They’re Changing Guard At Buckingham Palace……..

And we missed it because we were inside having a good old nosey around.

It was definitely a novel and interesting day, novel because I got to travel on the tube in rush hour......…deep joy!
I’ll never know how people can do that day in and day out and if I never have to do it again it will be a day too soon if you ask me. It was hot and dirty and I sent most of my journey home standing up and staring into the armpit of a man who had definitely had a hard day by the smell of things but hey ho, I can’t let a little thing like that spoil what was a wonderful day out.

We decided to set out early because we weren’t really sure how far it was from the station and I met my cousin Jane on Stratford station where we needed to change trains. Twenty minutes later we were taking a gentle stroll through Green Park

and had our first glimpse of Buckingham Palace………not my fist ever glimpse you understand, just the first glimpse of the day.

We were quite early for our allotted entrance to the Queens Gallery so we decided to find a café close by and have a quick coffee and croissant before heading back to see the magnificent collection of paintings by the Dutch artists.
Here’s a couple of the paintings that really caught my eye.

The Four Eldest Children of The King and Queen of Bohemia painted by Gerrit van Honthorst

Sorry the picture is not that great but although we were allowed to take photos in here we were not allowed to use flash and I think I had the camera on the wrong setting.
Now what struck me in this picture was the fine complections on the children’s faces, the folds in the White dress and most of all the dirt under the toenails of the eldest daughter.

Next was this
A Rough Dog by George Stubbs, painted in 1790.

I think the background of this looks a little childlike but the dog itself is amazing. You almost feel you could burry your fingers in its coat.

Our next stop was at the Royal Mews where we saw some of the carriages used for state occasions, including the Glass coach that Lady Diana Spencer rode to St Paul's Cathedral in

and the Gold State Coach

Aparently it requires a window above some hidden doors to be removed and central heating pipes altered when the coach is need and takes two days to get it out.

From here we went a had a spot of lunch and then joined the enormous queue to see the State Rooms and ‘That Dress’. Mind you, I have to say the staff there had it all so well organised and there were plenty around to point you in the right direction and offer extra information that wasn’t already on the audio tour we were listening to.

Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take photos here but the rooms as you can imagine were magnificent with wonderful treasures everywhere you looked.

We finally entered the Ballroom and there it was, Kate’s wedding dress in all its glory. It was truly breathtakingly beautiful.

We sat for a while and watched a film showing how the dress was made and all the detail that had gone into it.
Apparently they had cut tiny motifs from six different types of lace and hand stitched them on to very line tulle (on close inspection you couldn’t see a single stitch) to make a one off unique lace especially for the dress.

The Dress

They even stitched the same motif on her shoes which were beautiful but I was surprise how high the heels were.

The Shoes

In the same cabinet as the shoes were her diamond earrings,

The Earings

the tiara that was loaned to her by the Queen

The Tiara


and also a silk replica of her pretty bouquet.

The Bouquet

In the next room we were treated to a close up view of the magnificent 8 tiered cake made with 17 cakes in total. Having decorated cakes myself in the past I can really appreciate the work that had gone into this because there were 900 sugar flowers and leaves decorating the cake and the lattice scallops hanging from some of the layers were so fine and delicate. You could even see where William and Kate had made their first cut.
You can see it here in detail

The Cake

Once we had finished out tour of the State Rooms I had a nice Iced Coffee and a Strawberry and Cream Scone on the terrace before we had a walk along one side of the gardens and the lake.

One thing struck me here, the distinct lack of flowers but I guess with all those garden parties they have they need the space but it still would have been nice to see some colour there.

All in all it was a really good day and the great thing is that if you get your tickets stamped they are valid for a year and you can go back as many times as you like free of charge to see the other exerbitions they put on, so although our tickets cost £31, I think it was well worth it.

Flower Power

Hi all, it’s been a week or more since I last posted but that doesn’t mean that I’ve not been busy, just that I was making things that I couldn’t show you just yet.

I’ve also been out and about, first on a day trip to the Hampton Court Flower Show which was spectacular but silly me forgot to take my camera with me.
The show gardens were amazing and so was the flower marquee but unfortunately because of the rain it was packed solid with people trying to avoid the showers. Still, it didn’t spoil the day and I saw lots of beautiful and strange plants.

