Sunday Catch Up

I thought this week I had actually do a weekly catch-up, since that is supposed to be what Sundays are for around here XD I keep finding excuses to skive off and write about something else, when I've got every other day of the week for that ;p

So, last Monday I had some time to myself and set about with my Thai smashbook, I keep saying I'm really close to finishing, and I am! But the problem is I'm a massive procrastinator and keep putting it off to do other things. This works with pretty much all my crafts...applications...life. Ahem yeah. I'm pretty good at it! Anyway, I completed the page before this one then got onto this page, which I didn't get time to complete before I went to work. Tuesday was supposed to be a normal shift but I ended up doing a night shift too when a porter rang in sick, I intended to get loads of things done in the extra time I was going to be awake (during my breaks anyway ;p) and actually managed to do a couple too. Not bad for a 16 hour shift. I'll get to write a little more about that later though, as I want to make more of a post about it.
So Wednesday I ended up sleeping a lot, and when I did wake up I went out with Dad plant hunting XD There were a few spots in the front garden that needed a filling. I've not really been in the garden much since Dad came back, part of me feels like I've turned the garden over to him now but a major part of it is that I just haven't had the want as the weather is not very nice recently. I know it's 'wrong' but I really am a fair weather gardener :x

When I got to work I was pretty tired from the night before, but I got help to set up and then got to spend an hour or so watching an advert being made for our hotel! Our staff were the actors which is kind of strange, but not too unexpected when I think about it (cheaper to use staff XD) and everyone got overly embarrassed but seemed to be proud of their work once it was all over. I can't wait to watch the ad on our website when it's released! I got out of doing being in front of the camera because my I don't suit the company standards, even though they apparently value individuality as one of their core principles. If it didn't get me out of something I didn't want to do I'd probably be more annoyed about it XD

Thursday was my long awaited day off- after 8 days on I was more than ready for a day to do what I wanted x3 I'd had a ton of invites from friends of stuff to do and I ended up going over to Wolverhampton to visit a friend who works in a college over there. She also takes a photography course and runs a blog about her start up business, Lachaise Photography. She'd arranged for us to go check out the college darkroom and develop a film! We went for a wander up town first, looking for one thing but coming away with another as ever ;p
When we went up to the college I learnt about the different chemicals and the general process it requires to develop a film into black and white manually. Although I could imagine it would be a pain if this was the only way to develop a film, as someone who is so used to the digital age there is definitely something super cool about 'making pictures' x3 We didn't get time to print any onto paper, but we did check out the results of what we'd done with the help of some bright lights and a free negative reversal app xD It kind of made my appreciate the effort that goes into film developing and why it's so pricey in an age where it's not really needed anymore, even if it is mostly done by machine anyway.

Friday it was back to work, so after a couple of hours at home where I still felt like I was catching up on the sleep I missed out on on Tuesday, I went in to a fairly quiet shift. Face was busy all day though, making a wedding cake for his Mum's Wedding blessing the day after. I took a few progress pictures in case his Mum wanted them, as that's the kind of over infomation share I enjoy about big events XD He's never made a big iced cake before, so this brought a whole bunch of all new challenges, but he had big ideas and was determined to carry them off, and I think he really managed to pull it off...

So Saturday was Face's Mum and Step Dad's wedding blessing. They have been married 8 years now and with this and that going on in their lives, felt it was time! Face and I started early with last-minute preparations, even though the blessing wasn't until the late afternoon. After running here and there all morning we went round to his Mum's place and got all dressed up- trust me, it's not often you'll get me into a dress! Face's sister did my hair, and did an awesome job with it. The shame of not being very feminine-ly minded is that I don't get much chance to see my hair looking cool XD I really liked these curls!
Anyway, the blessing itself was beautiful, barely a dry eye in the house as the vows were being said, everyone feels for this lovely couple! Then we went on to spend the evening at the reception, eating, drinking and chatting to everyone. Although I'm not social I can enjoy the feeling of being around those who are and just absorb the atmosphere :]
Today has been less eventful as I just wasn't feeling it. I tried doing this and that but nothing was striking me so I ended up wasting my time before I went to work, which was crazy dead. So a little cleaning was in order and after a small productivity stint I felt better XD
So that was my week! How was yours? Did you wear your maybe-once-a-year dress? ;p
Catch you soon,



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Project Wednesday ~Camera Love

Okay, okay, so todays topic may not be strictly a 'project' as it's more of an actual hobby or collection...but I guess you could see it as an ongoing project to gain more? ;p

