Om nom nom...

Fingers crossed I think I'm past the worst of my lurgee... and thank goodness it was just in time for a scrummy Christmas luncheon at our local olde-world local pub with the guys and girls in the product team at work. I went against tradition and scoffed a big ol' steak between wholy traditional prawn cocktail and essential Yule log.

On the topic of food here's a page featuring Martha scoffing her din-dins. It's definately one of her 2 favourite times of day (just behind lunch!) and takes her all of 2 mins to polish off. This one is again with the SC November kit  - i'm making good use of it while I wait not so patiently for the December one to arrive!

Talking of  food... is it wrong to hanker after tomorrrow's advent chocolate?

Fabulous....

Love this new Lily Allen track... enjoy.

Flash ah ah.....

There's a new challenge over at the Forever Friends challenge blog and the challenge this time is to use a Christmas song... here's my offering..

At the moment I'm bearly seing the light of day, it's dark when I leave for work and dark when I get home so my photography is severely limited at the moment. So the only alternative is long exposures with a tripod or getting busy with some flash - this is one of my favourite Christmas ornaments - who can resist a bit of glitz at Christmas? I finally use the Liveview on my 40D for the first time and it really does make nailing focus a cinch for close-up shots. I was decidedly sceptical, but I'm a convert!

For a while now I've been wanting to get some off camera lighting and rather than invest in studio (continuous or flash) lighting I've taken the plunge with a set of wireless flash triggers for my speedlite. It means you can get a bit more creative with the angle and amount of flash. This shot (which is by no means perfect!! was lit with the speedlite on the right hand side of the shot and it straight away adds a bit of drama and interest.

Once I'd got the Speedlite off the camera you loose the thru-the-lens metering so you have to control the flash manually - a whole now world to learn which is quite exciting!

This is a page from the weekend (November SC) and features one my recent favourite pics of Martha - I took it when I was aiming to get some Christmas card pictures (hats and antlers!!) but Martha much preferred posing without!

Awol...

I've been AWOL for a little while because I've been fighting a horrible virus... I'm still pretty ropey and am taking it super easy in an attempt to shake it off. I've got a page to share though that I did last weekend before it all kicked off! It's using Novembers Studio Calico kit and it was quick and easy, just the way it should be! Love those K&Co Embossed Butterfly die-cuts - I'm really not a fan of Butterflies that are too realistic, they always remind me of those horrible pinned displays - so these are perfect as they are more stylised.

Also to share is a wee Xmas notebook using BG Wassail and a Forever Friends stamp - he's made using the bits left over from my Wassail after finishing my Christmas cards (see last post!). I think he looks rather dapper in a Wassail hat and scarf... now there's an idea!!

An efficient Christmas..

One evening... 40 handmade cards... job done! Who says making Christmas cards has to be hard work??

Wrap up warm!

I have to admit that Martha really doesn't feel the cold, but she still looks darn cute in my scarf!

Page is mostly Sassafras plus my fave Stampin Up punch down the left hand side of the lined paper layer... love that note-book finish!

I'm still trying to psyche myself up to crack on with my Christmas cards... even though i've ordered the pics I think i'm having a change of heart!! It's a tough (and important.... honest!) choice!

Keeping you in the dark...

Most scrapbookers admit to taking their camera pretty much everywhere they go, but I wonder if many people take it out in the pitch black to grab a couple of candid shots? Well I have! On a nightime walk with Lola grabbed my camera and flash and while she merrily snuffled through the leaves I snapped away! She didn't seem to mind the flash either!

I've used the wonderful November Studio Calico kit including this cool die-cut from K&Co. I love the autumnal shades and it's been the perfect way to scrap my autumn photos.

There's also a new challenge using the cute little Forever Friends bears - this weeks it's all about an unconventional Christmas - never let it be said that I like conventional colour schemes so this one was great fun for me. To be extra non-traditional I've used flowers on a Christmas card (and not your standard Poinsettia!)