Pukka....

Hmmm maybe no pics of the Ghost Walk in York as the camera I borrowed from the media department at work doesn't do so well in the dark. Exciting news though...a digital SLR is winging its way to me this week, after an ebay bid off! Yay! So another indulgence of mine in the hols has been this programme... So today I made squash and spinach risotto (not my actual pic -thanks google!) using the new tips I got from watching Jamie make his mushroon risotto. It was my most delicious risotto yet - and it is one of my speciality dishes. Instead of just oinion I used garlic and ginger as well. I added the stock directly to the risotto instead of making up the stock in the measuring jug first. Then the special touch - you take it off the heat, add more hot water as it should be like a wave with still some liquid, then I added butter and lots of parmesan. It was really ouzy, creamy and delish. So have a go!

Then he also features a quick and easy banoffi pie which Arne had a go at making, but I didn't like it with the shop brought flan base - it didn't taste right. So we had friends over for dinner last night and I made banoffi pie in a wine glass. I started off with two ginger nuts blitzed with a bit of butter, then dulche lech from a can (none of the boiling for three hours like I used to) then slices of banana, then two bananas blitzed with double cream and whipped. Then some chocolate grated on the top.

It took literally ten mins and tasted soooo good.

So there you go some good back to school meal ideas...and you all thought all I could do was scrap and bake....

Coming soon - pumpkin cupcakes which were a raving success and my best cupcakes yet!

Got the blazing blues...

I was fed up yesterday after a WHOLE day of marking books and grading assessments - yawn...marking is definately the most boring part of teaching. Plus its meant to be the holidays, right? So we wanted to do something fun last night as I had been stuck inside all day. Arne did a bit of googling and found this... On at the Alambra in Bradford a street dance sensation performing for an hour and a half on stage. It was amazing! The lighting and music was so effective and the routines were funny and fast paced, with funky costumes. Loved it! I have also snatched a few minutes to finish two pages I have been working on. First up is the page from the last Iron Cupcake I took part in. I came third overall, but was dissapointed as the pictures I took on my phone came out pixilated - hey ho! I used the actual sign I made for the contest and cut some cute monsters out my cardstock. The second layout is quite a simple one of some of the guests at my recent birthday do. I was using a sketchy thursday's sketch, but ended up missing the deadline on that one. Still a great sketch which helped me fit loads of pics on the layout. Check out my new heart buttons I got for my brithday from my sister -thanks Mara!

Any halloween plans then? We are off for the ghost tour in York....pics to follow soon...

Aye it was a pure dead brilliant mini break...

So returned earlier from a brilliant little mini break in Glasgow. We always like to get away for a few days and chill out whilst exploring somewhere new and so headed for Scotland. We have tried country breaks, but seem to much prefer the city breaks. So where does every good city break start...? Cake of course. This parsnip and vanilla cake was divine and I am now devising some cupcakes from it - watch this space! The science museum was a big hit with us. It was full of kids, but then I always say if you can't beat em join em!! So here we are playing with the exhibits- it is a really interactive museum and I would highly recommend a visit.

The wheels on the bus...

Floating heads...all a trick with mirrors...

In our geeky hats at the museum....

My feet were killed and so we chilled out on the tour bus for a while and saw some interesting parts of Glasgow.

This was our hotel on the left. A great location and top rate facilities. We don't have cable or sky at home so always enjoy this luxury when away. We watched some old skool movies like Ten Things I Hate About You (still love it even tho I know every word!) and Dangerous Minds.

Arne was being camera shy and so here is a rare photo....which I tricked him with! I was soooo excited to find a South Indian restaurant as ever since a girly break in Notts I was desperate to try it again. It's really light, fruity and has lots of veggie dishes.

Me with my huge dopza. A rice pancake filled with curried potatoes and peas. Delish!

So there we go more scrap fodder. We also had a big shopping spree in Primark and now both have snuggly Christmasy jumpers for the winter months. I am wearing mine now and will post a pic of it soon - it is just too cute for words and so snuggly! Yum! Holidays are coming....

Winner....finally!

So I am a winner on so many levels... 1) It's half term. A week off from the kids, definately not a week off from marking though. I have piles and piles to do. Groan! 2) I am off on am mini break Sunday night to Glasgow with my lovely hubby. We always love getting away and find we actually spend time with each other. Unlike when we are at home and have so many distractions. 3) Because I finally won a challenge. I was getting a bit down about my scrapping and blogging recently and feeling like it was all for nothing and I didn't have as many comments anymore and i had still never won a challenge...boo hoo hoo! So thanks Mission to Create for restoring my faith in my scrapping. I know it is a bit melodramatic cos only four people entered, but still.... So hope your all having a lucky Friday too!

The one with the snickerdoodles...

So I finally found a bit of time to post some of the things I have been doing lately. Here are two pages I have been working on over the last few weeks. The first is pics of my sister and I in our gym gear. She is a complete gym buddy, but I am a bit lazier and was only in shape here as it is just before the wedding. I wish I was still this shape!! I plan to add some journalling to it later.

This second layout was inspired by Laura's title on her page. I had this pic of our rings and hasn't scrapped it - so felt it was time to do so. It came together well and I like the colour combo and use of paint and little letter stickers - cute!

So I was in need of a sugar rush as I am SERIOUSLY lacking energy this week. I can defo tell half term is just round the corner - this has been an intense half term with lots of difficult classes and heaps of marking and report writing to tip you over the edge.

