Today's blog post is brought to you...................

............. by the letters I, O, E and Y


I'm catching up with the final few letters on SuzyB's challenges over on HerSpace:MySpace.


First is 'I'


This is another shot taken on my birthday trip to Morecambe. It's the magpie hopscotch game on the stone jetty. I was hoping 'I' would be one of the letters Suzy picked when I saw the shot. I've tweaked it a bit in photoshop Kirsty Wiseman stylie using one of the tutorials from her Zyuz It Up Elements pack (buy it here).

Next is 'O'

I took this shot this morning, after I decided I didn't really like my original 'O' shot.

Now 'E'


I really struggled with this one. In the end I opted for a shot of the corner of a photo frame which has our wedding picture in it. I'm not really sure how obvious the 'E' is though.

And finally 'Y'

The stem of one of my orchids obliged for this one:

I'm off now to try and find someone or something for SPS. But finally in honour of the post title, a little pic not taken by me.

Cheers

Ruthie x

Feeling Retro

Well here's a shock, two posts in a day. It is nothing to do with the fact that it's a bank holiday and the weather is rubbish ;) I've even made a card and therefore I can now confirm that my Cuttlebug survived having rubber stamps shoved in it (see last post).

I got some Hobbycraft vouchers for my birthday (from my Sis) and this is the stash I got with them yesterday. I'm feeling kind of retro at the moment and for me that means felt as it reminds me of art lessons at primary school. So in amongst the Hobbycraft haul were quite a few sheets of felt to co-ordinate with the fab retroish K and Co papers.

I decided to get stuck into my stash today and make a thank you card for my Sis, so she can see I actually use stuff she pays for :). For inspiration I popped over to Daring Card Makers and picked up this week's dare set by Tanya:

OK, this week it's Tanya's turn to set the dare and this time it's a dare with a POINT! A nice sharp point, at that!This Way!I want to see arrows on your cards - whether big, small, staright, curly, lots or just one arrow

This is the finished card with just the one arrow;

Ingredients:

K&CO Papers, Felt and Cuttlebug Bloom Dots embossing folder (from Hobbycraft purchases)

Buttons

Flowers cut using Sizzix and Cuttlebug dies

Inking

Faux stitching

Hand cut arrow

Dymo tape for greeting

Cheers

Ruthie

A W in my space and SOS

Hello

Well it's a bank holiday so I've got time to play along with some more challenges on HS:MS.

Suzy is continuing with her alphabet challenge. Today it's W and I was inspired while playing with my cuttlebug:

I've probably broken it now as I had to wedge the plaforms open with a couple of rubber stamps!

Yesterday was Show Off Sunday. I really like the pic I took on Friday of the Midland Hotel but decided I wanted to play with it a bit in photoshop. This is the result and I',m showing it off (albeit a day late).

Cheers

Ruthie x

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside and SPS!

Blogging twice in a week, it's a miracle.

Yesterday was my birthday and as it was quite a nice day I decided a wanted to spend it in Morecambe. You may think it's a strange place to choose to go but I love it. I spent many happy hours as a kid on the Pleasure Beach (later Frontierland) and at the open air swimming baths. So after opening cards and pressies me and OH braved the bank holiday weekend traffic and set out for the seaside. As you can imagine the M6 north on Friday lunchtime = not good! We only live 30 miles from Morecambe but it took us an hour and a half to get there.

First stop of my birthday tour was the newly restored and reopened Midland Hotel. I've always loved the Midland so was very excited to see it open again. Of course the camera was poised and ready for action. Here are some of the shots I took from outside. While we were mooching round the front of the hotel I noticed a rather fancy looking plane fly overhead and bank round over the sea. OH nearly wet himself with excitement and informed me it's the last surviving Vulcan bomber. Anyway I managed to get a pic of it flying over the end of the hotel.

Once OH had recovered from the excitement we had a walk down the stone jetty and took in some of the bracing sea air and then headed for lunch (a nice brew and a toasted teacake) at the best cafe in the world - Bruciani's.

The cafe opened in 1936 and is now a Grade 2 listed building. If you are in Morecambe it really is the best place for a brew.

Desert was a '9'9 purchased from Mr Bruciani (pistachio flavour) and was consumed walking along the front. This is where a managed to capture my entry for this week's 'Someone Else's Portrait Saturday' on HerSpace:MySpace. So here it is, my portraits of Eric Morecambe :) (I know it's a bit of a cheat).

After ice creams and Eric we had a wander down the front and watched some very brave people going for a dip in the sea.

We then headed back up the prom and before heading home we decided to go in the Midland for a brew and a look round inside. Of course I took pics too.

I have to say I was slightly disappointed with the inside of the hotel. The foyer, stairwell and mosaic have been restored beautifully, but the developers seem to have gone for a very modern boutique style overall. I was expecting a bit more deco glam.

Anyway we had a nice brew overlooking the bay (even if my teapot was chipped and the floor was dirty - come on Midland get your act together you are supposed to be a top end 4* hotel!) **end of Trip Advisor style rant**

And finally some of my favourite photos from the day, which I like to call 'Faded Seaside Glamour' These were taken just outside the Midland. (Not quite what your average posh hotel guest is expecting to see on their doorstep, but I love it)

I ended my birthday with a meal at a lovely local restaurant and then watched Dirty Dancing and drank pink champagne. Being 35 isn't that bad after all!

Back Again with an 'S' in my (temporary) Space

Well here I am again. Just a flying visit to upload a pic I've taken for today's HerSpace:MySpace prompt. SuzyB has challenged us to find 'S' in our space. This weekend Madrid was temporarily my 'space' (totally fab city break) and I've been downloading the pics I've taken. I think this one fits Suzy's challenge although not sure how obvious the two 'S' are to anyone else.

The pic was taken yesterday morning in Retiro park, which is stunning.

Here's another pic from the other side of the lake. Apparently the building was modelled on Crystal Palace. I did remark to OH that it doesn't look much like a football team to me. (He did know I was joking btw!)

It's been a while since I blogged and I've just read back my last posting. I was obviously under a lot of house moving stress as some of it doesn't even make sense! We finally moved into our fab new home at the end of May.

I now have a craft room all to myself which is not shared with guitars, computers, an ironing board and a vacuum cleaner. I vowed when I moved in to keep it neat and tidy. That little idea lasted about a month and it's now a complete tip. It has been put to good use though and I've got some of my crafty mojo back. I have some pics of recent cards which I will share later, along with some highlights of Madrid.

Have to go and empty the washing machine now. Oh for self cleaning and ironing clothes!

Cheers

Ruthie