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Posting on my blog two days running - can't be bad eh!! I guess the weather can be partly to blame for that because it is wet and windy again today so I decided indoors is a good place to be. Looking through my box of cards I noticed I needed a few more cards in various categories other than birthdays so started with this one suitable for a wedding or engagement perhaps. I used the piece of Centura pearl card embossed using a Creative Expressions folder and added die cut circles from Marianne (the large frame) and Spellbinders. The sentiment was produced using Craft Artist and then cut out using circle dies.
Tuesday 31 December 2013
Wedding Card
Posted by Aquarius at 09:28 5 comments:
Labels: Creative Expressions, Marianne die, Spellbinders
Monday 30 December 2013
Celebration is the theme for the challenge on the Male Room blog and it can be any type of occasion as long as it is suitable for a male. I've used a stamp from the Wetlands set by Stampin' Up and a Cuttlebug embossing folder with just a simple birthday greeting. The frame for the image was cut using two Spellbinder dies, the framing layers are gold mirri card which looks brown on the scan. I'm quite looking forward to the challenges starting again after the break - maybe they will give me some impetus to get into the craft room which has been neglected a little of late. I've just noticed that the picture is a little skew-whiff - the card itself is straight!!
Very best wishes for 2014 to all my friends and followers.
Very best wishes for 2014 to all my friends and followers.
Posted by Aquarius at 14:02 5 comments:
Labels: Cuttlebug, Spellbinders, Stampin' Up
Sunday 29 December 2013
Yellow Flower
It seems ages since I actually made a card and I seem to have lost momentum so I'm planning a bit of a tidy up in my room and then really must get down to using up some of my stash. For the moment I've decided I don't need to buy anything more and have managed so far to resist all the offers which arrive daily from the various companies I deal with - not sure how long that resolution will last!! This card was made before the Christmas rush began and I used a Marianne die set which really didn't need much more to finish it off apart from the flower in the centre which was layered up using three ready-made flowers with a large brad in the centre (all from Papermania).. A simple greeting produced on the computer and layered onto Cuttlebug die cut shapes and a piece of toning background paper completes the layout.
This will be another fragmented week with a Bank Holiday in the middle and I'm looking forward to normal weeks which start and finish on the right day. Wishing everyone all the very best for 2014.
This will be another fragmented week with a Bank Holiday in the middle and I'm looking forward to normal weeks which start and finish on the right day. Wishing everyone all the very best for 2014.
Posted by Aquarius at 10:39 4 comments:
Labels: Cuttlebug, Marianne die, Papermania
Monday 23 December 2013
Seasonal Wishes
I would like to wish my followers and on-line friends all the very best wishes for Christmas and the New Year. This card was made using decoupage from the La Pashe 'Oldies' Christmas collection.
Posted by Aquarius at 10:10 6 comments:
Sunday 22 December 2013
Bicycle Girl
Earlier this week I met up with two of my lovely crafty friends for lunch at our local craft shop and was, of course, tempted with a little retail therapy in the form of some toppers by Hobby House. I've combined one of these with die cuts – Stately Circles from Spellbinders and the larger circle was cut with two of the dies from Tonic Verso Decorative Bow Rings, all using Centura Pearl card. The flower was made using a Marianne die and two X-cut punches, some die cut leaves were added. Background paper is a piece of pretty floral from my stash. It is nice to be working in delicate colours as a break from the Christmas cards and I don't think I need any more of those for the moment.
I see this has come in with a wide margin which I don't normally do – sadly I was unable to use the programme I'm really used to for getting pictures from the scanner to post on the blog which is a real pain. I'm still trying to work around my various options with programmes on the computer and obviously haven't really got to grips with it yet – previously I could do it without thinking!! I will persevere.
EDITED - I managed to get the picture to look as I'm used to but by a very circuitous route, just hope I remember what I did!!
I see this has come in with a wide margin which I don't normally do – sadly I was unable to use the programme I'm really used to for getting pictures from the scanner to post on the blog which is a real pain. I'm still trying to work around my various options with programmes on the computer and obviously haven't really got to grips with it yet – previously I could do it without thinking!! I will persevere.
EDITED - I managed to get the picture to look as I'm used to but by a very circuitous route, just hope I remember what I did!!
Posted by Aquarius at 13:36 3 comments:
Labels: Hobby House, Marianne die, Spellbinders, Tonic die, X-cut
Saturday 21 December 2013
A Card to Share
I'm still trying to catch up with my computer bits and pieces, installing programmes and tidying up files etc and with Christmas as well I still seem to be all behind. Here is another card which I made a while ago and haven't yet shared.
Posted by Aquarius at 13:37 6 comments:
Wednesday 18 December 2013
A Bit of Crochet
I have something a bit different to share today - an owl doorstop which I crocheted. I spotted the design on the cover of a magazine and of course I just had to buy it for the pattern. Apologies for the slightly fuzzy picture but I'm sure you can see what he looks like.
Posted by Aquarius at 09:32 6 comments:
Tuesday 17 December 2013
A CAS Christmas
This is the theme for the Make My Monday Challenge this week and as I've missed a few weeks due to computer problems I thought I'd pop on a quick CAS (clean and simple) card. This was done very quickly using Craft Artist so maybe a bit of a cheat but hopefully no-one will mind!!
Posted by Aquarius at 10:25 6 comments:
Saturday 14 December 2013
Quintiles for December
The theme for the December Quintiles was, of course, seasonal and because I was somewhat pressed for time I've made two very similar ones using a lovely tree stamp from Chocolate Baroque. Stamped onto card printed from Seasons Greetings CD and embossed with WOW powder; layered onto an embossed panel of snowflakes and the base layer is more of the same printed design from the CD. Hopefully I will be able to include a picture here - I've lost the programme I normally use for manipulating and sending the scans to my blog and have had a go with something else which came with the new system. I was so used to the old programme but sadly it isn't compatible which is such a pain but I'm not going to rush out and buy another programme until I've tried out other options.!!
Posted by Aquarius at 11:46 7 comments:
Labels: Chocolate Baroque, Cuttlebug, Wow embossing powder
Thursday 12 December 2013
I'm Back!
My computer was returned to me yesterday complete with new operating system so hopefully I will be able to catch up with blogland - I do so hate being cut off from the world and using a tablet is no substitute for the real thing. I have quite a bit of work to do re installing my programmes and retrieving my files but I'm hoping that won't take me too long and of course I have to get used to the new system but it seems pretty straightforward as far as I can see although some of my programmes aren't compatible so that's something else to deal with. I have a card to share today which is one I made a while ago but hadn't actually shown. Background is embossed Centura pearl card and the other elements are from various Stampin' Up stamp sets with some die cut leaves and butterflies.
Posted by Aquarius at 13:39 6 comments:
Labels: Creative Expressions, Sizzix, Stampin' Up
Thursday 5 December 2013
missing from blogland
Apologies to my followers - I seem to have been very busy doing other things. Thanks to those who've shown concern, yes I am fine! However I will be absent for a few more days because my computer has to be taken into ' intensive care' for a new operating system to be fitted. Hopefully I will be up and running before too long.
Posted by Aquarius at 13:58 3 comments:
Wednesday 20 November 2013
November Quintiles
Well November seems to be rushing by while I've been pondering how to depict the theme of FIREWORKS which was the obvious choice for the Quintiles this month. Eventually I had a flash of inspiration and decided to use some of the stamps from Elusive Images (now Chocolate Baroque) sets - Retro flowers/Vases because they gave me the impression of bursts of colour in the sky such as would be seen with fireworks. I used two different approaches here - one using the clear embossing resist technique, starting with yellow card and gradually adding images followed by a slightly darker colour of distress ink, then more resist with a darker colour and so on. The other one was made using very dark purple card with stamped and embossed images using various colours of Cosmic Shimmer embossing powders. The descriptive word was typed on the computer and cut out with a label die. It is lucky really that I actually got these made this month because it took me so long to come up with an idea but hopefully they will get there in time!!
Posted by Aquarius at 09:27 12 comments:
Labels: Chocolate Baroque, Cosmic Shimmer, Distress ink pads
Sunday 17 November 2013
Quilled Christmas Card
Yesterday I attended a seasonal quilling class with the lovely Jill and came away with lots of ideas for Christmas cards. The card we made was this one which includes some lovely quilled pinecones which I'd not seen made before. To my shame I've not actually done any quilling since I went to a class with Jill this time last year, consequently I'm not too happy with my poinsettia flower which to me looks a bit spindly so I might make some better ones for another project. We were also shown a great Christmas rose flower which I made when I got home before I forgot how it was done so you might be seeing that at some point. I enjoy going to workshops and meeting other like minded people and I also treated myself to lunch which meant no cooking yesterday.
Posted by Aquarius at 10:44 9 comments:
Wednesday 13 November 2013
Where Did That Week Go??
I can hardly believe it is almost a week since I posted anything on my blog - apologies. However I've at last managed to find a bit of time to get into the craft room and make something for the Make My Monday challenge This week they are asking for ANYTHING BUT A CARD and CHRISTMAS THEMED so I decided to use one of the box 'blanks' which I bought recently at the Stampin' Up Extravaganza. The boxes are made from sturdy kraft card and have an acetate sleeve which slides over to cover the contents (mine is empty at the moment) but they are food-safe so could contain some nice home-baked goodies perhaps or even some shop-bought ones which appear to be home made - not that I'd cheat like that LOL!!! I've added some patterned paper with matching mat layer and die cut a selection of Marianne poinsettias using Centura Pearl card. The embossed detail doesn't show up in the main photo but the close-up should give you an idea.
Posted by Aquarius at 11:59 7 comments:
Labels: Marianne die, Stampin' Up
Thursday 7 November 2013
Twelve Tags 2013
I expect many of you know about Tim's 12 tags series but if not you can check it out here. I've not used all of the ideas this year and somehow I never seem to have quite the items he's used although I can usually improvise if necessary. The chalkboard technique used on the latest one has taken my fancy so I had a go but instead of using the traditional 'blackboard' colour I've used a very dark purple card and rather than make a tag I've decorated the cover of a journal. I've also incorporated a few of his other techniques from Creative Chemistry. I won't go into details because you can read all about it on his blog but I used one of his blueprint stamps, Distress inks and stains along with various masks/stencils for the background.
Posted by Aquarius at 08:47 18 comments:
Labels: Distress ink pads, Distress Stains, Tim Holtz
Wednesday 6 November 2013
House of Cards Challenge
