Skywatch Friday

Some glorious weather at last so we headed out for a walk from Spey Bay to Garmouth - and back. We stopped at various viewpoints along the way - thinking how blessed we are to live in such a beautiful part of the country - and stopped at the village pub for half a pint of Windswept  Blonde sitting out in the beer garden.

Views from our starting point:

From the water tower in Garmouth:

The old railway bridge over the River Spey:

Halfway point sitting on the "beach" enjoying the view:

I find myself taking photos of the signposts on our walks - so here is another one:

When we returned to the car at Spey Bay (after 8.21 miles and burning off over 1200 calories) we were lucky enough not only to see dolphins out in the Moray Firth but also an Osprey being mobbed by gulls (neither caught on camera as they were too far away)

Pop over to the Skywatch blog to see more skies from around the world.

A Crafty Weekend - Day 2

Following on from my earlier post I forgot to come back and tell you about the rest of my crafty weekend.

On Sunday it was my local crop for local people and for once I was quite productive. I wanted to try and use up what was left of my first Quirky Kit - as I had the next one sitting in my craft room unopened and the next one on its way! I had plenty of photos to scrap as I had made good use of my change in internet provider and email address and claimed my free photos from Photobox.

Here is my creative space:

And here is what I made:

It's Monday. What Are You Reading?

A slow reading week last week - hoping this week will be better.

I am reading Tangled Lives by Hilary Boyd. This is her second novel (I have the first on my Kindle as it was only 20p for ages!) I am really enjoying it so far - did think the storyline might be a bit predictable but I am liking the characters and looking forward to see how it develops.

Lizzie Delancey is happily married, in her early 50s, with three grown children. But Lizzie guards a dark secret. At age 18 she had a baby boy, and gave him up for adoption. She still thinks of him every day. Then, out of the blue, she receives an official-looking letter from Kent Social Services. Her son, Daniel, wants to make contact. On one hand she is overjoyed - she longs to meet him. On the other, she has never told her children that they have another sibling. Tangled Lives follows the effect this revelation has on her family, as, with Daniel as the catalyst, a few small tears in the family fabric suddenly gape wide.

Pop over to The Book Journey and see what everyone else is reading today.

UKS Weekly Challenge

I only looked at this weeks challenge late on this afternoon but as I was already at my crafting desk (making a card for a special birthday) I decided to give it a go. I have to say it was a super quick page to do. I used a Crate paper "Random" paper pad I picked up in TK Maxx for £7.99 - I love the grid sheet for the background.



Scrap Apples are pleased to have another opportunity to set the weekly challenge. 

Several of the team have had major events happening in their lives recently, including new homes, jobs, baby news, wedding vow renewals, exams etc so we would like an event to be a feature...whether your own event from any time or linked to an event that happened anytime in May in history.

It is always great to mix things up so rather than standard 6x4 prints please use alternative photos sizes

We all love our embellishments so we have gone for those starting with B...buttons, badges, bows, bling, beads and buttons...please use a combination of at least two from this list. 

So to recap:

1. A large event - 10 points
2. non regular sized photos - 10 points
3. A minimum of two from....bows, buttons, badges, beads, brads, bling - 10 points

My large event was getting my new car - I love her to bits and she is so much fun to drive (also not having to pay road tax and winning £2000 in petrol when I bought her also helps!!) I have scrapped a square photo - an Instagram one I had printed at Photobox. And for my embellishments I used buttons and bling - with a couple of butterflies thrown in for good measure.

Skywatch Friday

This photo proves we have had some blue skies here recently even if it does feel more like November than May.

Yesterday there was snow and the Lecht to Tomintould road was closed - and the conditions were too bad for them to send the plough!

Pop over to the Skywatch blog to see more skies from around the world.

WOYWW 207

Not been around for a couple of weeks but spurred on by my crafty weekend (a class with Ken Oliver from Spellbinders on Saturday and my local crop on Sunday) I am crafting.

Some old So Sophie papers by My Mind's Eye in my colourway of brown and teal - almost too nice to cut up!! Not a fan of shaped papers but if I don't use it know I know it will sit in y stash for another couple of years.

Please pop over and say hello to Julia and see what everyone else is up to this cold Wednesday. Just to cheer you up - it is 5.5 degrees here today, we have had hailstones and the days start getting shorter in less than a month. Am so looking forward to my holiday - at least I should get some sunshine then.

