Long way from home...

My proposed Millets trip was a total bust... in that the shop had gone!! So second best was nipping into our teeny weeny Cotton Traders concessions tucked away in the local garden centre. I grabbed myself a nice waterproof pair and went straight out to try them out! And I'm pleased to say they do exactly what it says on the tin... sorted.

Thanks to the New Forest Group on Flickr (and some judicious use of Google Earth) today I found a lovely lake that i'd not come across before. The absolute best thing about it was a small group of Mandarin Ducks living totally wild on it! The gorgeous bright plumage belongs to the drakes - the girls are much drabber and you can just see one hiding behind. Not a great pic as this is a huge crop... now where's that 400mm lens when you need one??

I leave you with Martha's pic of the day... she's a helpful little soul... she even helped me finish my pudding this evening!

Nippy...

It's officially back to being nippy again - there's even a risk of snow in the early part of next week so i've been forced to break out my lovely knitted hat again - my photograph today shows it up close and personal. It looks pretty strange to see it so close up because it's knitted with quite thin wool but this makes it look really chunky!

Of course Newfie's couldn't care less about a bit of cold -whatever the weather it's fine for a quick paddle... my Martha pic today is her giving her paws a jolly good lick to clean/dry them off afterwards....

I'm off out in the morning to pick myself up some nice sturdy walking boots - mine gave up a while ago and i've been making-do with trainers - not ideal in the wet and mud! I'm notorious for tripping/sliding over (often helped by a big do, it has to be said!) and the last straw was this afternoon after work when I nearly went over in a nice big floody puddle as I sneaked towards a herd of deer... not a good idea when you are wielding a great big camera/lens! Look out Millets - here I come!

Just another brick in the wall...

Just a quick post today to share my photos of the day - my 'regular' 365 is a macro shot of one of the bricks in the fireplace... this is a teeny little crevice in the brick, but this close up makes it look like a huge chasm.

If you're of a nervous disposition you might prefer not to know what this next pic is... but as it's Martha related you might be able to guess!

Everybody's free......

Tidying my desk I found a couple of 6x6 packs of Core'dinations and as it's nice to share the love, I thought I'd give them away to three lucky blog-readers. Leave me a comment and the randomizer will pick next week. If you've not tried Core'dinations you're going to love it - it's got a contrasting core so when you rip it or sand it you get the inside colour showing through - I love these little packs as they are perfect for using in your Cuttlebug etc or for chopping up to put through your dymo without having to sacrifice a whole 12x12 sheet!

Do you even need to ask?

With the dark depressing evenings continuing i'm yearning for a bit of colour in my photographs. The perfect candidate (at least for now) is this gorgeous Colorbox inkpad - especially gorgeous because it's barely been used so looks perfect!

Martha wasn't really up for posing tonight, so I had to grab this snoozy picture of her great big gob! I love how her huge jowels spread right out on the carpet!

Like most dogs she has various little words and phrases her (and Lola's) favourite at the moment is 'Are you hungry?' Of course the answer is ALWAYS yes, and is normally accompanied with a hilarious extreme head-tilt! So funny!

The best invention in history...

I set out this evening to take a wonderful still life shot of a succulent Gala apple for my picture of the day - I set up the 'cube' took a few shots and set them uploading to my laptop... all was well so I felt safe in donating the leftovers to a grateful recipient...

However on perusing my shots later, they could at best be described as poor! Clearly my attempts at photographing a healthy snack weren't meant to be... so I decided that it was only fair to turn to the dark-side for my next attempt... and suddenly everything fell into place... 3 frames and job done! I guess it would be wrong to fight fate!

The wonderful invention I referred to in my title wasn't as you might be thinking now, a double choc-chip muffin, although it is undeniably fantastic... the winner is sequin waste! It is quite possibly the most hideous thing you have ever laid eyes on, but add a bit of glue stick and some flocking and it makes the perfect reusuable mask. Because it's a bit wibbly and floppy you get a fabulous irregular effect without even trying! Love it!

She tried to vote.... but you try dialling with huge furry paws...

After visiting gorgeous Nevie-Rose Collins after work, I settled down to catch up with last nights Dancing On Ice - of course I had a little helper - Martha was glue to the screen! Sadly her favourite, Jeremy Edwards (seen here) was knocked out.

The new Studio Calico Kit has some bespoke papers only available in this kit - they are pretty fab and combined them with this fun pic of Martha from Friday.

Tagged...

