I ♥ Faces - Dramatic black and white!!!!

Over on I ♥ Faces they are this week looking at dramatic Black and White photos, I suppose Dramatic could be applied to this one, along with, scary, What the heck?? and lots of other shocked expletives!!!!
Anyway i like it, I took this on timer last year when I went on a girls holiday with my friends to Bruges in Belgium. We had a girls night in and this was the result!!!
The face packs were a bit of a laugh and we laughed so much that we cracked them!!

Playing with my 'New Toy'

The girls at work bought me a mini kiln for my birthday and until yesterday I have not had the time to try it out. Its a tiny little one with a 3 inch chamber, so I thought I would try fusing glass, which looked easy!!!
So I got a few bits and pieces off of Ebay and gave it a go.
I set up my first experiment a small piece of black glass, some multi coloured frit and then a piece of clear glass. I then cooked it. It looked pretty colour wise before it went in, but when it came out it had 'slipped' so I have learnt something, frit must melt at a different rate to the pieces of glass. The result of the slipped piece is bottom left below.

Not deterred I tried some more colour combinations. Top left is a piece of glass with a flower shape on top made with pieces of Milliefiori glass. That melted together nicely. Top right was an oblong piece of clear with three milliefiori pieces. (Beth's design) and the last one was a piece of black glass with green frit topped off with a clear piece.
There are so many possibilities, I am going to play some more!!

I Heart Faces!!

This weeks theme is 'Angles' so its a chance to show of my other beautiful daughter!! I like to use angles as you can often catch a good expression or a different point of view. I hope you like this photo, I do!!
Please check out the other entries at I Heart Faces!

Looking around the countryside and I came across a strange thing.....

Although the forecast for the weekend was bad and we did have some rain yesterday, today was beautiful, warm and sunny. Laura came over for lunch and when we came home I spotted this lovely tree sporting loads of catkins!! I took a few photos but this was the only one that came out in focus. I was really disappointed but now I have looked back over them I realise that it was because the catkins were blowing hard in the wind and my shutter speed was slow as we were in a shaded area.
I was hoping to catch the first daffodils blooming but we didn't see any on our journey, but we did come across a very unusual tree in one of the lanes near to Hertford.........

We came across a tree with loads of shoes and boots dangling from the branches!! It was a real surprise, traditional country lane, beautiful scenery and bang, a tree of shoes, completely out of place!!!


I just had to take a photo or two. Once we got up close you could see that these items of foot wear were mainly boots and trainers and they actually looked to have a lot of wear left in them.

Some had obviously been there for some time as they were going slightly green and were looking weathered around the edges.

When I got back I looked up the phenomenon on the Internet and it seems that there are trees world wide covered in shoes, nobody really knows how it started or why it continues. Superstition says that people leave them to welcome aliens (???) or to appease the gods and seek a fertile marriage (again ????) I think its people having a laugh, it appeals to me, and I might have to have a laugh and start my own 'shoe tree' Watch out Welwyn Garden City!!!!

Here comes a wet weekend

It may be a wet weekend but these beautiful orange roses can always bring a smile to my face!! I received them from Tom last weekend for mothers day and they have been glorious. Perfect shape and perfect colour, orange roses always lift my spirits!

Its been one of those weeks again, lots going on not a spare minute to think and its going to get a whole lot busier. We have been making plans to over haul the garden, we want to have decking at the bottom, so Tom has been removing plants and digging stuff up, redistributing the earth!! We now just need to decide on the way forward. Its very tempting to have astro turf laid, beautiful lawn all year round with none of the work. I just can't make up my mind.

This week my beautiful camera bag has arrived from America, I splashed out and ordered one off of Etsy, it is lovely, roomy with pockets inside and plenty of room for my camera, the bonus is it looks like a regular handbag and not a boring grey camera bag. The strap is long so I can wear it across my body. I am very happy with it.

My foot is gradually getting better although I have had a couple of bad days with it, its so easy to forget when it doesn't hurt and over do it. I then pay the following day. Really good news is that my friend Jen is out of hospital after her very scary brain operation. I wish her luck and I hope she continues to go from strength to strength.

Card fo Di Hickman

This weeks card 'Diagram' was great to do, I am in love with my new Papertrey Cup Cakes stamps and this diagram enabled me to use them!! The pink background paper is by K and Co, called chocolate Neapolitan. I have used chalk inks to stamp with and some stickles glue to decorate the cakes.
I love the sentiment - 'Life is too short , eat dessert first!!'
Check out the other cards on Di's blog.

Spring time in the garden.

