Falstaff Folly

It's all gone quiet ...

2012-01-19T21:28:00.005Z

This is just a quick fly-by post to let you know there won't be any blog updates for the next couple of weeks because I'm going on holiday ... to Barbados! DH and I actually honeymooned in Barbados back in '93 and this will be the first time we've returned since then. I'm sooooooo excited, I can't wait!

Week #2 of NEWrecipes52 ...

2012-01-15T19:00:00.008Z

As last week was dessert, I decided to make my new recipe for this week a main course ... braised lamb shanks in a red wine sauce to be precise. I've never had lamb shanks before, but whenever I've seen them on the menu in a restaurant, I've always been tempted.

I searched the Internet and eventually picked this recipe from Anthony Worrall Thompson. Relatively simple and it didn't require lots of new ingredients that wouldn't then get used again or any special equipment. I had all the bits 'n' pieces needed. The key to making this recipe a success, would be time ... and plenty of it!

Here's a shot of most of the ingredients, gathered together before the marathon chopping session began ...

Lamb, leek, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, chicken stock (condensed pot), red wine, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves ... all good, right?

I had a bit of a challenge trying to fit 3 lamb shanks (1 for me, 1 for DH and 1 for my brother) into my casserole dish, so I had to improvise and put one of them into a little roasting tin (which then meant I then had to rotate the meat every 30 minutes or so, so that it braised rather than roasted).

One hour went by.

Two hours went by.

Three hours went by.

And then finally, I plated up ... lamb shanks with a red wine sauce, served on a bed of creamy mashed potatoes [and peas, for colour. LOL!] ...

The meat was wonderfully tenders and literally fell off the bone! I "ummmed" & "ahhhed" about whether or not to include the cooking vegetables in the final dish. I opted to remove them, but I strained all their goodness through a sieve and into the sauce, which really intensified the richness and flavour. Delicious!

I'll be honest and say it's not a recipe I'll be cooking regularly (mainly because of the time factor!), but I enjoyed it non-the-less and it's another recipe I can tick off my list!

Week #1 of NEWrecipes52 ...

2012-01-08T19:26:00.008Z

Here we are with the first of what I hope will be a weekly post about my chosen NEW recipe for the week. For this first week, I decided to keep things relatively simple and oh so very sweet!

If you're a regular reader of my blog, then you'll know I'm a HUGE fan of baking and in particular of baking cakes, biscuits and all sorts of yummy sweet treats. So I decided to try my hand at baking Melting Moments (also known as Viennese Whirls).

I was given The Great British Bake Off - How To Bake recipe book for Christmas and it was their recipe I followed (minus the red food colouring which I didn't think was necessary!)

These treats are definitely NOT for those who are watching their weight. They contain a LOT of butter (375g in total) and a fair amount of sugar too (125g caster sugar + 60g icing sugar). There are no eggs and virtually no liquid added, so the dough is very dry and it was pretty tough getting it piped into the distinctive whirl shapes. I think I may have made them a little too big because the recipe said I should be able to make 32 individual biscuits (16 paired treats) but I only managed to get 22 biscuits (11 pairs) out of the mixture.

After the biscuits were piped, I chilled them for 15-20minutes to allow the mixture to firm up.

Then they were popped into a pre-heated oven at 160 degree C for approximately 12 minutes, until they were lightly golden. Once cooked, I allowed them to cool slightly on the baking sheet, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, I applied the creamy filling to one half and seedless raspberry jam to the other.

Then it was just a case of sandwiching the two halves together and dusting with a little more icing sugar. Here's my finished treats ...

They are gorgeously crumbly and melt-in-the-mouth delicious! So my first NEWrecipes52 was a resounding success and I have a feeling I'm going to be making these Melting Moments again very soon!

I have the nicest friends ...

2012-01-04T20:31:00.005Z

Well I would say that, wouldn't I? But I really do! Let me explain why ...

I think I've mentioned before, that I was asked to create the wedding invitations for friends that got married in Italy last summer?!?!? Well, following their wedding, I was approached by another friend at work, Melissa and asked if I would create the invitations for her wedding in September this year. Of course I said "yes" and we started brainstorming ideas, styles and colour swatches. Melissa settled on a fabulous pocket fold design, which has tabbed inserts detailing the location, accommodation, menu and RSVP details etc. The main card was in a slightly off-white colour and she chose a deep hot pink accent colour card and organza ribbon ... absolutely gorgeous!!! (I wish I'd taken some photos of the finished invites, but I foolishly forgot ... d'oh!)

Anyhoo, fast forward to yesterday ... I gave the completed invites to Melissa and she was over the moon!!! Now in terms of payment, all I asked was that my costs for the materials were covered but that I wasn't worried about charging for my time as I enjoy the whole creative process anyway.

Fast forward again to this morning ... I arrived at work and Melissa handed me a thank you card with some £££ inside and as well as the materials costs being covered, she'd given me a very handsome creativity bonus!!! Plus, not only that but later in the day this beautiful bouquet of flowers was delivered to my office too ...

Aren't they stunning? There's a mixture of lilies, roses, gerberas and sweet peas. The colours are all pretty pinks and purples and the aroma from them is just divine!!!

So as you can see, I really do have the nicest friends ... thank you Melissa ♥

Thank you cards ...

2012-01-03T21:09:00.003Z

When I was a young girl, every new year I would write letters to my relatives to thank them for the Christmas gifts they'd given to me. I mention this fond memory because even today, I still like to do this, though now-a-days I tend send a card rather than a letter.

There's an abundance of journaling card / note card kits in the digiscrapping world at the moment and one of my personal favourites is Classic [Greetings Cards] kit by Ange Designs ...

I love the clean, simple, non fussy design and it's the kit I chose to create my Christmas 2011, "thank you" cards ...

Cute, aren't they? The front of each card was printed with the same design and wording, then on the inside I hand wrote a personal note of thanks to the individual person. Such a simple idea and so easy to do!

A yummy way to start 2012 ...

2012-01-02T11:44:00.003Z

I baked a batch of vanilla cupcakes yesterday ...

I've baked them before, so they don't count as one of my NEW52Recipes ... but I wanted to show them to you anyway because I was chuffed with the way they turned out! My piping skills have really improved now that I'm using this piping bag set from Lakeland. I don't know about you, but they kind of remind me of Mr Whippy ice-creams you get from the ice-cream van, swirls & swirls of creamy goodness ... yum!

P.S. - sorry about the image quality [again!] It was taken using my mobile phone rather than my proper camera!

On this last day of December ...

2011-12-31T16:07:00.005Z

I want to share a few things that have amazed, intrigued and amused me today.

DH went to the gym this morning, so I took the opportunity to take a stroll into town and on my way there, I was amazed to see a cherry tree that already had beautiful pink blossoms adorning it’s boughs. Cherry blossom in December? You better believe it! I even took a photo to prove it ...

It really has been particularly mild this month, with average temperatures rarely dropping below 10oC ... it's such a contrast to last December when we had several inches of snow that lasted a couple of weeks and the temperatures stayed in the minus figures for almost the entire month, bbbrrrrrrr!!!

Anyway, back to today ... as I carried on walking towards town, I passed a house that had a banner hung between the first floor windows ...

The banner read “WELCOME HOME TOM” and it got me wondering, who’s Tom? Where has he been? Perhaps he’s home for the holidays after finishing his first term at university. Or maybe he’s finished his degree and returned home after a gap year of travelling around the world. Or perhaps Tom’s in the armed forces and has returned home safely and back to the arms of his loving family after spending 6 months on deployment somewhere in the world. I’ll never know, but I’m intrigued none-the-less.

Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of what it was that amused me today and perhaps it’s a little cruel of me to laugh, but I think you would’ve too if you’d been there. Let me explain ... as I was walking home, I passed a little old man. He was on the opposite side of the road to me, but I could hear him muttering under his breath as he shuffled along the pavement. I’ve no idea how old he was, but I’d guess he was in his 80’s and he used a walking stick to aid him as he walked along. As I drew level with him, he stopped, took aim with his stick and made a wild swipe at some litter on the pavement in front of him! It was really quite comical. It took him 3 or 4 attempts to hit it (“it” being an empty plastic bottle carelessly dropped by someone with no respect for their environment!) but when he connected with it, it went flying into the road gutter. Score!!! After I’d got over my initial surprise, I wondered what good it had been with him swiping the bottle into the gutter like that? Surely it didn’t solve anything, it just moved the litter from the pavement to the roadside, but it was still litter. All became clear a short while after; as I carried on my route home, I was passed by one of those little road sweeper vehicles, with the rotating bristle brushes that scoop up all the litter caught in the roadside gutter. It appears he was a clever cantankerous old geezer after all!

Well there you have it folks, that was my last post of 2011. If you’re partying tonight I hope you have fun, enjoy the celebrations and stay safe. As for me? Well, I’ll be staying at home this evening, I’ll share a bottle of bubbly with DH and we’ll probably be tucked up in bed by 11pm (only to be rudely awoken by the fireworks as the clock strikes midnight!) … that is the sad truth of being 40 and relishing sleep over partying, no matter what day of the year it is!!!

5 things to do before 2011 ends ...

2011-12-29T10:24:00.005Z

*** edited (01/01/12) with updates in blue ***

This isn't meant to be a thought provoking post my dear readers, sorry. It's more of a reminder of some things I'd like to achieve before the year ends. Let's just call it my "to do list" shall we?

In no particular order, they are:

Start gathering together 52 recipe ideas to try during 2012, one new recipe (that I've not cooked before) for each week - started, this will be a "work in progress" type project throughout 2012
Update blog banner / page decoration / colour scheme - done
Renew my passport (actually this does need to be done as soon as possible if DH and I are to go away for his birthday at the end of January!) - done, well the paperwork's been done, I'm just waiting for my new passport to arrive (I've been advised this will take approx 2 weeks)
List out 12 easy to do (for me and DH) home improvement tasks to be done during 2012, one project for each month - 11 tasks listed so far
Buy a new journal for 2012 - not yet done because I can't find one I like! Just as well my 2011 journal has some extra pages, so I'll continue to use it until I can find a style / size / colour I like.

Last day at work for a week ...

2011-12-21T21:30:00.004Z

I don't know about you, but when I was at school, the last day before we broke up for any holiday was always a bit of a giggle. We'd take board games into class and generally do very little in the way of learning. Fast forward 30 years and that's what it was like at work today! It was the last day in the office before Christmas and there was most definitely a "school's out" vibe about the place. Probably due in part to that fact that my good friend, Paul was having an early birthday celebration (he turns 40 tomorrow and is having SERIOUS denial issues ... I keep telling him that 40 is the new 30, but he's having none of it!

Anyhoo, with all the birthday celebrations and Christmas decorations, today was a fun-filled, if not particularly productive day. But I have to admit, I'm really looking forward to having the next week off work!

Banter, bubbles and baubles ...

2011-12-10T07:44:00.009Z

Yesterday, I met up with Selena (aka Bush Girl) and Lorraine (aka Neat Freak) for our bi-annual "Ladies That Lunch" get-together. As usual, we met up outside the Underground station at Bond Street, then slipped down an inauspicious looking alleyway through to St Christopher's Place, where the selection of restaurants / bistros is just brilliant! The last couple of times we'd met, we'd dined at Carluccio's (Italian) and Cafe Rouge (French), so this time we tried out Sofra (Turkish / Mediterranean).

The food was very tasty. Selena had a starter platter (as a main) which was little "tasters" of some of the flavours from the menu ... and they looked pretty too.

I had the spicy prawns, not particularly Turkish or Mediterranean, but delicious non-the-less.

Lorraine had the sea bass, unfortunately I didn't get a photo ... but it did look good though!

We chatted about life, family and Christmas and we toasted our little reunion with a glass of fizz (or water in Selena's case as she had a very busy afternoon / evening ahead of her!)

I'm grateful that the skies were clear and bright, as it meant we were able to snap some photos of the Christmas decorations surrounding St Christopher's Place.

They had these HUGE silver baubles (about the same size as the coloured ones in the photo above) dangling above the alleyway and we all had the same idea to take some photos ... BUT ... none of us had our real cameras with us, so we improvised and each took photos using our mobile phones!!!

We ended up in fits of giggles trying to get images that would focus properly. I managed to snap a couple of photos of Selena & Lorraine (gasp!!!) but I promised them faithfully I wouldn't upload them to my blog. However, I did manage to get our customary "proof" shot showing the three of us together ...

... albeit a somewhat warped reflection in a giant reflective plant pot! And it's at this point, I feel I should just mention that a passer-by very kindly offered to take a "proper" photo of the three of us together, but she must have thought we were very odd when we declined her offer and said we were deliberately trying NOT to be in the shot ... hahahaha!

