Ready to Leave

Yes, Dereck and I are ready to leave on our 5 week holiday to the USA and the UK. We leave tomorrow and I won't be doing any posts to this blog while we are away.

If you would like to see what we are up to, please pop into our new blog at:

http://ramsayroute66.blogspot.com

and see what we are up to.

Please don't forget to leave some comments for us.

Easter cards

I am busy getting things ready for when we are away and one of them is the Easter goodies for the cousins. So, I have made bunnies using a heart punch (these ones below were with the Creative Memories large punch and the slightly smaller one on the same punch). I still need to stick them down onto card stock: This bunny was made using the old coloured heart punch - just cut the arms slightly smaller once I had punched them out and cut them in half. Then I just wrote on the back of the card.

They are so cute (if I say to myself) and although a bit fiddly to make, I had fun and actually had a bit of a production line going. Hope all the recipients enjoy receiving them.

Off to carry on with my BOM challenge #15 which is about 2 weeks late, but I have had other things to make and do which needed priority with us going on holiday in 1.5 weeks time - yee ha, I can't wait.

Bunnied out signing off ........

More Mosaicing Creations

Kathy, Shelley, Rayna and I went back to the Ceramic Craft Studio for another dose of mosaicing. Kathy and Rayna did bowls, Shelley painted her tortoises that she had finished mosaicing and I made a vase type container to put in my scrap room to store my tools. Here we are hard at work. Note the chocolate brownies we had for tea - they were absolutely yummy!! Here are the almost finished products, but finished enough for you to see what they look like.

We then came back to my house where we had chicken with salad and poppy seed cake. A really wonderful day crafting with special friends.

I finished all my tile setting on the Sunday and just need to grout my container.

Have also been finishing off some scrapy layout kits that I bought from Doing Life which I will photgraph this week-end in the light.

Mosaicer signing off ....

My crafting week-end

I had a busy crafting week-end which I thouroughly enjoyed and it was thanks to the cricket that I was probably able to get so much done as Dereck was kept occupied watching it which left me to my own devices!!

I bought the tiles on Saturday with a view to making this sometime after we come back from our holiday, but I was just itching to get started and so started and finished it to this point on Sunday morning. I just need to grout it and then put in the photo. I can't say who it is for and the person might read my blog, I will reveal later once it has been given to the recipient. I must say, I really enjoyed making this and will probably end up making some more. Kathy, Rayna, Shelley and I have another mosaicing lesson Saturday - I can't wait as I am making a pen/pencil/tool holder for my desk in my craft room and yes, it will be shades or purple.

I made this pencil holder for a good friend at work as her birthday is while we are in the USA. I just need to put a few more coats of varnish on it and then it is done. She does horse show jumping, so I thought these pictures were quite appropriate: When Leanne turned 21 two years ago, 2 weeks before she announced that she wanted me to make her a collage. We were out and she was asking me where her baby photos were. What could I say, they had all been scrapped into albums that she knew nothing about and would be given to her as a surprise 21st present!!! I made up some story and then gave the albums to Dereck to scan and then print off the pictures just on paper and made a collage. I must say it did look really nice and she loved it. But, for me that was not the real thing. So, with us going to the USA and then visiting her, I decided to reprint all the photos on photo paper and make the formal collage to take over to her and then she can get it framed (I recently had Grant's one framed and it looks great (will still have to take a photos - sorry). I haven't stuck down the middle pictures and will do that once I am in Wales with Leanne as I need to have this as flat as possible while we are travelling the USA. Because I had done this my style and cropped properly, I had a bit more space, so there are a few extra pictures in that weren't in the original one. I must say, I like how it turned out and I am sure that Leanne is going to love it too.

My family came round on Sunday afternoon and I even made spagetti bolognaise for them and after they had left managed to complete a double page scrap layout, but haven't taken a picture as I had some journalling to do first.

Last night I completed another double page layout and again, no picture as I am still putting on some finishing touches. Both these layouts were kits I received from the last scrap day I assisted Desire with in December 2008. Good fun to do and very simple, self explanatory instructions.

Happy crafter signing off ......

