Over The Hedge and Across the Pond

New Year Layout

2011-01-08T18:27:00.008Z

This is my first lay out for 2011. One of my friends set us a challenge to scrap our aspirations for 2011. I'm not one who makes New Year's resolutions, but had a go at this challenge. Some of the things that I hope 2011 will be is less stressful than last year and that we are all healthy & happy. I used Crate Papers from the Prudence collection that I bought while we were in Canada last year. The title was cut using Cuttblebug Harmony font. The journaling was all done by hand. I used my new book "The Scrapbooker's Handwriting Workshop" by Crystal Rieger that was given to me by my good friend Pat as inspiration. It was very adventurous of me to do so much journaling and in my own hand. I'm so pleased with the results, it's encouraged me to do more. I hope it will encourage others to do the same. I finished off the layout with Basic Grey Popps 3D elements, ribbon and buttons. I hope that you all have an amazing new year and all the best for 2011.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T00:47:00.002Z

Welcome to 2011!!! Wishing everyone a Happy New Year and hoping to blog more this year and do more crafting and share it with you all. Thank to everyone who visits my blog. Many Blessing to you in the coming year.

December Birthday Cards

2010-12-28T21:42:00.003Z

I couldn't post this until my Mom received it, but now I can. I made this card using a using an image from Digital Two for Tuesday blog and printed it out twice. I coloured them in using ProMarkers. I used Bazzil dotty cardstock and My Minds Eye's papers. The scalloped circle was cut using a Nestabilities die in a Cuttlebug machine, embossed using Snowflake Dots Cuttlebug Folder and then inked with Tim Holtz Distress Inks. The card was finished off with gingham ribbon and Basic Grey letter stickers.

The next card was for a good friend and was done using Crafty Individual stamp, Tim Holtz Distress Inks, Basic Grey papers and Cuttlebug embossing folder. It was finished off with paper flowers, leaves and a button.

The third card was for my brother in law. I always find it hard to make cards for men. I did this one using a Paper Artsy stamps, Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Tim Holtz die cut, Time Holtz Tissue ribbon, EmbelliScrap swirl shape embossed with Cuttlebug Snowflake Dots folder, ribbon and scraps of paper.

Three more birthday coming up soon in January, so I best be getting on with making some more cards.

Scrapbooking Catch Up

2010-12-05T13:38:00.005Z

RIMG6125, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Just thought that I'd post some of the Scrapbooking pages I've been working on the last couple of months. I've not done a lot of scrapbooking this year, so to do 3 LOs in a row was an accomplishment. This one is for my dh album from when we was young and on holiday in Cornwall sailing on a friends boat. The LO was done using some very old papers I had, and I don't know what make they are, but they go with the sailing theme. I printed out the poem "I must go down to the sea again" and inked the edges with Tim Holtz distress ink. I used felt and ribbon to do the edging and the title is Basic Grey sticker letters.

The second LO is from when my nephew was born back in 2006. It was done using Cosmo Cricket papers, rub-ons, paper flowers and brads. The title was cut on the Craft-Robo.

The third LO is a simple LO using up scraps of Basic Grey papers, Hero Art stamp, felt flower and a Basic Grey tag with acetate overlay.

SNOW!

2010-12-05T08:22:00.004Z

Well the UK has been hit with major snow storms and it finally came to London. They are saying it's the worst weather conditions they've had in 23 years. It shut down the a lot of trains and some of the airports. It's not so much the snow, but that it just turns to ice and the UK just isn't very good at getting the roads cleared, never mind the sidewalks (or pavements as they are called here). This is what caused poor Peter's problem. He was walking up the pavement and then slipped on some ice. He put out his hand to catch himself, and has seriously hurt it. He waited for the next day to go to A&E as it was still to dangerous to go at night with so much ice still around. We had another big snow fall, so it made for better walking conditions. So he bundled up and headed for the local hospital. He was seen quiet quickly and the x-rayed his wrist. After looking at the x-ray they couldn't say either way if he has a break or not. So they have given him a splint and a sling and sent him home to rest for 5 to 7 days, unless it doesn't get any better.

Now 5 days after all the snow started we've gone above freezing and have had our typical London rain which has washed most of it away. I'm sure by Monday there will be no evidence it ever snowed. I just hope the trains will be back running on time!

Our 10th Anniversary

2010-09-26T13:10:00.008+01:00

IMG_0354, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Last week Peter and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. I can believe how quickly the last 10 years have flown by. We weren't able to celebrate on the day as both of us had to work, but we did get away for the day on Saturday. We deiced to go to Kingston-Upon-Thames for the day. We went because on the day after our wedding in Canada while we were driving to Ottawa to get my visa we stayed over night half way in Kingston, Ontario. So we went to see what the England equivalent was like.

The town it's self is much like any other urban city with lots of shops etc.,but running through it is the river Thames and we enjoyed a lovely morning stroll along the banks. We saw several swans, geese and coots. On the river there was a lot of boat activity especially people in long row boats, and along the riverbank there were many channel boats ofter with lots of potted plants growing on them. Part way down the Thames we came to a dock where you can get boat trips. We decided to take a trip to Hampton Court Palace. I was a nice day so we sat out in the bow and enjoyed a leisurely cruise along the river watching all the beautiful riverbank scenery go by.

We got to Hampton Court Palace and decided to have a look around. The palace itself would have taken 3 hours to go through and the boat back left in 2, so we just paid to go into the private gardens instead. The weather had got a bit cloudy, but it was still nice. As the clouds came in I would put my sweater on and then the sun would come out and I'd have to take it off again. In the end I just keep my sweater on cause every time I took it off the clouds would come. After that we had a nice sunny day. We strolled around the gardens enjoying all the water features, birds, manicured trees, sculptures and the few remaining flowers for this time of year. We didn't make it through the whole of the grounds before we had to start thinking about heading back to the boat. We grabbed an ice cream and meandered back to the dock and just made it in time for the boat back to Kingston.

Back in Kingston we went around some of the shops. I was quiet intrigued by one called Candy Cakes. We went inside, but I must admit that the cupcakes they sold did not look appetising at all. They were covered with this thick icing in bright colours that looked almost like play dough. We did however buy a few French Macaron which reminded us of Luxemburgerli we've had from Switzerland. We found a cafe with a few of the river and had a drink and a few of the Macarons. They were enjoyable, but not nearly as nice as Luxemburgerli.

In the evening we drove over to Epsom and meet up with a friend who we haven't seen in a long time and enjoyed a wonderful Italian meal together. We started off with olives and garlic bread, then I had a calzone, Peter a spicy pizza and our friend Geoff had a chicken caesar salad. We finished the meal off with profiteroles filled with ice cream. It was great to catch up with our friend and to share a meal together. Then it was back on the road and heading home after a wonderful day spent together.

More photo's from our day together here

New Camera

2010-08-04T22:11:00.002+01:00

Today I received my new Canon Powershot SX210 IS camera. While it was still light out and after it stopped raining. I went into the garden to test it out. Although it does have a macro setting, I can get as close as some of my previous cameras, however as the photo's are 14M I should be able to zoom and crop and still get a good photo. I'll have to play with it a bit more to figure out all the different function this camera does. In the mean time I hope you enjoy some of the photo's I've taken today.

Macro shot of a rose

Macro of a Wild Flower (aka weed)

Smile Detection Mode

Latest Scrapbook pages

2010-07-29T13:59:00.004+01:00

Here are a couple of layouts that I've been working on. I finally finished them off today. Together the two LOs will sit side by side to make a double LO. The first LO was done using My Minds Eye papers and Bazzil card stock. The flower embellishment was made with paper scraps and a Stampin' Up scallop punch. The LO was finished off with an acetate flower, buttons and ribbon.

The second LO is done using scraps left over from the first LO and other matching papers. Again I've used the Stampin Up punch and made different sized scallops which I distressed by crumpling up and inking with Tim Holtz distress ink. The LO was finished up with buttons and ribbons.

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T12:22:00.003+01:00

Digital card I made for my Dad in Canada and send electrically for Father's Day. Done using a free download kit from Millstream Cottage. Wishing all the father's out there a Happy Father's Day.

May Birthday Cards

2010-05-06T18:24:00.003+01:00

RIMG5940, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Today I had a day off, so I've used the time to get caught up with some Birthday cards in May. The first one is for my Father-in-law, who spent his birthday in Cornwall, which gave me a few extra days to get a card made. The image was downloaded from Digital Two for Tuesday and coloured in with Promarkers. I used this weeks sketch from the CPS blog as a base of my layout. I cut out the wave pattern with the CraftRobo and the papers used were from the Basic Grey Wisteria collection. The card was finished off with ribbon and marbled tiles. Inside the card I put the poem "Sea Fever"

"I MUST down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by, And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking, And a gray mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking. I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying. I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life, To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife; And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover, And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over."
John Masefield

The second card I made today was for a good friend. The image is my new Wiffs of Joy stamp coloured in with ProMarkers and accented with stickles. I used Crate paper and stamped the background with Sandilion stamps and Distress Ink. The sentimates were printed from the computer. The card was finished off with ribbon and My Minds Eye croched flowers.

Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show

2010-04-18T16:41:00.001+01:00

Last week was the Big Stamp and Scrapbooking show at Alexander Place in North London. I've gone every year now for the past four years. I was almost tempted not to go this year, just because I already have so much craft things and have not been using them very much, BUT I just couldn't not go this year. So Peter drove me up so I could shop for a couple of hours, while he sat outside in the park in the sunshine reading his book. I think it was the quickest I've ever been around the show, but I had a list of things I wanted and tried to stick to that. I ended up getting a 7 Gypsies photo box frame, 2 Tim Holtz new dies, 1 Tim Holtz mask, more alcohol ink felt pads, Cuttlebug Embossing folder, Spellbinder nestabilities die cuts frames, Basic Grey journalling notes and flowers, 4 packs of ProMarkers in the NEW colour range, Crate Paper collection, 10 sheet of Fancy Pants papers, ribbon, a poky tool (not shown) and a Wiffs of Joy stamp (not shown). I was so excited with all my purchases that I came home and made this card with some of my purchase for a friends birthday.

The stamp image is the new Wiffs of Joy stamp coloured in with the new spring coloured Promarkers and finished off with Ranger Rock Candy Distress Stickels. The frames were cut using the Nestabilities in a Cuttlebug. The papers used are Crate papers edged with gold perfect pearls. The card was finished off with ribbons and a croched flower.

April Cards

2010-04-10T19:45:00.002+01:00

At the beginning of April there are quiet a few birthdays that I needed to make cards for. The above was done for a good friends birthday. The image was a free download from Digital Two for Tuesday blog. It was printed on Stampin' Up cardstock and coloured in with ProMarkers. The image was mounted with 3D foam onto card stamped with Crafty Individuals Friends stamp inked with Ranger distress inks. The background on the card stock was done by stamping with embossing ink and then bushing it over with Ranger Perfect Pearls medium in gold. The background paper is Create Paper Static Collection inked with Tim Holtz distress ink. The "Happy Birthday" sentiment was glazed with Sepia Accents to give it a more muted antique look. The card was finished off with ribbon, a Prima paper flower and a brad.

The next card was done for my sister. It was done using another free digital image I downloaded, but I can't remember from where. The image was coloured in with ProMarkers. I just love the way this one turned out only using a couple of colours, but they build up and blend so well it makes it look that I've used more. The papers are My Minds Eye Bloom and Grow collection, and the edges were inked with ProMarkers. The card was finished off with a sisters quote sticker and some ribbon.

