Happy Father's Day

Here's to all the Dads out there past, present and future wishing you all much love!
See our celebration of Fatherhood at Collectively Yours.

Doctor Whooooooooooo!!!

Well this may have been a Doctor-lite episode but we LOVED IT!!!
'Weeping Angels' scared the flippin' pants off us all!!! The idea of statues coming to life and diappearing peeps to the past was fantastic. I admit a soft spot for time travel stories- loved them from Star Trek TNG. It was brilliantly handled by Stephen Moffat in Doctor Who (who interestingly also wrote the other VERY scarey Who episode 'The Empty Child' and 'The Doctor Dances')
The episode didn't suffer for lack of the Doctor or Martha but then neither did the last series' episode 'Monsters and Angels' (Angels again??!!!) the casting was brilliant and I guess strong leads as well as great stort lines are the key to preventing the episode fropm suffering from lack of the effervescent David Tennant!
Sally Sparrow was a lovely character beautifully and deftly protrayed- she was a real'do-er' in the story moving the action along and using her brain, doing a lot of the work for the Doctor!
I chortled at the Doctor's explanation of the complexities of Time- a 'bubble full of Timey Wimey stuff' was a class line and is oft repeated in our Old Oak Tree!!
Oh BILLY!!! What can I say except poor Billy- he was there for such a short time but played with such extrovert fun that we loved him immediately and felt crushed at what happened- there were tears 'when the rain ended' *sniffs*
Larry was a lovely comedic foil for Sally's 'up and at 'em' but not a fool that you had no sympathy with. We all cheered for Sally and Larry but the montage at the end with the statues was a GREAT creepy ending that had us all looking over our shoulders!!

So there has been much standing still with hands over eyes here in the Tree to creep sisters and brothers out *snicker* ahhhh the joys of scarey Doctor Who episodes!!
Still We're nearly the end of the series *eek* only three episodes to go and Captain Jack is back on Saturday hooray but watch out Martha!!

Dare 57- Hidden Journalling.

You don't ALWAYS want your your journalling to be on show- maybe you're shy, maybe it's personal but whatever the reason you can always use the hidden journalling method.
There are many different ways of hiding your writing the easiest is probably using a tag which can be tucked behind your photo.
Go to Collectively Yours to see LOTS of ideas for keeping things a secret!!!

Patterned Paper and embellishments from May's ScrapaGoGo Kit

Tee-Hee

Some Corkers from Nige!!!



New Words/Expressions for 2007



SWAMP-DONKEY

A deeply unattractive person.



TESTICULATING.

Waving your arms around and talking bollocks.



BLAMESTORMING.

Sitting round in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.



SEAGULL MANAGER.

A manager, who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.



ASSMOSIS.

The process by which people seem to absorb success and advancement by sucking up to the boss rather than working hard.



SALMON DAY.

The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die.



AEROPLANE BLONDE.

One who has bleached/dyed her hair but still has a 'black box'.



PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE.

The fine art of whacking the crap out of an electronic device to get it to work again.



GOING FOR A McSHIT.

Entering a fast food restaurant with no intention of buying food, you're just going to the bog. If challenged by a pimply staff member, your declaration to them that you'll buy their food afterwards is known as a McShit with Lies.



AUSSIE KISS.

Similar to a French Kiss, but given down under.



GREYHOUND.

A very short skirt, only an inch from the hare.



MILLENNIUM DOMES.

The contents of a Wonderbra, i.e. extremely impressive when viewed from the outside, but there's actually naught in there worth seeing.



PICASSO BUM.

A woman whose knickers are too small for her, so she looks like she's got 4 buttocks.

Madness struck last night!

I don't know what happened but after a restless day I overcame my fear and aversion to exercise and went to the pool to join the other ladies of Middlesham for a swim!! I have not swum for about 9 years but I remembered how to do it!! "DH" had said it was 'like riding a bike' and I'd be fine! I pointed out I hadn't ridden a bike since I was seventeen and did that entail the possibility of drowning??!! I always was and probably always will be a sarki mare!!
I swam lengths for 30mins and really enjoyed myself. It was interesting being with just ladies- as there was no racing or competitiveness of any type! Sedate lengths with conversation-rather nice really! My fave thing strangely enough was floating on my back in the deep end-I must have looked a loon with a goofy grin on my face- but it felt so otherworldly somehow!!

