Gas Street

Last night we had a visitor who gave us this poster. He is looking for a couple who live on a narrowboat. He describes the boat as 62ft long with a green hull and red upper - but no name of the boat.

They have not heard from the couple since October and are worried about them.

Is there anyone out there on the Towpath Telegraph who has seen them recently?


We are iced in again this morning and it is foggy too. We had a slight flurry of snow around 10am. Not a good omen for the fireworks tonight!









All excitement 10 minutes ago. On checking my emails I discovered that I had sold my first card on the MisiMe website. Hope this bodes well for the New Year.


I had to make 4 cards for Baldish from our Doctor's surgery. She always sends New Year cards.

This time I made some lovely spiral pop-up cards. The idea came from Splitcoast Stampers here. I cut out the stars on my trusty CraftRobo and using different colour schemes roughly made the same card in 4 different ways.

I liked them so much that I made two more similar ones for Tom next door when I persuaded him that he needed New Years cards as well.

Gas Street

Hope you all hade a good time during the holidays and still have some money left!.

Christmas on the Moorings - it was a very quiet one. Those that had stayed behind on their boats for the day gathered for drinks before lunch and then we all went off to visit varous relations for the rest of the day. It must have been one of the few days that there was not actually anyone on any of the boats for several hours.





Just before Christmas we visited Bolton for one of David's brother's 70th birthday. He treated all his siblings and their spouses to lunch up on the moors.


I cut out the 70 on the CraftRobo twice. Once in blue and the smaller in silver.

I added a purpley-blue glitter to the blue card and added the numbers to the white base card with sticky fixers. A hole was cut through the base card and two die-cut beer mugs were added for decoration.

Inside I mounted some blue paper onto silver card and fixed it to the inside of the card. Then I matted an old photograph of Arthur onto silver card and stuck it on so that it peeked through the hole in the card when it was shut. The final touch was a rub-on "happy birthday".

Gas Street

A quick trip around to Sherborne Wharf for a pumpout before they close down until well into the New Year. And surprise! surprise! They may have moved around, but most of the boats are still there from last time. Not bad for a 24 hour mooring!

Our moorers' Christmas Party was very pleasant. Ivy and Hugh managed to get everyone on board their boat and provided lots of lovely nibbles and drinks. We all thank them for their hospitality.


And here is a Christmas Card from Gas Street Basin. Boats in the snow, matted and with string wrapped around plus a bought topper lamp post and poinsettia flower.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog - hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

So Happy Christmas to everyone and here's hoping we all have a great 2009!

Gas Street

Christmas trees around the signpost on the island at Old Turn on the BCN.

It's the Worcester Bar Moorers' Christmas Party tonight. Who is going to fall in tonight?

We are starting off on Ivy and going on from there - who knows where?





And now - a sentiment that is close to my heart. I am not that keen on turkey and can go without the "Christmas Dinner" without salivating. Give me a steak, or pheasant, or goose - or anything else really; you can also keep the stuffing, chipolatas, sprouts etc, etc.

The inside of this card has the answer - "Eat Chocolate!" and has a large tin foil covered chocolate coin stuck inside. Every card should have some chocolate inside it as far as I am concerned.

I got the turkey from the Internet, the backing paper and sentiments were printed from the computer and the chocolate coin came from M&S.

Gas Street

Just some of the Boats which seem to be wintering in Birmingham again this year.

We managed the pumpout without it raining (must be a first this year) and Keith came to check out the battery system as it was sill not working properly. Lots of money wasted when we got it "sorted" earlier this year. We now have to get the water pump sorted out yet again! And a leak through one of the windows which we discovered after all the rain on Friday night and Saturday.

The Christmas shopping has all been done, the cards have all been sent and we only have to get the food in - so that's all sorted. A good thing really as it rained all day yesterday and it has been dull all day today and I have only just got off the boat and onto the pontoon twice in two days.

I have been busy though! Pete wanted 20 Christmas cards made from his photograph that David took earlier this year. It gave David something to do, learning how to put a speech bubble on a photograph using Photoshop. I matted the photos onto silver card and then onto coloured card before fixing them to the white card blank. I then added my "this year's trademark", punched out snowflakes with glittery centres, and that was it. Pete liked them so much he ordered another 20!