It was great fun and can't wait to meet up again in May / June 2012, when hopefully we'll have a +1, as Ona (aka wombat146) will be visiting from Australia!

P.S. as I'd never tried Turkish food before, lunch at Sofra is also my NEW52 for week #49. BTW, can you believe there's only 3 more weeks to go?!?!?!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ...

2011-12-06T18:19:00.007Z

I jumped in my car today and headed over to one of my favourite shops, which is actually a garden centre but they have THE most amazing gift shop and from mid-November onwards, they have the best Christmas displays of any shop I know! Believe it or not, I actually had my whizz-bang Nikon camera in my bag today, but I felt a bit self-conscious using it inside the shop, so I snapped a couple of photos using the camera on my mobile phone instead ... they're not brilliant images, but hopefully you'll get the gist of how fabulous some of the displays look ..

Now it feels like Christmas ... bring on the mince pies, mulled wine and Christmas movies!!!

I'm still here ...

2011-12-05T16:03:00.006Z

Remember me? I wouldn't blame you if you didn't, after all it's been more than a month since I last posted. My excuse? Well, none really [again]. I can't even blame work this time, because thankfully that's calmed back down to normal volumes. Nope, I've just been keeping a low profile on the blog front and on the scrapping front too really. I wouldn't say I was in the doldrums, I'm just going through a phase where I'm doing the bare minimum of what's required in order to keep up with my CT commitments.

Having said that, I'm thoroughly enjoying Oscraps 12 Days O Christmas! Are you following their blog? You really ought to you know. I'm learning new facts about the festive period every day and the goodies on offer are wonderful! From special one day sales to designer freebies, not forgetting the fabulous challenges to inspire you too!

I used the FREEBIE template (designed by Timounette) from day 1 to create this LO about my "Herman" friendship cake:

click here for credits

Anyone that knows me, knows I love to bake. So when I was presented with a somewhat yeasty smelling batter with instructions on how to "feed" it, I was sceptical that it would result in anything other than a horrible gloopy mess. But how wrong was I??? After feeding and caring for Herman for 10 days, he was finally ready to be transformed into a delicious, fruity, cinnamon infused treat to knock your socks off ... absolutely perfect when served warm with a cuppa tea!!! I ♥ my new found friend ... I ♥ Herman!

P.S. I haven't forgotten about NEW52 ... I have lost track of the weeks and there are a couple of news I know I haven't [yet] shared, but I guess Herman could be my NEW52 for last week, which I think would make that week #48

All treated out ...

2011-10-31T21:28:00.005Z

Just a flying post to wish you all a Happy Halloween!

My day is almost over here, but I wanted to show you a photo of some of the treats I made for the office today ... there were toffee apples, krispie ghosts, eyeball jelly, chocolate apples and Devil's food cake cupcakes ... I've been on a sugar high ALL DAY!!!

Sorry the picture quality isn't too great ... it was taken on my mobile phone, with fluorescent office lighting and lots of people waiting to grab a treat (or two!). Oh and in case you're wondering, I wasn't allowed to light the tea-light in my pumpkin due to "health & safety" reasons ... d'oh!!!

Wow! What an opportunity ...

2011-10-29T11:45:00.004+01:00

Full details on how to apply can be found HERE ... ooooohhhh, I can't wait to find out who'll be joining this fabulous team! Good luck to everyone that applies!

Week #42 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-10-26T06:00:00.001+01:00

This week I discovered the sweetest little bakery called The Glorious Bakeshop. It's not a big place and they serve a relatively small selection of cakes & treats, but each is lovingly baked and decorated on-site and they taste ... heavenly!

I had a cuppa tea (from a teapot I hasten to add!) with a Caramel Glory Cupcake (above) and DH had a latte and a slice of traditional Victoria sponge. Both were very, VERY tasty, wonderfully sweet and soooooo moist. I think DH's expression sums the experience up completely ...

Week #41 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-10-25T06:00:00.000+01:00

OK, so I'm cheating a little here because my week #41 was all about A Hopping HallOween, the weekend long party that took place at Oscraps and The LilyPad a couple of weeks ago!

My contribution was this cluster frame made from elements of the magnificent mega kit created by the designers of both stores especially for the event.

If you're interested, it is still available for download ... click here for further details.

Week #40 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-10-24T06:00:00.000+01:00

The seasons have definitely changed here and autumn is in full swing ... the leaves are all turning glorious shades of yellow, orange, red and gold. There's a chill in the air and I've had to scrape frost of my windscreen a couple of mornings too! And whilst I love all these things, it's the change of seasonal vegetables that I love the most about this time of year. Warming, comfort food is in plentiful supply; fresh soups, hearty stews and stodgy desserts with custard ... yumm!

I'm a BIG fans of New Covent Garden Soup Co soups ... their cartons make the perfect lunch and this time I treated myself to a new flavour ... spicy butternut squash with sweet potato.

Served with a sprinkling of chopped coriander and a toasted bread roll ...

Utterly delicious!

Week #39 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-10-23T20:13:00.004+01:00

I'd heard of diaper cakes, but had never made one ... until week 39 of my NEW52 life that is!

A friend at work, Hazel, mentioned she was looking for gift ideas for her daughter, soI showed her a few examples I'd pinned on my Pinterest boards and she was instantly sold on the idea and asked if I would do the honours. Here's my 1st ever diaper cake ...

And here's the proud Grandma taking delivery of the cake, just a few days before the arrival of her grandson ... congratulation Hazel!

A Hopping HallOween

2011-10-15T04:00:00.001+01:00

Welcome, welcome my fellow fright night fans!!!

Are you ready for some ghoulish goings on, some creepy challenges and spooktacular sales? There are loads of freaky fun frolics planned at Oscraps and The Lilypad this weekend, so be sure to check out their sites for all the dreadful details!!!

OK ... so I guess one of the reasons you've dropped by my beastly blog is the Hopping HallOween blog hop, right? If you've been on the train from the start, then you should have arrived here from Karen's blog ... (btw, what do you think of those iPhone covers she's made? They're awesome aren't they?) ... anyhoo, back to the blog hop ... do you fancy a FREEBIE?!?!?!

The designers at Oscraps & The Lilypad have outdone themselves with a GIGANTIC collab kit, A Hopping HallOween and I had great fun creating a cluster frame just for you ... yes YOU!

click here to download

And here's how it looks in my layout ...

I really hope you enjoy using the frame! For your next stop on the hop, you're heading off to Rebecca's blog.

Thanks for stopping by and hopefully I'll see you all again soon!

P.S. if you've stumbled onto my blog by chance, then "hello & thank you!" and if you want to see all the other goodies that have been created by some brilliantly talented designers / scrappers, then you can always go to the start of the hop at the Oscraps blog.

P.P.S. don't panic if you've visited a blog and can't find A Hopping HallOween freebie yet ... we're a wonderfully diverse and international community and all live in different timezones, so please just check back regularly throughout the day ;-)

Something wicked this way comes ...

2011-10-11T12:59:00.005+01:00

Double, double toil and trouble;
fire burn and caldron bubble.

SpOOKy things are a'brewin,
return a in a day or two, for a'viewin.

Remembering ...

2011-09-11T22:04:00.002+01:00

I looked out my window this morning and saw a bright blue sky, much like it was on this very day 10 years ago. You may ask how I can remember what the weather was like all those years ago? But my answer to that question is, how could you forget?

This past week, I've watched a lot of TV programmes in the run up to today's anniversary. Yet as I watch, I still find myself shaking my head in disbelief. The plot wouldn't be out of place in a blockbuster action movie, and yet I know this really happened. This was a life changing event. This was a world changing event.

I didn't watch the memorial service from Ground Zero today, but I did hear Paul Simon singing "The Sound of Silence" and as I sat as listened to the haunting melody and beautiful words of a song I've sung many times before, I was moved to tears. Never have those words meant so much, for the sound of silence was all that was heard after the Twin Towers fells on that fateful day back on 11th September 2001. Hello darkness my old friend.

Week #34 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-08-28T14:48:00.005+01:00

When I started out along this path of new experiences, I had no idea that so many of them would be food related. Yet here we are at week 34 and once again I'm sharing images of recipes I've tried out for the first time. This week, I have one savoury recipe and one sweet recipe.

First off, Whisky & Chilli Prawns ... finger licking good, right? Well, if truth be told, this wasn't an over-riding success but I think that's because the prawns I used were just too small. The recipe can be found here and is pretty straight forward to follow. Here's how they should look ...

Mine weren't particularly sticky, but again I think this was due to the size of the prawns. Instead of using the left over glaze as a dipping sauce, I cooked up some noodles, added some chopped corriander and tossed everything together ... resulting in a slightly sticky Asian influenced prawn + noodle combo ...

Not bad, but could be better. Note to self: BUY KING PRAWNS NEXT TIME!

Next up and it was Whoopie time! I've been wanting to make these for a while. Even the name "whoopie pie" sounds like a celebration of all things good & sweet doesn't it? And oh boy are they sweet!!!

These definitely aren't for the faint hearted (or those counting calories for that matter) as there's a whole lot of sugar in them there pies! But DH has the sweetest tooth of anyone I know and as far as I can tell, he approved ...

Both recipes are from Lorraine Pascal's Baking Made Easy recipe book ... which just so happens to be my favourite recipe book at the moment!!! Can you tell?

Week #33 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-08-21T12:19:00.009+01:00

When I first sat down to compose this post, I figured I had nothing new to share this week. I've been incredibly busy at work recently, so much so that I've been doing about an hour & half overtime each evening AND I've worked the last 3 Saturday mornings too. I've been too busy at work to be doing any NEW52 things ... or so I thought.

On reflection, I've actually had quite a few NEW experiences this week ... just not necessarily what you'd refer to as good ones. In fact a couple of them have been down right BAD! OK, where do I start?

Monday: it started like any other Monday, with my daily 15 minute commute to the office. As I approached the business park, the traffic began to build and I crawled along at no more than 5 miles / hour ... aaaarrrgggghhhh!!! But this slow speed allowed me to hear a weird grinding noise that I wouldn't otherwise have noticed. I rolled my window down to try to gauge where abouts on my car the noise was coming from, but without luck. The noise wasn't noticeable at higher speed, only when driving in 1st or 2nd gear. Oh joy! I parked up at the office, had a quick look round but didn't see anything obvious, so didn't think much more of it ... until 6:30pm when I went to get in my car to go home, only to find the driver's side rear tyre looking a bit deflated. Crap! I drove to my nearest garage and pumped some air into the tyre, enough hopefully to make it home and consider my options. #badnew52

Tuesday: my tyre didn't look too bad, but when I applied some pressure, it had just a little bit too much "give" for my liking. Crap, crap! I left my car parked up and got a lift to work with DH. Actually we do usually drive together in the same car (we work at the same company) but with all the overtime I've been doing of late, it's been easier for us to drive in separate cars. Anyhoo, the good thing about going into work with DH, meant I left the office "on time" for the first time is a couple of weeks. Yeah! #goodnew52

Wednesday AM: carefully drove my car to the local tyre sales garage and watched intently as the mechanic whipped off my tyre and check it over for defects. Turned out the valve was leaking and that's what was causing the tyre to deflate; it was also the cause of the weird grinding noise I'd heard on Monday's drive to work. Anyhoo, £16 and 20 minutes later and all was well with my little Ford. #goodnew52

Wednesday PM: whilst I stayed on at work, DH + DB decided to go food shopping. Our fridge / freezer and cupboards have been looking woefully bare of late and there's only so many times you can eat cheese-on-toast for dinner. Anyhoo, more fool me that I hadn't written out a shopping list. The boys did an OK job of getting the basic food supplies (bread, milk, fruit etc), but there were a couple of unexpected items too ... a couple of DVD's to be precise! DH is a bit of an impulse shopper and he'd bought the movies Source Code and Paul. #badnew52 or #goodnew52

Thursday: nothing much happened today, other than at the age of 40, I got my very first cold sore. Crap, crap, crap! Hey, nobody said all the NEW things had to be good did they?!?!?! #badnew52

Friday: left work a couple of hours early so I could pop to the salon to get my hair cut. Yeah! My stylist is a lovely lady called Tracy and she's an absolute hoot!!! I'd go there every 8 weeks just for a natter ... the fact that I get my hair done at the same time is a bonus! #goodnew52

And there you have it; my week filled with some good and just a couple of bad NEW things too. So how was your week?

Week #32 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-08-15T12:54:00.003+01:00

S'mores ... or s'more pops to be more precise! That was my NEW52 for last week.

I'd read about s'more pops on Amy Atlas' Sweet Designs blog (I ♥ this blog btw!) and thought they looked pretty straight forward to assemble and would be a fun little treat to make.

Here's what Amy's looked like ...