The first week of each month in the House of cards Challenge is CUTE AND FUN and this month they've given us a colour challenge by way of a photograph of poppies so my card has been made using various poppy shades. I must say that their photograph is quite vibrant with more orangey (not sure this is a word!) colours now I look at it again but I've used various reds, and greens which I hope will be acceptable. The image and papers all came from Funky Hand CDs and the border made using a Tonic punch with the 3D flowers being made with a punch from Stampin' Up and also some of the 'waste' from the border with a few odd die cut leaves which happened to be lying around. It's another grey and damp day here but I did see in the paper this morning that the first snow has landed in Co. Durham so I hope that doesn't mean we are in for an unpleasant winter this year.
Posted by Aquarius at 08:33 11 comments:
Labels: Funky Hand, Tonic punch
Tuesday 5 November 2013
Autumn Flowers
AUTUMN FLOWERS is the theme for this week's challenge at Make My Monday and there are some lovely cards by the design team for inspiration. I've used a silhouette stamp from Stampin' Up, inked using marker pens and cut out using a die from their Apothecary Accents set. The embossed background is Centura Pearl card with a Creative Expressions embossing folder and the various layers and borders used up some more of my scraps of paper and card which hopefully tone with the image in autumnal colours.
Posted by Aquarius at 10:53 11 comments:
Labels: Creative Expressions, Sizzix, Stampin' Up, Tonic punch
Sunday 3 November 2013
Christmas Ted
I can't really rouse much enthusiasm for Christmas yet although I heard yesterday that there were 'only 53 sleeps' until the big day so maybe I should start getting into gear. I did make a seasonal card in the week using up some odd die cuts which were on my desk, along with one of the Tatty Ted images I'd printed. The background paper is from the Tatty Ted range as well and the dies used were from Marianne and Nelly Snellen. Enjoy what's left of the weekend.
Posted by Aquarius at 08:49 10 comments:
Thursday 31 October 2013
I'm so enjoying working through some of the techniques in the Creative Chemistry from Tim Holtz and this card incorporates effects like shattered glass, tarnished silver, faux rust etc - obviously I can't go into to details but I know lots of my 'viewers' have been following along as well so they might recognise the various elements. Can't stop to write more at the moment as I'm off to patchwork group, somewhat reluctantly I must say - I need to 'play' some more!!
Wednesday 30 October 2013
Creative Chemistry
Yesterday I decided to have a play day, experimenting with some of the techniques to be found within Creative Chemistry 102 from Tim Holtz - great fun resulting in a selection of backgrounds and some embellishments which will be incorporated into projects. This one is a sort of layered effect using masks, stamps and inks and I added some embossing and embellishments to turn it into a male card (always useful to have in the box) - I find on the whole I tend to make more female cards than male ones so I might try to concentrate on the male themes. I guess my next task will be to have a bit of a tidy up before I can do much more - such a messy worker!!
Posted by Aquarius at 08:46 8 comments:
Tuesday 29 October 2013
House of Cards Challenge
The House of Cards challenge theme this week is SHABBY/VINTAGE, still using the sketch for the month of October. I used a Marianne die to cut a shaped square from Core'd'nations card which was then sanded and cut into four triangles layered onto another piece of card. The penny farthing is a Stampin' up stamp on a Stampin' Up label die shape with a greeting added. Backing paper is from Tim Holtz vintage shabby paper pad. Next week we will be into a new month with another theme for the month so keep an eye on their blog if you are interested in taking part.
Posted by Aquarius at 08:38 9 comments:
Labels: Marianne die, Stampin' Up, Tim Holtz
Monday 28 October 2013
Steampunk Theme
The STEAMPUNK theme this week on Make My Monday has been chosen by Suzi - well chosen for me at any rate because this is one of my favourite genres. I've used a backing paper from Papermania Chronology range; an embossing folder called Uber by Couture Creations and a stamp from Chocolate Baroque Steampunkery set - this is the first time this particular one has been inked. The quotes are also from this stamp set and have been cut to resemble the 'chit-chat' stickers. The stamped image was cut out and the clock face has been layered for a bit of dimension. If you like this theme why not take a look at what the design team have made and perhaps take part yourself this week.
Posted by Aquarius at 11:36 10 comments:
Sunday 27 October 2013
Challenge Card
The challenge this time around for the Male Room is NATURE and I've used stamps from Stampin' Up sets - Lovely as a Tree and A Touch of Nature which should fit the bill. The trees were stamped onto a paint chart which you can easily pick up in DIY stores which mix paints for decorating purposes. I fished out some toning paper and card from my stash to complete the card. The embossed panel is watercolour paper put through an embossing folder which was inked before using. Take a look to see the lovely cards from their design team.
I really hope the predicted horrendous weather doesn't materialise but if it does - stay safe and don't go out unless you absolutely have to.
I really hope the predicted horrendous weather doesn't materialise but if it does - stay safe and don't go out unless you absolutely have to.
Posted by Aquarius at 10:36 14 comments:
Labels: Cuttlebug, Stampin' Up
Wednesday 23 October 2013
Tatty Ted
I thought it was about time that Tatty Ted had an airing on a couple of cards - such a cute character and handy for all sorts of occasions. He, or maybe this is a female relative, has been combined with an embossed Die'sire folder) background which was highlighted with some wax and a couple of die cut shapes using a Nellie die set. Once the cutting and embossing was done this was quite a quick and easy card to put together.
Posted by Aquarius at 13:44 8 comments:
Labels: Die-sire, Docraft, Nellies Dies
Tuesday 22 October 2013
House of Cards
We are into the third week at the House of Cards so the theme is CLASSIC AND ELEGANT following the sketch which we have been given as inspiration for the month. Somehow I've managed to miss the first two weeks this month - sorry!
Posted by Aquarius at 09:58 10 comments:
Labels: Marianne die, Spellbinders, Stampin' Up
Monday 21 October 2013
The challenge this week at Make My Monday is HALLOWEEN and this will be my second project on this topic, which considering I don't really 'do' Halloween is good going. This time I decided to take a look at what I have available within Craft Artist and luckily there were some suitable items for me to build up a spooky scene.
Posted by Aquarius at 10:53 7 comments:
Labels: Craft Artist
Sunday 20 October 2013
One of Those Weeks
Most of my weeks seem to go by in a flash but this last one seems to have been speedier than others - probably because I have been out most days for various reasons. I'm just scraping in by the skin of my teeth this week for the Make My Monday challenge which has the theme of TEXTURE. This card has been made using various embossing folders and dies from Tonic, Creative Expressions and Spellbinders. The sentiment is a stamp from Stampin' Up. I've not managed to visit and comment on as many blogs as usual either so apologies to any I've missed - I'll try harder in the coming week!!
Posted by Aquarius at 08:24 6 comments:
Labels: Creative Expressions, Spellbinders, Stampin' Up, Tonic die
Saturday 19 October 2013
A Day Well Spent
I've just got back from a lovely day out attending a Stampin' Up Extravaganza day with the lovely Jenny Moors (Stamping Moments) where we made a good selection of Christmas items in attractive shades of blue and silver. We made three different sized gift boxes, the largest with an accompanying gift pocket card, a medium sized one with an acetate sleeve - probably about the size to hold a box of after dinner mints, and the small square one contained the three little cards. As always this was a really enjoyable day and I even managed to actually complete all the projects and of course met up with like-minded friends - I'd say a good day was had by all.
Posted by Aquarius at 16:10 5 comments:
Thursday 17 October 2013
Being October the theme this month for the Chocolate Baroque Quintile swap is SPOOKY. I'm a bit short on Hallowween stamps etc but I did have this one from them. It was stamped onto heavy watercolour paper and a mask cut for the moon before colouring the background with Distress ink, some of which was lifted off with splashes of water. Using a reverse mask I then brushed some colour over the moon. I've tried all along to make two different tiles for this challenge but I'm afraid this time around the two are very similar with just the water splashes being in different positions!
Posted by Aquarius at 09:02 6 comments:
Tuesday 15 October 2013
More Jewellery
Last week when visiting a local gallery to see a quilting exhibition I was tempted into their craft section and just had to treat myself to a silver scarf 'ring' with a gorgeous dangly owl on it. This of course got me thinking that I could make some of these if I could obtain the basic finding (scarf bail) easily. I discovered they aren't quite as easy to source, particularly in this country as far as I can tell, which in turn made me think that I could maybe design a beaded scarf bail and this is the result of my first experiment using Delica beads. The dangly part is an adaptation of a design seen in the latest issue of the Beadworkers' Guild Journal which I spotted after I'd started making the bail part using an idea from a book on Geometric beading. I picked up a couple of light scarves in the local charity shop and that's it - my first beaded scarf ornament. With all this beading I've not produced any cards recently so it is back into the craft room to dig out my stash and play with inks because I have a couple of Halloween quintiles to make.
Posted by Aquarius at 12:08 3 comments:
Wednesday 9 October 2013
Elegant Ladies
The theme this week for Make My Monday is ELEGANT LADIES and I've used an Art Deco image to make my card. The image is from a Card Creations CD, as is the backing paper and the border. The embossed panel was made with a Papermania embossing folder and the sentiment is a Papermania stamp.
Posted by Aquarius at 08:19 4 comments:
Labels: Card Creations Plus, Papermania
Tuesday 8 October 2013
Rosebud Bag
I've been stitching this morning making a bag using a Clover template - these are excellent templates with very clear and concise instructions for six different bags of similar style. One of the members of our craft group had very kindly brought along some pieces of what I imagine are samples of up-market furnishing fabrics to share and this one with the 3-d embroidered rosebuds appealed to me. I also had a plainer piece of linen type fabric for the lining and handles. This piece had rows of vintage ruched ribbon which of course I removed and saved to be used on a card or three!! Because the fabrics were quite heavy I could only make a fairly plain style of bag but I will enjoy using it and I'm sure it will be a useful addition to my collection of bags - love them - and they do all get used at some time depending on how much shopping I need to carry. Sorry it isn't the best of photographs but I'm sure you get the idea.
Posted by Aquarius at 10:30 11 comments:
Sunday 6 October 2013
Caldera Bracelet
I have long admired the geometric beadwork designed by Jean Power and this design is in a book which she published last year. This pattern was available to people who pre-ordered her book as a download and a selection of beads was offered in a range of colours chosen by her. I added about three more colours from my stash and used them randomly with the black being a constant throughout the design. It feels as if I've been working on this forever and I dread to think just how many tiny beads were stitched in one at a time but at last it is finished. I don't really have any way of displaying it nicely but hopefully you will be able to see roughly what it looks like from this photograph. I worked on this mainly at a weekly craft group meeting and usually managed about one and a half triangles each week, sometimes a bit more if I didn't chat too much and of course I have done some of it at home, particularly the finishing off and joining as concentration was required to ensure that the bead colours matched up on the join. There is no fastening as it slips over the hand and that was another hurdle to overcome, making sure it would go on without too much difficulty yet not be too loose in wear - hopefully I've got it just right. I did enjoy making this but won't be making another one in a hurry. I'm beading a couple more pens next - birthdays and Christmas coming up and I think a couple of family members would like one as a gift.