The last card is for my brother-in-law. It's always hard to do cards for men. This one I have used a Paper Artsy stamp on top of some cardstock that was blended with Ranger Distress Inks. Then the image was covered with Ranger Rock Candy Crackle paint and left to dry. The background was done using Tim Holtz gear masks that were again inked over with Ranger Distress Inks. The background paper is My Minds Eye Wild Asparagus"Our Family" collection stripe paper. The card was finished off with ribbon with brass rivets and metal establishments inked with Ranger Alcohol Inks.

Back to Scarpbooking

2010-03-23T08:19:00.005Z

RIMG5631, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

I had a great time on Friday night when some friends came around and we scrapped together. I managed to do this LO of my Great Grandfathers Clog dance group the Eight Lancashire Lads. It was done using Stampin' Up cardstock and Basic Grey Mellow Taper paper. The title was cut using a Cuttlebug Olivia alphabet dies and matted on cardstock. The LO was finished off with ribbon and brads. It took a long time to get back into doing scrapbooking, and although this is a simple LO it wasn't quick to produce. Must have been all the cutting out of the title. In the time it took me to do this one, my friend did 3 LOs.

Earlier in the year I also did this LO of my Mom as a young child. It was done using Bazzill swiss dots cardstock and My Minds Eye BellaBella Bellezo paper and Basic Grey Blush collection paper, felt letter stickers, fabric flowers, brads, ribbon and Hero Arts stamps for the journling. The design was based on a layout in a Scrapbook Trends magazine.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-03-14T14:33:00.002Z

Today in the UK it's Mother's Day, so I've made this card for my Mother-in-law. Hope she likes it as there is not much blue in it, but her gift is blue so I'm sure it will be OK. LOL My mom will have to wait till May for her card as that's when Mother's day is in Canada.

I've used scraps of different papers I had left over and a free downloaded image that I coloured in with ProMarkers. It was finished with some ribbon and a felt hand stitched heart.

Happy Valentines Day!

2010-02-14T09:00:00.002Z

For my Beloved! Based on this weeks CPS sketch and made with yet another Mo Manning digital download. As soon as I saw this one I knew I just had to have it and it would make the perfect Valentines Day card. The image was coloured in with ProMarkers and applied with 3d foam. The papers used are Comso Cricket Honey Pie collection. Wishing you all the best for a Happy Valentines Day full of LOVE.

*HUGS* from Mrs Tiggy

1st Brithday

2010-02-13T19:06:00.002Z

RIMG5596, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

I've done this card for a friends little boy's 1st birthday. The image is a digital download from Mo Manning and was coloured in with ProMarkers. The layout is from this weeks Sketch Saturday and again the papers and cut outs are from the Create Mia collection. The "1" was cut using the CraftRobo and was using the font Cosmic Sans. The "Happy Birthdays were added by hand as an afterthought, so they are not 100% positioned right, but I think it does the job. The card was finished off with some buttons.

Another Owl Card

2010-02-13T18:10:00.003Z

This one is about two weeks over due. I did it for my mother-in-laws birthday. I used that weeks sketch from CPS and another one of my ProMarkers coloured owls from Pink Cat Studios. Papers are from Create Mia collection.

8th Birthday Card

2010-01-27T20:48:00.003Z

Here is a card that I made tonight for my Nieces birthday on Saturday. In case you can't tell her favourite colour is GREEN. The background is Cosmos Cricket Girl Friday collection "Tuesday" double sided paper. The base card and the "8" are Stampin' Up cardstock. The "8" was cut on a Craft Robo and accented with Rangers Diamond Stickles. The boarder was done using a Fiskars leaf punch. The image was a free download from Mo Manning and was coloured in using ProMarkers. The title was done using K&Co K-ology chipboard Addison Alphabet. The card was finished off with a button tied with floss and ribbon.

CPS 150 - It's A Girl

2010-01-20T09:54:00.002Z

Another owl card today, this time for a new baby. I've used the Pink Cat Studio digital stamp of "Patches" coloured in with ProMarkers. The layout is from this weeks sketch at CPS. The background paper used is from the Basic Grey Blush collection. The oval and title were cut using a Craft Robo. The card was finished off with Prima Daisies, Papermania adhesive stones, sticker letters and a free sticker from a magazine.

Owl Birthday

2010-01-19T18:34:00.001Z

Lots of Birthdays in January, so here is another card I've made. This one is also done with a digital image. This time the image came from Pink Cat Studio and is called "Cuddles". I feel in love with the whole owl set, so got them all! I've coloured the image in with my ProMarkers and cut it out. The back ground papers are Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday "Tuesday and Create Paper Static Collection "Reaction" and the card is Bazzil Bling. The blue side bar was embossed with the Cuttlebug Embossing folder "Birds And Swirls" and then was sanded down to show the pattern. I used a Basic Grey clear "leaf" stamp to accent the circle punches and finished the card off with some ribbon and a Basic Grey Wisteria Glass Brad.

Belated Birthday, again!

2010-01-13T20:49:00.005Z

Well it's been ages since I've blogged. I can't believe this is my first entry for 2010! I'd like to wish everyone lots of Blessings for 2010 and hope you all have a great year. I was so busy before Christmas making cards, that I never even took any photos of all the cards I did. Then I got sick just before Christmas, but I'm feeling a lot better now.

This is another belated birthday card. I haven't started this year off any better than last year, already behind with my cards. This one is done using a wonderful free digital download stamp from Mo Manning. The stamps was printed out onto Stampin' Up card stock and coloured in with ProMarkers. The background was stamped with some wonderful new stamps Basic Grey stamps I got for Christmas (thanks Mom, they finally arrived). I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Broken China and Spiecd Marmalade. The rest of the card was made with Prima Artful Collage Flower, button, left over scarps of paper and ribbon.

Thanks for looking and I hope to be more active!

Sketch Saturday Happy Birthday

2009-11-25T17:44:00.003Z

Here is a card I've made this week for an upcoming birthday. It was done using this weeks sketch on the Sketch Saturday blog. The main image is Wiffs of Joys "Willow with hot chocolate" stamp coloured in with ProMarkers. The papers used are from the Infuse collection and are Extract, Invest and Salt. The Fancy Pants chipboard pieces were painted with Ranger Acrylic Dabbers and Tim Holtz Distress ink "Peeled Paint". The sentiment stamps was from the Papermania Sweet Nothings set and was stamped with Distress Ink and coloured in with a marker. The card was finished off with ribbon (although you cropped in the photo).

CPS 140 Birthday Card

2009-11-05T21:27:00.002Z

RIMG5444, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

It seem I've not made very many birthday cards this year, but as it's a special friends birthday this month, I just had to sit down and make one. I made this one based on the CPS sketch #140. I used Whiff of Joy "Willow with hot chocolate" stamp and coloured it in with Promarkers. I'm just loving using my Promarkers these days and seem to spend more time colouring in images than making them into anything.The papers are Basic Grey Wisteria Cornflower and the brads are also from the BG Wisteria range. The backing card stock is Bazzil Swiss Dots. I inked the edges of the scallop and the paper with Tim Holtz Dusty Concord Distress Ink to finish it off.

Dedication Card

2009-10-11T08:23:00.001+01:00

Just made this quick little card last night, as it's our Minister's Son's Dedication today. I downloaded the image on-line (sorry can't remember from where) and coloured it in with Promarkers. Papers used are from the Basic Grey Archaic range and were inked around the edges with Nick Bantock Van Dyke Brown ink. The title was done using Hero Art Tiny Dot alphabet stamps. The ribbon is from the Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie range.

Last Days in Mallorca!

2009-09-19T17:18:00.006+01:00

Friday was our last full day in Mallorca. We decided that we wanted a very quiet day, so we didn't adventure out much. After a very late morning, Peter went out into the garden and read, and read, and read! He finished his books so he started to read the book I had brought (and not read) and when they were all finished he moved onto audio books on his MP3 player. While he was doing that I was indoors out of the sun mostly downloading photos from camera and updating my blog. Even though I was indoors, I still had an amazing view of the mountains and enjoyed seeing it in with the sunshine, without the chance of getting burned. Later in the afternoon Peter even managed another swim, but it was still way to cold for me to go in. I also wasn't too happy about the mouse (or possible baby rat) that was found in the bottom of the pool. YUCK! In the early evening, once Peter had dried off from his swim, we went for another short walk of the local area. We took a different route from the one earlier in the week to check out the local "caves" from which the area is named after "Ses Coves". They are very small compared to what we saw earlier in the week and also chained off so you cant get too close. They were used at various times as pirate hideaways and wine cellars. One of them still contains an ancient wine-press. Also on the walk we saw lost more trees including pomegranate, fig, lemon and olive. We walked pass the old town well up to the top of the road. From there were some wonderful views of the valley and also some more examples of terraces along the hillside. At this point we were at the edge of the forest area. We were told by our host that it is hunting season, and we shouldn't go into the forest. At this point we turned around and headed back to pack, have a light dinner followed by fresh plum pie with cream and an early night.

We woke up early on Saturday to have our last ensaimada and coffee as we enjoyed the last view of the mountains. Then it was into the car for our last drive into Palma and to the airport. It was a quiet ride as Peter and I tried to take in all of the view for the last time. We watched the mountains, orchards, palm trees and windmills all roll by. The old windmills are a big part of the island's history. Some dating back to the 17th century used by farmers for grinding grain and water pumps. The ones by the airport are mostly used as water pumps. The area just outside Palma is below sea level and the windmills there were mainly used to pump water into reservoir. Most of the windmills are in disarray, but due to the historical significance of them the government has started a restoration project. Then the short car journey was over. Our hosts dropped us off at the airport and after a quick adios, we were on the plane home! We want to say a big thank you to our friends who were great hosts. We certainly had an amazing holiday and hope you all enjoyed sharing it with us.

Day in Palma

2009-09-18T17:09:00.006+01:00

After a very late night on Wednesday, Thursday morning was a very relaxed time. We had an early lunch of wonderfully cooked pork belly with crackling served with gravy, roasted red peppers and roasted potatoes. After lunch we had to take our host son back to the airport, so while in Palma we were given a quick running through tour. We started off at the Palma Cathedral also called La Seu and is of french Gothic style. The story behind the construction of the Cathedral is that in 1229 Jaime I was returning to Mallorca with his troops in order to recapture the island. On the way they ran into a terrible storm, fearing for the lives of himself and his troops Jaime I vowed to build a church in honour of the Virgin Mary if they survived. He never saw the final edifice. Although he laid the foundation stone in 1229, construction continued until 1601, with further alterations continuing until 1904. It is made of golden sandstone is 121m long and 51m high. In the museum there are two large 18th Century Baroque silver candelabras, weighing 250 kg each, by the artist Juan Matons. Over the Capilla Real is the 14th Century Rose Window, which is one of the worlds largest Gothic Church windows, at over 2.55m. It is filled with very impressive stain glass windows all along the cathedral.