And here's what mine looked like ...

Aside from the fact that mine weren't professionally displayed as part of a dessert table, and that I could only find flat wooden lollipop sticks (rather than the thin round white style), I think they look pretty similar ... don't you?

They tasted pretty darn good too!

An unexpected visitor ...

2011-08-11T14:08:00.013+01:00

Yesterday evening, I was sat on the sofa, minding my own business and catching up on a few of my favourite blogs, whilst my brother was in the kitchen ironing a shirt for work the following day. All of a sudden I heard "meeeeeeooooowwwww" ... what the heck!?!?!?!

"Who are you?" my brother asked ... "meeeeooowww". Kitty then wandered into the front room to meet me. "Hello" I said, "where did you come from?" ... "meeeeooooowwwww".

Having said hello, he proceeded into the hallway and promptly trotted up stairs to have a nose around the bedrooms. Oooooh, the cheek of it ... we'd only been introduced a minute earlier and already he was making himself at home and peaking through every open door and cupboard!

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty" I chimed ... "meeeeeoooowwww". "Who do you belong to?" ... "meeeeoooowww". Kitty flicked his tail in my direction, licked his paw and washed his face. Well I never!

As he bounced down the stairs, my brother had wisely closed off all the doors to other parts of the house and the only option kitty had was to either go back up stairs (which I think he seriously contemplated for a moment) or out the front door.

Bye bye kitty. Thanks for stopping by ... "meeeeeeooooowwwwww!!!"

18 years ago today ...

2011-08-09T20:33:00.003+01:00

9th August 1993

Week #31 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-08-06T18:15:00.005+01:00

Cue the cheesy 1970's disco music because my NEW for this week is all about the car-wash ... whoa, whoa whoa, I'm talkin' about the car-wash girl ... hahaha ... now this may seem hard to believe, but in all my years as a car owner / driver, I've never actually driven through an automatic car-wash. Not ever! But that changed this week.

I bought a gold service wash & wax for the princely sum of £6.99. I drove round to the tunnel(?) then carefully edged my car into position ... forward a bit ... back a bit ... perfect. Windows up? Check. Radio aerial retracted? Check. Here we go ...

The first pass was just like driving through a heavy rain shower ... but without having the wipers going at full pelt.

Then came the rollers. Eeeeeeeek ... those things are scary! Just when I thought they were going to squash my car, they lifted, parted and pummelled the top and sides with their rotating bristles instead.

You can't really see the next part in my photos, but it was basically like going through a giant hair-dryer! The blowers sent warm air over the car bodywork and windows and basically blasted away the surplus water, whilst at the same time applying a fine mist of wax ... very clever.

Now, because this was my first time going through the car-wash, DH came with me to make sure I lined my car up correctly. He assures me that he wasn't actually worried, despite the expression on his face in this photo ... tee-hee!

I realise I don't actually have a photo of my car to share but that's because I forgot to take before and after the wash photos. Oh well, maybe I'll remember the next time!

Week #30 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-07-30T21:45:00.007+01:00

Not one ... not two ... but three NEW things to share this week!

Firstly, I discovered this quaint little gift shop today ...

Isn't it charming? I've lived in this town for 18 years now and never realised this shop was only just a mile or so from my front door. It's right next door to a farm shop that sells locally grown produce and where you can PYO (pick your own) fruit, and whilst the produce selection wasn't that great when I visited, I was pleasantly surprised to find this little treasure trove of a gift shop. I'll definitely be going there again!

Secondly, I made linguine carbonara for the first time ...

This super speedy recipe was ready within just 15 minutes and made for a wonderfully tasty lunch, and as the weather was good, we decided to eat al fresco and enjoyed it with a glass of chilled white wine ...

Thirdly and lastly, did you know today is National Cheesecake Day in the USA? And although I don't live there, I couldn't resist the temptation, so I thought I'd try my hand at a recipe taken from Lorraine Pascale's Baking Made Easy cook book ...

This is a non-bake cheesecake dessert made with a Digestive biscuit base, mascarpone and double cream filling, drizzled with dark chocolate sauce and fresh tart raspberries ... delicious!!!

All in all, it's been a very tasty week for me and I now have two more easy peasey recipes added to my repertoire. Love that!

Week #29 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-07-27T20:17:00.003+01:00

The more observant amongst you, my lovely blog readers, will no doubt have already noticed that weeks 26, 27 & 28 appear to be missing. Well, yes they are, but no they're not. Confused? "Yes" in as much as they're not published and "no" in as much as absolutely nothing new happened at all during those weeks. I'm not kidding you ... no new recipes, no new purchases, no new adventures ... no new anything!!!

But instead of feeling guilty and beating myself up over this, I decided that life goes on, as do the weeks. So I've decided to skip straight over to week #29 ... and here's my NEW52 for last week ...

Very yummy HOME MADE(!) mini chocolate eclairs ... and even if I say so myself, they look pretty good don't they?

They tasted even better ;-)

Week #25 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-07-17T11:32:00.005+01:00

Hhhhhmmmmm ... let me think, what NEW52 thing happened in week #25? Oh yeah, I remember ... I joined a new age decade!

And so far, I'm happy to report that being 40 doesn't feel any different from being 30 or even 20 for that matter! So to anyone reading this post who may be worried about turning the "big 4-O", I say remember this ... age is only a number and whilst growing older is mandatory, growing up is most definitely optional.

Week #24 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-07-11T13:05:00.012+01:00

Week 24's NEW52 post is actually more to do with my brother than me ... but heck, seeing as he lives in the same house as me, it all counts ... right?!?!?

My brother is 2yrs 8months older than me [insert mental image here]. He's a quiet chap who pretty much keeps himself to himself. He likes his own company and isn't much for socialising. He'll admit it himself, he's a bit lazy and would prefer to sleep all day and stay up all night ... we joke that his ideal job would be as a professional game player for World of Warcraft [insert updated mental image here].

He's not had the best of luck, but than again some might say you make your own luck in this life. He's been laid off a couple of times, most recently when the company he worked for went into administration and had to get rid of all its employees, my brother included. Now I say recently, but in fact, that was back in October 2007 ... just as the global financial crisis was beginning to take effect here in the UK. Suffice to say, being out of work at that time was tough ... any job advertised was inundated with applicants and getting an interview was really challenging. Where we live is next to a large business park and unemployment had never never really been an issue, but even this area was hit hard during the worst time of the crisis.

Anyhoo, roll forward 3yrs 8months and finally, after LOTS of applications and LOTS of rejections, by dear brother has finally got himself a new job!!! Woo-hoo ... and I couldn't be happier for him.

Week #23 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-07-10T11:07:00.006+01:00

Do you keep ticket stubs? You know, boarding card stubs, train stubs, cinema stubs, dry-cleaning stubs? OK, not dry-cleaning ticket stubs perhaps, but all of those other bits of paper you have let over whenever you've travelled somewhere?

I do. I have LOTS of them and DH thinks I'm slightly bonkers for keeping all these little bits of paper with "meaningless gibberish written on them". Ah, but that's where's he's wrong, isn't he? Ask any scrapbooker if they keep ticket stubs and I bet the answer will be "Yes!" ... after all they're not meaningless bits of paper, they are in fact memory makers, thought provokers and reminders of days that might otherwise be forgotten.

Even though I've more-or-less completely converted to digital scrapping now, I still retain all my ticket stubs, but I no longer regularly create pages in which to incorporate them. Instead, they languish, seemingly unloved in drawers, boxes and suitcases. Each time I bring the case down from the attic in preparation for another journey, I say to myself that I'll collect everything together in one place, in a journal, so that on cold rainy day, I can read through it and remind myself of warmer, sunnier, more exotic distant lands. A journal with pages to write about my travels and with little pockets to hold all my ticket stubs together ... a travel journal no less, like this ...

And so my journey down memory lane begins ... the dates, the places, the hotels, the journey, the sights, the sounds, the smells ... all to be recorded in my new travel journal ...

With all the little ticket stubs safely stored alongside the memories themselves ...

Now why didn't I think of this years ago?

Want to see more?

2011-07-03T21:42:00.001+01:00

Wedding, a set on Flickr.

By popular demand, I've uploaded 50 of my favourite images of Jemma & Ian's wedding day to Flickr. These are all SOOC images as I haven't had the time to run any kind of processing on them yet. Feel free to take a peak.

Week #22 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-07-03T09:31:00.023+01:00

Now-a-days I seem to start every post with an apology ... and this one's no different. I said I would post about week #22 a couple of weekends ago, but I never did ... sorry! Just when I think I'm getting caught up on posting, something else creeps up and demands my attention. With that said, let me cast my mind back a few weeks and share with you what was probably the most NEW52 things I've ever experienced in one week!!! This is going to be a LONG post, so go grab yourself a tea / coffee and get comfy before you start reading.

Week #22 began with a bank holiday here in the UK, but rather than relaxing and enjoying the extra day off work, DH and I were running around like headless chickens, whilst we tried to get organised for our trip to Tuscany. Our flight was due to leave Gatwick at 10:55am the following morning and knowing that we'd need to check in at least 1hr before departure and that driving to the airport would take around 1.5hrs, we figured it made sense to book into a B&B (near the airport) the evening before. The B&B was nice enough, though it was located on a busy road with traffic lights right by our room, which meant there was constant noise from idling vehicle engines ... not great!

The first of this weeks new experiences came when we arrived at the airport. We'd bought our flight tickets online (via expedia.co.uk) so didn't have an actual ticket, just a print out with a booking reference. We went to the British Airways check-in zone and were greeted by a row of self service check-in screens. Now, we consider ourselves as fairly frequent travellers, but this was the first time we'd ever had to check ourselves onto a flight ... eeekkkk!!! Thankfully though, it was really easy! It was just a case of keying in a code, scanning our passports and confirming luggage numbers. I don't know about you, but I always think holidays begin the minute your luggage is checked in ... our trip, albeit short, had begun. Bring on the planes, trains and automobiles.

Planes
The flight to Pisa took less than 2hrs and we were soon through customs and let loose in Italy ... for the first time!

Usually when we go on holiday, we book a "package" deal where flights, transfers and accommodation are all included in the price. Our trip to Tuscany was different though because everything was organised separately. We'd have to make our own way from the airport at Pisa, to San Gimignano where we were staying ... eeekkk!! Thankfully a friend had given us great advise / instructions on how to get there.

Trains
Train timetables in Italy were surprisingly easy to understand. The closest train station to San Gimignano is at Poggibonsi (btw, isn't that just a great sounding name?!?!?) and to get there meant we needed to change trains a couple of times. Firstly we got an express from Pisa Aeroporto to Pisa Centrale, then we got a connecting local commuter train to Empoli and finally another train through to Poggibonsi. It was on the last train that we met up with some fellow British travellers and when asked where they we travelling to, we found out they were actually guests at the same wedding we were attending!!!

Automobiles
By the time we finally arrived at Poggibonsi, it was after 5pm and we were shattered! We were due to catch the local bus to take us to San Gimignano, but the thought of another hour of travelling really didn't appeal, so we grabbed a taxi instead and booked into our hotel a very swift 15 minutes later.

Pre-Wedding Celebrations
No sooner had we arrived, than we were heading out the hotel door to meet up with friends (+ the Brits we'd met on the train) for a pre-wedding dinner. Members of the main bridal party were all staying at a farmhouse approximately 2miles from San Gimignano, and had invited everyone for a meal the evening before the wedding. It was a chance for people to get to know each other before the big day itself, a chance for the two families to meet and mingle and have a glass of two of wine!

The Big Day
It was like a scene from a fairytale wedding with a white carpet leading towards the assembled guests and officiating dignitaries. The groom looked a little nervous as he glanced over his shoulder and caught the first fleeting glimpse his beautiful bride.

The weather was perfect, the sun shone throughout the ceremony and a refreshing breeze kept the temperatures comfortable for everyone that was dressed up to the nines!

Post-Wedding Recovery
We'd planned to head back into San Gimignano the day after the wedding but instead, friends invited us over to the farmhouse for lunch on the patio, under the Tuscan sun. Or at least that was the original idea. The weather, however, had other plans. It rained. A lot. But this didn't dampen our spirits because instead on sitting outside, we sat indoors, ate delicious cured ham with melon and drank tasty wine, made from the grapes grown on the vines outside the very farmhouse we sat in, all the while we listened as Dave (playing his guitar) & John (serenading Paula) entertained us. Bliss.

Homeward Bound
But all too soon, our time in Tuscany was over. So with wonderful memories and 700+ photos, we packed our bags and headed home. Automobiles, trains and planes.

After you've been away, do you have a view / a building / a land-mark that as soon as you see it, you say to yourself "I'm almost home"? We do and this is ours ...