Then Mike wanted a Christmas card of Gas Street Basin, but you'll have to wait until next time for those.

Gas Street

Holy seagulls - well they seem to be walking on water!

They are actually standing on a very thin layer of ice just under the water and waiting to be fed by Pete.


The ice has gone again, though we were iced in for almost 2 days. The main canal was free of ice and there have been a few boats moving about. It will rain, hail and sleet tomorrow though - we have to go for a pumpout.

More cards of boats in the snow. This time it is Mr David in the snow at Shepperton Lock on the Thames last April and is our family Christmas card this year.

I stamped the swirly snowflakes strait onto the white card using a light blue ink. The photograph was matted onto silver card and then onto a light blue card before fixing it to the card. Finally I added a couple of snowflakes with glitter centres.






I made most of the cards in a landscape style but managed to get one wrong - so did it in portrait and added an extra couple of snowflakes. Think I got away with it.

Gas Street

We don't go for Christmas trees here in Gas Street - only stonking great bottles of beer!.

Lauren fell off her boat early this morning. She and Pete were returning from her office do and she slipped while walking down the gunnel (in party dress and shoes). David brought her onto our boat and we got her showered and cleaned up while Pete got her some dry clothes. She seems OK but has a few scratches and bruises.

No-one has seen the pair of them today so I suppose they are a bit embarrassed.









I have made this Christmas card of Granny Button. The original photograph was taken by and published on John Bean's blog Narrowboat Alacrity

I made four copies of the photograph and then cut away pieces from each one to bring the picture into 3D. I used sticky fixers to stick the pieces down and then matted it onto silver mirror card. I had some lovely light blue organdy type ribbon with silver snowflakes on which I fixed down the left hand side of the blue card and added three shiny snowflakes to the right hand side of the picture, adding some glitter. Finally I added the Seasons Greetings peel-off. Hope he likes it.

Here is a view from the side showing how the picture stands out.

Gas Street

Here is the rest of yesterday's post. For some reason I could not upload the pictures.

First of all, thanks to Andrew for his comment on how to upload a screen shot. Secondly Grey Nomad asked about the whereabouts of Europe, which I can't answer as I only know that BW took it away to their depot at Icknield Port Loop. The boat was going to be inspected and either put out to auction or destroyed. Having seen the boat it has probably gone to the great scrap yard in the sky by now.

Now for the card bit. Here are some of the 500 cards I made for my hairdresser. He is threatening that he needs another 200!!

I got the idea from a free booklet from one of the card magazines around. I traced the boots, mitts and skirt so that they could be cut out on my CraftRobo and bought myself a Xyron machine to put double sided glue onto the back of the black card before I cut them out - that made them easy to stick onto the card and were not all loose in a box.

I used up all my scraps to cut out the 4 parcels, added them to the card and stuck on a bow at the top. Some of them had added peel-off "ribbons" and some had silver or gold "string" drawn with a gel pen.


The sentiments were printed onto white paper and them matted onto gold card and Christmas patterned paper before added to the cards.

Easy - NOT! They took forever to make as every card was different.

Gas Street

Finally, after watching the programme for 3 nights our feature was finally shown on BBC West Midlands Tonight! David looked very distinguished (well I thought so) and Mr David also looked very distinguished.

Here is the link for David's second TV appearance this year



Andy Denny on Granny Buttons has beaten me to blog it though and managed a screen shot which I have not mastered yet.

Gas Street

We're going to be on the telly again! Well Mr David is, and possibly us and it's only on BBC West Midlands. It was meant to be on tonight, but got postponed for a paedophile!! So it may be on on Monday.

The pic shows Robin on the bow filming David outside the Malthouse.

Ponytail Pete had his car stolen/removed by the Police the other day. He had some gas bottles in the back ready to be exchanged the next day. The Police said they were investigating the pub as a door was insecure and saw the gas bottles so took the car way for forensics. It is never quiet around here.

I have finally finished the 500 Christmas Cards for my Hairdressers. There was so much work in them that they to took forever (2 boots, skirt, 4 parcels, 1 ribbon, 2 matted sentiments!!!) When will I learn. They all had to be slightly different of course, but at least I managed to use up lots of scraps of Christmassy paper.

