Lovely post!!!!

Love parcels!!! Wonderful Basic Grey Fruitcake paperthese are really LUSH warm and fruity colours as the name suggests and no-one does 'plain' colours better than Basic Grey
Also these divine stamps from Autumn Leaves/Rhonna Farrer that I received from Papermaze I've already used the flourishes on my 'Le Singe" Layout. Glad my bestest pal archi liked her 'Build a Flower" stamps...HAPPY BIRTHDAY Archi!!!!!!!!

Scrapping is Back!!!

I've not felt in the mood to scrap for ages now- but I seem to have my mojo back *beam*
However I did these two of our trip to France, using the gorgeous Cosmo Cricket papers and the Framedangoes fromBox Room Booty and I'm busy doing one of Little Miss Acorn.

I am the PIG TAMER!!!!

I've always liked piggies! Back in my teenage days (many moons ago!!) I collected a few piggies- iddy biddy ones.
When we visited Cerza - the animal park in Lisieux France in August I met my first Vietnamese Pot bellied piggy- he was just as is names suggests, pot bellied it was dragging on the floor!!!!
Well I tickled him about the ear and next thing his collapsed on his side for me to tickle said pot belly!!!! Cute and VERY funny!!!
Well we took a trip out to a Milletts Farm. They have fabby cakies, produce, toys for kiddies, a restaurant, animals AND a craft shop!!! Something for ALL the family!
Well after a sausage roll each (a bit of a tradition in our family dating back to when I was small!!) we set off to see the creatures.
They have a lovely selection of very tolerant animals; sheep, goats, guinnea pigs, geese, cows, pigs, peacocks (great for the feathers!!), swans and alpaca (who look like they have some bendy disease of the neck!!)
Well I walked past Mr. Piggy and he was fuffling in the grass- so I said 'hello'. Well he came over to see me and I tickled his ear....collapse one pig!!!! He then went to sleep in front of me....I am the pig tamer...or maybe the Pig borer!!!!
Well we had to leave him and he grunted nicely as we headed for cakes!

Technology- Grrrrrrrr!

Yesterday I woke up early but not to worry I thought- I'll get online and browse. There's nothing nicer than a little bit of time to yourself- a cup of tea and a bit of forum time catching up and chatting with pals.
Well my fave site wouldn't load- odd I thought, as it kept timimg out.
Empty Cache
Reset Cookies
Reboot (several times)
Nothing, Nada, Nyet *insert VERY cross face here*
I swapped browsers- I tried THREE for goodness sake.
Jiggled Network settings
Checked passwords and security.
Nothing, Nada, Nyet
Email ping pong ensued with the girls in the know- they were none the wiser either.
Was it my new version of Firefox maybe- well no as I'd surfed fine the previous day and my other 2 browsers were not connecting to this site either.
I was running low on options and getting rather desperate to see my pals!

Finally it connected....why???? I HAVE NO IDEA...it just did!!!

I re-registered because of course the site would NOT recognise my reset password and off I went. Happy again......
.....until this morning....
YUP same old, same old....

Forum gals....miss you *waves sadly* will see you later...maybe *sniffs*

Awash in a Sea of Yarn!!!

Well I cast on 129 stitches for my Debbie Bliss cardi and I knitted 7 whole rows.....
then I messed up...I blame Captain Jack Harkness....he distracted me!!
Well rather than unpick the offending row I thought I'd unravel the whole lot and start again.
To help my confuddled mind I have a row counter and some stitch markers winging their way to me!!
So I will be strting again soon- thanks to all my knitty pals for their advice and encouragement....wubs you girlies!!!

Halloween ATC swap.

I'm on my second ATC swap already...could this be a new obsession??!
Knowing me- yes probably!!
I loved doing these and amazingly for me I finished them @ whole daysbefore the deadline!!!
I'm really looking forward to seeing what the other girls have done and hope they like my offreings. Swap out is this week *grins with anticipation*

Emily Falconbridge Book - ALL finished

Here is my 'Love Book" that I finsihed from Emily Falconbridge's class last month- I've had such FUN making this and decorating it :O) Buttons, beads and a shell heart added!

This week I have mostly been eating....

...M&S Raspberry yoghurt with Fruit Shrewsbury biscuits crumbled in it....YUMMERS!!!!

