Right I m posting this at midnight cos I m leaving in about 8 hours,so bye bye to you all,please don t forget about me and come back I will returned refreshed and with new ideas.Cheerio,oh and before I go* BIG thank you to all of you that took time to leave a comment*I really apreciate it .Hugs Monica

Two more sleeps!!!!YAY

Yeah that s right two more sleeps and we re on our way for some fun in the sun!Haven t packed a thing yet but will do tmrrw.I ve managed to get in for a hair appointment in the morning,then I m havin all my hair removed in the afternoon,some fake tan so I don t get there and look like a lump of feta cheese on the beach in my first few days,then i m off to Leeds to buy some clothes and get all the little essentials like tablets and after sun and all that.And then sat morning we re OFFF.....

A little bit of excitement in the Gale household today,and all I m gonna say is that we had our new car delivered and is fabby.Love it lots...

On a not so happy note two people I care a lot about ,are going through a bit of a rough patch at the minute, so I ve decided to make them a card each.Yesterday I ve got one of the mags I buy every month and I instantly loved the colour scheme on the front cover,so that was it then,the decision was made..this were gonna be the colours for the two cards so before I went to bed I ve created

I ve used a set from Stampin Up,cuttlebug embossing folders,SU brass embossing plate,Marvy markers +my aqua brush to colour the image,then used diamond glaze and stickles to add dimension and shine,various ribbons.I hope the girls are gonna like them ,I love the colours a lot!Not sure when they gonna get them as RM are on strike tmrrw.We ll see,here s the cards click on the image for a larger size,see ya tmrrw.

quick and easy-box making

My best friend Claudia lives in Seattle with her american new husband ,and is her birthday on the 4th of july soooo...I ve made her a card of course lol.

I ve used my new set of stamps(I just loove those)and I m probably gonna make butterflies cards from now till the end of day.lolSo I ve decided to make it quite bulky so that I would have to make a box for it and guide you through the process.Make a quick simple box that you can do with a ruler and the groove in your paper trimmer(no need for fancy and expensive score boards).So my card is 5"x5" but by the end of this you will be able to make any kind of sizes and depths.So card is 5"x5" the measurements for the box would be 7.2"x7.2"can you see how I m doing this?I ve decided to have my box 1" deep and I ve allowed 0.1 of an inch for the card to fit in so you can easily take it out.Ok cut your card to this measurement then score on all four sides at the 1"mark(Like I said earlier just use the groove on your trimmer and a embossing tool ).You should have something like this

Now make a diagonal score line from the outside corner to where the straight lines meet like in picture

Ok all you have to do know is fold the edges inwards gluing into place to form you box,it should look something like this.

I forgot to say before you glue the box you can decorate it ,should you wish to,I ve stamped on mine.Does it make sense?I have to tell you that I m using the Art Institute glue for all my papercrafting is the one glue that glues instantly, the fine tip allows you to control the flow and you only need a very little amount for a very strong bond.If you do not use this glue just make sure you attach some paperclips to hold the sides until completly dry.Moving onto the lid wich is basically the same thing all over but this time we are gonna add another 0.1 of an inch to the size,so the lid measurement is now 7.3"x7.3" ,at this point add any background decoration and then basically the same happens again,score and fold all sides at 1" then score diagonally,and theres one extra thing you have to add,make a notch half way on two of the sides of the box(this is to enable you to easily remove the lid.I ve used the notch tool by Basic Grey but you could easily use a round punch or just cut a V with your scissors.Should look like this

Ok now fold glue and let it dry.You can now add your chosen topper,bows or just leave it as it is pop your card in and ...that s it!!

So do you get it?is basically the same pinciple every time,measure your card then add 0.1" plus how deep you want it and then for the lid take same measurement and add another 0.1". Now to make it easier I ve kept the depth the same(1") for the box and the lid ,but you could make the lid 1/5" deep and you will have a bit showing from the box(this looks effective when 2 contrasting colours are used)Right hope this is gonna help you make beautifull boxes for a long time to come and please leave me a coment if any of this made sense.I ll leave you with another picture of my cards from today.(((HUGS)))Monica

Lazy sunday!!!

