Logging in again :)

Been a while since I have been on here last time. A few new things and life in general has kept me busy.
Yes, I'm still with Reggie and will flying across again in 2 weeks time
And I have a new laptop .... but no design programs on there yet. In fact, I'm still thinking about having Windows 8 wiped off it and going back to Windows 7. My Poser program will not work with Windows 8 and I am not impressed with it at all. It really was made more for touch-screens.

My possessions are about half of what they used to be. I was able to get rid of one tall shelf which used to be full of books as well. Now I get all my books on Kindle ...no dust catchers, less clutter , more space and they are cheaper to buy.

I still do various art and craft projects. I have been recycling or re purposing old jeans.

A laptop bag

Kindle cover with front pocket for my phone

2 little crochet baskets for the bathroom
And I made a new skirt by cutting the top of from an old dress and using a pair of jeans for the top of the skirt.

I'm hoping to have the at least PSP and PS installed on my laptop before I leave for NC....and who knows.... once I can start playing again my inspiration will hopefully come back as well.
Till then , hugs
Snowy

Still alive,lol....

I know I have not been on here a while...and Kyra will tell me off again,I think.
Hi all,
I've  been  so busy with other things that I didn't find time to design much or write on my blog.

A few days after I came back from Reggie it was back to work , and you know what it's like with "a son home alone". I had to catch up with some cleaning and other housework.

For Christmas I got a Kindle  Paper-white  , so I can have all my books on that little device now to read. And for my Birthday it was a new 2 TB external drive. So I stated to  transfer  a lot of files to that drive from discs I burned in the past because my old 320 gig drive was full. A time consuming job, but I will get there.

Plus I started another x-stitch project.This will take me forever , but so worth it in the end .I will show some pics of the work of art later on when I made some more progress.
I also made my own Body Butter. I am sick of the preservatives and artificial stuff in cosmetics. It doesn't need much and is quick to make, Coconut Oil, Shea Butter, Sweet Almond oil and your  favorite essential oil. Melt ,mix, whip and ready :)

Then I have a little Scapbook project going as well.This is the front page.

I'm doing some exercises every day to boost my fitness and lose some weight...and ...and ..and ...you see how it is.There are not enough hours in the day for me besides all this and work. And of cause spending time with Reggie online. He and Shaun come first.
I am planning my next trip for across in June.  Reggie  will be working, but we have time after work, the weekends and holiday when he's off. I will take care of the house and garden while he is away.

But  let  me tell you about my blunder. You can see I am clearly not used to  living in a house in the sticks.
Here at home I put the bag with garbage in  front of the door until I have time to bring it to the bins. I learned my lesson when I did the same at Reggie's place,lol.
Some little critter thought there was something nice in this bag , and when I looked the contents of the bag where littered across the porch. Most likely a  raccoon or something like that that. Lesson learned ,I won't do that again,lol.

But I have a little something ready for you.
A Valentine qp from the kit I am working on.

Download https://www.mediafire.com/?j47s55jd57odmbj
Enjoy , and I'll be back with more soon
Hugs Snowy

Finally a hello from NC

Hi all, 

hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. For us it was a cosy and lazy day, just the two of us.

I arrived safely , Reggie was waiting to pick me up. 

And yes , we did go to the TSO concert. It was fantastic ! The whle show, music and lights were  amazing!

Apart from that it's been a mellow time. Walks together, shopping , cooking....just daily life together really.

And of cause a visit to Michaels.... definitely a  favorite  store,lol... I've even been busy already and finished a craft project with some small pine cones and nuts we found on  our  walk through the woods.

And I mixed up my own green , chemical free Leather conditioner /cleaner. It's very simple: 2 parts Olive Oil , 1 part vinegar ..add a few drops of your  favorite  essential il for nicer smell and fill into a spray bottle. 

Apply and clean with a soft cloth.It works a treat. 

Reggie's sofa looks great again.

And this is the view from the Mail box,.House in the woods ...it's peaceful here :) 

This weekend we'll drive to Concord to visit Nita , and I'll be doing the Dance workshop with her. 

For now it's sleep time ...till next post 

Hugs Snow

Almost D-day and the next 2 parts

Hi all again,
I'm packed ! Well apart from the few bits and bobs I still need in the morning.

The place is clean and tidy, and I have been wondering if I should take before and after shots. Son home alone ....OMG!
I'm prepared to fight dust devils and come back home to chaos and disorder.
Let's face it....21 year old males just don't have the interest to clean when mum is away.
But I could not help leaving some reminders.

