Gas Street Basin, BCN

Playing with the big boys!

One of the 200 cards I made for a customer.  The girl is coloured in with pencils and decoupaged and stuck to a black oval frame. 

I covered the right hand side of the card with paper and covered the join with pink polka-dot ribbon.  Then two pink flowers and a green feather were added for decoration.

Gas Street Basin - BCN

 It's very busy tonight.  Must be half-term!

Made several baby cards today.  This is one.  I Cuttlebugged a white panel and edged it with blue ink and wrapped some blue polka-dot ribbon around it, tying the ends in a knot.

Actually, I don't usually wrap the ribbon around the panel, I tie the knot with the two ends of the ribbon and then measure it against the panel and cut the ribbon leaving a flap to go around the back; and then I glue the ends to the back of the panel to keep it secure.  This saves up to 4" ribbon for another project.

Anyway,  I stuck the peel-off baby hedgehog onto a white die-cut oval and then stuck that onto a blue scalloped oval and fixed it to the card with sticky fixers.  Then added the sentiment and three blue gems.

Gas Street Basin, BCN

Set off at 0700 (didn't want to go any earlier as we had two boats tied to us).





 This photo was taken last night.  When we went past this morning the boats were three abreast - all on the 1 hour service mooring - the visitor moorings on the other side were empty!









We soon caught up with another boat and followed it to Factory Locks.  The bottom pound was empty, the middle lock had the bottom gate wide open and the bottom lock had to top gate wide open.  So we set about sending water down so we could traverse the locks.  By the time we were in the middle lock there was another boat behind us.


The rest of the journey was uneventful and we arrived back at the moorings to discover that our lovely big, black glass table had been smashed.  It had been used and the umbrella had not been removed and when the wind caught it it broke the glass.  No one is taking responsibility.  In fact they all deny being there.  Be we know who they are!

A lovely trip and hope to repeat most of it next year.  We are now off to get a new table.

We are the cheeky girls....  Aren't they glam?
I matted the picture onto gold card and then onto patterned paper and more gold card.  This was then fixed to a white card blank and a gold bow added to the top left hand corner.

Wolverhampton, BCN

 Either it's a big dog or a horse has been this way - don't they know that towpaths are unsuitable for horses?

There was a smaller pile a bit further up, but we never saw a horse, or a big dog!

It took us 3 hours to do the 21.  All locks for us!  And the two that weren't had a boat coming down.  We were too early for bacon butties at lock 10.  Frustrating, as he was there and you could smell the bacon cooking, but the canopy was firmly shut!

We moored up at the top and I took the opportunity for a rest and some retail therapy.  Never miss the chance, though I was rather nackered and so treated myself to a lovely chocolate, cream and fruit torte in Patisserie Valerie in the town centre.  It was so good I bought two more for us to have for tea.

Later we were joined by members of the BCN Explorer Cruise.  There were boats everywhere.  Two rafted up to us and goodness knows how many on the waterpoint!!!

This card blank had a square cut out of it and a sentiment printed above it.  I just added the silk flower and a pink gem

Hunters Bridge 7, Shropshire Union

We were moored up under the Bridge pub by 0930, on moorings with a large ledge under the water.  Too deep for the fenders to work and too wide for the "wheel" fenders to be of any use and a long way from the bank.  So every time a boat went past or we walked along the boat we got a bump and getting on and off the boat (with short fat legs) was a chore. But we didn't intend spending the night there.

Caroline arrived with Ethan at lunchtime and it was another pub lunch.  Lucky me. In the month since we last saw him he has learned to crawl and got 3 teeth! 

The village was a picture in the sunshine and I fell in love with this building.  Almost makes me want to move on land if I could have a place like this.

After the guests left we moved on to here where we are within a stone's throw of the Wolverhampton 21 tomorrow.

An atmospheric picture of the lock onto the River Douglas at Tarleton.  The colours really matched the paper which I tore into shape and stuck onto the left hand side of a white card blank.

The picture was then matted onto white card, edged with deckle scissors and then matted onto lilac and gold card.  A photo corner was fixed to the top right and corner and a photo hinge to the bottom left hand corner.

I have fond memories of the Lancaster Canal.  We must do it again some time.

Stretton Aqueduct. Shropshire Union

 Another picture from just below Tyrley Locks.  Two "fishermen" made from the trunk of a tree.  Someone around here as a sense of humour.

We didn't go far today.  We are meeting up with Caroline and Ethan tomorrow in Brewood.

We moored up next to the boatyard and noticed a little butty called Montgomery but didn't twig it was the Jam Butty and we missed Andy where he came to pick it up.

The weather has been lovely, really hot and sunny.  Long may it last.

Another blokey card.  This one, maybe for the boy who has just passed his test, got a new car, or just started driving lessons.

I made a panel with yellow, corrugated card and wrapped some blue string around it and stuck it across a white card blank.  Then the boy panel was die cut and matted onto blue card (the right had side was cut off as the car finished there) and it was stuck onto the edge of the card.

Norbury Junction, Shropshire Union

We were taking on water in Middlewich at 0645, and I walked into town to Asda (which should open at 0700, but we were still waiting outside at 0715!) 

Coming down the Tyrley Flight we noticed lots of little shrine type things with toys in clefts of rock.  Whoever is doing it seems to be having fun, because the toys were all in different places on the way back.

We got to Norbury Junction for luchtime and had a pie in the Junction pub.

A card for Fathers' Day?  I matted the camera lense cover paper onto gold card and stuck it onto a white card blank.

The toppers were then added on top.