Even tho I ve planned to do lots today ,I ve ended up doing nothing apart from catchin up with housework bleeh,Paula(my fellow crafter) was coming over for a day of crafting but she rang this morning saying she couldn t make it as she was not feeling okay.So that was it then I thought to myself well theres the CJ entry that you could finish and also I want to build up a collection of cards again for a few shops(haven t made any for sale in a while and I ve been asked again if I would make some)so I ve decided to make at least 2 a day and that way I could keep up with it hopefully.Now I was going to talk you through making this totally yummy aubergine dip today but of course the wheater was c***p and the process involves the BBQ .Sooooooooooooo instead I m gonna share what we had for tea,as this is one of my favorite dishes salmon with a crispy crust.It is the most decicious dish ever(providing you like fish)and whats better is very fast to prepare and it take 10 min to cook plus the time to steam the veg

Start with your baking tray and cover it with some tin foil then brush some olive oil so the fish won t stick.Get the salmon fillets pat dry them season with salt pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.Next you need to make your crust and this consist of some very simple ingredients.You will need 2 slices of bread a few sprigs of parsley some parmesan cheese(as much as you like really)and 2-3 tbs.of olive oil to bind it all.Throw all this in a food processor and whizz it up adding the olive oil season with salt n pepper.Now spread it on top of your fillets without pressing it down just lay it on.

That s it!!now bake them in a preheated oven at 230 degrees for 10 minutes or if your fillets are v.thick just give them a bit longer.Serve with steamed veggies of your choice and a lemon wedge.I promise you ,this will make you so happy and you will reap the high praise and apreciative comments from any guest if you will serve this at any dinner party.D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S

BTW this is Pete s plate, I was havin slightly less veggies on my plate cos I m trying to be GOOD!!!(not working tho.)Dosent it lookgood enough to eat????????

Right then I m afraid this is all I ve got for today,I ve been asked over on UKS to post a tutorial on how to make a box for your bulky handmade cards,using the groove in your paper trimmer,so will work on that and you might want to come back to see what I m up to.Take care (((HUGS)))

Pheww!!!

Another wedding cake done and safely delivered,the bride and groom came to see it last night and they ve loved it !!!lots of ooohh s and ahhh s and *is fantastic !!!*also*so much better than I thought it will be!!*So I think they ve liked it!!
This was the topper, the photo s not that good, dosen t really show the detail and the swans are sat on a puddle of clear gel that makes it look like water,the tiers were separated by strands of swarovsky crystal(must have cost a small fortune)and there was small spashes of the clear gel that looked like water drops on the tiers below(very effective,and the crystal sparkled beautifully).




Reception was held at a beautiful hotel, Cave Castle in Hull(sorry picture is off their website it was pouring down so couldn t exactely take one)

so we had a ride and I was planning to take some photos and walk around the grounds ,but of course the heavens opened and it just poured, by the time we arrived I was getting seriously worried as any drop of rain would have ruined the beautiful finish that I ve worked so hard to achieve,so Pete was under strict instructions to find someone with the bigest brolly going ,well you should have seen his face LOL,but like a true hero he is ,he found someone sharpish and the cake was quicky rushed into the room safely and with not a drop of water on it, well apart from the ones that were supposed to be there.As we came out I was admiring the lovely lake when all of a sudden I ve spoted those.......

little cuties and just had to stop.They were running towards me followed closely by mum thinking I had some yummies to offer,little did they knew all I had was the D200 lol
Heavy rain started again soon after this picture so got back in the car and we headed back, stopping on the way for the dreaded supermarket shop at Tesco.(hate it!!)Do you know how many people choose to shop on a weekend????????LOTS!!Personally can t think of nothing worst,even if I d work all the time I would prefer it to get it out the way on a weekday(even if late) after I finished work ,then havin to spend my weekend there,mind you I had to do just that today so a bit snobish,but point is I m only doing it if is an emergency and HAVE to.
I ve also made the happy couple a card,I make one for every client just to say thank you,and it has alaways had a wedding cake on the front(quite apropriate if not somewhat predictible),until last night! I ve had this new set of stamps that I haven t had a chance using yet so I thought I ll have a change....what do they say? ..a change is as good as a rest?I used white embossing powder to emboss the image then used my white pen to pick up some detail then used my clear glitter sakura pen and lots of stickles for extra sparkle,a bit of dotty satin ribbon,primas and a pearly brad.Also stamped the background with white brilliance ink.Hope they ll like it.