After the Cathedral we walked along some of the old back streets of the city to the City Hall in the Plaça de Cort. Just inside the City Hall are "The Gegants i Capgrossos" ("The Giants"), which are figures that come out when there is a celebration in the town and are dressed in typical Mallorquin folk dress. Just across the street from the City Hall in the Plaça de Cort is a wonderful old olive tree. The age of the tree is uncertain but it several hundreds of years old and still producing olives. We then traveled through the pedestrian old street with all the shops to the main square of the city the Placa de Marques de Palmer. Then back down to the sea front and back to the car. We then we a car tour along the harbour and up into the residential part of the city. Then up into the hills to Castell de Bellver which was built in the 14th century and is unique as a Spanish castle because it is round. "Bellver" means lovely view, and there certainly was one from there of the Bay of Palma.

That evening was another quiet one with a light dinner of cold cuts, salad and unsalted brown bread.

Our 9th Anniversary

2009-09-18T09:25:00.006+01:00

Wednesday, was our anniversary and we were left to our own devices by our hosts. We left early in the morning by bus to the local train station in Santa Maria and took the train to a little town called Sineu. On Wednesdays they have a market the oldest of the island. There has always been a market here since 1306. Most of the stalls are African selling leather handbags, pashminas, knock off watches and jeans. The more interesting local stalls were selling local fruit, meats, cheese, candied almonds, beautiful peppers strung together, olive wood carved kitchen ware, local honey and figs. We meandered through the lanes of stalls criss-crossing our way up the hill of the town. About half way up the top of the town, we started to see all sorts of birds and animals in cages that were also on sale. They even had puppies on sale all mixed in with the sheep, rams, donkeys and cows. We took a break at this point and had crepes from one of the stalls. We sat on the stairs and enjoyed the view while having a restby. At the top of the hill in the main square of the town, called Sa Placa, is the church of Santa Maria de Sineu dating from 1549. In the square in front of the church is a winged lion statue in honour of St Mark. Unfortunate it's very hard to get a good view from all the stall around it. For 1 euro each we went into the church. The timing was just about right, as it was starting to rain outside. We had a quick look around the quaint little church before heading back down the hill to catch our train back.

In the evening our host had their first choir practice of the season to prepare for Christmas, which was in Palma. Peter decide he would like to go, but I wasn't as keen. So our host son and I were dropped of at the bay of Palma while they went to there practice. We went to a place that had a wonderful view of the Cathedral. We sat outside and had drinks while watching the amazing view. It was so beautiful to see the view as it changed from day to night. All the lights of the Cathedral light up the bay and a gentle breeze blew in off the sea. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip and I'm sorry that Peter missed it. We then made our way into Palma to meet Peter and our hosts in a little Argentinian restaurant that they knew very well. We had an amazing meal together with very personal service, as they knew all the staff there. We started with traditional no salt Mallorca bread served with aoli, chili vinaigrette and tomato dip. Then we were brought a small aperitif of brisket topped with cheese and kobe carpaccio beef for our host son who can't eat cheese. Then for starters Peter and I shared a baked provolone cheese topped with tomatoes and salad. For mains we both had steak served with sweet potato. Peter had the rib eye medium cooked and I had a hanger cut well cooked. It was the cut recommended by the waitress for a well done steak. I was not disappointed! It was beautiful cooked, not a bit of pink in sight, yet still moist and tender. Think it was the best steak I've ever had. For dessert I had the chocolate cake and Peter had a cheesecake with honey and walnuts all washed down with a coffee. Peter and I had our desserts served with a candle in them and wished a Happy Anniversary. With our bellies full and our hearts content we had a short walk through Palma, headed back to the car and back to our host casa. The end of another wonderful day here in Mallorca and the mark of another great year ahead for Peter and I.

Anniversary Card

2009-09-17T18:15:00.001+01:00

This is the card that I made for Peter for our anniversary. I couldn't post it before, as I didn't want him to see it. The card was made using a Nellie's C. Smookie stamp that was coloured in with Promarkers. Off cuts of papers were used for the background that were inked with Tim Holtz distress inks. The text is a fabric tag. The card was finished off with ribbon and sticky gems. I gave the card to Peter yesterday morning and it went down very well. I have yet to receive any card from him as yet!

Coves d'Arta

2009-09-17T10:46:00.007+01:00

Getting a bit behind on my holiday blog because we are being kept very busy by our host. Which means we are seeing and enjoying a lot that this island has to offer. On Tuesday morning we taken to the east side of the island to the Coves d'Arta, which are 150m above sea level. It started as slightly over cast in the morning, but the sun was trying to come through by the time we reached our destination. We bought our tickets, but had just missed a tour so we had to sit outside for about 20 - 1/2 hour for the next tour. We took this time to write out some postcards, read the free guide book and just soak up the atmosphere. The the bell rang and the tour was about to begin. We were taken into the entrance of the caves and introduced to our guide. He asked what language people spoke of which there was Spanish, German, French and of course English. So he introduced himself and the caves in 4 different languages. The rest of the tour was also always translated into the 4 languages. Each time seeming to get a shorter and shorter translation by the time it came to the English. We were told that the caves are limestone and then had the difference about stalactite (forming from the ceiling down) and stalagmite (forming from the ground up). Some of the highlights from the caves is the "Queen of Columns" which is 22m tall and doesn't quiet yet reach the roof. The remaining few centimeter to the ceiling may take another thousand year to complete. The was another area where they played music and did a light show on the rock with red and green coloured lights. Another impressive sight was the "Room of Flags" where there are two very large, flat crystallization hanging from the wall. Also in the "room" are "The Bells". The Bells are a group of columns that when struck make very different yet harmonious resenting sounds. When you leave the caves you are greeted by a wonderful view of the bay area and the blue sky against the turquoise sea.

After our tour we headed over to the Bay of Alcudia to a place called "Colonia de Saint Pere" for lunch. It was a quiet idyllic little village with an amazing view of the bay. We nibbled on olives, bread, aioli, another tomato based dip. Then we shard a tomato and goat cheese salad. For our main course I had chicken in cream sauce and Peter had loin of pork with pepper sauce. When we first sat down we could just about make out the Alcudia across the bay, but as time went by the town was slowly engulfed in grey clouds. Then just as we finished our main course it started to rain. We retreated inside for coffee and to watch the torrents of rain come down. After a mad dash back to the car, it was back to base for the rest of the day. The afternoon was spent read, relaxing and sleeping. While the evening was spent talking, laughing and enjoying our host company. Then it was early to bed to be fresh for our big day on Wednesday.

Having drinks on the bay of Palma

2009-09-16T18:44:00.002+01:00

Having drinks on the bay of Palma on my anniversary with a man who's NOT my husband.

Morning stroll in Ses Coves

2009-09-15T17:33:00.014+01:00

Monday morning started off with a stroll around the area where our host's live. The route is about 4km long and loops around the surrounding fields and orchards. Since it had rained over night, it was slightly cooler and a nice temperature for a walk. We started up the incline into the area of a few houses, and then continued along the dirt path passed the forested area and into the fields. We saw some lovely houses and in some cases only some lovely gates in the area as well as lots of different orchards growing olives, almonds, figs, carob and of course vineyards. We also saw a few animals, mostly guard dogs, but we did also see some chicken and cockerels. Even though it's late in the year, some of the plants have started to bloom again and there were some amazing flowers along the roadside. Once we were about half way around the weather started to turn. As it was about the same distance to go back as it was to go forward, we carried on. I had my umbrella with me and it was only a light drizzle. By this time we had come to the point where the road had now been paved but still not the main road. At this point there were a lot more vineyards around rather than the orchards. At the end of this road was the main road towards town which we followed. Although it is a nice newly paved road, there were still lots of things to see including more orchards and an interesting old stone cistern. By this time the rain had stopped and we made our way back to our host's casa.

Port d' Andraix and Back

After lunch we had to drop our host son off in Palma for a couple of hours, so we went along for another car trip. This time we headed toward the west of the island. After leaving Palma we drove again though the back roads and through the lower end of the mountains towards the town of Andraix. The journey took us through a couple of quiet valleys where there was not many house but just windy roads up and down through the hills. We tried to get a couple of photo through the car window, but not much really turned out. We did stop at the narrow side of the road for one photo opportunity of a pomegranate tree. They weren't quiet ripe yet though. We continued on till you could see the town of Andraix between the mountains and drove pass and down to the coast. There at Port d'Andraix we parked the car and went in search of "Cappuccino" and cafe bar down by the port. As we walked along the port, the fishing trawlers were coming in with the days catch and unloading the fish. The smell of fish mixed with boat diesel and old nets on the docks is not a pleasant one. We finally found the cafe we were looking for and sat outside and enjoyed a very expensive cup of coffee and the wonderful "free" views. After coffee it was back in the car and heading back to Palma, but not before we were shown what "most" Brits experience of Mallorca in the resorts of Magaluf. Not impressed to say the least, but we did like the look of Palma Nova which is just further around the bay. Then after a quick pick up of a passenger in Palma, and it was back to our host casa for another amazing meal of beef stroganoff with rice all washed down with mojitos and local wine.

Lazy Sunday!

2009-09-14T11:52:00.007+01:00

After not much sleep Friday night, as we had to leave for the airport at 4:30am, we decided to have a relaxing day on Sunday. After a late breakfast of fruit (one of which was a flat or donut peach), pastries and coffee we headed out to the pool. We enjoyed the garden (especially the passionflowers pictured below) and read by the pool as the day warmed up, but it was still cooler than the day before. Peter did go in for a swim, but I only managed to get in up to my waist, as the water was just too cold for me. A friend of our hosts was coming over for lunch, so we had a lovely meal set out for us. We had slow roasted Mallora lamb served with mashed potato crushed with olive oil (no butter) nutmeg, mace and black pepper and green beans cooked in olive oil with onion and tomato. At this point the weather changed and grey clouds rolled in and not soon after we sat down to eat a thunderstorm started (see video below). Then after lunch the men chatted, while I retired for a "siesta" and the our host dozed in front of the telly. A very relaxing day in deed!

Mallorca Road Trip

2009-09-13T19:38:00.009+01:00

As the last post stated, we are now safely in Mallorca. The weather when we landed was hot and clear skies. So after a belated brunch of fruit and "ensaimadas" we all piled into the car and headed on the road. We were took the scenic route over the "Serra de Tramuntata" (mountains) and enjoyed wonderful views along the way. We stopped off on the way to view the terraces built up on the mountain side. These terraces are to help keep the soil for the trees from washing way when it rains. We continued up the mountain to Coll de Sa Bataia 579m in height. We stopped at the little restaurant there for some tapas of local grown olives (both green and black) tortilla , and an offal dish which I did try a little of but didn't like. All served with a lovely local unsalted brown bread and aioli. We were also introduced to a flat orange drink called Trinaranjus, which means "three oranges". It was very refreshing on a hot day. After a leisurely time spent in the shade we headed back into the car. We took a quick diversion by Santuari de Lluc which is a monastery. One of the things this monastery is famous for is it's boy's choir which has performed all over the world. We headed down the other side of the mountain towards Pollenca where we saw amazing views of Inca in the distance between the peaks and occasionally a sea view as we got closer to the bottom. Once on the north coast we stopped off at a little resort called Cala San Vicenc (where the photo at the top was taken). The sea was an amazing turquoise colour and although it was not much wind there was a small amount of waves crashing against the shoreline. Our next stop was up a very long, narrow and winding Peninsula Road at Cap de Formentor to the Talaia d'Albercutx, an 18th century watch tower above Cap Formentor in northern Mallorca. It is approximately 376m above sea level, and was donated in 1984 by the Capllonch Family to the people of Pollensa. There was great views of the coastline, sea and mountains. Very awe inspiring, if not a little scary at times. From there we could see the hotel Formentor, a historic 5 star hotel that has been the faviourite of many celbraties. It also was the setting for the 1981 version of Agatha Christie's murder mystery Evil Under the Sun starring Peter Ustinov, Maggie Smith and Diana Rigg. With its own private beach and spectacular gardens, the hotel is a classic Mediterranean hideaway. After a quick "pitstop" in Puerto Pollenca, we headed back to our host's place, this time by the motorway, were we enjoyed a wonderfully cooked minute steak and salad with some locally produced wine. ¡salud!