Close up.... it reads:please water and keep me alive ! No, don't water the cat,please!

And I just couldn't resist the chalk board message after he used Febreze to clean surfaces a few years ago.

I have even started on a new kit.Not sure how much time I find to work on it the next weeks, but it's definitely a work in progress.

But for now the two new links for Simplicity.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/pleav1zbk42yp6r/sr_simplicity2.zip
http://www.mediafire.com/download/7mzthr1jndzhkh0/sr_simplicity4.zip

I'll be back when I can and maybe post some pics of what we are up to.
Till then
Hugs Snow :)

Countdown and new Freebie

Hi all,
yup, the countdown is in full swing !
After my shift today I only need to do 2 more night shifts , then I have 2 days to recover , do shopping so my son has the fridge and freezer filled up and buy enough cat food and litter to last for the time I'm away. Oh and of cause the most important part....finish packing my suitcase !
A good part of it is already packed with some German treats and other chocolate items ....my man does have a sweet tooth as well,lol.
And I have to remember to print out the recipe for that Sauerbraten marinade. I'll be cooking some German dishes over there .... he also has a thing for Bratwurst and I'm gonna make a nice Potato salad to go with them.
lmao, so many things planned out already.
Anyway.... I have been busy designing and even managed to complete the kit I started. It contains some Christmas designs, but part of it can also be used for every day scrapping.
I called it "Simplicity" because generally Christmas is a time these days when the Banks and  Corporations make big profits because people go nuts buying expensive presents. I've always been trying to get away from that. It shouldn't be about money ....so I opt to have a "simple" Christmas with lots of handmade stuff and little personal gifts which don't cost the world.
Here some previews

Today I give you 2 zips from the kit , the other 2 will be coming next week before I leave
http://www.mediafire.com/download/smufsfrrbi429tb/sr_simplicity1.zip

http://www.mediafire.com/download/s36dfol92xd0dlf/sr_simplicity3.zip

Enjoy and until next post
Hugs Snow  :)

No rest for the wicked (Witch)

Hi all,
Thought I had disappeared again? No, just been mega busy doing overtime at work and had not much time to do anything else.
But I had a few days break now and been designing some more.
It's not long now until I fly across to Reggie again ....I'm starting my last batch of shifts tomorrow and then when I come off night shift it's a case of sleep , pack suitcase and off I go next week ;)
But here's what I've been up to....playing with Owls again....the little one is Otis , a real South African cutie, who nibbles your nose if you put yor face closer

...A shopping trip with some bargain finds, all together under £10.00...I love the natural rustic look of these.



And of cause the new designs, here some teasers ...

Here's the above one with quote

...and a little preview of what I have so far.

I upload and post the kit in parts when I have some more done....as soon as I find the time,lol.
For now I'm looking forward to spending time with Reggie and we're going to a concert on the 24th. This is who and what we are going to see. The Trans-Syberian Orchestra

Until then
Hugs Snow x x x

Altered Shoe box

Hi all,
thought I show you my latest project.
I recently bought a pair of boots and had this normal plain box they came in. Now, I was in need of a new storage box anyway, and why spend money and  buy one if I can simply pretty this brown shoe box up a bit?

So out came the tissue paper, in this case I picked a pretty vintage one with pale pink roses , glue, scissors and some decorations. First I had to cut some pieces to size and glue them onto the box and lid.
Then I let it dry over night. Already made the box look a lot nicer.

I didn't want a smooth , new look, so before I glued the paper on I scrunched it up in my hands to give it an old wrinkled effect, and then flattened it onto the glue covered surface.
I cut 2 pieces of pain beige cotton ribbon band and also glued it in place.The I tied a bow and put it on top. Some extra decoration like 3 little fabric roses, a few skeletton leaves, a tag and the whole thing is ready.

Now isn't that a nice way of recycling a box,lol?

Till next post
Hugs Snow

Last downloads for Autumn kit

Hi again,
finally off after another 56 hour week at work.
...and only 30 days now. Today next month I will have already spent my first night in NC.
Everything ready to go. The Postman just brought my Amazon order of books to keep me occupied during the long journey, so all I need to do is to pack when the time gets closer.

We had the local Bird of Prey Sanctuary doing some fundraising here. For me it was a chance to get close and personal with these amazing birds.
Reggie used to tell me about his owl , which they found when he was younger as a little baby bird.They raised it and let it free in the end. Ever since then he loved owls. Same as the Raven is for me, the owl is his bird. And I have to say, these birds are gorgeous! Gemma was no light weight,lol.