This Mauve and White Clematis ‘Florida Sieboldii’ caught my eye first because of it’s really large flower heads.

What made it really unusual was the fact that as the White petals fall off you're left with a sweet little Mauve flower because the centre is still intacted, so you get two for the price of one.

The other very unusual flower that caught my attention was this odd looking one.

It’s a Tacca Chantrieri, also known as a ‘Bat Flower’…………very strange!


I was visiting even more gardens last week because I went on a four day break down to Ferndown, in Dorset to visit my aunt.
We had a day out at Compton Acers, near Sandbanks, which has lots of themed gardens to walk round and it's well worth a visit if you’re ever in that neck of the woods.
I won’t bore you with all my photos because I took loads (think I was making up for not having it with me the week before, Lol!) but here are a couple of the Italian Garden and the Woodland walk to give you a taster.

Now then, onto my main reason for visiting this afternoon and the card I’ve made for this week’s challenge over at the The Daring Cardmaker’s.

Can’t say I’ve ever heard of Pinterest before but Nat would like us to find a picture on the site and use it as inspiration for a card.

I picked out this one and tried to use the same colours.

Patterned Papers
Artylicious Peacock Summer Party

Rubber Stamps
Papermania - Hampstead

Other Equipment
Craft Creations – Embossed Hammer Card Stock
Craftworks Cards – Greeting
Martha Stewart – Brownstone Ink
Promarker Permanent Ink Pens

Stashrganza Ribbon
Brown Lace
Blue Gems

Blogger is being a pain in the $*£(*”’@?# !

Well blogger is playing silly whatsits at the moment and won’t let me comment on anyones blog, although others seem to be able to comment on mine, so I’m not sure what’s going on.

It’s being a pain in the $*£(*”’@?# for the last week or more, so instead of reading the WOYWW posts I’ve given up for now, to return later and I’ve been sitting in my garden enjoying the sunshine instead. It’s really hot quite out there if I tuck myself in the corner where it’s sheltered from the wind.

Anyway, while I was sitting there I was fascinated by the wispy clouds that were coming over so I run in and got my camera. The picture didn’t really come out all that well really but I’m sure you’ll get the gist of why it was grabbing my attention.

I also took a couple of pictures of my small garden.

The beautiful Rose that I brought after losing Dad last year.
It’s called Glenfiddich and that was his favourite Whisky tipple. I just wish we had smell-a-vision here because it has such a heady scent you can smell it as soon as you walk into the garden.

My lovely Acer that I brought for the bargain price of £3 at a car boot sale a couple of years ago.

And of course a final picture of the lovely BoJangles who didn’t want to be left out and was also enjoying the sun with me.

I'll try the commenting thing again later but I've given up for tonight, I just can't stand the stress of it all.

Hope blogger plays fairly next week!

Back from the Rockies……..and a scrap lift.

Hi all, well I’m back from my much needed holiday and my desk this week is covered with bits and pieces that still need to be put away.

I’ve just had ten wonderful days in the snow having spent my break in Breckenridge, Colorado on a skiing trip with some friends and boy did we get snow….......more than 12 inches in just one night and that was just the start of it.
As it happens we arrived in Denver at just the right time because the day after we got there we heard that they had to cancel more then sixty flights in due to the weather conditions, but I’m not complaining because the most important point to a skiing holiday is snow, right!

Here are a couple of pictures

Our apartment was right on the mountain so the skiers in our party could literally roll out of bed and get straight on the slopes.


There was lots to do for us non skiers too because Breckenridge has a lovely main street with lots of interesting little shops to investigate. Sadly there was only one very small Bead/ Scrapbook shop and a Wal-Mart to satisfy my crafty cravings but I did manage to bag a couple of bargains to bring home with me so I was happy.



We also had a couple of days out and about exploring the other ski resorts in the area, namely Beaver Creek and Vale so all in all we had a busy time of it.


Just look how deep that snow is!


I got back home last Wednesday and straight away had to prepair myself for the cataract operation that I was due to have on Friday.

I’m pleased to say that's behind me now too and it all went well, so I can breath a sigh of relief knowing that all the months of worrying that my sight had been permanently affected by the detached retina are laid to rest and I can look forward to the future.

