Surprising...

Normally the arrival of Oriental themed papers would have been a total non-event (these are from last months Studio Calico kit) but this time I was over the moon! And it's all because of a little group of Mandarin ducks that frequent a local pond in the New Forest. This page features my favourite picture that I've managed so far and it works a treat with these papers!

It's just a shame capturing a good pic of him wasn't as easy as the page turned out to be!

Bittersweet...

After three and a half years of sitting miles away from the nearest window, I recently moved to a different area of the office and now have a lovely big window right behind me. While it's fantastic to have a bit of natural light (peeking from behind piles of samples of course!) it's a little bit bittersweet. Now I can see when it's bright and sunny outside whilst we are hard at work indoors!

Recently though the weather has literally been taunting me... imagine the scene... The end of the day arrives and after a quick peek over my shoulder to confirm the sun is out and the birds are singing (yes... the office is clearly situated somewhere near Narnia !) I skip downstairs to jump in my little car... but in the 2 mins it has taken, somehow the weather turns and i'm greeted by hailstorms, blizzards and tornados (i've told you a million times I hate people who exaggerate!). Paranoia?? Quite probably...

But just to prove that I sometimes beat the odds and I do get to glimpse a bit of sun here's a page of Martha enjoying a quick dip. It's hard to see on the scan, but the flowers are accented by some Ranger Distressed Stickles - I quite like them... maybe a mini shopping spree is on the cards!

080309 Splash

080309 Splash
Originally uploaded by *karlotta*

I might be a bit blond but I've finally realised that I can blog direct from Flickr... this has to be the perfect way to keep this blog updated!

Of course this is Martha - I'm doing a 365 of her and will try and keep blogging them! For the days already past pop on over to my Flickr!

080309 Splash

080309 Splash
Originally uploaded by *karlotta*

I might be a bit blond but I've finally realised that I can blog direct from Flickr... this has to be the perfect way to keep this blog updated!

Of course this is Martha - I'm doing a 365 of her and will try and keep blogging them! For the days already past pop on over to my Flickr!

Everyone's a winner!

A bit of sunshine meant two very happy dogs this weekend, lots and lots of paddilng was to be had and I'm sure that I got nearly as wet as them!

Despite the BBC's shortsighted view to not screen Crufts this year I enjoyed a few snippets from their online coverage (I for one hopes that the Kennel Club look for an alternative broadcaster in future years even if the BBC come crawling back - I couldn't believe the hypocrisy of critisizing certain breeds like the St Bernard only to cast one on their flagship show - Eastenders!)

I was delighted to see a Sealyham take the top honours this year, it's one of the British Breeds that is at risk of disappearing due to low numbers. Hopefully it will encourage people to look beyone the obvious choices and enjoy this fun little breed. There is always a increase of people wanting a puppy just like the BIS winner and I can't help but be relieved that it's a breed that wouldn't be harmed by this with a bit of luck. Although I do have to admit to cheering for the Pharoah hound - he was totally stunning!

Back to my girls and a page featuring an extreme close up of Miss Martha's big snozz. The page looks decidely wonky here but I promise it's not in real life!

Let it snow...

Woke up this morning to a surprising layer of the white stuff... lot's to scrape off the car and enough to pile high on the trees and a few quick pictures in the drive before rushing off to work.

Not a lot left once I got home and Martha paused to pose after tiring herself out with a good run around in the little bit that remained.

Today saw a new challenge go live at Scrap Schemes, it was based on a lovely black and white image and this was my take on it.

I loved the colour (or lack of) scheme and simply added some touches of red and grey to set it off. Most of the bit's i've used are from the last Studio Calico kit.

At long last...

Just a quickie tonight as I'm cream crackered and am off to bed in a mo! But I can't go without sharing a page... When the last lot of BasicGrey papers came out I confidently proclaimed that this blue woodgrain one from the Granola pack (along with the pink woodgrain in Eva) was my favourite, but it's taken until now (and the arrival of another sheet in the Studio Calico kit) for me to actually get round to using it. I'm not precious about 'saving' papers - there is no such thing as one that's 'too good' to use, but it just never made it onto a page before.

The page features Lola mid paddle (terrible scan... the photo on this one is lovely in real life - check my flickr if you don't believe me!!!) having lots of fun on her favourite walkies.