HS:MS Todays prompt is Chew

So not feeling too good this morning as I woke up with a headache, so I am using a picture I took last Saturday at Woburn Safari Park. I loved sitting watching it's tongue stick out as it was chewing...almost looked like it was licking it's lips...lol

I went out with some friends last night for a meal, and on the way home took the opportunity to take some pictures of the Xscape building in Milton Keynes all lit up. I have wanted to do this for some time, but life seems to get in the way and I always seem to forget.

Tomorrow is my little Sisters birthday, so I am travelling down to Surrey to see my family. I have the card and pressie all done. The card I made myself and the pressie is handmade and purchased via Etsy...let's just hope the postman delivers it today. It is also MKScrappers Sunday crop this weekend, and David has just told me he is working until lunchtime so I will have to take Georgia with me until 1pm when David can come and collect her. Why was I not surprised when he told me that...oh well it is the MKScrappers Retreat in Thame in a couple of weeks, and I have got Friday, Saturday and Sunday to scrap...bliss.

Caz

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HS:MS - Dish

Here is a dish in my space this morning....after it contents of Rice Crispies had been quickly demolished.

I am having so much fun joining in my Her Space : My Space. I did want to take a picture of my sky dish for today, but don't have time as I need to get Georgia to Gymnastics and me off to work...ohh heck, I am already late. Will be back laters.
Caz
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HS:MS Cloud

Thought I would play along today, the prompt is cloud...So here are clouds in my space today. They are those cute cotton candy/cotton wool type that just look so blooming cute against a lush blue sky.
Caz
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ETA - I use a polarizer and it makes the blue sky really pop.

Woburn Pics...

Can you see the "Joey"? While we were there it climbed out of Mama and then jumped back in, sadly it was too quick for me to capture. I hung around for about 30 minutes...just incase.

Can't remember what this bird is called. Not an Ostrich, I think it was something like a Rhea....yep, just Googled and it is a Rhea. I love this photo...I was pretty close to the bird, and it was looking almost directly down the lens at me....

I will loads some more tomorrow, but I have scrapping to do.

Caz

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Bank Holiday Pastimes...

All day David has been playing with his new toy/baby...his Nikon D200. I can see he is really pleased that we got him his own camera, although he says I can borrow it...occasionally...LOL
I am really looking forward to having pictures to scrap that I haven't taken. He used to be a keen photographer, even developing his own black and white photos in his little studio at his parent house. So it is good to see him persuing his interest again, it seems his passion for photography has been re-ignited.

I have also been crafting today, I have made some paper blooms and also been playing with my shrink plastic. I stamped and coloured some flowers. Will show you them tomorrow when it is light enough for photos. I have also been working on my Painting with Light assignment. This week we are "Looking for Light". I have worked out how to do it, and now I just want to find a couple of interesting shots. I think I will have another go tomorrow afternoon/evening.

I have processed a few shots from Woburn Safari Park, and will upload them shortly.
Caz
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What a Day!!!

David's inheritance from his Gran arrived on Friday and was promptly paid into the bank. While the majority is being saved, we wanted to do something fun with the money. We need to get me a new laptop for work, so £2k is earmarked for that once I look into Vista compatability of my clients software. We decided that we wanted to buy another new lens for the camera, as the Sigma 70-300mm macrco lens that we have is a little slow and the photo quality is now as good as we would have liked. We decided on the Nikon AF 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 but after reading a ton of reviews and asking advice we decided it was too slow and apparently has focusing issues, so back to the drawing board. After a good nights sleep David suggested that we get another body, but this time a D200. As he is always having to wrestle the D80 for me it seems like the perfect solution. We also decided on a couple more lenses, the Nikon 18-135mm f/4.5-5.6 lens and the Nikon AF 70-300mm DX VR lens. So after some web searching this morning we took the short drive into Central Milton Keynes and into the Jessops store. David had been in on Friday and saw a D200 Nikon Refurbished Body....so we got that plus a refurbished 18-135mm lens. We dropped into the larger Jessops store and ordered the 70-300mm lens bought a CF card and drove home.

