Trying out new stamps

Had a very busy weekend , and havent had a great deal of time to do very much crafting. I made alot of background cards on saturday night and today ive been trying out a couple of stamps that i had bought and hadnt had the chance to play with. Im pleased with them and im looking forward to experimenting with them on different backgrounds.

Meet Cobbles................

When I was the Deputy Theatre Manager at the Customs House I wanted to try and develop the audience, of our younger visitors. I asked my boss Ray if it would be possible to have some money to create a mascot for the Customs House. My plans went before the Board and were granted. This is the result and heres the story I wrote to launch my Teddy Bear..............


Recently a DFDS ferry ship came into the river Tyne.
Helping out on board this ferry ship was a large brown bear.
Once the ferry ship had docked the bear decided to take a look around the town of South Shields.

Taking his kit bag with his belonging's he left his ferry ship and headed towards the town. His friends on board the ferry had told him to go to see the Town Hall and visit the market place, maybe he could stop off at McDonalds for his lunch.

He was impressed with the sights of South Shields, the Town Hall was very big with lots of people going in and out. Everyone was friendly towards him; children waved as he walked down King Street towards the familiar McDonalds sign that everyone knows. He bought his lunch, which he put inside his kit bag and headed towards the water and his ferry.

The market place was very busy, people rushing all over, buying fruit and vegetables , clothes, shoes and toys.
He sat at the market place watching the people; they were all buying their shopping and chatting to each other as they walked around. It was a lovely sunny day and he didnt notice that he had spent more time looking around than he should have done.
Realising that he needed to get back to the ferry he picked up his kit bag and headed towards the quay.

On arriving at the quayside he became very worried when he saw that his ferry wasnt there ! He looked around to see if he had taken the wrong road and maybe he had returned to the wrong part of the quay, but he hadnt. As he looked out to sea he was shocked to see the ferry sailing away without him.

What could he do now? All of his friends were on that ferry, his bed was on the ferry, all of his clothes too. All he had with him were a few belongings in his kit bag. He opened his kit bag and took out a large white handkerchief. Big tears rolled down his cheeks, as he wiped them away he felt really lost.

He sat on the quayside and watched as the ferry got smaller and smaller, and until finally it was out of site. He blew his nose on his big white handkerchief and wondered what he should do now.
Where would he sleep? Who would be his friend? What would he do for clean clothes? Who would help him now?

He sat there for a long time, it was starting to get dark, but he couldnt move away from the quayside as he didnt have anywhere to go.
He was so cold and frightened that he didnt here the footsteps walking up behind him. A voice said "Hello, can I help you?" " Are you lost?" The bear turned around to see a policeman standing behind him. He was smiling; the bear was so pleased to see a friendly face. The bear told the policeman what had happened that day and the policeman said he knew just what to do.

The policeman took the bear to the Customs House. Here was a place where the bear could always watch the sea from the window, and he could watch for his ferry returning. He would be loved by all the staff at the Customs House, and they would look after him until his ferry returned.
Lots of people visit the Customs House, people of all ages but most importantly lots of children. The bear loved children as they always had big smiley faces, and they always waved when they saw him. There would be lots to do and see here at the Customs House.

The bear now lives there at the Customs House and he is very happy. The people who work there look after him. Maybe one day you might see him, maybe you could be his friend, I think he would like that .....don't you ?


Jaqi Wright

Im so behind!...............

Im so behind.....its ages since you all did your Fridas , and Monas, and Torso's.....I know....but....Ive just got around to doing mine, so please forgive me that I am a few stages behind , hehehe. Im trying to find my inspiration again, its been that long and Im still in scrapbooking mode, Im finding it so difficult to get where i want to be. But i have all of these lovely stamps that ive been buying over the last few weeks , I just havent used them.
So once again I apologise that these designs may be old news! I will try and catch up I promise, LOL.

Atc's from Tina

A Big Thank You to Tina, who very kindly sent me a set of Paris atcs.
They are out of this world, I knew what I was going to do with them as soon as she said she was sending them.
I was given this box frame as a birthday gift last year, I knew i wanted to make something for my dining room Paris themed but just couldnt make my mind up what to do.......So ive put Tinas atcs in the box frame and made a picture out of them. It looks great, the photo of it hanging on the wall looks a little dark, sorry but you can see the detail better in the other pictures that were taken when the light was better earlier.
So Thank you again Tina, Im over the moon with my Paris atc collection, they are wonderful.

More Torso's

I enjoyed doing these ones, This was a lovely clean image that stamped perfectly each time.
And I couldnt resist doing something Paris themed in there! Paris gets everywhere in my life, I craft in my Dining room and have pictures of Paris around me and also an Eiffel Tower on my craft table (just a little one mind! LOL)
Anyhow the top and bottom of it is that Im now hooked on Torsos , getting there with russian dolls but still to try Rosies birdies!

Torso Craze!

Again, You have all been making Torso's for a couple of weeks now! Im so behind, but nevermind I have finally made some myself.
I love these guy stamps from Scrapz.......and this one was just so much fun to work with, Bless him he made an old woman very happy! LOL

Russian Doll

Sorry that I'm way behind everyone else! But ive just lost the last couple of weeks somewhere ive had so much on........hope to get caught up now.