As you can see, it's not a scenic view, or an historic building or even a beautiful land-mark. In fact, it's a bit of an eyesore ... it's the cooling towers from Didcot power station ... however whenever we see them, we know we're nearly home.

Week #21 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-06-14T14:01:00.014+01:00

I'd been coveting a new lens for my camera since the beginning of the year, but I really couldn't justify the expense as DH had only just bought me a lovely new zoom lens for Christmas ... it didn't feel right to cough up even more money for another lens so soon. That though, was before I knew I was being invited to a friend's wedding in Italy. Once the invite dropped on the doormat in January, all I could think of was, how nice it would be if I could have a 50mm f1.4 lens to take with me ... ~sigh~

I started browsing the Internet and came across Warehouse Express, a UK supplier offering a Nikon 50mm f1.4 G AF-S lens for what I thought was a not too unreasonable cost. The only catch was they had no stock. In fact, everywhere I looked had no stock. Every site said I could place the order, but they didn't know when goods would be despatched. It took a while to figure out why, but then I eventually realised ... it was the knock on effect of the terrible earthquake & tsunami in Japan earlier in the year.

Fast forward to Thursday 26th May at approximately 1:25pm ... my lunch break [at work] was almost over and I was just about to log off my laptop and get back to my day job, when I casually glanced at the Warehouse Express website and ... finally the available stock sign was GREEN ... they had 2 in stock!!!

It took me all of 10 seconds to make my decision! My bank card was whipped out of my purse sooooooo fast, I almost gave myself a plastic cut ... and with furious fingers flying across the keyboard, my order was placed ... and the very next day, this lens would be mine!

I ♥ the depth of field I'm able to achieve
I ♥ that it's easy to use
I ♥ my 50mm lens

I'm still practising using it, but here's just a couple of photos I've taken with it [so far] ...

DH not quite frowning, but not quite smiling either

floral decoration at a recent wedding

So you see, my "new" for this particular week was quite big ... but just wait 'til you read what week #22 had in store for me ... I can honestly say, I lost count of all the "new" things I experienced. I'll be back this weekend to share some of them with you!

Week #20 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-06-12T18:23:00.004+01:00

In truth, this happened much earlier than week #20 (it started way back in January when I renewed my driving licence) but it wasn't until the week of 16th May that I finally received the most important card I'll ever own. It's a card that I'll never actually get to benefit from, but one that never-the-less I gladly hold onto in the knowledge that one day, I may be able to help someone who truly needs it.

This is the one card I encourage EVERYONE [in the UK] to carry ...

For more information about the NHS Organ Donor Register, please click here. Thank you.

Week #19 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-06-12T17:57:00.004+01:00

New things have been coming along thick and fast over the last few weeks, so much so that I've not really had time to sit down and share them we you ... for which I apologise. But thankfully things have calmed down now and I can spend some "quality time" with my laptop (oh how I've missed it!) and you.

So let's start with week #19 shall we? Let's see, that was the week from 9th - 15th May ... yikes ... was it really that long ago??? My new for this week was a purchase, a total impulse buy but I love them none-the-less ...

I've got a thing for jars. I have LOTS of them in my spare bedroom / scrap space. I have big ones and little ones and I use them to store all manner of embellishments (from my card making / paper scrapbooking days) and although I'm mainly a digiscrapping girl now-a-days, I can't bring myself to get rid of their content, let alone the jars themselves!

But these new jars aren't destined to store pretty, sparkly trinkets or multicoloured grosgrain ribbon ... no siree ... these jars are to be filled with sweet goodies and tasty treats for anyone to dip in to and help themselves whenever they pass by ... yummy!!! I think I'll print a label / tag to hang round them that says "Help Yourself" and/or "You're Welcome". I'll try to remember to take a photo of them once they're filled and share the photos here too.

So that was week #19. What's next? Of yes ... week #20.

Just a glimpse ...

2011-06-05T18:42:00.007+01:00

Beautiful isn't it? It's just one of the magnificent views DH and I captured during our recent trip over to Tuscany, Italy. We were there for a wedding (more on that in future posts I hope) and we had a fabulous time. Our only regret is that we didn't stay for longer (we were only there for 4 days and 2 of those were taken up with travelling!). We took 700+ photos during our short visit, most of which were of the wedding we attended, so far we've only uploaded a small selection (just 18) to Flickr, so if you fancy seeing a few more photos of the area, feel free to click here.

Week #18 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-05-09T19:31:00.003+01:00

Bear with me friends (and loyal readers) for I'm breaking myself back into the NEW52 habit gently. It's been a number of weeks since my last "new" post, in fact I think I've missed 4 weeks in total ... yikes!!! So for my return to the fold, I'm starting out with a new book ...

I love to bake! And not just sweet cakes and biscuits (though that does tend to be what I bake most), savoury pastries and pies are just as welcome in my oven!

This particular book appealed to me for a couple of reasons; firstly, I'd seen some of the corresponding episodes on BBC2 and therefore seen some of the recipes being made. Now I don't know about you, but I think seeing the dish being made really helps to understand how the ingredients come together, know what I mean? Secondly, the book has a great mixture of sweet and savoury recipes to try out. In particular I'm looking forward to baking the Whisky & Chilli Tiger Prawns, the Cookies & Cream Fudge Brownies and the Pumpkin & Rosemary Muffins ... all of which sound truly scrumptious!

Well, I guess we all know the subject of at least three of my future NEW52 posts ... my attempts at making [hopefully] tasty morsels from this book.

Ladies that lunch (part III) ...

2011-05-07T10:08:00.004+01:00

On Thursday, exactly one year to the day from our first "Ladies That Lunch" date and 5 months since our last reunion, I got to meet up with Selena & Lorraine for lunch again ... yeah! It's always fun getting together with this girls, not least because we try to come up with inventive ways of photographing the three of us together. No mean feat when you consider just how camera shy these ladies are (not me I hasten to add, lord knows I'll jump in front of the camera anytime!). Last time is was our feet ...

This time is was our hands ...

I meant to take a photo of us toasting our get-together (& Lorraine's birthday) with the champagne / Kir Royale drinks we'd ordered, but alas I forgot .... so it's water filled tumblers instead!

I never under estimate just how lucky I am to live close by to these ladies and I'm so grateful that we get the chance to meet up a couple of times a year, to celebrate our friendship, our love of all things digi and of course to catch up on all the gossip!

Ummmm, hello?

2011-05-01T20:58:00.003+01:00

I wouldn't blame you if you'd given up on ever reading anything here again after all, it's been WEEKS ... and nothing, not even so much as a "hello". Believe me, I'm hanging my head in shame here. I wish I could say that it was because my life is just so full of thrills and adventures or that I'd been whisked away somewhere exotic, but alas that's not the case.

I have been busy, but then again who hasn't? I have to confess that NEW52 has fallen by the way-side, but I remember where I dropped it and I intend to go back and pick it up and start a fresh.

So let's start this new month with a new focus and energy shall we? And talking of fresh new starts, did you watch any of the wedding on Friday? With DH being away visiting his family, I took advantage of his absence and thoroughly indulged my inner fairy-tale princess fantasies. I made Union flag mini-bunting using Angie Hinksman's Cool Britannia kit ...

I'd taken the bunting into my office the Thursday before the wedding and strung it across my monitors. On the actual day of the wedding, I strung the same bunting across my TV at home.

I had a great time watching the wedding, scrapping and Tweeting all at the same time, multi-tasking to the extreme, oh and yes that is a photo of the "first kiss". It's almost like being there ... in fact, I probably got a better shot than most people who were actually there!

Here's one of the LO's I completed during the wedding too, again using Angie's Cool Britannia & Cool Britannia Chrome Alphas kits ...

click here for credits

So there we are folks, I've got tomorrow off work for the May Day bank holiday, then it's back to the office on Tuesday ... but then I'm off again on Thursday and I'm heading into town to meet up with Selena (aka Bush Girl) and Lorraine (aka Neat Freak) for lunch again. Can you believe it's 5 months already since I last saw these girls? Let's just hope there's no freak weather event this time ... a snow storm on Bond Street, I ask you!!!

Creativity abounds ...

2011-04-08T18:20:00.010+01:00

They say "things" (good & bad) come in threes, and that certainly seems to be the case for me so far this month.

Good thing #1
Ange Designs (for whom I was a guest CT member last year) has asked me to be a permanent member of her Creative Team and of course I couldn't say no! Her designs are so charming and I jumped at the chance of re-joining her & the rest of her team. If you want to check Ange's creations, then now is a GREAT time to do so as she's offering an amazing 50% off her kits at Digital-Crea.fr this weekend.

And whilst you're over at Digital-Crea.fr, just have a look at who they've got as guest designer for April ... it's none other than Shaui of Fei-Fei's Stuff!!!!

Good thing #2
In March I was fortunate enough to be selected as a "Featured Scrapper" over at Mscraps. This in itself was such a huge honour and a fabulous event to be involved in, but to make things even better, I was subsequently chosen to become a guest member of the Mscraps Creative Team throughout April. Woo-hoo! I feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz ... I get to peek behind the curtain and see how things work. Oh and it's great fun too!!!

Good thing #3
Last but by no means least, I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about sharing this next bit of news with you! I'm pleased as punch to be able to say that throughout April, I'm a guest member the One Little Bird Creative Team (aka The Flock) ... yippppeeeee!!! Peppermint Tweeted me way way back in January & asked if I would consider being a guest CT member and I swear I haven't stop grinning since she asked me!!! Anyhoo, here's the first page I've created using Peppermint's new kit, Vagabond

click here for credits

So far April has been a fun-packed month, full of new opportunities and new challenges ... and I for one I'm loving every moment of it!!!

Week #13 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-03-27T14:07:00.009+01:00

A couple of NEW52 experiences from me this week.

First up, I finally got round to buying myself a proper carry case for my laptop. For the past year, whenever I've taken my lovely shiny Dell Inspiron laptop anywhere, I've done so in a rather flimsy, albeit pretty, shopping bag ... #GASP# ... I know, it offers no protection what-so-ever!!! It's not that I didn't want a proper carry case, it's just that I wanted a pretty one, a girly one, a colourful one and whenever I searched for a case big enough to accommodate my 17 inch wide-screen laptop, the only colour was black. Boring!

Until I saw this ...

OK, so it's black & white ... but it's got a really funky pattern ... AND ... the inside is baby pink!!!! (in the image above, you can just see the zipper ends which are the same colour as the interior lining). My laptop fits snugly inside, it has an internal elastic "skirt" to keep my laptop from moving / shifting, a detachable shoulder strap and a front zipped compartment for power cables / USB mouse etc. It's a riot and I love it!

My second "new" this week is the completing of my 2011 census form. Once every 10 years, every single household in the UK is required [by law] to complete a rather l.o.n.g. winded 32 page questionnaire about who you are, what you do, where you work, your ethnic background, your religion, your qualifications etc etc ... it's a heck of a document! Right now you're probably thinking how can this be new? After all, the census is taken every 10 years ... well, the new for me is that this year, I'm completing it ONLINE for the first time!

The official census day is actually today, 27th March 2011 and the idea is that information gathered during the census will be used to help to plan and fund vital services such as transport, education and health.

The other use of the census information is of course in a genealogical sense. The information captured is made public after 100 years. So in 2111, future generations will be able to read about what my life was like, and likewise, I can find out about my ancestors from the 1911 census. I haven't check it out yet, but I have looked at 1891 census and discovered that my great-great- grandfather, William Walton Applebee was born on New Year's Eve in 1845. Wow ... I don't feel so bad about having to give-up all this information.

Week #12 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-03-27T13:55:00.007+01:00

Week #12 and I treated myself to some new underwear from my favourite lingiere store, Bravissimo. Nothing to fancy, just a couple of really comfortable, sensible, uplifting bras! Now when it comes to price, this site is by no means the cheapest ... BUT ... when you have assets(!) like I do, then trust me, comfort comes above price every time!!!

Plus, when the box arrives & you open it up, you find they've wrapped each item in it's own cute little tissue paper parcel, so you feel like you're opening gifts someone's given to you ...

You've got to love stores that go the extra mile to make each order look / feel special, don't you? ♥

Week #11 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-03-27T13:24:00.005+01:00

Oh boy I'm soooooo far behind on these posts!!!! I've been having NEW52 experiences but totally neglected to tell you all about them ... sorry! There are going to be a couple more posts after this one because I'm determined to have 52 separate posts by the end of the year ... so please bear with me friends, OK?