A Crafty Weekend - Day 1

On Friday afternoon while I was still at work I took a sneaky look at my phone and was surprised to see I had a private message. It was from Charlotte at The Papeterie in Aberdeen. It was to tell me I had won a place at a class the following day. I turns out I had left a comment on their Facebook page about Ken Oliver from Spellbinders coming to Scotland - he was only visiting 2 craft stores and theres was one of them. I'm afraid I had to Google Ken to find out who he was, what he does and what I had let myself in for.

As it turns out Ken is  lovely bloke from Phoenix, Arizona and I thoroughly enjoyed my day. We were using Media Mixage by Spellbinders to creat a personal history bezel. I haven't done anything like this before and it took me out of my comfort zone. But I am so please with the finished result. The photos are of my Nan and Grandad and there was a date on the back of the photo of my Nan of March 1933 which makes her just 21 in the photo.

Sadly I had to leave my bezels there as the resin takes 24 hours to set - but Charlotte is going to post it on to me.

Here are some photos of my day:

It's Monday. What Are You Reading?

After much nagging from my Dad saying that I had to read David Baldacci I have finally picked up a copy of The Hit which is his latest offering.

But sorry Dad - I'm not really sure this is my cup of tea. But I'm only a 100 pages in so will carry on and see where it goes. I like my crime/police thrillers fast faced and action paced aka James Patterson but maybe this one is building to something.

When government hit man Will Robie is given his next target he knows he’s about to embark on his toughest mission yet. He is tasked with killing one of their own, following evidence to suggest that fellow assassin Jessica Reel has been turned. She’s leaving a trail of death in her wake including her handler. The trap is set. To send a killer to catch a killer. But what happens when you can’t trust those who have access to the nation’s most secret intelligence?

Pop over to The Book Journey and see what everyone else is reading today.

Skywatch Friday

Something a bit different from the scenic shots of late - there was something about this electricity pylon against the backdrop the hills and the cloudy skies that called out to me.

Pop over to the Skywatch blog to see more skies from sound the world.

It's Monday. What Are You Reading?

I have started reading About Last Night by Adele Parks. I find this authors books a bit hit and miss and this one is starting slowly. So slow in fact for the past 2 nights I have gone to bed to read and have been woken up when I have dropped the book!!!!

The storyline does sound interesting though.

'I need you to say that I was with you.' For thirty years, best friends Steph and Pip have been through thick and thin. There's nothing they would not do for one another. Until these simple words change everything. Steph, eternally solid and dependable, is begging her friend to lie to the police as she's desperately trying to conceal not one but two scandalous secrets to protect her family. Pip, self-consigned to the role of scatty hot-head, is overwhelmed; she's normally the one asking for help in a crisis. It's a big ask. So what would you do? 

Scrapbooking on a Saturday

We couldn't go too far from the house yesterday as hubby was waiting for his new laptop to be delivered. Of course it wasn't - it is sitting in Inverness 30 odd miles away! So a few phone calls and a refund of the delivery charges it will be delivered to his work on Monday fingers crossed.

So after all the jobs were done - and after making my first swiss roll for nearly 30 years (the last time was in home economics under the beady stare of The Soup Dragon aka Mrs LLoyd at school) I disappeared up to my craft room.

This first page was a sketch challenge which I spotted while blog hopping. It is the May challenge over on The Studio Challenges and you can see the sketch below. We only ever go to Baxters when we have visitors - it is obligatory to act like a tourist and go and eat pancakes. You can just about make out the legs of the stag sculpture behind Will, Sarah, Cal and Andy. The papers are from a bargain 6x6 paper pad of Amy Tangerine Sketchbook papers I picked up in TK Maxx recently. I also unearthed my supply of paper flowers - can't remember the last time I used any of them.

The next page is for this weeks challenge over on UKS. The brief was to use the sketch to complete a masuline page comlpete with flowers and an inking technique. This shot was taken of Sam and Andy sitting on the harbour wall at Crail - a beautiful little village over on the East coast. The papers are Origins by Basic Grey from another 6x6 paper pad. The banner stamp was a free gift with my last Scrapagogo kit and some "masculine" black flowers completed the page.

Skywatch Friday

 A much shorter walk last weekend - but still my legs were sore at the end of it! We walked around Randolph's Leap and then on to the more impressive Sluies Gorge.

In between the trees there were some lovely views of the gorge.

A great day out for some adventurers.

But I'm not sure I would want to get into that water - very brown from the peat.

He man and enjoying the view.

Pop over to the Skywatch blog and see more skies from around the world.