So chuffed with our new purchases we started to have a play, and to our disappointment we found that there was a problem with the camera, the lens was fine, but the card slot would not recognise the CF card. So a trip back to the shopping centre was on the cards....after much driving backwards and forwards we had to go to the main Jessops and buy the new camera. So today has been a day filled with highs and lows. First we have a wonderful new camera, and got the body and 1 lens for £775, then we get home and it doesn't work, then we end up spending an extra £200 and getting a brand new one (which is what we had originally budgeted for). So on one hand we saved money, but on the other hand, not as much as we would have if the refurbished camera had worked, C'est la vie, as the French would say.

So tomorrow we are off to Willen Lake to take some photos. I need to get some shots for module one of my Feel Good Photos "Painting with Light" course. I am looking for a cool silhouette shot and think the Peace Pagoda may be a lovely shot.
Caz
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Woburn Safari Park

We had a wonderful day yesterday. The weather was fantastic, if anything a little too fantastic to be walking around all day. I took some wonderful pictures and will share them over the next week, but for now here is one David took of Georgia and I together...

Hope everyone else is having a wonderful Bank Holiday Weekend.
Caz
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Shrek the Third

Took a trip to Cineworld in Milton Keynes to see Shrek the Third, it was funny, but not as funny as the previous films. Anyone who thinks theses films are strictly for kids is so wrong. The humour is on my levels, many of the aimed at the adults accompanying the kids, most of it goes over the heads of the younger kids. So after a mahoosive bag of popcorn, and humungous drink and a tub of choccies we took a walk around the Xscape building where Cineworld is, they had a summer of love kids area and Georgia got a free flower balloon and also her face painted as a purple butterfly all for the bargain price of £2. She loves her face being painted now and has it done at every opportunity.

Tomorrow we are off to Woburn Safari Park (weather permitting). We were given some clubcard deal vouchers by David's Mum & Dad...so it will cost us next to nothing. So as something a little different we are going to take the Safari Drive. You get to go up close to the Rhino, Giraffes, Zebras, Buffalos. Last time we went we watched the Elephant display, we were sitting next to a guy with an amazing camera. It was a Nikon D200 with an amazing array of lenses. At the time I had not long had my Fuji S5500, so I was deeply envious as a DSLR was on our wish list. This time I get to take my Nikon D80, and I cannot wait. Lets see how the picture compare.

Can't believe the school holidays are almost over. Even though it has been hard work, it has flown by and I wouldn't have missed it for anything. Georgia and I have gotten to spend an awful lot of time together thanks to David's ridiculous working hours. So next week is our final full week, and Georgia has 3 days doing Gymnastics, and we are going back to Cineworld to see Bratz the Movie...can't think why David was not keen.

So what have you all been doing during the school holidays? Leave me a comment with ideas for our final week.
Caz
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Layout to share...

I have been meaning to upload this LO that I did at the MKScrappers Crop earlier this month. I only managed to get 2 LO's done all day due to the fact that Georgia had to come to the crop with me for part of the day...and she kept taking up all the space and pinching my stash.

I had fun last night with the Fimo Buttons and Paper Roses. I am waiting for the buttons to come out of the oven so will share pictures of them tomorrow, and the Paper Roses are part of my ScrapAGoGo DT work, so cannot show you them at the moment. I did however make some decorated buttons while I was in Suffolk.Don't think Adrienne at A House of Color has anything to worry about. Although they're not bad for a first attempt, and I did them at the B&B rather than in my own craft area...so hopefully with practice I can improve.

We also got a parcel today from "Pots of Clay" in Woodbridge.....our bits arrived. If you remember from a previous post we had fun decorating them in Suffolk...and here they are after being glazed... This is one of mine....I had such fun with this one...looks very simple, but not so easy when you have a couple of boisterous five year olds at your table.

This is another of mine. They had only just received these and it turns out I was the first one to ever paint one. I am going to use it to collect change up for Georgia to spend on craft supplies...so it will always be almost empty, she has almost as big a stash habit as I do...LOL Georgia managed to knock her one over at the shop and broke his hooves off, so David needs to reattach them before I can show it to you...although I will say, she did a fantastic job on it considering how complicated it was and how young she is.
Caz
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Feel Good Workshop - Painting With Light

Well I signed up and it starts in a couple of days. I still need to load my success and failure photos and take a portrait, and read my manual....so really prepared. I really must get my butt in gear and get onto it before the 10 week course starts.