I now have perfect distance vision in my Right eye again and although I will still need reading glasses for close work it’s a small price to pay after all I’ve been through.
Things are still a bit difficult at the moment though. While I’m waiting for everything to heal I’m having to manage with an old pair of glasses, which aren’t perfect but when I go back to the hospital in three weeks time they’ll sort out my new contact lenses/ glasses and hopefully everything can get back to how it was……..crafting included!

Anyway, back to what’s on my table this week…..



As I said it’s a dumping ground for my holiday bits and bobs this week, including the crafty goodies that I brought home with me.

The first thing that stands out is the gorgeous Lilac hand luggage bag that I brought just before I went away. As if I didn’t have enough bags…........but this one was just calling out to me so I treated myself, as you do!
The Lilac theme didn’t stop there because I also treated myself to the document wallet and passport cover that you can see just behind the bag.

There was a mostly uninteresting pile of mail waiting for me when I got home too, which is now waiting for the shredder, but in amongst it was a lovely surprise, a £25cheque from a Premium Bond win, how nice was that!

And last but not least on my table is the pile of crafty goodies that found their way home with me.

Even thought the exchange rate isn’t that good any more I was still pleasantly surprised at just how much cheaper things are in the USA so I came home with two $5 Colorbok (A4) paper pads, that’s just £3.30 each, two sets of rubber stamps, rub-ons, two cards of hemp cord, blooms, chip board flowers and some beads, so that little lot should keep me quiet for a while.

So there's what's on my my desk this week.
If you want to join in with What’s On Your Work Desk Wednesday than hop on over to the Stamping Ground where Julia tries to keep us all on our toes each week and have a good old snoop around the craft desks of the world.
It’s really fun!

I do have something crafty to show you too this week.
You may remember a few weeks ago I mentioned that while looking at peoples desks I came across a layout made by the very talented Lisa


At the time I was looking for inspiration because I wanted to make something for a special friend who had just sadly lost her beloved dog Tosca and my idea was to make something around the beautiful Rainbow Bridge verse. As soon as I saw Lisa’s layout about ‘What’s at the end of a Rainbow’ and saw all those flowers I know I had to have a go.

Here's her masterpiece



And this is what I came up with



Thanks Lisa for the inspiration.


Last but not least I want to tell you about some great blog candy that's up for grabs.
All you WOYWDW fans might want to stop off at Jude’s Blog, especially if you’re a Tim Holtz fan because she’s giving away some great Half Term blog candy.




Well that really is it from me this week. Thanks for dropping in.

Sue
x

You know, I really feel like feet haven’t touched the floor over the last few weeks and this week just gone wasn’t any different.
It’s all been good though!

Thursday was especially busy, starting with the usual weekly shop with dad.

Next I had an appointment at the opticians to pick up my new glasses; well the pair that will see me through until the cataract is ready to be removed that is.

To be honest, when I first put them on I thought they had got the prescription wrong because they really made my head swim, so she had to go and check that they had been made up right. It seems they were ok though and the reason for the strange feeling I was getting was due to the vast amount of change to the lens.
Apparently the change is usually a quarter of a dioptre at a time but the operation that I had has changed mine by three dioptres in one fail swoop.
It’s taken me three days to get used to wearing then but now I’ll feeling more comfortable and things are getting back to normal and hopefully I get down to a bit more crafting and stitching at long last.

Thursday evening I had my friends Susan & Edd round for a meal.

I’m going over to them on Boxing Day so this was intended as my Christmas offering to them.
It went well and I managed not to poison anyone!

I was worried though because I was trying out a Jamie Oliver recipe that I’d seen on TV and never tried before. ……Pork with Peaches……..and it was yummy!

After launching my Daring Cardmakers dare on Friday, which I will come to in a minute, I spent the rest of the day baking mince pies, sausage rolls and some cute little Cupcake Christmas Cakes, which I still need to ice.


Then to finish the week off, I was out Saturday afternoon and evening.

Every year for the fast four years we have gone to the Royal Albert Hall in London for a pre show meal and Christmas Sing-a-Long.