I've been tagged by one of my favourite people (one of my faves because she takes lots of light hearted ribbing in the spirit it's intended and because she's an all round good gal!) Clare Curd... (she's also a pretty awesome cardmaker so make sure you go and visit her!

I like this tag because it's a bit different... What I have to do is go to folder 6 in my picture stash and post picture 6 in that folder. I'm don't have a shed-load of photos on my lappy, but I am a nightmare for renaming folders, instead leaving them as Windows creates them, so I went straight to 'New Folder 6' and picture 6 is this one..

You can tell I'm not cheating as it's a bit crap! You can even seen my jeans hanging on the radiator! And no... that's not a real arm is munching on... it's a Halloween pic. Of course if you're a burgler, then yes, it's a real arm!

I have to tag 5 more people to do this little task too...

Emma - fellow 365er
Debbie - fellow Newfie owner and scrapper... you have to check out her miniature horses!
Louise - Pro-Photographer and the next Carol Klein
Willow - Creativity Life DT member
Emma C - Great friend and new mummy! She might be a bit busy to do this at the mo... but it's a good excuse to link you to her blog to see her new bundle of joy!

It's a Mini Adventure...

There are a lot of people who seem to be much braver than me, (or is that foolhardy?) driving through nearly a foot of fast flowing water across the road isn't my idea of fun.. but other people giving it a go makes for a good photo-op!

It was so cold and rainy today that this pic (and a few more like it!) were taken through the car window.. safe and sound from the elements!

After a nice trip out for a little swim the girls look knackered this evening, Martha just wants to snuggle up with her hear on my lap and Lola is snoring (and not so quietly either!) Lola just about roused herself for a quick picture earlier...

Whereas Martha couldn't even open her little eyes! Bless her cotton socks!

I'm in the mood...for spring!

Somehow everything seems so much more happy and optimistic with a touch of sun, a blue sky and the first day for what seems like forever that you don't need 2 jumpers!

A lovely drive and walk in the New Forest in the sunshine was just the ticket today, even the foresty creatures, ponies, donkeys and deer to name but a few seemed thrilled to have chance to bask in the sun and dry/thaw out properly. Combined with lighter evenings it's really got me in the mood for spring... if it would only hurry up and arrive!

As much as the girls adore a swim and a stroll, afterwards you can't beat a visit to the local Pet shop - their favourite is Pampurred Pets, as they love the staff and have a great hit-rate on begging for freebie treats!

The girls tend to treat the 'pick n mix' food and biscuits as an all you can eat buffet, munching on biscuits, mixer, as well as rabbit and fish food!

Both of the girls have visited since they were puppies, even before they were able to go out for walkies so I had to carry in a giant puppy, nearly breaking my back in the process! Lot's of cuddles from staff and fellow shoppers resulted and it was the perfect socialisation process... and it certainly worked, they head straight behind the counter when they arrive and site nicely for chewies!

And I leave you with a cute pic of the troll doing her favourite thing... having a little woof!

Run for your lives...

In a slightly Godzilla moment, how enormous does Martha look from this angle!? I love this pic... and with the help of my shiny, new Selphy i've even already scrapped it! Surely that's a record!

For my pic of the day today I grabbed a pic of two of my essential tools, my dymo and my lovely pink stapler that I got for Christmas - I can't live without either of these two!

Not mushroom...

With a 365 there's always going to be a day when you decide to photograph your dinner, or in my case a bit of it... I love shooting toadstools, but can honestly say this is the first time it's been one i'm about to eat!

Another thing about a 365 is that there will be lots of days when you don't get to see daylight so i've decided to stop moaning about it and embrace it... so I was out in the pitch black tonight with Martha and a Speedlite. It's kind of like a big version of my bracelet shot from yesterday!

And it would be wrong not to share a page using one of my pictures this month. A lovely snuggly pic of my favourite girls!

Shifty...

Yet another dark and windy evening meant more indoor pictures so I thought it was time to break out my cheapy Maplins studio cube thingy for the first time. Although I'm not really happy with it, I feel like it's a good start!

Of course Martha having fun is much more within my photography comfort-zone.

And a page to finish with today - I love October Afternoon and am happily using up all my bits and pieces at the moment - I find it really usable and can't wait to get my inky mitts on the new CHA releases!

Historic...

It goes without saying that today was an historic day... so apart from saying I found the inauguration speech hugely inspiring I'm not going to ramble on and on about it... However I did have company watching the BBC coverage - Martha loves TV and while she watched intently I grabbed a quick shot for my picture of the day.