Took a little trip out this afternoon to Hobbycraft to get myself some Fimo, so this evening I have been having fun making Fimo Buttons. I am also working on a project with the September ScrapaGoGo kit, something a little different, almost in the vein of Ann and her altered "Thickers". I can't show it at the moment, but the month seems to fly by, so it won't be long.

Tomorrow I am working for a few hours. One of the Accountants I work for referred me to one of his clients to do some QuickBooks training. Now I am no expert, but I managed to find my way around it...so for a nice large hourly rate I am going to go and help them get set up. So I better get off to bed.
Nite
Caz
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I think I could be hooked on Etsy

Now I had looked at items sold on Etsy before, but until yesterday had never dipped my toes in and purchased...and now I have purchased almost 20 items from 4 different sellers. Thanks to Bex,(from hereon in known as "The Enabler")I have ordered some acrylic shaped albums from Artbar, some journal cards from 2 different sellers and also 2 necklaces (1 for me & 1 for my little sister for her birthday). So here is a lookie at what I bought...

There are just so many lush handmade things on there. I defy anyone to look and not purchase...you just can't help yourself. But beware, you could find yourself addicted very quickly....
Caz
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WOW..a comment from a real scrapbooking celeb...

I am in shock, fancy getting a message saying that the uber talented Kelly Panacci had read my blog AND left me a comment. As you can see below the August ScrapaGoGo Kit contained her Q&A range. I personally loved them as did all the DT, in fact I used most of them, and had to order myself another set from the US as I couldn't find any over here. Kelly personally joined the ScrapaGoGo Clubhouse and has been leaving lovely comments on the Design Teams work, and messages on the board. I have it on good authority (Lorraine) that she ran out of time today...she has numerous deadlines for 2008 designs, but that she will come back and leave more comments on DT work...how friggin' awesome is that! I cannot wait to see what she has in store for 2008, and hope that I get to see them in a ScrapaGoGo Kit.
Caz
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August GoGo Create...

Well as all the subscribers would confirm...the kits just keep getting better. I really loved the Kelly Panacci Q&A papers in this months kit...so much so that I had to buy more. Here are my creations this month...

I was inspired by these papers to let Georgia journal on my LO. She did such a wonderful job, and I am left with a wonderful keepsake of her writing, and the things she loves.

I had wanted to do a round LO since seeing one on the Pencil Lines Blog, I completed my first one at the Thornham Retreat and loved them so much that I did another with the August Kit.

Another first for me....a 6x12 LO featuring Hannah, Georgia and James...such a cheeky picture just begged to be scrapped.

And my final item was using the large Bazzill tag that came with the kit.

I thoroughly enjoyed using the August Kit, as I am sure all the subscribers are right this minute.

Caz

Northampton Balloon Festival saga

Well we were all set to go on Saturday, but changed our mind due to the persistent rain. So we tried again on Sunday afternoon. No sooner had we paid than the heavens opened and it rained, and rained and rained. We were drenched, the Balloon Race @ 6pm was cancelled, so we had paid £5 parking for less than 1 hour, and also paid £17 for us all to get in, walked around and get drenched to our skin....you have to laugh, or you could cry...LOL

Oh well, better luck next year...if we ever decide to go again.
Caz
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A Little Later than Planned...

Ok, so it took me longer than I promised to get some pictures to show you. These were taken when Georgia and I spent a few days in Suffolk with Lorraine and her lovely family....

Georgia on Monday evening in Suffolk when we were waiting for Lorraine and Family to collect us and then for us all to go to dinner. Georgia deep in concentration and the pottery painting shop. Harry did such a fantastic job on his Dinosaur Mug...just look at his face...boy was he concentrating hard.

