Artygirlz challenge #67-anything but a card

ooooh I AM becoming a naughty blogger but life just seems to be getting in the way right now... I don't mean to be awol... but things just keep cropping up to keep me off the 'puter ;)

My Artygirlz challenge piece is a reversible concertina book...the first one I've ever made... seems to be a year of firsts and change for me so far but I am enjoying doing different things it's really fun and stops my crafting sessions from being boring and stale... well for me at least... maybe not always exciting for YOU to look at... but a lot of satisfaction for me doing something new. I know you know what I mean :D

The outer cover and hand cut flower embellishment is my fab velvet paper from Scrapz cos I just lurvve stroking it...it's so lush The outline paper was just some scraps I wanted to use up.

The inner pages were made with 7gypsies paper again from Scrapz allowing plain white pages on one side to decorate and the lovely flourishes pages to decorate on the other. I was hoping to do some of the pages to show you but didn't manage to get around to it so will have to show you at a later date. Now then the main reason I have been awol is because it was DG Birthday at the weekend and as Nanna's usually do I got roped in to helping with the planning and helping out with his Birthday fun. As he is a lover of all things nautical right now we paid a visit to HMS Trincomalee at the Hartlepool Maritime Experience. He has been before and absolutely loved it but not with friends... so he was well excited that he could take his pals and Lord it over them by showing them how knowledgeable he was... knowing where everything was and how it worked...lol

The boys were whooping with excitement the minute we got through the doors even though it wasn't the nicest day and it took DD and I all our time to rein them in a little bit... cor three boys together are a handful.... they were buzzing!!

Clowning around the minute we got there AND posing for pics as often as possible...lol (the boys don't really have butterfly masks...heh heh... but in the interests of anonymity I thought I had better provide them for DG's pals)

They were all for climbing up on the ship and up to here to face the dizzy heights... thankfully though that isn't allowed so I didn't have to put a brave face on while my heart thudded in my chest at the thought of peering down at the decks below....phew!!

They contented themselves with walking the plank and perching precariously 2 feet from the soft play mat below :D

A sailors' lunch in the decks below didn't look toooooo appetizing... pleased I didn't have to eat THAT even salad leaves look more appealing!

There were plenty of photo opportunities on the inside and outside games to chase off the cobwebs and wear the boys out a little... even if me and his Mum almost froze to death despite the thickest of scarves and gloves... why is it kids NEVER seem to feel the cold?

We moved into the free museum afterwards and my little man became a monk for a short while...he sooooo loves to dress up

and then took a well earned rest at the old school desk.... heh heh... I remember desks like those :D Wonder if that's how he sits after a hard day at school normally.

Anyway a good time was had by all and afterwards they all had MacDonald's followed by a sleepover and I think this is one birthday he will certainly remember :D

I've got some more goodies to share this week so promise I won't be a stranger.

'Till next time :D

hugs

Chris xx