Blog Celebration

Over in Scrap West we are celebrating Blogs. The idea is to share something creative. The technique I am going to share is altering a box into something unique either to keep for yourself or to house a gift for someone special. If you would like to win the finished box then leave a comment in the comments section and check back here on Friday 7th to see who has won.

Ok for this you will need any sized box with lid (2Euro shop has 3 boxes for 2 euro), paint, paper, ribbon and a few embelishemnts for decorating.

Remove the lid and cut a square out from the centre. Depending on the size of the box, I left a good 1 inch around the edge. Paint the lid inside and out with emulsion or acrylic piant matching your paper.

Paint your box, inside and outside, including the underneath. Leave the paint to dry in between layers.

Using the section of the lid you cut out, glue it down to a larger piece of card making sure it is no bigger than your lid, I used the back of an A4 pad but any hard card will do.

Cover both sides of this square in your patterned paper.

Cut 2 to 4 lenghts (again depending on the size of the box) of your patterned paper no higher than the height of your box. If you like you can ink the edges of the paper. Glue these to the side of your box

When the lid is dry, adhere a good few foam pads (or folded pieces of card as I did) to the corners of the inside of your lid, and glue down your sqaure insert to these foam pads (or folded pieces of card). The idea is to give the impression that the lid is slightly recessed.

Turn the lid over and decorate with your favourite embelishments. I used some ribbon, feather, paper flower, chipboard letters and a little journalling.

And thats it, a very personalised gift box. I hope you found a little inspiration in this Blog Celebration. And remember if you would like a chance to win this gift box just leave a your name in the comments section and check back on Friday 7th for the winner.

Candlelight Supper....

... and not one Royal Doulton with the hand-painted periwinkles insight!!! What a terrible host am I, LOL!

How can I describe the night? It was a hilarious, easy-going, delicious, wine fuled and utterly entertaining night. The time flew by, especially for those not driving, hee hee! The food was just perfect! None of us will forget Viv's delectable salad with sundried tomatoes, pinenuts and spinach leaves (drool) so glad I saw her make this and is forever stored away in my memory. My smoked salmon pasta with cream, lemon and tarragon (thanks Louise) went down as easily as the copious amounts of wine. And the dessert, also supplied by Viv, topped off what was trully a scrummy meal.

After dinner we decided to play a few games of cards, this is when I remembered to bring out the camera. Seven's was so funny, with some bold people holding back... you know who you are! hee hee! But when we decided to play old maid, well then thats when it got really serious, as seen by the photographs below:

Can you guess who the old maid was??? LOL! You will have to forgive the quality of the images... they looked perfectly fine through the wine goggles I was wearing :-)

What really made the night so wonderful was the company!!! Thank you boys and girls :-) I am so grateful to have you lot in my life (awwwwwww). Here's to many more night candlelight suppers :-)

Scrap West

This weeks theme is called Memorable Moment. The journalling under the photo explains the story. When Shona and I were at Coolwood and she saw what she thought was a statue of a hawk....!?(anyways) as she was walking over to check it out the bird moved. Well, Shona got the fright of her life, and the photograph was snapped just as she was turning around to say it was alive. She was a little upset by the laughter from her mammy, hopefully one day she'll learn its ok to laugh at yourself (we could all learn that one). Next week we are doing something really special on the Scrap West blog :-)

Have a great weekend! I'm preparing for my candle light supper with the hand painted royal doulton, LOL!

Kerry Holidays

Is it possible to feel exhausted and refreshed at the same time??? Yes! We did loads but got time to rest too. My little woman was attached to me at the hip for the first few days, we kept telling each other how much we loved and missed each other, awwwwwwww.

Ok, prepare for a load of photographs, with the new camera I'm really snap happy :-)

Cottage Antics - A little piece of heaven is our little cottage in Killorglin. Set amongst mountains, country lanes and beautiful scenery.

All the fun at the Fair - Euroshow funfair at Puck Fair

Pottery Painting - If you get a chance to go to Ballyferriter you gotta check out the pottery painting, a fun way to pass a few hours.

Holden Handcrafted Bags - Trully scrummy but way too expensive for my pocket (*sniff sniff*) but I did get a beautiful photograph of a bay beside the factory with a magnificent view of Dingle Bay

Dingle Aquariam - A must stop for anyone with kiddies, we even found Nemo while we were there, and we met Ringo and her family there too :-)

Happy Birthday Don & George - We spent a wonderful night at Fels Point Hotel in Tralee for the boys birthday. Yummy food and a trully luxuriuos room with a view to the new Dome - at no extra charge, LOL!