As you may've guessed from my banner, I'm rather keen on my camera, a Canon EOS 650D, it's about the 3rd in a line of 'main use' cameras and my first DSLR <3 It's my baby, as were the others that went before it, who now sit on my desk as part of the coolection. When I got my first job I'd already toyed with photography, but only film (yeah...I'm that old ;p) and so with my new paycheck I decided to get something I'd wanted a while, a digital camera! My first digicam was a Casio, a small handheld that went everywhere with me and actually took really nice pictures. It was also the camera I started my four year stint in photo-a-day blogging with. After about 5 years though it suddenly fritzed one day and I was left with no camera! I bought one exactly the same second hand from ebay and carried on for a while.

As I got more into it I started looking at the bigger cameras though, and although I really wanted a DSLR I couldn't afford one. I asked my parents to buy me a bridge camera for my 21st, which was also a Casio. This became my next baby and was carried about literally everywhere for the next 5 years. Seriously, this thing went shopping with me and to work most days, 'just in case'. Aha. People got used to seeing me with it! 5 years takes its toll on a bridge camera though, and it's buttons were starting to get a little unresponsive and it just wasn't focusing as it used to. But I'd saved and was ready to make one of the biggest purchases I'd ever made so far in my life! So after much deliberation I eventually chose my DSLR. This one doesn't get toted around everywhere like my other pair, it's just not got size on it's side, unless I'm on holiday. I don't always fully understand it, but part of the fun is learning and I feel that although I don't use it to it's full potential, I still have time to improve my photography xD So long as I enjoy it, right?

But DSLRs aren't where it stops, I love all cameras equally and this is where the collection comes in x3 I love finding unusual film cameras in charity shops, but I'm not at all beyond scoping them out on ebay x3 In fact that's where this little beauty came from, a Diana Mini Latitude. I thought I was going to have to pay through the nose for this limited edition camera that was on my dream list, but happened to be lucky on ebay and got a really good deal on it!

I've got about 10 different cameras now, and most of them work ;p Nearly all are 35mm film and I try to put film in them and take them out with me if I'm likely to go anywhere of interest. In fact not that long ago I picked up this rather more normal one of my cameras after it'd been sitting on a shelf for a year or so. It only took 3 more shots before the film was done, it's so weird now to take pictures and not instantly know what they are going to turn out like, but that's definitely part of the appeal! I took it to get processed (also so expensive these days ;0;) and this film must've been in the camera for near enough 4 years from my guess, and it's got some real gems on it. Being in the camera that long seems to have taken it's toll though as they've all got this rustic, grainy feel to them which just makes them all the better in my eyes x3 I can only imagine what people would've said about shots like these back when this was the only option!
Oh, this has got quite lengthy XD I'll leave it there for now, maybe another time I'll show you some of the others I have! Have you got any old cameras? Do you think they are still worth the time and money or not now digital has well and truly taken over? Let me know! (Not that'll it'll change my mind if it's negative, sorry ;p)



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Sunday a Little Different- Introducing Austin and Morris!

Today I thought I could go through my week with the few pictures I took few and far between, or just focus on something I'm very excited about...and it's always best to focus on the things we enjoy, right? For a little back story- I've kept gerbils for a long time now (up to 9 at one point!) until recently, when my last gerbil in a 10 year run, Newt, passed away. At first I decided not to get any more and cleaned out the tank Newt had lived in. But as I popped in and out of the room the tank had been in, something seemed to be missing. There was no scuffling or anyone to give loo roll tubes to. So when I last cleaned out my degu, I put some sawdust back into the tank and put a bunch of toys in there too. I knew I was just waiting for some new babies to pop up somewhere! I looked round the internet and some duprasi jirds- fat tailed gerbils, stood out to me, and I'd never kept any before. As I read up about them they seemed pretty easy to look after, very similar to the mongolian gerbils I've kept for so long, but I tried contacting a few breeders and no one got back to me. So I looked around for mongolian babies people had bred, but couldn't find anything that wasn't miles and miles away.

