Hazel - Girl Spy

Hazel - Girl Spy
Hazel - Girl Spy

Friday 28 January 2011

Hubris and why you should avoid it.

It's a late post and not much to see, except an entry for a challenge which I pulled but I have to vent, at myself. Why did I have to say that everything was rosy in the last post - hubris, and I should be more careful!

 First of all the car Mr H decided upon was sold by the time he contacted the garage to accept their offer and then my cooker was finally delivered only to be snatched back again. I kid you not - four weeks after it was supposed to be here, they knocked on my door this morning at 7.30. Since I had been assured that I would receive a courtesy call from the driver, half an hour before the delivery, I thought I was safe. (no such call was undertaken!). I was in the bathroom just deciding to take my shower & had to re-dress  rather hastily - Mr H was still asleep. I showed them into the kitchen, looking like naebody's bairn in my bare feet, and the lead man just shook his head and said "Sorry, love, we can't fit it, against regs".  Apparently my fitted kitchen with wall cupboards only 2" away from my cooker with its eye-level grill prevent me from having a replacement  cooker of the same type - there needs to be a 6" gap now. I either dismantled the kitchen or had to forgo the cooker - yeh, right.

 I felt like screaming but I didn't.  I bid them farewell, had breakfast etc and took their docket and with Mr H in tow, went to Curry's to get a replacement cooker with a grill in the middle. Went through the obligatory palaver and went to look at the more suitable cookers and spotted that one which we had originally ordered had been reduced by £80. No -one had even hinted at this in my numerous conversations with Currys - oh yes, it was all about  making a saving before the VAT rise - no blooming mention of a swingeing reduction in price in the New Year. I  chose a cooker with as good grace as I could muster (not much!) and was told it would be delivered next Thursday - I just burst out laughing and had to exit the shop and leave Mr H to seal the deal before I became manic.

Still, we had a lovely meal at Fir Tree Farm, my mum and me, and the sun has been shining all day. This always means that the Seasons Cafe is buzzing with customers but we were able to get a table and excellent food. Part of the experience, for my mum particulary, is to get some treats for the weekend and it's always nice when new stock has been delivered. They had some venison in the shop and on the menu but I chickened out and bought sausages instead - just fancy Toad-in-the-Hole with onion gravy!

Mr H is also very suspicious of anything new I try to introduce - you should have seen his face when I brought home ostrich meat from the Farmers Market - if they can't grow it or raise it in Yorkshire he doesn't want to know. Try as I might, he would not be persuaded that the ostrich was farmed locally. In his mind the meat had come from the African savannah and he was having none- and he was unanimous! I have to admit I found it very strong and gamey but not awful., there was just too much for one person!

This is a card which I ended up not submitting for the weekly challenge on Docrafts. I desperately wanted to use the Kokeshi digis I got from Sylviestamps and stitchystamps to complete the sketch which was this weeks brief.. However I just could not get on with this card once I had finished; it's too busy and the papers just don't do it. I had to reduce the size of the digis and found colouring and shading difficult. I spent a lot of time on it too but at least I have learned that you don't always have to get it right and can just try again.

Ranting and then philosophy, where will it end? Well, now, really because tea is  nearly ready. I'll say cheerio then, Hazel x

Thursday 27 January 2011

A bit early for Mothers day!

There are several things I have to be thankful for; just to name two; my cooker is coming tomorrow and my husband had decided on a car, amongst many others! No more irate phone calls to Curry's and no more jaunts to garages. Joy be unconfined!


I love digital stamps and when Glamourie posted a free set of Pamper stamps, I had to download them and make a card. It had to be for my mum but my dilemma was that I have already made her three birthday cards for her birthday on Feb 8. Well, it's nice to be prepared and have a choice! So I made her a mothers day card which is a bit early, I grant you.


I had left over images so I decorated inside the card as well.


I didn't make notes about what materials I used to make the card as it is not being entered into any challenges but I would like to thank Glamourie for her lovely stamps and encourage people to have a look (click on her name). I have been experimenting with making round sentiments on the computer and it has been a tad hit-and-miss but I think the two I used here are in the hit category.

Brenda from Floral Fantasies is giving away yet another load of stonking blog candy so for your chance to win click on the link, above or on my sidebar.  Even if you don't win, Brenda makes beautiful cards and there is always inspiration to be had there.

That's all I have for today, cheerio, Hazel x

Tuesday 25 January 2011

Love Blog

Hi
 I just have to tell you that I've been tagged with the Liebster or Love blog by Elisabeth of  the Silverscrappers Blog. Elisabeth is one of the crafters whose work inspires me so I feel very honoured.
Many thanks Elisabeth!