My aversion to exercise has come from 2 things- asthma and my hot thing! I always struggled to breathe and any exercise would just reduce me to a wheeze, frightening and not conducive to prancing around!! However our new Doc put me on magical TURBOHALER (superhero music) which has reduced my asthma to 'not there' status except if I have a cold- so that's COOL!
The second is genetic. I think my body embraces the Irishness of my genetics a little too enthusiastically at times. I look like an upside down pint of Guinness for starters! Then there's the fact I cannot cope with any temp about about 21degrees centigrade without breaking out into huge sweats accommpanied by a beet red face *sigh*
I remember when i was 16 or so going to play badminton with my Mum. I was very fit then and was able to play happily for an hour or so. However the LOOK of me would have made yu think I was a heart attack victim- sweating madly, BRIGHT red face- whereas my Ma (who was a lady of 50plus) was as fresh as a daisy!!

So I hate this getting hot thing- I mean I HATE it- It's embarrassing and I feel awful as it takes me an age to cool down! So swimming seemed perfect- who sweats with swimming??
I DO!!!!!
I was getting dried off and it started *rolleyes*
I perspired copiously all the way home and my face felt like it was BURNING with heat!!
Still I slumped during 'Hustle' and eventually cooled off and went for a shower!!
WHAT am I like???!!! *grin*

Still I REALLY loved the feeling of swimming and will go again!

Woo-Hoo!!!

As an extra special birthday treat we decided to go and visit the puppies! Moma Beagle adored 'DH' and sat in front of him for ages lapping up ear tickles!! This was a Beagle that was supposed to be a bit funny with chaps at the mo!! 'DH' was a big hit though!! The pups were roly-poly bellies with ickle leggies! They did a lot of snoozing then some slurping then some widdling (getting house trained already!) and then after some rolling a bit more snozzing!
It was realy lovely to see the pups with Mama made having one of the girls more real. We were lucky to aquire a crate from the breeder so we can make a snuggly den when pups comes home in 5 weeks!! I see life having some big chages ahead for us!! COOL!

Loving this site!!!

Love this fabby and inspirational site 'It's a Creative World'
Congrats to Andrea, Joy, Cath, Caz, Maria, Jo and Trish- superb tips, ideas, scrummy things a real FEAST for the creative senses!!!
The pimped shed is just TOOOOOOOOO cute!

Lacking Mojo???

If you are feeling a little lacking in the Mojo Department then why not tootle over to Mojo Holder? There Mel, Kelly and Dougie will challenge you to a scraplift from the UKScrappers gallery. It's a great way to a) jump start your creative juices b) to try something new c) get scrapping again!
Have fun!!!

Using Felt- Dare 56

To be honest I was REALLY looking forward to this Dare- I think I had it planned in my head ages ago!! I've loved making my felt mascots from my Japanese Book and this Giraffe just HAD to go with this piccie of 'The Blonde One' with his friend on Christmas morning!!! He loves his soft toys and I love any excuse to buy them!!


Used 7g's Amalfi paper (yum!!)
Felt giraffe (from Japanese sewing book)
Autumn Leaves Stamps
Colouring Pens

Dare 55- HOW Many Photos??!!!

The challenge this week was to produce a multiphoto layout. Our trip to LegoLand was great fun and we had a fab time despite the rain (true Brit stiff and damp upper lip!!)
There are 15 photos on this layout!! Most were printed in 2.5" x 3.5" format and a few were slightly larger and were cut out to add variety and get away from too many rectangles!
Then the photos were collaged onto the layout. I found it easier to move them around until I liked the placement and then lift each one and stick it down.

Scrapping Today!!

At LAST!!! Played with my May ScrapaGoGo Kit
and very appropriate it was to!! Upsy Daisy Ice Cream Shoppe papers for piccies of us the MOST delicious ice-creams in Bayeaux...That Tapestry was good too!!!!!

UpsyDaisy designs Ice Cream Shoppe paper
Cosmo Cricket Rub-ons
Autumn Leaves Stamps
Hambly Designs jpurnalling block
QK letters- Eliza dn Finale Grande
SEI Winnie's Walls Coaster Tag

Dare 54 Lavish use of....

Well it HAD to be GLITTER for me didn't it?!!! Tee-Hee!!!

Lucky enough to have had a Craft Central open up her near the Oak Tree and I found this cute £1.99 Balsa wood chest. I splooshed on purlple, pink and blue pearlescent paints
and then attacked it with TONNES of glitter!
After allowing to dry I added various Basic Grey rub ons and a few pearls for extra sparkle.
See everyone's take on 'Lavish Use of.." at Collectively Yours.

Felt Fun and Pokemon!!

