Gas Street Moorings, Birmingham

The Dorset Police checking for mines - or submarines - or on holiday for a few days.

The conference continues, there are smartly dressed gentlemen and ladies all over the place.








So a doggie card to get away from it all. An orange card blank with a pink panel which I Cuttlebugged. The photograph of the dog on a boat room was matted onto silver card and then onto orange card which has been scalloped before fixing to the centre of the pink panel.

And to finish off, three pink flowers in the bottom right hand corner.

Gas Street, Birmingham

I said there were a lot of Police about. Poor sods! It has rained almost all day.









This is the card I made for our son-in-law. He and Caroline had been to the Nurnburgring in Germany on their holiday this year so I found a picture of a BMW (their car) and decoupaged it a couple of times after matting the base onto silver, green and red patterned paper. I found the finish line and flags as a clip somewhere and printed and cut that out and stuck it on with sticky fixers.

The white base card was 3/4 covered with green patterned paper before adding the picture. The final touch were the three black dots. Why do they always look wonky in the photo, but not on the actual card?

For the inside I printed out a map of the racetrack and a happy birthday

Gas Street, Birmingham

Signs everywhere. The boats keep stopping, but the police officer hasn't turned up yet!

There are policemen and women everywhere, the roads are being blocked off and the police helicopter is roaring overhead. So it's nice and quiet here. We can't even park our cars in the pub car park until the conference is all over.






Sorry about the picture, I tried cropping it not realising it was still in the camera memory card so when I cancelled, it cropped off the bottom of the card. But I am rather pleased with it so I am showing it anyway.

I used photographs that David took at a Stourbridge Gathering a couple of years ago. I used pictures showing a car, a door handle, the "Austin" badge and a wheel (not shown). I matted them all onto silver mirror card and then onto green card. I also printed out the guy's name, age and a "happy birthday" and matted them in the same way before adding them to a blank white card.

Gas Street, Birmingham

Awaiting nb Rivendell in the Land of Mawdor.

A couple of months ago we had an email from friends who said they a were hoping to come to the Conservative Conference and if they brought their boat could we find room for it?

Of course, we said yes. There were a couple of spare places on the moorings, but being sod's law they had been taken up by the end of September. So we asked if BW could reserve the spot outside the James Brindley pub, which is not technically a mooring. We got the OK from BW and let Bowman and Jan know that there would be room for them. Sod's Law again - someone else was on the mooring on Friday when they were due!

Anyway we suggested we meet the boat at the bottom of Farmers' Locks to help lock them up. It was pouring with rain and we were a bit early, but we found a warm, dry cafe which perched over the canal and had a coffee while we waited.

We got them up the locks and found the mooring empty so they were all set up just as the rain stopped.

I have had several commissions lately - this one for a saxophone playing lady. The card began with a white card blank which I used landscape (with the fold at the top). I printed out some music paper and matted it onto yellow and black card and wrapped a yellow gross grain ribbon around it, tying it in a bow. This panel was stuck across the middle of the card. Then I printed out the picture twice and cut out the sax and the flames from one and stuck it onto the base with sticky fixers. This was then matted onto yellow and black card and I stuck than down with more sticky fixers. Finally I used some black peel-offs for the sentiment. I really should start stamping the sentiments, but I always manage to make a mess off it and ruin the finished card!

Gas Street, Birmingham

One of a series of photos entitled "Sod the Boaters!" - or - "BW don't give a damn (in my words s***)!" - or - "What health and safety?"

One of the locks in Blackburn where you have to climb over (or under if you are little and fat) the whatsit to get to the paddle gear. Not easy either way. The white handle is for opening the gate - also not easy. This time I had help from a very, very helpful BW Temporary Summer Lock keeper. Very helpful, as I said, but didn't have a clue. It was his first day!!

The moorers had a barbecue last night. Lots of guests, food and drink but it was sooo cold!

A gentleman who had said something wrong to his lady asked me to make him a card to say sorry. Hope this helped.

I covered the left hand half of the card blank with some lilac paper, cutting the right hand edge with a Martha Stewart punch. Then I added some floral lilac paper on top, also edging the right hand side with the same punch. I stuck two silver photo corner peel-offs on to the two left hand corners.

Then I added two prima flowers with floral brads for centres and some diecut leaves to go behind them onto the right hand side of the card. I added a dot of glitter glue to the centres of the two brads.

Finally, I typed up the sentiment and the lady's name on the computer and printed it out before matting it onto silver, lilac and more silver miri card.

Gas Street, Birmingham

Autumn has begun.

Well, the axe fell yesterday evening with an email. Even though we have been on our mooring for five years now we are going to have to move so that the other commercial company can take it over.

They took out a planning application on our mooring after we moved on to it for a live/work mooring, which was granted. And although we comply with that and the Planning Office says it does not give them any right to the mooring, BW seem to think that it does.

We have no idea where we are going to yet as the basin is full to bursting, and we are still going to fight as long as possible with an official complaint already lodged with BW.


I have joined the gym at the Hyatt Hotel and have been swimming every day. Eva, the Polish receptionist left the other day to pursue her dream of becoming a personal trainer and work on the ocean liners.

This is the "good luck" card I gave her. I found the picture on the Internet and mounted it up onto pearlescent white card and pink card, colouring the edge with silver ink.

The panel behind was cut from a cake box and I stuck it down the left hand side of a white card blank with the picture in the middle. I then fixed two flowers with pink gem centres on the top left hand corner of the picture and three pink pearls on the bottom right hand corner.

Gas Street Moorings, Birmingham

Most weekends we get a visit from a premiership football team who stay in the Hyatt Hotel and take a stroll along the Worcester Bar before going off to play against Aston Villa, Birmingham City, West Bromwich Albion or even Wolverhampton Wanderers. Last Saturday it was the turn of Liverpool

David rushed out to get some autographs for a nephew's daughter and Bruno took some photos with his telephone. No idea who this player is is though.

This weekend, because we had family visiting from Bolton, the Bolton Wanderers team didn't stay in the Hyatt so we didn't see them!

The teams all look so comical, they are all in some form of uniform and walk in a crocodile, 2 x 2 with their manager, minders and trainers etc - just like a school outing.



The previous week it was the turn of Everton and David was tasked with getting their manager, David Moyes' autograph for a niece.

I made the autograph up into a card and this is it.

I decoupaged the badge three times and matted it onto yellow and holographic card.

I also made the backing paper on the computer and stuck it to the bottom half of a white card base, adding a silver strip of peel-off along the join.














On the inside I decoupaged a photograph of David Moyes and matted that in the same way as the front, also sticking the backing paper along the bottom of the card.










Finally I cut out a frame in blue card using my Black Cat Cougar (fabulous machine, must really get down and use it much more). I Cuttlebugged the cardboard to give it a bit more strength and stuck some acetate behind it, adding the autograph behind the acetate before sticking it to the card.

To finish off I cut out a smaller badge to stick at the top of the frame and a street sign for the bottom. All the images I got from the Everton web site.

Needless to say, Rachael was wrapped, and I was pretty pleased with myself too.