In Mallorca, about 30oC and loving it!

2009-09-12T12:27:00.002+01:00

In Mallorca, about 30oC and loving it!

Happy Anniversay

2009-07-04T23:27:00.002+01:00

Anniversay, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Well we are just back from an amazing week in Cornwall. We kept Mom and Dad very busy during the week. While we were down there they celebrated their 49th anniversary. So Peter cooked them a nice meal and served it by candle light. I did this quick LO while in Cornwall using Shabby Princess Happy Go Lucky free digital kit. We didn't have any internet connection, so I'm just uploading it now.

Enjoying Cornwall!

2009-07-01T20:50:00.003+01:00

Just a very short post to show that we are enjoying our time here in Cornwall! We managed to get a very quick swim (Peter) and paddle (Shelley) on Monday morning. Just before all the hot weather started. Would have love to spent every afternoon in the sea, but have been busy driving Mom and Dad around too all sort of places. We've seen Birds of Prey, Garden/woodlands, Scrap Shopping, watching seals and lots and lots of eating.........

Scrap Like You Mean it Week 25

2009-06-23T23:58:00.002+01:00

RIMG5374, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

It's been a while since I've done one of Shimelle's Scrap Like You Mean It challenge over on UKScrappers. Actually been a while since I've done much scarpbooking at all. However, managed to do this quick LO for this weeks challenge to use Blue & Green. This LO is for my heritage album. My Mom has just sent me these photo's of my parents wedding, so I thought I'd use them. I used PageMaps June sketch for the layout and used Polka Dot Embossed Bazzill card stock, Basic Grey Wisteria papers, stickers and brads. Edges were inked with Ranger Distress Ink in Broken China. Title was cut out on a Craft Robo using Missed Your Exit font. Then finished off the LO with buttons and a flower.

Long Time No Scrap!

2009-06-22T15:17:00.002+01:00

RIMG5355, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Well I finally got some scrapbooking done today. Although it was just finishing off the journaling on a couple of LOs that have been sitting around unfinished for a few months.

This LO is for my personal album and is of me when I was about 2. The papers I've used are from the Create Mia collection and I've embellished with felt and paper flowers and brads.

ISMAKI, Penny Black and more!

2009-06-20T17:43:00.003+01:00

RIMG5353, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Well it's been a busy weekend of card making. With Father's Day tomorrow and a couple of birthdays as well, it's been a mad rush. For inspiration, of course, I went straight for the ISMAKI challenge blog. I made this first card based on their sketch and used K&Co paper scraps I had left over. I also embellished the card with EmbelliScrap shapes. The stamp images I used are Penny Black "A Great Surprise" stamp, which I've had for some time and not used yet. I coloured in the stamp image with Promarkers. Since I was using a Penny Black stamp, I decided to see what the Penny Black Sa turday challenge was this week as well. The PB challenge was to use embossing, so I embossed the large big circle in the back with Cuttlebug Floral Fantasy then inked with distress ink. Which was the option for the ISMAKI challenge to use distress inks.

As it's Father's Day tomorrow, I've made two cards for that. I was a bit cheeky and made two of the same design. I got the idea for this card out of the latest edition of Canadian Scrapbooker, which my Mom so kindly brought over with her. I used Basic Grey paper and the rest was made of scraps of left overs I keep. The edge of the circle is hand drawn stitched and the edges of the card are inked with distress ink.

The fourth card I made was another birthday card. I got some new stamps for my birthday which I used to make this card. I then coloured the image with my Promarkers. The circle was embossed using Cuttlebug "Diamonds in the Rough" embossing folder and then inked with Nick Bantock ink. The rest of the card was made from left over scraps of paper from Sassafras and My Minds Eye.

They have arrived!

2009-06-17T14:14:00.000+01:00

They have arrived!

Testing mobile blog

2009-06-16T13:55:00.001+01:00

Testing mobile blog

Woo Hoo! It worked.... I sent this post from my phone during my lunch today. After I had a nice yummy Inoccent Veggie Pot. Sorry it's nothing exciting, but I thought with Mom and Dad coming over from Canada tomorrow it would be good to be able to blog from my phone. So keep an eye out for some more interesting posts coming soon.

More Birthday Celebrations!

2009-06-06T23:30:00.003+01:00

RIMG0005, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Well the celebrations for my 40th are still going strong. After a shortened work week, it was time for more festivities. This time at the London South Bank. We went down to the South Bank Centre to check out the Slow Food Market. I was especially looking out for a little van that I knew was going to be there called Jimmy! He is a converted ice cream van that now brings chocolate joy to the world and is called Choc Star! As we drove through the South Bank, we saw Choc Star right away, so after some time finding a parking spot, off we headed straight for Jimmy. I had the original chocolate brownie sundae with hot fudge sauce and Peter had the Blondie brownie with caramel sauce. It was a bit of a cold day, so we stood in a sheltered area next to a exhaust vent to keep warm. Then we walked around the rest of the Slow Food Market and has some samples of bread, humus, venison and pigeon sausages. After looking around we decided to have kofte lamb burgers for our lunch/tea. It started to lightly spit, so we bought a couple of coffees and retired inside the Royal Festival Hall. After some browsing in the bookshop and a nice long leisurely stroll along the river, we headed back to Choc Star for a nice Jamaican Hot Chocolate. Petra even threw in a gorgeous chocolate truffle made with amazing Willie's pure cacao chocolate free for my birthday. Thanks again Petra!

Then it was back to the Festival Hall for the main event of the evening, seeing the Kodo drummers. Peter knows that I'm am a big fan of the Kodo drummers, and when he found out they were coming to London so close to my birthday, he knew it would make a great birthday present. He managed to get seats just 4 rows from the stage. They weren't even the expensive seats. They were the row behind us. When we were aloud to go into the Hall, I was surprised just how good the seats were. We had left our camera's in the car, as no photography was allowed during the show, so we only had our phone cameras. We took this photo before the show started to prove were were there. The concert was amazing. The show started off with the usual drumming you would expect from Kodo and then three guys came out with about about 2 meters worth of bamboo strapped to their backs and sticking up above their heads all decorated with flowers. The were also wearing very brightly decorated costumes, as well as carrying drums. You think at first that the bamboo is just for decoration, and then all of a sudden one of the guys bends right over and slaps the bamboo on the floor of the stage by just using his back. All through the rest of the number the three drummers with the bamboo slap the floor in different patterns. Some times alone and other times together in a circle. It was just jaw dropping, heart pounding excitement. The concert just got better and better from then on. It definitely was the best birthday present EVER!

Gourmet Burger Kitchen

2009-06-01T22:30:00.002+01:00

Well today is my birthday and also my last day to have our fourth meal out. This time I decided to go out for lunch, as it's back to work tomorrow I didn't want to have a late night out. So we headed over to Beckenham to the Gourmet Burger Kitchen. We got there and it was very quiet. Only one other table was occupied. We found a nice little corner booth and perused the menu. We first ordered a couple of shakes. I had an oreo and Peter had a banana. Then we made our order, a Buffalo burger for Peter and I got a Greek Lamb with houmus, tzatziki and a tomato relish. We also ordered a portion of chips to share. The burgers came they they were so huge, you couldn't get your mouth around them. I opted to not eat the big white bun and use a knife and fork for the rest. Where as Peter ate his in layers from the top down.

After lunch we went around to the in-laws who were baby sitting my neices. They had taken them up into town and had brought back some Cin-a-bons. They put in some candles in the buns, sung me Happy Birthday and my neices helped me blow out my candles.

This brought an end to my four meals for each decades. Peter asked me which meal represented which decades. So I thought about it and came up with this order. I think the brunch would represent my first decade. As it was made up of eggs, which is the beggining of life. Then the Gourmet burger was my teen years. The picnic would be my 20's because during most of this time in my life I lived by the lakeshore. That would leave the Tapas to represent the last 10 years of my life. I think this is good because in the last 10 years I've moved to England and visited European countires.

I hope that you have all enjoyed reading all my adventures for my 40th birthday.

Picnic in the Park

2009-06-01T21:04:00.003+01:00

RIMG0008b, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Sunday saw another beautiful day of sunshine, so we made plans to meet some friends at Danton park for a picnic. After church we picked up a few things from home and then headed to the park to meet our friends. We got there just on time, but our friends who live closer to the park and have been before got lost and was late. LOL

We found a nice bit in the park under some trees and set up for the day. We had some lunch and then played a bit of cricket. We split up into teams and played an over each player. In the end we ended up in a draw. Almost like proper cricket! Then the kids ran around for a bit, played on the monkey bars and kicked around the football for awhile. While the adults had a lazy day sitting in the shade and having a nice chat catching up. We spent the whole afternoon in the park. Then after our friends to take the kids home for a good bath, Peter and I took a nice walk down though the park, by the manor house and along the boating lake. Where we saw lots of different ducks, Coots, Geese, Mute Swan. We also saw lots of baby ducks as well. It was a nice way to finish off the day. I think I got a bit of sun though, as when we got home I felt very wiped out, but didn't do anything all day so it must have been the heat.

Birthday Brunch

2009-05-31T08:11:00.003+01:00

DSC00045, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

After a bit of a lay-in on Saturday morning, we decided to get up and get out. It was another beautiful day of sunshine and blue skies. Not a cloud was to be seen. We had one errand that we had to do first. That was to go to the postal sorting office and pick up a couple of packaged that were delivered this week. We thought that while we were there that we would go to the restaurant beside it for some brunch. However, when we got there the restaurant still had it shutters down. We thought maybe they open later and went to check their opening hours. Only to find an eviction notice on the door. So instead we went across the road to what looks like a very small cafe with a few chairs outside. Looks can be very deceiving, because as you walk into the cafe and pass the counter/ grill, you go down a few steps. Then you walk along a hallway which has about 4 other rooms off it which you can sit in all done up nice and cozy. We carried on down the hallway and found another room at the end off of which is a conservatory room. Then off of that is another door leading outside to a patio area. We decided to sit out on the patio and found a nice table in the shade, next to some lavender. It must the be the spot to go to after the post office, because we saw lots of other people come in with packages and others we recognized from the post office queue. We ordered our breakfast and Peter nipped out and got a paper to do the crossword. We spent a nice lazy morning enjoying the peaceful soundings and each others company. Just after mid-day we decided to head back home as we were no longer in the shade at our table, the sun was getting hotter and we had been there already for a couple of hours.