Week #11 was a new recipe week. I have always loved the flavour of chicken Kiev; crispy golden breadcrumb coated chicken, oooozzzzing with a garlic & parsley butter filling .... yummy!!!! I always thought they were way too complicated to make, so had never tried making my own ... until this week that is! The prep was a bit long winded, flattening the chicken took AGES and I had a headache after all that banging (actually, I think the reason why the prep took so long, was that I wanted to take step-by-step photos for my blog post. LOL!) but it was worth it in the end ... they were surprisingly easy to cook and tasted delicious ... result!!!

click here to see larger version & credits

If you want to try making your own Kiev's I can highly recommend this version of the recipe by The Hairy Bikers (they look scary but really have some great recipes, honestly!). Enjoy.

Week #10 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-03-13T13:42:00.004Z

Oh my goodness, what a CRAZY busy week it's been! I swear I only blinked and already another week has flown by. Does anyone else yearn for the l-o-n-g drawn out days you used to have when you were a child? Minutes felt like hours, hours like days, days like weeks and so on and so forth. Six weeks off school during summer felt more like six months!

So what's changed? Why is the pace of life sooooo much faster now-a-days? Well you know what? I don't think it is any faster. What has changed though, is the way I now fill my days. When I was a child, I had nothing to occupy my time other than school and playing with friends. As I've grow older, it's not that time itself has become any quicker, it's just that I now have LOTS of things to do that occupy my time. Things like working, runing a home, shopping, cooking, cleaning, blogging, web-browsing and of course digi-scrapping.

There are still 60 minutes in each hour, 24 hours in every day and 7 days in a week. But now those 60 minutes, 24 hours and 7 days etc are occupied with the tasks that I once took for granted as a child (like cooking, cleaning and shopping).

So what's NEW about any of this you may ask? Well, only really the appreciation that time is still the same speed it was when I was younger. Time doesn't go any faster now. It's just that I've got more things to do. Things that I need to get better at "time managing" (horrible office speak but you kwim, don't you?) if I'm ever going to get the most out of this NEW52 adventure I'm on.

Week #9 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-03-06T07:53:00.006Z

My post was all set to go in a different direction this week ... I had a new recipe I was going to cook up and share with you.

But something happened ...
Something MUCH more exciting ...
Something WAY more blog worthy ...
Something I'd DREAMED of for ages ...

I became a Cheery'O @ Oscraps!!!

O how I lOve having that swirly fOnt under my name. O how I lOve that I get to add my own quirky title [in case you're wondering why I picked "O'chOir extraOdinaire"? It's simply that I'm renown for e-singing rather loudly. Tee-hee!]. O how I lOve all the suppOrt and encOuragment I've received in the few shOrt days since being given this hOnOur.

Thank you Oscraps for inviting me to be part of the team ... I l♥ve it!

P.S. Oh and I won't forget, I'll just tell you about the new recipe in week #10 instead, OK?

Week #8 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-02-27T15:08:00.003Z

I really wasn't sure what my "new" for this week was going to be. I couldn't think of anything I'd done that would count. I hadn't tried any new recipes, I hadn't been anywhere new and I hadn't tried any new digi-scrapping techniques. Heck! What was I going to blog about?

DH must have heard me pondering what to do, because last weekend, he said he was "popping out for a bit" and about 2hrs later, returned home and handed me a small bag. Inside was this beautiful charm style necklace / bracelet set ...

Do I have the best DH or what? I love the style (I've got a thing for BIG beads and charms at the moment!) and the colour is a beautiful mottled jade ... swoooooooon!

Thank you babe ... your NEW gift to me is gorgeous and I ♥ it.

Week #7 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-02-19T20:27:00.002Z

My NEW for this week is big, huge, massive, life changing! OK, that last one might be a slight exaggeration, but never-the-less, you get the idea, right? But before I tell you about it, I want to give you a bit of back history, to tell you a little bit about how I arrived at digi-scrapping and blogging. So in true story-teller fashion I'll ask you this question ... are you sitting comfortably? OK, then I'll begin ...

On 5th February 2009 the world as I knew it, shattered. I remember it like is was yesterday. It had snowed the night before and when I arrived at the office, a few colleagues and I built a snowman, we were like kids, messing about, snowball fighting and creating snow angels.

The day was like any other, a mixture of meetings and phone calls, then at 3:30pm my boss asked me to step into her office. It wasn't a scheduled meeting, so I had no idea what it was about and I certainly didn't expect what happened next.

I didn't get upset, I didn't get angry. I simply said that I understood, that I was disappointed, but I understood. Then I went back to my desk and carried on working until 5pm. I said "good night" to colleagues and that was that. The end of my career with the company.

Losing my job smack bang in the middle of one of the worst economic recessions [in my living memory] was awful. But one good thing to came from it, was all the unexpected free time I gained. Time that allowed me to truly discover the delights of digi-scrapping. Time that allowed me to share my enthusiasm for all things digital and creative. Time that allowed me to create this blog where I could share my passions with anyone of cared to read about them.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fast forward to the end of July 2010. I received a phone call from my "ex" boss asking if I was available to do some temping work in the office? My "old" office. For the company that had made my job redundant some 18 months earlier.

At first it was odd being back, but at the same time,it was almost like I'd never been away! It felt good to be able to help, to put my years of experience and knowledge to use again. But alas, all too soon my temporary contract came to an end. "Oh well!", back to the digi-scrapping drawing board (whilst job hunting of course. LOL!), I thought.

Two quick months later and I received another phone call from my "ex-ex" boss, again asking if I was available to do some more temping work? Sure. Why not? The money before Christmas would come in very handy.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

That was almost 4 months ago and I'm still temping at my "old" office. But not for long ... you see I've been offered a permanent contract back with my "old" company! Eeeeekkk! Almost exactly 2 years later and I'm back. And it feels good. And it feels like coming home after a long holiday. Welcome back me.

Week #6 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-02-12T14:40:00.003Z

I'm keeping it short and sweet this week, much like my new haircut ...

Before:

After:

Note to self:- the light at my desk in the afternoon is slightly better than it is in the morning, but still not great. Oh, and the higher resolution on my webcam is better too!

And the nominations are ...

2011-02-08T20:15:00.005Z

click here to go to {the} Mscraps Oscars forum

Have you checked out out the digi-scrapping award ceremony taking place at Mscraps right now?

There are some fabulous categories ... such as "best use of a template", "best non-photo page" & "most humorous page" and the prizes, oh my goodness ... they are ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!

You really don't want to miss this! Check out the Mscraps forum here for full details. Oh, and get your working on your acceptance speech ... you may just be a winner!

Week #5 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-02-05T18:23:00.018Z

I've lived in the same town for almost 18 years now, so I guess I should consider it "my home town". Yet despite living here for that length of time, there are still towns and villages within a 10 mile radius of "my home town" that I've never explored ... until TODAY that is!

I'd read about an antiques & collectibles fair that was being held in the town of Wallingford, which is only 8 miles down the road. I'd mentioned to DH that I'd like to go, just to have a browse around, but is facial expression said it all ... not really his type of thing. Not one to be easily deterred, I decided to venture out on my own, jumped in my car and started driving in the rough direction of Wallingford. At this point, it should be said that I'm not a sat-nav kind of girl ... oh no! I prefer the old fashioned method of map and/or road sign reading (both of which are dying art-forms I fear) and with the need for only one U-turn, I found Wallingford town centre and more importantly, somewhere to safely park my car.

You're probably thinking now would be a good time to insert a photo. Well yes it would ... HOWEVER ... I actually forgot to take my camera with me (shock! gasp! horror!), so you'll either just have to take my word for it, when I tell you that Wallingford is one of the most charming towns I've ever visited, or you'll have to come and visit for yourself (and I'd do the later if I were you!).

The town has an abundance of antique shops, little treasure troves, Aladdin's caves full of curiosities and collectibles from every era imaginable. By far my favourite find of the day was The Lamb Arcade. It's a fabulous historic building that has 40+ small businesses spread over the three uneven, creaky floors. It's full of cubby-holes, alcoves and rooms packed to the rafters with charming nic-nacs and beautiful objet d'art.

One of the nicest things about Wallingford town, is the selection of independently owned shops. There were thankfully very few of the usual high street chain stores and the town has capitalised on it's quaint, twisty narrow streets and alleyways, as every time you turn a corner, you come across another unique little shop selling things that you never realised you needed, hand-made soaps, hand-made shoes, hand-made jewellery, hand-made cards ... LOTS of hand-made, custom creations ... my kind of town.

Traci Murphy Designs blog blitz ...

2011-02-03T12:49:00.003Z

So right now you may be thinking "what the heck's a blog blitz?". Well, it's an opportunity for you, my dear reader, to get the low down on a specific designer and read honest reviews of a featured kit from said designer. The reviews are written by people just like you & me. In other words, real people, with real experiences and REAL opinions. Are you with me so far?

OK, so you've probably figured out from my post title that Traci Murphy is the designer we're "blitzing" today. The kit I'm reviewing is this one, Ring It In ...

Now, I'll be honest (after all that's what this post is all about right?), my first reaction when I saw the kit preview was "oh, I'm not sure about the those masks!". But actually, once I'd downloaded the kit, those masks became the key element I definitely wanted to include in my page.

I was seriously delighted with the paper choices in this kit. There's a great selection of plain papers (8 in total), all of which have a really nice subtle texture to them. There's also a funky collection of vibrant patterned papers (15 in total), each of which has a plain paper to compliment it.

I've got to say that I was a little disappointed by the relatively small selection of elements in the kit (11 in total). Having said that, what there was, were of good quality, great colour and the splendor and pizazz of those masks made up for what I initially felt was missing in terms of elements quantity. It's worth noting that you also get a full set of very sparkly alphas in the kit, which is great for titles or adding a bit bling to your page! None of the elements are pre-shadowed, which is useful if you're an experienced digi-scrapper as it means you have total control over such matters, but I can imagine some newer digi-scrappers may find the elements looking a bit flat and kind of lost on their page (kwim?) because of the lack of shadow.

So I've talked a bit about the kit contents ... I suppose you'd like to see the page I created with it, yes? OK, here you go ...

click here for credits

Do you want to hear some EXCITING news about Traci??? Well, she's been dipping her toes in the water at Oscraps for a couple of months now, but I'm thrilled to say she's decided to take the plunge and make the "O" her hOme. Woo-hoo!

How do you fancy seeing more of Traci's designs and possibly winning a PRIZE as well? Then check out the fabulously fun Gallery Crawl challenge Traci's set for you. It's really simple ...

1.) Grab a spot in this thread http://bit.ly/TraciMurphy-welcome

2.) Go to the Traci's designer gallery http://bit.ly/TraciMurphy-gallery and start leaving some love on the wonderful layouts there!

3.) After every comment - copy the link to that layout and paste it back in this thread - http://bit.ly/TraciMurphy-welcome - by editing your original post! (each post should hold approximately 100 links before you need to create a new post to continue your list.) Please do not create a new post for each link. We ask that you don't just copy & paste or leave one word comments (such as "beautiful", "gorgeous", "lovely" etc). We want to make sure that each layout receives genuine comments and love. Hope you understand where we're coming from!

Bonus ~ Bonus ~ Bonus
As part of the Traci Murphy Designs Blog Blitz, several friends have created layouts and done their own kit reviews on their blog. You can earn BONUS entry to the prize draw by visiting their blog, reading their review and leaving a comment (one entry per blog). For details of the blogs involved, check out this thread http://bit.ly/TraciMurphy-welcome

Thanks for stopping by today ... I hope you'll come and visit again soon!

NB: I was provided a with a free copy of Traci Murphy Designs' Ring It In kit by Oscraps.com. However, my review was not influenced by it being a free kit. I say this just in case you (or the FTC) were worried about this detail. :-)

Week #4 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-01-29T20:24:00.006Z

For the longest time this week, I had no idea what my "new" was going to be. But then, without even trying, three "news" came along in quick succession.

NEW#1
I was once asked to describe my digi-scrapping style. I really struggled with the question ... was I a minimalist? Not exactly. Did I focus on journaling? Definitely not. I really didn't know how to describe my style at all! I took a stroll through my gallery and it became clear that whilst I used patterned papers, I did so VERY sparingly. Just the odd strip or block of paper here and there. There were virtually NO pages where I'd used a patterned paper as the main focus. That was about to change.

Now I'm very, VERY lucky to be part of the creative team for Fei-Fei's Stuff, and this week, Shaui's been in the Designer Spotlight over at Oscraps. As part of her week of fun and games, Shaui set a brilliant challenge to scrap a double page layout AND make patterned paper the main background element .... whaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!

Here's what I came up with ...

click here for credits

NEW#2
Food. Again. I knew when I started this year long experience, that food was going to play a BIG part ... after all there are sooooooo many possibilities aren't there? This week I tried out Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals recipe for Cheat's Pizza. Here's how mine looked ...

Pretty cool huh? (It looked even better once I added some freshly torn basil leaves). The only downside was the state of my kitchen during / after the cooking!

