Hello from Down Under!

Well good day!  Just popped in to say Hi!  I understand the weather is not so good over there.  Oh what a shame.  I am afraid to tell you it's so hot here - 30 yesterday!  Actually its a bit too hot if I was really honest.  Having a great time though - everyone thoroughly enjoying themselves.  Children really getting on well, which is very lucky.
Really just popped in to say I've been to scrapping shop - was a bit disappointed this time - no free magazines.  Quite a lot of Kaiser papers though - but too many to take pictures of.  If you look on the Kaiser web site and choose the names of papers etc I should be able to get them for you though.  They're $1.70 a sheet which I suppose is about one pound sterling.  Anyway let me know if you'd like me to look for anything special.
Off to Sydney tomorrow for a few days - staying at Manley Beach which is just round the corner from Bondai Beach.  I don't think the weather will be so sunny, rain forecast but humidity of about 70!! 
Not so sure how to send through pictures at the moment as this is my son's computer but I shall give it a go when we're not rushing off anywhere.  Going to Melbourne Zoo in about half an hour.  I will load up some pictures sometime, if not from Oz definitely when I get home.
Hope everyone is keeping warm and safe.  Speak soon Byee xxx

Fancy a crafty trip to the Seaside??

Jill from Cardinal Colours  is planning a seaside weekend in Eastbourne this year - I'll let Jill give more details in her own words:

"Cardinal Colours is absolutely delighted to invite you to our very first retreat on the south coast. We are having a crafty weekend with something for both scrapbookers and cardmakers alike. In fact anyone fancying a relaxing time away with like minded, crafty individuals will have a great, fun break.

We will have the run of The Chatsworth Hotel, right on the seafront at Eastbourne, from 2.00 pm Friday, 17th September through to 4.00 pm Sunday 19th September.

What an ideal time to recharge your batteries if you’ve exhausted yourself looking after children in the school holidays. All meals and refreshments are included - full English breakfasts, buffet lunch on Saturday and roast lunch on Sunday, two 3 course dinners and teas/coffees mid-morning and mid-afternoon. There will be a vegetarian option available too.
We have a full timetable of classes, with separate ones for scrapbooking and cardmaking, demonstrations and make & takes running from the Friday afternoon right through to Sunday.

 The fabulous Karen Burniston will be designing a class especially for us and you can get a feel for her work on her blog http://www.karenburniston.com/
 
You will have the choice of 3 classes with kits being provided and there will be raffles and games throughout the weekend too, with the Grand Raffle Prize being a Cricut Die Cutting Machine. It’s a free draw so any guest will have the chance to win.

The cost for all this is just £259 per person for a twin shared room and £289 for a single occupancy double room We do have a limited number of small single rooms at £239 per person . We also have 3 twin rooms with an extra bed so 3 people could share at £245 per person You can reserve your place on payment of a £39 non-refundable deposit and payment terms are available. Some places have already been taken so to express an interest and find out more about the classes and teachers, please contact me at jill@cardinalcolours.co.uk.

We are really looking forward to seeing you.

Teachers and classes will be confirmed soon but we are proud to say that Zoe Pierson and will be amongst our talented teachers ."

I can't wait - it sounds absolutely brilliant Jill - count me in!! xx

A big thank you ....

I just wanted to say thank you to all my crafty friends who gave me such beautiful special cards for my birthday.  As promised I have taken pictures of them all because I wouldn't open them at the crop on Saturday because my birthday wasn't until Tuesday.  What a very talented group you all are and each card is so different.  Thank you again.

The one on the left was made by Linda - you can't see the height of the decoupage - but its high! and the other one is by Anita.  Again you can't see all the detail but there is a tiny little strawberry charm on the bottom right which is beautiful.

 

The card on the left is done by Wendy and the other one is from Chris but made by Sue.  The photos really do not do the cards justice.

 

The one on the left was made by Sue and the other one was made by Lynn.  How beautiful are they all?

Finally the last one was from Jill - I'm not sure whether she made it herself but I'd like to think she did!!