Posted by Aquarius at 16:33 13 comments:
Saturday 5 October 2013
When I saw some of these ladybirds on a friend's blog I thought this would be a die which would get good use so it had to be added to my growing collection. I have a feeling someone will soon need to start an organisation called 'Crafters Anonymous' as it seems so easy to become an addict - harmless though I'd say and brings so much pleasure to so many people it can't be bad, can it?. I used this cute image cut out with Nestabilities dies and coloured with Copic pens. Background was a handy piece of paper which was in my stash and I just added some die cut grass using a Marianne die. Sentiment was produced on the computer and popped onto a Cuttlebug die cut. A handy card to keep in the box for maybe a child's birthday.
Posted by Aquarius at 14:24 6 comments:
Labels: Cuttlebug, Impression Obsession die, Marianne die
Thursday 3 October 2013
Photo Inspiration
As there were five Mondays in September the people at House of Cards have come up with a photograph for inspiration and we can use any style of cardmaking. Here is the photograph -
Posted by Aquarius at 08:23 15 comments:
Labels: Couture Creations, Oh La La CD, Sizzix, Tim Holtz
Wednesday 2 October 2013
Make My Monday
The challenge this week at Make My Monday is to make a vintage style card using CREAM AND SEPIA with either BLUE OR PINK. I decided to go for this image of Wellington as I reckon he is definitely a vintage bear and in the right colours too. The floral embossed panel was some Tim Holtz whitewash card which was put through a Sheena floral folder and sanded to bring out the blue. A punched strip using a Tonic border punch was added along with some cream lace and the sentiment printed and popped onto a couple of toning tags. Of course I couldn't resist using a few of the 'waste' flowers from the punched strip - never throw anything away!!
Posted by Aquarius at 10:30 10 comments:
Sunday 29 September 2013
Male Room Challenge
For The Male Room challenge this time the theme is ANIMAL, AVIAN OR AQUARIAN and we have to choose just one of these to make our cards. It so happens that I came across this image while I was sorting through boxes of bits and pieces and it fits the animal theme. At the time (ages ago), I'd printed a whole sheet of images from a Jane Netley Mayhew CD from Joanna Sheen and of course had only used one of them, storing the remainder away for future use. Backing paper is also from the CD or at least I think it must be and because the image is quite large there wasn't much more needed to complete the card apart from a piece of embossed kraft card and a simple greeting. There are some great examples on the challenge blog from their design team if you take a look by following the link.
Posted by Aquarius at 08:39 9 comments:
Labels: Joanna Sheen
Saturday 28 September 2013
House of Cards Shabby challenge
Well I'm not sure quite where this week has gone but I think I'm just about in time to scrape in with my card for the House of Cards SHABBY AND VINTAGE challenge. Again we are using the colour scheme of the month. Background paper is from my stash and the postcard embossing folder by Sizzix seemed appropriate, along with a dress form taken from an artylicious CD to which I've added some die cut swirls and little yo-yo flowers which I made with some scraps of organza and beads. A ticket sentiment and that's it for the challenge this week. I was planning on popping out this morning but as it is raining steadily I think the craft room is a better bet!! Have a good weekend whatever you might be doing.
I must apologise for the picture quality - too dark to take a photograph indoors, too wet outside so I've scanned it which tends to throw the background out of focus if there are raised elements.
I must apologise for the picture quality - too dark to take a photograph indoors, too wet outside so I've scanned it which tends to throw the background out of focus if there are raised elements.
Posted by Aquarius at 09:59 9 comments:
Labels: Chocolate Baroque, Sizzix
Wednesday 25 September 2013
Beaded Pen
I really enjoy beadwork but as there is a limit to the number of necklaces and bracelets which I can wear I decided to have a go at beading myself a pen. The 'blanks' can be purchased from beading suppliers, along with needle cases, key fobs and so on, any of which would make great gifts. I worked out the pattern on a grid to tie in with Delica beads in colours from my stash and of course something like this doesn't use a huge number of beads so would be great for using up oddments
Posted by Aquarius at 14:02 7 comments:
Monday 23 September 2013
Make My Monday Challenge
The challenge at Make My Monday this week is to produce something with either FLOWERS OR TREES. I've used another of the digital stamps which I came across while browsing through files on the computer - this time a rabbit, or is it a hare?, with a 'Get Well' message. Either way I'm sure this would cheer someone up if they weren't feeling too good. The flowers were stamped onto patterned paper using Heartfelt Creations Sunkissed Fleur stamps, then die cut. The leaves were cut with a Tattered Lace die. Take a look at what their design team have given us by way of inspiration and maybe have a go yourself.
Posted by Aquarius at 13:36 12 comments:
Friday 20 September 2013
Purrfect Day
I have gathered loads of digital 'stamps' over the years and indeed now have no idea where some of them came from which is a shame. I was printing off something earlier this week and decided to fill a page with some others while I was at it. I quite like this cat image but no idea of the source. It has been layered onto some Spellbinder die cuts and I simply added a matching ribbon and a computer greeting on a Nellie die cut shape.
Posted by Aquarius at 08:33 5 comments:
Labels: Nellies Dies, Spellbinders
Thursday 19 September 2013
Gilding Flakes
Earlier this week I met up with two friends for coffee, crafty chat and a bit of 'show and tell'. One of the cards I saw was made by Anne and I've 'cased' it but using a different image and a different die. Thanks for the idea Anne. The stamp is from Personal Impressions and the dies from Spellbinders. Background is some textured card with a sort of sheen and has been embossed with Creative Expressions heart lattice folder. Corner is from Whimsy and the sentiment is a computer one on Stampin' Up punched labels. My pot of gilding flakes has been around for years and is now more like crumbs than flakes but they still managed to adhere to the sticky sheet used.
Posted by Aquarius at 13:18 7 comments:
Wednesday 18 September 2013
Swirls and Pearls
The challenge this week for Make My Monday is SWIRLS AND PEARLS and I've used one of the lovely images from Katy Sue Fabulous Shoes. The swirls are within the image and pearls have been added to the ribbon. Backing paper by Papermania has been in my stash for ages; border was cut using a Tonic punch; sentiment from the computer on a couple of Cuttlebug diecuts. Lots of inspiration from the MMM design team as always.
Posted by Aquarius at 09:06 10 comments:
Labels: Cuttlebug, Katy Sue, Papermania, Spellbinders, Tonic punch
Monday 16 September 2013
HOC Classic and Elegant
It is the week for CLASSIC AND ELEGANT on the House of Cards challenge, still of course working within the colour scheme of the month. I've taken a slight liberty in that I have used some gold card in place of the orange shade so I hope that is OK. A Tonic Verso die has been used with some Centura Pearl card; the border strip down the side was cut in gold card using a Stampin' Up punch; Spellbinders oval dies used for the sentiment (SU stamp); the corners were cut using a Whimsy die.
Posted by Aquarius at 13:32 15 comments:
Labels: Spellbinders, Stampin' Up, Tonic die, Whimsy dies
Sunday 15 September 2013
The Male Room challenge #4
The theme this time on the Male Room challenge is SPORTS OR HOBBIES and there are some interesting takes on this with the design team cards, well worth a look if you are stuck for ideas for male cards. I decided to use a Boofle image - he is a photographer here - and I've used matching backing papers and added a few die cut buttons (Sizzix die from Stampin' Up). The zig zag strips were cut using a Spellbinder borderability die.
Posted by Aquarius at 09:03 11 comments:
Labels: Docraft, Sizzix, Spellbinders
Saturday 14 September 2013
Tim Holtz Tags 2013
Each time I see the latest tag from Tim Holtz I think that I must try the technique but so often never actually get around to it - roads being paved with good intentions and all that!! However I have at last had a go with his latest one for September 2013 and you can find it HERE if you want to see. Of course I never have all the same stencils or stamps which he uses but I've made do with what I have, even down to making my own chit chat stickers. This was fun and now I have to scrub my hands again to bring them back to their normal colour.
I hope you are all having a good weekend and that the horrible weather forecast for tomorrow doesn't cause anyone too much bother - could be a good excuse to stay indoors and play.
I hope you are all having a good weekend and that the horrible weather forecast for tomorrow doesn't cause anyone too much bother - could be a good excuse to stay indoors and play.
Posted by Aquarius at 14:01 8 comments:
Thursday 12 September 2013
Second Autumn Quintile
As promised here is my second autumn themed quintile. I used the same double inking technique using a mask, but a different design this time. I've added a tag printed from Chocolate Baroque Essence of Nature CD and overstamped the background with floral and grass stamps (also CB). These are packed up and ready to post in the morning and I'm so looking forward to receiving my swaps.
Posted by Aquarius at 10:48 10 comments:
Labels: Chocolate Baroque
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Kabul: More than 60 per cent of Afghans still believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, but signs of better governance and rebuilding has slightly lifted the national mood, according to a survey by the Asia Foundation.
Just over half of the 10,000 people surveyed said they had confidence in President Ashraf Ghani's government, which has struggled to establish security in the face of a growing Taliban insurgency. Last year, just under half of Afghans said they had confidence in Ghani.
However, nearly 39 per cent of those surveyed said they would be willing to leave if they had the opportunity, the second highest figure in the survey's more than decade-long history.
The main reason was increased security concerns. More than 70 per cent of Afghans fear for their personal safety.
Attacks are up across the country. In May, more than 150 people were killed by a blast in Kabul's diplomatic zone - one of the deadliest since the Taliban's ouster in 2001.
On the day the survey was released, more than 20 policemen were killed in fighting with Taliban insurgents in the southern province of Kandahar.
The survey which was conducted in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan in July, primarily in rural households, pointed to a mixed picture, with steady gains in education and health over the past decade and a half matched by continuing concern over corruption, unemployment and security.
Around a third of Afghans, or 33 per cent, believe the country was heading in a positive direction, up slightly from 29.3 per cent last year to buck a years-long declining trend.
"After a historic decline in 2016, confidence in public institutions has slightly improved; growing confidence in the Afghan National Security Forces stabilised in 2017," Abdullah Ahmadzai, Asia Foundation's country representative in Afghanistan said in a statement.
The increase in optimism applied across ethnic groups except Uzbeks, who make an important minority in Pashtun- and Tajik-dominated Afghanistan.
While there was a slight rise in positive sentiment, it was down significantly from a peak in 2013 before the withdrawal of most foreign forces. Back then nearly 60 per cent of Afghans were positive about their future.
The survey comes as the United States in August announced a boost in U.S. troops to Afghanistan, which could push optimism higher in the coming months.