Then this week when I went up to Pets at Home for my weekly quota of locusts for my bearded dragons I peeked in at the gerbils they had and these two just stood out to me! A new litter of babies had come in and there were some adorable colours, but this time I really wanted a dove grey, and there was one! He is patchy too so distinct from the other dove I've had in the past. As you always keep gerbils in pairs I picked his companion also for his nice colours- a patchy cream, a perfect match for a grey :]

I haven't been through the Pets at Home adoption process in a long time but it was very through, even though I said I'd owned plenty of gerbs in the past I was asked lots of questions to make sure I knew both what I was on about and what I was getting into, which gives me peace of mind that had I asked any major questions that they could've been answered clearly and knowingly. It was good also to think that hopefully the boys' siblings will go to homes that are going to know what they need.

As I left the shop their names came to me- Austin and Morris! I'm a sucker for old cars and these matching names just seemed to cute to pass up for a pair of boys! (If there had been a third it would've been called Leyland aha...) When we got home I let them make their way from the boxes they were brought home in into their new home. They were unsure of the tanks' tiers at first but soon their gerbilly curiosity got the better of them and they were up and down and checking everything out! I left them alone to get used to the place.
Two days in now and they are are much more confident of their surroundings, even little Austin is jumping from tier to tier with ease :3 They will nervously take sunflower seeds from my hand though the sound of the tank lid opening and closing is apparently very scary to them still! Poor boys. I'm sure they'll soon come to realise it means treats and new food xp


Dash, the degu, is getting used to having roommates again as well. For the first couple of hours she just sat and sulked in her bed to avoid all the noise and new smells, but she seems to have gotten used to it again, luckily! Maybe she's realised the newbies aren't around to steal all her treats ;p
Have you ever kept gerbils? I really think they make such interesting pets! I'd love to see pics and hear stories x3



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New Zealand Gifts

So, on Tuesday my Dad returned from his long family-visiting holiday. I was up so early to go pick him up from the airport, which made us both pretty tired for the rest of the day, myself from 3 hours sleep and him from the same, plus a loooong plane journey! We still found ourselves awake enough to chat and find out things that had been going on in each others lives that hadn't made it over email x3
I showed him round the house and gardens when we got home, and he sorted his gathered mail while I went on the PC a while. In the afternoon he sorted his suitcase and found out loads of things he'd brought back for both me and Face x3

This is my share! -A mix of both 'christmas' presents from my Sister, Jen and my Mum and souvenirs from all of them. Thats a lot of cute stuff, shall we look in more detail? x3

From my Mum and Sister were these things- all wrapped in sweet Christmas paper! I really did feel like it was Christmas all over again as I unwrapped them x3 It was super weird though as as my birthday is next to Christmas, I never get to open presents this time of year, what a treat!
I got some super thick socks with kiwis and sheep on them- you don't get a lot more New Zealand than that! I think I'm gonna have to save these for winter they are so cozy, that'll give me something to look forward to wearing x3 Next to those is an NZ calendar, not sure where this is going yet, but probably next to my desk to give me super wanderlust when I look at the beautiful scenery. Just thinking about it makes me feel like I should get my passport problems sorted right now! On top of the calendar is a cute NZ/UK flag pin, I also got another pin, an ANZAC day poppy which I'd already taken away to put onto my work uniform. I'm not sure I could get away with the flag pin else I would wear that on my lapel too!

I was given these two bracelets as I'm pretty well known to my family to be a string bracelet fanatic, I'd say I don't know why they appeal so much to me, but just look how awesome this pair are! They speak for themselves X3 I actually had to take the green bracelet off to take the first couple of pics!
I was also given this keyring which has each of the NZ notes on, when I spoke to my sister on the phone she says these are for taking apart and putting into one of my craft books, so I'm sure you'll see these again in a layout somewhere xp
You can also see some animal cards collected from a supermarket that'll be used for crafting and a parisian themed sticker pack. At the top are two sticker strips- some maori whare and some 'I <3 NZ' (I do!). I'll have plenty to smash once I am done with my Thai smashbook! I also have a 'Grow you own Pink Poodle' to play with x3

This half of the haul was the souvenir half from all the family and a couple just from Dad. I have three shirts with different designs, all good to show off my heritage! I particularly like the brown one, I've not had a brown shirt before and this one looks super comfortable.
At the top is actually a present to us all, a super whisk! I can't wait to give this thing a try when I either get some skimmed milk or want to try a really fluffy omelette. I may make a mess when Dad is out tomorrow ;p
Below those are a couple of magnets, both souvenirs in their own way of things my Sister and Dad did together- the treetop walk and a visit to Weta studios, of course the famous studio that made the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films! I would've loved to go to check out the studios too, even as more of a fan of the books. Apparently Weta studios was pretty pricy, but I'm sure it was worth it just for the experience (and to send me a memento!).
The large NZ flag is a sticker that I think will go on my car. When I am a little more sure that it won't come off easily should I put it on, even my car will show my New Zealand pride!
Now, the diary milk chocolate is one of my major favourite sweets. In the UK I generally avoid dairy milk, I just don't like the flavour compared to other chocolate if I'm going to bother at all, but this is the exception- Black Forest has little red jellies and mini chocolate biscuit bits in that just come together to be awesome! I ate so much of this stuff when I lived over there it's a wonder I never got ill off it :x

