Three Things...

Three things that I'm loving at the moment... the first is above!

1. A friend at work recommended the 'Joco Looks Back' album by the amazing Jonathan Coulton and I dutifully downloaded from iTunes... and I wasn't disappointed! The whole album is awesome, but with Christmas galloping towards us the track above seemed apt to share.. but you HAVE to check out Re: Brains as well!

2. Graze.com. I was lucky to get the heads up on a code for a free box from the Graze. Basically you sign up and once a week (or however often you like) you get a wonderful little box containing nuts, seeds, fresh and dried fruit in the post. I've signed up to get mine delivered to work and it certainly caused quite a stir in the office! The selection was wonderful and I wasn't even tempted to visit the office tuck box, instead tucking into dried raspberries, spicy almonds and more!

Even better, if you'd like to try a free box, I have a code to share too! Simply sign up and use code - DQHY7HHA to get your first box free!

3. How I met your Mother. E4's new comedy offering is pure class... I'd go so far as to say it's MUCH better than Friends (especially when you've seen all the episode 25 times!) The highlight has to be Neil Patrick Harris (he was Dooge Howser MD back in the day!) who is simply hilarious! I urge you to check it out

Bad, bad blogger...

I'm trying my hardest to get up to date at the moment, I'm overwhelmed with things to do and just not finding the time to do the really fun stuff (like scrap or update my blog!), but I'm going to try! Ironically the clocks going back (which is my most hated time of year) is meaning I'm finding a bit of scrappy time!

 After all this time without blogging I've got a few pages saved up to share so here goes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's a bit of Scrap Schemes in there as well as some True Friend layouts which I've just about managed to keep up to date with! I'm pretty sure I've got a few more banging about that with a bit of luck I'll share soon!

I'm happy to report that I'm still managing to keep up with my 365 photo project. All these can be found via the little Flickr gadget over on the right hand side. Of course the dark evenings are making this all the more challenging again now - today's pic of the gorgeous Acer in the front garden was taken in the pitch black!

With Halloween looming I'm hoping for some good weather on Saturday so I can get out in the garden to grab some pics of the girls with strategically placed Pumpkins! I managed to grow one of my own this year, so I'm especially proud! I definately need some up to date Halloween pics to use up some lovely themed stash that I just can't resist buying!

Until next time....

X-Factor Returns!

I'm not ashamed to admit that I love the X-Factor and I think tonight (on the very first show) we may have seen the winner!

Dropped off the face of the earth!

120809 Jowls
Originally uploaded by *karlotta*

It's been a while, so in a vain attempt to get back to regular blogging I thought i'd share a pic of the Brown Bear. As usual Martha loves having her photo taken and gets quite excited hence a bit of barking and plenty of jowl flapping!

I've just had the September issue of Creativity magazine hit my desk and it looks fantastic in the flesh! It won't hit the shops for another couple of weeks yet, but keep an eye out then for it!

Went out for a much needed evening out with the team last night, we enjoyed a yummy mexican meal and plenty of raucous laughter to go along with it! Of course I forgot my camera so perhaps thankfully there is no evidence!

Movie Trash

This has got the worst film ever... fantastic!!

Twit Twoo!

Another new scheme at Scrap Schemes has rushed round and this is my page inspired this time around. It was funny how several chose to use this sort of decorative shape somewhere on our pages (does this shape have a name???) I guess great minds think alike!

I've been incredibly busy the last couple of weeks - getting stuck into writing/creating for the next issue of Creativity Life magazine (the current issue is just out BTW - now every other month inside the pages of Creativity Magazine) hence my sporadic blogging recently! I'm trying to fill the gaps with a bit of Twittering though (there is a link to follow me over in the side bar). Twitter is rather addictive and while I don't have the luxury of an iPhone (or the much lusted after Nokia G1 that my brother keeps tauntung me with!) the next best thing is Tweetdeck, a desktop application that manages your feeds a treat! I think my favourite Tweeter at the moment is James Moran who wrote last nights awesome third episode of Torchwood : Children of Earth. I won't post any spoilers here, but suffice to say if you've not seen it you NEED to get you bum over to iPlayer to catch up!

Feeling hot, hot, hot!

I'm relieved to say that after several days of sweltering heat down here is deepest darkest Dorset, there is a bit of a breeze to be felt today. I know it's terribly British to moan about the heat (after moaning about the rain and cold the rest of the year) but that's just the way it goes. I guess if I was able to sit back at home and enjoy Wimbledon, it would all be ok, but as it is I'm in a VERY hot office so it's not so much fun! Although we did have a treat today with a mini company-BBQ for lunch! Yummy!

The girls have of course been feeling the heat too, they've been drifiting about either propped in front of the fan, or wingeing to have their paddling pool filled up!

The pic on the page below was from a couple of weeks ago, but you get the gist! (the page is new though! Yay for me for getting it scanned!)

Of course a bit of sun means I could get out in the garden for a few pictures!

 

  

  

And out in the Forest of course!

 

I've also got more news on the veg front! Since I last posted I've been enjoying homegrown new potatoes, carrots, turnip, peas, more mange tout, radishes and salad leaves! My cabbages are beginning to get to triffid proportions though, I'm a bit scared to go out and water! My pumpkin is also making a bid for world domination! Soon it wil cover most of the worlds' surface!

Not so deadly...

There's all sorts going on the the garden at the mo... the potatos are in bloom and nearly ready to dig up... (but I am slightly alarmed how much like Deadly Nightshade they look!)

The pond is in bloom...

And of course some indeterminate shrubs...

And of course I grabbed a few pics of Martha Moo enjoying the sun...

 

  

Talking of which, her ladyship features on the docrafts site this week as Project of the Week. It features the scrummy yum WRM Madame Royale range that is now gracing the warehouse! Do pop on over and leave me a comment if you have a min... it makes it all worthwhile!!

There's another page of Martha at Scrap Schemes... the new challenge went live a little while ago and this is my offering...

Update Fail...

The golden rule of blogging is to never apologise for a blogging break! It just draws attention to the fact that your posting has been lax of late.. but as I never take my own good advice, I humbly apologise!

I'm been on a week's holiday from work and I do have a couple of pages to share once I pull my finger out and get them scanned but in the meantime here's my page from the new challenge at A True Friend!

This time round I wangled sponsorship of the challenge from Papermania along with kits as prizes for two lucky participants! Do pop on over and join in for a chance to win! The challenge is about using a quote on your page... I'm afraid mine isn't terribly high-brow... it's a line from Monty Python - The Life of Brian!

A few photos to share also today from my week lounging (yeah right!) in the sun inlcuding a lovely lunch at a Forest pub!

A bit of sun also allowed some pics of the local flora and fauna... including some deadly nightshade!

a foxglove...

some new arrivals of the equine kind...

plus Mrs Mandarin...

And of course the girls... although I only seem to have Martha pics to share today! I promise Lola is fine too!

My veg is also going from strength to strength with Mange Tout and Strawberries being the stars of the moment!

I'll try my hardest to be back soon with some crafty offerings!!

Terrible Twos?

A little while ago I invested in a small (honest!!) pile of the newest Sassafras papers and associated bits and I haven't really made any real efforts to get stuck in... so the last couple of pages I've created are using these scrummy ranges - this one being for the new ScrapSchemes that has just gone live.

The rows of plants/trees were just perfect for the scheme this time around.

I'm also continuing to make great in roads into the chipboard number pack that came with a Studio Calico kit recently as well as diggin out some ancient 7-Gypsies tapes!