Beside the seaside....!

The weather has been soo nice this week that it called for a day at the beach! I feel so blessed to be able to live by the seaside and enjoy the sea air - mostly of that salty fresh smell - sometimes a pungent seaweed smell!

On our arrival, I found a nice quiet spot - not too many peeps on the beach at 10am and we set up our chairs not too far from a middle aged couple. I smiled and told them that I wouldn't be running around screaming and shouting, nor do I have a radio - just to be friendly - both noises have become rather a nuisance on what was once a quiet family beach. They smiled back and we enjoyed the strong rays of the sun in the clear blue sky.

Just as I got our lunch out of the bag, so the lady decided to feed the seagulls with slices of bread!! All of a sudden, there were squawks and screetches of a dozen gulls overhead and all fighting for the bread - even attacking each other! I had to cover up my lunch for fear for 1. any droppings that fell into my container of salad...or 2. they attacked me to steal it from under my nose! I was not amused.  I remarked that she shouldn't feed the gulls as it encourages them to 'beg', she ignored me and threw the bread in another direction. Gulls are not silly. They can see food from a mile high in the sky. I spent the next half hour shielding myself from begging seagulls that were sneaking up VERY close to me and I was getting really angry by the woman's actions. I decided to make it quite clear that we shouldn't feed the seagulls due to them pestering people and also the fact that they do attack people for food. It would be a terrible thing for the many little children who walk out of the cafe with their tray of chips.

Huh! That's what I get for being friendly. Still, at least I didn't have to fight my way to find a space to sit on the beach like this beach in China!! LOL.

I hope you are having fun in the sun.
Thank you for stopping by. I went to a boot fair today and will post my finds soon - as well as a charity shop buy too.

Watch the birdie!

Another project for my DT at Hobbysew... a card made with the Girl's Paperie patterned paper range.

I used Bazzill Basics cardstock with Girl's Paperie - Vintage Whimsy - Birds of a Feather patterned paper and GP Kit tags.


I printed the greeting onto the tags by printing off the words onto paper first, then attaching each tag with a strip of non permanent tape, placed each tag carefully - one at a time, over the printed words on the paper, then ran the paper through the printer again and the words printed exactly where I wanted them.

I inked the edges of the patterned paper with fluid chalk, punched 2 holes in the round tag and threaded ribbon through, attaching at the back of the pp before adhering it to the cardstock. Then I placed foam pads on the tags to make them stand out. The little wooden birdcage is placed over the printed one on the pp.

Thanks so much for looking.

Have a relaxing day in the sunshine.

***HAPPY BIRTHDAY*** Lisa *Ü*

It's my eldest daughter's birthday today....she is 42! *Gasp*. Her 'birth' day is still very clear in my mind ...luckily my long term memory is still with me! *Ü*  A recent photo of her taken before a night out with my son in law. *Ü*

Sunshine, Sea & Sand!

I've been away on holiday to Menorca and have been enjoying some much needed sunshine, sea and sand! *Ü*

The weather was glorious, the food - pukka and the beaches - packed - with school children on days out at the beach! They took it in turns - one group in the mornings and another in the afternoons! Still, they were all well behaved and kept in a designated area away from the tourists.

The plane was 3 and half hours late due to technical problems, so instead of arriving home at a reasonable time to get some dark hours sleep, it was 6am - daylight and the birds were chirping! *Sigh*. I felt rather disorientated but was in much need of sleep, so managed to do so for just 4 hours.

My favourite beach was Cala Galdana and here are a couple of photos that I took with my not-quite-so-new camera but I tried out the panoramic sweep mode which was fun to play with and this is what it turned out like.

The rock kind of looks like a catamaran - don't you think?

We sat on the veranda of my sister and brother in law's apartment one evening, watching the eclipse of the moon. Ooo...it was such a beautiful sight. The next night, it was equally as beautiful with a full moon glowing in the night sky. Stars were twinkling, satelites skating across the sky and we saw a shooting star!

Since I have been home, I have now got my phone upgrade. *Squeal*. Originally, I was looking to get an HTC but I haven't ended up with one! I wonder if you would like to guess what it is I now have?! I shall send some Prezzo tokens to the value of £30 to the first person who guesses the make and the model - ie HTC Desire!

Back to work... and my Zumba class as I have put on 3lbs after eating sooo much yummy food...but I shall save the food photos for another day.

Happy to be back safe and ...bronzed! *Ü*

***HAPPY 12TH BIRTHDAY*** EDEN

My grandchildren are growing up FAST! Miss Eden is 12 today and has now advanced to the Young Women programme at church which has been the highlight of her birthday. *Ü*

She is a 'Holisterholic' - and she and another granddaughter of mine spent quite a lot of money *gasp*....and a lot of time in the shop that has very little light!! I did write about that in an earlier post but I still haven't gotten over how anyone can shop in the dark! LOL.

I have edited some of the photos that I took (whilst I helped them spend their money) *Ü* and played a little with some amusing results from the editing programmes Photofunia and Dumpr.

Beadazzled!

I've been the bargain hunter for a new swimsuit and decided to go with the colours turquoise, white and silver for my hols this year. I saw a plain turquoise one in the sale at Debenhams recently - and then I saw a beach bag with gems and beads on it which I liked. It gave me an idea. There was also a pretty pair of flipflops which I thought would complete the outfit, so I had to have them! *Ü*

A couple of weeks previous, I had seen a turquoise 'kaftan' top in a charity shop.... I wouldn't wear the top but the beads on it were pretty and LOTS of them. At £1.50, I thought it would be worth buying, taking the beads off and sewing them onto my new swimsuit! If I had bought the same pack of beads in a dept store, I am sure they would have cost me double that.

I designed a simple pattern on my swimsuit with a pencil and got threading. Voila! The finished product.

Closeup...

The bag.....

The flipflops.....

...sandals...

....and some turquoise jewellery that I rather liked. *Ü*

I think that will do for starters! *Ü* Thanks for stopping by....toots for now.

My 1st DT project!

It has been worth the wait for my Design Team package to arrive from Australia after the 1st one went to the wrong address but I am now happy to say that I am thrilled with the contents and got to work immediately. *Ü*

I recently spent some time with my youngest granddaughter Ashley and took her to the park where she played in the fallen petals of the blossom trees. She got me making her a daisy chain and we gathered blossom and I decided to use this photo for the layout.

The papers I used are from Girl's Paperie by Margie - one inparticular looked like a Cath Kidston pattern!
I wetted the edges and rolled them to get a 'shabby chic' look and then used fluid chalk along the edges.

Then I used a tea plate to draw a circle, Fiskars circle cutter to cut the circle and again, fluid chalk to define the circle edge.

I believe it's the first time that I have used all patterned papers together without cardstock, so it was a challenge for me! *Ü*

There was a variety of embellishments, lace ribbon and the glass buttons were the exact match to what Ashley had on her t-shirt! I used one of my two and half thousand fonts - 'Alpha Flowers' for the 'FLOWER' part of the title 'FLOWER Girl'. Then I cut the sharp pin ends off the 'flags', added beads to cover the pointed end, joined them and added letter stickers to the flags.

 Thanks so much for looking... and for being patient! *Ü* It was worth the wait for me.

Toots for now,