It’s a real party atmosphere and really good excuse to sing (or try to in my case) at the top of your voice without anyone worrying about what they sound like.

There’s even a Mexican Wave goes around the auditorium several times at one point during the evening and that includes the choir and orchestra as well…..it’s fab.

Now I’m not complaining because I’ve enjoyed all of the Christmas preparation and fun stuff but I’m looking forward to a quieter week next week.

Right then, onto the dare I set over at the Daring Cardmakers……I thought, as we are coming to the end of the year and about to start not only a New Year but a New Decade it would be great to make cards celebrating something new. It could be a New Home, as I’ve made or a New Job or New Baby, even a New Day if that’s what takes your fancy.

Pop over and see what The Girls have come up with to wet your appetite and then why not join in with our last dare of the year.

Mine was rather a simple card but I love the effect of stamping directly onto patterned paper.

In this case I stamped three of the little houses onto my card blank and one onto patterned paper, which I cut out and stuck over the top of the middle one. The other two I’ve coloured with chalks to give a little subtle colour and then I added two borders of the same paper, top and bottom and the greeting.

If I don’t see you again before the big day, I hope Santa fetches you all the crafty goodies that were on your list……I know I have one or two that were on mine!

I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year
Lots of Love
Sue
x x x


Square Card Blank – Craft Creations (Embossed Hammer)
Patterned Papers – K & Co (Hopscotch)
Inks –Tsukineko VersaFine (Black) Tim Holts Distress Ink (Faded Jeans)
Rubber Stamp – Inkadinkado (Homestead)
Chalks – Readicut Decorating Chalks
Dies – Sizzlets – Alphabet (Hunky Dory)

What's on my Work Desk????????

I’m sure that Santa’s little helpers aren’t playing fair and are nicking days out of my week. …….these Wednesday’s are coming round far too fast!

But I guess I have to except that it’s here and that can only mean one thing………..a spot of blog hopping, starting at Julie’s Blog to see what’s on everyone has on their desk this week.

I finished a couple of cards off first thing this morning, before going to the hospital for a check up on my knee (I’ve been discharged I’m pleased to say) and going for lunch with my Dad and friends Susan & Edd.

My photo’s are not very good I’m afraid, due to the bad light but hopefully you’ll be able to see the orderly mess that I was working in before I went out.

Right at the front you can see my wonderful set of Elusive Image stamps that I’ve had for a couple of years.
I never get fed up with using them and this time I’ve been making a Christmas card for my Dad with lots of Gold embossing and lovely Amber gems on.

The other cards there are my final Christmas card…….all have to make now is a few tags and then I can start wrapping up my pressies.
I seem to have got very behind with everything this year, which is not like me but I’m putting it down partly to ‘The Eye’ and partly because of my trip to the Christmas Markets in Germany.
I did manage to get my tree is up at the weekend thought so things are coming together slowly.

Here’s a few photo from our trip

As we entered our hotel we were greeted by the biggest Gingerbread house I’ve ever seen. They even encourage you to help yourself to the sweeties and biscuits by leaving a bowl of them for you to help your self.
This is my friend Sandy just having a quick nibble!

The market is Wiesbaden, where we were staying is quite large and gets very busy, especially on a Saturday evening.
There were lots of stalls selling all sorts of nick knacks from decorations to cake making paraphernalia and everything in between, as well as the obligatory Bratwurst rolls and Gluhwein, to keep us fed and watered…..just keep out the cold you understand.

We also had a couple of days out, one to Heildburg and the other to Rudesheim which is such a pretty place with little quaint cobbled streets.

Here we were encouraged to try the local (and famous) Rudesheim coffee, that’s laced with local brandy and is delivered to your table with flames coming for the top…….delicious indeed.

We finished off out trip with a meal in Langan’s Brassiere on the boat, something that’s become a bit of a tradition and it was just as well because the channel crossing was a little choppy to say the least.

All in all it was a great weekend and a fun start to our Christmas celebrations.

Wherever I go in the world, I always try and bring home a new decoration or two for my tree.
Every one of them brings back special memories but my favourites have to be the pieces of Gold plated Holly, Mistletoe, Aspen Leaf and sprig of Fir that I brought back from Aspen and the Lead Crystal Penguin from Tiffney’s in New York.

