Yay! What fun I had making the tags and ? for my giveaway. And I had as much fun wrapping and posting them! The little pagackes are now on their way to Natasha and Julia. I know the joy of receiving things through the post and having a letter or package land on the doorstep. Especially if it is unexpected or something special as opposed to a bill or circular! And there is just as much joy in giving as receiving so I must do this again soon. Have a good day what ever you are doing.
Thank you to everyone who completed my poll and left a comment on my Vintage and a Give-Away post.
I really do appreciate your feedback and helpful responses.
In June I will be celebrating my first year of blogging. How the time has flown! I've learned so much and I would like to do something to mark the occasion. A blog hop, give away, or a challenge come to mind, but I wonder if you have any other ideas to share? Do please let me know, or share a link to show me! Come up with an idea that I choose and a small gift will be on its way to you!
AND FLY! Saturday saw me at my monthly crop and making a 12" page for my album. I can’t take credit other than for the assembly, as the design and papers were supplied by the very talented and modest Karen Cole. We were shown a preview of the gorgeous MME Lime Twist papers that we would be using, and they were quite bright for my usual style. I love a challenge though and wondered what photo to take. And for the first time I decided to dedicate this page to me. My husband had taken a recent photo that I loved for it's lighting and natural pose. And the more I thought about it, the more this connected with the papers and the theme.
For I have been undergoing lots of change lately, not self initiated but in response to what has happened at work. There have been many decisions to make, lots of risks to take. None life changing (though who knows what may come) but pretty big within my every day life. And so as I put this page together I felt a real affection for it.
The Hot Air Balloons also hit the spot as I went to a Festival a couple of years ago and had a weekend I will never forget. I also took some opf my favourite photos and perhaps I will show some of them one day. But I digress, and for now here is the page I made on Saturday at Eclectic Keepsakes.
The quality of this photo is not good but I don't have time to take another at this time. At least it shows the overall effect. We hand stitched onto the balloons and used the lovely TIM HOLTZ rosette die. The way Karen used the papers made them less vivid than I initially imagined, and this page is very fitting for where I am at right now.
One last thing, like others of you I experienced problems with Blogger recently and some comments on my post were deleted. Tomorrow I am randomly drawing two winners for my VINTAGE GIVEAWAY. If you did complete my poll and leave a comment, please check that yours is still there. I would hate you to miss out!!
And if you haven't, it's not too late to take part but be quick!!
WhileI was in Whitstable recently I came across a Vintage
Sale. I love vintage so you can imagine my excitement! There
was bundles of lace, buttons galore, fabrics, and some beautiful
handmade bags in vintage style. And what made the visit even
more special was that my husband came across something
very exciting, and realised that I would love it.
Can you guess what it is??
The woman suggested it could be used as a door stop, book end, or ornament.
She obviously didn't know that I would want the machine for what it was actually designed for...
which is this:
My husband doesn't really understand my passion for all things creative - but perhaps I got that wrong! At least in this instance he got it completely right and the machine even came with the original label attached.
I have a box of materials already to make haberdashery cards and mini albums so this embossed stamp will be just perfect.
Then I got to thinking.........
I wonder if others would like to share my lucky find?
If I made some tags or labels, is this the sort of thing crafters might like to use in their designs?
So... can I be cheeky and ask you to complete this short poll for me please!? It will only take a few seconds. And as a thank you I'd like to offer 2 sets of these tags, and I'll also throw in a something extra as a surprise.
So that I can identify you just leave a comment after you have completed the poll and I will pick 2 names from random on 20th May. This is my first give-away so I am quite excited. My first poll too, so make this extra excited!
I do hope you will take part as I'd love to hear your thoughts, whether you sew, scrapbook, journal, or create in other ways . And perhaps you have other ideas how these stamps can be used... please share !!
I have included this post in What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday. If you want to find out what other people are creating visit Julie's site here. It's great to see other people's work space and mess organisation, it makes me feel so normal!
If you read my last post you may recall that I had an unexpected surprise.
I was in Devon for my birthday this year so I knew family celebrations would be to follow. Imagine my excitement and joy when the door bell rang and this is what I saw:
And I LOVED the handmade card my daughter gave me. She had knitted this beautiful bluebell and I confess it bought a tear to my eye!
After opening my present (a much wanted hedgehog house) we set off in two cars. I knew I was going away as I'd been asked to arrange time off work, but I did not know my whole family were coming too! Yay!!
On the way we stopped at a service station. What great timing.... and totally unplanned. We were just in time to see Kate Middleton drive to Westminster Abbey and the start of the Royal Wedding. There was a wonderful apmosphere with a crowd round the TV, and my grand daughters were dressed for the occasion in red, white and blue.
We lingered for a while, then on again until we finally reached 'Hideaway' a holiday home where we would spend the next three days. The location and house was perfect! There was a sea view, and a pub across the road where we had a wonderful meal. The sun shone, and over the next couple of days we relaxed, walked along the beach and explored Whitstable.
Summer liked the looked of my strawberry in champage so I made her a non-alcoholic version.
I had set up my recorder at home as I did not want to miss the Royal Wedding. If I had been home I would have done something special to mark the occasion. But as it was we saw people celebrating on the beach, in their gardens, and at a street party. And we had our own special celebration with birthday cake, candles, sunshine, and champagne.
And did I have a good time? You bet I did!!
I learned that my son had booked 'Hideaway' after hours and hours of trawling the internet and much nail biting. It seemed all suitable holiday lets were booked but he found a real gem! And my weekend was extra special having my family all there.
One last thing, I found a wonderful craft shop where I bought lots of new stamps and.... came across a Vintage Sale. That's two last things actually, but double the excitement especially as the sale had some wonderful stalls and photo opportunities! And what's more, my lovely husband found something very special for me which I could not resist. But you'll have to wait until next time to find out what it is!
I have been blog visiting and seen some other lovely Royal Wedding celebrations. I hope you are continuing to enjoy this wonderful weather, I hear it is here to last for a bit longer, so yippee and yippee again I say!!
In my last post I showed photos of our visit to the Eden Project. This is our fourth visit and there is always something new to see. On this occasion, the ariel Walkway. Right up into the dome, 50m high and 167 steps.
We were eager to go up!
So imagine our disappointment when the walkway was closed due to high temperature.
40 degrees plus, even with the top vents of the dome wide open.
That is about the same temperature as when we visited Death Valley. Hot!!
I made enquiries and was told it might reopen later in the day. So after we had explored every path and absorbed as much as we could take in, we left the tropics and went to see the second dome which is Mediterranean.
Then.........
back to the main dome.
And guess what?!
The Walkway had re-opened!
Our friends lack a head for heights so opted to go for tea and cake while we set off full of excitement and anticipation.
And we were not disappointed.
I had planned to post this last week, but on Friday I had a surprise that changed everything. And I'll tell you more next time!
