Unpacked...

There is a new challenge at Scrap Schemes - here's the scheme...

And here's my page... of course you'll need to visit the blog to see the rest of the DT's work (and to check out the DT call!!)

I finally got around to unpacking my new crafty aquisition... and very nice it is too! I especially love the SD function of it, which means it doesn't need to be hooked up to my computer in order to cut! Genius!

Old Friends and good friends...

The new True Friend Challenge went live this morning - it's all about our pets friends, and of course Martha's best friend can only be Lola (and vice versa!)

My page is using mostly American Crafts - lots of it from last months Studio Calico kit.

Talking of friends I've got a few pictures to share from the last few days - the first of which is the two girlies having a cuddle!

The weather held over the weekend and it was great to get out and about (the rain has arrived with a vengance now though!) in the New Forest

Martha made friends with one of the cows in the Forest...

But not these ones... don't fancy those horns close up!

Much safer was this lovely textured bark I came across while having a wander...

Found this camera this evening, lurking at the back of a drawer. It's an old APS film camera and I suspect it has a half used roll inside it, but it's impossible to tell as the battery is dead. So I punted a quid or so on ebay for a new one and if it works I'll be trotting down the developers to investigate some lost prints I think I last used it in about 1997/8 so it'll be interesting to see...

I also found an empty film that might be worth a go if it all goes smoothly! I seem to remember the prints were pretty good from it so fingers crossed!

Weird?...

So I was chatting to a fellow (self confessed) Sci-fi geek today and we came to a rather strange conclusion...

We were talking about the new Star Trek Film that stars Zachary Quinto (here he is for those who don't know him...enjoy!)

I admited that I had develoved a bit of a fan-girl crush on Mr Quinto's alter ego... Sylar (from Heroes) which is all well and good, except in the series he's a crazed murderer with wierd and violent special powers! I thought I must be a bit strange until she admitted that she saw the appeal of another TV murderer - Dexter Morgan (Michael C.Hall) from the series Dexter.... So are we the only two? Or is Bad really Good?

Scrap Schemes wants you!

Yes.... that's right.... you! Scrap Schemes are looking for some new blood to join their merry band of scrappers and cardmakers - pop on over to check out the call! It could be you!

Happy Day...

No matter what life/people throw at you a little bit of blue sky can't fail but to help just a little bit... so when I spotted this gorgeous Honesty plant in the garden AND realised the sky was still beautiful and blue, I knew I had to grab a few pictures before the critters squished it! You could almost believe this was somewhere much more exotic than Dorset!

And even though I've not had the time/inclination/energy to scrapbook at all for ages this combination of shades is pretty darn inspiring! These are the colours pulled out via photoshop...how scrummy do they look!?

Talking of gorgeous colours, here's Martha reclining on her favourite rug last night - is it wrong that I primarily picked red because it coordinated perfectly with both the dogs?

The weekend just passed saw some gorgeous weather - I was so happy to get out and about with the girls and in the garden - of course the girles got as wet as possible...

and it seems the Forest creatures had much the same idea...

I have actually completed one scrapbook page this week, but can't share as it's for 'A True Friend' - but I do have a cheeky close up on one yummy element -

These scrummy mesh flowers (and the papers ones...) are new 'Wild Flowers' from Imaginisce and have rekindled my long-standing love of flowers on layouts, especially when you paint a pretty ordinary plain wooden brad with Smooch inks to finish it off! Yum!

Discovery...

My veggies are continuing to thrive - these are my runner beans peaking through the surface of the compost... won't be long till they are outside!

A friend has very kindly given me a Raspberry cane - I can't wait to get it in the ground and start willing it to fruit!

Of course once they come they'll be in danger of being scoffed straight off the cane by this 'little' person!

After my ramblings about the Smooch Inks, I thought they would make a perfect pic of the day! How scrummy do they look??