So this is just to say thank you again to everyone, I am very lucky to have such good and talented friends.!  xx

Jill's crop

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone at Jill's (Cardinal Colours) crop yesterday.  When Wendy and I got there everyone had brought cards for both Wendy and I.  15th was Wendy's birthday and mine is on Tuesday.  We had bought some little cakes and biscuits to share but Jill had bought a beautiful chocolate cake, with candles, and Anita had made her famous raspberry-offee, and that had candles on too!  We really were spoilt.  Thank you to Linda too who gave us both a little box of M & S sweeties!  Very naughty but very nice! 

I haven't opened any of my cards yet - I've a lovely pile of cards waiting for me to open on Tuesday.  I promise I'll post them on here so you can all see what clever people my friends are!

Thank you all again.

xx

The crop is on .... yipee!!

Hurray, going cropping today at Jill's (Cardinal Colours) - it was cancelled last week because of the snow and I've had withdrawal symtoms as it seems so long since our last one (well it was last year!!).  So one whole day of uninterrupted crafting and chatting - what bliss!!  See everyone later.  xx

Hurray, its all gone!

At last the snow has gone!  I was beginning to think it never would. 

I've been off work these last few days with the dreaded gastric 'bug'.  Yuk!  Luckily its not been so bad I couldn't do any crafting and the bathroom is next door to my craft room!

Here's a couple of cards I've made - I've got a couple of friends whose birthdays are coming up so I'm pleased I've had the time to make some.

I was quite pleased with this one as it didn't start out like this at all.  The card gradually evolved as I went along.  I used the Kanban papers and stamps, together with the Red Hot Bed card template.  I decoupaged the little teddies behind the characters and also the little owls, which you can't see properly.  I coloured in the characters with my water colour pencils.

Now this one is a bit of a cheat.  I was looking at Joanna Sheen's gallery using the RHS Horticultural CD cos I can't make up my mind whether to buy it or not, and this layout caught my eye.  So using my Jayne Netley CD I printed off various bits and copied her card.  I'm really pleased with how this came out, so I used the same layout but different colour ways and the dandelion head papers and came up with this card.

I've made quite a few more, but I'll get back to you later.  Enjoy your day. x

How lucky am I?

Last week everything seemed to be going wrong at home.  The television downstairs just died - I couldn't turn it on at all, or if I did manage to, it would suddenly turn itself off.  Very frustrating and meant I couldn't watch Create & Craft except on the computer as I've only got Free Sat on my main TV. 
Then I found that my replacement window in my room wasn't locking - anyone could have pushed it open from the outside or a sudden gust of wind would have swung it open, and then the final straw - in all that snow, the driver windscreen wiper wouldn't work!  The passenger side worked but not mine.  Quite important that! 
So I wrote a 'pathetic' email to my two children, moaning and groaning, as you do!  Got it out of my system and took the car to Beck's who sorted out the windscreen wiper, no problem. 
Both the children rang me that night and offered to come over but I wouldn't let them - told them I was just having a moan!!  We arranged that we'd meet up in Brighton on Sunday and buy a new TV and they would come back with me and carry out the old one (which I couldn't do on my own) and fit the new one.
Brilliant - Nick rang me on Thursday just to check what size TV I wanted and whether I wanted to replace the little one I had in my room too, which I did.  Imagine my surprise and delight when I got home that evening to find both new TVs had been fitted, old ones taken away. 
I rang Nick straight away and he said he'd popped into the shop to order them and thought he might as well get them and fit them straight away!  He'd also fixed my window - how lucky am I to have such wonderful children?

This is the new TV in the lounge - its a bit bigger than I thought it would be, but it is a lovely picture. 

This is the new one in my bedroom - very posh too!

This one looks quite large, but it's only 22".  I feel quite decadent though lying in bed watching this lovely picture!

Like everyone we've had so much snow - this is our back garden

It doesn't seem to be melting in my garden, but the pathways are clearing and the children are back at school next door to me.  Unfortunately I understand we're supposed to be getting more!  Fingers crossed it misses us all and it carries on melting.

I hope everyone takes care and keeps warm. 

Bye xx