Remember to spread your wings....

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!! 

VINTAGE and a GIVE AWAY!!

 While I 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!