I've just found a little stash of quick pages using BasicGrey Archaic that I put together in one afternoon but never got round to uploading anywhere at the time! - I really do love this range and not just the cutie dinosaurs - although they are my favourites!!

Birthday Girl...

Just a quick post to let you know that there is a new challenge over at the Scrap Schemes - the fabulous thing about Scrap Schemes is that it's totally open how you use the inspiration to create a page and the varied pages from our DT show exactly that...

This was the Scheme...And this was my page...

The little trees at the bottom are coloured with a fabulous new shimmery ink from Clearsnap called Smooch - they come in cute little bottles and paint on like nail varnish, but with a fab fine nib for detail and highlighting... it's a great alternative to Glimmer Mists that I struggle to get on with due to their cloggy nature. Look out for soon in a store near you at the beginning of May.

Also today... this little girl (pictured at the weekend) was 5! Happy Birthday Lola!

Presidential Pup...

Yesterday saw the official reveal of the new 'First Dog' that has moved into the White House with the Obama family.

Bo is a Portuguese Water Dog and I think he'll make a great friend for Malia and Sasha - it looks like he's already making himself at home in the White House.

Of course another breed of water dog has famous presidential links too... President Rutherford Hayes had a Newfy called Hector, President Ulysses Grant also had a Newf who was called Faithful, President James Buchanen's Newf was called Lara and Robert Kennedy's (John's brother) Newf was called Brumus.

I suspect that deep down that the Obama's wanted a Newf too... but with Malia's allergies, the non-shepping PWD was a safer choice!

First Harvest!

It's only early days but i'm really getting into the whole 'grow your own' thing... I've now got Broad Beads, Oriental Salad, Sprouts and Purple Sprouting Broccoli happily residing in my lovely new raised bed - safely tucked away from big stompy Newfy feet - as well as Carrots, Beetroot and Spring Onions in tubs, plus Peas, Runner Beans, Tomatoes, Pumpkin, Peppers, Swiss Chard and more salad in the mini greenhouse! But most exciting of all was my very first harvest of the year! My first yummy scrummy mushroom!

Contrary to the predictions - the weather over the weekend was pretty respectable! I even managed a couple of walkies in shorts!

The girlies had a ball having a bit of a swim...

I snapped some pics of some of the New Forest residents including this adorable foal with his cute white face!

Of course there were the classic Easter moments... one or two chocolatey goodies...

The obligatory bunny ears on the dog... (will continue to try to get the perfect pic!)

But i'm not so sure Martha has REALLY 'got' which holiday it was... as festive penguin made a repeat appearance!!

Don't forget there is a new challenge over at 'A True Friend'... please do pop over and check out the pages and of course join in!!

Rain, rain, go away...

I'm typing this hoping that the pouring rain outside is going to do the decent thing and ease off (or stop if it had any conscience!) for the Easter weekend... I know it's highly unlikely but a girl can hope!

So in the more likely scenario that it'll stay wet, I've made an effort to get up the Forest a few times when the sun WAS shining after work.

The girls have had some nice paddles...


and I spotted my first New Forest foal...


I also grabbed this shot of Martha in the garden - it's the result of my disasterous toy-throwing... poor furry mammoth ended up in the pond, but never fear because Martha embraced her water-rescue heritage and merrily fished him out.



I've got one of my pages as project of the week on the 'do crafts' site this week. I don't get the chance to 'play' as much as before at work but it's noce to do the odd bit of web/mag work here and there! This page features papers from a new Papermania dog-themed kit. I don't actually use themed papers often, but having said that this one has lots of papers that aren't necessarily doggy themed so are great for every day too. I've also used some of the gorgeous Chocolate Box Core'dinations and the scalloped edged PM cardstock - the scallopy frames are from a PM Birthday stamp set... it's definately my favourite at the moment! The next page is 'just for fun' - always the best excuse - lovely new Sassafras papers and a big wodge of scrummy Thickers!