subset: commoncrawl


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New moms are dealing with much more than the outside world can see. They are trying to adjust to fit in a whole new order of life, and that alone can create a lot of chaos in their lives.
When you add that up with all the havoc that is experienced during every year's holiday season, there is a considerable chance that your mom friend could need to take a breather. The right gift can put a smile on her face or give her a peace of mind and let her relax.
It is your responsibility to find out what your loved one or friend will appreciate more during this stressful yet fulfilling journey for the first-time moms.
Whatever gifts you decide to choose, make sure you understand what a new mom wants and needs. Distinguish between wants and needs: practical and pampering gifts. Below is a list of the items that a new mom will need or want to use.
Ambiance Women's Soft Jogger Pants
It is agreed upon that giving lounge pants to a new mom might be a tad of a stereotype, but if a new mom is given these pants, you can be assured that she will be satisfied with the gift. The pair of pants is comfortable and easy to match with any other top. She could wear them as she goes to bed, to an appointment with her doctor or during a trip to the post office.
Everyone Hand Sanitizer Gel
A perfect and essential gift that you can present to a first-time mom would be a hand sanitizer gel. As this type of gift is rather common, make sure that you make it more special by choosing a specific scent that she likes or a deluxe version of hand sanitizer gel. When you think about it, if she uses it just half as much as she instructs others to use it, then she would also require essential oils to use on her hands to have a rejuvenated and healthy feel of her palms.
Picture Frame with Baby Handprint Kit
This is the superb gift for a first-time mom because no matter how fancy she is, she can always forget to get some things because she is tied up with getting everything ready as she eagerly waits to welcome her new bundle of joy.
Most of them get the picture frame and ensure that something is added to it, hands and footprints are often used by most of them. The sooner she captures them into the frame; the better it is because the sweet little toes and fingers get bigger very quickly as the young goes grow very fast. Grab this chance to capture them while their feet and hands are still small!
Eye Gel for Dark Circles, Bags, Wrinkles, and Puffiness
This can be one of the best gifts you can give a fellow mom because this one shows that you are facing the hard reality of motherhood which is characterized by sleepless nights. A lack of sleep isn't great as far as skin complexion is concerned. The bags and the dark circles below the eyes are part and parcel of welcoming a new baby. This forms the most substantial part of an emergency kit just in case of an accident. What's more it is a perfect gift for first-time mothers who are getting a lot of dark circles or eye bags from all the tiring chores.
There are so many gifts that you can get a new mom, but we cannot manage to feature them all at once. You can care for their mental and well-being and get them anything that nourishes the brain. This will help them to keep their mind sharp to counter the effects of a brain drain during pregnancy and childbirth duration. There are many more gifts that you can explore including personalized plaques or even a personalised leather wallet. Explore these options and make it more enjoyable for the newborn and mom during this tough period of time.


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If you were reading the newspapers in the years when Claude Bissell was president of the University of Toronto, 1958 to 1971, you knew the place was in a bad way. Frantic expansion, overcrowded classrooms, arbitrary management and noisy radical politics: These were dominant themes of his presidency, to outsiders and some insiders as well.
But in retrospect, those years have acquired a patina of excellence. Bissell died in June at the age of 84, and on Sept. 21 his friends and colleagues will be discussing his career at a memorial gathering in Massey College. They may well speak of the Bissell era as a kind of golden age, and for good reason.
During Bissell's presidency, Northrop Frye at Victoria College was, according to one survey, the world's second most quoted critic in the humanities, Aristotle being the first. Nearby, at St. Michael's College, another English professor, Marshall McLuhan, was inventing a new field, media studies. John Polanyi was working on what the Nobel committee would call, in 1986, "a new field of research in chemistry." In the law school, Bora Laskin, later the chief justice of the Supreme Court, was consolidating his reputation as a constitutional scholar. Around the corner, Robertson Davies, the founding master of Massey College, was writing the novels that made him a world figure.
And Bissell was building a monument to his era, the Robarts Library. Many of those who thought that building much too big for its environment (I among them) have since realized that Bissell needed a lot of space to create one of the three or four best libraries on the continent, a library good enough to serve the first-class graduate school that was also in his plans.
He wasn't responsible for the brilliance of faculty members like Frye, McLuhan, Polanyi and Davies, but he helped create the environment in which they flourished. The fact that he could appreciate both Frye and McLuhan (whose followers considered them mutually exclusive passions) suggests his breadth of understanding. The fact that he could keep so many sacred monsters more or less happy, and keep Frye and McLuhan from going elsewhere for better pay, demonstrates what one of his colleagues called "the always amiable sense of purpose" that went along with his imagination, energy and management skill.
In the 1940s, Bissell taught English literature before becoming an administrator under president Sidney Smith, first as his assistant and then vice-president. It was not an altogether happy apprenticeship. Smith was intelligent but pompous, and his reaction to a spoof in the campus newspaper, The Varsity, was typical. The editors printed the text of a speech in which he announced remedial English classes (made necessary by inadequate training in high school), but they substituted the word "sex" wherever Smith used the word "English"; they attributed the speech to president Kidney Myth. Affronted, Smith made a fuss about punishing the students and forcing them to apologize. Bissell, a man of tolerant good humour, must have looked on in horror.
He left Toronto in 1956 for Ottawa, to become president of Carleton University. During his two years in that job, he created the first Institute of Canadian Studies, an experiment that was copied across the country.
He first swam into my vision in 1957, with the publication of Our Living Tradition, a series of books collecting guest lectures at Carleton on historical figures. Bissell explained that the lecturers (Frank Underhill, Mason Wade, Donald Creighton, Davies etc.) were chosen to break down the barrier between politics and literature. He argued that academic history limited itself by seeing Canadians simply as political and economic animals, and that literary critics viewed our writers too narrowly, as exotic products of a thin literary culture. His arguments for a broader cultural understanding of history and a more informed understanding of literature are now commonplace, but they were remarkable at the time, and affected many of us.
In 1957, Smith went to Ottawa to become minister for external affairs under the new prime minister, John Diefenbaker. That summer, Bissell noted Smith's weaknesses in his diary: a constitutional inability to be direct in public; an attraction to platitudes; and "an unnatural respect" for businessmen, which made him servile before the board of governors.
Not long after he wrote those words, Bissell was chosen to replace Smith. He became, at 42, the youngest of the university's presidents to that point -- and entirely different from his predecessor. He spoke directly and well, and he was willing to fight businessmen and politicians when necessary.
But as it turned out, neither businessmen nor politicians were the problem. Instead, the great blight of the Bissell years was something called (always with the dignity of capital letters) Student Power. In rhetoric, it was a wholly owned subsidiary of the American student movement. Like the Americans, the Toronto student radicals believed their cause was so important that it justified forgoing any pretense of civility. Disrupting the curriculum, coarsening the tone of campus life, they were hardest of all on Bissell.
That was partly because radicals are always meanest to liberals, but also because they disdained excellence in scholarship, which Bissell had struggled to master, learned to revere, and hoped to pass on to them. Instead, student politicians praised "relevance," as they chose to define it. Bissell survived that hurricane and remained amiable to his opponents -- rather too amiable, as he sometimes thought in later years.
His last major project was Vincent Massey's biography in two volumes, The Young Vincent Massey and The Imperial Canadian. Not all the reviews were enthusiastic (I found the first volume superb, the second sometimes evasive) but the size of Bissell's achievement, and the dedication behind his research, were unquestionable.
Typically, he tracked Massey's reading: If a certain book seemed important to Massey in 1920, then Bissell read it in 1980 and told us exactly what it meant in Massey's life. He brought the same care to everything from Massey's vexed relations with Mackenzie King to his tragic (in Massey's view) failure to become Sir Vincent. Bissell left us a detailed and engaging picture of the Canadian leadership class in the first half of the 20th century -- a monument to the biographer as well as the subject, and worth a place just below the Robarts Library on any list of Claude Bissell's many accomplishments.


text: Steve, welcome to research! It is a different world here. My advice would be to buy a hydrometer, and test your alcohols. When your last 100% starts to show some water, rotate it up to the position just past the 95% alcohol and make the later changes fresh. Also invest in the animal processing manual from the NSH. You'll find some very helpful schedules in there for all kinds of animal tissues. Teri Johnson Managing Director Histology Facility Stowers Institute for Medical Research 1000 E. 50th St. Kansas City, Missouri 64110 tjj <@t> stowers-institute.org


