Thursday, 26 March 2009

ATCs

Made loads of ATCs to swap in Australia - traditional, vintage and modern. Gave them all out and am now waiting for the last few to arrive in the post. Many are making them for the first time and standards and ideas vary but I appreciate every one and I have made a load of new craft friends - its exciting opening the post and getting something other than bills! The bird house is a 3D die from QuicKutz and the seagulls an old Sizzlit die both used on my Cuttlebug

This was a swap for the Crafty Cow Forum a couple of months ago - I love Paris



Shabby Chic? - I love this colour combination




For Valentine's Day


I like the bicycle wheels and circular sentiments on this musical journey even though they are very differnt in style. Its good to mix and match old and new sometimes.



Wednesday, 25 March 2009

Holiday Photos




Thought you might like to see a few photos of our trip. On the left are the Finders Ranges. It was a blistering 40 degrees in the shade



The next picture is of Wilpena Pound a spectacular rock formation which looks rather like a volcano crater. It is best viewed from the air and we braved a bumpy early morning flight in a small Cesna plane. We had many memorable experiences on this trip but this comes high up the list. The scariest moment was traversing the mountain ridgetops in a 4X4 at Arkaroola, often with sheer drops either side. My stomach is still recovering.

The rest of the time was spent around Adelaide and the Fleurieu Peninsular doing typical Aussie things - BBQs, wine-tasting, walking on the beach or chilling out by the pool. Our local beach was Brighton, next door to Hove rather like in the UK but only 20 minutes away

The long coastline of Adelaide beaches looks at its best as the sun goes down and the pier can get quite crowded with walkers and fishermen. Either side of high tide you can easily catch blue swimmer crabs, whiting and tommies as well as other wonderfully named varieties

Back at last




Trust me to start this all off then disappear for 7 weeks to visit family in Australia!


Had a wonderful time and managed to attend a Stamping & Papercraft show in Adelaide as well as taking part in several classes at a lovely nearby shop "Charlotte's Web" Here is a picture of one of those classes using Melissa Frances products in yummy shades of pink and green.


It was great to see my daughter and my two little granddaughters. They've been inAustralia for 3 years now and I miss them all terribly. Not surprisingly, I spent lots of time doing crafts with the girls -painting, beading, sequin pictures making and French knitting just for starters. We even had a go at painting eucalyptus bark aborigine style (but with unorthodox colours)

Thursday, 29 January 2009

Day One

Hello there and welcome to my blog


I'm a bit of a numpty when it comes to setting up things on a PC, but somehow I managed to create this. Hopefully I'll get more proficient in time............... watch this space


I love card and ATC making and belong to a craft club forum as well as being a tutor at my local store. This has been my main hobby for over 10 years now but, when I can find time, I also like water colour painting, playing the piano and cooking.

Although I'm getting on in years I try to stay active and can be found twice a week at my local sport's centre doing aerobics, aquarobics, swimming or pounding the treadmill, bike or cross-trainer in the gym. I lost 3 stone last year but still have a way to go to get to a healthy BMI.