Pictures coming soon

This one started off with a red card. I printed the sentiment on white paper and just coloured in the background (using Word). This was stuck onto a panel of silver card and the green ribbon was fixed underneath and a bow added.

Gas Street

Where does the time go? I have not posted for ages. My only excuse is that I have not got any current pictures of the waterways and I have been busy making 500 Christmas cards for my hairdresser!

We have had several visitors, including old friends that we met while in Cyprus who turned up out of the blue. Great fun, lots of reminiscing and catching up was done.

David has been published in the December edition of Canals and Rivers. This is one of the photographs taken awhile ago as the boat is Europe which was removed and sold/destroyed in the Summer.


I found some "wands" in the £1 shop - 2 for £1. I broke of the wand bit, just keeping the top and then fixed it to the shiny, sparkly, pink card with glue-dots. The sentiment was then added to the bottom.

One little girl was so impressed with it she actually stole it while my back was turned!!!

Gas Street

What do you think of our exotic wildlife in the centre of Birmingham? David has just spent 3 days (on and off) trying to get a decent photo. He is very shy and it is difficult to get near him, even so he bosses about the Canada Geese (which can't be a bad thing).

Walking down Harbourne High Street yesterday we got a phone call from West Midlands BBC (the same bloke that filmed us this summer). He wants to know if there is anyone out there who was at the top of a BW Moorings Waiting List, but lost out to the tendering system when it started. If you know anyone will you please get in touch with us so that we can pass on your details.

We now have the electricity back on so have hot water again!!! and I have 6 bags of washing. The bad news is that we now have an oil leak and a coolant leak somewhere in the engine. The boat seems to be falling apart.



Whilst in Waitrose yesterday there were lots of lovely bulbs for sale and it sort of got me thinking about Spring - and why not? So here is a card made from a photograph of a bluebell wood. I tore around the edge and then mounted it onto silver and blue card, the blue card was scalloped. A blue organza bow was wrapped around and then the card was fixed to the white card blank.

Gas Street

After the snow yesterday there was a very heavy frost this morning. Thank goodness we have now got the fire working again. We have been snug and cozy inside the boat and I have only just poked my nose out for 2 minutes to put some Halloween cards out for sale.

So - I spent most of the afternoon on the laptop and I have opened another shop!!! I know, it's a bit greedy but the ArtyMiss shop seems very slow and the links do not always seem to work.



The new shop has given me a domain address which is www.HandmadebyBrenda.misi.me.uk or (if it works) just click HERE.

I have only uploaded a few cards so far - mostly sets of cards - so here is the first set of 5 cards. They cost £5.50 (including postage) and they can be bought with PayPal.

There are 5 different photographs of boats in the snow and all have a holographic border.

Gas Street

As I write this blog (on Tuesday 28th October only) IT IS SNOWING!!!!! What is the winter going to be like?

Our trip to Biarritz was fun. We had a hotel room overlooking the sea and Spain and watched the surfers like little black seals all day. The food wasn't as good as we've had in Poitiers or Bordeaux though - a bit out of season seaside fayre - and the weather was almost as bad.

The picture shows Sorcerer arriving into Gas Street with Vick on the front and Peter steering on the back. We are expecting some new moorers soon as several vacancies have been filled.

We have had several "disasters" on the boat. First the heating pump broke, so we could not have the fire going as the water was not circulating from the back boiler. Then the main water pump broke which meant we could not get water to pump into the taps or the toilets.

David came out from Lyons Boatyard to fix the water pump last Friday and then came back today to fix a new heater pump. But before he could arrive, the main electrical connection into the boat fused up and burnt out - so now we have no mains electricity!!! It never rains - it just snows!!!

One of my canal themed cards. A picture of one of the high bridges on the Shroppie matted onto silver and white card. A band of silver holographic card and red scalloped card horizontally across the middle and a piece of green hessian behind the picture.

And now the snow is actually sticking on the ground! Thank goodness we got the fire fixed in time.

Gas Street

Curdworth tunnel taken in August. Sorry no topical photos - not much happening at present.

