This blog post is soft, strong.. and very very long!!!

Bright Mabon Blessings to you all today.

This was the view which greeted me when I opened my curtains this morning - Equinox sunshine over ‘my’ beloved field. Would you look at the way the light is painting the tips of the leaves on the tree behind the shed?

It’s been a perfect Autumnal day in the Midlands, very befitting for Autumn Equinox I feel - although it did go a little dark and moody around teatime. A bit like me really when I got home from work and had to unload the biddy washing machine, wash up the detritus of my son’s various meals/drinks (whilst he lies pale and wan on the sofa nursing earache so I can‘t shout at him for being a lazy bum!), and then cook tea. My good mood did wobble for a little while back there but hey - don’t’ sweat the small stuff eh?!

Have a look at these little beauties!

How yummy do they look?

Cost? Nothing! Nada! Zilch! Zero! Nowt!

When I leave work at five I have to walk along the high street to the bus stop. Just by the side of the stop is a little fruit and veg shop. I actually went there at lunch time today and stocked up on some fruit and veg so was pretty loaded down with two heavy bags already. The owner of the shop had put loads of punnets out in front of his closed shutters - free for the taking. People were just walking past them! Why?!! I appropriated four of the boxes and offered a grateful thanks to the free food angels. There is absolutely nothing wrong with them apart from the odd one in each box which is going over a little. They’ll need using up very quickly but the kids have already eaten some for pud and the rest will be turned in to strawberry jam quick smart before they have time to go off. He’s left bananas out before now - almost perfect save for a couple of brown marks- and for some reason I’ve walked right past them cos I was bit embarrassed about picking them up. I really don’t know why - they would have been perfect for nana muffins and bread. I shall certainly be keeping an eye out in future and see what the kind man puts out. I may pop in tomorrow and just check that it really is ok just to take them. I’m sure it is as they’re just left in a pile in front of his shutter door but the scaredy cat part of me needs to check just in case I’ve been caught on cctv and I’m arrested for wanton strawberry theft !!!

Changing the subject now, what do you think of these gorgeous little things?

 The boxes were from my best friend, the clock from my kids and the cushion from my Mum and Dad, all for my birthday a couple of weeks ago. I’m saving them up for when I re-decorate my lounge in a few weeks time. I do love the Union Jack design as you may have guessed!!

So…. Would you like to see some of the things I made over the weekend?

You would?

Ok….here goes then- in no particular order cos I’m not that organised!!!

I’ve never been a card maker. I never really ‘got’ the fact that you could spend much time, effort and product to make a card when you could buy a pretty enough one for pence in the local Card Warehouse shop. (blimey I can hear the boo hisses from here!! Bear with me!! Lol) The weekend totally changed my mind and I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed the card making classes. The brilliant (and absolutely barmy but lovely!) Zoe Pierson taught her scrummy butterfly card class and this was the result:-

This fairly innocuous looking card opens up to reveal…….

This! How cute!!  Zoe has posted all about the weekend too - you can check out Zoe's blog here but be warned - there are gratuitous graphic images of chocolate awaiting you!!

I also attended a couple of Jane Gill’s classes. You can check out more of her gorgeous work on her blog here   Wow was I ever impressed and totally hooked on making these little babies!!

How amazing that these flowers are made from punched sunburst shapes - and from plain old photocopy paper too! - before being chalked, fiddled with and assembled to make these ultra cute little flowers. Once I get hold of the starburst punch I feel lots of these coming on!!! It was very therapeutic making them too! I purchased all the tools from Cardinal Colours for less than £10.00. Bargaintastic!!

And how about this one?

I really can’t believe that something so gorgeous was actually created by completely cack-handed little old me!! I’m so proud! The poinsettia ‘petals’ started life as Christmas tree punchies!! Impressed aren’t you?!!

I know I was!

The make and takes were equally as fantabulous too!
 

We made this:- using the Cricut.  A Cricut may have just fallen into my shopping basket recently - watch this space - oh... sorry about the delightfully decorous background - I've only just noticed!!

We made the tres elegant butterfly card using the Cuttlebug for embossing - and the cutesie Christmas tree using Origami paper folding techniques. It’s easy when you know how - and have a very patient teacher!!!



And the very lovely and fragrant Anita (check out this talented lady's gorgeous scrapbooking layouts on her blog here) was nagged and nagged until she found me a spot at her table so she could show me how to make the following gorgeous little trinkets!!! Can you see what they’re made from?

No?

They look like murano mille fiori beads don‘t they?

