Macro Monday!

I spent a few minutes out in the garden today looking for likely candidates to try out my new 100mm Macro lens, i got a little closer than I generally like to, to a spider and took and oportunistic snap of a hover fly who landed on a handy leaf. I love the last flower pic, if only i'd rearranged that front petal!

They were all taken at f11 so not a lot of ambient light, so i used my speedlight off the camera to get the right exposure. What do you reckon to my first attempt?

Macro Monday!

I spent a few minutes out in the garden today looking for likely candidates to try out my new 100mm Macro lens, i got a little closer than I generally like to, to a spider and took and oportunistic snap of a hover fly who landed on a handy leaf. I love the last flower pic, if only i'd rearranged that front petal!

They were all taken at f11 so not a lot of ambient light, so i used my speedlight off the camera to get the right exposure. What do you reckon to my first attempt?

They've landed!

I have a couple of new feathery arrivals! These gorgeous girls are bantam chickens called Pekins and have the cutest short feathery legs! They are a little shy just now, but i'm sure they'll come out of their shells soon!(gettit???) So I introduce to you...

Dolly

Jolene

Mabel

Maggie

and .Noelle

They've landed!

I have a couple of new feathery arrivals! These gorgeous girls are bantam chickens called Pekins and have the cutest short feathery legs! They are a little shy just now, but i'm sure they'll come out of their shells soon!(gettit???) So I introduce to you...

Dolly

Jolene

Mabel

Maggie

and .Noelle

Wassail and Embossed Letters Tutorial

I'm loving the new BG Wassail range and even though it's a Christmas line, i'm sure it's going to be excellent for all sorts of themes, but for my first page I went for something inbetween! It's snow, but it was nowhere near Christmas!! For the lettering i've embossed some Doodlebug sticker letters - a really fun and easy technique that i thought i'd share here too!

1. Select your chosen letters, i've used Doodlebug Hopscotch sticker alphas, but you could use an that are cardstock based - BasicGrey monograms would be awesome for this!

2. Cut out the letters you need for your title and put them inside your chosen Cuttelbug embossing folder. I love dots so this one is perfect!

3. Run through your Cuttlebug.

4. Use your chosen sanding tool (I love my BasicGrey Precision File Set) to sand back some of the raised areas.

5. And voila! Your finished letters....

6. I think they look pretty cool in situe too!

Blast from the past!

I'll freely admit that back in the day I was a New Kids fan, and like every other old band they are having a comeback! I kinda like Summertime - but after a few watches I still can't fully get my head around the fact that Joey Macintyre isn't still 15!

Blast from the past!

I'll freely admit that back in the day I was a New Kids fan, and like every other old band they are having a comeback! I kinda like Summertime - but after a few watches I still can't fully get my head around the fact that Joey Macintyre isn't still 15!

Pretty in Pink

I don't know how I do it... someone or something must be looking out for me where weather is concerned. Every time i've had time of this year i've been mostly rewarded with glorious weather (at least comparatively speaking!) And this time is no exception - it was gorgeous today, basking in the sun while enjoying a pub lunch at the Red Shoot Inn at Linwood in the New Forest. If you're ever in the area, a visit is essential, they are the most welcoming pub and well loved by ramblers, dog walkers, horse riders, cyclists and motorcyclists as well as tourists of course! It's especially dog friendly with a bowl of dog biscuits on the bar for canine patrons. Martha tagged along with us today and modelled her bib to soak up most of her drool! Very fetching I think you'll agree!

The obligatory paddle followed of course!

Pretty in Pink

I don't know how I do it... someone or something must be looking out for me where weather is concerned. Every time i've had time of this year i've been mostly rewarded with glorious weather (at least comparatively speaking!) And this time is no exception - it was gorgeous today, basking in the sun while enjoying a pub lunch at the Red Shoot Inn at Linwood in the New Forest. If you're ever in the area, a visit is essential, they are the most welcoming pub and well loved by ramblers, dog walkers, horse riders, cyclists and motorcyclists as well as tourists of course! It's especially dog friendly with a bowl of dog biscuits on the bar for canine patrons. Martha tagged along with us today and modelled her bib to soak up most of her drool! Very fetching I think you'll agree!

The obligatory paddle followed of course!

Harness the power!