In memory of a special friend ... Jennifer Simpson

Jennifer had been diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer and had been going for treatment. There seemed to be a question as to whether it was actually Cancer. Jennifer went in for an operation to treat the jaundice she had very badly and when they opened her up they removed the growth, but her liver and kidneys remained in a critical state. Dereck and I got the terrible news just now that she passed away at 5:00am this morning.

To Ian, Tyler, Wade and your family, our thoughts and prayers are with you as you come to terms with the tragic loss of your wife / mom.

Mosaiced Ladybug

Here she is!! I think I will have to call her Petronella. I think she is really cute and I so enjoyed making her. I just need to paint her little feeler thingies on top of her head and her underneath and then find a spot for her to live on.

Petronella's creator signing off ....

Photo Challenge

I was challenged by Helen to show the 8th photo from my 8th folder. This is it. It was taken of Dereck and I at the Barnyard Theatre in 2006. I can't remember what show it was, but all I do remember is that it was a great show. I had arranged it with a crown of my Run/Walk for Life members and we had seats at the back. I can't believe how blonde I was, I am now back to my normal dark hair colour.

I challenge the following people to check out their 13th folder for the 13th photo - hopefully it is lucky 13:

Desire

Leanne

Andrea

Pinky

Dave

Number 8 signing off ....

I am a Winner (again - ag no I hear my family say!!)

I entered one of the online competitions Shape had and this is what I received in my e-mail today:

"Dear Winner, CONGRATULATIONS!!! You have won one of nine Ocean Basket Sushi Meal vouchers valued at R1000 each featured in our February issue of Shape Magazine (page124). Your details will be sent to Ocean Basket who will then distribute your prize to you. Please allow for 6 to 8 weeks delivery time, should your prize not arrive within the designated time, please feel free to contact me directly. Once again congratulations from Shape Magazine, we hope you will enjoy your prize. "

How cool is that!!!! I had completely forgotten that I had entered.

Sushi signing off ......

A Little bit of This and a Touch of That ...

Had a fairly eventful week-end.

Left work at 5:45pm on Friday and it was just Dereck and I at home as Grant and Lauren had gone out. Watched a movie that Dereck had been watching.

Saturday morning, I got up earliesh, washed and scrubbed the two birdbaths in the garden. The Hadedas love them and often sit in them and have a bath and of course they get really dirty. Then I washed down the windows on the side of the house where the hosepipe could reach. After that I gave Izzy (my black sausage dog) and Jemma (my brown sausage dog) a bath and cleaned their teeth - say cheese!!!!

Then I showered and went to the hairdresser for a colour touchup and a trim. Straight after that I went for my monthly pedicure but before that I managed to do some shopping at Everfresh.

During my pedicure, it started raining and got gradually harder. I waited for my nails to dry and for the rain to lighten and then drove home. What a scarey experience!! It was raining so hard that I could not see in front of me even with the wipers going full ball. The roads were soooo full of water that in some places you felt like you were driving through a river! There was a mini river going down Fields Hill and as the water hit the drains it shot upwards due to the sheer volume. It would normally take me about 15 minutes to get home from Hillcrest and this took me 40 minutes!

Once home, Dereck was watching sport on TV which was my cue to do something crafty. I carried on with my ladybug that I am mosaicing. I managed to do 3/4 of her crown. Then I had to get ready to go to the Heritage Theater to see Aaron McIlroy in "The Golfer" with friends, Darryl and Bev. If you ever get a chance to see it - make sure you do, it was hilarious.

Sunday, I got up early to let the dogs out, collected the paper and climbed back into bed to read it (this was at 6:00am mind you!!) After reading the paper, dozed off and eventualy got out of bed at about 8:30 - yikes that is soo late for me!!!! Had breakfast and while Dereck was sorting out my new laptop, I carried on with my mosaicing. At 12:30 we went to a Paul and Patricia's pub in Queensburgh for lunch, met Jennifer & Ian and her sister there. We had roast pork or chicken with veggies - very yummy, and we stayed there until about 3pm. They had a lady called Tammi playing music and singing and it was my type of music - she was really good and had a lovely voice. I could have listened to her all afternoon.

Came home and while Dereck had a snooze, I finished my ladybug. Just waiting for all the glue to set and then I will grout it tomorrow. She really looks cute and now I just have to decide where to put her.