NEW#3
This was my favourite new of the week. Now I make no secret of the fact that I ♥ champagne! I've been lucky enough to have tried Moet & Chandon, Taittinger, Bollinger and even Dom Perignon (that was a wedding anniversary present a few years ago). But the "daddy" of all champagnes, the "blingest", the most "celeb" of them all has to be Louis Roederer's Cristal champagne. DH & I had thought about buying a bottle for a while now, so when DH put it on his Christmas Wish List, it seemed the perfect excuse to splash out and treat him (& me of course!)

We didn't drink it at Christmas or New Year's, we didn't even drink it in celebration of DH's birthday earlier in the week. Nope. The bottle just sat in our fridge and teased & taunted me every time I opened the door ... until TODAY! Today, we popped the cork and poured ourselves a glass of the most expensive drink we've ever had!!!

And it was worth every.single.pound (not penny, POUND!)

Slangevar ...

2011-01-25T21:08:00.003Z

Happy Burns night everyone ... have you had your haggis, neeps & tatties this evening? And of course, not forgetting a wee swally for good health? Slangevar!!! (oh by the way, that means "cheers!" in Gaelic / Scottish) ...

Spotlight on Fei-Fei's Stuff ...

2011-01-24T21:26:00.004Z

Check out Shaui's blog here
Oscraps Designer Spotlight thread here
Ooooodles of inspiration from the gallery here

Week #3 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-01-20T14:11:00.006Z

So here we are at the end of another week and I don't know about you, but the Christmas break seems but a distant memory to me now ~sigh~ how quickly the hum-drum and routine of everyday life grabs control again! Don't get me wrong, I ♥ routine. I'm a creature of habit. I like certain things to happen at certain times. For example; I like to get up & out of bed no more than 10 minutes after my radio alarm has gone off. I like to watch the BBC news whilst eating my breakfast. I don't drink tea after 4pm and I'm nearly always in bed by about 10pm. I would never normally consider going out for dinner on a #gasp# school night! But then the whole concept behind NEW52 is, as you know, to try something new each week. And so on Wednesday night, DH and I did just that.

We went out for dinner at Blue Ginger, an Indian restaurant recommended to me by a colleague at work. It's quite a small place, perhaps only seating 40 people, but the staff were really friendly and the service was excellent. Within 10minutes of arriving we were sipping our drinks and nibbling on crunchy poppadoms & assorted chutneys ...

As usual, trying to decide what to order from the menu was a challenge, there was a fabulous selection to choose from. DH thumbed through a couple of times ...

... before finally deciding to order the chicken nawabi (new for DH) and I ordered king prawn lajawab (new for me) ...

... both were truly delicious and very VERY filling! On a side note, how kitsch is that tomato rose in the photo above? I haven't seen one of those served as a garnish since the early 1980's!!! And on another side note, please excuse the quality of the photos. I only had my mobile phone with me and the lighting wasn't exactly conducive for taking good shots of the food!

Anyhoo, it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening out and thanks to some good planning and forward thinking on my part, we were home by 10pm and I was tucked up in bed and snooozing by 10:45pm ... my routine only slightly altered and normal service quickly restored ;-)

Week #2 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-01-15T08:31:00.005Z

It's the end of week #2, although technically I think it's more like the start of week #3 but seeing as my "new's" tend to happen at the weekends, I guess I'm always going to be a tad bit behind .... story of my life!

My NEW for this week is more of a re-new rather than a brand new (is that cheating?). DH & I have decided to re-new our monthly movie nights. Yiiiiippeeee! Now, whether we go out to the cinema to watch a new movie or we decide to stay home and watch a DVD, depends on a) what's on at the local cinema, and b) how our finances are doing that month (why does it cost sooooo much to go to the cinema these days?).

Anyhoo, we kicked off our re-newed movie nights last night and with it being January, and money being a bit tight (getting paid before Christmas and then having to wait almost 6 weeks 'til the next pay day ain't good folks!), we decided to stay home and watch a DVD ... BUT ... to make things more authentic, we recreated the whole cinema experience! The furniture was re-arranged and the sofa positioned directly in front of the TV (our lovely 37" Pioneer plasma screen ~sigh~), our DVD was linked up through the surround sound speaker system (AMAZING clarity & volume!) and of course the choice of snacks & beverages were suitably cinema-like (burgers, popcorn, M&M's, chips 'n' dips & bottles of beer).

Before:

During:

We had a fabulous night, though I think I ate too much popcorn ... but hey, you can't have a movie night without popcorn, can you? Oh, and in case you're wondering ... we watched Ocean's Eleven (you really can't beat a bit of George & Brad on a Friday night!)

Week #1 of my NEW52 life ...

2011-01-08T18:29:00.004Z

Here we are my dear friends, the end of the first week of the New Year (question: at what point does the year stop being referred to as "New" and just become "the year"?) and I wish I could write that it had been full of new and exciting opportunities, new sights, sounds, smells and flavours! All those may come throughout the year, but this first week was rather more routine. It was a case of getting back into the swing of things following the festive break. Of waking up with the alarm clock, of getting to work on time, of making it through the working day and of the commute home in the evening. All these things are good though, for whilst they may not scream of adventure, they do at least mean that I'm working and earning pennies, which in turn means comfort and security at home.

So right about now, you're probably thinking that week #1 held nothing new for me, right? Well, wrong! My "new" for this week actually happened just today ... I joined my local library! I can hear Peppermint & Helen both taking a sharp intake of breath at this point, followed by a shout of "what the heck took you so long?". Both have hailed the virtues of their library's hallowed halls, both I know regularly visit and partake of the ritual that is finding the right book, spending minutes, if not even hours soaking up the ambiance, then rushing home with their precious packages of joy, thrill, romance, biography or practical learning. Of savouring the precious quiet moments, opening the cover and absorbing all those words as they float off the pages, all the while with a sense of righteousness and possibly, just possibly, the slightest hint of smugness, that all this enjoyment is theirs for the princely sum of zero pounds & zero pence (or dollars & cents if you prefer), albeit if only for the next 3 weeks.

This is my new library card.

Cute toucans don't you think? I'm guessing that some of you will want to know which book / books I borrowed today. Well, I borrowed just one (I'm a library newbie after all and didn't want to seem greedy!) and it's a book about black and white photography in the digital age. It's easy to read, has great photos (as you'd expect) and best of all, it has step-by-step instructions on how to achieve the kind of effects they write about. In short, it's my kind of book.

New Year resolutions aren't my style ...

2011-01-01T17:06:00.004Z

So here we are at the start of a brand spanking new year. Ahead of us lie endless possibilities, countless opportunities and bucket loads of creativity, right? Well yes, but I can honestly say that can't remember the last time I made any New Year resolutions. It's not that I think I'm perfect and that nothing needs to change. Far from it in fact. It's more that all my good intentions made on 1st January, are thrown out of the nearest window by the 15th! It's not that I lack will-power either. It's just that I get bored and distracted easily. Now if only there were some kind of project that could encourage me to try something new, could motivate me to broaden my horizons, to develop new skills, to actually LIVE life rather than just dream about it. Oh, if only there were such a thing ...

Well guess what? There is ... there's NEW52 ... an idea conceived by Christine (Listgirl Designs) and Peppermint (One Little Bird). It's aim is simple ... to try something new each & every week of 2011. It doesn't have to be a BIG, life-changing "new", it could be something as simple as trying a new flavour of soup for lunch or changing the colour of your eye-shadow. But it could be something big, something like a new job, a new home or a new love! Whatever your "new" thing is, document it. Blog about it, Tweet about it, journal about it and maybe, just maybe, scrap about it.

So this is it. This is me going public and committing to NEW52 throughout 2011. I'm really looking forward to sharing all my "news" with you and I hope that if, somewhere along the way, you decide to join in, you too will share your "news" with me. If you're interested in learning more about NEW52 then you'd be a wise person to check out both Peppermint's & Christine's blogs. Both of which I hope will inspire you to try something NEW this year!

Farewell 2010, it's been nice knowing you ...

2010-12-31T17:51:00.004Z

So this is it ... my last post of the year. It may shock you (or not), but this won't be an particularly insightful or profound blog post ... instead, I just want to leave you with my latest layout which was created using [Mscraps featured designer for January 2011] Three Paper Peonies new January kit ...

My journaling reads:

As one year closes, so a new one begins. With it comes a clean slate on which to write your life story, a blank canvas on which to paint your portrait. So don’t dwell on the past and the things that might have been. Instead, look forward to your future and embrace all that awaits you.

Happy New Year everyone ... see you in 2011!

Seasons greetings ...

2010-12-25T19:25:00.003Z

Merry Christmas!

So were you on the "naughty" or "nice" list? Enquiring minds need to know, so please do tell!

Waiting for Santa ...

2010-12-24T21:39:00.004Z

Oh, the weather outside is frightful ...

2010-12-20T21:23:00.004Z

But that doesn't stop me from going out and taking photos!

click here for credits

Ladies that lunch ...

2010-12-18T09:04:00.003Z

As my train drew into Paddington station yesterday morning, the weather was cold, but dry. Just 10 minutes later when I stepped out of the underground station at Bond Street, I was met by a flurry of white snowflakes that was just so unexpected!!! Have you ever tried finding people in a VERY BUSY city centre in the middle of a blizzard? Trust me, it ain't easy! But find them I did, and it was BIG hugs all round as Lorraine, Selena (+ her darling son, Woody) and I headed off for our pre-Christmas lunch / get together! I've said it before and I'll say it again, there is nothing quite like good food, good conversation and good friends! Thanks for a lovely day girls (& Woody) ... we'll do it all again in a few months time I hope, although minus the snowstorm next time!

Oh, and for those expecting to see a photo of the three of us together, well here you go ...

Honestly ... this was the ONLY photo I could get!!!

Ho-Ho-Ho ...

2010-12-12T13:27:00.012Z

How on earth did I ever get organised for Christmas when I worked full-time before? I swear my brains have gone to mush. I'm forgetting even the most basic of Christmas stuff (i.e. advent calendars & cards). I've got sooooo many "to-do lists" on the go, I need a list for all my lists! Having said that, I'm finally starting to get somewhere ... the outside lights are UP!

I actually got my Christmas lights down from my attic about 2 weeks ago. I knew a couple of the bulbs needed replacing, so I thought I'd check [nice & early] and buy replacements ... BUT ... the Christmas gremlins had obviously been at work and instead of needing "a couple of bulbs", I needed more like 100 ... heck! Do you have any idea how much replacement bulbs cost? No, neither had I until I did some on-line research. £3.50 for 4 teeny, tiny bulbs ... £3.50!!! It goes without saying, I went for the cheaper, though not terribly environmentally friendly, option of buying a new set of lights. What do you think? They're LED supabright white snowing icicles ... they can flash too, but I prefer them on static mode.

Bright aren't they! Just compare them to my neighbour's (far right of the photo) ... yikes, that's what my old lights looked like ... this new set certainly has some va-va-voom!!!

On the scrapping front, it's a busy time of year (when isn't?) for designers and they're producing some gorgeous holiday themed & not-so-holiday themed kits.

Jaime of Three Paper Peonies is doing a wonderful Advent giveaway on her blog! Opening her gift each day is such a delight and all her freebies are building into a fabulous kit.

Joyce has just released her new kit Serenity and is also December's featured designer over at Mscraps! Check out the special offer she has in store for you when you buy anything from her shop during the month. P.S. there's also a special freebie if you sign-up to the Mscraps newsletter.

During November & December I've been guest CT'ing for Ange Designs and it couldn't have been a better time because not only is Ange designing some gorgeous holiday kits, but it was her birthday last Wednesday and to celebrate she released Delicious Birthday at Digital-crea (a fabulous French site with tons of goodies to "oooh-la-la" about ... they also have a language translator which a life-saver for me!)

Tina has moved to a new home at Oscraps and just check out her shop ... it's only been open a week and already it's bursting at the seams with yumminess.

And last but by no means least, Shaui's recently released a gorgeous kit called I Love You Like and one of the pages I created with it got a mention at Gallery Standouts ... like many other digi-scrappers I know, it's always such a thrill when you see one of your own creations featured on this blog!

Well peeps, I think that brings us back up to date! I'll try not to leave it so long between posts next time. I'll definitely be posting again before Christmas as I have some exciting news to share ... but more on that towards next weekend ... tease, aren't I?!?!?

Just for you ...

2010-11-25T14:40:00.005Z

I recently created this layout using papers and elements from a fabulous new collab kit from Ange Designs & Pink Reptile Designs called Scrap! (btw, don't you think that's the perfect name for a kit?) ...