We had fun getting this picture just outside Earl Soham. We took it on the Wednesday morning after we left the B&B at Saxstead and were on the way to Aldeburgh. I pulled over and tried to take it, when a car came up behind me and I had to move. So I went around the triangle shape in the road and went around for another try. On the second try a man in a white van stopped and smiled into my camera...I think he wanted to be in the shot...you can just imagine me hanging out of the car window taking the pictures.

Georgia on the sea front at Aldeburgh....with the UV Filter. Georgia Jump on the beach at Aldeburgh...with the polarizing filter...how gorgeous does the sky look.

The polarizing filter make the sky a truer colour in my picture. In the other one it is washed out by the sun....it really did look as blue as the second picture.

Anyway enough for now, I will be back tomorrow with pictures of my August GoGo Create Design Team work.

Caz

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wow what fun...

We have had the most amazing few days. On Tuesday the weather decided not to be kind to us, and it rained on and off all day. So we took ourselves to Woodbridge to a pottery painting place called "Jars of Clay" where we spent three glorious hours painting. Georgia decided that she wanted to paint one of the most expensive items...a fairy on a unicorn, and nothing I said or did could persuade her to choose a less expensive item....so for the quiet life I gave in. Well she did a lovely job. I chose a house shaped plate and a handbag money box...had such fun and can't wait for them to be delivered sometime next week. Lorraine chose a mug, with raised flowers and painted them in GoGo colours, Harry chose a dinosaur mug, and he did an excellent job. Both Zoe & Kirsty chose plates, and they create some wonderful work. After a quick walk around the rest of the town we headed back to Lorraine's where Georgia, Kirsty & Harry played on the Wii. Georgia beat Kirsty at bowling on the Wii...much to Kirsty's surprise....she said she was actually trying too....LOL. We spent the whole evening chatting, surfing and generally playing, and finished off with a lovely Curry that I went and got from the award winning Indian restaurant in Framlingham. Finally at about 10.30pm we said goodnight and made our way back to the B&B leaving Lorraine and the Girls to prepare for their trip to London the following day.

So Wednesday was check out day, and after a lovely breakfast, Georgia and I packed the car and took the 40 minute drive to Aldeburgh to spend the day at the beach. Well while it was not that hot (it was pretty windy) the weather was relatively kind to us. We walked along the front, stopping briefly for a Hot Chocolate with marshmallows...yum yum. We then had a look in a couple of shops and walked down to the other end of the seafront and had Fish & Chips on the beach. Now they were totally delicious....Fish & Chips always taste that much better by the sea. After collecting a few pebbles on the beach we walked back down the seafront stopping for IceCream back near the car. We decided that before we headed home we would take a few pictures on the beach....so that I could try out my new polarizing lense....and check out the results..I took some with and some without so that I could show you the difference...and will post them on Friday evening.
Caz
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Slight change of plans...

Well as the weather had cooled considerably we decided to abandon fish & chips in Aldeburgh and instead we went to a restaurant in Ipswich. Harry and Georgia had great fun playing in the kids area....boy were they all hot and sweaty. The two of them decided that they didn't want a dessert...they just wanted to get back to the play area. Now I knew the minute Georgia saw my Chocolate Indulgence dessert that she would want to share...which was my plan all along as I rarely manage to finish a whole dessert. One thing I hadn't bargained on was Harry joining in on the fun...so my dessert became a three way split....with me getting the smallest share.

Not sure what our plans for tomorrow are....all I know is that Harry has instructed us to come to his house as soon as we can. Lorraine has to make a quick visit to see Phil aka her Dentist. She is the only woman I know who knows her Dentist by his first name...LOL. I think we are planning a trip so somewhere with indoor as well as outdoor areas so that we have a place to shelter if it decides to rain...which I am sure it will for at least part if not all of the day.

Ok, to bed I go...seems Georgia is now in the land of nod...so I can go and join her in the bed.
Nite
Caz
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I'm a Rocking Girl Blogger....

Thanks to Jeni Hall who nominated me rocking girl blogger."The Rockin' Girl Blogger" idea originated from Roberta Flanaghan . It works like this ... you have to give her credit, put up the badge and finally, add 5 other rockin' girl bloggers to the list."So...who to tag...Bex, you're it!