We love Pokemon in our house and wanting to get back to some toy making I decided to purchase a lovely Japanese book that combined both.
I think I originally saw a similar book on Etsy which had pages of these teeny cute felt 'mascot' dolls. As I looked into it I realised just how many books were published in Japan with the CUTEST pocket sized dolls/toys and other mascots- just adorable!
I was really pleased to find a book entitled '190 Felt Mascots' available from a lovely lady on ebay who sent the book from Japan. Yes the book is in Japanese and delightfully you start from the back of the book and work forwards- obvious if you KNOW that Japanese scans from right to left but still lovely to see IRL! The patterns in the book are clearly drawn along with the diagrams making language skills redundant, although I have fathomed the Kanji for 'ear' , 'eye' and 'glue'. Admitedly these are not going to be of any use to me should I be lost in Japan but it made me happy!!!
'The Blonde One' had a go at making a felPublisht mascot and created a very cute Pokemon character called Apom from the monkey pattern! He's starting his second one tomorrow!

Transparent Experiment!!!

The challenge this week on Collectively Yours was to utilise a Transparent element on your layout. Here I printed an X-Ray onto acetate and framed it with complementary black and white papers. The journalling consisted of emails about the X-Ray and the situation hat arose. It was nice to be able to show the X-Ray off in this way as it's a very dramatic image.

Patterned Papers: Basic Grey, Black Tie; Paper Crate; K&Co
Other: 7gypsies Gaffer Tape; Twill Tape; Small Alpha Stamps; QuicKutz Uptown Girl Alphabet

Eurovision Tonight!!

When it was announced last Saturday that Doctor Who would be returning in TWO WEEKS there was much Booing and cat calling in our house!
But I suppose that if it has to be bumped I'd rather it was for a great night's madness like The Eurovision Song Contest. Good Luck to the Ultra Camp UK entry Scooch. 'DH' and I cheered loudly when they got through as our entry as they provided much entertainment and full on performance!! It can't do any worse than Daz and his chorus of umpteenagers can it??!
The Hero of the evening and the REAL reason we watch Eurovision is dear Old Sir Tel, Terry Wogan. There's a lovely piece on teh BBC News website that sums him up perfectly;
"Sir Terry has been the UK's bemused guide to the Eurovision since the 1970s, and the permanent TV commentator since 1980.

His gentle jibes and professional bewilderment are now as much a part of the competition as the ridiculous costumes and nonsensical lyrics.

Quotes such as "That's the same song the French have been singing since they hung the washing up on the Maginot Line," are quoted and repeated on countless Eurovision fan sites.

Other favourites include, "You're wearing that shirt for a bet" - his astonished proclamation as a Latvian entrant took to the stage; and the observation that "Dutch voters are traditionally as mad as a bucket of frogs."

Class Stuff and NOT to be missed!!
I admit I am one of Terry's Young Gals and have been since his very earliest days on the Radio2 when my Mother listened on our battered radio on the kitchen window sill. The great thing is now I can inflict Terry's mad musings on my own children, trapped as they are each morning in the car Bwahahahahaha!

Collectively Yours Dare 52

Dare 53 was Circles!
I used slides I found of me and printed them out and cut them into circles- like thought bubbles.
Happy days from a happy childhood
Used my trusty CM circle cutter.
Also used my Crafters Workshop Template for the journalling.
Doodlebug frills were added around the photos as a frame.
QK Revolution 'Finale' alphabet for the title.
See all the girls take on the circles theme at Collectively Yours Blog.

Great Celebrating in our House!!

The 'Boy with the Hair' has overcome his nerves and with great determination cycled without stabilisers!!
With a little help (mostly pretend!) from Daddy he rode alone! This left him feeling much more positive about the whole riding experience and will no doubt lead to more solo bike riding.

ScrapaGoGo April Kit used.

Felted Teddy

He's done! He's a little lop sided but I'm really pleased for a first attempt and it was FAST too which is always a bonus!
I managed to stab myself twice after being distracted for a second- so good going by my standards!!
I photographed him on on my Hermi dispenser so yu can see the size of him- he's just a wee man but alreday to impress the ladies with his bow tie and flowers!!

Introducing 'Collectively Yours'

Hard to believe that The Speshal Dares is 52 weeks or 1 Year Old !!!!!! *passes out party poppers and cake*
To celebrate the birthday of our fave Scrapping Dares we have relaunched as Collectively Yours.
Pop over and see the fab inspiration- get your scrapping juices flowing again!!

Teeny Tiny Baby Spidders!!!

'The Blonde One' found these little fellows yesterday so teeny and so cute but FAST!!!
If you blow over them they scatter at quite a rate!! Sorry to any arachniphobes - rather love bugs of all types myself!