When I uploaded it to my gallery at Oscraps, a very dear friend, Kym, added a comment that said:

"Sue, get out of here! This is fabulous! I need a page like this for myself. I think this needs to be turned into a quickpage. If you do, please send my way!"

Well Kym you're in luck! After I read your lovely comment, I approached both Ange & Mirjam (the kit designers) and asked if they would mind if I created a quick page to give away on my blog ... and I'm delighted to say they both agreed it would be OK, so here you go ...

click here to download

If you do create a page, I'd love to see it, so please leave a link in the comments so I can leave some love.

OK, that's all from me today ... to all my friends "across the pond", I hope you have a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday and I'll raise my glass in a toast to the start of a joyous festive season!

Choices, choices ...

2010-11-22T20:34:00.004Z

So with me working regular 9am -5pm hours at the moment, I'm carting my laptop to & from the office each day, and I'm thinking it's about time I invested in some sort of bag to prevent the nice shiny surface getting all scuffed up. Something stylish and colourful, something to match my personality(!) ... not a boring black briefcase bag for me, oh no! But I must confess, I got totally lost in Etsy for about 5 hours on Saturday and I can't decide which of these I like best.

This one (which reminds me Twitter for some reason) ...

Or this one (which reminds me of Japanese cherry tree blossom) ...

What do you think ... which do you think would suit me?

Shocking fact #2 ...

2010-11-20T09:19:00.003Z

There are only 41 days 'til the start of 2011. Fact!

Christmas Wishlist #2 ...

2010-11-17T20:12:00.002Z

I missed all the hype surrounding Mad Men when it first came out a couple of years ago, but the BBC recently showed a complete re-run of the first season and I LOVED IT ... Joanie is my newest hero! You've gotta love her curves, right?

Christmas Wishlist #1 ...

2010-11-12T14:09:00.004Z

Saw this gorgeous little number on Cathy Zielske's blog and just had to check it out in more detail. This is Jo Totes latest addition and I've fallen head over heels in love with the Rose style in the Sugarplum colour!

Now, if only I had a fairy godmother who wanted to gift me the $124 needed to buy it & ship it to me here in the UK!!!

Work is such an inconvenience ...

2010-11-10T14:29:00.004Z

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the work I'm doing at the moment ... BUT ... it really does play havoc with my digiscrapping time!

Take last weekend as an example: Saturday 6th November was International Digital Scrapbooking Day or {i}DSD for short ... a day jam packed full of fun 'n' frolics, scrapping 'n' chatting, discounts 'n' coupons, blog-hops 'n' give-aways galore ... in other words, a digiscrappers PARADISE!!! And did I have time to indulge in this day of digital debauchery? The short answer is "NO". My weekend flew by in a blur of traveling to Birmingham (West Midlands not Alabama), washing and ironing clothes, weekly food shopping, housework in general and baking!

Thankfully, my job doesn't require me to work Saturdays or Sunday (I'm strictly a 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday girl) but I really could do with the weekend being extended to 3 days ... 2 just isn't enough any more.

Trust is a rare and beautiful thing ...

2010-11-04T14:26:00.022Z

It may sound like an odd title for my post, but please indulge me and I'll explain. You see it all relates to this LO ...

click here for credits

Well actually, the flower I'm wearing in the photo of my LO to be more precise. Here's a closer look ...

It's beautiful isn't it? And it's hand crafted too!

It's creator is a wonderfully talented designer called Vikki Lafford. She's the creative force behind Liliia (www.liliia.co.uk) and she makes the most gorgeous bespoke dresses and one-of-a-kind accessories ... just like my flower.

Not only is Vikki a fabulous designer, but she's an incredibly generous and TRUSTING individual too. You see, last Saturday she was displaying and selling her creations at a craft fair in my home town of Abingdon (Oxfordshire, not Maryland that is!). I happened to be browsing her wares and immediately fell in love with a couple of pieces, including the flower above. The colours were so rich, the beads so beautifully arranged ... I just had to buy it! But there was one slight hitch ... I didn't have enough cash in my purse and unfortunately there were no facilities to use my "flexible friend" (I'm showing my age now, aren't I?!?!).

Now, I'd never met Vikki before and she had every right to say "Sorry - no money, no goods!" ... but she didn't ... instead she said "Go ahead, take it and post a cheque to me when you get home". Seriously? Wow! Such generosity. Such faith. Such trust. Well needless to say, I posted the cheque and a thank you card straight away. But I've been thinking about her gesture ever since, and so I wanted to say it once again ... "Thank you Vikki" ... I wish there were more honest, generous and trusting folk like you in the world ... it would be a lovelier and very much prettier place if there were!

Shocking fact #1 ...

2010-11-01T21:15:00.001Z

It's only 53 days 'til Christmas. Fact!

Happy Halloween ...

2010-10-31T20:15:00.003Z

I feel naughty ...

2010-10-28T13:58:00.002+01:00

I'm at work and I'm blogging!!! But don't worry dear friend, I won't get in trouble ... I'm on my lunch break and I'm using a publicly available wireless network. Woo-hoo ... Internet freedom ... I could easily get used to this!!!

Sharing some layouts I've seen ...

2010-10-25T21:10:00.008+01:00

Just popping in here really quickly so I can share a couple of the layouts I've seen posted in the galleries using my Frightfully Delightful collab with Nini ...

by Barbara (aka sokee)

By Kym

by me

Thanks to everyone who has downloaded the kit so far, and thanks too for all your wonderful comments of support and encouragement. It's lovely to hear from you and better still, to see your creations! If you'd like to have the kit, it is still available and you can download it for FREE here.

A frightfully delightful collaboration ...

2010-10-22T15:00:00.005+01:00

I've been patiently waiting for this day to arrive and at long last it's here. Yeah! What's so exciting about today I hear you ask? Well, today I get to share a new freebie with you ... but this freebie is a bit special, let me tell you a little bit about why.

It all started about 3 weeks ago when I decided it was high time I created something to give away on my blog. It didn't take too long for me to decide that I wanted to make some Halloween inspired papers ... then I thought about adding a frame ... and a button ... and then a ribbon and before I knew it, I had the makings of a complete mini-kit. But, something was missing, it needed something else, it needed WORDS!

Now words are not my strong point (just ask anyone of knows me!) and so I asked myself this question: "Who do I know that creates gorgeous wordart and who would consider doing a collaboration project with me?". My answer came instantly ... Nini aka Suddenly Artistic Designs.

Two emails and only 48hrs later and our collaboration was almost complete! WOW, that was fast!

Working with Nini is an absolute dream come true ... she is soooooooo talented and she inspires me with everything she does. I really hope we get to create together again in the future.

So there you have it, that's the story behind the not-quite-so-mini mini kit that Nini & I present to you today ... frightfully delightful ... enjoy.

click to download

We really hope you like our kit and as always, both Nini and I would love to see how you use it, so please feel free to leave a link to your LO or other creative project in the comments section.

Have a great weekend everyone and may we be the first to wish you a spooktacular Halloween too!

Brrrrrrrrrr, it's getting chilly ...

2010-10-20T19:11:00.003+01:00

I'm not kidding ... just look at the ice (yes ICE, not frost!!!) I had to scrape off my car windscreen this morning. I think it's fair to say the seasons have changed.

Summary of a working week ...

2010-10-16T10:22:00.003+01:00

Weeding the garden = 5 hours (+ 72 hours of aching muscles afterwards!)
Current temp job = 32 hours
Miscellaneous = 83 hours (sleeping, eating, housework etc!)
Digiscrapping = 0 hours

Something needs to change!

Why did it have to be this week?

2010-10-12T21:21:00.004+01:00

Of all the weeks to be asked to do some temping work, why-oh-why did it have to be now? Have you seen who's in the Designer Spotlight over at Oscraps this week?

TaylorMade Designs

Amanda is one of my digiscrapping heroes. I can honestly say, that if not for her, I wouldn't be blogging today. It sounds melodramatic I know, but is was during Amanda's week in the spotlight last year that I started digiscrapping seriously. It's thanks to her that I began posting my layouts in the gallery at Oscraps and as a result, I got my first CT gig with Sue Cummings (who btw has a collaboration with Amanda being released later this week ... read about it here) and when I started CT'ing I decided to start blogging! So you see, Amanda is the reason why I blog. Fact!

Colds and creativity ...

2010-10-11T09:33:00.011+01:00

I Tweeted the other day that I'd lost my motivation, well now I know why ... I've got ANOTHER cold!!! This just isn't fair, it's the third cold I've had this year and the really annoying thing is that there's still enough time for me to get another one. Gah! But at least I now know why I'm feeling so low and uninspired ... it'll pass, hopefully soon. In the mean time, here's what's been happening in my digiscrapping world this past week or so ...

Creations by Tinamarie has released An Autumn Affair To Remember. It's a little different from the usual orange / golden hues of autumn, but the details are so exquisite and the muted tones so elegant.

click here for credits

Che Yang has created Family Fun and as the name suggests, it's got lots of family orientated tags / prompts to get you inspired.

click here for credits

Joyce Paul has teamed up with Designs by Anita and created a simply divine collaboration called Just Breathe. The colour combination of this kit is so delicious; soft muted tones of apricot and mauve. I sigh whenever I see layouts created with this kit.

click here for credits

Fei-Fei's Stuff has released Like Home and if you love patterned papers and quirky elements, then this is a "must have" kit.

click here for credits

Lastly, I'll leave you with an early sneaky peek at a new themed mini-kit due to be released on Friday 22nd October ...

Did you notice the designers names? Tee-hee!!! Ooohhhhh, I really can't wait to tell you more ... but I'm afraid I can't ... not just yet!!!

The fair is in town ...

2010-10-05T14:56:00.007+01:00

and amongst the brash glaring lights, gaudy stuffed animal prizes and stomach wrenching rides, there remains a gem of tradition in the form of the carousel ride. This is my kind of ride ...

The weather on the first day of the Abingdon Michaelmas Fair couldn't have been better. Early morning autumn haziness slowly gave way to beautiful late summer sunshine and warmth. I love the fair, the sights, the sounds but best of all the smells. Mmmmmmm ... hotdogs, onions, fresh doughnuts and candy floss ... yummy!

All too soon the fair will be gone and my little town will return to normal, but to me, the Michealmas Fair always triggers the start of autumn for real. Soon the clocks will be going back an hour, the central heating in my home will need to be turned on and I can finally put my lawn mower away for winter. Then of course my mind turns to all things spooktacular as I start planning for Halloween. My brother-in-law's birthday is the 31st October and this year he turns 40 ... the perfect excuse for a Halloween / birthday party don't you think?!?!?! Now if I could only convince him it's a good idea. Tee-hee!

It must be CT call season ...

2010-09-26T09:02:00.003+01:00

My dear friend (and might I add, very talented designer!) Che Yang is having a CT call. This is a wonderful opportunity to work with an incredibly talented designer and to hang out with a fun-loving bunch of like-minded peeps over at Mscraps. Check out Che's blog for more details.

Ooooohhh, I can't wait to see who's going to be joining the team!!!!!!

What's wrong with this picture?

2010-09-24T12:43:00.007+01:00

I don't mean "wrong" in a photographic sense. I know the lighting is pretty poor and the subject focus is terrible (and believe me when I say that the OCD in me is screaming for the door mat to be straightened!).

I don't mean "wrong" from a Health & Safety aspect either (I refer to the obvious tripping hazard caused by my Internet / telephone cable coming loose from it's clip and the curled up corner of my door mat). And now that you come to mention it, my door really could do with being cleaned (just look at those dirty marks at the bottom *blush* I'm hanging my head in shame here folks!)

No, I don't mean any of the above.

The content of today's Royal Mail delivery doesn't at first glance appear to be of interest or concern. But wait a moment, let's zoom in and take a closer look shall we ...

Do you see it now, do you see what's wrong with this photo? Still struggling? Well look at the date of this post. Today is Friday 24th September 2010. Look at the second photo again. Now do you see what's wrong?

You should never graffiti, right?

2010-09-23T17:09:00.003+01:00

... WRONG! You definitely should graffiti* but only when it's using the gorgeous new kits from Fei-Fei's Stuff.

Graffiti No.1

click here for credits

Graffiti No.2

click here for credits

*Please note:- I do not condone any other form of graffiti ... it's not big, it's not clever and there are far better ways to express your creativity ... try digiscrappin' instead!!!

Please excuse the appearence ...

2010-09-21T16:25:00.002+01:00

... of my blog at the moment. I've decided it's time to give it a bit of an update & a fresh lick of paint, nothing major, just freshening things up a little! So if things keep changing, please bear with me whilst I try to get things the way I want them, OK? Thanks!

Tick-tock, tick-tock ...

2010-09-19T19:45:00.002+01:00

... waiting is a real test of patience, but sometimes, just sometimes, the wait is worth it. Check out the new collab kit from TaylorMade Designs + Ange Designs ...

