TUESDAY'S THOUGHTS

Another nice sunny day here in Hampshire after a misty morning - I actually got out in the garden and did some pruning and tidying yesterday- there is so much to do in my garden that it can be a bit daunting even starting but I was on a bit of a roll. Then I had to sit and have a cuppa and a read!!

This week's challenge over at TMTA is Feel Like a Queen. I have chosen to do Mozart's Queen of the Night from the Magic Flute - A role I sang 3 years ago. Never again.....not my favourite role in Opera. The image is taken from a card I received from Welsh National Opera advertising their forthcoming season and I kept it hoping it would come in handy for some crafting. As the colours are so rich and jewel like I'm also entering it in the Gingersnap Creations where one of the challenges is Jewel Colours plus gold.

The challenge over at Less is more is one layer off the page. I got a bit confused with the rules here cuase I thought they always had to be one layer - but this week's definitely is one layer - lots of white space and off the page. I find I have to be so strict with myself not to go adding more and more - its really difficult. I found this great stamp set by Stampin Up at the back of my cupboard and thought it would suit the off the page rule quite well. White cards don't show up well on my scanner - its hard to see where it all starts and finishes. Any hints on how to scan it properly would be very welcome.

MAGICAL MONDAY

Magical really because the sun is still shining here in Hampshire - it was a glorious weekend - hubby and son went to Cardiff to the Rugby to watch Wales Win - contraversial but still a win - I lazed about at the Celtic Manor - a hotel dear to our hearts as its where we were married 25 years ago.

On Sunday we took our son for a trip down Memory Lane paying a visit to the Welsh Folk Museum at St Fagan's - if you've never been its well worth a trip - when my children were small and we lived just a few miles away from the Museum I used to have a season ticket and we spent many a day there having a picnic. There are over 40 original buildings from across Wales re-erected in 100 acres, from a Celtic Village, to a church, from shops to a toll house. This picture of 6 terrace houses were taken from near Merthyr Tydfil and each house is decorated in a different period - ranging from 1805 up to 1985. The difference as you visit each house is quite humbling - and it shows you how much "stuff" we fill our homes with today.

From there we moved on to the Roman Baths and Museum at Caerleon - Chris is studying Classical History at A level and wants to specialise in Roman Warfare - what he will do with it I have no idea but its where his heart lies. Caerleon was known as the Roman Fortress of Isca and there are the remains of the baths and an amphitheatre which could seat the whole legion, up to 6,000 spectators. Much of the remains are now buried under the houses which are built here but there is still lots to see.

On to some crafting - the challenge over at Wednesday stamper last week was to use a letter in your art work and at least one rubber stamp - I'm still on my mission to cover cheese boxes - and am thinking of doing a range of Capital Cities - so with this in mind my next box represented Paris. The rubber stamp by Cherry Pie Art Stamps - I should have shares! - is a painting by Leonardo entitled La Belle Ferronierre house in the Louvre - I decided Mona gets too much of an airing sometimes. She is supposed to be the wife or daughter of an Ironmonger (Ferroniere) and is reputed to be the mistress to Francois I - see, art and a history lesson! There is also a Tim Holtz stamp of the Eiffel Tower and the letter is a stamp by Stampin Up. The inchy is one I received in a swap - I loved its colours.

I hope the sun is shining for you where ever you are.

Talking Tea.......

On my blog travels again today - I came across Kimmie's blog and her Tuesday Tea brigade - what a lovely idea. So I thought I would join in with some of my own tea. I love to make herbal teas and this one is a raspberry leaf, marigold and lady's mantle tea. Its nearly the end of the batch as I need it to be summer to collect all the ingredients. Its a great tea for women's monthly problems as well as tasting good.

Here's what the tea looks like in its raw state - the colours are very pretty.

As its loose leaf tea it deserves to be made in a proper pot with a plunger. Do you like the cups? They are actually coffee cups, with a little story behind them - last May I lost my darling mum and it was my job to sort out all her things - I'm sure you understand. She was a great collector of fine bone china but hidden in a cupboard still in their box were these two cups - not her style at all but I loved them - they have pride of place on my dresser and they are lovely to drink out of. I'm sure she'd be happy I'm using them and tea was her favourite drink.

Welsh Cake Recipe........and an illusion

It's my daughter's 20th Birthday today - 20 - when did that happen? Its also her first one away from home ever. I was a bit tearful this morning - soppy old moma! Its a lovely sunny day here in Hampshire and it was a lovely sunny day in Wales when she was born - in fact she's always had sunny days on her birthday - she has such a sunny disposition, takes after me you know! lol! This is her on her 13th Birthday with her horse Figaro behind her - she still has him.





And this was her on her 18th.