Tapastry

2009-05-30T09:34:00.003+01:00

DSC00246, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Well another year has come and gone. Which means on Monday it's my Birthday. This year it's a BIG one. The big 40! I can't say that I've been very excited about my birthday this year. I didn't know what to do to celebrate it either. Then on Friday night I came up with an idea. For the next four days we'd go out for a meal each day, one for each decade of my life. Last night I decided to try the local Tapas bar called "Tapastry". We were seated and ordered a pitcher of Sangria and was left to peruse the menu. We ended up choose meatballs in tomato sauce, chorizo in honey, tortilla and egg white baby bell peppers. The evening was a nice lazy evening people watching and seeing the sun down. We were still a bit hungry so we also order the Tapastry Meze which was two different cold meats, fete cheese, olives, houmus and a few more bell peppers. We finished the evening we me trying my first Mojito and Peter had a Baileys latte. After two and a half hours, we walked hand in hand back home.

Another Birthday Card

2009-05-19T18:10:00.004+01:00

Another card this week for another belated Birthday. This time I've based my card on this weeks CPS sketch 116 . I used a Penny Black hedgehog stamp and coloured it in with ProMarkers. I also used Banana Frog Greenwich Park stamps, again coloured in with Promarkers. The papers are scraps of left over papers from My Minds Eye and K&Co. I also used Hero Arts alphabet stamps, Nick Bantock inks, DCWV ribbon and buttons.

Belated Birthday

2009-05-16T18:44:00.002+01:00

I made this card while I was on holiday in Cornwall. It's for a friends belated birthday. I took my Letraset Promarkers with me on holiday to practice using them. I was very happy with the results on this Magnolia stamp, that I decided to make it into a card. The basic lay out was based on an example in the latest issue of Stamp Crafter magazine. I used My Minds Eye Bella Bella Bellezo paper, MME Wild Asparagus die cut, organza, ribbon, alphabet stamps, Prima Artful Collage flowers, Prima Daisy Crazy Mackenzie flowers and a brad.

Digi Layout

2009-05-07T17:01:00.004+01:00

Greetings from Cornwall! We are on holiday and I just couldn't have had a week away from my crafts, so have brought my laptop with me and done a digi layout. The photo is of a drink we tried while on Rock called 12" of pleasure. Which is a hot chocolate with mini marshmellows, whipped cream, two chocolate flakes, a huge meringue and topped off with even more whipped creams. Pure indulgence! Pure Pleasure! The LO was done using free digi kits downloaded from Shabby Princess. I used a mixtures of Happy Go Lucky, Delight and Sun Pourch. Well back to our hoilday, keep a look out for more entries when we get back about our time away.

SLYMI Week 18

2009-05-01T16:03:00.002+01:00

This weeks challenge on UKS for the Scrap Like You Mean it, was to scrap the outdoors. So I did this LO of us at Dulwich Park in 2006. The papers used are from the Basic Grey Mellow range, and I also used Basic Grey rub-ons, buttons and letters. I also used some ribbon and did the journaling on the computer.

This Week's ISMAKI Challenge

2009-04-25T22:28:00.004+01:00

RIMG5006, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Wow it's been ages since I've made a card, but with a special birthday around the corner I just had to make one. I also have some nice new Penny Black Hedgehog stamps to use. So I headed on over to ISMAKI and was pleased to see it was my friend Isa who did the sketch for this week. I first coloured one of my new Cuttlebug Embossing border folders with Nick Bantock ink using a brayer. Then embossed onto my card. I've used my new Promarker to colour in the stamps and built it up with 3D foam. The papers are some left over pieces of My Minds Eye and Sasserfrass papers. I finished off the card by stamping the sentiment using Studio G alpha stamps.

Scrap Like You Mean It Week 17

2009-04-23T13:03:00.002+01:00

RIMG4993, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

It's been awhile since I've done any scrapbooking and I've missed about 2 or 3 weeks of the Scrap Like You Mean it challenge. So this morning on my day off I took the plunge. this is my LO for this weeks challenge to use layers and lace. I also did it this morning, so it also works for last week challenge which I didn't get done in time to scrap in the morning. The LO is based on PageMaps Apr sketch and was done using My Mind's Eye Wild Asparagus Grandpa Plaid and Grandpa Floral papers. Also used MME paper establishments. To give the LO depth and layers, I first started by using Tim Holtz new masks on the background paper and inking with Ranger Antique Linen. I also added layers by using 3d foam to raise bits of the patterned paper that I cut and layered in the corner of the LO. More layers of two buttons on top of each other were also added. I added grunge board elements painted with Ranger dabbers to add texture. I used a piece of lace at the top also inked with Ranger distress ink Antique Linen. Other embellishments used were staples, brads and shimmer dots.

Another Year, Another Ally Pally!

2009-04-19T20:52:00.001+01:00

Yes, it's that time of year again. The Big Stamp and Scrapbooking show was on at Alexander Palace which ment more stash shopping. Although I didn't really need much, there is always lots of things there to tempt you. I was very good this year, and mostly stick to items on my list and manage to walk away without spending all the money I had budgeted for the event. I even managed to pick up a few bargains. Like 3 new Penny Black hedgehog stamps all from their bargain bin for just under £15. I also got a new Chatter Box album which I thought I was getting a good deal on, but then found out another supplier was sell it for £5 cheaper. Oh well, I still got a deal on it and also got some extra page protectors to go with it. I also picked up a few multipacks of much needed Bazzill card stock. I also got a few sheets of the new Polka Dot Embossed Bazzill card stock. What good is card stock though, if you don't have some beautiful papers to use with it, so I picked up a few sheet of Cosmo Cricket from the Girl Friday and Lil man ranges as well as some My Minds Eye Bloom & Grow kit, Penny Lane shaped card stock, Bella Bella and a few old Wild Asparagus pack with paper, die cuts and alphas. I also found some cute Sassafras paper with hedgehogs on it, can't wait to use them for a layout about my pet hedgehog "Tiggy" who I use to have. Of course I wouldn't be me if I didn't get some Basic Grey. I bought a wonderful Wisteria collection pack along with some matching glazed brads. Some of the other things I got was, a couple of Nick Bantock inks, Tim Holtz timeworks mask, Tim Holtz Grundgeboard dots elements shapes, Cuttlebug Just My Type embossing border folders, Fancy Pants rub-ons, new acrylic blocks (because I still can't find where mine when to), a set of Promarkers plus a blender pen, two small Studio G alphabet stamp sets, thin ultra adhesive tape, self adhesive shimmer dots, felt & button embellishment pack, crochet flowers, Prima artful collage flowers (because I'm a Prima Diva), card envelops (of which I was right out of) and Hero Arts Arigato Sparkle Clear stamp set.

It was a great day, and I was happy to share it with my hubby aka my scrapbook roadie! I hope that all this new stash will help me get some inspiration back and do some more crafting. Watch this space!

Another Kipling Bag

2009-03-29T19:40:00.002+01:00

RIMG4822, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Couldn't resist this little Kipling bag. Last week after our trip to the seaside, we stopped off in Ashford at the Outlet Mall. We had just about an hour to do any shopping and the first shop I ran into, while Peter was still paying for the parking, was of course KIPLING. I had a good look around, but this little bag stood out the most and at a great deal of only £14, who could resist. It's a bit small for my everyday use type of bag, but I thought it would make a great handbag for when we go on holiday or just days out when I want something light or that could fit under a jacket. They also had it in blue, but I thought the greens and browns were more my colours. In the hour we also managed to get Peter some new Reebok trainers. Two pairs in fact, as they were buy one get one free at an already marked down price. Got to love a bargain!

Scrap Like You Mean it Week 12

2009-03-25T12:13:00.002Z

RIMG4827b, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

As you know from my other post, I've not been too well this month. This has meant that I've not been able to keep up with the Scrap Like You Mean it challenges on UKS. Some of the ones that I have missed have been, "cut a photo", "use paper punches" and "use fabric". I will keep these ideas in the back of my mind and try to fit use them at some point. This weeks challenge however was to use a sketch. I always love a sketch and find them a great place to start for inspiration. Shimelle's sketch was a nice simple one, which I've expanded on slightly. Papers and die cuts used are from Crate Paper Mia Collection. The title was done using Basic Grey letters stickers and letters cut with a CraftRobo using "Storybook" font. Also used velvet ribbon and Ranger paint dabber in Jasper. The photo is of my sister feeding a horse oranges in Florida while we were there visiting my Grandparents one winter. I will never forget how messy a horse eats oranges and it's a memory that will always bring back such joy.

Convalescing At the Sea Side

2009-03-22T18:25:00.006Z

RIMG4757, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Well after a week of being at home in bed sick, I was starting to get a bit tired of staring at four blue walls. So suggested to Peter we go to the sea side for some fresh air to blow out the cob webs. So on Saturday morning Peter put me in the car with my blankets and pillows and we headed off. I had no idea where we were heading, only that the sea would at some point make an appearance. We stopped off part way at a services and had a nice cooked breakfast and were soon on our way again. By mid morning we ended up at the maritime cinque port of Rye. I'd never been to Rye, so it was exciting to explore a new place. We walked the cobbled streets, shopped in the unique little shops and visited the historic Ypres Castle and Landgate.

By mid afternoon I was starting to get very tired from all the walking and also hungry. We found a delicatessen and got some take away sandwiches, quiche, salads and lemon sodas before we headed back to the car. We then left Rye and headed towards the beach at Camber Sands. I was surprised to find that we weren't the only ones with the idea of going to the sea side. The car park was full, and we had to wait awhile before we could get a spot. We then climbed over the dunes and onto the beach, where Peter purchased a wind break and we started to set up camp. We first put down some underlay mats to keep any moisture and cold from coming through. Then lay down the car blanket. I then wrapped up in another blanket and used a jumper for a pillow. We ate our lunch with the view of the sea and the sun at our backs. Then Peter did the crossword while I rested and wrote postcards. After a couple of hours as the sun was going down and our fingers were getting very cold, we packed up and headed back to the car. As we were packing up Peter noticed some friends of ours walk by who we hadn't seen in years. So we all went into the cafe and caught up over a cup of hot chocolate. By the time we left Camber the sun was starting to set and the sheep in the field were laying down for the evening. It was the end to a wonderful day by the sea side.

Cupcake Card - CPS 107

2009-03-15T20:06:00.003Z

Cupcake Card, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

This is my first attempt at using Letraset Promarkers to colour in a stamp. I just got these markers last weekend from Hobbycraft, but haven't tried them out. I needed to make sure I had the right type of stamping ink before I could proceed. Luckily I already had the ink I needed so I didn't need to get any extra supplies before I started. I decided to finally use my wonderful Shimelle Banana Frog "That Takes the Cake" stamps that In won from UKS. I stamped the images on Stampin' Up white card stock with Impress Jet Black Ink. Then I coloured them in using the Promarkers in Apricot, Terracotta, Blush, Pastel Pink, Ruby, Maroon, Sky Blue, Gold, and Grass. The finished result was better than I thought my first attempt would be and even thought that I could get away with making it into a card. For the card I followed the CPS sketch 107 and printed out some Rhonna Farrer Magic Rainbow digital papers, which were free downloads from Two Peas in a Bucket. I finished the card off with some free ribbons I got from a magazine, Flowers, Basic Grey glazed brad and a Crate paper rub on.