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Event Cruises
Murder Mystery
Will you be the one to solve the crime and be crowned winner?
Cruising at 11am
Cruising at 11 - Ūpokongaro Stop Over
Saturday at 2pm
Speakeasy with Papaiti Gin
Join us on board the Paddle Steamer Waimarie for our first-ever speakeasy event!
Santa Cruise
Jazz Cruises
Fathers Day cruise
Vintage Cruise
Hipango Park Picnic Cruise
Steampunk Cruise
Country & Western Cruise
Coffee & Cake Cruise
Easter Bunny Cruise
Princess & Pirate Cruise
ANZAC Day Cruise
Mother's Day Cruise
What our other guests have said
Great little museum showing the history of the Whanganui river and the boats that have travelled along it. We took the 2 hour cruise on the steam powered boat at a cost of $49 per adult. The staff were excellent and the commentary very informative. Lovely tea, coffee and cakes at reasonable...
Laura Heyes
Don't miss this 2 hour cruise on the river if you are in Wanganui. Fantastic trip, friendly and very knowledgeable crew. Museum also very cool. loved it
Ruth Bowater
Thank you for letting us have our wedding on board the whole atmosphere and the friendliness of the crew and manager made it a great memorable experience for us we couldn't have had a better place to get married
Shane Burrell
The only coal fired paddle steamer in New Zealand. Journey an hour up the Whanganui river as far as the Upongongaro church. A ride that was once a mainstay of 19th century travel. A great experience. Highly recommended.
John Sherborne
Fantastic - must do - Whanganui experience. It's a lovely trip with so much to see and lots of interesting information too. Wave out on your trip - locals love it too. You'll be thrilled you had this fantastic experience - guarantee it
Rebecca NZ
Fabulous 2 hour cruise Crew amazing and helpful loved loved loved it I say this is a must see in Wanganui The weather was perfect too
Trish Hill
Fantastic experience. Even had homing pigeons on board that they released when we got to the farthest point from the beginning. Great little cafe/bar on board also.
Simon Cope
Whanganui, voted most beautiful small city and steaming along the river you can tell why. Went on the jazz cruise and it was delightful, great music and a very friendly crew. I would recommend this to anyone.
Geoff Zuy
We couldn't have had a better experience! Beautiful scenery, friendly staff who couldn't do enough to help. We will be doing this trip every year without a doubt. Highly recommended!
Stacey Bell
Such a nice time on board! Two kids loved it! Got to pat the homing pigeons and watch the engineer shovel coal to the firebox.. friendly deckhand made the kids day with the lollipops! Thanks to all the crew for a fun trip
Karen Shaw


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Part #: 4393
Listing Price: $217.49
Selling Price: $149.99
Shipping Price: $9.99
Shipping details:
Priority Mail 3 Day Service
Installation info: 30 min to 1 hour installation on most vehicles. Installation is trouble free for most vehicles. Some vehicles you must disable the DRL = Daytime running lights. Some vehicles will require additional relay to work properly, we will contact you if this is the case.
30 min to 1 hour installation on most vehicles. Installation is trouble free for most vehicles. Some vehicles you must disable the DRL = Daytime running lights. Some vehicles will require additional relay to work properly, we will contact you if this is the case.
Color Output : 3000K Yellow, 4300K White, 6000K Cool White, 8000K, 10000K, 12000K Blue, 30000K Purple
Fitment For My : Headlights, Fog Lights
Get Super Bright Headlights for your vehicle! Makes a perfect gift! Improve your factory headlights vision!
100% Money-Back Guarantee as long as returned in resaleable condition within 30 days of purchase*!
* Attention, all vehicles with DRL = Day Time Running Lights that exist on your Low Beam bulbs must disable or purchase a relay. If your DRL is not on your low beams, then there is no issue.
Everyone will claim their kits are the best, but really what is the difference between a cheap kit and a quality kit? We know its difficult making a decision! The truth is many of their parts are produced by factories simply to just sell with no regulation, with no care on durability and usability. The inexpensive HID kits you will see on eBay or other low priced websites use a electricity technology called DC to ignite the bulb. Don't mistake this for the incoming DC voltage that all ballasts will use, its an internal method of circuitry to turn your xenon gas bulb on with high voltage. It is far inferior to the AC technology used in this product. Yes, it is much more expensive to produce using our AC circuit, but the light bulb and ballast will last longer with a more bright light output. No fuzzy or flickering seen on unstable DC ballast kits. So next time your shopping for a kit, ask the seller, is it AC or DC and be cautious if the price seems too good to be true.
Will this fit my car*?
We will include the right bulbs for your vehicle. Please make sure to include: Make/Model/Year and Color Choice when paying at checkout. If you forget, please shortly after email us to ensure we process your order quickly. This listing is for the conversion of your LOW BEAMS into HID. If you want low beam + high beam or fog lights, let us know by email!
* Certain vehicles will need extra parts such as Bulb Adapters (Usually VW/BMW/Mercedes/Dodge/Jeep/Chrysler) along with Relay to function properly. These extra parts are sold separate and not included. The cost on these parts is minimal.
* If vehicle is equiped with DRL = Daytime running lights on the low beam bulbs, customer must disable or purchase relay to bypass. This is usually the case in Canada. Disabling is usually is done by fuse removal.
Will it fit if I have OEM Xenons?
No, this is kit is strictly for vehicles with "factory halogen" bulbs from factory. Vehicles which use OEM equiped xenon systems use different connectors and bulbs. Cars that have OEM xenons are usually: Acura/BMW/Mercedes/Audi/Cadillac etc..
Is it easy to install?
Yes, our kits our among the easiest to install on most vehicles. Its as simple as removing your factory bulbs and clipping a few connectors to each other. Please watch the video's below to get an idea. Your installation will be similar. Some vehicles will require extra steps (such as relay) if needed.
How are these installed?
Installing a kit on most vehicles is very easy and should take anywhere from 20 minutes to 1 hour. Some vehicles will take longer due to hard access to the light bulbs. Please consult your owner's manual or dealer on how to remove the factory light bulbs. Once you removed the factory light bulbs, installation is very straight forward after that. Below are two diagrams showing the wiring based on the type of bulb your vehicle uses. Please note this wiring diagram applies only in cases you are not installing a relay in addition to a HID kit. Most vehicles do not require a relay and will not benefit from a relay. Relays are only needed on cars where the computer may cause dash warning issues, flickering or are not turning. Do not worry, in most circumstances we will contact you if you did require a relay. Relays are sold in our accessories section.
What color's do you offer?
Our default color is 6000K which is a cool white color. We also offer 3000K, 8000K, 10000K, 12000K and 30000K
What is your return policy?
Easy, this is why we offer 30 day money back guarantee. Keep in mind we do not refund the original shipping costs. Its also your responsibility to mail it back to us. We feel customer should only keep a product they like. This is why we make returns easy. We kindly ask please never leave us any negative feedback.
This is a pair of universal blue lens fog lights complete kit with city lights. These fog lights...
Copyright © 2023 Dodge Ram Accessories


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I would like to welcome you all to The Providence Crier! This blog is dedicated to providing you all with my hard hitting opinions and analysis of men's college basketball. The blog will focus on the Providence College Friars but will also cover other topics in college hoops. You are probably all asking yourselves why the name? Why The Providence Crier? We can will get to that in a moment but first I should all introduce you to me.
For those of you who don't know my name is Mike Surette and I graduated from Providence College in 2012. During my time at PC I actually worked with the men's basketball team helping out at all their practices, their annual summer basketball camp and also helped with some of the promotional events at the games. I worked for the team during the entire Keno Davis Era (if you want to call it that) and then my senior year in a much more limited capacity with the Ed Cooley staff. Ever since I stepped foot (or walker) on the PC campus my freshman year I have bled the Friar Black and White. Through only 9 years of Friar fandom I have experienced plenty of the Good (2014 Big East title, 2016 buzzer beater to beat USC), the Bad (the 12-19 2009-10 campaign, Keno's departure) and the Ugly (when I got kicked out of MSG AFTER winning said 2014 Big East title). Also worth noting I am a little guy, they list me at 4 feet tall. Although Im short I'm told I have a big mouth and always use it to loudly voice my opinions on sports. Anyways on to why its called The Providence Crier.
When I asked Siri the definition of what a Crier is she gave me two definitions. 1. Noun- a person who weeps 2. Noun- (formerly) an official who made public announcements. You are all probably thinking to yourselves "ok its a blog about PC hoops so its the second definition". Unfortunately for me you all would be wrong. Fresh off a thrilling championship in the Big East Tournament in 2014 the Friars had made the dance for the first time since 2001. Earning the an 11 seed in the NCAA tourney they were pitted against 5 seed UNC Tar Heels. We had a big viewing party at my apartment in Allston at the time, it was a bunch of Friars and a keg what could go wrong! While little PC came close to defeating mighty UNC we ultimately fell. I had a few adult beverages that evening and was seen by a friend (a Umass grad) later in the night drunkenly crying myself to sleep on the couch. THEY PLAYED SO HARD THAT GAME AND CAME SO CLOSE TO AN HISTORIC UPSET! As said in the film The Big Lebowski "strong men also cry Lebowski, strong men also cry" but I digress. Thus the moniker The Providence Crier was assigned to me.
So there you have it! There will be more to come and I hope you all enjoy yourselves reading The Providence Crier.
(me with Big East Championship trophy… pretty chill)