The other exciting thing is that I ve booked the holiday today!!!!We are gonna spend a whole week enjoying all the 3 S.s under the beautifull sun of FUERTEVENTURA,we re leaving next saturday from London(I know!!) as my sis and bro in law are coming as well.Cannot wait ,but this means I ll have to divert my spending towards some clothes as supposed to some more stash so I can see a trip to Leeds on monday(day off), woohoo!!.Talking about clothes shopping I ve found a really fabulos bargain yesterday,had to go into the next little town from where I live and buy some ribbon ,and next to the ribbon shop I found Peacocks,now dont get me wrong I ve heard about it before and gone past it many times but never actually bought anything from it until yesterday, I walked in and ta da I found this....I mean is supposed to be underwear but I will use it to sleep in ,I just instantly looooved the colours and what s best is the fact that it was £3 for the little cami top and £2 for the french knickers...Hoooraay to nice bargains..love it!! What do you think will it make my hubby wink???LOLOL

Ok then I will go now,and tommorow I will talk you through making a fabulos lips smaking dip from aubergines,they were on offer at Tesco tdy.so will have to make some tmrrw.Bye for now, see ya

Hiya

Well hello there,I ve survived the most awfull dat at work today,the office I work in is quite small and no it has no ventilation in it at all(we are supposed to get some air con at some point..but not sure quite when).So me and my colleague were really uncomfortable and it was quiet and that made it worst also is not helped by the fact we have to wear those horrible syntethic shirts in the most horrid shade of lilac lol,thing is all the other girls look lovely in them but I do feel like the colour drains me(boy I don t like them at all),oh well it will be allright i suppose,we did however we had a lovely treat today,there s a new deli shop that opened in the village recently so went to check it out in my lunch break,soon as I walked in my jaw dropped,the most yummiest looking goodies were beautifully displayed in beautifull baskets(I love baskets)so of course I couldn t resist spending a few pennies,I ve had a lovely rustic roll filled with chicken and bacon for my lunch ...and it was delish!!!Then I ve got two lemon tarts for the 4 o clock coffee break,got some homemade pate and a loaf of crusty wholegrain bread for tea,and I had to buy a bottle of sparkling elderflower drink,and OMG it was beautifull so much so that tmrrw.morningI m gonna try and collect some elderflowers on my daily walk with Nico and make my own,I keep you informed on how that goes.Now crafting wise I ve received some stamps from the Papertray Ink yesterday and had to have a play also I wanted to make two cards to give one of the girls I work with as a thank you for a favour she made me.So I took a sketch from the june cardmaking competition on uks and created this.I think she liked well she said she did so that s good.Ok I m gonna go and try to figure out how to upload a header on this blog I think I ve managed to sort the pictures situations.I ll be back!!!LOL

Are you ready???????

Right then like I ve already said is our team
turn to set a weekly challenge over on UKS,and this is what I ve come up with.The photograph is of my two next door neigbours kids well some of them,(there s two missing).I ve used BG cardstock for the background,some M&MBI(bottom border)then used some db sided SEI paper(the pink following on)a hambly overlay(love this stuff but is the biggest pain to photograph)journalling card is from a kit I get from the US designed by Jenni Bowlin,some chipboard letters that I ve cut from an Ellison alpha the font is called GO SLIM(love this one)some braid like trim from Ben Madigan Crafts,hand punched flowers and some Primas,a few diamontes and them fluffy balls that I ve had for donkeys,and never used apart from some chrissy cards years ago,I ve gone off them but have to say I absolutely love them on here as centres for the daisies,just goes to show use something you hate in a completly diferent way and voila!!!

Now I ve mentioned last night that I would like to have a go at the june cardmaking challenge and after messing about at work ,I ve managed to figure out some dimensions and even created one from just some computer paper a black pen for doodling,some staples and a scalloped circle that I ve received today and here it is in all is glory LOL..Not bad hey?hahaha I should say I work in a Post Office.

I m gonna give you an idea of how you can recreate this and I m gonna try and be coeherent.First of all choose your cardstock and trim to 5"x10.1/2",now this will give you a finished 5"x5" card, should you wish to make it smaller just adjust measurements(ie if you want a 4"x4"finished card, just cut your card to 4"x8.1/2")Next step is to score each end at the 2.3/4" mark and fold,ok now cut two pieces of paterned paper 2.3/4"x4.3/4" turn the papers over and draw a semicircle using a plate or anything that you can find then glue it to your folded sides,you ve now got2 options you can either trim the base cardstock to fit the paterned paper or you can use your scalloped or any fancy scissors that you ve got to cut round the shape ,this will give you a layered look.A little tip to get starting on your scalloped edge is to just nip the corner with some normal scissors before you start,it will be easier to get in close.I ve further cut a square piece of contrasting plain paper just a little bit short of 5"x5" and glued it on the inside of my card,and to keep the clasps closed I ve used some sticky velcro(had some left from some roman blinds I ve made ages ago)but you could use one of those tiny magnets clasps that MM sell,or just glue some ribbon at the back and tie in a bow at the front.Right I m afraid this is it..finished!! and if this instructions are as clear as mud but you wish to have a go give me a shout and I will try and help.Anyway this is the proper one I m gonna upload to the boards.I ll go now and spend some time with my hubby hes just got in(been for a round of golf with his colleagues after work).Seeya

