Clean and Simple

My motto! Over on Our Creative Corner the theme is clean and simple. My entry is a little girl's birthday card and is nothing more than the image, a ribbon, the sentiment and a few gems. This is my kind of card with plenty of white. The image is one of Pink Petticoat's Frilly Millie's - I think this is Bonbon.



I hope you like her and thanks for looking!

New Beginnings

Over on the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge the theme is New Beginnings. The challenge is to create anything with a "new theme" - home, baby, job etc. My entry is for a new baby and has been made using Pink Petticoat Big Dots, some ribbon in the shape of babies bottles (how cute is that!), some embossing, a punched border, a big bow, a button and a little star gem. The card also fits in with the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge, the My Time to Craft Challenge and the By The Cute and Girly Challenge.



Thanks for looking!

If At First You Don't Succeed...

I thought I'd check back to see what resolutions I made last year and whether or not I kept them. They were:

1) to stop buying lotions and potions till I've finished everything that I currently own (gloomy profits forecast for Boots then)
2) to stop keeping things for 'good'. So starting as I mean to go on I'm sitting here, admittedly in my jammies, swathed in Chanel No.5 from top to toe and it feels good (cue James Brown)!

I failed on both counts - I think the keeping things for 'good' is an age thing - from when you didn't have that much so you had everyday things and things that were kept for special occasions.

So lets try again - my resolutions for this year (lets hope I have more success in keeping them) are:

1) to finish all cosmetic/toiletries before buying/opening new ones
2) to stop keeping things for 'good' - enjoy the things I'm fortunate enough to have
3) lose weight

I hope you had more success with your resolutions and once again I would like to wish you all a very happy New Year.

Happy New Year

All together now:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne ?

For auld lang syne, my jo,
for auld lang syne,
we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne ?

And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp !
and surely I'll be mine !
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne ?

We twa hae run about the braes,
and pu'd the gowans fine ;
But we've wander'd mony a weary foot,
sin auld lang syne.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne ?

We twa hae paidl'd i' the burn,
frae morning sun till dine ;
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
sin auld lang syne.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne ?

And there's a hand, my trusty fiere !
and gie's a hand o' thine !
And we'll tak a right gude-willy waught,
for auld lang syne

You are now officially Scottish!

Happy 2010 and I wish everyone the very best in the coming year.

A Break From Christmas Food

Back to work tomorrow grrrrrrr...never mind only two days this week and then off for another five...brilliant!

I've just about caught up with sleep after the Christmas break - on Boxing Day we went through to Edinburgh to see the musical We Will Rock You - it was fantastic! We stayed over however you never get a great sleep when you are away from home do you? On Sunday we pottered about in Edinburgh. The weather wasn't great so we just went to Harvey Nicks (gorged on their garlic stuffed olives last night), Valvona and Crolla Vincaffe and the likes and then made our way home. So today, I'm ashamed to admit, has been spent in my PJ's just messing around making a couple of thank you cards and some Weight Watchers recipes for the freezer - ah yes the New Year diet will soon be upon us.

The little cards are using Pink Petticoat Pretty Potty's Wheelbarrow Collection which I've printed straight onto the cards and added a little stickles sparkle and some liquid pearls.



Last night I made a very simple but absolutely delicious pasta dish from Antonio Carluccio's Simple Cooking book which I got for Christmas. It served as a welcome break from Christmas type rich food and and only took minutes to make.

Spaghetti, Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino (Spaghetti with Garlic, Oil and Chilli)

Serves Two

Salt
180g spaghetti

Sauce

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
6 tbsp olive oil

Put plenty of water in a saucepan, add salt, bring to the boil and throw in the pasta, then cook for about 5-6 minutes, until nearly done (check packet timings).

Now start the sauce by heating the olive oil gently in a deep frying pan. Add the garlic and chilli and fry for a few seconds, or until the garlic starts to change colour. Take care not to burn the garlic.

The pasta will be ready and al dente in those few minutes. Drain it well and put in the pan with the 'sauce', adding a little salt and perhaps 1-2 tbsp of the pasta cooking water. Stir a couple of times and serve.

Now crack open a bottle and enjoy!

Santa's Been

Well it's all over bar the shouting! All that running around buying gifts, wrapping, card making and now you're on the home straight.

I hope Santa has been good to you with lots of crafting goodies (probably not because I've got them all ha ha!) and you have a fantastic day.

Off now to have a bit of Terry's Chocolate Orange - I know it's only 07.00 - but it's got to be done its Chriiiiiiiiistmas.

Merry Christmas.

Bad Blogger

I can't believe I last posted in November. What has made me into such a bad blogger? Well I thought I'd try my hand at a bit of jewellery making. When it turned out alright I took a few pieces into work. Well that was it - a monster had been created - the last six weeks have been spent stringing beads with no time for card making let alone blogging.

Today however I managed to make a little card for a colleague who is 40 today. It looks very girly and pretty on the outside with no mention of the big-4-0. Inside however it says 'Today is the day for....' and there's a picture of Bridget Jones holding the famous pair of big pants.



The card has most of my favourite things on it - black, pink, polka dots and ribbon. The DP's are from Pink Petticoat and the sentiment is computer generated. I've used the sketch over on 2 Sketches 4 You and it also fits in with the DCM challenge which is polka dots.

Off now to Glasgow to do the dreaded Christmas shopping - hate it, hate it, hate it!

Thanks for looking!