These are a few of my favourite tools!!!!

Not perhaps the classic version of the song but apt this week for me!
Yesterday my Crop-a-Dile arrived from Happy Scrappers it is FANTABULOUS!!!!
It easily punches holes in paper, card, leather, material *wonders about piercing belly button* and SILENTLY sets eyelets and snaps.
Now there have been other setters that purported to be silent but made rather alarming noises that ranged from sharp pings to rifle shots!!
This beauty however is totally silent and DOES NOT require arms like Arnold Schwartzenegger to operate it!!
The Crop-a-Dile it's brilliant- it does what it says on the box!!

WARNING, WARNING, WILL ROBINSON!!!!

Well Ok NOT Will Robinson more like ME!!!!!
So I visited the wool shop on Tuesday to buy button thread, eyelets (for the Coco Bag) and black twill to attach handle to the Noni bag.
That was the plan anyway.......*fidgets guiltily*

It was the Debbie Bliss's fault her yarn SPOKE to me....' buy us...buy us" it said. "oh and a pattern book and some needles whilst you're at it"...
..well I was brought up to be polite and it wasn't in me to argue!!!
This is my pattern to be knitted in the wool above.

ATC time

Last month I took part in my FIRST ATC swap on 'The Pad' with Ginger, Jan, PanicMum (and hostess with the mostess!), Lyzzy, Angela and Sarah.
the theme was 'What's in a Name' each ATC had to have the name of the recipient somewhere on the card.
Here are the BEAUTIFUL ATC's I received *big Beam*

please note the colour choices and the liberal use of glitter- you girls know me TOO WELL!!!

Let's get this bag finished!!!

It was time to wrap this project up- eyelets were needed LARGE ones!
First it was hole poking time- always a good stress reliever! It looked slightly odd at this time- a little like a new effort by the BBC workshop to design a new monster to terrorise Dr Who??

Now it was time to decipher how to use the eyelet tool- part A into part C above part G....PART G???!!! Out came the mighty mallet- I love that Big Boy!!!
Six eyelets and one thumb bashed later- it was i-cord threading time.....

.....tied off and added my Noni flower and I was FINISHED!!!!!

I wore the bag to school that afternoon as I was wrangling the littlies in a paint-down!!! And bless my three observant bunnies they all noticed and said nice things taht made me all warm and fuzzy inside- I WUBS you babas-OOodles XXXXXX

I've never FELT better!!!

*cue canned laughter for dreadful joke*
Well the 95 degrees has done it- I now have a felty, fuzzy Coco bag!
Washine machine nearly melted in the process but it was worth it!
Not as felted as the Cascade 220 I used for my Noni bag but the colours are wonderful!
I'm a happy knitter!

The Force is strong with this One!

Noro bag vs. 60 degree wash round two!!!
Result:-
Slightly more felty and more fuzzy bag.

OK it's going in for a 95 degree wash this time *evil grin*
I will not be defeated!!!!!

Resistance is Futile!!!

Well that's what the Borg would say if they were into Felting!!
My Coco bag went in last nigh and after 2 1/2 hours came out again.
The flower I had in there and the i-cord were bother perfect- the bag was not as I'd hoped.
After investigations on line and friendly chats with fellow felters (thanks Debbie and Frenchiejo!) I have discovered that Noro Kureyon is a cunning fox in the world of wool. Apparently it can resist felting!!!! To me this implies a mind at work but apparently this is wishful thinking on my part! It is only the scales on the wool at work- so there you go!
Anyhoo it's barely 7am and the bag is back in for another 60 degree wash- what can I say, I was keen!!!!
Here's how it looked last night :-

Hopefully it will be more felty later today!

Felting TIME!!!!

Well my Coco bag is finished- the extra Noro arrived yesterday morning and I had knitted almost all of it up by the evening- I am a KNITTING MANIAC!!!!
I am very pleased with myself because I cast off the bag in an i-cord styee- new skill for me!
This morning I sat and knitted 9 feet of I-cord for the straps and found it very easy- it was only 2 stitches after all and it appeared really fast!
So I am ready to throw it into the washine machine and get FELTING!!!! YAY!!!
This is the magic part- also a bit nerve wracking too!!