As I have said in previous posts, spring seems to be a long time coming this year, I do like winter as long as it doesn't drag on and on. This last winter we have had more snow that I can remember in a long time, So I am please to see things finally changing. I love purple crocus, we seem to have a pretty little crop of them and I have been out there experimenting with depth of field on my new camera.

Round in Mum and Dads garden the chickens are out and about, scratching up a storm. Considering the winter that we have had they have continued laying all the way through the bad weather ! Some days they get 4 eggs, which is pretty good going. Its nice to have 'home grown' eggs!!

I am proud of this photo, as I said I was experimenting with depth of field and I cracked it in this one!

Last week I went to see my friend Raymonde, she is a real friend as well as a blogging friend. She is also a real life scrapper and photographer, all the things I like to do. We sat catching up and drinking tea, comparing cameras and generally beating ourselves up for not seeing more of each other!! (we only live around 3 miles apart!!) while we were sitting at the kitchen table I snapped these two little birdies on her garden feeder!! They posed perfectly for me. Not a bad photo as its through a window and in reduced light.

Bundled Up!!! I heart faces.

This is my entry to this weeks competition over on 'I heart faces' Blog. This year we have had more than our fair share of snow. I love this photograph of my daughter, Beth. She was excited about the fresh fall of snow overnight and couldn't wait to get out there in it!

I took this with my trusty Fuji Finepix s5000. I have played with it in photoshop elements.

I hope you like it.

Happy Mothers Day.

Today in Great Britain, its mothers day, mid way through Lent, halfway to Easter! It is also the first day that I have been able to hang out my washing and get it dry! The sun is out and you can't beat the sight of clean fresh bedding blowing in the breeze on the washing line!! I love this quilt cover, its antique really, I made a patchwork quilt about 15 years ago and attached it to the old quilt cover. Its great for the colder months as its quite heavy and warm. I made around 5
of them, all different colours and patterns. I was recycling long before it was fashionable to do so!!

When I got up I was greeted with a a bunch of orange roses, which are my favourites! I also was given home made cards, a beautiful photo frame and a boxed set of desperate housewives. I am looking forward to a desperate housewives fest sometime soon!

We called around to see Mum and Dad, Mum got an unusual present from us, a Budgie, she really wanted a pet, she had tried a dog, but that didn't work out, she tried to talk Dad into having a cat, but that was a non starter !! He wasn't even that keen on a Budgie, so I said that I would get her the Budgie. We managed to get a cage off of Freecycle and yesterday Beth and I chose a beautiful pale blue coloured budgie. She seems quite chatty and was interested in our budgies. We took her around to Mums and she is thrilled with her. She has called her 'Bobby'

Waiting......

This winter seems to have been a long one, the spring is gradually coming in with some snowdrops and crocus flowering, but what I am waiting for is summer, a time when I can again enjoy my roses and sunflowers. I love both of those flowers. It always amazes me how much growth a sunflower makes in a single summer season. We have had a lot of success with them, so I have my seed packet ready and I will grow some more this summer.
Yesterday was dads birthday, we bought him a new DVD player. the one he had just packed up, we checked the fuse but that wasn't the problem. They are now so cheap that they are almost disposable, its certainly not worth trying to get them repaired so we bought him a new one.
This weekend is mothers day, so we have got mum an unusual present, which I am not going to mention on here!!! I am sure she will be surprised though!!!
I hope everyone has a happy day!

I HEART Faces - Jump for Joy

I have been directed to this fabulous blog by Raymonde (queen of the blogging world!!) They have all sorts of challenges so I thought I would join in, the theme this time is Jump for Joy. I love this photo of Beth, while it might not be technically perfect it makes me smile, she had such fun jumping on the snow on the trampoline!! She really made the snow fly!

Playing with a new toy.

Yesterday I went to see my friend Raymonde, the strange thing is that we live in the same town and we 'talk' almost daily online and via our blogs but we rarely see each other. we became friends when our boys were in the same class at primary school, they went on to play for the same football teams, we became friends. I introduced Raymond to the wonders of blogging and she has now far outstripped me in her blog followers, we move in different and intersecting circles.

Anyhow it was nice to see her yesterday, she told me all about Picasa and I thought I would give it a go. I am not sure that I have it right as I have found it a bit tricky, I think that's because I am a photo shop girl and they are different.

So here is my first collage, Happy 1st Birthday Bobbie, I can't believe that its been a year!!

Promarkers - I gave in!!