Regarding my laptop ... I had joked to Dereck that I would like a laptop. No particular reason, just because. Anyway he had been thinking about this and decided to buy me a small Acer Apire (it is only 25cm x 16cm, so is small) with a cordless mouse that we can take with us when we go to the USA next month - yes, we leave on 2 April 2009 - I can't wait - as this will be so much lighter and less cumbersome than his current one. It also has a 3G built into it, so he has set that up as well as Skype. Nearer the time he will load his stuff on it so that he will be able to manage his business while we are away. It is so cute and looks like an A5 diary!!

Anyway, that is about everything I did this week-end. Nothing too strenuos, but got lots done.

Ladybugger signing off ....

Wedding Advent Calendar

One of the ladies at work's daughter is getting married next moth and is always telling her mom, how many sleeps there are left before she becomes a "Mrs". I was tasked by the "Sexy Summation Sisters" to make a seven day advent calendar (that is how many letters are in her current surname). This is the outside of the calendar: Each day she will open up a little window where there is some advice relating to the letter of her surname. The idea is for her to tear off the flap thereby losing part of her current surname.

This is what the inside of each of the flaps say. The girls in the office who worked with her, wrote these comments, which I must say are really great and something that I could use in the future.

Whilst being rather fiddly to make, I certainly had a lot of fun putting this together and I think it is really pretty and hope that she enjoys the fun of opening it up each day, the week before she gets married. Hopefully no peaking into the other days!!

Advent calendar maker signing off .....

Off the Page Item

I have been collecting tins for the purpose of making a pen holder or two and today warranted me doing just that. I tidied up my craft table and saw that I had quite a few pens lying around, so quickly decided that I needed to make my pen holder. Last year some time I purchased a Crop-o-Dile from Sophia and today I put it to the test. Wow, this worked really well and putting holes and setting eyelets into the tin were an absolute breeze. Here is the finished product filled up already:

I quite enjoyed making this and thank you for looking.

Crop-o-Diler signing off ....

Another Craft to my CV - Mosaicing

Kathy, Rayna, Shelley and I decided that instead of going to a restaurant for lunch for our "girl time get together" we would do something interesting. We had seen some mosaicing on display at the last Hobby-X and so it was unanimous that we went and did just that. Here we are with what we managed to achieve in the lesson: Kathy did a bowl and was practically finished at the end of the lesson. I did a ladybug and got halfway, Rayna did a dragon fly and Shelley did a tortoise.

Some progress shots. It is certainly very fiddly and takes time cutting the tiles before you can get started. But ..... loads of fun. I found it really therapeutic and fun to find and make pieces to fit the gaps. I recently had a taste of this when I went up to visit Desire and helped her with the mosaicing of the picture frames she was doing for her in-laws 50th wedding anniversary.

We have all decided that we really enjoyed doing this and will be going for another lesson within the next few weeks. For me the bug has bitten and it is certainly something that I willdo more often, especially to make little gifts for people.

Once the lesson was over, we came back to my place. It was soooo hot that there was no ways we could sit outside and Dereck was in the lounge watching TV, so he very kindly cleared up his table in his office and we set it and had lunch in there with the aircon cooling us. Kathy made 2 divine quiches, I made a mixed green salad, Shelly made a yummy chocolate pudding with self basting sauce and ice-cream and Rayna brought some refreshing fruit juice.

It was a great day for getting together with wonderful friends and do some catching up with what has been happening in our lives.

Happy mosaicer signing off ...

BOM CHallenge #14 - 106 Things About Me

This challenge was listing 101 random facts about ourselves. While I enjoyed thinking about the facts to put down, it is not "scrapping" that I enjoy doing. I certain prefer scrapping pictures and I didn't want to specifically take pictures for this layout.

Anyway, you should get to know me a little better!