This year’s decorations weren’t quite as ostentatious but equally beautiful in their own right because they are typically German.

There were so many different blown glass ornaments, something that Germany is famous for and it made it very difficult to choose which ones to have.

In the end I decided on a few of each of these beautiful little birds, candles and snowflakes.

And here’s what my finished tree looks like this year.

Well, that’s it from me for now; I’ll see you all shortly, as I do a spot of blog hopping to see what you’ve all been up to this cold and very snowy Wednesday.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sue
x

Hi Honey…….I’m Home!

It’s hard to believe that just last Friday I was sunning myself here at Disney’s Blizzard Beach in tempetures of 84 degrees.

We all had a great time.............the parks were the emptiest I’ve ever seen them!
I don’t know if that was because of the time of year, (I’ve never been this early before) or if it was due to the weather but the locals were saying it was unusually cold for February.
What ever the reason, it was great for us and much warmer than the UK when we left.

Well, I’ve been back almost a week now and I’m still having trouble getting my act in gear.
The jet lag has really affected me this time for some reason and I can hardly keep my eyes open. I’ve not felt much like crafting either so my craft stash wasn’t touched until I really had to make my card for this weeks Daring Cardmakers challenge.

This week it was Kathy’s turn to challenge us all with

Ready, Steady, Cook

Here in the UK there's a TV programme that's been going for years. A couple of viewers are invited to bring a bag of cookery ingredients to the studio and two top chefs have to make a meal using the contents of those bags - they don't know what will be in the bags beforehand.So this dare is my take on that theme - I'll tell you the ingredients you have to use, then all you have to do is make the card.

Here are your ingredients:

3 different papers

At least one piece of chipboard

At least 1 button

At least 1 piece of ribbon

optional: 1 extra item/element of your choice

That's about it, all you need to do now is sort out your bits of stash and make up your card - you're allowed to use whatever paints, pens and inks you like, but otherwise you must stick to the ingredients in the list.
Just to make things a little more difficult for the design team Kathy sent us all a little envelope with the things she wanted us to use on our cards, so we didn’t have the luxury of using our own stash as the rest of you had. At least we could still add one element of our own choice.

Here’s what I came up with

The papers, buttons, ribbon and chipboard with all in the envelope from Kathy and as we were also allowed to use inks and pens I stamped and embossed a swirly pattern onto the background using a free stamp from a magazine.

I highlighted this with me extra element………..little tiny gems for Anita’s

The flowers were cut using a Martha Stewart ‘Cosmos Flower’ punch and mounted on 3D foam before topping off with the buttons.

Yah.........the front is finished!!

I’m pleased to report that my front garden is completely finished at long last.

The plants in the border went in a couple of weekends ago and I went straight out and brought some lovely Plum coloured slate to put down and help suppress the weeds. The trouble was I misjudged the amount I would need and had to go back for another three bags which I finally did yesterday.

As the sun is shining this morning I thought it would be a good opportunity to get out and finish it all off.

This is the mess it was in before the work was done

And this is how it looks now.

Who's in your Garden?

I was standing at my sink in the kitchen, washing up a little while ago and thinking what a lovely day it’s turned out to be……..the sun is shining, although it’s getting a little cooler now.

While I was looking out of the window I had a few little visitors to my bird feeder.

First was this little Blue Tit

who came and sat on the fence directly in front of me and then this cute Robin.
I was always under the impression that Robins were ground feeders but this chap has taken to eating from the feeder……well when he can get anywhere near it that is. I say that because I also keep getting visits from this little fellow.
I know that people say the squirrels are vermin and that you shouldn’t encourage them but I’m of the opinion that they are only doing what comes naturally and if we make it easy for them then why shouldn’t they help themselves.

Mind you, having said that, Mr squirrel isn’t my best friend at the moment. Bo my cat chases him if he sees him and I think they have had a couple of rucks. The night before last Bo came in with what looked like a burst abscess. I took him to the vets and sure enough he had been bitten……..most likely by the squirrel.
The vets trip cost me an extortionate £80 for antibiotics and pain meds, but what I was most upset about was that it was money I had put aside to spend at the Alexandra Palace Stamp and Scrap show this coming Saturday.