Anyway - I digress - my post this morning is to provide you with the much requested recipe for Welsh Cakes or Teissen Cymraeg as they are also known:

Sorry its all in lbs and ounces but I'm not a metric girl!

8oz plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 tsp mixed spice
2oz butter or margarine
2oz lard
3 oz caster sugar
2oz currants (soak them in cold tea to plump them up)
1 egg, beaten
2-3 tablespoons milk

Sift flour baking powder and spice then add butter and fat and rub in. Add sugar and fruit. Beat 1 egg and mix in - add just enough milk to form a soft dough - turn out and cut into rounds about 1/4" thick. Cook on a heavy pan or griddle over a medium heat turning as necessary until cooked inside and out about 4 mins each side. Sprinkle with caster sugar if liked - best eaten on the day of being made.

You can also do Teisen Dinca - Apple Welsh Cakes:

Make up dough as above but add 6oz grated cooking apples (granny smiths in US) before adding egg. This makes a wet dough so you may not need as much milk.

Let me know if you have a go and what you think of them x

The theme over at SPA this week is Illusion - this had me stumped so I did a bit of googling and found some fabulous images. This one was one of my favourite - I have no idea who it is by so can't credit them. Isn't it gorgeous? There was another lovely one I found with birds and a tree.



I'm not a great free hand drawer but thought I'd give it a go - I think my lady's face is slight too thin. I think she looks like one of those old fashioned harsh teachers. Lol! I enjoyed this chance to do something completely different for me.

FRIENDS, ROMANS, COUNTRYWOMEN!......

I've gone all Roman - I found a great little book in Oxfam the other day with a view to using for altering - it was a 1963 edition of a travel guide around Rome. It was a bit of a shock seeing the pictures of Rome in 1963 compared to my memories of it two years ago - there's a lot to be said for the introduction of cars - and the way nowadays its hard to see a city in its glory without it being suffocated by cars.

So onto my altered cheese box - I used the large face stamp that had been looking at me all week - this is another Cherry Pie Art Stamp - and checking Marina's website I noticed the lady was called Julia - so for me she is Julia Caesar - Caesar's daughter. I found a picture of a basillica which I have used on the front - I can just imagine her walking around this 2000 years ago. There is also a Julia Basillica - what luck!

Maybe my next cheese box should be Paris - I could work my way around the cities - but goodness think how fat I'll get eating all that cheese! Any donations of cheese boxes kindly received lol!

Here's a sneak preview also of my inchies for the Continents inchy swap over at UK Stampers - yes its Asia -how did you guess?

WOYWW #92

Just realised I've done no blogging since last week - where did that week go? Might be something to do with the nice weather cold but sunny and too nice to be indoors. I have been doing a bit of baking though - here are some yummy welsh cakes!



And here's what's on my desk this week - I'm going to alter some more of these cheese boxes - I also found another book for altering in Oxfam book shop yesterday - its an old Rome travel journal with some great pictures in it - I'm looking forward to having a play - also on my desk are some Asian inchies needing to be finished off for the UK Stampers continents inchy swap. Those stamps from last week are still there - I haven't used them yet - might see if I can incorporate them in the altered boxes. Pop along to Julia's blog to see all the other participants of WOYWW!

I'm chuffed to see my Bohemian Rhapsody made the sampler at Wednesday Stamper - woohoo!

OWOH

I was lucky enough to win a prize from OWOH - Kay from Toodles and Binks sent out some runner up prizes and look what I received today- just when I've been saying I have no new things to play with. Thanks so much Kay - couldn't have come at a better time and I love the images and the little cupcake charm.

Thank you - two little words - don't take up a lot of time to write - never heard whether my OWOH recipients received theirs.

WOYWW #91/WEDNESDAY STAMPER

Last week I was bemoaning the fact that I haven't bought any new stash for ages - nearly a year if not more - so today I thought I would go through my rubber and see what stamps I have that I've never used - it will feel like having something new - so my challenge to myself today is to do something with the above set - not maybe all together at the same time. To see what's on the other girls' desks check out Julias blog.

Wednesday Stamper has the challenging theme of Bohemia this week - at first glance I thought this wasn't for me but it stayed with me and I ended up doing two pieces:

The first is a nod to Queen and Bohemian Rhapsody - do you get it? In case you don't there's the original also.

The second is my interpretation of Carmen - the queen of Boho if ever there were one!

And speaking of Mezzo Sopranos - (do you like the link?) I'm listening to Joyce DiDonato at the moment - a fab mezzo I've only just found - if you like this type of singing check her out on you tube - she does a great duet with Renee Fleming from Cosi Fan Tutte - Ah Guarda La Sorella - I found her cause I'm learning this duet myself for an upcoming concert. What are you all listening to at the moment? I found a new group called Hem yesterday on Rebecca Sower's blog - she had done a playlist for us for music to listen to in the rain and I liked this group so much I went straight on to Amazon and bought a copy - a hard copy mind - not a download - I still like to have the CD in my hands!

