Digi classes

I’ve decided to go over all the classes I have taken with Jessica Sprague and see what I remember. If anyone is thinking of learning how to do digi scrapbooking then I can highly recommend her site. I started with a free class and enjoyed it so much I bought several of her classes. She teaches you so much that with a brain like mine it is hard to remember it all!

With this class we had to change the colour of the photo to sepia and then using the eraser tool, bring back some colour, it that makes sense! I also played around with the opacity and some brushes.

Promarker challenge

I thought I would have a go at the Promarker week 36 colour combo challenge, you can find it here http://promarkerchallenge.blogspot.com/.
We had to use pastel green and blossom colours which were lovely to work with. I’m hoping by doing these challenges my card making will improve!

Digi

I’ve been playing around with some free digi tips found here http://www.designerdigitals.com/digital-scrapbooking/tips/categories/Adobe+Photoshop+or+Elements+Tip+of+the+Week/. There is so much out there to help with digi scrapping, I love it. I learnt how to round corners and create mats for photos while Ian gets on with the decorating!

Top of the World

Scrapdolly’s prompt 4 was about music, something I’ve already done digitally lately, but I was glad to be able to do this for my album.

As I’ve said before, whenever I hear this song I’m transported back to holding my first baby and singing along – poor David!!

When we were first married we managed to buy a small one bedroomed converted flat. The walls were very thin and we could hear everything and I mean everything, going on upstairs. They used to play the Carpenters continually and I think brainwashed me into liking them so much that when we moved I had to buy the tape.
Where have all those years gone?

layouts I love

  They are about to prune the gallery over on UKS so I thought I would look back over my layouts and pick a few favourites before they disappear.

This layout was from a class by Debbie Jewell on the Design Collective. I think I was one of the few that subscribed to all their classes and still have them now to look back on. This isn’t my usual style, if I even have a style, but I loved the photo and the way the flowers framed it.

Feeling good!

The sun is shining and that makes such a difference. We had a nice walk this morning and a bought some lovely rowan wool. I popped in to Jenny’s and we had a nice crafty hour. Then Ian and I bought some wallpaper for the hall which was easier than anticipated, I am very hard to please!

While he has been stripping the walls I managed to make this card using a stamp from DigiStamp Boutique and a free sentiment from Pollycraft.

I did have a good evening’s viewing planned tonight but have been informed Spurs are playing on Sky, oh well you can’t win them all.

menu for week

Another week and another set of meals, I hope I can keep this up as it does make things easier. The Sunday meal is a recipe from the tv bit in the Saturday Mail, I thought it looked interesting. All the other meals are firm favourites.

Why are cards so hard?

  Why do I find cards so hard to do? I think I take longer doing a card than I do a scrapbook page. I try all different combinations of papers, cards, images etc. I can spend an afternoon looking for inspiration on blogs and marvel at what they come up with but when I try it I can’t seem to get it to look right. The mess in my bedroom at the moment is unbelievable and all for one very ordinary card.

I’m now going to put it all away and go and do some knitting. At least I have the ice dancing and the new series of 24 to look forward to.

family

I’ve finished my second book of the year another Rebecca Tope one. This was the second book in the series, I should really have read them in order so will try to in future. I enjoyed this one more than the last one I read and can recommend it. I’m going to read something completely different next as I feel I need a change.

No craft done today as we had the grandchildren round. I won at risk but Alex won at sevens. I did manage to make some bread, a weetabix cake and some shortbread before them came, it’s nearly all gone  now though!!

Superhealthy salmon burgers

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless salmon fillets about 550g in total, cut into chunks
• 2 tbsp Thai red curry paste
• thumb-size piece fresh root ginger grated
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 bunch coriander , half chopped, half leaves picked
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• lemon wedges, to serve

FOR THE SALAD

• 2 carrots
• half large or 1 small cucumber
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp golden caster sugar

Tip the salmon into a food processor with the paste, ginger, soy and chopped coriander. Pulse until roughly minced. Tip out the mix and shape into 4 burgers. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan, then fry the burgers for 4-5 mins on each side, turning until crisp and cooked through.

Meanwhile, use a swivel peeler to peel strips of carrot and cucumber into a bowl. Toss with the vinegar and sugar until the sugar has dissolved, then toss through the coriander leaves. Divide the salad between 4 plates. Serve with the burgers and rice.