Coolwood Wildlife Park - Not as nice as Fota but plently of animals for both Shona and I to enjoy.

Pauline Bewick Exhibit - at the Killorglin Library, while Eve and I checked out the paintings from the Seven Ages Exhibit, Shona was checking out the books, Art really isn't her thang!

Louise, Ross & Cian - It was brilliant when the boys arrived with their Mammy on friday. Shona and I love to spend time with them. If you are looking to do something in Killarney (while its raining) check out the Outlet Centre, plenty of shops, gorgeous Coffe in Costa and even a Bungee Jump for the more adventurous.

So that was some of what we did in Kerry for the week, we both had a wonderful time and no matter the weather there is loads to do!!!

Loads more photography

Another Busy week and I'm so tired, this hectic social life is getting the better of me , hee hee, must be getting old(er). I'm really looking forward to a wee break in Kerry this week, my first holiday since I started the job in January. Bliss!

Yesterday Ber and I had a wonderful day. We started with our photography class with Peter of Living Images (thanks Peter). We learned everything about our camera settings, especially to do with indoor portrait photography. We learned loads of really useful tips which I can't wait to put into practice :-) and I now know the Lens I sooooo need, better start saving! I would really recommend this type of one to one (or two to one) class for anyone interested in learning about their camera.


After the class we met Louise in Ennis for lunch, we had scrummy food in The Town Hall, check it out if you are ever in the area. Afterwards we checked out the craft shop and then a little more retail therapy. Ennis has some amazing shops for clothes, handbags and jewellery :-)

One evening during the week, Ber and I headed to the weir in Annacotty to checkout slow shutter speed, trying to capture the silky feel of the water. Landscaape really isn't my thing but as an exercise I found it really useful, below is my fav from the evening.



This weeks theme for Scrap West is pets, check out the blog for some amazing works of art. We had 3 guest this week too, thank you ladies for submitting your LO's.

Finally, leaving with this photo of my sweetie girl whom I haven't seen in nearly 2 weeks. I've loved my free time, got loads done but I miss her so much and can't wait to hug and kiss her :-) No doubt she'll oblige me for about 2 minutes, hee hee. She has been in Kerry with her Dad enjoying Puck Fair, the both of them even went my parents cottage for tea during the week. I love the fact that my parents respect her Dad even though it didn't work out between us.

Right let the holiday begin :-)

7 Things Tags

I have been tagged by both Noelle and Audrey, doing it fast as the last time everyone I knew with a blog had been tagged already, so here it goes:

7 Things about me:

1. When I was born my Dad wanted to call me Willamina
2. First time I got really drunk I was about 5 (the dog and i drank a bottle of sherry)

3. I nearly drowned at the age of 8 in Ibiza (drink was not invloved, lol)

4. At 12 I was Queen of Puck Fair, its on this weekend in Killorglin

5. I went to Boarding School for 3 years (and hated it)

6. I lived and worked in Moscow for about 8 months (and loved it)

7. I have 1 tattoo, gonna make it 2 soon :-)

Tagged:

Jackie

Kate

Beckie

Annamarie

Maura

Gertie - oops have you been tagged already?

Lainey - and you too Lainey???

Busy Week

Its been a another busy week, not only in work but with my new found freedom I've been making the most of it (miss you Shona *sniff sniff*).

Tuesday evening was scrummy food served up by Ber's hubbie (my friends all have wonderful cooks for husbands) afterwards it was into the garden to find some photographic opportunities. I love the way the evening light is caught behind the leaves below, and look at the burnt edges, love texture like this. Talking about texture, what is it about weathered wood??? Its so grungy looking and the colour is devine .... thinking about changing the colours of my walls now!

"Spider pig, spider pig, does whatever a spider pig can" Did you see it??? OMG!!! Went to see The Simpsons new movie on wednesday, it was 10/10! It's sooooo funny! I kept turning to Ailis and saying I'm so glad I didn't bring Shona to this! It really was made for an adult audience! I'll bring her anyway, hee hee!

Thursday night was more scrapping and chatting with Ber, we got loads done (including the Scrapwest below). The papers are from Piggy Tales and the LO is part of my BOM. I also did a LO for Tigger which I'm really happy with. I'll post it up next week after I've posted it to her (BTW, have you seen her hair? Its so cooool)

Tonight I'm chillin, up early for a few appointments tomorrow, then off to the Boys (John & Ray) for dinner, more scrummy food. Imagine I haven't cooked all week, lovin it!

Have a fantastic weekend all :-)