I am sitting here in sunny Suffolk, where Georgia and I have come to spend a couple of days with Lorraine & Harry. Georgia is so excited and cannot wait to see Harry again. In 30 minutes they are coming to collect us and we are going to Aldeburgh for Fish & Chips...yum...we are hungry just thinking about it. Lets hope we are not attacked by Seagulls who think they can have our chips....

Laters

Caz

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Lucky GoGo Girlies....

Well being a member of the ScrapGoGo Design Team is reward enough in itself. But this time Lorraine and Janice have surpassed themselves. Today I received my lush September kit, containing the gorgeous Heidi Grace products, and inside the box was a Happy 2nd GoGo Birthday present. Lorraine and Janice had commissioned Jaquie of http://www.astringofbeads.co.uk/ to make us all a GoGo Dolly Bead. And here it is...how lucky are we...
So Thursday was spent at home, mostly with Georgia & I watching craft day on QVC. I would be broke if I bought every item of sparkly bling that Georgia said she wanted. That girl is a magpie...if it is sparkly or glittery...or even both...she wants it. So I ordered a couple of bits, but nothing extravagant. So if you were watching at all yesterday, what did you order? tell me...I want to know I wasn't alone!

My Karen Russell kit also arrived yesterday, and it is gorgeous. It comes with a fab CD to take you through the making of the book. Hopefully I will get a chance to play over the weekend as it is the MKScrappers Monthly Crop.

The Postal strikes are beginning to p**s me off. While I understand that they feel it is the only way they are heard, it is awfully hard to bare when you are waiting for a van full of parcels...well half a van full. I am waiting on approx 16 parcels (many are small). I really hope some of them turn up today, but I am not holding out much hope. I believe the Special Delivery of my Cricut Carrying Tote will make it through, as RM, in the case of SD, are obliged to deliver the service you pay for....so I should have at least one.

I also collected my new filters from Jessops this week. I got a UV filter (mainly to protect the lense) and also a polorizing circle filter. Hopefully I will get a chance to use it while Georgia and I are in Suffolk at the beginning of next week. We are also going to the Northampton Hot Air Balloon Festival on Saturday 19th...so plenty of photo opportunities to be had.

Oh well, bed is calling. Georgia and I have a lot on tomorrow...so much fun..Shrek the Third here we come...
Caz
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Doing a Happy Dance...

Those of you who are regulars to my Blog may remember me posting about ordering a tote bag for my new Cricut. Well sadly the order was cancelled as they didn't receive the amount of stock promised by Provocraft. So for weeks I have been regularly searching on Google, and the only stores that had them were in the US and due to licensing agreements they were unable to ship to the UK. Well today I searched again, and I think I put different criteria into Google...and low and behold the third store on the list was in the UK. Now I am hyperventilating as I click on and see that it is in stock, but having been disappointed once already I decide to call them. I spoke to a lovely lady who confirmed that it was in stock...the final one. She had originally had 4, 3 of which sold almost instantly, and this one had been left all alone. So now it will be mine, and will be with me via Special Delivery tomorrow. So maybe it wasn't as cheap as the US, but seeing as how I would have had to ship it to a friend in the US first and then they would ship it on....and then the potential of getting caught by customs....I am not unhappy in paying £66 with free Special Delivery. So as a reminder....here is my lovely new bag....

Roll on tomorrow, we have a busy day including a haircut for me, and a trip to the Cinema to see Shrek the Third for Georgia and I.
Caz
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Time for Fun...

Well David finally got to spend some time with us. Although he still went into work yesterday, he was home by 2pm. So after a brief sit down for coffee, we all went for a lovely walk in the park. We walked the mile to the shop, where we had ice cream, followed by a brief sit in the shade under one of the bridges on the redway. For those of you who don't know Milton Keynes it is covered in "Redways", called this as they are made of a pinky red coloured tarmac and they criss cross the whole city. In theory you can walk/cycle on them to anywhere in the city. Anyway while we stopped I took a few pictures...and I am going to share a couple.

You can seen in the picture above that Georgia was trying to drip her ice cream over David, but he was trying to eat it instead. Georgia has really missed spending time with her Daddy, and hopefully after this week, things will get back to normal.

