Friday 29 January 2010

Collage/scraps ATCs




Here are the collage ATCs that I made a couple of weeks ago, it was the challenge my two crafting buddies and I set ourselves, it followed on from our previous week's challenge which was using bits from our 'scraps' box so my ATCs are all made from scraps.

DIET UPDATE
It was Rob's first weigh in since we started on the GI diet. The first week was quite tough for me as I had to study all the recipes and do the shopping etc but the diet itself is quite easy and the recipes are all very tasty, and it was worth all the hassle because, guess what? ...... I have lost 4lb and Rob has lost a whopping
6lb!! So we are both well pleased and highly motivated to carry on.

Wednesday 27 January 2010

Spectacular sunset




We had the most spectacular sunset last night, here are a couple of photos taken from the back garden, plus one that (can you believe) was taken only two weeks ago. Beautiful wasn't it?

Saturday 23 January 2010

The GI has arrived!

No not the American Serviceman, the GI diet! Rob really needs to lose some weight, his BMI has gone into the red and I need to lose a few pounds (or more!) myself, so when my friend Sue told me about the GI diet sessions that were going to begin at the beauty salon where she works I thought it would be ideal for Rob. He has tried dieting before but hasn't got the willpower to go it alone, here he goes up to the salon each week for the group session (very small groups so he doesn't feel intimidated), he is weighed (privately, no one else knows how much he weighs) and given support and guidance. I am his "Buddy" so I will be doing the diet with him but I won't be going to the support sessions.

The weekend is not really the ideal time to start a diet though (but since next weigh in is Thursday evening it couldn't be delayed!). We eat sensibly all week but weekends we tend to relax somewhat. Friday evening we usually open a bottle of red wine to have with our evening meal then later in the evening we will have a Gin and Tonic. Not this weekend.... I made a chicken curry (a GI recipe) so that we wouldn't miss the wine (well you can't have wine with curry can you?), but a glass of water or green tea is not the same as a G&T!! I had made some GI carrot muffins and wholemeal fruit scones during the afternoon, after our mammoth shop for "healthy" foodstuff, so we each had a muffin late evening, they were delicious so it made up a little for the missed G&T.

Homey Porridge for breakfast this morning instead of our usual hot buttered toast and homemade jam, but it was surprisingly tastey and very filling (I couldn't manage all of my portion). Rob then went off to help our Son with some work and I stayed to do some more baking, I've made Mini Breakfast Puffs (they don't look very mini!!), Cranberry Cinnamon Bran Muffins and some Apple Pie Cookies, can't wait to try them. This evening instead of steak and chips and a glass of wine we will be having Pork Medallions Dijon (the recipe sounds rather good) with new potatoes and veg .... and with it we'll be having water!!!! We had been invited over to our Son and Daughter in law for tea today but I thought it better to take a rain check.

I know it will be easier when our first weekend is over as we don't have wine etc every evening, but for now ..... sigh (makes me sound like an alki doesn't it?)

I'll let you know how we get on (that's if you're not bored to death already!).

Wednesday 20 January 2010

Bonnie's not too well


Bonnie is feeling a bit sorry for herself at the moment, I had to take her to the Vet (which she hates!) yesterday and again this morning.

It started Monday evening, I couldn't put my finger on it but she was very mopey and didn't seem to be walking properly. We thought she may have eaten something she shouldn't and was feeling a bit off colour. Yesterday morning Rob let her out into the garden before he went to work and said she was carrying her back leg. I got up later and prepared to take her for a walk but she wasn't interested. She was still lying on the bed at lunchtime so I carried her downstairs and put her outside, she was obviously in a lot of discomfort and wouldn't walk at all so I rang the Vet.

He checked her over and said the knee joint of her right hind leg was very loose and easily slipped in and out, he also said this wasn't unusual and was something she might always have had, he was more concerned about her back as the muscles were so tight she was hunching her back. He gave her an anti-inflammatory injection and asked me to take her back again this morning. In the meantime I had to try to keep her mobile so that her back didn't seize up (have you ever tried to keep a dog, even a small one, on the move when they are in pain and have no intention of moving??!!!).

