Layout for 2011!!

ITS 2011!!! but heres some Dec Snow pics....

We're Moving!!!

Tomorrow's the day!!!

Pedal Powered Walkies

My New Job - Canine Physio Assistant

So Gorgeous!!

More Birthday Cards

Last one for September!

mmmmmmm.......

My favourite Layout....

New Stash!!

New babes in the forest!

Cards Cards Cards

One Last layout for August!

A very wet day out at Stirling Castle

Festival in the Sky

Lunch with an Absolutely Scrapulous Gal!

Walk along Cramond River

I'm in Edinburgh!

Shimelles Scrapping With a Sketch!

Shimelle Challenge: Scrapping with whatever you have left.

Shimelles Photo Challenge : Craft in Progress

Shimelles Photo Challenge : At home

Shimelles Photo Challenge : Zoom Out

Shimelles Photo Challenge : Smiles

Shimelles Photo Challenge : Below the knee

Shimelles Photo Challenge : Up Above

Shimelles Photo Challenge : I saw the sign

Shimelles Photo Challenge : Through the glass

Shimelles Photo Challenge : Man Made

Shimelles Photo Challenge : Get Close

Shimelles Online Crop!

Results - The Ellingham Country Show!

My new toy!