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Irish Runner 5k
For results please click HERE.
Update on the timing of the SPAR Streets of Dublin 5K 2018.Thank you for your participation in the SPAR Streets of Dublin 5k.
As you are likely aware due to a technology issue there has been a delay in issuing results for the SPAR Streets of Dublin 5k.
Athletics Ireland has worked together with our timing partners since Sunday and made every effort possible to recover participants race times. Unfortunately after recovering some times and to our great disappointment, we are unable to recover the remaining results.
Unfortunately a proportion of the timing chips were encoded incorrectly and as a result the correct information (i.e. start time/finish time) cannot be retrieved from the chip when scanned. Regrettably this timing issue only became apparent once the run was finished.
Due to some omitted and inaccurate race results from the SPAR Streets of Dublin 5K, we cannot identify the winners of the age categories prizes. We feel that the best decision in this situation is to roll over the age category prizes (Male and Female 35+, 45+ 55+, 65+) to the next event in the Athletics Ireland Race Series. This will mean that the Irish Runner 5 Mile master categories prize fund has doubled. Although we recognise this isn't the situation we wanted, we believe it is currently the fairest decision for all our participants.
Again, we would like to emphasise that we are putting measures in place to make sure this technology issue will not happen for the next two races in the Athletics Ireland Race Series and any future events.
For all available results please visit our website http://www.athleticsireland.ie/runzone/streets-of-dublin/. If you haven't received your race time or if you think your race time is inaccurate or omitted please contact Titan Sports who may be able to help you further. Please email Jason Moloney on email@example.com. Thank you.
Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all the participants to took part in the SPAR Streets of Dublin 5k. We appreciate your support and patience throughout this process.
The SPAR Streets of Dublin Team
(Updated 6:30am, 23/5/18)
Athletics Ireland in partnership with Dublin City Council will host the SPAR Streets of Dublin 5K on Sunday 20th May 2018 @ 9am. This 5K route will take participants through the Streets of Dublin starting outside the CHQ Building and finishing on City Quay. The SPAR Streets of Dublin 5k is part of the brand new Athletics Ireland Race Series 2018.
When: Sunday May 20th 2018 @ 9am.
Where: Dublin City Centre.
Distance: 5K.
Entry Fee: €15 (plus processing fee).
Online Entry: Register HERE. Online entries will close 11:59pm Friday 18th May 2018.
Competitor Booklet: SPAR STREETS OF DUBLIN 5K COMPETITOR BOOKLET
Number Collection: Number collection will take place at INTERSPORT Elverys on Henry Street, 18 Henry St, Dublin 1 on Friday 18th May between 10:00 & 18:00, and Saturday 19th May between 10:00 & 18:00.
Discount: ** INTERSPORT Elverys is offering all participants 20% discount off all Full RRP items in their Henry Street store during number collection times. Please print off your registration email and present in store. **
Prizes: There are prizes for the top 3 male and female particpants who cross the finish line and also there are prizes for the winner in each age category as shown below.
Route: * Route subject to change
This is a chip timed event and all participants will receive a technical t-shirt.
What better way to kick start your Sunday morning than running through the Streets of Dublin!
Training Guide: From Couch to 5K in 8 Weeks By David Carrie


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The UK health secretary Jeremy Hunt is advising unprotected children and adults in England to have the MMR vaccine as the measles outbreak in Wales continues unabated.
Hunt said: "Today I am urging all parents, anywhere in England, who did not get their child vaccinated with two doses of MMR because of scare stories a decade ago to contact their GP surgery and make an appointment."
The call comes as cases of measles in Swansea, south Wales, has reached 765 cases, and has now officially been designated an epidemic.
Health officials have set up emergency vaccination centres in the country to help offset the increase, but are warning that there may be fatalities the longer people do not have the inoculation, with children particularly at risk.
The fear is that the epidemic could spread across the Welsh border into England, which has prompted the health secretary's calls.
Health officials said there had been an increase of 72 cases in Swansea since last Thursday, with 77 people having been hospitalised since the start of the outbreak in November last year.
Disgraced MMR paper - or govt 'behind the curve'?
One of the reasons parents have been reluctant to give their children the MMR vaccine is because of a 1998 Lancet paper from Dr Andrew Wakefield – which has now been fully retracted by the journal – purporting to show a link between the jab and autism and other conditions.
Hunt said: "Disgraced doctor Andrew Wakefield's discredited and inaccurate research caused great harm to the MMR vaccination programme and led to thousands of parents choosing not to vaccinate their children against measles, mumps and rubella."
But the Welsh government has also been blamed for reacting too slowly to the epidemic by Conservative Opposition party,
First Minister Carwyn Jones faced questions about the outbreak in the Senedd on Tuesday. He told assembly members that campaigns suggesting risks associated with the MMR vaccine by "elements" of the media were a factor in the current outbreak.
The Welsh government has a target to ensure 95% of children receive both doses of the MMR vaccine. Some 94.3% have received the first dose by the age of two, but only 89.9% have received the second dose by the age of five.
Jones told AMs: "I believe that the publicity given over the past few weeks, although we would not have wished it to be this way, will help us reach those targets."
Welsh health minister Mark Drakeford rejected complaints that the Welsh government was "behind the curve" in dealing with the measles outbreak in Swansea.
Officials decided to focus on vaccination in schools when the outbreak occurred last November, he said, but admitted that this was not successful in stemming the rise in cases.
"It was only in the post-Christmas period, as media reports increased, that greater awareness and parental action began to pick up," he said.
"I don't think there is any sense that either the Welsh NHS or the government have been behind the curve in responding to the outbreak."


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#S4HANA customer series: Empowering Shoppers with the support of SAP S/4HANA Marketing Cloud
SAP S/4 HANA helps customers run simple in a digital and complex world. Many global companies have adopted SAP S/4HANA to become a live business and a digital model enterprise. In this series we will show the value S/4HANA brings to companies with the help of example businesses who already took the road to SAP S/4HANA.
In this blog we are taking a closer look into a SAP S/4HANA Marketing Cloud customer, one of the leading fashion retailers in Europe. They decided to move to SAP S/4HANA Marketing Cloud with focus on marketing data management, high-volume segmentation, and email personalization including voucher handling. The integration to an external Web Shop and Loyalty system was also part of the first project phase. The next steps for this project are already planned with focus on Budget- and Spend Planning (Marketing Resource Management), Trigger-based Campaign Management for Real-time Marketing, Commerce Personalization, and much more.
The customer's objective with the move to SAP S/4HANA Marketing Cloud is to empower the shopper's experience end-to-end by linking customer, transactional and point-of-sale data to build one central customer profile and drive personalized marketing regardless of channel.
Here is an overview of the project goals:
Customer Insight
- Get to know the consumers, their preferences and needs better
- Track customer journey cross-channel real-time
Customer Experience
- Improve the shopping experience to drive brand loyalty and increase revenue by providing relevant content on all channels
Increase Efficiency
- One central system easy-to-use and maintain
- Close collaboration with agency
- Real-time success measurement
There are several benefits that the customer can leverage with the move to SAP S/4HANA Marketing Cloud. One of these benefits is higher efficiency through centralized and integrated marketing processes. Efficiency is a big value point with SAP S/4HANA Cloud in general, because of all the simplifications in processes and business models, and of course also with SAP S/4HANA Marketing Cloud. Another point that convinced this customer of the move was the deeper customer insights through centralized consumer profiles. And last but not least the increased customer satisfaction through highly personalized content.
This is only one of many examples that prove SAP S/4HANA delivers the value needed to lead your business through the Digital Transformation.
Find more Success Stories here and stay tuned for more parts of this #S4HANA customer series.
#S4HANA customer series: S/4 leads the transformation – THE collection
Follow us via @SAP and #S4HANA, or myself via @SDenecken


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State Rep. Liz Pike, R-Camas, is taking heat for a Facebook post in which she tells teachers to pick a different profession if they have a problem with their pay.
"Congratulations on enjoying your last day of the school year," Pike wrote in her open letter to public schoolteachers. "If I had the opportunity to choose my career all over, I would have opted to get the necessary degree and teaching certificate so that I too could enjoy summertime off with my children, spring break vacations, Christmas break vacations, paid holidays, a generous pension and health insurance benefits.
"Instead," continued Pike, an elected official and advertising consultant, "I chose to work a career in private sector business so that I could be one of those taxpayers who funds your salaries and benefits as a state employee in a local school district."
Pike, who serves on the House Education Committee, said she wrote the post on Friday after several teachers asked her to support cost-of-living wage increases for teachers as state lawmakers negotiate a budget deal. This year's budget negotiations have been especially challenging. Lawmakers, who are in their second special session of the year, are trying to comply with a court mandate to put more money into the state's K-12 education system.
On Monday, Pike declined to comment further on the topic, saying her Facebook post speaks for itself.
In it, Pike blamed teachers' unions for the state of the nation's public education system.
"The big difference between the U.S. public education system and others in the world is that we have unions that only care about the adults in the system," Pike wrote. "Since the rise of teachers unions in this nation, our public education system has deteriorated."
Educators sounded off on Monday, saying Pike's post lacked tact.
"It's disheartening that she'd take such a dim view of teachers. It shows such a disrespect for the teaching profession," said Jamie Hurly, a social studies teacher at Battle Ground High School. "To imply that we only work by the clock, we don't. We work outside of our school day. At Battle Ground, we start at 7:30 a.m. There are many teachers who are there by 6 or 6:30 a.m. every day to prepare for their day. Not too many people would do this for the money. Teachers work hard to prepare our young people for the future."
Summer, evening work
Pike also said teachers grumbling about their pay should look to their friends in the private sector, many of whom also don't get raises.
Teachers in Washington have not had a raise in at least two years. Across the state, classified and certificated school employees, including teachers, took a 1.9 percent pay cut during the last two years. A year before that, in order to prevent cutting any staff positions, all employees in the Battle Ground district took a 2 percent pay cut. The previous year, they took a 4 percent pay cut, said Ellen Joslen, president of the Battle Ground Education Association.
"The 1.9 percent cut that the state made these last two years came out in furlough in our district," Joslen said. "The state cut our pay by 1.9 percent, and the district wasn't able to pay us for those days. So the district cut our year by three and a half days — called state-cut furlough days — or nine three-hour early releases to make up the 1.9 percent."
"Some of our beginning teachers are making less money now than when they started teaching," Joslen said.
She added that the state requires teachers to take 150 additional hours of job training every five years in order to renew their teaching certificates.
"That typically happens in the summers and the evenings," Joslen said.
In her letter to educators, Pike wrote: "Furthermore, teachers who are dissatisfied with their pay and benefits should look for work elsewhere so that someone who is inspired to greatness can take their place in the classroom. Our children deserve an exceptional and inspired teacher in every classroom. Don't you agree?"
Rick Wilson, executive director of the Vancouver Education Association, said he represents 1,300 school workers in his district. Students were released for the summer last Tuesday.
"Frankly, some of the teachers are still in their classrooms cleaning up," Wilson said.
He added that because legislators haven't passed a state budget yet, school districts don't have their budgets and teachers haven't been assigned what subjects or grades they'll be teaching in the fall.
"Most of our teachers have master's degrees or higher. They work very hard. They get extra training in the summers. They're here because they want to make a difference in the lives of children. And they do," Wilson said. "Teachers are easy targets. Attacking teachers' benefits and salaries — that's a sad reflection of what our society values."
Pike described herself as a lawmaker who values smaller government, and she also told teachers that there simply isn't enough government money to go around. She said she was open about her political positions during her 2012 campaign, so her Facebook post should come as no surprise.
'Great work'
Her letter ended on an upbeat note to educators: "Thank you for the great work you are doing in our classrooms. Enjoy your summer!"
Carla Gish, a Battle Ground primary teacher who retired last week after 37 years and teaching 925 students, said Pike needs to educate herself about the teaching profession.
"It's so frustrating because there's so much misinformation out there," Gish said. "She kind of made herself a target today. She should spend some time with teachers and possibly come into classrooms to see what our job entails."