Dad bought me these coke themed lip balms as a last minute present on the plane home, as he was given a voucher for being inconvenienced on the flight. They all smell so good and at the moment I've only tried the coke one, but it both smells spot on for coke and actually seems to work really well as balm, something these collaboration things rarely seem to manage!
The necklace was shown to me along with a couple of others via a snapchat sent by Jen while they were travelling, and I liked this one best x3 I really like really chunky, round koru for some reason. The fan was a gift from Singapore from Dad, to go on my wall of fans from other countries that is behind my computer desk x3
And I think that's a snippet of everything! Yeah, I am so spoilt x3 I love everything and I can't wait to start using it all! And I hope you enjoyed looking through my haul as much as I did receiving it, and a massive thank you to my family for thinking of me when I wasn't there with them (like I would've loved to have been ;0;)
Catch you soon,



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Project Wednesday ~Thai Smash Page

This week has been so busy! But the other day I managed to sit down with my Thai smashbook and get on with a couple of pages. I've actually done a bunch of pages after the other week when I said I would do this as my next concentrated project, but I don't want to start getting into detail on these pages when I'm still going page-by-page on my LaDeDah journal :] But I remembered I said I'd show you my progress on this book and I haven't really done that so far, so that's what I thought I'd do today.
So, the first picture there is showing what I've started with- a table full of washi tape, adhesives and other odds and ends! I always find it best to scatter these things around myself before I work as I don't like getting up to get extras when I'm trying to concentrate. I've also got my phone nearby usually, just for a little music so I'm not working in silence. I was in the mood for the Steven Universe soundtrack! x] Youtube can be terribly distracting though so if I find I'm starting to watch it I'll just switch over to the music folder and play that on low instead.

So, first thing to do with all that gathered staff is to try and figure out what looks good! I shuffled the photos around, placing them and replacing them and as you can see after a couple of shuffles I added in some extras to see what they were bringing to the page and its layout. By the third photo I basically knew where it was going and although I liked a couple of the other arrangements too, similar ones were on pages beforehand and I don't like the repetitiveness so soon. But that's okay! Just pushes me to attempt to be more creative ;p

Once everything is placed about where I want it I take a photo on my phone, this is because I very often layer stuff over other things and as I'm gluing things down it all gets misplaced and my memory isn't good enough to remember where I wanted it all to begin with...so this is an easy solution anyway ;p So my phone is off to the side as I start to put double sided sticky tape on the backs of everything, starting with things that are 'lowest' on the page. I prefer double sided tape as it is solid once it goes on- but it isn't very forgiving if you accidentally place a corner on the page while sorting out it's place!

There was a bit of a last minute change here as I refound a stirrer from a drink in one of the photos, and it was obviously more important to be placed on the page than the little sentiment I'd found to be there! So the sentiment got placed further down the page, as I still felt it was pretty appropriate xp Once everything was glued into place I added a few things on to try and bring the page to life a little- touchings of washi tape and a clip xp I do like decorating the pages with these things but I don't want them to take over the point of the page.

So this is the finished article- took about 45 minutes total (mostly cause I'm slow) and I think it's not turned out too badly x3 Do you use a smashbook? Are you methodical like me or do you not mind 'smashing it in' as the tagline suggests?



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Sunday a Little Different ~Brown Sugar Glazed Chicken

I know, I know, I'm skipping out on Catch-up Sunday again. I should be doing it this week as well as it was my last week looking after the house too, Tuesday my Dad returns I (hopefully) I won't have to do all the dishes anymore ;p Nah, I'm really looking forward to him being around again, although I have enjoyed my own freedom too.
Talking of which, that kinda brings me round to what I was going to write about today: make some dishes by cooking Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Glazed Chicken! I wanted to write another how to but I followed a recipe I found on a pinterest link and because I wanted to make a lot less than the recipe called for I guessed a lot of my measurements...so I can't really tell you exactly how I made it :x I'm pretty terrible for that really, if I haven't quite got what the recipe calls for or in this case the measurements weren't easily divisible, I just use the recipe as a base for making something similar XD That said, I think this one turned out pretty close to what the original author was going for ;p