Art Hand

Im sorry everyone ive been so caught up doing my Disney Scrapbook i havent posted any art for ages.
I felt so guilty Ive done an art hand for Chriss's blog challenge! I promise to get back on track soon, my album is just about finished.

Book Review

I was asked to review this book for penguin, and wasnt dissapointed.
When frazzled mother of four Ashley Gates lets her best friend drag her to a meeting of the local scrapbooking club, shes amazed at the way old photos and mementoes can bring vivid colour to sepia- toned memories.
Among the surprisingly diverse group is Tara, a single grad student whose search for love, like her relationship with her absentee father, has only brought her heartache - and some funny dating stories.
Then theres Libby, a semi - retired teacher who thought she'd spend her golden years taking cooking and photography classes - not as the town pariah after her son is charged in a corporate scandal.
And as Ashley copes with a husband whose love for her fluctuates with her weight, she comes to depend more and more on her scrapbooking sisters.
Only together can they face earth shattering revelations, and emotionally unavailable men and figure out their futures, while artfully commemorating their pasts.
I couldnt put this down, I found it a very good read. I found that it flowed well and only left me wanting more.
The story covered all angles and i found that i could relate to one or two paragraghs myself. It was amazing how I knew of similar situations that related to the scrapbook family that developes at a crop.
Well worth a read, an easy book to pick up at anytime of the day, and written in such a way that you could read as little or as much at one sitting as you had time for. My only concern was the books cover, It didnt attract me to the book, I felt if it was sitting on a shelf i would pass it by as visually it wasnt attractive, Scrapbooking designs can be amazing and i think the cover of the book should have offered an image that would intrige the reader to pick up the book to find out more. Once you start reading, you wont want to stop. Watch out for a copy, and treat yourself, you wont be dissapointed. Thanks for reading this review. Jaqi

THE BIG RAFFLE

I KNOW MANY OF YOU ARE TOO FAR AWAY TO BUY ANY OF THESE RAFFLE TICKETS BUT I HAVE 2,000 TO SELL !
This is what i have been working on with my cousin Carol ( who helped with the coffee day) since the coffee day. We have been extremely busy gathering prizes and I must say we have been very lucky.
http://www.barcelo-hotels.co.uk/hotels/northern-england/barcelo-redworth-hall-hotel/
Check out the star prize........
we also have a fantastic 35 other prizes after this one!
Star Prize- 2 nights for 2 people at the luxurious Barcelo Redworth Hall in Newton Aycliffe, with dinner and full English breakfast and full use of the spa facilities
2nd prize, 15" LCD TV, with freeview
3rd prize- A Magnum of Champagne
4th prize- A Panasonic Electric Bubble Bucket
Also
· A Canvas painting by Jacquie Boyd – Bob Dylan
· A canvas painting by Jacquie Boyd – Marilyn Munroe
· A canvas painting by Jacquie Boyd – Mick Jagger
· A Liddesdale Barbour Jacket
· 4 VIP Tickets to see The Newcastle Vipers
· A set of Gents Remmington Hair Clippers
· £40 Gift Voucher for Walkeasy Chiropodist , Boldon
· £25 Hair Voucher for the Parlour, Boldon
· £25 meal Voucher for As u Like it, Pub & Grub
· £10 Co – op Voucher
· Golf Voucher for 4 people – guests of Audi at Wynyard Club (one round of golf)
· One weeks free travel on the Metro and Ferry (Pass)
· Family Ticket to see Sleeping Beauty
· Jamie Oliver hardback book
· Stadium of Light picture – signed by Niall Quinn
· SAFC – signed Football
· Bottle of Champagne 12% vol
· Bottle of Smirnoff Vodka 37.5% vol
· Sterling Silver, Necklace, Bracelet, ear-rings (gift boxed)
· Wine 1 – Chardonnay 13%
· Wine 2 – Bordeaux 13%
· Wine 3 – Merlot Rose 13%
· Wine 4 – Shiraz 14%
· Tea Set
· Disney DVD
· Cuddly Toy
· Boxed Minnie Driver designed mug
· Glass necklace 1
· Glass necklace 2
· Photo Album
· Pack of Craft items
· Hamper


36 items and maybe more by the time of the draw
Wish us luck everyone, and dont forget to check out Daniels site to see how much we have achieved in 3 months. The police benevolent fund gave us 5K to match our first 5K achieved , so now we are sitting at just under 12K. Not bad for 3 months.
And Please if you havent signed Daniels book yet please leave him a message, he would love to hear from you all.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT.

An afternoon in the Sun

Well its been sad to watch this afternoon, as Sam and Dottie relaxed in the sun and talked. I think hes going to miss her very much.
They seemed to be very quiet and I think the hours just went by too quickly.

A drive around the garden

They went for a drive around the garden......to be alone.....

Flowers , Cakes and a drive in movie !