There's a new challenge on Scrap Schemes - do pop on over and play along  - it's a wonderful colour palette that I found great to use. My page is all BasicGrey Ambrosia patterne paper - I used a Doodlebug frame stamp on the papers and cut out 6 to book end my picture.

A dark day...

Today I've had to say goodbye to a good friend... the perfect comfy pair of jeans that you just know that you'll never find another pair quite the same again. It wasn't dramatic or disasterous, I finally just admitted they were a little threadbare and not really fit for purpose... I guess this means i'll have to trot off to Next to attempt to find my next best friend...

Talking of friendly... they say there's nothing as friendly as a wet dog, but a slobbery one comes a close second!

Combining a big ol' wodge of photos waiting to be scrapped from my 365's and an almost instantaneous fix from the new Selphy, I churned out a few pages this weekend including this one - I actually don't much like the papers that I used on this one so sliced them up nice and small! I'm on a bit of a drive to use some of my old stash at the moment, I want to have a nice clear out of my craft area so I can buy a few organisational goodies in Ikea next month. The Prima's and the tape, I've had for an age, but I still love them, so I'm happy to drag those back out into the light!

Dig deep...

After a couple of mild days (and very, very wet nights) everything in the garden seems to be greening up, I think even the grass is growing! All the wonderful lush greens in the mosses around the pond are pretty inspiring - I want to dig out all my sumptuous green supplies and get scrapping. Talking of digging I think it might also be time to start on the veg plot!

I adore this picture of Martha that I took in the fading light in the living room this afternoon. I adore the contrast and  her to-die-for expression -love that newf.

Weekends are tiring...

...especially if you're a little bear called Martha, who's had lots of fun playing and paddling today... a snooze is the only way to recharge your batteries ready for more action!

Spotted some gorgeous Fallow deer while out today - they were a bit far off for my 70-200, and I think I really could do with some longer glass... shame money doesn't grow on trees!!! I reckon I need something at least 400mm... think I'd better get saving!!

Keeping up...

Just a quick post today for my pic of the day - one of my favourite trinkets - my gorgeous chicken toast rack.

And serious-faced Martha Moo - love her cute little whiskers!

More Moo for your Moolah...

I love Moo. They are a cool company that produce loads of cool photo products - the best thing being the Moo cards. Skinny little photo cards that you can either use as business cards, change of address cards or just as a cool photo size for scrapbook pages - I've just finished a project for the next magazine using them and this project from a little while back used them too.

If you'd like to give Moo a chance there is now 20% off for each new customer if you quote the code - T3GK9W

Over excited?

Yesterday I learnt some very exciting news... the long awaited Southampton Ikea opens next month! But no matter how exciting, I still had a bit of a sulk on because seemingly everyone I knows has had a catalogue stuffed through their door... in our little village I wasn't really surprised - we bearly get the free newspapers, so when tonight the letter box went and a huge thud was heard, I just KNEW what it would be...

The girls were less than impressed and glared at me as I skipped about the house wielding the new arrival, then quickly went back to soppy nose kissing!

Teeny weeny..

Not a phrase that's often directed to my girls, but this fella certainly fits the bill. Another day without seeing daylight as we slave over hot PC's to put the next Creativity Life magazine to bed so I grabbed a pic indoors again tonight for my 365. I'm really liking mono conversions on the 'round the house' stuff - makes a ho-hum subject a little bit more inspiring.

My real girls are a little bit more animated and are so funny when they play - all play growling and lots of ear munching, resulting in two very slobbery faces!

I've also got a page to share... and it features my Martha pic from the 2nd... great to have a big ol' supply of pictures to scrap!

Double Trouble...

With a 365 it's inevitable that during the winter months you are going to need to take lots of pictures indoors... and to that end it's only a matter of time before the breakfast shot... so here for you viewing pleasure are my morning Shreddies... or more accurately in these hard-credit crunch times... Malt Wheats from Morissons...they're half the price don't you know!

As much as a 50mm is a must have, an ultra-wide lens is great fun to have in your camera bag. Mine is the Sigma 10-20mm and I took my 'Martha' pic using it today. It's the same lens that I used for my Jan 1st pic - so you get sensible landscapes and fun super wide candids all with one lens. Today my pic features both of my girls - I think Lola's felt a bit left out of pictures so muscled in with her sister today. Check out all that gorgeous slobber!

My page to share today features Martha settiling down to watch TV... using my leg as a perfect head-rest. The cute little felt-embellishments are Chatterbox. I love the cute scallopy border especially.