Meet the zoo ....

These are my pets, I don't have as many as I used to but these keep me happy.

Sooty the Chinchilla: He belonged to a friend of the family but she became pregnant and no longer had the space for him. I already had a chinchilla when we got him but sadly she died. He is a bit of a rude boy and flashes but thankfully that has calmed down now.

Russell: Jack Russell/Terrior, there was an add in the local vets for Russell and Boo. Boo was a huge rotty which I could never of looked after but when I saw him I rang Dan and asked if I could bring him home. Everyone falls in love with him and he knows it. His owners had lost their jobs due to the recent probs and could no longer afford to keep him so they sold him to me.

BJ: BJ the hamster is I got in October, I had 12 (an oops from the pet shop meant I came back from holiday to pups) and when they all died I missed having one. Mum called him BJ ..... well you can guess what he does to get the name. He has always been a scared little hamster and jumps at the slightest bang. We can pick him up but if you don't put him down when he wants to he will jump (I found out he bounces :-S)

Elmo and Elmina: They are 3 year old Herman Tortoises. Dan was the one who named them because he thought Elmo (the small one) was like him and it was logical to call the large one Elmina after me. I did have the hump for ages that the one who was meant to me was the fattest but hey that is male logic for you. Their previous owner, yet another friend of the family, could no longer take care of them and joked one day about me having them. A few weeks later a tank turned up with two tortoises inside. They have very individual personalities and they love to be cuddled and have a fuss.

Cards

My Aunty and I went to on a little trip yesterday to Art Base and Barleyland. I must admit I was very impressed with the stock in Art Base and the staff seem so lovely. They showed us the house that we will be making which I am looking forward to. I have never done anything like that so I am not sure how it will turn out, but hey you have to try these things.

Then we went to Barleyland. I love it there, plenty of fresh air and people who are friendly, because lets face it all the staff are there because it is their hobby to. We had to go to pick up a cute little stuffed dog for Kirstin which Russell thinks is his. Then it was to the first port of call .... Pinnacles. Now recently I had seen a card design that I really loved but I could never see the items to make it. By the counter is a what I call the 'bargain bin' and ......... two yes that's right two packs were in it with all the kit to make my cards :-D

Sadly though the stock to make all the Christmas products was mostly still upstairs. There was a selection out already but not of the items I wanted, typical.

We had also been to the Farmers Market and tried everything and anything as well as sniffed jar after jar. So when I came back I had a few bags of goodies to play with. Typical me, I know there are items that I need to finish but I was straight into the card pack and within a short period two cards were made.

My Aunty picked me up a multi purpose heat gun so I shall be trying to make some Christmas candles in the near future. Though to be fair why on earth my Aunty thinks I am safe with something like this I will never know.

Now to what is becoming a slight obsession of mine. I have returned to my love of all things smelly (nice smelly of course). So I am building a collection of smelly bath bombs from Barleyland (where else) and creating a collection of candles. When I was at uni we were banned from having candles, which I can understand as one student set their flat on fire with a chip pan. I remember it well as I was still in the building at the time, who knew that you would have a real fire on the same day as a fire drill and people still didn't know what to do! I did .... relax by the window and perv at the hunky fireman below!

Well I shall hopefully be able to add pictures of my cards ... keep your fingers crossed

Another day another pile of boxes ......

After the wedding I planned on being extremely well organized and have all of my stuff packed and ready for Dan to finish his course. It seemed such a good idea at the time. I dismantled my chest of drawers and packed away all of the clothes I did not need, then I lost half of my room to the depressing sight of brown boxes! Though the end is in sight, hopefully we only have to wait until next month before we are given our quarter.

I really hope that we get our posting in York, it would be good for us to start a new chapter in our lives and get rid of some very bad eggs that we have sadly collected along the way.

I am also excited about my new role as an Aunty with Kirstin's third birthday next month. I finally have an excuse to go back to children's shops and play with all of the toys (they have to be tested to see if they are suitable). Kirstin is learning to say 'I luff Aunty Kwisty' which I find very cute and Ethan is more interested in his helicopters lol

Well I most go back to the joyful chore of packing some more boxes before the dog wakes up and tries to pack himself!

My latest project ....

My Aunty has been taking me to Barleyland and on one of our many trips she found some lovely wedding velum. When we are together we are often talking about possible craft ideas so an idea came into my head about making an album with the velum. Here is the front cover, it is not finished yet but I am not sure what else to do to it other than a quick tidy of the organza ribbon. I am sure I will think of something soon enough.

Photos

I have a thing about taking photographs. I have never been very good at it but I have always loved to capture everything that I see in a photo. I have been known to take hundreds of photos just on a day out. Here is the latest of those happy snapping moments

Some of the Thank You cards

Please excuse my photography but here are the thank you cards that I am making.

Some of the photos I have taken