Sam gave Dottie the most wonderful boquet of flowers as they cuddled on the conservatory windowsill, then it was time for tea and dottie gave a little smile at the chocolate cake and homemade melting moments.
This evening they are at the drive in movie......National treasure 2.
Well i suspect theres going to be tears before bedtime, but at least they have had a wonderful last day..........

Saturday 7th June

Dottie was out and about early yesterday , and she visited the SAGE at Gateshead.
The Sage Gateshead is an amazing home for live music designed by Lord Foster on a landmark waterfront site, consisting of outstanding performance spaces of acoustic excellence (Hall One and Hall Two), Northern Rock Foundation Hall for rehearsal and performance, a twenty-five room Music Education Centre, ExploreMusic (a music information resource centre run by Gateshead Libraries and Arts in the Joan and Margaret Halbert Space), The Barbour Room (a sunny entertainment room), plus four bars, The Michael Straker Café and a brasserie. You can visit the building free - up to 14 hours a day. The spectacular Concourse has river views of the Tyne and Gateshead Millennium Bridges, BALTIC and the NewcastleGateshead Quays.
Its architecture is exciting and dramatic - the first building for the performing arts designed by Norman Foster's architectural team, Foster and Partners - one of today's most admired international architectural practices.
Right next to the SAGE, she next went to the Baltic Gallery,
Housed in a landmark industrial building on the south bank of the River Tyne in Gateshead, BALTIC is the biggest gallery of its kind in the world – presenting a dynamic, diverse and international programme of contemporary visual art.
BALTIC has no permanent collection, providing instead an ever-changing calendar of exhibitions and activities that give a unique and compelling insight into contemporary artistic practice. The BALTIC programme ranges from blockbuster exhibitions to innovative new work and projects created by artists working within the local community.
BALTIC is a place where visitors can experience innovative and provocative new art, relax, have fun, learn and discover fresh ideas.
Next on the list was to walk across the Millenium Bridge and she got a fantastic view of the Newcastles Tyne Bridge from there.
The Tyne Bridge is a bridge over the River Tyne in North East England, linking Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. It was designed by the engineering firm Mott, Hay and Anderson, who later designed the Forth Road Bridge, and was built by Dorman Long and Co. of Middlesbrough. It was officially opened on 10 October 1928 by King George V. It is a fine example of a Compression arch suspended-deck bridge.

Millenium Bridge

Wow, Dottie was over whelmed with this it was huge, and she was so excited.
The Gateshead Millennium Bridge is a pedestrian and cyclist tilt bridge spanning the River Tyne in England between Gateshead on the south bank, and Newcastle upon Tyne on the north bank. The award-winning structure was conceived and designed by architects Wilkinson Eyre and structural engineers Gifford.[1]
The bridge was lifted into place in one piece by the Asian Hercules II[2], one of the world's largest floating cranes, on 20 November 2000. It was opened to the public on 17 September 2001,[3] and was dedicated by Queen Elizabeth II on 7 May 2002.[4] The bridge, which cost £22m to build, was part funded by the Millennium Commission and European Regional Development Fund. It was built by Volker Stevin[5].
Already acclaimed worldwide for its physical and aesthetic beauty, it has fast become a significant tourist attraction in its own right. The bridge was the focus of a Spencer Tunick installation on 17 July 2005.[6]
Six 450mm diameter Hydraulic rams (three on each side, each powered by a 55kW electric motor) rotate the bridge back on large bearings to allow small ships and boats (up to 25m tall) to pass underneath. The bridge takes as little as 4.5 minutes to rotate through the full 40° from closed to open, depending on wind speed. Its appearance during this manoeuvre has led to it being nicknamed the Blinking Eye Bridge[7].
The bridge has operated reliably since construction, opening to allow river traffic to pass. It also opens periodically for sightseers and for major events such as the Northumbrian Water University Boat Race and the Cutty Sark Tall Ships' Race. Its reputation was untarnished until October 2004 when the failure of a £200 circuit board prevented the bridge from opening.

Wardhadaway

Before leaving Newcastle , Dottie wanted to call into Wardhadway, Jaqis daughter in law Frances works there and Dottie wanted to visit for a quick coffee and a biscuit.
Ward Hadaway is one of the largest full service law firms in the North of England with a reputation for quality, innovation and a firmly practical approach to meeting our clients’ needs.
Established in 1988, the firm has enjoyed consistent and considerable growth and is among the top-ranked law firms in the UK, according to legal industry guide Chambers & Partners.
We operate from three offices in Newcastle and have a substantial client base of regional, national and international clients from the private and public sectors, including 23 of the largest 50 companies in the North-East.
We act for a number of high profile plcs, high growth companies, entrepreneurs and start-up businesses and advise a range of local authorities, NHS Trusts and Government agencies.
We also offer extensive personal legal advice in areas ranging from trusts and estates to family and matrimonial issues.

Emily and Joe meet Dottie

Emily and Joe were at Grani Jaqi's house today and they had a good time listening to all the stories about Dottie.


Emily would like to make a dress or some clothes for Dottie too. Joe thought the picture of Grani Jaqis sticky up hair was very funny and he thought it was the best bit.