WOYWW - There was cake & candles & singing !

Late post tonight !
I normally post on a Tuesday night but yesterday we had colleagues from all over Europe on site at work for their annual sales meeting & we were out for dinner last night ...

Tonight was our first scrapclub of the Autumn term & it was lovely to see the girls again !

We had a great time catching up on our various summer activities !
And they were lovely and brought me a birthday cake - complete with candles & singing !
A bit early but I am stretching my birthday out over a month so this was a lovely surprise !

In amongst all our gossiping I even got a quick layout done !

















On my desk tonight I have the envelope I decorated for my Auntie's card ..

 And the sign I have been working decorating ...

I saw this field of sunflowers - right by our council recycling tip ! 

This maybe normal in some of the more warm & sunny parts of the world - but believe me this is not normal for West Wales !! I thought they were such an uplifting gorgeous sight & wanted to share them with you !

Take care & enjoy your week ! Ali x

Last Of The Scavenger Hunt Photos for Summer 2013 !

Well - Summer is slipping away fast !
Darker mornings & evenings, cool nights & even saw the leaves on a chestnut tree outside the building where we go swimming each Sunday turning umber & russet today !
So I thought I should get on with posting my last four photos to complete the scavenger hunt ... see the button in my side bar for details.

So here goes with

No 4 - an aeroplane - this was the plane that took us on my flight to Belfast last month ..

No 11 - an animal in a sanctuary etc - this is the adorable baby alpaca Mariposa & Epi, her Mum.

My lovely husband bought me the opportunity to name the baby as a present for our 20th Wedding Anniversary back in May - donating to a local cancer charity in the process.

Then we just had to wait for a female "cria" (that's the name for a baby Alpaca !) to be born !
I called her Mariposa - Alpacas are from Peru which is now Spanish speaking so I thought she should have a Spanish name in honour of her ancestors !! Mariposa means "butterfly".

No 21 - Me with my trusty Cuttlebug happily die cutting at my craft desk !
All those folder behind house my rather substantial stash of rubber stamps !

And my permitted substitute photo - I couldn't find No 16 a windmill - and I didn't really feel that the wind turbines we have down here were quite right !

So I substituted a Sundial instead - this one is right on the sea wall in the Mumbles ....

So that's me all done with the 21 photos ! Hope you have joined in the fun too !
Winter challenge next anyone !!

WOYWW - WIP's !

Hi everyone - missed you all last week as I was in Paris.
Now that sounds lovely doesn't it ?

Well don't be fooled - as I was actually on an industrial estate 20 miles north of Paris getting cold, tired & smelly conducting machinery trials for 3 days - and missed my bank holiday Monday off too.

So not exactly the romantic idyll you might expect from Paris !

Anyway it was great to be back home late Thursday night !

We had a lovely day on Saturday with our friends Lynda & Robert - a great walk around Cardiff Bay to the barrage - then a South American tapas lunch at Las Iguanas - yummy !

We really enjoyed ourselves & commented how great it was to share the final sunny days of summer with friends !









Sunday I just needed to rest up after the busy week - so as well as the weekly shopping trip - I was pleased to have a happy day pottering at my craft desk - hence you can see plenty of WIP's !

So here you can see my "works in progress" this week ...

I started Shimelle's Learn Something New Everyday course for 2013 on Sunday.

I have done this course a couple of times in previous years - even finished it some years !

I have gone with 6" x 6" pages - just cut to size or selected some from pads that size - as I will be away for the 2nd half of the month, I wanted something small & portable !

I bought these sassy cats at the Newbury Show - they were supposed to be decoupaged but I thought they looked cute just like this anyway - plus a few lime gems to add a bit of bling !

Shimelle sends you a prompt each day & then the idea is you create an entry for each day.
Some people blog, some do tags, mini books - even 12" x 12" layouts !

You may be asking what on earth is that green thing lurking to the left hand side ?

Well it's a silicon spoon rest from Tesco ! I had this brain wave it would be ideal for resting messy paint brushes on ! then rinse under the tap or even whisk through the dish washer (rinsed first of course !) - so I'll let you know if it works out !!


I have been working on this box - it once contained my DH's Samsung tablet - it was destined for the recycling bin but when I felt how sturdy it was I couldn't bear not to to alter it !

So 2 coats of gesso finally blocked out the pack photos & writing - and then a coat of baby blue acrylic !

I had bought some texture paste as I had seen people doing great things with it on various blogs - so here is my first attempt to do texture paste through stencils !

I have got this far - but am a bit of a loss now !!
How do I add more colour to the white paste areas now without messing up the back ground ???
Please - anyone who knows where to go from here - point me in the right direction !!

My bargain sign is getting various layers of paint - still looks at the messy stage !!

But I am hoping it will start to come together !!

And the only fully finished project on the desk this week is the card I have made for my Auntie's birthday !!

And that's all from me - great to be back with you all this week - looking forward to seeing what you have all been upto !

Have a great week !
Ali x