Scrap Like You Mean It Week 7

2009-02-15T17:25:00.002Z

Scrap Like You Mean It Week 7, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

This weeks SLYMI challenge on UKS was to use an old photograph. This is a photo of me when I was very little, in the early 1970's. My parents don't have an exact date, so not 100% sure how old I was. I do however know where it was taken. It was taken at my Dad's Chiropractic office while I was posing on one of his treatment machines. The LO is based on a PageMaps sketch and was done using a Plaid Summer Sophisticates kit as it was the only thing I had to match the bright colours of my early 70s outfit. The bracket was cut with a CraftRobo, as was the title using the" Missed Your Exit" font. The journaling was printed from my computer also using the "Missed Your Exit" font. Other embishments used were colour stapes, Ranger Faded Jeans ink and a brad.

Thank You Shimelle!

2009-02-14T13:59:00.002Z

Oh what a lovely surprise came in the post today. As you have seen on my blog I've been doing scrapbooking layouts for the "Scrap Like You Mean It" challenges over on UKScrapbooking by Shimelle. On last weeks challenge I won a prize for showing off the "Scrap Like You Mean It" logo in my signature and it arrived today! So I just wanted to show you the lovely goodies that I won. I was sent two sets of Banana Frog stamps designed by Shimelle. I'm really happy because I already have her Greenwich Park set and now I can add the "That Takes The Cake" and "Backgrounds" set to my Tim Holtz stamp binder. She also included a set of Jenni Bowlin Journaling Cards. She must know how much I struggle with journaling and thought they would come in handy. I'm just finishing off the journaling now in the latest "Scrap Like You Mean it challenge" to use a old photo. So keep an eye out for my next entry.

SLYMI Week 6

2009-02-07T15:49:00.003Z

This week Shimelle's Scrap Like You Mean It challenge on UKS for week 6 is to use ribbons. I think I've covered the requirement well and have used ribbon not only on the LO but also to make a sun/flower type emblishment done with a paper tag, ribbons and staples. The photos in this layout was of a day out in Westminster with my nieces. The layout is based on a PageMaps sketch. I've used Bazzill cardstock, Create Samantha collection of papers, Prima flowers, Making Memories crochet flower, Basic Grey ribbons and Paperminia brads. I also managed to do some hand journaling on this lay out which I really am not very good at doing.

Scrap Like You Mean It

2009-02-03T07:42:00.002Z

Over on UKScrapbooking, Shimelle is posting a weekly challenge. I've not done everyone but here are a couple that I've done in the last few days.

Week 4 - Use her sketch

I wanted to scrap some photos I took from Neal's Yard last year. I took the photos for a photo competition with the theme "Colour". They didn't win the competition, but I love them anyways. I wanted the vibrant colours of the photos to be the main focus of the layout to give the feel of what it's like to live in such a colourful city. So I did a very basic LO just using Bazzill and DCWV card stock. The title and circles were all cut using my Craft Robo and the fonts used were Lucida Handwriting and Pooh.

Week 5 - Use Black & White either photo or papers.

This weeks UKS team challenge was also to use B&W so I decided to incorporate the two. The team challenge was to use black and white, follow a Becky Flech circle Page Map, use a stamp repetitively and use flowers. As my LO was using an old car photo of my dh I decided to leave off the flower bit. I stamped a piece of white card stock with a Tim Holtz stamp to make a background. I used My Minds Eye 29th Market papers for the circle sketch. The title, journal tag and paper chain was cut using a Craft Robo. Fonts used were Candice and Missed Your Exit.

In The Deep Mid Winter

2009-02-02T15:37:00.012Z

Yesterday we had a few snow flurries in the air and we thought that we might get a little bit of snow, but nothing that would stay. Then when we went to bed there was a few inches on the ground. I kept thinking, it won't stay, it never does. What a surprise it was to wake up in the morning and have about 4 inches of snow and that it was still coming down. We also heard that all the London buses were canceled and most trains in the South East as well. Which meant that there was no way for me to get to work and I officially had a "Snow Day". I've not had one since I was in High School. We had fun in the morning taking photos and then Peter cleaned off the car and headed for work. He was the only one who managed to make it in, but he got a few things done and then headed back home earlier. It's still lightly snowing, so will have to wait and see what tomorrow holds. In the mean time we will continue to sit inside, wrapped up warm by the fire and enjoy watching the snow fall down. I hope that you are all safe and warm as well.

Just Beginning

2009-02-01T09:40:00.003Z

This is the final layout for my BIL's wedding album. I wanted it not to seem like the end of the wedding but the beginning of their new life together so I entitled it "Just Beginning". It was done using the new Create Mia paper collection, Bazzill card stock, Mia paper cut outs, Mai Alphabet stickers, Prima Mackenzie Daisey's and heart buttons. The chipboard hearts were cut with the Cuttlebug and painted with Ranger paint dabbers and sprayed with Tattered Angles Glimmer Mist. The large heart is Bazzill card stock cut on the Craft Robo. The layout was finished off by applying Ranger's Diamond Stickles over the title letters.

Bleated Happy New Year

2009-01-31T13:19:00.004Z

Wow I can't believe that I've not posted anything on my blog all year! I'm sorry for those who watch my blog that I've not posted in so long. First I'd like to wish everyone a very Belated New Year. I'm not sure how it's been for everyone else, but 2009 has started off very busy! January is always a busy month as there are lots of family birthday and activities. I have how ever managed to squeeze in some scrapbooking time and have gone to a couple of crops. It's been great to get back into scrapbooking, but this means I'll be doing much less cards this year. Here are a few of the lay outs that I have done recently. Enjoy the slide show

Also I've been doing a little stash shopping lately.........

I've bought a good supply of Herma glue refills, Zig 2way glue pen, Karen Foster snap number stamps, Prima Daisy Crazy Mackenzie flowers, Bazzill card stock and three different Create paper packs called Samantha, Crush and Mia. I can't wait to tuck into my new papers and make some beauitful layouts. So keep watching...................

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2008-12-25T10:33:00.001Z

Just want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. May God grant you His Peace at this special time of year. As we remember our Saviour's birth man His Joy and Love be with you.
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”- Isaiah 9:6

God Bless from ours to yours!

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More Scrapbooking

2008-12-23T18:40:00.002Z

Managed to get some more Scrapbooking done this past weekend. With Christmas fast approaching I don't think I'm going to get this album done in time. It is meant to be a Christmas gift, but I still have 2 double lay outs and a single lay out still to do. It doesn't help that I'm also not feeling well. I seem to have finally caught the sore throat that everyone around me seems to have. I hope to have some time to work on at least one more lay out tonight and them I'll have to give them an IOU for the rest.

The first two LOs in the slide show above are done using embossed tissue paper and My Mind's Eye paper from the 29th Street Market range. The last two lay outs were done with Basic Grey papers from the Blush collection. All the LOs were based on sketches from the PageMaps book.

Belated Birthday!

2008-12-17T08:16:00.002Z

Wow what a surprise I got yesterday. Shortly after I got home from work, the neighbour knocked on our door. She said that she had another package for us. As it's coming up to Christmas, I was expecting it to be another parcel from Canada or one of the items that I've ordered on on-line and still expecting. So Peter went next door to collect it. When he came back he had a big blue shipping bag in his hands and hands it to me on the stairs and say's "Happy Belated Birthday". I was very surprised, as my birthday was now almost 6 months ago. I was expecting to get a combined Birthday/Christmas present actually on Christmas. So I took the parcel upstairs and opened it up to find a nice now Acer Aspire laptop! Wooo Hooo! So I spent the rest of the evening updating, downloading, installing and generally trying to get use to Vista. As today is my day off, becuase I'm working yet another Saturday this week, I get to stay home today and play with my new toy. So this is my first Blog update done on it. Still got a few more things to install and figure out, but so far I'm really enjoying my present. Thank You to my wonderful DH!

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Penny Black Challenge 27

2008-12-14T13:41:00.002Z

Penny Black Challenge 27, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Christmas card made for Penny Black Challenge 27. This weeks challenge was to use 3 flowers, 2 patterned papers and 1 ribbon. As it's a Penny Black challenge it must also included a Penny Black image. I've used a Penny Black Stickeroos image from the Joyeux Noel sticker sheet. The papers I've used are from the Basic Grey Wassail range. Also used 2 Got Flowers Prima textured flowers with Basic Grey Wassail glazed brads and a Making Memories Noteworthy crochet flower and a Basic Grey Wassail button stitched together with DMC thread. The ribbon used is from Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie range.

Sketch Saturday 29

2008-12-14T10:29:00.002Z

Sketch Saturday 29, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Christmas card done for Sketch Saturday challenge #29. Image is Rachelle Anne Miller Moose stamp coloured in with Nick Bantock inks and water colour pencils. I was having some problems with my aqua brush, so the colouring in isn't as smooth as I would have liked. Then the image was stamped with Basic Grey Santa Baby snowflake stamps in Ranger Distress Ink Fire Brick and Peeled Paint. Image background was done using the Cuttlebug Snowflake embossing folder onto Basic Grey cardstock which was then sanded down to expose the white core. Other papers used are Basic Grey Figgy Pudding Reindeer, Basic Grey Wassail and My Minds Eye Be Merry. Card was embellished with Basic Grey Wassail glazed brads.

PaperTake Challenge

2008-12-10T16:24:00.003Z

PaperTake Challenge, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Christmas card done using this weeks PaperTake challenge sketch. Image is PollyCraft Wilbur Woof in Winter downloaded file decoupaged. Papers used are from the Basic Grey Wassail range. Embellished with Basic Grey Santa Baby snowflake stamps in Ranger Distress ink Fire Brick and Peeled Paint, Basic Grey Stickeroos Joy and velvet ribbon.

ISMKI 43

2008-12-10T15:23:00.003Z

ISMKI 43, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Card done for this weeks ISMAKI sketch challenge 43. Done using Stampin Up cardstock embossed with Cuttlebug Snowflake folder and coloured with Ranger Distress Ink Weathered Wood and Ranger Acrylic paint dabber in Sliver. Also used K&Co K-ology flocked paper and fabric brad, Penny Black Stickeroos Joyeux Neol. Finished off with metal brads, Hero Arts Sparkle Clear Holiday message stamp and metal brads.

Penny Black Challenge

2008-12-10T13:59:00.003Z

Penny Black Challenge, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Christmas card done for this weeks Penny Black Challenge. Done using Penny Black Holiday Hugs stamp, My Minds Eye Be Merry papers, Basic Grey Wassail cardstock and Poundland 3D element. Image watercoloured and edges inked with Ranger Distress Inks.

CPS 94

2008-12-07T19:03:00.005Z

CPS 94, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Just a quicky card for this weeks CPS sketch. Done using Basic Grey Wassail papers, Penny Black stickers and Poundland 3D element.

The second CPS card is NOT a card of my design. I really loved She rry Wri ght Happy Holiday card on CPS. I had very similar papers and embellishment, so I've done an almost exact copy of the card. Except I've used My Mind's Eye Be Merry papers and embellishment and added extra Basic Grey Santa Baby snowflake stamps in Weathered Wood Distress Ink.

ISMAKI 42

2008-12-07T18:21:00.002Z

ISMAKI 42, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Another Christmas card, this time inspired by ISMAKI sketch 42. Done using Basic Grey Figgy Pudding papers and My Minds Eye Be Merry papers. Stamps used are Penny Black Holiday Hug and Basic Grey Santa Baby snowflakes. Also used Ranger Distress Inks, Inktense watercolour pencils, chipboard and brads.