I started with two chicken thighs, which I had to skin, per the recipe. I've never skinned chicken thighs before. As a general rule, I don't like touching meat so this was probably the most I've ever had to touch meat too, I'm a wuss like that. I'm also not particularly good with bone-in meat but I had these to use up so thats how this came about. Although people say that breast meat just doesn't have the flavour of meat on the bone, I can take that sacrifice next time :x I patted the meat with kitchen towel and rubbed in some herbs, garlic and a salt mix I had nearby for some flavour. It went in the slow cooker with some pineapple juice, soy sauce and even some fresh rosemary out the garden.


I left it in there for about 4 hours on high, although the recipe said to leave it longer, my amount was greatly reduced so I figured it wouldn't take as long to cook. I was right as when I checked it it was done, so I turned it to low and got some rice on the go. 15ish minutes later I was almost ready to plate up! I got the chicken out the slow cooker and put them on plates in the oven, which was set on very low, just to keep it warm.


I then thickened up the juices left in the slow cooker in a pan on the hob. I got it boiling then added a little cornflour mix, and let it bubble a little longer till it thickened up to almost a syrup x3 I'm a sucker for sweet savoury foods!


And so here's the finished meal! I think I did pretty well, and it tasted so good! That sauce over the top really made it and it was so good with the rice! I think the only thing that could've improved it was maybe a little green veg, maybe next time I'll cook a side of edamame beans too x3
If you want to give this a go too, the recipe I used is here. It's not a difficult recipe to follow and there is a certain appeal in throwing a bunch of stuff in a pot and walking away to come back later to dinner, isn't there?



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Project Wednesday ~La De Dah Smashbook

Another month, another look in at the La De Dah Smashbook! We'll jump straight in, shall we? This page was for a concert we went to, and the dossing around Birmingham we did beforehand XD We went to see Patent Pending and discovered an awesome new band too warming up the crowd were People on Vacation, fronted by the lead singer from Bowling for Soup! It was a brilliant show, and a good day all round actually ^^

This page was about some home ideas for when I eventually move out. I'm pretty comfortable where I am at the moment, but as I'm getting older (like, way too old to live with my parents!) I realise that soon I'm going to have to make the leap. And to prep myself I like to gather these little ideas for what I could do with my home. I've mostly got these little bits from magazines, and I guess they'll be pretty outdated by the time I actually come to use them!

I had a bunch of pictures knocking about my desk for this page about my tattoos :] I'm not much into super deep meanings for tattoos, more for the look of them, so this was really more about why I chose what I did and where I had it done. That Libertines flag has seriously been on my desk for over 3 years! It finally has a use, thank god for smashbooking!

These two pages are completely unrelated, the one on the left is about the staff party I went to in January, it was one of the last pages I did actually. They had this cool photobooth there and we spend some time mucking about in it XD It as a good laugh. Under each photo is a little scrap on what we got up to and the food that Face made for the party.
On the right is a page about a cross-stitch I did for my Mum. My Dad was going to visit so I asked him to take this with his as a present. It took me a long time to do as the first proper cross-stitch I've ever done so I was pretty proud of it. And I couldn't bear to throw away the pattern paper once i was done, so it was fairly obvious where it was going to end up ;p

This page was one of the very first I did- starting with all the things I already had planned for the year then I added onto it it at the bottom once I had other things booked! At the end of the year I'd gathered all these things that wouldn't go on other pages so I smashed them all together here to make a sort of collage of my year x3

This is one of the only things I did this year that got two whole spreads to itself! I am always excited about Download Festival and this year was one of the best! The weather was perfect and we just had a really great time x3 We always make a bit of a holiday of it, so the first couple of pages are about what we did Wednesday & Thursday and the others are about the festival. Only a month before we do it all again! I can't wait x3

I'll leave it at this page I think- this one I did early spring when I was pretty excited about what I was going to do in the garden x3 Again a whole bunch of magazine clippings were incorporated as ideas and I also put in a few plant tags of stuff I'd already bought to put in. I got the 'favourite things' envelope from Hobbycraft and it seems to fit in pretty well on this page, it holds in place surprisingly well too!
Hope you liked yet another detailed look into this scrapbook! Do you have a smashbook? I'd love to see it!



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