We have been to Stockholm for a few days. The weather (after the first night) was glorious sunshine - though a little chilly. The trees were all golden and everything was VERY, very expensive!!

Apart from a drunken fight and a dip in the canal, the moorings have been fairly quiet. David had a meeting with the new Bobby Browns (ex Panama Bar) and they have promised to sort out the noise problem - so that just leaves the O Bar to sort out. And on Saturday morning the Portsmouth football team all walked along the bar and over the bridge. I'll have to get an autograph book.

Also on Saturday the pump which keeps the central heating water flowing through the boat packed up with the fire going full blast. David managed to get all the hot coals out before it erupted and we are having to survive with an electric heater until Tuesday.

A pretty card with a sepia photo matted onto gold, cream and black card with a small ribbon rose in the top left hand corner. Half the base card was covered with sepia coloured postcard type paper and a ribbon covered the join.

Gas Street

We seem to get a lot of people coming here to feetd the Canada Geese, consequently the geese have started roosting on the lock island and making their usual mess. We asked BW if we could have it power washed and were told that "It was not their responsibility". Then when the Conservative Party came for their conference last week we got railings painted black and white (but not by our moorings which were promised and really need it) and then two men turned up with two brooms and a small plastic bucket on a piece of string.


Trouble is - it needs doing all over again already.

David and I have just had three days in Poitiers, France. Lovely place, tiny airport (just our Ryanair plane) and close to the city. There are two lovely cathedrals and lots of interesting architecture - and David got to ogle the girls again and eat lovely food.

Here are some Halloween cards I have made. They, and others, are available from my shop here.

Gas Street

Doesn't this just sum up our Summer this year?

Sorry - not been very active on the blogging side recently. Must have been all the consternation last week with the Conservative Conference. Or just lazyness. We had lots of policemen around and all the boats had to be escorted through past the conference centre again. Though I think if I was going to be bloody minded enough to blow up the Conservative Party on my boat (and possibly me with it), two extra policemen whould probably be a bonus.

Otherwise (apart from wearing out the bus pass) nothing much has happend. Although I've just remembered that Pete slipped on the moorings and spent a couple of days in hospital, coming back with a black eye.

Peter went off on his boat, Chanel, last Sunday and came back Friday with his new boat Sorcerer, so that's another new(ish) boat on the moorings. There are about 3 or 4 more moorings up for tender - so we may be quite full soon.

Christmas is coming!!! Here are four cards which I am about to upload to my shop here

This one is l made with red card. A green ribbon and bow are fixed under the banner which is matted with silver card.

This one is a pink card with silver organza ribbon whith sparkly snowflakes and wound around with silver thread. The wire angel has net, feathers and gems on it. I have made a box for this card as it is too thick to go in an ordinary envelope.

This is a yellow card with turkeys on the front. The wording on the front says "Stuff the Turkey!". Inside the insert says "Eat chocolate!" and there is a large chocolate coin fixed to the bottom right hand corner.

And finally a green card with a patterned panel and a silk, white poinsettia flower fixed to the left hand size.

Gas Street

Famous people on the mooring this month No 2 (well, sort of). This time it was Leon (who?) being interviewed by the local ITV station. Apparently he won the X Factor last year.

There was a cartoon in Private Eye this week. A busker stood outside a record shop. The shop is advertising "X Factor Winner 2008" discs. The busker has a sign saying "X Factor Winner 2007".

David was asked not to photograph him by a minder, but as you can see he did.

The security for the forthcoming Conservative Party Conference is gearing up. We noticed on Tuesday that the rubbish bins had disappeared. Now there are fences all around the conference centre and turnstiles and more policemen that you normally see in a year.

I promised a card for the Birmingham City fans after the Aston Villa one last time. Here it is.

I made a large three-fold card and put silver card on half the front page covered with a backing paper I made up on the computer. I then printed off three copies of the logo which I decoupaged onto white, silver, blue, patterned and more silver card. I printed off the sentiment using the Bend It font again and matted that up the same way.

The 1st inside page I made a large panel using the same combinations of card and for the 2nd page I printed off the recipient's name and age and then matted it up again in the same way.

The back page is just a large panel using the backing paper matted onto silver, blue and silver card.