Finally my new Crocs arrived. I ordered some Sassari Crocs from eBay US, and I love them...I have been wearing them since the moment I took delivery from ParcelForce....here they are... So today is operation clean up in Georgia's bedroom. I wanted to do it over the weekend...but the time seems to evaporate over the weekend, so it is on todays hit list....she has promised to help...but she may well turn into more of a hinderance than a help.

What is everyone else up to today....make me jealous...tell me about all the fun you have planned...
Caz
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Work to share...

OK, so as promised here is a LO I did @ Thornham....my first ever round LO. I have been wanting to do one since there was a round LO as a Pencil Lines sketch months ago. But have only just plucked up the courage to have a go. So here it is...

We were supplied with the challenge kit at the crop, which were papers from the ScrapaGoGo July kit. I added the felt which I stamped on with Stazon ink...love the technique of stamping into fabric, and will be doing it again soon. Also added some HS Bling Words...I still love them....I have now used up the packet and need to decide whether I NEED to order more...I mean a girl can never have too much bling!!!

Here is one of the LO's I produced with the July ScrapaGoGo kit. Been a little slow to share them...too be honest I just forgot.

All the items used here were contained in the July Kit, I cut the swirls on the reverse of one of the sheets of patterned paper and from a sheet of the pale blue bazzill, using my QK Revolution. Whenever you create designs for a kit or shop, you really hope that people like what you do. So when one of the lovely ladies wanted to scraplift this layout, I was pleased to be able to loan them my QK Revolution to cut the swirls. In moments of self doubt I think members don't like the work I do. So when one of the kit members told me that they always check out the booklet and clubhouse for my work first, I was over the moon, and very proud and honoured to be part of such a wonderful group of women. I think the fact that we have such different styles makes us such a rounded group.

So my other LO is of Georgia when she was just a couple of months old. I also used my QK flower die to cut the flowers from the papers included....gotta love Fancy Pants...so pretty. August's designs are now complete and I should have Septembers kit with me by Monday/Tuesday.

Hope everyone is enjoying the lovely weather.
Caz
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{Hard to Believe}

It is almost as though we are in a different country when you compare the weather of the past week to the week preceeding it. What a glorious week, and it looks to continue through the weekend and into next week...now this is what the school holidays are supposed to be like.

This week Georgia and I have spent time together. We have been food shopping, played in the garden, had a picnic and generally just chilled. David is still working silly hours and on Thursday night he strolled in at about 11pm. Thankfully today he didn't go to work until 8am, and was home a little after 6pm....much better. I mean the additional money is always nice, but when it interferes too much with family time enough is enough. Today they finally got everything working so I think the long hours are definately coming to a close.

Today I created another LO with my August ScrapaGoGo Kit. Sadly I cannot share it, but I can tell you it is round. I did my first ever round LO at Wyverstone "Thornham" Weekend Retreat and now I am hooked. I even used my new Cricut on the title...my first Cricut title cut with my own machine.... So now I have done 2 LO's and a project with this months kit, and may have another one in me before the September kit arrives...although it is already on it's way and may well be here in the morning....Post willing. I think I need to say a prayer to the Postie Gods!!!
I loved this months papers so much (Kelly Panacci Q&A range) that I have had to order myself some more...sadly it seems nobody else in the UK is stocking them..or maybe I just couldn't find them, so I have had to order from the US. Cost me a bundle in postage....but I just loved them soooo much.

Tomorrow I am on a mission....Operation clean up Georgia's Bedroom. Today she decided to pull everything out of the cupboards...and leave it all over the floor. Now I am not the tidiest scrapper...but I believe real scrappers have better things to do than clean. So tomorrow the list of chores now includes....washing, clean bedrooms, clean bathroom, tidy away my craft stuff from LAST weekend (I know I haven't completely unpacked yet) and also to cut the grass in the garden and weed the flower beds....and in my spare time I need to do more scrapping.....yeah can you hear the Mission Impossible music playing in the background.

Oh well, enough for now, will be back over the weekend with pictures of the things I can show you from Thornham (mainly a mini book and round LO, plus my July ScrapaGoGo work).
Nite
Caz
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