Wednesday 28 May 2008

Can we fix it?


We went to the Discovery Science Center, they had a Bob the Builder exhibition which went down really well with Bailey. Today we are visiting the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.

We'll be home in a couple of days, doesn't time fly when you are having fun.

Saturday 24 May 2008

Day at Knotts Berry Farm





We spent the day at Knotts Berry Farm, this was the first year that Bailey could go on lots of the rides in Camp Snoopy. As per previous years we hardly got to leave the Camp Snoopy area of the park. For Bailey is was the first time on most of the rides and you can see from the first photo he is not entirely sure what to make of some of them.

He loved the characters and even went up on stage with Charlie Brown (Annabel was too scared to put her hand up), although Bailey did not smile and wave like the other kids on stage when it came to leave the stage he had to be gently persuaded.

As you can see from the third photo he loved the car ride, he also loved the truck ride and the final photo is his face when the ride finished and he had to get off.

It was a fairly cool day, so I managed not to get sunburnt again, at 5pm the skies suddenly opened and we had a huge thunderstorm so we took refuge in the nearby Claim Jumpers restaurant for dinner and to avoid the rush hour traffic before the journey home.

Friday 23 May 2008

The Grunion Run



Most people haven't heard of Grunion, I know I hadn't until 3 years ago when JudiKins took us on our first Grunion run. We decided to go again this year. We all met up at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium which has 2 beaches frequented by the Grunion. Grunion are a small fish that come up to the beach to lay eggs during high tide after the new moon. We spent an hour or so exploring the museum before we were called to the beach to see the Grunion in action.

When you see the movie of previous grunion runs there are thousands of Grunion on the beach, they are about 8" long. We have to stand back from the sea and be very quiet, not move and turn off our torches. The Grunion send scouts onto the beach to make sure it is clear before they all descend on the sand, so if you are too noisy or have lights on they will not come.

We stood on the beach for what felt like ages, it was a breezy and cool evening. In the photo you can see Judi wrapped in a blanket to keep warm. Eventually the Grunion appeared, but like the previous time there were only a couple of hundred - it is still an impressive sight. By the time we were allowed to take photos there weren't many left on the beach. We left the beach around 11.30pm.

Wednesday 21 May 2008

Sea World



We spent Monday at Sea World in San Diego. It wasn't too hot until we sat down to watch the shows, then I could feel the sun burning my skin. We were all wearing factor 50 sunscreen but I still managed to get a little sunburn.

In the photos you can see Annabel and Martin enjoying the 'Journey to Atlantis' ride. They went on twice and got absolutely soaked.

We are spending today with our friends at JudiKins.

Monday 19 May 2008

Sunday 18 May 2008

Saturday 17 May 2008

Friday 16 May 2008

Vacation


I am currently on holiday with my family in California. We arrived yesterday evening and as you can see from the photo we have wonderful sunshine, currently it is around 90 degrees which is a little too hot for me but I won't complain just yet.

I have scheduled the rest of the design team artwork to appear here over the next few days and on Saturday morning at 10am you can watch the show on Create & Craft.

Please post comments here on what you think about the show, are there enough demos or do you prefer when we do more? Or is it the artwork that you prefer to see? Please let us know what you think so we can improve on future shows.

Dot Clark - Pirates


Artwork by Dot Clark for the Pirates & Princesses TV show.

Wednesday 14 May 2008

Deborah Molwuka Pirates


Artwork by Deborah Molwuka using the Sea Dog alphabet and some of the pirate stamps.

Tuesday 13 May 2008

Gillian Fitzmaurice - Princesses


Artwork by Gillian Fitzmaurice using the Princess stamps for the Pirates & Princess show.

Monday 12 May 2008

Michele Rodgers - Pirates


Artwork by Michele Rodgers for the Pirates & the Princesses TV show on Create & Craft.

Sunday 11 May 2008

Filming Pirates & Princesses




We filmed Pirates & Princesses this morning, we had to be at the studio at 8am, which doesn't sound too bad until you work out that we had to get up at 6am (on a Sunday). After setting up we had to wait around for a while but then filming went smoothly and without interruptions , even though I was not able to complete my last card.
Above is a photo of the set, it was divided in half, one for pirates and one for princesses. The other photos are of our presenter Dennice and a Flat Book Frame Box that Vicky decorated for Dennice's daughter who loves purple (she has good taste).

The design team have done a fabulous job with the artwork and I will endeavour to post up their work for you over the next week. Alternatively you can see some of it on the DT members blogs. The new show is going on Create & Craft on Saturday morning - I hope you enjoy it.

Pirate & Princess Layouts





These layouts were created for the Pirates and Princesses show using lots of stamps. The Bailey pirate layout also includes a pirate ship rub-on from Hambly.

Thursday 8 May 2008

Inchies



Have you seen Inchies? The mini 1" version of ATCs. You can create and swap them in their own right or you can create cards and artwork using a selection of Inchies. This is 2 samples by Lesley who will be teaching this technique in her Mini's class next week.

Wednesday 7 May 2008

Delivery Day


We had a delivery today, these are the new flowers that arrived from Petaloo. It is unlikely they will make it onto the website as they usually sell out before I chance to put them online. So if you see something you like you best call us or drop in the store. Also in the delivery we received lots of Hambly rub-ons which are on our website. Some of the Bazzill Stitchz templates and threads were in the same delivery, we will endeavour to get these up on line this week.




These are the new tote bags from PI. The wheeled tote is the largest one we have seen and as you can see from the photo has lots of storage inside. The pull out trays would be ideal for stamps and inkpads. The small tote is £35 and the large (which has 4 wheels) is £120. We are offering an introductory special price - buy both bags for only £130 - Saving a whopping £25.

Sunday 4 May 2008

Wedding



We spent yesterday at a friends wedding. It was a church wedding and I haven't been to a church wedding in over 20 years, this was the first time that I was old enough to understand what was going on during the ceremony. Annabel was soooo excited as she has never been to a wedding. The whole time she kept tugging on my arm so she could give me a running commentary on the brides movements.
Annabel and Bailey were very well behaved and everbody loved Bailey's shirt (it had the tie painted on).
The weather held out for us and it was beautifully sunny until we went inside for dinner, apparently then the skies opened and it poured with rain.

On all the tables we had disposable cameras to use but also there were cards for a website where we could all upload our photos for the happy couple to choose their favourites and make in to an online album for us all to view. I thought this was a great idea that would have been brilliant when I got married, but no one had digital cameras then! I've already uploaded some of my photos (only 32 of the 124 that I took), a lot of my photos are of my children and I'm sure they don't want all of them.

Looking out the window now it is an overcast day but dry. Fingers crossed it stays dry so we can enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Thursday 1 May 2008

Pirate Book


Vicky and I made this last night for our new TV show - Pirates & Princesses. We used the Flop Book from the Lippy Chick range of books.
We are filming the show next weekend and it should go on air 17th May.

I might put up some more sneaky peaks later in the week.