Oooooh no. Nothing quite so grand - or expensive….
They’re these little jockeys!!


Yup. Brads!!! Anita you are Queen Clever of the Clever People. I’m so hooked! (HAH!!!!  see what I did then?!)

I only actually did one scrapbook layout as I was so busy with all the make and takes, classes and noseying at other crafter’s work. The Sassafrass Lass Class (try saying that without yer teef in!!) was very full on but when we settled in to our respective grooves the layout came together really well and I'm loving all of the embellies!

Right then - I think that's enough whittering from me for one night!!

See you soon xxx

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside!!

Hello there - it’s been a little while hasn’t it? Sorry for the absence - life took over for a while; namely my return to work, clashing with getting the kids sorted for the new term - one to college and one to ‘big’ school - and all of us adjusting to our new regimes. A whole new era is just beginning.


Of course with the new term comes children’s coughy sneezy germy things of a most yuksome nature. My youngest was attacked by a horrible cold virus late last week which has left him with really painful sinuses and earache so far resulting in 3 days off school. Not good really is it? He’s been symptom free all over the summer holidays which only leads me to believe one thing. School is obviously bad for your health!!

I had an absolutely splendiferous weekend. I ran away (with my Mum!) to the seaside to Cardinal Colours Yummy cardstock and scrapbook materials emporium run by a lovely lady!!wonderful Seaside crafting Retreat. (More about the actual Retreat tomorrow with some photographs of the resultant makes! )   I met some lovely people and hugged some old friends and, as a relatively inexperienced crafter by some standards, I learned lots of new techniques which I shall hopefully put to good use in the future.

Eastbourne itself is lovely. Although we didn’t have time to venture into the town we did take a stroll along the prom (prom prom). Didn’t hear any brass bands playing tiddly om pom pom but did hear a very good Abba tribute band playing in the bandstand on the Friday evening! The seafront itself is very impressive and clean with lots of lovely, grand, Victorian era hotels overlooking the sea. A quintessential English seaside town if ever I saw one!

We were so lucky with the weather.  We had lovely golden autumnal sunshine and a millpond sea. I was lucky enough to have a sea view from my room so I’d like to share the sunrise with you. Two very different but equally very beautiful sunrises (is that a word??!) .

Would you look at those clouds!





This was Saturday morning’s display. The photos were taken at around 5.50am.

Gorgeous isn’t it?

And this was Sunday. Taken at a similar time. What a difference a day makes eh?

And our hotel by night.

And of course, I couldn’t resist this shot of our wonderful Union Jack waving proudly above the breakers.

So much Englishness!! Don’t you just love it?!

A well earned cuppa break in the sunshine. 

The moon is almost full this evening. There’s just the tiniest sliver of her missing and she’s shrouded in mist. I’m guessing that she’s waiting to don her full finery for Autumn Equinox and come out in a blaze of glory.

Oh. Just before I go… look what’s sitting on my kitchen table! I know - I shouldn’t have….. But I did!!

Just looking at them makes me smile like a daft thing! They’re all so perfectly squidgible!! I can’t resist tweaking them as I walk past.

Hey don't look at me like that!!  I'm not hurting anyone!! hehee....
See you soon!!

Happy September

"September: it was the most beautiful of words, he’d always felt, evoking orange-flowers, swallows, and regret."

- Alexander Theroux, 1981

Hmm, not so sure about the 'regret' part of that quotation but I certainly concur with the rest of it. 

So my dears, September has sashayed in, in a blaze of golden sunshine and warm delicious breezes.  Long may it continue!

I'm having a quiet evening just wandering around the garden, dead-heading the geraniums and enjoying the fact that the house is quiet.  My daughter is out celebrating exam results and college enrollment day with her friends at the local Balti house and my son is spending some time with his Dad.  Although I do enjoy the peace for a short time at least, in no time at all I find myself craving their banter and the sounds of bickering, loud music and silly giggling as they tease each other relentlessly. 

The garden is still splashed with colour, particularly as the dahlias are now popping into bloom. I love the colour of this one. 

The geraniums and bizzy lizzies are still flowering their little heads off and, thanks I think to a trim a few weeks ago, my lavenders are displaying an unexpected new flush of flowers.  I'm so pleased that I can continue to enjoy them for a good few weeks longer. I was going to share some more garden photographs with you but Blogger appears to be having a bit of a stress-out!

I'm off to find my craft bag I think and see if I can remember how to crochet!!  It's been months since I last picked up my hooky wand! 

September Blessings to you all - and thank you for dropping by.   


This is for you!!