I made this last night after being pointed in the direction of the recipe on the Good Food web site by Sister Sue. It was really delicious and one I will definitely try again.

Nanny and Grandad

The challenge over on the scrap weekly in 2010 blog was to use a bad photo in a creative way. I had scanned in an old photo of Nanny and Grandad so decided to use that as the quality was very poor.
I used some papers and elements from Jessica Sprague and a template by Karen Cole.

Letter to young me!

Here is the next page for scrapdolly’s 50 in 10 class. We had to write a letter to our younger selves and include a quote, my letter is tucked behind the photo. I used cosmo cricket early bird papers from the Sarah’s Cards September kit and my new retro flower punches.

The weather has turned really cold again, I hope we don’t get more snow, it’s so much easier to diet in the warm weather!

A day at the zoo

The weather was not too bad, I had a free pass and it was a good opportunity to see Peter, so we went to the zoo today.

As always there were lots of monkeys with names I can’t remember!

The baby elephant we saw last year has grown a bit.

Not many cats were out, they were all too sensible, but we did see these two lynx.

A very spooky photo of a rare chinese leopard, I was corrected by peter!

weeks menu

I’m back on my diet now so not doing any puddings, we will have fresh fruit or icecream. I’m trying a few new recipes, two that Sue recommended, hopefully they will be enjoyed by everyone. I also plan to make a low fat weetabix cake and a lemon drizzle cake along with some homemade soup, for our lunch.

snow card

over on this blog http://dcdchristmasclub.blogspot.com/2010/01/challenge-1-snow_16.html there is a new challenge for the year. I thought it was a great idea to get ahead with cards for Christmas so thought I would have a go. The first challenge was to use snow which I have done using a digi stamp from the Digistamp Boutique. I’m looking forward to the next challenge now!

sleepy day

After an evening out at a murder mystery dinner last night, I’ve spent today in bed with a bad headache and a general feeling of not wanting to do anything! Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be back to normal. Ian is cooking the dinner which is lovely and I can relax and do nothing!

Mushroom and potato meatballs

MUSHROOM AND POTATO MEATBALLS

1/2lb mince
1 small onion – chopped
2oz fresh breadcrumbs
pinch of mixed herbs
1 beaten egg
seasoning
1lb potatoes – diced
tin mushroom soup 15oz, I add some milk to make it moister

Mix beef, onion, breadcrumbs, herbs, egg and seasoning and form into meatballs. Put diced potato into dish, place meatballs on top and pour over soup.
Cover with foil and cook 200 deg c for 1 1/2hrs. Remove foil and cook for a further 20mins to brown.

This recipe came from Sister Sue many years ago and is a family favourite.

goals

My page for prompt 2 of Scrapdolly’s class. I used a template that was on Shimelle’s blog back in July for the circle bit with wordart by scrapdolly. The papers were from a Sarah’s cards kit

It’s been snowing again here but thankfully not settling at the moment. Jenny and I went to the cinema at lunchtime yesterday to see a Hugh Grant film, we have decided to try and do that once a month as a treat. There were only 5 of us in the cinema, which was nice and we did the orange deal so got two tickets for the price of one, so it was a nice cheap treat.

Jigsaw

I’ve been busy doing Scrapdolly’s latest prompt but will put on blog when the light is a bit better. Ian has just finished this jigsaw he received  from the grandchildren for Christmas.

The snow is clearing at last and hopefully that will be the end of it as I’ve had enough!!

Answering queries from yesterday – yes Sue, it is your recipe from years ago, we still love it, when I’ve made it I will post the recipe.

The tuna and cheese recipe is very simple, nearly all mine are. It is tinned tuna mixed into a cheese and onion sauce, very cheap and yummy. All my children love it except for David, he claims his dislike of tuna comes from being fed this recipe continuously as a child!