HAPPY ST DAVID'S DAY

Happy St David's Day / Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus. I'm wearing my Daffodil and will be making Welsh Cakes later.

Got the electricians in today doing some work in the bathrooms so may not have my comp later as the electrics all go down - a good excuse then to do some crafting - off to find some inspiration. Be back later

OK - I found some inspiration- Tag Tuesday is asking for a postcard tag - I've used Tim Holtz stamps here:

Wednesday Stamper's theme is Fly - such a great theme this - there are so many ways to go - here I've used my Cherry Pie stamps and some Tim Holtz - the angel stamp is CP.

Just For Fun is also using wings for their challenge.

MONDAY MUTTERINGS

It was a real rugby weekend in our house this weekend -I'm happy to say that Wales won their match -phew! We had a variety of weather over the weekend - from sun to hailstones! What is that all about?


I was delighted to win a runner's up prize in OWOH from Lisa at http://www.all-the-wright-stuff.blogspot.com/ I received a lovely Postcard of the original print that she offered - lucky person who won the original - I'm going to put this in a frame and put it on the wall in my craft room. Karen Missy K mentioned to me that she is going to decorate a wall with magnetic wall paint - now that sounds cool - no more sticking things on walls - I wonder if hubby is up to doing a bit of decorating! Isn't this image gorgeous - check out Lisa's other work at her blog above.





Sunday Postcard Art this week has the theme of double take - I have a great Feline Cherry Pie stamp that is just right for this challenge - I kept with the catty theme with a cat post stamp and a postcard stamp from Tim Holtz.



Take a Word this Monday is the word EXOTIC - I bought this paper at the weekend as wrapping paper and was lucky enough to have a little bit left. Its got such a gorgeous texture and such vivid colours I knew the scraps would come in handy for crafting.

TO EVERY SEASON.........

Well my desk has gone from being very empty yesterday to back to normal today - you can see a picture under WOYWW post.


The challenge over at Three Muses is Time - this got me thinking about the song Turn Turn Turn - apparently adapted from the Book of Eccliastes - the words "to everything there is a season" made me think of TIME

First is Spring - the background is masked with Tim Holtz masks that looks like a clock, the image is a CP stamp.

Then comes Summer: some CP stamps and others which I can't remember oops



Then Autumn: a mix of Tim Holtz, Stampin Up and Cherry Pie Stamps and some flourishes:




And finally Winter: Once again the Tim Holtz Mask and some CP stamps and Stampin Up.





I'm also putting this in for the challenge over at Theme Thursday which is flourishes.

WOYWW #90

Oh no - look what's on my workdesk today - nada, zilch, rien, niet, ddim, nichts ....... get the picture? Absolutely nothing - anyone got any brilliant ideas what I can do next????? lol! I had to tidy the desk as hubby wanted to get to the computer - its an old one that he uses just for his itunes and he couldn't find anywhere to place the mouse - so to keep him happy I tidied it and it never got untidied! For more inspiring desks check out the other girls at WOYWW.

Do you know what I think I need - some new craft items to play with - its been well over a year since I bought any new stuff, stamps or papers or inks - do you think I'm overdue?

Oh, but look what I have in my drawers, so to speak? This is Pepper - trying to get in on the act, he found his way into my papers drawer.

THURSDAY UP-DATE:

There - that's much better!

TRIPTYCH/QUEEN OF WANDS

Triptych - what a great word - it doesnt really flow off the tongue though does it and it is darned tricky to write! The challenge over at Alter It Monthly is Shrines, Altars etc and I'm hoping my triptych can fit into this category. What do you know I've used Cherry Pie Art stamps again!

A right Royal challenge over at Gingersnap Creations where they have asked you to use a king or queen or both. My Queen is the Queen of Wands - a tarot card. A little about the Queen in case you don't know - she represents the heart of the home, welcoming, nurturing and warming. Here she is depicted with her familiar, her cat and a sunflower, representing warmth. The Queen is friendly and warm, but can be forthright and even bossy. What you see is what you get - she is open and straightforward and can be a loyal friend for life. She can be passionate, impulsive, quick tempered though she does not hold a grudge. She is imaginative and creative with many talents.

DRAMA QUEEN?

The challenge at Gingersnap Creations this week was right up my street - they asked for Crowns and I turned my image into a Drama Queen! I'm never happier than when I'm on a stage - warbling away! lol!

I'm not sure where this stamp came from but its such a great image, although I don't think my scanner has done it justice.

Fiona

x