Try something new today ...

... for you never know what will happen tomorrow.

So today, my "something new" is to have a go at designing digi papers. I know there are so many wonderful designers out there already, but I really wanted to try my hand at this, so it gives me great pleasure to present lilac.lemon.lush a collection of 6 papers in colour co-ordinated pastel tones of ... well, lilac and lemon!!!

click here to download

As this is my first foray into designing, I'd really appreciate it if you, my lovely readers, would post a comment and leave me some feedback. I'd love to know what you think. How do the colours & patterns look to you? Does the texture show up OK? What about the download size? All thoughts, comments, suggestions and constructive criticism welcomed!!!

Here's a quick layout I created using my papers and a fabulous freebie template created by my good friend Nini (see Nini's blog for the template and other yummy freebies!)

So my dear friends, what will your "something new" be today? Please do tell!

Friends deserve flowers ...

... don't you think? I'm meeting up with a couple of girl friends tomorrow lunchtime and I'm really looking forward to it ... I haven't see these girls for months! I wanted to make something for them and came up with this sweet idea ...

They're so easy to make, here's a quick guide as to how I did it:

1) take a bunch of your favourite flowers and trim the stems so they're the same length

2) pop the flowers into a cellophane bag and add a small amount of water to act as a reservoir, secure using a rubber band

3) grab some cardstock & patterned paper and make an outer wrapper wide enough to go all the way around the bunch

4) secure the outer wrapper with pretty ribbon tied in a bow

5) present to friends and watch them smile!!!

I'd love to know what you think, so feel free to leave a comment and of course if you try making these yourself, I'd love the see the result!!!

I'm happy because ...

... it's Friday! Reason enough for some people, but I have another reason too.

Remember my oven door debacle? Well, the sealant arrived last week and I spent last Sunday (yes Valentine's day!!!) repairing the door, and whilst it may not be the straightest / cleanest line, it's done the job a treat ...


What better way to celebrate the return to use of my oven, than to mix up a batch of cupcakes ...

Carrot & orange with mascarpone topping to be exact! Yummy ...

Have a great weekend everyone and I hope the sun shines in your part of the world!!!

Shrove Tuesday means ...

... pancakes!!! I usually refer to Shrove Tuesday as Pancake Day and it's traditional [in my house anyway] to make homemade pancakes, why we don't make these delicious treats more regularly, I really don't know ... they are so yummy and sooooooooo easy to make. The recipe I follow is super quick & simple:

4oz plain flour
1 egg
1/2 pint milk
Pinch of salt

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl, add the egg and a little of the milk and mix together to form a sticky paste, then slowly add the remainder of the milk and whisk to form a smooth batter. Add the pinch of salt, then put the batter mix into the fridge to chill (I usually leave it for at least a couple of hours).

When you're ready to start cooking, pour a little oil into a frying pan and turn the heat up high. Then carefully spoon the batter mix into the pan, swirling it around to get an even coating. After a few moments, the edges of the batter mix will start to lift slightly and the pancake should slide easily in the pan. Now for the really fun bit ...

Grab the pan (preferably with both hands!) and give a swift flick of your wrist ...

And toss the pancake ...

And flip it ... (poking your tongue out is optional!)

Smile for the camera ...

Slide the cooked & flipped pancake onto a waiting warmed plate ...

And smother with the topping of your choice (my preference is for Golden Syrup + dusting of icing sugar, but a squeeze of lemon is tasty too) ...

Enjoy!!!

Recent creations ...

... I've just realised that I haven't actually posted any of my recent layouts here (how very remiss of me!), so I thought I'd better put that right. Here you go.

These first two were created using Leiko's yummy latest kit called Coffee & Epicurea

click here for credits
click here for credits

This next one is for the CopyCat Challenge over at the "O". Wendy's created a fabulous template this month and I just had to play ...

click here for credits

And finally ... "love is in the air, everywhere you look around. Love is in the air, every sight & every sound" ... I make no apology if you now hum this tune all day (I have been!), so here's a layout created specifically with Valentine's Day in mind ...

click here for credits

So that's me up-to-date ... what have you been up to?

The good ...

... Lost (Season 6) started here in the UK on Sky 1 last night!!! I've Sky+'d the first two episodes and I'm gonna grab myself a cuppa and settle in for an afternoon of swooning over Jack and Sawyer!!!

The bad ...
OK, so I don't have a photo to represent my "bad" ... but trust me when I say it's really bad! Yesterday, when I was cleaning my oven(!), the inner glass door fell out ... eeeek!!! Thankfully it didn't break, but it does mean that I now can't use my oven. No baking ... ergo no cupcakes! No roasting ... ergo no Sunday lunch!

I really can't afford to buy a new oven at the moment, so a quick search of Google and I found a product that's specifically designed to enable you to replace / reseal the glass in oven doors. Who'd have thought there was such a thing??? Needless to say, my order has been placed and I'm just waiting for the sealant to arrive ... unfortunately it won't be here in time for this Sunday's roast, so the leg of lamb is in the deep-freeze for another day.

And finally, the ugly ...
And it really doesn't get more ugly than this charmingly named "Blobfish" ... and even though this is undoubtedly ugly, it made me smile.

Have a great weekend, whatever you've got planned.

Mmmm, wake up ...

... and smell the coffee or if you're a tea drinker (like me) then pop the kettle on for a fresh brew ... Leiko Beck's releasing her new kit on 4th February. Yippee!

Want a sneaky peek? Of course you do ...


Want to get a 20% discount off this new kit too? Of course you do ... so head on over to Leiko's blog for further details.

Happy Monday everyone!!!