In the end I put her lead on and took her for a short walk up and down the street, which she seemed to enjoy. When we got home I dried her feet but when I got to the back right paw she pulled it away and wouldn't let me look at it. She then began licking it and a little later Rob noticed it was bleeding but she still wouldn't let me touch it.

I took her back to the Vet this morning and he asked me to walk up and down the car park (as you do!) so that he could watch her walking. He then examined her (no not in the car park!), he was very pleased with the way her back muscles had relaxed, her knee joint was still loose but it didn't bother her when he manipulated it, he was however very surprised when I told him about the bleeding as he had examined her paw yesterday and she gave no indication that it was at all tender. Anyway, to cut a long story short (what do you mean it's too late?!) she is on a course of antibiotics to clear up any infection in her foot and I have to give him a ring in a week's time if I am still worried about her.

Sunday 17 January 2010

Cards from Scraps





The first challenge of 2010 that my crafting buddies and I set ourselves was inspired by a project featured in the January edition of Craft Stamper magazine, it was literally making cards using the scraps of card and paper that we crafters always accrue .... well we can't throw anything away, it may come in handy .... and now it has! There is one card made using inch squares of scraps, then there is the tag card using various odd strips, then I had the idea of using used postage stamps and the idea then overlapped into last week's challenge (which was collage, more of that later). The background of the collage card was made by layering various pieces of cuttlebug embossed card and acetate and the leafy looking scroll thingy (that's a technical term!) is actually an Elusive Images heart stamp that at some point I had stamped, heat embossed and layered onto gold card which I cut in half .... good eh? Doesn't look at all like a heart now does it?

Easel ATC's


As promised here are two easel ATC's.

Easel cards






A few weeks ago my two crafting friends and I decided to master the art of easel cards and now I'm hooked .... I just love them! I have even moved on to making easel ATC's! Here are a few of the cards I've made, I'll show you the ATC's later when I have take a photo of them. What do you think?

Saturday 16 January 2010

Cuttlebug and Nesties






A friend of mine is considering buying a Cuttlebug and perhaps some Nestibilities so she has asked me if I can show her some of the cards I have made using either just the Cuttlebug or the Nesties with the Cuttlebug, so Dee here are just a few that I made last year, I hope they inspire you.

Monday 11 January 2010

Still freezing cold



Well it is still bitterly cold but at least we didn't get the snow that was predicted over the weekend. I spent most of the weekend organizing my ribbons. Rob made me some wooden stands that the inside of kitchen rolls fit onto and the ribbons are now stored on these. The only thing is that I have run out of both stands and kitchen roll tubes so I can't finish off, oh well on to other things.

Friday 8 January 2010

HAPPY NEW YEAR


Happy New Year everyone (if anyone is still around that is!). I'm back! I can't believe it is 6 months since I last posted.

It has been a bit of a roller coaster time. Unfortunately my lovely Mother in law died whilst we were away on holiday, that wasn't too much of a shock but what was a dreadful shock was finding out that my brother in law had gone ahead with the funeral a few days before we returned home! My lovely husband and two sons were devastated as none of us had the chance to say our goodbyes. That's one of the reasons I haven't been on here, it sort of takes the wind out of your sails.

What else has happened? One of my Sisters in law was rushed into hospital with a heart attack (she's is OK though thank goodness). My lovely little Granddaughter fell down stairs and hurt her foot but she went on to take part in a swimming competition only to find out the next day that she had broken her little toe and fractured 3 bones on the top of her foot!! I gashed my little finger on some glass and had to go to minor injuries to have it clipped and dressed, can't think what else but I think that's enough don't you?

I was quite pleased to see the back of 2009 and was looking forward to a fresh start in 2010 but what happened? ..... I went down with a tummy bug on New Year's Eve!! Still, things can only get better can't they?!

I hope you are all managing to keep warm in this dreadful weather. We hardly every get snow down here in this part of Hampshire but guess what? ..... Yep ..... we have loads of it! It is treacherous to even step foot outside the door, we live on a hill so both exits mean negotiating quite a steep hill, needless to say it never gets gritted so although most main roads are fairly clear we can't get out of our little estate without risking life and limb. Still what better excuse to stay in and do some crafting! The photo is a view of a corner of our garden taken from the bedroom window (well you don't expect me to go outside do you?!)

I promise to try to post again very soon with some photos of cards I am making.