Seemingly enless yards of i-cord!!!!
And is it a bag...is it a hat....well someone has made up her mind what it is!!!!

Mission to Scrap COMPLETE!!!!

I have to admit I've not scrapped for yonks- just haven't felt like it !
So the last two afternoons I have been working on the 'Love Book' that was taught by Emily Falconbridge at the crop I went to at Linz's Shop
I have to say I am REALLY pleased with the finished product and I feel I learnt LOADS.
I learned to loosen up a bit- I painted , glittered, sanded, doodled and WROTE without fear in this mini book!
I'm really pleased and had a brilliant day with Kirsty, Emily, Roz, Greyparrot and Rudishoes- looking at the book brings back all the warm fuzzy feeling I experienced that day- *wub you all*

/a>

Noni Bag NEARLY there!

Yesterday my handles arrived for my Noni bag so I can finish and begin to use my bag *HOORAY*
So if you other Noni Baggers out there are looking for the lucite handles for your Evening Noni bag then Try Here!
I'm planning to further embellish the flowers with a bit of extra sparkle- I think soem seed beads and/or sequins in the centres should do the trick- will let you know how it goes!

Production Halted

EEK!!!! I ran out of Noro wool on Tuesday Evening.
I then spent Wednesday trying to track down more of the No. 159 shade. I thought I'd found some but sadly had an email this morning that none was available until NEXT week - EEK again!!! (sorry I'm beginning to sound like a mouse)
Many more phonecalls followed and just as I was beginning to despair I found The Craft Cottage who came to my rescue and are sending me two balls of Noro *big grin*

Getting Knitty with it!!

I admit it all this talk of knitting amongst my friends has set me off again!
This morning my Noro wool arrived from Get Knitted and it is super lush! Riot of colours or WHAT??!!! I thought it would be great to tone with the colours I love to wear in the autumn, browns, moss greens and purples and plums...well in fact I would wear these colours ALL year around except velvet jackets and cord skirts tend to make one a 'little warm' in the Summer!!!
So I have finally decided to choose theCocoa Bag from the Felted Handbag Workshop website. So this will be my first time making iCords (why is EVERYTHING prefixed by 'i' these days??!!!)for the straps....I'm imagining Knitting Nancy!!

Tickling the Tastebuds

I like beer.....in fact I love beer. The taste, the variety...there's a beer for every type of meal just as much as with wine. However lately we've been sticking to our fave Becks. It's was time to explore further a field!

I ventured into the very nice Bottle Shop in town and was met with a wonderful array of beers *happy dance*
I chose four for us to sample over the weekend and these were the choices:-


Clouded Yellow was, as the name suggests cloudy beer in the style of a wheat beer and it was delicious. Light, fresh and full of spicy flavours great for drinking any time!

Hook Norton Charter is one of our local beers. It was darker in colour and had more caramel flavours. A more robust beer best for drinking with winter dishes like casseroles and stew!

Hazy Days was another beer in the wheat beer style with sediment. It was rich amber in colour and was robust in flavour but refreshing too. It could be easily drunk alone or equally it would go well with many dishes.

Butty Back reminded me of ginger beer. It was fizzy and spicy, a definite winter warmer.

Our favourites were Clouded Yellow and Butty Back.
Happy drinking!

Autumnal Beauty.

It was a glorious day yesterday and inspired by Bill Oddie and Autumn Watch we headed into the countryside!
To be honest we are surrounded by counrtside but we wanted somewhere safe for the sproggies to lollop in a carefree manner!
Bernwood Forest is lovely- it has been planted with deciduaous trees to create a habitat suitable for many species- as opposed to the conifer trees who's habitat suits only Monsters of the Night!!!
There are loads of oak trees which we all loved. I cannot get over how like a little carved wooden bowl an acorn cup is- just magical. My own little Acorn is going to use some in her dollies house!


We saw berries and butterflies (yes still!), dragonflies, pheasants and toadstools. There was a wonderful musty smell around the toadstools that to me sums up 'the woods'there are so many different types to see. We photographed many of them and we will have to delve into the Toadstool Encyclopedia to discover their names!


We found a wonderful mossy area of the forest that MUST have been a fairy glade it was just perfect!. It was complete with tree trunk castles and mysterious pools beneath upturned trees. We left quietly!!