Sometimes a girl loves water a bit too much, and as i'm less keen and don't always fancy wading in to retrieve a Newfy who refuses to come out of the water, sometimes Martha just has to stay on-lead! On a collar there is always the problem of the lead getting a bit wrapped round an excitable 'puppy' so I invested in a harness from Canine Spirit (a great active-dog supplies shop) - it has a ring on the top so the lead is safely out of the way of big newfy legs! It also has a handle that makes it perfect for future water-rescue training!!

Martha loves it!

Harness the power!

Sometimes a girl loves water a bit too much, and as i'm less keen and don't always fancy wading in to retrieve a Newfy who refuses to come out of the water, sometimes Martha just has to stay on-lead! On a collar there is always the problem of the lead getting a bit wrapped round an excitable 'puppy' so I invested in a harness from Canine Spirit (a great active-dog supplies shop) - it has a ring on the top so the lead is safely out of the way of big newfy legs! It also has a handle that makes it perfect for future water-rescue training!!

Martha loves it!

Happy Birthday to Meeee!

I had a fantastic Birthday yesterday, after taking a half day off to start a few days off work, I had a lovely relaxing stroll in the forest and watched the girls free range for ages!!

I'm very lucky to know a lot of very clever people, so received lots of gorgeous handmade cards! This first one is a Nick Mercer original (from the guys and gals at work)  - it's all hand cut (from Core'dinations and BasicGrey), and I love it!

This one is from lovely Emma, who's definately a star cardmaker in the making!

This one's from Jenny P - she nabbed the pic of Martha from my blog and embellished it with our standard answer about age! She's the same age as me, although she always mentions that she's a couple of weeks younger!

A gorgeous butterfly card from Mum, with an added row of teeny chicken feet!

Sandie made this funky tree card - loe the velvet paper and the birdy!

And finally this flowery masterpiece from Anita, isn't this a gorgeous card!!

Teeny cakes were the order of the day and for me they have to be chocolate with more chocolate, topped with Cadbury's Buttons - Yummy!

I was very, very lucky to receive some wonderful gifts, including a gorgeous chocolate cord American Crafts d-ring album from Anita - thanks hunny! Many more of my pressies had a noticable theme.... no prizes for guessing it from these pics!

Flowers are always lovely too.... thanks to Becks for some gorgeous citrus hued roses and freesias. They smell gorgeous and are currently a welcome brightener for my scrapping area. I feel inspired to scrap in yellow all of a sudden!

Another AMAZINGLY geneous pressie was this fantastic 100mm Macro Lens... you'll have to watch this space for evidence of me getting to grips with it!

So all in all a fantastic day! Thanks so much for all the kind Birthday wishes via email, text, and via Facebook etc. Love you all! xxx

Happy Birthday to Meeee!

I had a fantastic Birthday yesterday, after taking a half day off to start a few days off work, I had a lovely relaxing stroll in the forest and watched the girls free range for ages!!

I'm very lucky to know a lot of very clever people, so received lots of gorgeous handmade cards! This first one is a Nick Mercer original (from the guys and gals at work)  - it's all hand cut (from Core'dinations and BasicGrey), and I love it!

This one is from lovely Emma, who's definately a star cardmaker in the making!

This one's from Jenny P - she nabbed the pic of Martha from my blog and embellished it with our standard answer about age! She's the same age as me, although she always mentions that she's a couple of weeks younger!

A gorgeous butterfly card from Mum, with an added row of teeny chicken feet!

Sandie made this funky tree card - loe the velvet paper and the birdy!

And finally this flowery masterpiece from Anita, isn't this a gorgeous card!!

Teeny cakes were the order of the day and for me they have to be chocolate with more chocolate, topped with Cadbury's Buttons - Yummy!

I was very, very lucky to receive some wonderful gifts, including a gorgeous chocolate cord American Crafts d-ring album from Anita - thanks hunny! Many more of my pressies had a noticable theme.... no prizes for guessing it from these pics!

Flowers are always lovely too.... thanks to Becks for some gorgeous citrus hued roses and freesias. They smell gorgeous and are currently a welcome brightener for my scrapping area. I feel inspired to scrap in yellow all of a sudden!

Another AMAZINGLY geneous pressie was this fantastic 100mm Macro Lens... you'll have to watch this space for evidence of me getting to grips with it!

So all in all a fantastic day! Thanks so much for all the kind Birthday wishes via email, text, and via Facebook etc. Love you all! xxx