Delicious isn't it? And guess what??? I won a copy courtesy of a give-away on Amanda's blog ... woo-hoo ... Thank Amanda!!!

Once again I find myself ...

2010-09-17T12:09:00.015+01:00

... having to apologise for a distinct lack of blog activity! I start every month with good intentions to update this regularly and I honestly don't know what happens, I blink and all of a sudden it's the 17th of the month and I've only posted a couple of times!

In my defense I have been quiet busy recently because 5 out of the 6 designers I create for have released or are about to release new kits and I've been creating up a storm!!! Do you want to see what I've done (so far)? Here you go ...

Creations By Tinamarie has brought out The Splendor Of Fall and it's such a wonderful autumn inspired kit, full of rich reds and gorgeous greens and comes with a full alpha set too.

click here for credits

Che Yang is back to designing at her very best and she's come up with something wonderful ... no the kit's called Something Wonderful and it has the most delicious selection of patterned papers to play with.

Click here for credits

I know if I ever get stuck in the digital doldrums, I'll turn to templates to help kick start my creativity and Che's latest Simple Templates No.8 & 9 are just that, yet stylish templates and super easy to use too.

click here for credits

I was completed captivated by the sweet innocence of Three Paper Peonies' Sugar Heart kit. Jaime has such a good eye for details and all the little darling elements are what make this kit so pleasurable to create with.

Click here for credits

Joyce Paul has created a gorgeous new kit called Darker Days and as the name suggests, it's a perfect kit for scrapping about those early autumn walks in the park, kicking up the fallen leaves or spending a cozy evening by the fireside and snuggling with the one you love whilst watching a movie.

Click here for credits

And last but by no means least, Fei-Fei's Stuff has released a lovely kit that's just perfect for scrapping about those we love and the little pet names we have for each other. Shaui's Terms Of Endearment has such a fabulous selection of wordart, you're sure to find one you use in the kit!

Click here for credits

And so my dear friends, as you can see I have been busy but that doesn't excuse me from not updating you more often ... as my school report often said "Suzanne must try harder" ... and I will. I promise.

How did I ever ...

2010-09-08T09:30:00.005+01:00

... get so lucky? Take a quick glance to the right (and down a bit!) ===>

Do you see it? Sweet isn't it? I didn't hesitate, why would I? I mean, it's not every day that you get asked to join the creative team for ...

Fei-Fei's Stuff

Let me give you just a little bit of history about me and Fei-Fei's Stuff. You see, she was my first [blush] ... purchased digi-kit! I still have it too, it's a kit called Pinkish (it's retired from sale now) and I bought it from oscraps back in May 2008. I wasn't even fully converted to digi at that time, I was still paper scrapping, but had just started to play with photo manipulation and I'd read about digi-scrapping in a magazine article. That same article featured Fei-Fei's Stuff and from the moment I saw her kits, I was hooked. I applied to become a CT member last year and was lucky enough to be offered a 1 month guest spot during July 2009. I was thrilled and thoroughly enjoyed my time on her team. Then, just about a week ago and completely out of the blue, I got a private message from Shaui asking me if I fancied joining her CT again, this time on a permanent basis? Well, I can tell you I thought about my answer for about a millisecond .... "Ummmmmm, YES!"

Butterflies and pearls ...

2010-09-03T17:35:00.003+01:00

... lots and lots of them! In fact I've lost count have many I've made over the past few weeks, but the end results have made all the hard work worth while. The invites are done and are bundled up just waiting to be hand delivered to the bride-to-be ... I can't wait to see her face tomorrow!

Hope everyone has a great weekend and if you're reading this post in the USA, then I hope you have a wonderful Labor Day weekend and get to make the most of any late summer sunshine!

Back to my creative roots ...

2010-09-02T00:01:00.001+01:00

... like many digi-scrappers, I started out making cards. Paper scrapbooking was a natural step in my creative evolution, swiftly followed by my conversion to all things pixel, jpeg and digital! But it's good to go back sometimes, isn't it? To try your hand at crafts you've not touched for months (or even years!). When Sue Cummings announced that she was going to be hosting the Designer Spotlight Challenge over at oscraps, I jumped at the chance to go back to my roots and create a card front that you can either use digitally or printably (making up words again I know!!!)

My card design features Sue's new kit called Sketchbook Artistry (cool name, huh?) and is just a sweet way for you to say "thanks" to someone you love.

This is how it looks printed out, matted onto a pre-scored white card blank, with re-printed butterflies layered on top to add dimension ...

Now, Sue's renown for her generosity, something which often rubs off onto the member of her Creative Team (of which I'm lucky enough to be one!) and not only can you download my card as a ~~FREEBIE~~, the but you can also pop by my fellow team member's blogs and download the cards that they've designed for you too!!! Check out this list ...

[EDIT: as Sue's spotlight week is now over, the above freebies are no longer available - sorry!]

Phew ... I'm exhausted now! But that's not all ... oh no ... head on over to the Designer Spotlight Challenge thread at oscraps and take part in Sue's fabulously fun challenge of designing your own card and you could win a shopping spree at Sue's shop!!!! So what are you waiting for?

TOU's: all cards are copyrighted and cannot be redistributed without permission.
Note: Feel free to to post the links to these greetings cards on your blog, but please do not share the actual downloads. Kindly send them to the blogs of my friends and leave comments along the way. We love to hear / see how you're going to use these cards.

Thanks for stopping by and have fun browsing my friends gorgeous designs!!!

Summary of a CT call ...

2010-08-17T21:05:00.006+01:00

... have you ever applied to be part of a designer's creative team? I've been incredibly lucky throughout my digi-scrapping journey and I've been asked to join a couple of teams without having to experience the nail-biting tension of applying through a CT call. Having said that, I've also applied via a couple of calls, some successfully, others not so. But each time I apply, I get the same sense of anticipation and I nervously watch my inbox just waiting for the email to arrive.

Well last Thursday, the email arrived and it went along these lines:

Jaime: "I would love it if you would consider being a part of my new creative team. What do you think?"
Me: "Yes, yes, definitely yes!"
Jaime: "I'm so pleased, I'll be announcing the news after 15th August, so could you keep it quiet until then?"
Me: "Sure, no problem!"

NEVER has it been so hard for me to keep this exciting news to myself!!! I can't tell you how many times I wanted to shout out "I'm part of Three Paper Peonies CT!!!!" ... well, now I can ...

I'M PART OF THREE PAPER PEONIES CREATIVE TEAM!!!

You can find out more about Three Paper Peonies and read up on the other members of Jaime's new team on her blog and of course, don't forget to check out her amazing store at MScraps ... be warned, it's utterly gorgeous & totally irresistible!!!

I don't embarrass easily ...

2010-08-09T19:39:00.006+01:00

... which is probably just as well, because Tina O'Flynn [of Creations by Tinamarie fame] has only gone and published a whole Q&A session about none other than yours truly on her blog!!!

Now I must confess to having been "in" on the whole thing (obviously) and it was great fun answering Tina's questions, though I have a funny feeling I'm gonna get called Suzy Bluesy by all my friends now! If you wanna know the reason why or even find out who I had a crush on when I was younger, then head on over to Tina's blog to read more!

Now being part of Tina's CT means I get to play with all her yummy goodies before they hit the shops. Here's a little number I created using elements and papers from a variety of Tina's kits, all of which are now available in her store over at Little Dreamer Designs.

Click here for credits

Cute, right? Well, as a special "thank you" to all my blog readers, Tina very kindly agreed that I could turn my LO into a template (layered .psd file) and offer it as a freebie here on my blog. Now you too can create your very own version of Paradise!

Click here to download

I really hope you like the template and enjoy using it and of course it goes without saying that I'd love to see any pages you create with it, so please feel free to leave me a link in the comments!

Sail away, sail away ...

2010-08-05T20:19:00.007+01:00

... the first thing that sprung to mind when I saw Sue Cummings' latest kit was this golden oldie:

Somewhere, beyond the sea

Somewhere waitin' for me

My lover stands on golden sands

And watches the ships that go sailin'

Sung by Bobby Darin

Releases in 1960

If you haven't heard it, head on over to YouTube and search "Beyond The Sea" and you're bound to find it. It's a classic for sure!

But back to the kit ... just check this out ...

Isn't is fabulous? The colours are so mellow, the texture and patterns of the papers so sumptuous and of course a kit from Sue wouldn't be complete without some truly inspirational quotes and word-art! The kit will be available in Sue's shop at oscraps later today and if you're looking for boat loads of inspiration, then don't forget to check out Sue's gallery too!

A welcome return ...

2010-08-02T20:19:00.007+01:00

... when Leiko Beck announced she was taking a break from designing, I was gutted. You see, I'd only just joined her CT and I was so looking forward to creating lots & lots of pages using her gorgeously whimsical designs.

Fast forward a few months and out of the blue I get an email from Leiko saying she's designing again (albeit a one off special) and that she's guest designer at ScrapInsider during August and to celebrate, she's created a number of exclusive goodies!!!

Firstly a gorgeous full kit called Needle & Thread, which is just bursting at the seams (pardon the pun!) with beautifully coloured patterned papers, cute stitched effect elements and a full alpha set.

Here's one of the pages I've created using this kit ...

Secondly, Leiko's created a fabulous set of texture overlays, delightfully called Over It ...

Gorgeous aren't they? They're super easy to use too, but in case you get stuck Leiko's even provided easy to follow instructions ... simple! Why not treat yourself to both kits whilst you can and to make things even more tempting, they're currently on offer with 20% off!!!

My virtual world is restored ...

2010-08-01T20:16:00.006+01:00

... at long last I have a secure and stable Internet access and it's all thanks to my shiny new Dell Inspiron laptop, which looks just like this ... So "hello" my friends and fellow bloggers!

I actually purchased my new laptop last weekend, but it's taken longer than anticipated to get it all set-up with my scrapbooking programme (Photoshop 7) and all my "favourites" (which, by-the-way, I hadn't realised how much I rely on these little shortcuts.) Trying to remember the web addresses of all the forums, galleries, shops and blogs I visit regularly was an absolute nightmare! In fact, there are still a few sites that I've yet to bookmark, like the gallery at oscraps (I really miss that place, don't you?)

So now that I have super speedy hardware, you'd think I'd spend all my time scrapping right? Well unfortunately not. Since coming back from my holiday, I've been working back at my old office(!) My old boss asked if I could help out whilst they were rolling out a new software release and of course I said yes. It was weird at first, but now it feels like I've never been away. For the past two weeks, I've been working a regular 9am-5pm routine and I'd completely forgotten just how little time that then leaves for being creative. Having said that, I'm determined to get back into a positive scrapping and blogging routine!

I'll be posting again during the week and this time I'll have some exciting news about a wonderfully talented designer making a very welcome return to the digiscrapping world!!! Care to guess who it is?

Trojans, viruses and utter chaos ...

2010-07-19T22:23:00.003+01:00

... that's what my virtual world consists of right now! Just as my hOme is restored, my laptop decides to start playing up and it appears to have been infected with a Trojan horse / virus or some other general nastiness! So unfortunately, until I can get it resolved (or a replacement laptop purchased), I'm gonna be "off-line" again ... I'm hoping it won't be any longer than week.

AAAARRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!

Normal service resumed ...

2010-07-18T12:32:00.002+01:00

... well, almost. When I was away on holiday, I knew I wasn't going to have regular access to my virtual world and I accepted that, after all there were plenty of other activities to occupy my mind. But when my virtual home wasn't accessible during this past week, I just felt lost! Where else could I get my daily fix of digi-scrapping life??? Sure, there are other forums out there (or so I'm told!) to have a chit chat with friends in. Sure, there are other stores (or so I'm told!) where I can purchase stash. And sure, there are other galleries (or so I'm told!) full of creations to inspire me. But, like I've said before, there really is no place like hOme.

WelcOme back Oscraps forum ... I've missed you!

Back in the real world ...

2010-07-12T16:47:00.008+01:00

... it always takes longer than anticipated! I kinda forgot all the usual day-2-day stuff that needs to be done, let alone any digiscrapping commitments I needed to catch up on. In fact, there are still a couple of CT requirements that I need to get done, so if any of the designers I "work" with are reading this, I promise I'll get caught up on everything by the end of this week, OK?

Anyhoo, I really wanted to post today so I could share just a few of the photos I took during my recent holiday. Now I appreciate it can be torturous looking at other peoples photo albums (after all that's why we scrapbook isn't it?), so I'm not gonna bore you with all 451 photos(!) ... instead, I've picked just 17 of the images that I hope will wet your appetite ... don't be too surprised if you see these bad boys making another appearance in my LO's over the next few days / weeks / months ...