The wording reads as follows (and not in the order on my layout):

I can’t watch a movie without eating popcorn
I only wear g-strings
I am still considering having a tattoo
I am a good listener
I love the smell of Jasmin
I always go the extra mile
I don’t wear much make-up
I wear a size 6 shoe
I always wanted only 2 children
At home I often walk around barefoot
I was pushed by a baboon - was trying to save our biscuits that he wanted!
I love chocolate especially with nuts in it
I love cashew nuts
I love the smell of lavender
I have swam the Midmar mile 3 times
I enjoy watching people
I love dancing
My nickname at school was “Frog”
I have known my best friend, Ingrid, since 1970
I finished school in 1979
I have done line dancing
I love wrapping up presents
I have never been a bridesmaid
I organised a formal dinner for 364 people
I have a Computer Secretarial certificate
I enjoy a challenge
I love not wearing a bra – don’t know if the boobs do!!
I normally cut up and mix all my food
I love a chilli seasoning
I make a delicious lemon meringue pie
I know lots of people
I like cats but will never have one of my own
I laugh often
I see the funny side of sometimes serious situations
I love watching monkeys
I can’t skateboard
I have never surfed
I have never ever smoked
I could do the splits
I can still almost do the splits!
I can’t breathe when swimming freestyle
I have never been on a motorbike
When I was 12 I worried that when I became a teenager I would have no clothes!
I once put nail polish on my eyes thinking it would be good eye make-up
I love reading
I have had 6 operations
I used to be a Girl Guide
I have never made a braai
I have hair on my toes!
I am quite lucky
I have ridden an Ostrich
I had a doll called Lucy
I got a lucky bean stuck up my nose
I broke my collar bone doing a 3 legged race the day before school exams
I only had one serious boyfriend before Dereck
I started wearing glasses for reading in 1984
I got married in 1984
I had my first child in 1986
I had my second child in 1988
I h ad to have an emergency Ceasar for my first child
My first dog was a mongrel called Tawny
I used to have hamsters as pets
I also used to have chameleons as pets
I worked as a waitress at Pizzaland (it’s demolished now!!)
Dereck taught me how to drive
I have high arches on my feet – Leanne says they were bound!!
I used to put corks between my big toes to straighten them – ouch!!!
I used to walk about 4km to school to save my bus fare
I went overseas for the first time in February 1982
My first employer was The Standard Bank of SA Limited
My first salary was R300-00 per month
I used to stay in a bachelor flat in Broad Street in town
I have never cut my own hair
I regularly cut Dereck & Grant’s hair
I enjoy baking
I have done the world’s highest bungy jump
I can sew
I can do basic crocheting
I have done embroidery
I can knit
I hand make teddy bears
I can cook
I don’t drink glasses of milk
I enjoy the outdoors
I love shopping
I am generous
Tony Watson (ex rugby player) signed my birthday card
I fell while snow skiing and had to be rescued off the mountain
I love travelling
I love scrapbooking
I enjoy working in the garden
I have ridden a horse
I love my current job
I am never bored
I have been to the top of the Eifel Tower
I walked up to the top of the Campanile in Port Elizabeth
I love listening to music
I used to catch a train with my friends to Kelso Caravan Park
My friends had to teach me to drink coffee!!
In 1982 whilst in London, I walked past Princess Diana
Bruce Fordyce (Comrades runner) autographed his biography for me
I really want to bungy jump off Vic Falls
I loved playing with Barbie dolls
I used to be scared of the dark
At school I loved acting
I can say – supercalafragalisticexpialidocious – can you?
I had fun putting this together – hope you enjoyed reading about me!

"Now that you know me a bit more", signing off ......

Graduated with Distinction!

This is a page that I have been trying to finish for a few weeks now and yesterday was the perfect opportunity. It is of Grant's graduation. I still have a few more of the "proud parents" that I will probably start on later today.

Proud mom signing off ....

Valentine's Day

Hope you all had a great day and got a little spoilt!!

This is what I received - my favourite Red Door perfume with body cream and shower gel.

This is what I had sent to Dereck via Netflorist - a box full of iced gingerbread letters. Unfortunatley most of them were broken, but they certainly tasted divine!!

Dereck played golf yesterday, so for me it was rather a quiet day. I went to Run/Walk for Life and did 5km and caught up news from my friend Jeanette. Once home I had a shower, put on a load of washing, hung it up did some weeding and then got stuck into some serious scrapping. I had my music playing (loudly) and got quite a bit done.

Dereck got home at about 1:30 (I think) and he sat watching the rugby. Grant and Lauren went out and we braaied and I carried on with my scrapping. You will see the finished product in the next post.

Happy Valentine signing off ....