Two 4 One Sketch Satruday

2008-12-07T13:05:00.003Z

Sketch Saturday 28A, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

I couldn't decide what way to use this weeks sketch on the Sketch Saturday blog, so I've done two cards. The first is a Christmas Card done using Penny Black Holiday Hugs stamp water coloured with Ranger Distress Inks. Papers used are from Crafty Individuals Christmas Backgrounds book 2 and Basic Grey Wassail range. Cardstock was embossed using Cuttlebug Snowflake embossing folder then sanded down. The card was then finished off used Basic Grey Wassail glazed brads, ribbon and Poundland 3D element.

The second card made using this weeks Sketch Saturday challenge was also done using Penny Black Holiday Hugs stamp water coloured with Ranger Distress Inks. The papers used are My Mind's Eye Be Merry range. The background was stamped using Basic Grey Santa Baby snowflake stamps in Ranger Distress ink Weathered Wood and Antique Linen. Then the card was finished off with Basic Grey Wassail buttons and a Poundland 3D element.

PollyCraft Blog Candy

2008-12-07T09:59:00.001Z

Wow Pollycraft is offering a great Blog Candy to be won! Pop over to their blog to check out this great offer. Some great stamps on offer to be won. Do it quick as the winner is being picked on Wed 10th Dec. Good Luck!

Pollycraft Challenge

2008-12-02T14:56:00.004Z

Pollycraft Challenge, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

I've found another sketch page today from following a link on Sandra's blog from Saturday Sketch. It's Called Pollycraft Monday and they are running a competition, so I thought I'd enter. Here is the card I made for the Pollycraft challenge sketch. Part of the challenge was to also to use some Pollycraft product. They had some lovely free papers to download, which I did, but decided to use the Wilbur Woof downloadable file (not free) instead, as I was immediately drawn to it while I was looking around there shop. I printed out a few copies of the Wilbur Woof file and made used it as a Decoupage 3D image, which I embellished with Basic Grey Wassail rub-ons. The papers used are also Basic Grey Wassail Christmas papers. The edges of the papers were inked with Ranger Distress Inks in Vingate Photo and Fired Brick. The sentiment is a sticker I backed onto more BG paper. Three more BG snowflake rub-ons were added at the top corner. Then the rub-ons were then accented with red seed beads. Thanks for looking!

Sketch Saturday 26

2008-11-27T16:01:00.002Z

Sketch Saturday 26, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

I did this card on the weekend, for my SIL birthday. I used Sketch Saturday again for the layout. The stamped image an Art-Kure stamp coloured with a water colour brush and Ranger Distress Ink in Demin Jeans. The squares are embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder and highlighted with Distress Ink. The senitment stamps is from Personal Impressions. Im not sure what the papers are as it was a piece of left over scrap. I finished the card off with some buttons.

Sketch Saturday #25

2008-11-15T09:32:00.003Z

My first Saturday off in a long time and instead of sleeping in, I'm up and making Christmas cards. I'm loving this new blog I found Sketch Saturday. This is the second week in a row that I've done there sketch challenge. This card was done using My Minds Eye Be Merry papers, Rachelle Anne Miller Moose stamp (soon becoming my favorite at the moment) painted in a combination of Nick Bantock inks and water colour pencils, Basic Grey Santa Baby snowflake stamp, Ranger distress ink in Antique Linen and Weathered Wood, Hero Art Sparkle clear Holiday message stamps and gems,DCWV self adhesive ribbon, Making Memories Noteworthy blossom and Basic Grey Wassail Glazed Brad.

Thanks for looking..... off to make more cards!

Snowman Card

2008-11-11T11:06:00.003Z

Snowman Card, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Managed to make a card with one of the 3D elements I got yesterday. The layout of the card is based on Sketch Saturday blog challenge #24. I've just found the blog and think I'll be back for more inspiration. Done using My Minds Eye Aparagus and 29th Street papers, Basic Grey Santa Baby snowflake stamps, Ranger Distress Inks in Weathered Wood, Antique Linen and Vintage Photo, DCWV adhisive ribbon, Poundland 3D Chipboard element, computer generated sentiment, cut felt and a brad.

Stash Shopping

2008-11-10T20:21:00.001Z

Just a quick blog today. I'm feeling a lot better now, and am back to work. So that means a little less time to do crafts. That doesn't mean that I stop thinking about crafts though. I went out on my lunch break today and popped into Poundland. I didn't mean to buy any more Christmas stash for my cards this year. However, I saw these and couldn't resist. I usually don't like the craft items in Poundland, but was impressed with the quality of how these looked. There were a few other designs but I decided to just get these five. Now all I need to do is get making some more cards!

Basic Grey Wassail Card Kit

2008-11-04T10:22:00.004Z

These eight cards are done using the new Wassail Card kit. I've added extra stamps, rub-ons, glitter, ribbon and Distress ink to make the cards a bit more unique. Enjoy the slide show!

ISMAKI #38

2008-11-03T17:49:00.002Z

ISMAKI #38, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Christmas card done for ISMAKI #38 sketch challenge. Done using My Mind's Eye Birthday Boy Dot double sided paper, Sharon Ann Deja Views Blue Tiles paper, Basic Grey Santa Baby snowflake stamps, Basic Grey Two Scoops Swirlie stamp, Basic Grey Figgy Pudding rub-ons, Crafty Individual Angel stamp, Paper Artsy Mini Christmas stamp, Cuttlebug and Cuttlebug Red Tag Sale small tag die, Ranger Distress inks in Antique Linen, Weathered Wood and Vintage Photo, ribbon, blue star brads and a metal eyelet.

Another Moose Card

2008-11-03T17:48:00.002Z

Another Moose Card , originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Another Moose Christmas Card done for CPS sketch Challenge #89. Done using the Rachelle Anne Miller Moose stamp again painted with Nick Bantock and Ranger Distress inks. I also used Basic Grey Santa Baby snowflake stamps in the background in Ranger Antique Linen and Weathered Wood. Papers used are Basic Grey Candy Cane and Crafty Individual Christmas Background papers from books two. The card was finished off with sticking rub-ons, ribbons and brads. The greeting was done with a Blade Rubber stamp.

Christmas Moose Card

2008-11-02T22:06:00.002Z

Christmas Moose Card, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Another Christmas card today. I was having a play with my new Rachelle Anne Miller Moose stamp and came up with this card.I painted in the stamp with a combination of Nick Bantock and Ranger Distress inks. For the card I used My Minds Eye blank card, Basic Grey Periphery Blanck card, Basic Grey Sugar Plums paper. I also used Basic Grey Santa Baby snowflake stamps in the background in Ranger Antique Linen and Weathered Wood. The card was finished off with ribbon, buttons and a rub on sentiment.

Christmas Cards - Made a Start!

2008-10-29T11:41:00.002Z

I was waiting for some new stash to arrive before starting this years Christmas cards. However, last night I desided to dig out all my currtent Christmas stash to see what I had. Once it was all out, I just had to have a play and made two cards.

The first Christmas card I've made for 2008 was done using bits left over from last years Basic Grey Figgy Pudding card kit, Stampin Up card stock, Stampin Up Made From Scratch Snowflake stamp, clear embossing powder, Basic Grey Santa Baby clear stamps, Basic Grey Winterland stamps, Ranger Distress Weathered Wood and Vintage Photo inks, Blade Rubber Merry Christmas sentiment stamp and clear icicle glitter.

The second was done using Ranger metallic paint dabbers in gold and coppers, Ranger alcohol inks in red pepper, lettuce and gold, Stampers Anonymous Partridge in a Pear tree stamp and black Stazon ink. Background was done using textured card stocked embossed with Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder then sanded and highlighted with Ranger gold paint dabber. The background paper is from Crafty Individual's Christmas Background book 2. Ribbon and buttons were added to finish it off.

Hedgehog Birthday Card

2008-10-26T09:32:00.002Z

Hedgehog Birthday Card,

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything on my blog. I've been sick again and not up to doing any crafting. I'm starting to feel better now and I'm trying to get my head around starting some Christmas cards, but in the mean time here is a card I've done for a friends Birthday.

I used ISMAKI challenge #36 for the layout of this card. The card itself was done using Penny Black "A gift for you" stamped image from a swap with Valentines Cards. The image was painted with Twinkling H2Os. The pattered papers used are from the Basic Grey Infuse range and the card stocked used was Basic Grey Blush Delish. Also used were Basic Grey Sultry element stickers and Making Memories Note Worthy felt flowers held together with a brad. The title was done with Hero Arts Tiny Dot Letter stamps and Ranger Distress Vintage Photo ink.

Better Late Then Never

2008-10-01T14:46:00.004+01:00

As promised I'm finally getting around to blogging about our Anniversay in Cornwall. So here it is.....

We were trying to deside what to do for our Anniversay while we were in Cornwall. We first thought about going to Jamie Oliver's restaurnt in Watergate Bay, but when ever we drove by there was no were to park, so we never stopped to look in. So then we desided to go to Newquay Headlands Hotel for an evening meal. A few days before we drove over to book a table. While there we desided to take a look at room rates just to see how exporberate they really were. While debating about staying for the night, the receptionest said she could show us a couple of rooms what were available for the night. She showed us two rooms, one with a view of the golf course and one with a sea view. Then she gave us an offer that we just couldn't refuse. She said that because it was our anniversary, we could have the more expensive sea view room for the cheaper now view room.
So we took her up on her offer and book a room for the night as well.

On the morning of our anniversary we desided to go out for breakfast and headed down to the local shop in Magawn Porth in the old convertated garage. We ordered bacon and brie bagettes and cappuccino and took them to eat on the beach. It was a lovely morning and the sun was shining. We enjoyed watching all the different people walking thier dogs on the beach and a horse too.

After breakfast I remembered that I didn't check what the beding was at the hotel. So I gave them a call and they confirmed that all their bedding is feather. We told them of my allergies and they ensured that the bedding will be changed. We then heading into Newquay and spent the early afternoon walking around and enjoying the sunshine. Then found a cafe and had coffee before heading down to the hotel. We checked in and the receptionist remember us and wished us a Happy Anniversary. She took us up to the room to check it with us. When we arrived the big bed that was in the room when we first looked at it wasn't there, but instead two sperate beds with a table inbetween. The receptionist apploigied to us and had housekeeping to come up right away and "zip" the beds together. We then spent the afternoon relaxing enjoying the view and our centry seagule on the windowcile . We had a nice long swim in the heated pool and were going to use the hot tub, only it wasn't very hot. So I spent some time in the sauna while Peter did a few more laps in the pool.

We then got ready for dinner and headed down to the dinning room. Were we enjoyed an amazing meal. We started with roast belly of pork on celeric mash with port reduction. Then Peter had a steak and I had chichen with mushroom sauce served with green beans and sugar snap peas. Then we finished dinner off with a shared chocolate fondue for two and we fed chocolate covered stawberries to each other. It was really the perfect ending to a very nice romanic day together. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Little Girls Birthday Card

2008-09-24T21:26:00.002+01:00

Child's birthday card done using Crate Blue Hill collection paper, Whipper Snapper Party Koala stamp, Papermania Sweet Nothing cupcake stamp, Sassafras Ribbonrie flower boarder stamp, Hero Arts Tiny Dot letter stamps and Ranger Jet Black Archival ink. Stamps were coloured in with water colour pencils and blended with an aqua brush. Accents of Ranger stickles glitter was added to the stamped images. Layout is based on CPS sketch 83.

