Just the one

Isn't acetate hard to photograph? I'm getting my excuse for the rubbish pictures out of the way NOW!!! I soon won't have that excuse as I've just won a gorgeous new DSLR camera and once I've got a memory card for it and learned how to use it,  I'm hoping my photos will improve a lot.

One of the hardest aspects of cardmaking is thinking of cards for men, and I often turn to the Katy Sue designs CD "The Wine Buffs" (unless the man in question is a teetotaller!)

I've used this wine-label style image on a green DL card which I covered in acetate to give the suggestion of a wine bottle. You may not be able to make out the text clearly - it says

"So you put your good health down to one glass of wine a day?"
"Yep"

Oh goodness, I'm even more embarrassed by that photo now I've uploaded it! The reflection from the flash on the acetate has thrown everything else into chaos. Wish me luck with the new camera!

Anyway, you'll have to trust me that the card looks much better than the picture of it. And I'm joining in with

CASology week 89 - Joke

Make My Monday  One for the Boys

Turtle Dreaming

This week at Pinspirational Challenges we've been given this gorgeous turtle photo to interpret.

Now I usually need to mull over the weekly photos long and hard (all too often for so long that the challenge is over before I've decided what to make) but this week I immediately thought of one of my favourite rubber stamps, this turtle, part of a set of Australian Aboriginal design stamps that my friend Rosemary got hold of for me when she lived in Australia some years ago. I coloured the image in with gel pens to give it a slightly lacquered appearance, as if the turtle was wet from the sea.

Another stamp in the set is a circular one, with a spear-and-boomerang motif, and I used this to stamp a Versamark background on a Kraft card blank.

Next I brayered shades of blue ink onto white card and made dotted bands to give it a watery effect and echo the bands of coloured dots used in Aboriginal art. I alternated with a clear and a white gel pen, but unfortunately the white wasn't really man enough for the job so only the clear one shows up on the photo. I've added a second photo taken at an angle to try to show the dots a bit better.

CD Sunday - Sketch

This week at CD Sunday it's a sketch challenge. Here is the sketch

And here is my interpretation of it

The image, greetings and the border which I've topped the central punched border with are all from one sheet from the Debbie Moore Art Deco Rome CD. The punched border itself looks black, but is actually a very highly metallic gold.

Postcard from the Ocean

On this card I've used one of my favourite sets of stamps, a set of old travel poster designs from the late Tamba stamps. I combined them with other stamps to create a postcard - using a bit of artistic license as a real postcard would be flat so as not to get caught up in the Post Office sorting machinery, but I've raised the poster images to give them some dimension. The background paper, also cruise themed, has been in my stash for years. I can't remember where it came from - maybe a RAK or a craft club freebie?

I've got lots of cruise-moving friends and this would make the ideal card for one of them.

This is my second entry to the current Craft Room Challenge of Transport  and because I'm in Britain where the word "holiday" means what most other people call "vacation", I'm also entering the Holiday challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More. Finally, because I've not joined in for ages and this week it's an Anything Goes week, I'm also joining in with Pinspirational Challenges.

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round

.... round and round, round and round, the wheels on the bus go round and round, all day long.

If you are a parent or grandparent of an under-five, I suspect that song will be lodged in your brain for the rest of the day now. (Sorry!)

I used the lovely Routemaster bus die out of the Docrafts London Skyline die set to cut a bus to illustrate the song, and printed the lyrics out from the computer, to make this simple, fun card. I've kept it very simple and free of embellishments, to make it safe for small hands as well as striking in its simplicity.

I'm playing along with:

Less is More Lucky Dip week 165 - Round and Round
Craft Room Challenge - Transport
Addicted to CAS #35 - Wheels  
Alphabet Challenge - D for Diecuts

The streets of London

I love the London skyline die set from Docrafts - I wish they would make them for other famous cities! This time I've made them into a pop-out card - it folds flat for posting but all the layers are hinged to each other to make it stand up. It took me a while to get the engineering right!

However I was just lucky with the angle of the light falling on it - it's made it look as if I've hidden a light source between the layers. And maybe next time I'll try to work out a way of doing exactly that (maybe a mini torch? Or a light from a construction kit? )

I'm joining in with d for Diecuts at the Alphabet Challenge blog

Mercimek koftesi (red lentil balls)

A few years ago, I won a holiday to the beautiful hotel Bordubet in Turkey.

I went with a friend, and enjoyed it so much that I've been back with my husband, twice. One aspect we love is the food, especially some of the local specialities they serve. I enjoyed one particular dish, a kids of cold lentil pattie, so much that I asked for the recipe,  but the language barrier meant I couldn't understand it when I got it!

So I was delighted to find the recipe on the Tesco Real Food website - Red Lentil Balls or Mercimek Koftesi. I bookmarked it months ago and finally got around to making them yesterday. The first thing I noticed was how incredibly easy they are to make - the reason I'd left it so long was that I thought I'd have to set aside a whole afternoon for them  - and the second was how cheap they are too. I made half the quantity given,   and I reckon it cost around £1 in total, which made a generous helping for 3 or a starter for 4-6. You may find it costs you a little more if you don't buy spices and lentils in bulk and have fresh parsley in the garden, as I do.

And the third thing I noticed? That they were absolutely delicious! Not quite as smooth textured as those I'd had in Turkey, but I presume that's because our bulghur is a coarser texture than was used in the originals, but apart from that I reckon this recipe absolutely nails it!

I'm joining in with Bookmarked Recipes over at tinned Tomatoes  and Credit Crunch Munch at Fab Food 4 All  and Fuss Free Flavours

Credit Crunch Munch  recipes is a blog hop - you can join in and see the other entries here