The missing T

Yesterday I posted the A to Z of Me and to save time I copied and pasted it from another blog, deleted the answers and added my own, what I didn't realise, but Joy did, is that there was one missing - the letter T.

After checking the blog I had copied and pasted from and a couple of others that were doing the same thing they all had the T missing too,but I finally found out what it was over at The Felt Fairy - thanks Annie!

The missing T was

Time you Wake Up - well with a three year old in the house quite early! if we are lucky then 7am if not then 5.30am and more often than not anywhere in between. I'm so not looking forward to the dark mornings!!

It's another lovely sunny day here in Essex today, the builders have finished the roof and Tomas and I are off to toddler's this morning and there maybe a bit of gardening and photography this afternoon. I hope you all have a lovely day today whatever you are doing....

A to Z of Me....

I've seen this on a few blogs lately and as I don't often write much that is actually about me I thought I'd give it a go.....

Age - 41


Bed Size - Double with a kingsize duvet

Chore That I Hate - I dislike most chores as there's always something mch nicer to be doing, although once I get going on a big tidy up there's no stopping me! If I had to choose then it would be ironing.

Dogs - We (hubby that is) used to breed Dogue de Bordeaux's (from the film Turner and Hooch) so we have had a large number of dogs in the past, I'd be at the checkout buying sausages for the dogs and the kids would say we've got 14 dogs and the look of horror would cross the checkout girls face! They all lived outside which when they are that big is a blessing I can tell you. So now we only have three dogs Ozzy - the grandson of first our Dogue de Bordeaux, Enzo - the most stubborn of Dogue de Bordeaux's you are ever likely to meet and Barney a Jack Russell cross Patterdale Terrier who looks about 12 but is really only 2.

Essential Start to my day - Cup of tea or two!!

Favourite Colour - Green

Gold Or Silver - Gold

Instruments you play - I can't say that I can play any instruments but I once owned a harmonica and could play Moon River rather badly!

Job Title - Jack of all Trades - far too many too list

Kids - Three -  Rachel 13, Jack 12, and surprise number three Tomas 3

Live - just outside Chelmsford in Essex

Mothers Name - Margaret

Nicknames - never really had a nickname that I know of!

Overnight Hospital Stays - had my ears pinned back at the age of 5, dislocated and broken elbow which resulted in several operations age 23, I stayed in hospital after both my older two were born but was out with a few hours after Tomas was born

Pet Peeves - Definitely manners including at the table, politeness and common courtesey oh and text speak

Quote From A Movie - No one puts Baby in the corner (Dirty Dancing)

Right or Left handed - Left handed and left eyed!!!

Siblings - One older sister.

Underwear - Yes I like to wear underwear not quite as lacy or skimpy as it used to be but underwear all the same!

Vegetable you hate - Brussell Sprouts yuk!!

What Makes You Run Late - According to my kids I'm always running late , although they have never been late for school or an appointment. I have so many things to do I like to leave with just the right amount of time to spare rather than like hubby who likes to leave early and then wait!!!!

x-rays you've had - quite a few on my elbow

Yummy Food I make - I can't say that cooking is my one of my strengths although I think my roast dinners aren't too bad!

Zoo Animal - We live not far from Colchester Zoo and with Jack completely obessed with Tigers we have visited quite a few times over the years and Sasha the white tiger was always a firm favourite.

You can now see why I don't tend to write much about myself as I have a tendency to ramble, but if you fancy joining in then give it a go!

The Great British Seaside Swap

This was another fantastic swap organised by Julie over at KC's Court
and I was partnered with the lovely Sue over at Vintage from the Village.
My parcel arrived with this wonderful tape all around it - how fab is that!

This is what I found inside.....

I did laugh out loud when I saw this - an ingenious play on the theme of this swap and great thinking outside the box!!!

This is not a great photo of this RNLI nail file but I think you get the gist.

I also received two lovely lavender bags

surfer's delight

and pearwhelk

There was also some wonderful lighthouse fabric which I am hoping to use when I revamp my summerhouse with a beach/nautical theme.

Imagine my delight when I opened this package as I had coveted the tape on the outside of my parcel and now I have my very own!

These photographic notecards from the RNLI are amazing and I can't wait to use them.

Now you can't beat a lovely cup of tea, even at the seaside and I shall look forward to a nice cup of tea and some biscuits in my new mug, coaster and tray set.

 

Finally Sue also sent me some lovely buttons that she wasn't going to use and that I can add to my collection.

Thank you Sue for being such a fantastic and patient swap partner and thank you to Julie for organizing a brilliant swap.

Camera Club

I've recently joined a local camera club and it's been fab so far, there have been two competitions, a superb talk by photographer Phil Shaw and next week we are off to a studio to take some portrait shots.

Last night they held a knock out competition for summer prints of 2011 and guess who won????

Me

This is my winning photo

If you look closely you can see the transposed view of the flowers in lots of the raindrops.

You can read more about camera club and my love of photography here

Dress Alterations and a Thank You

As most of you know I love photography and was recently asked if I would take some photos for a triple christening and wedding blessing, so to show some of my previous shots I sent a link to my facebook page where I take part in a monthly photo challenge, this is my personal page and also has pictures of some of my crafty makes. After seeing these I was also asked if I could alter the dress that would be worn for this very special occasion.
Firstly the dress needed taking up by at least 3" so off came the lace edging and out came the scissors to chop off the extra lace and netting. I also had to take up the lining which included some boning to give it shape.
Then came the tricky bit, the dress didn't fit across the back and originally it had a zip going all the way to the top of the v back. I needed to add a panel and some corseting. I knew roughly what I needed to do but help was on hand in the guise of Paula over at Inspired Brides.
Paula makes the most amazing dresses and posted recently (the same day is was adding the modesty panel) on how to add a modesty panel and corseting. It was the loops that threw me as I really didn't want to start ripping seams open but in the end it was the best thing. I cut the zip off just above the waist sash band and used the seam ripper to open up the seams, added to darts to make the dress lie flat across the shoulder blades and the added some rat tail cord in loops inside the seam and then ran a top stitch seam to hold them secure. It felt quite odd sewing on the dress like that as it didn't have a stitch line before but it looked fine and it meant that the ribbon lacing lay nice and flat.
Here's the finished dress on the day. I'd like to think that it's not glaringly obvious that I have added the panel, what do you think?
 

Put your feet up and go shopping!!!

Not the usual thing you hear when you talk about going shopping but this is shopping with a difference. This is the kind of shopping trip where you pop the kettle on, make a nice pot of tea (or coffee its your choice), grab a slice of cake or some yummy biscuits and find a nice comfy chair and then browse up to 175 different shops selling a variety of amazing handmade gifts.

Just think you could have Christmas all wrapped before the end of September!!!

"Not possible" I hear your say but it is....... 

 On Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th September (that's this weekend) the lovely people over a Creative Connections are hosting a CraftFEST where an amazing 175 creative crafters have booked a stall and will be displaying their wares.

you can find a list of all the stalls that are taking part here.

I have nearly finished setting up my stall which links directly to my Facebook page where you will be able to buy from a selection of my bags and other handmade gifts. If you see something you like but would like a different size, shape, fabric etc then please don't hesitate to give me a shout as custom orders are always welcome. 

I think this is going to be a massive event as the response for stalls has been overwhelming.

So go on make a date with your computer, laptop, ipad etc and join in this CraftFEST extravaganza.

August Photo Scavenger Hunt

Morning everyone I forgot to add a link to my Scavenger Hunt Photo's for August so if you fancy popping over and taking a look here's the link

Depth of Field

Thanks