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Last month at ICFF, London-based industrial designer Jake Dyson (yes, his dad's the vacuum guy) introduced his latest design to the US market, the CSYS LED task light. It's an environmentally conscious, dimable LED lamp with a controllable light spread that uses a new heat pipe technology that lasts for 35 years. Nifty, right? Dyson, who established his studio in 2004 and is known for his lighting, also has a history designing interiors, from retail environments to clubs and cafes. For this week's Friday Five, Dyson delves into gastronomy, architecture, and engineering.
1. Helicopters
The most refined engineered machine made which exposes all the working mechanics. This is my all-time favorite mechanical object.
2. Crustaceans
I am a big fan of seafood. I find the taste completely clean and pure. It requires minimal preparation and I feel like I am having a cleansing detox when I eat it. The articulated legs and claws of the creatures, especially crabs and lobsters, are fascinating to look at too.
3. Ferrari FF
In my opinion, this is the most beautiful car that has ever been designed. It is not a bald man's sports car. It is not spivvy; it is elegance personified with the performance of a racing car. It's a Ferrari that doesn't look ostentatious or flashy, just beautiful.
4. Couveture & The Garbstore
I don't wear designer labels. I prefer clothes that are comfortable with a perfect fit, but that have creative elements that stand out, such as the color of buttons or the stitching. It is important to be and feel individual, which I don't think can come from wearing designer labels. All my clothing comes from the Garb store in London, which is a treasure trove for trendy, well-made clothes.
5. Shard Tower
I dislike morphic objects, which is why I love the Shard in London. It is a pure, elegant, primary shape made out of glass; and it's not square! It is simple but imposing, cutting a fine figure against the city skyline.


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So now Harry Reid is in trouble for apparently having told Rod Blagojevich that he didn't want Jesse Jackson Jr. to fill Barack Obama's Senate seat. Nor did he want Danny Davis or Emil Jones, who are also African-American candidates. Reid apparently "did not believe the three men were electable", according to the Sun-Times.
Right now, with Jackson's name being at least tangentially tied up in the Blagojevich scandal, he might well have a difficult time winning statewide office in Illinois. But these communications between Reid and Blagojevich apparently took place before the scandal broke, so let's concern ourselves with that hypothetical. Was Jackson electable then?
In the literal sense of the term "electable", of course Jackson Jr. was electable. Before the Blagojevich scandal, virtually any Illinois Democrat was going to be the favorite over virtually any Illinois Republican. One only need back to look to 2006 when Blagojevich himself, already relatively unpopular in Illinois, defeated a fairly appealing, moderate Republican in Judy Barr Topinka by 10.5 points. Having the big 'D' by your name is exceptionally advantageous in Illinois — or at least it once was.
Nevertheless, I don't think that Reid was wrong to conclude that Jackson Jr. was relatively more vulnerable to an upset than another Democrat might have been.
On December 4th, about a week before the Blago scandal broke, Rasmussen released a poll asking Illinoisans who they preferred to succeed Barack Obama. Jackson Jr. was named by 23 percent of Illinoisans, essentially putting him in a three-way tie with Lisa Madigan (25%) and Tammy Duckworth (21%).
A look at the internals of the poll, however, suggests that Jackson's support was fairly limited outside of his base.
Candidate preference by party:
Candidate DEM Indie GOP
Jackson, Jr. 36% 14% 9%
Duckworth 29% 19% 12%
Jones 2% 3% 6%
Madigan 17% 23% 37%
Schakowsky 8% 9% 5%
Nearly all of Jackson's support came from Democrats, among whom he was the plurality favorite to succeed Barack Obama. He placed a fair bit behind Madigan and Duckworth among independents, and received very little support among Republicans.
Unsurprisingly, these results are strongly tied to the issue of race:
Candidate preference by racial group:
Candidate White Black Other
Jackson, Jr. 10% 81% 21%
Duckworth 22% 6% 31%
Jones 2% 4% 6%
Madigan 31% 0% 23%
Schakowsky 9% 2% 5%
Jackson had the support of 81 percent of black voters in the Rasmussen poll, but just 10 percent of whites. He did do reasonably well among those in the "other" category — which in Illinois, means mostly Hispanics — getting 21 percent support, though he still trailed Duckworth among that group.
Now, it is hard to translate the results from a straw poll like this into a prospective matchup against a Republican opponent. But a reasonable worry for Reid is that, while African-American voters would probably have supported another Democrat in a matchup against a Republican, white voters who might have gone for someone like Madigan might not have gravitated to Jackson.
In the 2006 gubernatorial race, Illinois' turnout was made up of 77 percent white voters, 10 percent black voters, and 13 percent "other". Let's say that Jackson Jr. received a turnout bonus among black voters, boosting their share of the electorate to 12 percent, bringing white voters to 75 and leaving "other" at 13. Let's furthermore say that Jackson Jr. wins 95 percent of the black vote — a Barack Obama type of number — and 60 percent of the "other" vote. These Jackson votes account for a total of 19.2 percent of Illinois' electorate.
In order to receive a majority, Jackson Jr. would then have to win the support of just slightly over 41 percent of white voters. In Illinois, about 35 percent of white voters are Republicans, 35 percent are Democrats, and 30 percent are independent. What if, say, Jackson received the support of 80 percent of white Democrats, but just 35 percent of white independents and 5 percent of white Republicans? That would bring him to 49.4 percent, denying him election by a point or so.
Hypothetical 2010 Election:
___ Share of
Group Electorate Jackson Jr. GOP
African-American 12.0% 95% 5%
Hispanic/Asian/Other 13.0% 60% 40%
White Democrats 26.25% 80% 20%
White Independents 22.5% 35% 65%
White Republicans 26.25% 5% 95%
Total 100% 49.4% 50.6%
Now, obviously these numbers are completely made up. Perhaps Jackson Jr. would get more like 70 percent of Hispanic voters instead of 60 percent, or more like 85 percent of white Democrats instead of 80 percent. All that I'm saying is that given Jackson's tepid support outside of his base, there is a plausible path to defeat here, one that might not have existed for someone like Madigan.
I do share rikyrah's concern over at Jack & Jill Politics. If Reid was looking for someone electable — should he really have been looking at Tammy Duckworth? The fact of the matter is that Illinoisans have gotten to see an awful lot of Tammy Duckworth, and they simply don't like her all that much — note that she's getting barely more crossover support than Jackson in the Rasmussen poll. Duckworth also couldn't defeat a non-incumbent Republican in Illinois' 6th Congressional District in 2006. Although IL-6 is a slightly Republican district, registering as an R+3 on Charlie Cook's PVI scale, 2006 was a very, very Democratic year. Democrats were knocking off Republican incumbents in R+3 districts all over the country in 2006, and they certainly should have been favored in an open seat race. I'm a pretty big proponent of the No Loser Rule: don't nominate someone for higher office if they lost their last race for lower office.
In all probability, though, this seat would be considerably more vulnerable to Republican takeover if Jackson were the nominee than if Madigan were instead, or for that matter someone like state treasurer Alexi Giannoulias.
If Harry Reid hadn't expressed that concern to Blagojevich, then Harry Reid really wouldn't have been doing his job.
NOTE: To be clear, my argument is about Jackson Jr. and Jackson Jr. only, who along with Madigan and Duckworth, has strong enough statewide name recognition that we can credibly discuss their chances of winning election. I don't particularly know about Davis, or for that matter someone like Jan Schakowsky, who are little known outside of their home districts. In particular, the implication that Jackson is more likely to lose than Madigan seems credible. On the other hand, the implication that, say, Davis is more likely to lose than Tammy Duckworth is far more speculative.


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So I wasn't planning on taking a blog break but it happened. It seems that between the 30+ inches of snow, getting over a really bad cold and telecommuting for several days I needed to disconnect myself from all things FabAve. The blog wasn't the only thing that got neglected, my social media accounts were also lacking my presence. But can I tell y'all a secret? I kinda like the whole not being chained to my phone thing. It was a liberating and has got me thinking. I might be stepping away from all the posting, all the time. It's really not that necessary. But let's not jump to conclusions here. Let me take the rest of the week and I'll be back in February refreshed. See ya Monday, friends!
Get the Look:
Bow-tie Blouse & similar | Old Navy Sweater | Skirt via H&M | Boots
Can't get enough of FabAve? Let's get social: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Bloglovin' and Pinterest!


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Basalt Exhaust Tape is constructed from high-quality basalt fibers woven into a 2-inch tape.
Recommended for a continuous operating temperature of 1382°F (750°C)
Basalt Tape provides an excellent exhaust heat shield.
When applied as an exhaust heat wrap, the tape provides thermal insulation and radiant heat protection.
Automobile, Motorcycle, Truck, Heavy Machinery, Insulation/Heat Containment
Different colors are available
HOME | ABOUT | PRODUCT | CONTACT | Applications | Knowledge | Catalogue
Copyright - Ningbo Winkay New Material Co., Ltd. - All Rights Reserved


text: Berger Paints Pakistan Limited organized a Painting Competition by the name of Berger Paints Young Artist Contest for the students of Lacas, Paragan on 10th Feb, 2017. The theme of the competition was Retro Lahore. More than 100 students participated enthusiastically in this competition and made very colorful paintings. Many young emerging future artists appeared in this competition. All participants were given certificates to appreciate their efforts. More over prize distribution will be held at Berger Color Vogue to give prizes to the top painters.


