Wrong Turn, Great View

Not so much as a wrong turn, more a 'what's down this road?' moment.  In which I discovered the local jetty or slipway, as we call it back home.

Tide was in on this occasion and freezing cold, thanks to the wind chill factor.  However it was dry, so less chance of slipping.  But my fingers had stopped functioning within minutes!

This view is the reason I returned with the camera.  The rock formations are amazing! Ok I love the sea, what can I say.  I grew up right beside the Atlantic ocean.

Now, I also got a really cool surprise with a plaque on the wall, beside a natural hole.  I have no idea as to why it's up there yet.  Perhaps it is Lir god of the sea?  I just have to share it with you.

And finally a boat and a couple of, I don't know what they are called.  But presume that they are used to move the boats down the slipway into the water.

Scraps to New Collar

Well my little furbaby is in need of a collar refresh.  Only thing about having a small dog is finding a nice collar small enough, but still light and comfortable.  Ok I'm a fuss pot!  It's only on my dog to hold his ID tag, he wears a harness for walks.  I'm a bit nervous of hooking the lead up to his collar, since he's such a delicate wee soul - that likes to try and walk me, by dragging me up the road.  His current collar is starting to flake off  peeling off the top coat and rather tatty.  It will get a make-over later with some high visibility fabric.

I had saved the bits of an old harness and used the D rings for his insulated waterproof coat. So thought the clips would be perfect for the collar.  I had saved the hem of my velour thermal curtains (Am I the only one that does this?).  Not that I had any plans for them, but just in case.  Below are the bits, fabric, harness bits and my craft ribbon.  Ignore the D ring, it never got used - I was meant to put it under the ribbon, but forgot whilst I happily stitched along.

The old straps were 1.5cm, so I cut a 3cm wide strip about 38 - 40 cm long.  Folded the edges towards the centre, like bias tape.  I have some glue stuff like salt crystals that you iron to fix hems, so used that to hold the folds down.  Then I pinned the ribbon along the middle and stitched it in place on the back, folded it over and did the same on the other side.  So back & front look the same.  Then added the plastic clips & bits and stitched the ends down.

I slipped a split key ring onto it to hold his ID tag, since I forgot to fix the D ring under the ribbon. He's such a wriggler that I had a job to get it on him, he likes to turn his head and lick me.  So with all his fluffy hair, it's a job not to get it caught in the clip!  Not that we'll see much of it until the weather warms up and I give him a groom.

That's the best shot I could get...lol   You could call it his Valentines collar!

The butterly, charm & owls

A friends birthday was coming up, normally I don't make a thing out of it.  However this year, having being reminded of the date and picked up a little sparkly gift, I decided to put the effort in.  Not easy to find focus when you're on meds and have chronic pain to manage, whilst still waiting to find out what is wrong.

I have so many 'bits' saved to make cards, when the inspiration hits.  That I tend to forget how much there really is stashed away, until I go rummage.   Most of the bits used here, were sitting in the desk drawer and the owl paper saved from something I was sent a while ago.

 So some crumpled tissue paper, cerise ribbon, a heart charm (link from a bracelet), a pretty card image and some butterflies punched from silver card, from a Nag Champa Incense box (yes they are still scented).  Turned into the individual card above.

I decided to do something completely different inside the card.  I had intended to handwrite inside, but my writing and concentration is a bit shaky.  I think it's important to provide each other with positivity, as now and then we all need a little boost to our mental health.

 

I love that owl tissue paper!  I've been trying to figure out how to use it and who to give it to for a while.  Of course it would have been better paired with one of my owl cards, but I still have a bit left so can do that later for someone else.  The gift was sparkly by the way, hence the line inside the card.

Card - Humour can get lost in Translation

So it was my brother in laws birthday last month and I wanted to make a witty card for him.  Based on the fact he enjoyed his beef dinners here, especially the fillet steaks. Unfortunately I don't speak other languages, except for maybe the odd word or sentence.  No online translation service will save you either, yes it will translate your sentence word for word, but you will lose the humour. Plus that's not how other languages translate, the words are switched in the sentence.

So I had to ask his brother for help, his English seems to better than his German at this point, having spent over 40 years in English speaking countries.

Back to the card, I wanted the front to read "We herd it was your Birthday" apparently for it to make sense you have to translate it as, the herd got wind it was your birthday.  The image is from the actual steaks he ate whilst visiting us.

The inside I wanted to say, we saved you a space, can you fillet?  All puns intended.  It was translated for me as follows in the image below.  I was assured that in this form it would raise a laugh. I think I can safely say I will never be able to learn German, even though I can guess the first line, I'd need a dictionary or somebody to tell me what the second one means.

I was a little late in sending it off, so I'm not sure if it made it on time.