Kill or Cure??!!

Those horse pills and I do not get on.
I'm saying no more!

Attack of the Lurg!

Been feeling a bit grots the last three days.
This morning I got up and was doing the usual morning stuff to 'drive my piggies to market" and was rather short of breath.
Now I don't know about you but I rather rely on my ability to breathe- call me ungrateful but I do rather take them old bags of wind for granted.
I will 'fess up now and say I don't have the healthiest lungs in the world- having been cursed (snicker!) with Asthma for a LONG time.
To be honest I never used to take having 'A' seriously and soldiered on with wheezes and things for years. However recently I have been treated to something of a miracle in the form of a NEW inhaler.
Just the name conjures images of the Formula 1 version of inhalers.

'The TURBOHALER"

Whenever I say TURBOHALER I have to resist the urge to go tan-tan-ta-da in a superhero music type way!!!
BUt TURBO is sure is....my blue 'haler is a thing of the past....don't use it...don't need to! FREE!!!!
So that's why it was even more of a shock to be short of breathe today-had TURBO failed me??

Anyway a trip to the lovely Doc and I find that Turbo is doing his job (see it's becoma a 'he' now...why do i do that??!) but he is being hampered by.......

.....The Evil Chest Infection.....BOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

The upshot is I am REALLY pooped and I have horse pills to take for ten days...I kid you not they are HORSE pills.

Still it means I will be up and about and being my usual annoying self VERY soon- HOORAY!!!!

An Inky Weekend

On Saturday I got up WAY Too early for the weekend and set off to Stroud in Glos.
I navigated FANTASTICALLY- a minor miracle for me and I arrived promptly at 9am.
It was wonderful to walk in and be greeted by Kirsty Wiseman and Linz!
Kirsty leaned back and declared I was 'too bloody tall" well I did warn you I was freakishly tall!!
I soon met up with the lovely Greyparrot in the kitchen and we nattered away and I admired her Millionaire's Shortbread she'd made. Admiration turned to deepest joy when I chowed down on said shortbread- heavenly! The Maltezer cake by LindaB and several cups of coffee kept me buzzing for what was a brilliant day!!

I was lucky enough to sit between Roz and her well stacked AMM tote (apologies for delving into it accidentally- I DIDN'T remember buying Heidi Swapp sandpaper but I was happy to accept it was mine!!!) and Rudishoes who was such a giggle. Rudi I am REALLY sorry for MAKING you tell your deeply personal and embarassing story to the whole room. I hope the glitter you won will heal those wounds.
I'm shameful really I am!

Well Miss Wiseman put us through our paces making a superb 6x6 minibook from corrugated card, CD jewell cases and cardstock all deeply weathered and textured.
Anyone who knows me knows i LURVE texture and inkiness and we really set too with the black paint. Amazing how well applied acrylic paint turns acetate from flat clear plastic into a classy and cool grungy frame for a photo.

I admit I've been a little scrapping challenged of late but Kirsty's class has kick started the desire to scrap! So Kirsty - THANK YOU babes!

Next is was Emily Falconbridge's class. Emily has appeared in the beloved Autumn Leaves 'Designing with" series of books and has a funky eclectic style that i just adore. As a published scrapper Emily is considered a scrapping celeb but she is one cool chic! On Aussie living in the States she totally 'gets' the Brit scrappers frustrating with high prices as well as getting our humour!

Emily bought an air of calm with her and her ultra cute daughter too. I have to admit I envied her daughter's princess crown (must add to Christmas list along with a new pair of Fairy wings!!)

After admitting that she too had started her scrapping career by cutting photos into shapes and using cheesy titles we all giggled guiltily and bonded! However Emily revealed that one part of the class was to make shaped photos fab and funky again and we sure ROCKED that technique.

We sanded, glittered (heaven!), cut, stapled, painted and collaged.
How did 2 hours pass so fast?
It was a blast and the best way to spend a saturday.
Friends, chattering,meeting new friends, coffee, chocolate treats and scrapping....
....well what more could a gal want!

So to Roz, Rudishoes, Greyparrot, Linz, Kirsty, Emily and Ivy THANK YOU!!!
and kellyG will you be knitting a Noni bag now???!!*grin*