I found this really easy recipe for snickerdoodle muffins packed with sugary, cinamony (sp??) goodness!! Don't you just love the cute little cases. My mom got them for me at Morrissons. I took a batch of these home with me at the weekend and they didn't last long.

We also saw Annie the musical on the Friday night and it was soooo amazing - I had to resist singing along to every song. It's such a fab story! The acting was top notch too, especially Sue Pollard as Miss Hannigan!

I am excited as we have just booked a little mini break to Glagow next week. Yay!

What are you guys excited about?

Sunshine...on a rainy day!

Get yourself over to scrapping the poetry to see the fab creations inspired by Emily Dickenson's poem. Here is my take on the challenge - so take part, there is a great prize up for grabs. This weekend I have mainly been: Obsessing over the X-Factor. Especially Matt Cardle's amazing performance - I have backed him from the start. How about yourselves?

Painting on pages...

So I have been getting messy and having fun with the paints. This layout is a few snaps I took with my new instax mini camera on my birthday. I love this AC hearts paper which is embossed and has sparkles in it too - v.pretty! The cupcake embellie was on my mom's pressie for me. Quite a plain layout for me. I thought it needed a border and added some hot pink paint -I am not convinced by the colour combo, I should have mixed the pink with some white paint to make it a bit more subtle. Next a very different layout for me. A pic of *most* of my family on Christmas day in the snow - yay! I thought the stripes contrasted well with the checks and then stapled a whole variety of ribbons onto the pic. My title is masked and then coloured in to make it stand out - I like the contrast with the red, glittery thickers.

I have a feeling this week is going to d-r-a-g. Last week flew by as it was my birthday and every day there was new surprise or something to look forward to. I am going to see my parents this weekend - I am super excitied as haven't seen them for literally months. Not even the whole six weeks holidays. They are feeling very neglected. Mom has mentioned the possibilty of watching Annie at the theatre is Shrewsbury friday night too - how exciting!

What are your plans for the weekend? Come on lurkers - reveal yourselves....

Come dine with me...

The hubster outdid himself this year - he organised a "surprise" birthday dinner party for me. He spent all Friday night and Saturday slaving over the oven preparing a delicious feast/ Starter: Spicy pumpkin soup Main: A whole variety of pasta and sauces like bolognase, spinach and walnut, lemon and roasted pumpkin Desert: Lemon roulade and ben and jerry's half baked My mom always got us fancy candles for our birthdays and without knowing this, this was my candle: Explosive hey?! Here is the spread:

A not very flattering pic of the two of us - sadly the only one we have. With my huge box of choccies from Thorntons (guess the diet starts tomorrow hey?!)

These cupcakes were a surprise pressy from my sister Gem's who is currently living it up in Turks and Caicos Island, but arranged to have these baked by a lady in Harrogate. How cool is the swirly icing - I can only dream of being able to pipe like that!

All in all a fabby birthday weekend. Some scrapping to show soon of pics from my actual birthday - so check back soon!

Rocking the weekend...

So Wednesday was my birthday and I was really spoilt. I will post the piccies of all my lovely pressies a little later. It's been a right week and so I am now gorging on my birthday chocs and watching How to Lose a guy in Ten Days - a real classic! I think Kate Hudson is a great comedy actress. I realised I hadn't posted my page for this weeks STP challenge. Skip on over to their blog as it is the anniversary and there is a yummy sketch to use and a poem with lots of possibilities. The poem is all about our strength and mine is my family. This picture is from our wedding day and is just my family - who did most of the planning and organising. I chose bright and funky cardstock to make the photo pop. My funky new fonts are from TK Maxx - a real bargain.

Have fun with the sketch and let me see what you created. Pop by later to see my lovely birthday pressies...including lots of cupcake stash!

Scraption time!!

So I was on a roll last weekend and have been v.busy all week and not managed to actually photograph them. My best scrap time is now Saturday night whilst MOTD is on. This page is a scraplift from this fab lady's blog...I picked an old photo as the style of the page is quite vintagey. I clashed more than I normally would, but as I was scraplifting I just went for it. The journalling reads: They dropped me on my head, slobbered on me and hugged me. Sisters! I completed this layout of one of our holiday pics of Malta using the challenge on Mission to Create. You had to include these concepts:- Deborah: Sheet Music - I put a strip in Jocie: Decorative Scissors or Edge Punch - my Martha Stewart butterfly punch Nicole: Shiny Things - glitter glue and a button Vanessa: Rub On Alpha's - the Lazy days title Leeann: At least 3 funky bright Cardstocks - the photo doesn't show it well, but I used orange, yellow, green and turquoise

Lastly, my fav of the three layouts, the lads at our wedding. I have had this page in various stages throughout the month and then ran out of glue and had to wait for the glimmer mist to dry. I wanted to include lots of layers and embellies. I did an acrylic paint edged border which makes it pop. I gutted the cardstock so that I could use it to border the picture. I even used a peg to attach some of the embellies to the layout. The mates title was stamped in acrylic paint too.

Well it is tipping it down with rain and we are off to Pizza Express in Leeds on a works night out - it should be fun but I am feeling quite shattered so hope I will be good company. Our work nights out are usually a really good laugh with lots of gossip shared and funny stories.

What are your plans...?

Thanks for stopping by. x