Today I give you the last downloads for the Autumn Kit, all together ...here is the preview.

So here the last pieces...
another background
http://www.mediafire.com/view/2n82nzgd00imtd2/srautumn2013_14.jpg
3 different tags
1) http://www.mediafire.com/view/cm35nfn9p5u2f7b/srautumn2013_tag_3.png
2) http://www.mediafire.com/view/nyo7fdpjko8ml1s/srautumn2013_tag4.png
3) http://www.mediafire.com/view/9kxfjq7x43n7ik4/srautumn_tag5.png
a mat
http://www.mediafire.com/view/3v57779dmhneslu/srautumn2013_mat.png
and an extra ribbon which I forgot on this preview, silly me...
http://www.mediafire.com/view/c93lfr886dzaw5f/srautumn_2013ribbon2.png

I'll be working on more new designs ....actually, I have already started.
Wanna see a little teaser? Here's a layout with a few new pieces

I leave you with some music. Two of my favorite female vocalists have teamed up to make a song together.
The result is a fantastic song with lyrics and a video to make you think.....
Within Temptation, a dutch band (one of my favs) have teamed up with Tarja , ex vocalist of Nightwish.
This is "Paradise-what about us?"
Till next time
Hugs Snow

Finally some more pieces ....

Hi all,
I'm finally finding the time to upload a few more pieces for the kit.
We are short staffed at work still , so overtime seems to be a regular thing at the moment. But I'm not complaining.A litte extra cash is always welcome, specially as it's coming up to Christmas and only 4 weeks now  until I fly across to Reggie again.

Autumn is in full swing here, the ground littered with fallen leaves in autumn colors, and the weather....hmphhh....we had a lot of strong winds and rain.
But Halloween and Thanksgiving are only a short time away.
My old boy Sam is making the most out of the sunshine when he can catch a few rays through the window.

But I better get to the new downloads for you. I still have things to do in the house before I have to leave for work again.
Today I have another background
http://www.mediafire.com/view/1wnypduxbde3bda/srautumn2013_13.jpg
an Autum leaves page border
http://www.mediafire.com/view/xka2a9vjfvbh22w/srautumn2013_leave_overlay_border.png
a leaves and acorn element
http://www.mediafire.com/view/454s2t74pn5mlsj/srautumn2013_maple_acorn.png
and a Words/title element
http://www.mediafire.com/view/bznbrwm1g9q8u48/srautumn2013w2.png
Enjoy ! And I'll be back with more when I find the time :)
Hugs Snow

"yawn" ...more freebies again

Hi ,
good morning ....or rather afternoon.I got up not too long ago after my 3rd night shift. I think I definitely need another coffee to wake up fully,lol.
One more night and I'm off for a couple of days -hooray !!!
Despite work I had a nice weekend. Reggie never fails to amaze me.He kept me company through almost 8 hours during my 12 hour shift, and then was online and up when I came home after finishing my shift to Skype with me before I went to sleep. :)

I always forgot to show you something. Are you bored with always having a photo in a normal frame? I found darling little trays on my visit to Germany , which have a cut out and flap at the back to insert a picture.
I love this , it makes such a nice change from a normal frame and looks decorative as well.

I just feel in love with the look , the wood has a kind of chalky distressed finish to it. They do the matching trays in a larger size without the photo cutout.

I got inspired by this and wanted to try to achieve the same kind of effect for a cheap white plastic heart tray which I picked up at Applebee's really cheap on my last visit with Nita in NC.So I got busy with acrylic paints. I appied the base coat first, and then dry brushed it with a white paint, and also just smudged it a bit with my fingers. I'm happy with the result, it now catches the ash from my joss stick incense holder.

 Anyway..... here the new pieces for the kit again.
Copper border http://www.mediafire.com/view/76i2n54k1udigtt/srautumn2013_copper_border.png
Autumn flowers
http://www.mediafire.com/view/nie0li7lydoiyj1/srautumn2013_flowers.png
Single flower
http://www.mediafire.com/view/l64db50z6de66r2/srautumn2013_flower.png
and the word "Fall Time"
http://www.mediafire.com/view/85m2d1107d58uob/srautumn2013_words1.png
...and with that I'm off again.Another coffee , get some housework done, get ready and to work again.
Till next post ~ hugs Snow :)