 There are a couple of conditions for the award – explanation and instructions follow:


You have been TAGGED and want to participate? Then create a post where you post the 'LOVE BLOG' image.

You should also blog the person’s link that gave you the award and inform her/him that you accept the award.

You can then choose 3 - 5 favourite blogs which you also link in your post, then each blogger will inform you that they have been tagged.

Dear bloggers:

The aim of this action is that we bring unknown, good blogs to light, so I would ask you not to blog fellow bloggers that already have 3,000 followers. As always, the hardest part is to pick who to pass this on to, there are so many bloggers I could give it to, so . . .





You have been awarded the

I'd like to have chosen lots more but the rules say five max. I only hope I've done the linking correctly.

Cheerio for now

Monday 24 January 2011

Just Magnolia #90 and Get Sketchy #71

It's not that I'm nuts for challenges it's just that I keep finding challenges which appeal to me! Maybe I'll slow down! In a bit!


This card is for entry into the Just Magnolia and hAnglar & sTanglar challenge #90

Gingerbread Tilda teamed with a Lynne Salmon sentiment  following a sketch challenge; I made a 15cm square card from  white A4 cardstock and rounded the corners with my new crop-a-dile corner chomper. The yellow matt is from PM lemon sorbet range as are the yellow flowers and the yellow ribbon and the purple circle was cut from PM handmade metallic paper. The lace is from the Ribbon girl and the other items are from my stash. I tried to colour the head of the pin, which was white, with my Tulip Yellow Promarker but it looks a bit green to me.

Promarkers used: Violet, Lavender, Orchid, Amethyst, Mulberry, Cool Grey 1, Orange, Caramel, Shale, Warm Greys 4 &5 , Ivory, Satin and Blush.



This card is to be entered in the Get Sketchy challenge #71 which involved following a sketch and the use of a digital stamp from the Pink Cat Studio, which is the site which introduced me to my love of digis so I just had to enter with Billy on his train. You get 3 sentiments on his flag so he could be used for a birthday, a Christmas or a general occasion card.

I made a 4.5" x 6.5" card from white A4 cardstock and matted it with yellow polka dot paper from Dovecrafts Back to Basic range. Just couldn't resist using my chomper again! The smaller matt  was made from Core-dinations cardstock and yellow basketweave paper from the same Dovecraft set. The brads and buttons are from my stash and the Butchers twine is from the Ribbon Girl and is great for a ribbon substitute for masculine cards. I used a bit of Glossy Accents to give texture to the front of the train, the carriage wheels and Billy's flag. The image is raised from the small matt using silicon glue, as is the worded piece if the flag, but I think I will stick (no pun intended) to 3d foam in future as the glue does not dry quckly and if the card is moved the image can slip - eh Mr H?

Promarkers used: Ivory, Almond, Pastel Pink, Cocoa, Cinnamon, Caramel, Tan, Crimson, Magenta, Gold, Ginger, Lime Green, Pine, Forest Green, Slate, Warm Grey 4, Denim, Powder Blue, Warm Grey 2 & white gel pen

I'd like to sent best wishes for a speedy recovery to Bernadette, who has been very poorly! Get well soon my friend. Also, if you pop over to Mina's blog, here, she is offering candy to celebrate 250,000 hits to her site - 250,000, that's huge but no wonder, her cards are the biz!

Have a smashing Monday if you can, we're off to look at more, but different model, cars, big whoop! Cheerio for now.

Sunday 23 January 2011

Paper Romance Challenge#34

This will be a quick post as I slept in today and I promised MR H a cooked breakfast so I am juggling time again. I have a card to share.


This is a lovely digi stamp from Melissa at Pink Cat Studios Valentine set. The lovestruck squirrel comes with the branch and the nutty sentiment. A link to the site is on my sidebar. I cut a shaped card from white A4 cardstock and layered it with two papers from the Papermania Hampstead range. I made the acorn embellishments and the bow is from Papermanias Persimmon range. The digis and acorns were coloured with Promarkers and Glossy Accents was used to give a juicy look to the hearts and to the acorns.

Promarkers used: Pastel Beige, Pear Green, Pine, Forest Green, Grass, Warm Grey 4, Royal Blue, Crimson, Burnt Orange, Spice, Ginger, Burnt Umber, Cocoa, Cinnamon, Caramel and Tan.

I would like to enter this card in the Paper Romance Challenge #34 which required a different shape of card.

Cheerio for now,