I have for a while been thinking about treating myself to some pro markers, I got some money for my birthday so I bought some!! Of course I can see another addiction coming on, whats not to like?? Its therapeutic, it takes you back to your childhood days when all you had to worry about was finding a wax crayon with a point on!! I have a fair few stamps so I have given them a go.
Also new onto the market are digital stamps, which in reality are like colouring in pages for adults, you find a source that you like, down load (sometimes for a fee) and away you go.
Last night a coloured in a few images, splashed a little glitter and this morning I made cards!! There is a benefit to being off work resting my foot!!
On another positive note, I have been to the hospital, been re x-rayed and they are happy that things are healing well, I don;t have to have a plaster cast!!! I still have to take it easy and will return to work on Wednesday on recuperative duties!!

One Week on.

I have finally got around to collecting in all the photos taken last week and I really like these 'studies' !! I view them as action shots taken when people had no idea they were being watched.
Above we have my long time lady pals, the ones I have know for sometime and the 'ladies' that I holiday with nearly every year!!

The above photo is a beautiful one of my oldest and long time friend Madeline, we have known each other for a mere 45 years, we have been friends since reception class. It looks like Sue is looking on with disapproval!! At this stage they were all enjoying themselves but not too 'happy'!

By the time this photo was taken we were the wrong side of several bottles of red wine, very dry wine that dried out the lining of your mouth and made you feel that you needed another glass or two to quench your thirst, it was around this time that we started to get giggly and Sue simply could hold her alcohol. Madeline and I were loud but she sploshed red wine all over the place!! I know that she was mortified afterwards and our disapproving husbands looked on and tried to calm us down. It was a lost cause by then !!!!

Interesting week.

This is Carl waiting for me at the top of the stairs , with a nice glass of wine!!

I like this action shot, apparently I had just arrived in the car park at this time and everyone was rushing back to their seats!!

A nice shot of some of my friends, John,Sue, Me, Dina and Rick (our best Holiday friends)

I have just about got over the shock of the party, but I have not been back to work as yet. On Friday last week I started to get a pain in my right foot, it got progressively worse over the weekend, I arrived at my party weekend with the alluring aroma of deep heat wafting around me, so much so that people actually commented on it!! Anyhow by Monday morning it was so painful I could hardly walk, as soon as I put my foot down the pain was unbelievable so I decided to get it checked out at hospital. After a couple of hours wait I was seen and xrayed. I was told that I had a stress fracture with tendonitis!! So I was advised to go home and rest it and if there was no improvement then I may well have to have it plastered next week at the fracture clinic.

So I have been very good and sat down all week. I have got loads of scrapping done and I have made a loads of cards, so not all is lost!! Once I have been back on Monday I will know what is happening, on a positive note it is feeling better and I have now managed one day without painkillers!!

A Card for Di Hickmans Blog!

I am so pleased that Di has decided to continue with her card making Diagrams!! I really like to have something to aim at each week, it keeps me motivated!

This week I have used Papertrey Cupcake stamps, Oval nestabilities, Pink Patterned paper by K and Co, Chocolate Neapolitan. Pearl paper and green paper by Papermill. A touch of stickles glitter. I am loving these stamps!!!

Surprise!!!!

This birthday has been one of the longest ever!! On Sunday I went out with my friend to a scrap and stamp show in Stevenage, my foot was playing me up something awful and I was really feeling under the weather. I had the day planned out, once we got back I was going to get myself sorted and head off for a family meal with Rod, Tina and the rest of my family at a local pub. My foot was so painful by then I was really feeling sorry for myself. Any how I put on a bit of slap and headed out with Tom to meet them at the pub. Things took a strange turn when he went a bit off course and we headed to the golf club. I was shocked almost speechless to find that they had laid on a surprise party for me! I had no idea, not a hint, nothing!!!
My only regret was that I hadn't dressed up for the event.
The cake was made by my friend Maggie, who is a fabulous baker and cake decorator, just look at the detail in the cake!


I love how she has managed to cover essentially 'me' name meaning, star sign, family, interests, the lot.

She also made a beautiful string of troll beads!! (I have been dabbling with bead making)

I have a fair few more pictures, I will post later!

So thank you to my family and friends who all worked really hard to keep the secret and to give me a wonderful surprise party!!!!

Lady GaGa!

Beth seems to be of the age where her life is packed with parties! One of the disadvantages of going to a faith school (a small disadvantage in my opinion) is that all the children come from far and wide. I love the fact that there is a huge spread of children from different ethnic backgrounds. Beth's class of 28 pupils, all came from different feeder schools, that's a diverse bunch of children!! Anyway back to the point of this post, last weekend Beth was invited a party in Edgeware which is North London, where one of her class mates come from, so we had to kit her out as Lady GaGa, as she had to go as a pop star.

We managed to find her a nice pink wig in town, which seemed to fit right in with her plans.

So we dropped her off in a Chinese Restaurant with all her friends and we took ourselves off to a nice Italian restaurant across the road! I think she looks cute!!