Looking back to when I first got married, my housekeeping money  was £5 a week. I would make cheap meals like rissoles, stuffed breast of lamb, sausage and mash, we also seemed to live on angel delights for pudding. The highlight would be when I made a chocolate cake, another recipe from Sister Sue. One meal I hated but Ian loved was faggots, I would just have the gravy with the vegetables and Ian got the rest.

scrap weekly challenge

The challenge this week was to list ten things, well I only managed five but enjoyed what I did as it brought back happy memories.
When certain songs are played I am instantly transported back in time.
When I here On top of the world by The carpenters I can picture myself singing along with it as I fed my eldest son David. So many years have passed but I can still feel the joy of having my new baby.
Those were the days by Mary Hopkins was the first single I was given and reminds me of the exciting times of the sixties.
The tears of a clown was the first single I bought for myself and although I’m not a great fan of that music I always smile when I hear this song.
I’m a believer by The Monkees began my first crush! How I loved that group, I can still picture my bedroom covered in their photos.
Lastly I have to include Everything I do by Bryan Adams. This was played constantly in our house for weeks and weeks by my daughter, I think it drove everyone mad!
I used a template by Kathleen Summers and a free kit called Junior Rocker

Weeks Menu

My menu for the week, hopefully I will keep to it. I had to make a couple of alterations last week as the weather meant Andrew couldn’t get home one night so Ian and I ate the leftovers from the previous evening but on the whole I was pleased with the way the week went.

Snowy seaside

We managed a short walk down to the sea yesterday before more snow came down. The pavements were very icy and I was glad to get inside without injuring myself.

I used a free template on Jessica Sprague’s site and papers by Shimelle.

outside my window

This is the view outside my window today, too cold to go outside. So it’s a day for knitting, reading and watching tv again.

I’m reading this at the moment and enjoying it, have read two more in the series. It’s about a widow and her dog who goes house-sitting to various quaint villages in the Cotswolds. It’s not long before a body, or in this case bones, is found.

wkly challenge

I’ve not done the weekly challenge over on UKS for quite a while so thought I would give it a go. It was set by BeckyG1 and I decided to go digi.
The challenge was to -
1. Use a sketch
2. Scrap a celebration
3. Use ribbon.

I know the bouncy castle photo doesn't really go, I just loved it!

More snow!

We’ve finally caught up with the rest of the country and have had more snow, with a lot more expected!

I popped out in the garden and took some photos.

Winnie followed me out and was soon ready to get back in the warm just like me.

now and then

It’s a terrible photo and looks nothing like the colour of my layout but the weather is so bad I just can’t get it right. I suppose I should be patient and wait but I’ve got a couple of busy days ahead and I wanted to make a start on scrapdolly’s class.

It took me ages finding a photo of me from 10 years ago but I finally found one of me at work.That is a big change from 10yrs ago, I now don’t go out to work as I left my job to move here, on days like today I am so thankful, if I’m honest I am thankful everyday!

So many things have changed over the ten years. I’ve got older and fatter! Two children have married and I have two more grandchildren. We have been through some very bad times and I now realise you can put up with anything as long as you have your health or more importantly, the people you love have theirs.

Scrap weekly in 2010

I’ve decided to try and do this challenge http://scrapweekly-2010.blogspot.com/ as often as I can. Here is my first layout, my aims for 2010. I’m looking forward to seeing what others come up with.

Weekly menu

Menu for the week
Monday – Macaroni Cheese
              Icecream
Tuesday – Chicken Pie
               Apple crumble
Wednesday – Lemon sole
                    apple crumble
Thursday – Spaghetti bolognaise
                Homemade yoghurt and fruit
Friday – at mum’s
Saturday – Roasted butternut squash risotto
                Icecream
Sunday – Roast
              Lemon flan

crochet

  another cold, snowy day, so after a brisk walk by the sea what could be better than settling down by the fire and relearning old skills.

scrapped at last!

  After much agonising and looking through all my stash, I finally managed to do some proper scrapping! Hopefully my mojo has returned and I will be ready for all the challenges I want to do.
This was done using the August Sarah’s cards kit and inspired by a layout in their leaflet by Emma Trout. The papers were paper trunk – maybe baby and went well with the photo of Jamie and Rebecca.
As I type Jamie, Jenny, Andrew and Ian should be at White Hart Lane watching a spurs game, a special treat for Jamie because of his broken leg. I am tucked up in the warm scrapping, reading, watching tv and playing on the computer!

Happy New Year

As always when a new year starts, we like to make some changes. Usually we fail miserably after only a few days.
I would like to focus on just a few.
1. As always, I must lose some weight and get fit.
2. I would like to get more structure into my scrapping by doing various challenges each week.
3. Live a simpler life, cooking more using local produce and keeping away from takeaways etc.
4. Grow more vegetables in the garden, hopefully with more success than last year.
5. Be content.
Just a few simple aims which will hopefully make for a good new year.
Have started well by making my own burgers for tea followed by a fresh fruit salad.