Sneak prewiev

Hello there,I have got COMENTS!!!YAY,I m getting excited but it is thanks to my dear team mates from UKS that popped on to see it after I ve drummed about it on the threads,so thank you girls,also Alex left a coment saying she liked what I ve done with the image she sent me,cheers hun!.I ve been busy tonight finishing a layout for the weekly challenge on UKS,my team Mates n Memories are hosting it so together we set a pretty cool challenge,I won t spoil it you ll have to go and see it.I will however post a little sneaky prewiev,I m really happy with it altho I wish I could scrap a bit faster,I m such a slow scrapper and I found out that the more I do the more confident I get but I m still slow!!!!!!!very very slow.You see I could whip up 3 or somehtimes 4 cards in a two hour session but when it comes to scrapping I m spending close to six sometimes even more hours on a page,the problem is choosing my papers it takes me an age then I m trying to choose a layout wich is another epic and so on every step is quite a traumatic altho very enjoyable experience LOL..right then are you ready for a little peek?????I just love those fluffy balls,and I like the colour scheme lots.

Laura had a fabulos day her DH took her for a nice dinner at a very posh eaterie(they live in London)and he bought her a 1/2 carat diamond solitaire as a birthday gift.(lucky girl)altho like she said she never had a diamond engament ring it was just a cheappo cubic zirconia one cos at the time that s all he could afford .I m so very happy for them they are a very suited couple and is such a fantastic time for them at the mo with the little baby being on his way.I love them both with all my heart.Well i think I m gonna hit the sack I mught have a go at one of the challenges Janice has posted in the cardmaking forum and have to hop over to the DCM blog see what they are up to.They have a dare on every week and there s some fabulos inspirational designs.Go and check them out.Oki doki I will actually say night night to you all,see ya!!

just a quick post

Good morning,I m just quickly trying something out as I after I put a thread on UKS regarding my photos,to lovely ladies have given me some advice on what to do and I m gonna try it right here right now even tho I should get ready for work.This was a card I ve made for one of our friend,is hard going with male cards and I ve struggled abit with this one but here it is .Right ok I m still not quite sure but at least it hasn t joined his mates at the top.Right off I go to work now.See ya

Well can you belive iT???I ve only got myself a blogaroo,and I m quite excited really at the prospect of recording my somewhat chaotic life,I was never good with diaries but I do like my keypad so hopefully I will manage to keep on top of it.What would this blog be about?Well like I said earlier mainly my daily shenanigans,as well as my many passions.I just love any kind of crafts but my favorite has to be papercrafting,I also bake so you will catch a glimpse of a wedding cake or two,and I m just passionate about cooking so if nothing else interesting s happening at least you ll get to know what i m having for tea LOL,oh and did I mention photography?..this is my newest found passion and have to say i thought it will come a lot more naturally than it did so far,but like they say practice makes perfect so I will keep at it.I ve done a few cards today I will try and upload if I can figure out how,first one is for my little sis.is her birthday tmrrw.she gonna be 30!!Woohoo.......Ok so the picture is now at the top..hmm will have to figure this thing out.I ve used a pregnant Bella image(Laura is pregnant with her first baby due at the end of oct...CAN T WAIT!!!)the image was sent to me by a lovely kind lady from UKS(I will upload a link later to her blog she has some lovely cards on there).Also today I ve had a delivery of some SU brass stencils from the US and I ve played a bit,the second card I love for the colours ,I just really like this colour combo so bright and cheerful,techniques used were dry embossing ,the blue cardstock has been stamped with versamark ink,a spotty flower that i ve received in a swap and hand written sentiment,and guess what?....at the top it goes why is this happening?ARRRGGGHHHH......right now the last one is a casing,(now if you re anything like me and don t have a clue what this means is basically the equivalent for a scrap lift)and this was from a SU magazin I ve got with some stamp sets i ve ordered.Anywhoo I m off to see if I can rectify this image uploading lark.See ya