Happy Anniversary

2008-09-21T19:55:00.001+01:00

Sorry it's been so long since I've added anything to my blog, but we've been away for a few weeks to celebrate our anniversary in Cornwall. I will try to blog a bit more about that later. While there we visited a few craft shops, including one of my favourite little shops ScrapAngels. I managed to pick up a few bits and pieces in order to make Peter this anniversary card. It was done using Bazzill Bling card stock, Basic Grey Infuse patterned papers, Papermainia Sweet Nothing clear stamps Studio G Vibrance ink, Fancy Pants Sassy Posies and ribbon.

Maze Book Swap

2008-08-20T18:36:00.005+01:00

My team on UKScrappers is doing a maze book swap. A maze book is made from one single sheet of 12" x 12" card stock cut and folded in one contentious line. We each make 7 maze books with different themes of quotes. I've chosen "friendship". Then we swap them and get 7 different books (including one of our own) back. This is the first one that I've started today. I've not put in the quotes yet but have the basic album completed. I've made it with Amy Butler Belle papers and fabric brad. Tag were cut using Cuttlebug Red Tag Die and title was cut using Craft Robo and Lucida Handwriting font. Title is outlined with white pen and "i" dotted with PM adhesive stones. I've added an extra strip of paper along the back of the folded pages to give it a spine. I think it gives it a more complete look.

Now only another 6 more to go!

Get Well Soon Tall Card

2008-08-16T11:31:00.002+01:00

Get Well Soon Tall Card, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Made this card this morning for a friend who is in hospital. She's doing well and might be coming home today, but thought I'd give her this card anyways. It was done using scraps from my last few scrapbooking layouts. Just goes to show you should through your scraps away. The papers are Create Blue Hill collection and I can't remember the name of the red paper. Ribbon is Basic Grey ribbon and Making Memory's (note)worthy flowers with jewelled brads.

On a Roll...........

2008-08-10T20:11:00.003+01:00

Well finally finished the 3rd layout that I started on Friday. The layout is based on Scrapbooking Page Maps pg 10 by Becky Fleck. Done using Crate Paper Blue Hill Collection, Anna Griffins Wedding Palette 1 and Basic Grey Blush papers, Basic Grey ribbon, Craft Work ribbon slide and sticker letters and stitching. Title cut using Craft Robo and "Missed Your Exit" font .

Products used for layouts in the last post are as follows:

Bridesmaids double layout was based on Scrapbooking Page Maps page 114 by Becky Fleck. Done using cream card and Eastern Treasures Decorative Tissue Papers, ribbons and buttons. Chipboard hearts were cut using Cuttlebug heart die and painted with Ranger Paint Dappers then sprayed with Glimmer Mist. Title cut using Craft Robo and "Missed Your Exit" font out of Create Blue Hill Collection paper.

Bride & Groom Layout was done using Basic Grey Blush papers with a Mine Minds Eye Bohemia Collection acrylic overlay. Ribbon wrap is recycled from the ribbon used at the wedding to wrap around the chairs. Title cut using Craft Robo and "Missed Your Exit" font out of Create Blue Hill Collection paper. Circle tag is also from the Create Blue Hill Collection with added ribbon and metal heart charm.

Back to Crafting

2008-08-09T13:31:00.003+01:00

Finally after weeks of not doing any crafts, I had a nice evening around at a friends doing some scrapbooking. It was a great evening and I got 3 layouts done for an album I'm working on. I will update later with the materials I've used, but for now enjoy the slide show.

Yvonne's Last Day

2008-08-03T13:43:00.003+01:00

Friday was my sister's last day here in London. Again I had to work, so Peter took her out for some more sight seeing. They started off driving over to Greenwich Park. They say the Greenwich meridian but unfortunately the Observatory was closed that early in the morning. They also saw the statue of General Wolfe at the top of the park. It was another clear day, so they also some great views of the city. They then went down to the bottom into Greenwich Park and headed towards the Thames. They stopped off for breakfast at the Cutty Sark Cafe and Yvonne had the working mans full English breakfast which consisted of two eggs, two sausages, two slices of bacon, black pudding and two slices of bread and butter. All with a coffee to wash it down with. Needless to say she couldn't quiet finish it all. After breakfast they heading for the walking tunnel that goes under the Thames and walked from the Greenwich side over to the Isle of Dogs. From there Peter took her on the DLR (Docklands Light Railway), which is an automated train with no driver. They got to sit at the front of the train could see where the train was going. They got off at Bank and headed over to St. Paul's Cathedral. They took a tour of the Cathedral all the way from the Crypt up to the Whispering Gallery. At this point Peter's sinus from his cold was bothering him, so Yvonne ventured up to the Stone Gallery by herself. It was a twisty and tight trek up 378 steps. The Stone Gallery is on the outside of the building from where there is an amazing view of the city. While at the top of the Cathedral she called me at work to tell me where she was. She was so happy to have made it up to the top. After St Paul's, they head back down to the Thames to walk over the Millennium Bridge the first pedestrian river crossing over the Thames in central London for more than a century. When it first was constructed it was meant to sway slightly, but it swayed too much so now they have dampened it, so it doesn't move at all. I now call it the Not so wobbly wobbly bridge. They then took a short boat trip up to Waterloo Millennium Pier where they stopped off for a loo break at the Eye and then walked over Westminster Bridge, where they took part in some french crepes. Yvonne had Nutella and banana and Peter had Maple Syrup and banana. Peter decided to walk up the Thames to the next boat stop to take the next boat back down the Thames. Only when they got to Millbank they found they missed the last boat from that stop. So they hopped onto a double decker bus and heading back to Westminster Millennium Pier. They finally got a boat and headed back to Greenwich. Unfortunately they didn't get a boat that had a commentary of the sites that they were passing. Peter tried to point out what he could, but as he was pointing out things on one side of the Thames, he missed some of the other sites on the other side, like the Tower of London.

They got back home around 8pm at which point we headed over to PPP's (Peter's Parent's Place) for our regular Friday night Fish and Chips. We had a lovely evening and Yvonne enjoyed her fish, but for some reason I didn't seem to be enjoying my Lamb Shish Kebab. Guess it was my sore throat that I got from Peter's cold. Yvonne also had her first taste of Treacle Tart with custard. After dinner we has some light entertainment from Peter Sr on the guitar and Yvonne tried out the didgeridoo. She did a good job too! We got home quiet late and stayed up even later while Yvonne started packing up. Then at 4:30am, I had to get up and say our goodbyes! Unfortunately I couldn't go with them to the airport as I had to work that day. So Peter took her over to the airport. Yvonne was worried about the weight of her bags, and then at check in they told her that she had to pay for extra weight. When she asked how much, the person said they couldn't say and she'd have to queue at another line. Then once she got though that queue they found out that her ticket was showing up on the system as a single ticket even though she was returning and was only allowing one bag at 20kg. So they finally got it sorted and she was allowed both her bags and didn't have to pay for anything. She then finally made it through the gate and is now safely home. I hope she enjoyed her trip over here, because we really enjoyed having her. Thanks for coming sis *HUGS*

Take Your Family to Work Day

2008-08-01T08:51:00.003+01:00

Sorry there are not photos from yesterday. It was another busy day, but this time not doing the tourist thing, but taking my sister to work with me at Wesley Owen. I managed to find lots of little jobs she could do that didn't involve too much training. She did some data entry of invoices received to track our spending budget. As well my manager got her to do some mailing out for him of some book order he had from a convention he has just got back from. It was also a very special day, as it was our Deputy Managers last day, after working for Wesley Owen for the last 10 years. Lots of regular customers were coming in all day to say good-bye. His family of four lovely children and his wife also visited us making it a very lively day. At the end of the day we gave him a book will all sorts of comments in it from customers, staff and staff from other shops as well. Then we prayed for him and all departed. Everyone was very close to tears, but we managed to keep it up beat and a happy time.

We decided to have a nice quiet evening in. Peter cooked us a lovely meal of salt beef, potatoes and veggies. Yvonne had her first try of fresh cooked soy beans and enjoyed them very much. After dinner we went for a short walk around the neighbour hood to see if we could see any foxes. Yvonne has been wanting to see one ever since she came. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to see one. Then it was back indoors for a quick game of Monopoly cards and then to bed. I can't believe that today will be her last day here. I have to work, but Peter is planning to take her on a boat ride along the Thames. Stay tuned for hopefully more photo's and updates.

Nothing Sarong with Us

2008-07-31T15:41:00.003+01:00

Sarong, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Yesterday we had a lovely day at the beach. It was another sunny day with temps up to and above 25oC. We went to a place called Joss Bay just outside Broadstairs in Kent. It has a nice sandy beach. We all took turns going in for a swim. At first Yvonne only went in very briefly and only just below her knees, but after lunch she and Peter played Frisbee on in the sea and she got wet up to her waist. In the evening we picked up a friend and headed to the Millennium Dome, now know as the O2, to watch a movie. It was a long day and late evening so it was straight to bed once we got home. Hence this entry is a day late.

New Kipling Bag

2008-07-30T08:17:00.003+01:00

RIMG1433, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

During our whirl wind tour of London, I managed to find a Kipling bag store. I've been looking at a similar bag to this one for months now and trying to rationalize buying it. I kept looking at it and then walking away. A few months ago I saw it in a 20% off sale and almost bought it, but again walked away. Then I saw it in the 50% off sale yesterday in the Kipling store and I just couldn't walk away again. The lady in the shop said it had only came in that morning. It must have been waiting for me. So now it has a nice new home!

Busy Day Walking London

2008-07-29T22:56:00.003+01:00

Well today we've had a very long and busy day. Peter wasn't feeling well, so it was just Yvonne and I that went up to Central London. We took the train from our area up into London Charing Cross. From there we walked over to Trafalgar Square and then down Whitehall do Horse Guards Parade. We got there just before 11am in time to see the changing of the guards. After we heading back up past Trafalgar Square and onto Leicester Square to see the statue of Charlie Chaplin that mentions our Great Grandfather's clog troupe the "Eight Lancashire Lads". Then I got very lost trying to find my way out of Leicester Square and ended up in China Town were we partook in some Chinese BBQ pork buns. We finally ended up on Shaftesbury Ave, so headed down to Piccadilly Circus and into the underground. Yvonne had made plans to meet up with her friend who works at the Canadian Embassy. After lunch we explored Oxford street for some shopping and found a lovely little side ally called St Christopher Place. We made our way to Hyde Park and crossed through it after a very short rest break on the desk chairs. Once on the other side of the park in Knightsbridge we quickly popped into Harrods to see the Princess Diana memorial and to use their luxury loos. By then we were completely exhausted so headed for home. We ended the day with a nice meal at a local pub. Now it's time for bed as it's another early morning tomorrow. Hope to upload more photos sometime soon.

Leeds Castle without Me

2008-07-28T21:22:00.003+01:00

Well even though I had to work today. Peter took Yvonne to visit Leeds Castle. This photo was taken in the grounds of the castle beside some very large plants. They look a bit like thistles, but are way too big. I have been told that she really enjoyed it there even though she didn't get to see the dog collar museum.

In the evening they picked me up from work and I got a ride home. Then we ordered from out our local Indian take away. We had Butter Chicken, Lamb Rogan, and Lamb with ginger. Yum! Then a relaxing evening sitting infront of the fan to try to keep cool.

Amended - After some research on line we have discovered that the Thistle like plant is called a Cardoon or a Articohoke Thistle.