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Asgard Reviews
Asgard Press reviews
To find out more and read an Asgard review, please click the logos and images below.
Click the icons above to read any Asgard review. Asgard has a range of reviews and accreditations on a large range of metal bike storage, metal garden sheds, and motorcycle storage.
This page contains independent reviews of metal bike storage, reviews of metal garden sheds, and reviews of motorcycle storage, and other Asgard storage.
Asgard secure steel storage has been reviewed and approved by dozens of industry experts and thousands of happy customers.
British Athletes & CelebritiesSome of Britain's most accomplished athletes and celebrities are proud owners of Asgard Sheds.
You can find out what they think about their sheds here.
Asgard Accreditations
As a leading UK manufacturer for over 50 years, Asgard is well recognised within the metal storage industry as a leader in the design and manufacture of metal garden sheds, metal bike storage and motorcycle storage. As a company looking to improve both our products and service we have achieved a number of awards and accreditations. Asgard is an environmentally aware and ethical company introducing many initiatives to reduce our impact on the local environment and protect our future.
Click below to view Asgard policy documents.
See our LPCB certificate here.
See the Loss Prevention Certification Board website here.
Secured by Design Police-approved products here.
See the Locksmiths Association Building an Asgard Shed here.
- Asgard ISO 45001 Certification.
- ISO 9001 Certification.
- 14001 Accredited.
- Safe Contractor Business in the Community Environmental Indexes 2008 highest new entrant & 2009 significant improver.
- Calor Choice recommended products.
- UK Locksmiths Association (UKLA) Accreditation.
- BSI Certification and Membership.
Asgard pride itself on our innovation and product development. As both the designers and manufacturers of our own metal garden sheds, bike storage and motorcycle storage we have full control over the entire process. Because of this unique position we design in many security features not found on competitors' products. Asgard metal storage has integral bases, 3 or 5-point locking systems, innovative ventilation systems, heavy duty construction, weatherproof finish... the list goes on!
Many of the Asgard metal storage products are designed specifically to meet the exacting standards of recognised security organizations such as:
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Asgard is also ISO approved, in addition to our ongoing commitment to our Green Policy.
What does this mean for you??
It means Asgard products are designed and manufactured based around the help and advice of these industry governing organisations. So Asgard storage really are as tough as you can get. Only after they have met these high standards will we then send off our units for expert critique by the leading industry Press.


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05 November, 2013
Living in the moment
That focus on living in the moment meant that, aside from the daily quick review of news on the internet), we felt removed from any society - our own, and certainly the other-language-speaking societies we were moving through - and largely uninfluenced by mass media culture. (I do recall refusing to buy a particular washing liquid at a supermarket in Italy because it had babies on the label.)
So it is a bit of a shock to come home and suddenly find ourselves immersed in news and advertisements and media and culture. Reminders that "family" to so many only means parents plus children. TV advertisements that say "you're GREAT, Mom" in such a cheesy, saccharine sweet voice that I shuddered. Stories in the newspaper of a woman in France who kept her two-year-old in the boot (trunk) of her car. (Reinforcing my view that having or not having a child is neither a reward nor a punishment.)
I'm noticing anew the every day reminders of living without children in a world that insists you must have them. By and large I'm observing the reminders - they're not really hurting me. But I do remember how hard such reminders were in the early days, months and even years of loss, and of realising we were living a life without children. And I hope that those who are still going through this, who still feel hurt and lost and alone, can take some comfort in my promise that as the years pass, these things get easier. They really do.
7 comments:
I agree. With years passing by, it really does get easier.ReplyDelete
Totally agree! :-)ReplyDelete
Thank you for the reminder that living childfree does get easier as time passes. I ran into Target to buy a few items this afternoon, and every woman I saw (or so it seemed) was PG. Still makes my heart ache.ReplyDelete
Culture shock!! ;) It does get easier, but the constant reminders around us don't help the process. :pReplyDelete
Thank you for your words. Sometimes I wonder if it is me thinking that the world seems focused on children as the main way to happiness. Walking around in this world can sometimes make it seem life is incomplete. However, that is not the case and you sharing your voice helps to validate there are other ways to happy. It is not right or wrong, just different. Thank you fir sharing that it dies get better in time.ReplyDelete
It does get easier, in time, though try telling me that after a loss. Distance and time help, but even now I find myself hugely annoyed by all the "if you don't have kids, you don't understand" crap. I wish the American culture would quit clinging to the traditional nuclear family as ideal. It's become so rare these days, I honestly wonder why we hold it up on such a high pedestal. Families come in so many shapes, sizes, and configurations - and not all families have children. It's time we recognize that!ReplyDelete
**nods** Indeed...ReplyDelete


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Survey Junkie! Okay, I never liked the name too but I promise it is way better than the name. And no, it is not a joke.
With that said let's get started. Shall we?
I guess this isn't the first survey site you have heard of. In fact, the web is littered with lots of survey platforms that promise you a fortune in a month or less. Oh, well, you are one of the few who knows better than believing that cheap lie. Which is why you want to take the time to ascertain if Survey Junkie is just another joke or worth your spare time.
The short answer is Survey Junkie is way better than most survey sites out there and it is totally worth your spare time. You will have to stick around for the complete review to decide if I'm right or wrong. let's get to it already.
What is Survey Junkie?
Basically, survey Junkie is an online platform that allows people (in selected countries) to give their opinion about some selected products. Survey Junkie has been in the block since 2013 and that shows just how much far they have come in the survey space. The platform rewards members for giving their opinions on some products.
What is the point?
Companies carry out something called Market Research during production. This helps them get opinions of customers so they will know where to improve the product to meet the taste of their targeted customers. So, they list with survey platforms like Survey Junkie and get people's opinion on their products. That's the reason you get paid because you are offering a service to these companies.
How it works
Short Version
Survey Junkie is pretty straightforward compared to most survey platforms. Members are required to create an account with the platform and answer daily or weekly surveys. You get to earn a few points for each survey completed and cash out once you accumulate a total of a thousand points (1000 pts) which is equivalent to $10.
Long Version
First things first, you have to sign up as a user through either your e-mail or Facebook account, which takes only a few minutes. You just have to enter your email, zip code, gender, date of birth and, of course, a password. And you are awarded 25 points for signing up.
Upon signing up, you will be asked to create a profile, which basically involves providing a few details about yourself. This helps them tailor the type of surveys that you participate in. Remember the aim of the surveys is to get targeted customers' opinions on products, as such, the surveys are tailored for different categories of users. Sometimes you may be invited to take a survey and get disqualified after answering the opening questions about yourself. It is nothing personal. Your details just show that you are not one of the targeted customers. It can get really frustrating. I know! But don't let that scare you, Survey Junkie, unlike most survey sites, still awards you some points for responding to the survey at all. That's something!
So, back to the process
You are expected to enter a few details to complete your profile creation. These questions are not compulsory though but completing your profile earns you an additional 50 points. What harm could that do?
Please NOTE registration is opened to people in the United States, Australia, and Canada. The U.K. was disqualified as of December 2017. The company plans on adding new countries though, I will keep you posted on that.
And back to the process
The next step after completing your profile is to confirm your email. This is necessary because Survey Junkie sends its members links to surveys that they qualify for. This helps you stay alerted of happenings in the platform and boost your chances of participating in surveys. Let's face it, we don't have all day to sit around and wait for surveys. With the Email option, you get the surveys right in your inbox and participate before it gets filled. Surveys do get filled so, you have to grab the opportunities as they come if you're looking to earn more cash. Survey Junkie awards you another 25 points for confirming your email.
Right after email confirmation, new members are expected to take a tour on how the platform works. This earns you another 5 points. See, they quickly add up!
What's more?
You don't lose your points for not being active for a few weeks. Not here! Survey Junkie protects your points as long as you take a survey every 12 months.
Lastly, you will be given a few sub-profile surveys, which are usually triggered from answers you provided so far. Therefore, it varies with members. Each profile survey you take earn you 10 points.
And you are good to go! What a good way to start!
Okay, by 'good to go' I mean you can now begin taking surveys.
Now that we have cleared the air, let's move to one of the frequently asked questions about Survey Junkie. Hold tight!
How Much Can I Earn?
Like Survey Junkie rightly puts it – You Can't Get Rich Here! That's right. Unlike most survey sites that lure you in by promising thousands of dollars in a month or less, Survey Junkie informs every member that the platform is not a get-rich-quick site. Instead, it is a place you can earn a few bucks for simply giving your opinion on things that interest you. Survey Junkie is not the platform for those looking to fire their boss. Heck no! On the contrary, it is a place to spend your spare time completing surveys and get a few bucks in your account immediately.
That said – How much can you really earn?
The answer to that question is 'it depends.' Yes, it does. Each survey is structured differently. The longer the survey the more you earn. Hence, the amount you earn is totally dependent on how many surveys you take and how much they cost.
Can I really cash out?
Yes, you can. Survey Junkie is not a scam. In fact, Survey Junkie uploads your points in your profile as soon as you complete a survey. This is unlike most survey sites that take a couple of days before awarding you your cash. You earned it, why does it have to take that long? Well, you won't have to worry about that here.
Another outstanding feature is the low cash-out threshold. Members are allowed to cash-out once they accumulate a total of 1,000 points which is equivalent to $10. Again, this is unlike most survey platforms out there which compel you to amass a fortune before cashing out. Upon hitting the 1,000-point mark, you are allowed to cash out $10 through PayPal or convert the points into gift cards. it's all up to you.
Pros and Cons
As you must have heard, there is a flip side to virtually everything in life. And Survey Junkie happens to be one of such things. Therefore, it comes with both pros and cons. For something that you are not really working for or losing anything to, I really do not see them as cons though.
• Low cash-out threshold
• Simple and free to register
• Multiple withdrawal options
• Good customer support
• Free points upon signing up
• E-mail notification of new surveys
• No app for convenience
• Limited surveys, especially for non-US members
• Sometimes you get disqualified from a survey you were invited to take.
• Limited countries allowed for participation
Is it worth it?
Survey Junkie earnings don't come close when compared to your day job but it does beat it when compared to other survey sites. Well, I have placed all the cards on the table. I will leave you to decide if it is worth it or not. Good Luck!